John's Gospel and Today's World

Gospel of John 1 The Gospel of John presents Jesus to the reader in a way that makes Christ the central figure not just at the time but in all history. Christ is the logos—the Word from the beginning of time. As the faith community moved out of the synagogue, I can see how the Gospel of John helped to prepare the community for this move. Christ is depicted in the Gospel as instituting an entirely new religion—one based on love, charity, mercy and relationships.

As Moloney (1998) states, “one becomes a child of God through a process of growth” (p. 38), and the abandonment of the synagogue may be seen as the young bird leaving the nest and branching out on his own. This was the growth the Church required and at the center of it was the idea of Christ as the God of all. 2 The Gospel could be considered anti-Semitic because it does paint the Jews in a negative light. It lays the crucifixion of Christ at their feet.

However, this does not really make the Gospel anti-Semitic. A better or more accurate description would be to say that the Gospel is a historical-religious document that defines the origins of a new community, who defined those who did not join their community as non-believers, or Jews. 3 The tension John’s community experienced in the Greco-Roman culture into which they were ejected was rooted in the ideas about the gods that that culture harbored. The Greco-Roman culture was polytheistic. The Christian culture was monotheistic.

The tension stemmed from the fact, too, that the Greeks and Romans were rational and logical—yet here were the Christians describing miracles that could not be explained rationally. 4 The tension facing the community when John I, II and III were written was that the Christians were becoming more visible and known and despised by the popular culture. They rejected the paganism of the Romans and were persecuted both by the Jews and the Romans.

This tension was soothed in the Gospel, however, by the depiction of Christ’s continued love for His people, which helped them to band together as a loving community themselves. 5 The challenges facing John’s community, for whom the Gospel was written, are similar to our faith communities to whom the Gospel is preached today in that it still all comes down to the matter of Christ.

Is Christ God? Is Jesus the Son of God? The world still rejects this notion—yet John’s Gospel tells a different story—a story that reaches out to those who want to believe but have to face a mountain of unbelief from the world around them. 6 John’s Gospel could support our communities today as it supported them by infusing in them a spirit of God’s love.

The Gospel of John is animated by a kind of love that is rarely seen on earth. That special kind of love is what inspires and.