The Book of John: An Overview

All four Gospel accounts are about Jesus, but each takes a slightly different point of view. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called “synoptic gospels” because they are more easily compared side-by-side, and they take a similar, reporter-style approach in their storytelling.

But when it comes to the Gospel account of John, over 90% of its content is unique.¹ His book spends more time on the ideas and theology associated with Jesus and His ministry, rather than just documenting events and their impact.

And it’s in this book that we find John 3:16, which is arguably the most recognized Bible verse in the world.

John’s Gospel account focuses on understanding the profound nature, character, and mission of Jesus Christ, and one reading of John isn’t enough. There are a lot of layers to his writing, and the more we read it, the more we notice. So it lends itself well to consistent Bible study.

Just like when rewatching a favorite movie or rereading a favorite book, each time through we can notice a different detail, make a new connection, or find a new angle of appreciation for the distinct perspective John offers.

So let’s start sifting through the layers of the Gospel according to John, and find out what makes it such a meaningful account of the Gospel. We’ll look at:

• Its author
• Its purpose
• Its setting and audience
• Its themes and uniqueness
• Its lessons

Let’s start with some background about the disciple who wrote it.

Who wrote the book of John?

Photo by Travis Emmett on Unsplash

While the authorship of John might be somewhat disputed among scholars, it’s still widely accepted that the book of John was most likely written by John the Son of Zebedee—one of the “Sons of Thunder” (with his brother James) who were fishermen from the region of Galilee (Matthew 4:21-22; Mark 3:17). He was a Palestinian Jew and one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, and he’s referred to as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” multiple times.²

A minority of scholars argue that a Judean named John the Elder wrote the book of John, or that a school developing the apostle John’s teachings wrote the book. Some others even mention Lazarus as a contender. But the earliest evidence firmly favors John, Jesus’ disciple³ (not to be confused with John the Baptist, who was Jesus’ relative and the person called to “prepare the way” for His ministry⁴).

Of the four Gospel account authors, Mark and Luke were not disciples. And while Matthew was indeed one of the disciples, John was especially close to Jesus (John 13:22-25). He was part of His “inner circle” of disciples along with James and Peter, so he wrote with an up-close, awe-filled view of Jesus’ ministry.

The purpose of the Gospel of John

At the end of his book, John states very clearly what his purpose is:

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31, CSB, emphasis added).

John intended to demonstrate, instead of just say, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that eternal life comes through Him alone. He offered a deeper look at what Jesus’ identity means to humanity. And this profound focus makes it stand out from the more straightforward, journalistic style of the other Gospel accounts.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke share many similarities in how they covered Jesus’ ministry (Matthew and Luke likely followed Mark’s outline⁵). But even among those three, their focuses slightly differ from one another.

Matthew wrote with a primary Jewish audience in mind, emphasizing Jesus as a greater authority than Moses, who at the time was considered Israel’s most revered prophet and source of wisdom.⁶

Mark, the shortest Gospel account, is more action-oriented, event-focused, and portrays Jesus as a servant leader.

And Luke, the longest Gospel account, was likely written with a Gentile audience in mind and emphasized how salvation through Jesus is available to anyone who believes.

John, however, put effort into expressing not only who Jesus is, but what that means for us. He emphasized that Jesus is the “I AM,”⁷ and his Gospel account features several “I am…” statements by Jesus (which we’ll look at in a moment). This name brings attention to God’s eternal existence, and was a familiar and meaningful concept to the Jews.

In fact, the book of John begins with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2, ESV). Right from the start, John says that Jesus is eternal: He was, and is, and forever will be (Hebrews 7:24).

But why did John find it necessary to prove that Jesus was the Messiah and only Son of God? Wouldn’t his audience already believe that?

John’s setting and audience

John actually wrote his account of the Gospel several decades after Jesus ascended to heaven. The traditional belief is that he wrote it in the 90s of the first century, and Jesus ascended to heaven in AD 33.⁸

Theologian Craig S. Keener notes, “By this time, Jews were scattered across the Greek east, including cities in Asia Minor, because of the Jewish-Roman war of AD 66-70.”⁹ The temple in Jerusalem was also destroyed in AD 70, so some pretty significant events had occurred when John wrote his book.

There was civil unrest during this time as well. There was conflict between Pharisees, rabbis, and followers of Jesus as the elite groups (Pharisees and rabbis) fought for the people’s allegiance. This “rivalry for control led to efforts to make Jewish believers unwelcome in synagogues.”¹⁰

Not only that, but there was great pressure from the culture to respect Domitian, a Roman emperor, as divine. Jewish believers were probably excused from demonstrating loyalty toward Emperor Domitian, but if some of them were also disbarred from some synagogues, they would be viewed as disloyal if they also didn’t honor the emperor.¹¹

So there was a lot of turmoil surrounding John’s audience—Jews and Greeks in the larger Greco-Roman world in Ephesus and beyond¹²—and he wanted to encourage them, and ultimately everyone, to stand firm in their beliefs by:

• Coming to a saving faith in Jesus (John 3:16; 6:29; 17:3)
• Understanding the deep love that made up Jesus’ character (John 10:11; 14:6)
• Growing into a sincere, enjoyable, life-giving relationship with Him (John 15:1-11)

So John also had an evangelistic purpose. He wanted to spread the Gospel of Jesus so that all people could:

• Believe He was the Messiah and Son of God
• Accept Him as their Lord and Savior
• Understand His mission to restore humanity

But that wasn’t an easy task when the culture, government, and much of the population were either at odds with, or confused about, this belief.
That’s why John wrote his account of the Gospel with such a unique but deeply purposeful structure.

What’s so unique about the Gospel of John?

Photo by Javier Miranda on Unsplash

John begins his book by reminding the readers of the very beginning of humanity’s story—creation, sin, and the first prophecy about Jesus (John 1:1-35, see also Genesis 3).

He was showing that Jesus Christ is indeed the fulfillment of that Genesis prophecy. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world (Genesis 3:6), but God in the flesh (Jesus) provided a fix for everything that was broken.

According to Eugene H. Peterson, a theology professor and author of the paraphrase The Message Bible, “The fixing is all accomplished by speaking—God speaking salvation into being in the person of Jesus. Jesus, in this account, not only speaks the word of God; He is the word of God.”¹³

At the same time, John 1:1 lays the foundation for a vital Christian principle: the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

“The Word was with God” expresses an interpersonal relationship of the Godhead, and “the Word was God” expresses oneness—Jesus is part of that God, the one from “in the beginning” (emphasis added).

And so, as Bible scholar Andreas Köstenberger notes, “…the one true God consists of more than one person, they relate to each other, and they have always existed.”¹⁴

And it’s this Word that became flesh (John 1:14) in Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God.

This was a lot for John to prove. And to help make his case, he focused on specific titles, statements, signs, and symbols of Jesus from Scripture.

Jesus’ 7 titles in John

To help demonstrate that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God, John includes seven titles of Jesus in the very first chapter.

Each of these titles expresses a different part of Jesus’ character, and several align with Old Testament prophecies about Jesus—which much of John’s audience would have been very familiar with.

With these titles, John is saying, “Yes, Jesus is the one we’ve been waiting for!”

Jesus Himself also made this claim with several “I am” statements, which John includes in his gospel.

Jesus’ 7 “I am” statements in John

John includes seven different “I am” statements Jesus made during His ministry to help His followers understand His identity and purpose (references from ESV):

1. “I am the bread of life” (6:35)
2. “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5)
3. “I am the door” [gate] (10:7-9)
4. “I am the good shepherd” (10:11-14)
5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25)
6. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6)
7. “I am the true vine” (15:1)

And these are in addition to Jesus’ straightforward statement of His divine identity.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am’” (John 8:58, ESV).

All of these statements show not just His divinity, but His relationship to humanity and His role in our salvation. John includes them to show that these aren’t His own ideas, but that Jesus said these things Himself.

And to further show His power and divinity, John describes several of Jesus’ miracles, which include six that the other Gospel accounts don’t have.

Jesus’ 8 signs in John

The first half of John focuses on seven different signs, or miracles, that Jesus performed. At the end of the book, John included an additional sign, bringing the total to eight.

This is not to say that these are the only miracles Jesus performed, or even that John mentions,¹⁹ but these signs in particular “are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31, ESV).

John includes these signs to prove the identity of Jesus, and they correspond to Jesus’ “I am” statements.²⁰

All of these signs point to what Christ did during His ministry.

John parallels the signs of Jesus to the “I am” statements of Jesus so that his readers will see that Jesus didn’t just speak about Himself, His actions repeatedly backed up His claims.

Symbolism in the Gospel of John

John frequently used symbolism to help his readers understand more about Jesus. These symbols include:

• Water (John 4:1-26; 7:37-38)
• Bread (John 6:25-40)
• Light (John 8:12-18; 12:34-36, 46)
• Shepherd (John 10:1-16, 27-28)

All of these symbols point to Christ being our everlasting refreshment (water), spiritual nourishment (bread), unchanging, illuminating truth (light that casts out darkness), and the ultimate protector and provider (shepherd).

By including this symbolism, John provided backup for Jesus’ claim to be the way, truth, and life (John 14:6). This helps us understand how He is the source of all that we need as we journey with Him.

Unique Features of John

• Over 90% is unique to John
  • Reveals the meaning, themes, and emotional impact of something, rather than just presenting a straightforward description
  • Presents Jesus as the new temple and center of worship for God’s people, unifying all believers from all places and times
  • Includes heightened contrasts throughout (e.g. light vs. dark, life vs. death, love vs. hate, etc.)
• Doesn’t include a genealogy of Jesus
• Doesn’t include an account of Jesus’ birth, childhood, temptation, transfiguration, or ascension. It focuses on His ministry and mission.
• Doesn’t include any parables
• Includes 6 miracles that are not recorded in the other gospels
• Includes the “Upper Room Discourse” (John 13)
• Discusses the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (the synoptic gospels largely omit the first year of Jesus’ ministry)²⁵

Want to learn more about the author of this Gospel account?

Interested in learning more about what salvation means for you

Want to learn more about the other Gospel accounts?

Related Articles

1. Burge, Gary, Philip Comfort and Marianne Thompson, NLT Life Application Study Bible, p.1790. [↵]
2. John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, and 21:20[↵]
3. Keener, Craig S, Cultural Background NIV Study Bible, p. 1803. [↵]
4. Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1. [↵]
5. “What Are the Synoptic Gospels, and Where Do They Come From?” Zondervan Academic (Sept 18, 2017). [↵]
6. Schreiner, Patrick, PhD, “The Sermon on the Mount and Jesus as the New Moses,” BibleProject (2018). [↵]
7. Martin, Jenna, “The Meaning of Yahweh: Why It Matters in Biblical Studies,” BibleStudyTools (April 2024). [↵]
8. Köstenberger, Andreas J, ESV Study Bible, p. 1806. [↵]
9. Keener, Craig S., PhD, Cultural Background NIV Study Bible, p. 1803. [↵]
10. Ibid. [↵]
11. Ibid. [↵]
12. Köstenberger, Andreas J. ESV Study Bible, p. 2015. [↵]
13. Peterson, Eugene H, “John,” The Message Bible, (2018), p. 1246. [↵]
14. Köstenberger, Andreas J, ESV Study Bible, p. 2019. [↵]
15. The title “Lamb of God” is in reference to the sacrificial lamb of the passover in the Old Testament. The Lord “passed over” houses in Egypt that had lamb’s blood on the doorpost (Exodus 12:12-13). [↵]
16. “Titles and Names of Christ: Messiah,” BibleHub. [↵]
17. “Titles and Names of Jesus: King of Israel,” BibleHub. [↵]
18. Prophecy about the King of Israel, or the King of the Jews, is a central theme throughout the Old Testament. Other verses with this theme include 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Psalm 110:1-2, and Isaiah 9:6-7, among others. [↵]
19. John’s Gospel account also mentions Jesus’ resurrection (John 20:1-18) and His appearance in the upper room (John 20:19-30). [↵]
20. Asp, Eric, “The Miraculous Signs and the Identity Statements of Jesus, as Recorded in the Gospel of John,” (Feb. 7, 2012). [↵]
21. In the CSB, Jesus says, “I am the gate,” and the pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic is by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. [↵]
22. Some scholars argue that the Greek phrase that Jesus used here (ἐγώ εἰμι or egō eimi) can be translated to “I am.” [↵]
23. A shepherd takes care of his sheep, and Jesus is seen here taking care of His disciples. A few verses later in John 21:15-17 (ESV), Jesus instructs Peter to tend and feed His lambs and sheep. [↵]
24. Peterson, Eugene H., “John,” The Message Bible, (2018), p. 1246. [↵]
25. Köstenberger, Andreas J, ESV Study Bible, p. 1826. [↵]

More Answers