My thoughts about John’s gospel come from spending a great deal of time in this gospel. In addition to my daily reading of Scripture, I recite at least one chapter out of John’s gospel every day. I have read, memorized, recited, meditated on and studied John’s gospel daily for over a decade. I have come to the conclusion that the gospel according to John is biblical allegory. I am not saying that Jesus did not do the things written about him in this book. Nor am I saying that Jesus did not say the things that this book says that he said.
Seven Miracles, I Believe
1. Jesus turned water into wine.[1]
2. Jesus healed a nobleman’s son from dying, who was a great distance away.[2]
3. Jesus healed a man who had a sickness for thirty eight years that had made him lame. When Jesus commanded the man, “Take up your bed and walk.” Immediately, the man was made well, took up his bed and walked.[3]
4. Jesus fed five-thousand men with five barley loaves and two fish.[4]
5. Jesus walked on water across the sea of Galilee.[5]
6. Jesus gave sight to a man who had been born blind.[6]
7. Jesus called Lazarus, a man who had been dead for four days, out of the grave alive.[7]
Seven Predicate I Am Statements, I Believe
1. “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”[8]
2. “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”[9]
3. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”[10]
4. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”[11]
5. “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”[12]
6. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”[13]
7. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”[14]
What then do I mean by saying that John’s gospel is biblical allegory? I am saying that the author took true stories about Jesus, and compiled them together in such a way, that it paints a picture of Jesus as both the Creator and the new Adam.
Purpose
The Gospel According to John is obviously different than the other three gospel accounts; Matthew, Mark and Luke are called synoptic gospels because their content overlaps, not so with the Gospel According to John.
The Bible that I read (New American Standard Bible) is filled with pericope. Pericope are highlighted text (not scripture) added by the translator to summarize what the translator believes the passage is about. For this reason, every English translation has different pericope, because they are the translator’s own thoughts about the content. However, all translations use the same chapter and verse setup first employed in 1555.[15] I wanted to remove all chapter, verse and pericope from my eyes in order that I may see the meaning originally intended by the author.
The gospel according to John is a topical book containing several small stories that combine to make a single larger story. I decided to breakdown the entire text into its individual stories, rather than the traditional chapter and verse divisions. In order to do this, I needed to figure out where each story ended, and a new story began. I also needed to figure out which stories are intended to give meaning and which stories are intended to connect the meaningful stories to one another in a single storyline. While doing this work, I made a discovery that I believe was purposely placed there by the author, who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, within his historical-cultural context.
Narratives about Jesus earthly ministry from its beginning in Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel,”[16] to His bodily resurrection from the dead; commissioning His disciples to go make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that He commanded them,[17] had already been sufficiently done.
So, why was the Gospel According to John written? The purpose for writing the Gospel according to John is expressed by the author in the text:
“Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”[18]
Theologians have put a great deal of emphasis on the seven miraculous signs and seven predicate I Am statements recorded in this book. But what about the resurrection? Most have said that the resurrection is the final and great sign that demonstrates that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. I agree, but from a new beginning perspective.
A Better Ending
The Gospel According to John is a retelling of Genesis chapters 1-3 with a new and better ending or shall I say beginning. The author uses true stories that were witnessed by the author to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of a promise made by God in the garden of Eden. The Gospel According to John remarkably parallels the first three chapters of Genesis. John 1:1, like Genesis 1:1, begins with the words, “In the beginning.” Then in John 19:30, while on the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished!” Also, take note, Genesis 2:1 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.”
When I was dividing up the Gospel According to John into its individual stories, I noticed that the phrase, “next day” is used three times in the first chapter, translated from the Greek word Epaurion.[19] The Greek word Epaurion occurs five times in the original text, which happens to divide the first 19 chapters of John up into six days, considering that the first day starts with the phrase “In the beginning,” and the sixth day ends with the phrase “It is finished!”
1. John 1:1, In the beginning.
2. John 1:29, The next day.
3. John 1:35, Again the next day.
4. John 1:43, The next day.
5. John 6:22, The next day.
6. John 12:12, On the next day.
But what of the seventh day? Genesis 2:2-3 speaks of God resting after His creative work on the seventh day; and therefore, God sanctified the seventh day. However, in the Gospel According to John we see a change from the storyline of Genesis. In John’s storyline, the Incarnate Word is not resting on the seventh day, as God did in Genesis 2:2-3. In John 19:31-42, the Incarnate Word is dead! The stories that comprise John 19:31-42 are placed there to demonstrate that the incarnate Word was dead without a doubt. Thus, John 19 ends at the conclusion of day 6 with the incarnate Word dead and placed in a tomb. The seventh day is missing from the text; the next day mentioned in the book is not the Sabbath, but the first day of the week.[20]
The Seventh Day
“Day Six is the climax of the creation week, but not the consummation.”[21] Jesus was inaugurated king when He rose from the grave: Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”[22] However, when you survey the earth today, sin abounds; therefore, the kingdom of God is a work in progress.
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”[23]
Genesis chapter 1 tells us why God made man, but Genesis 2:7 tells us how God made man and Genesis 2:8-17 tells us about the covenant between man and God at creation. Man was to have a Covenant relationship with God, which required loyal love, obedience, and trust. Man was also to have a covenant relationship with nature, as its servant-king.[24] God created man from dirt, after which He placed man in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Then God commanded the man to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned man that doing so would result in death. Finally, God created woman from man as a helper suitable for him.[25]
Genesis chapter three begins with the woman in the garden being deceived by the serpent; thus, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of which, she gave her husband and he ate. When the Lord God questioned the man about eating from the tree; the man blamed the woman for his sin, the woman blamed the serpent for her sin, and the Lord God cursed the serpent and made a future promise to the serpent.
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”[26]
God told the woman that her labor pains would be increased, but she would have desire for her husband. God told the man that he would now eat by the sweat of his brow, would die after all of his labors, and return to the earth from which he came. After these things God barred them from the way to the tree of life.[27]
A New Beginning
In the Gospel According to John, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty. She then runs to Peter and the author of the book to tell them that the tomb is empty. These two men run to the tomb and find it just as Mary had told them. After they leave, Mary stays behind and sees something miraculous; two angels seated where Jesus had been lying, just like the seraphim atop the Ark of the Mosaic Covenant, which could only be viewed by the high priest, one time a year, on the day of atonement. After speaking with them she turns around and sees the risen Lord but mistakes Him for the gardener. Once she realized that the Man she mistook for the gardener is the risen Lord, she clings to Him. The Lord then sends Mary to the men with the gospel.[28]
Was it truly a silly mistake to think that Jesus, the new Adam, was in fact the gardener?[29] Eve met the serpent in the garden and ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she gave it to her husband, he ate, and they died. Mary Magdalene met the new Adam, in the garden and she ate from the tree of life from whom she took fruit and gave it to the men.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.[30]
God is presently at work making all things new through the work of the Spirit. God has declared that He will create a new heaven and new earth, but unlike the first creation where He made the earth first and later made man, in His new creation, God is making the people first. When “It is Finished,” He will make the new heaven and new earth; then, and only then will God rest. Jesus Christ is the first man to be raised in the new creation.[31] All will be raised on the last day; those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord, will be raised to eternal life in the new heaven and new earth which is yet to come, but those who reject Him will go away into eternal punishment.[32]
In the Abrahamic covenant, circumcision occurred on the 8th day of a baby’s life. God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The 8th day is significant to this regard because it indicates a new creation.[33] On the first day of the week, in the evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples except Thomas behind a closed door; therefore, Thomas did not believe because he did not see the risen Lord. After eight days, Jesus appeared again to the disciples behind a closed door, but this time Thomas was with them.[34] When Thomas saw Jesus, he believed. Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”[35]
The significance of the 8th day is new creation; those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God[36]will be children of God in the new creation.[37] However, this does not occur through blood lines or the will of the flesh or the will of man. You must be born of God![38]
[1] John 2:1-12.
[2] John 4:46-54.
[3] John 5:1-9.
[4] John 6:1-14.
[5] John 6:16-21.
[6] John 9.
[7] John 11:38-44.
[8] John 6:35.
[9] John 8:12.
[10] John 10:9.
[11] John 10:11.
[12] John 11:25-26.
[13] John 14:6.
[14] John 15:1.
[15] The chapter divisions commonly used today were developed by Stephen Langton, an Archbishop of Canterbury. Langton put the modern chapter divisions into place in around A.D. 1227. The Wycliffe English Bible of 1382 was the first Bible to use this chapter pattern. Since the Wycliffe Bible, nearly all Bible translations have followed Langton's chapter divisions. The Hebrew Old Testament was divided into verses by a Jewish rabbi by the name of Nathan in A.D. 1448. Robert Estienne, who was also known as Stephanus, was the first to divide the New Testament into standard numbered verses, in 1555. Stephanus essentially used Nathan's verse divisions for the Old Testament. Since that time, beginning with the Geneva Bible, the chapter and verse divisions employed by Stephanus have been accepted into nearly all the Bible versions.
[16] Mark 1:15, NASB95.
[17] Matthew 28:16-20.
[18] John 20:30-31, NASB95.
[19] The Greek word ἐπαύριον epaurion: — occurring on the succeeding day, tomorrow, day following, morrow, next day, after, on the morrow, the next day.
[20] John 20:1.
[21] Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants (Wheaton: Crossway, 2015), 86.
[22] Matthew 28:18, NASB95.
[23] Psalm 110:1, NASB95.
[24] Ibid, 90-93.
[25] Genesis 2:18-24.
[26] Genesis3:15, NASB95.
[27] Genesis 3:16-24.
[28] John 20:1-16.
[29] Ibid, 88.
[30] John 6:53-54, NASB95.
[31] Ibid, 85.
[32] Matthew 25:46.
[33] Ibid, 122.
[34] John 20:19-28.
[35] John 20:29, NASB95.
[36] John 20:30-31.
[37] John 1:12.
[38] John 1:13.
