The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (103 page)

Themes and Characteristics
The Fourth Gospel is a book of magnificent beauty and artistry. The richness of its expression and imagery has made it one of the most celebrated works in Christian history. So much of it is devoted to the heavenly identity and mission of Jesus that John was known as the "spiritual" Gospel in the ancient Church. Perhaps the most pervasive theme in John, which in many ways is the master key that unlocks the Gospel as a whole, is the revelation of God as a family. Nearly every chapter is marked by familial language that explains the inner life of God as well as our relation to God through the grace of divine generation.

The "divine family" of God revealed as Father, Son, and Spirit is the towering mystery of the Fourth Gospel. The Father initiates this revelation by sending his only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world as a man (1:14; 16:28). Through him we learn that the Father loves the Son (3:35), nourishes him with his will (4:34), and entrusts him with the responsibilities of judging and giving life to the world (5:22, 27). The divine unity between the Father and the Son is unlike any known on earth (10:30; 14:11). Christ, for his part, shows us the heart of his Father (1:18; 14:9) by imitating the Father's works (5:19-21; 10:25), speaking the Father's words (8:28; 12:49), and returning the Father's love (14:31). The essence of Jesus' divine Sonship is thus expressed through a lifetime of pleasing and honoring the Father (8:29, 49). The Spirit, too, is sent into the world by the Father and the Son (14:26; 15:26). His mission is to continue the ministry of Jesus, always teaching the truth (14:26), announcing things to come (16:13), and filling the hearts and lives of believers with his presence (14:17).

The "human family" also plays an important role in the Fourth Gospel. In fact, the heart of Jesus' message is that the children of men are invited to become children of God (1:12). This new life begins with a spiritual rebirth in Baptism (3:5) and is sustained as the Father nourishes us with divine food and drink (6:32, 51; 7:37-39), educates us in the truth (8:31-32; 16:13), and protects us from spiritual danger (17:15). Christ models the life of divine Sonship to perfection (13:15), showing us how to worship the Father (4:23-26), how to obey his commandments (15:10), and how to love our spiritual siblings (13:34). We are not left orphans (14:18) after Christ returns to the Father (20:17) because his presence dwells with us and even within us (14:17-18, 23). Our full union with the Trinity awaits only the coming of Jesus Christ, who will return in glory to escort the children of God into the house of their heavenly Father (14:2-3). «

OUTLINE OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT JOHN

1. Prologue (
1:1-18
)

   A. Christ, the Eternal Word (
1:1-13
)

   B. Christ, the Word Made Flesh (
1:14-18
)

2. The Book of Signs (
1:19-12:50
)

   A. The Witness of John and the Calling of Disciples (
1:19-51
)

   B. The Inaugural Signs of Jesus' Ministry (
2:1-4:54
)

   C. Healing on the Sabbath (
5:1-47
)

   D. The Bread of Life (
6:1-71
)

   E. The Feast of Tabernacles and the Sons of Abraham (
7:1-8:59
)

   F. The Light of the World (
9:1-41
)

   G. The Good Shepherd (
10:1-42
)

   H. The Raising of Lazarus (
11:1-57
)

   I. Triumphal Entry and the Rejection of Jesus (
12:1-50
)

3. The Book of Glory (
13:1-20:31
)

   A. The Foot Washing (
13:1-30
)

   B. The Last Supper Discourse (
13:31-16:33
)

   C. The High Priestly Prayer (
17:1-26
)

   D. The Passion Narrative (
18:1-19:42
)

   E. The Resurrection and Appearances (
20:1-31
)

4. Resurrection Epilogue (
21:1-25
)

   A. The Final Appearance and Miracle of Jesus (
21:1-14
)

   B. Jesus Questions and Commissions Peter (
21:15-23
)

   C. Conclusion (
21:24-25
)

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO

Chapters

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Essays and Charts

The "Hour" of Jesus

When Did Jesus Celebrate the Last Supper?

The Seven "I am" Sayings of Jesus

The Word Became Flesh
[
Map
]

1
 
In the beginning
was the
Word
, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
 
*
²
He was in the beginning with God;
³
all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
⁴
In him was
life
,
^a
and the life was the light of men.
⁵
The
light shines in the darkness
,
 
*
and the darkness has not overcome it.

6
 There was a man sent from God, whose name was
John
.
⁷
He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.
⁸
He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.

9
 The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
¹⁰
He was in
the world
, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.
¹¹
He came to his own home, and his own people
received him not
.
¹²
But to all who received him, who
believed in his name
, he gave power to become children of God;
¹³
who were born,
not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man
, but of God.

14
 And
the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father.
¹⁵
(
 
John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me
ranks before me, for he was before me
.' ")
¹⁶
And from his fulness have we all received,
grace upon grace
.
¹⁷
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
¹⁸
No one has ever seen God
; the only-begotten Son,
^b
who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist [
Map
]

¹⁹
And this is the testimony of John, when the
Jews
sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
²⁰
He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not
the Christ
."
²¹
And they asked him, "What then? Are you
Eli'jah?
" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No."
²²
They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
²³
He said, "
I am the voice
of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

24
 Now they had been sent from
the Pharisees
.
²⁵
They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Eli'jah, nor the prophet?"
²⁶
John answered them, "
I baptize with water
; but among you stands one whom you do not know,
²⁷
even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
²⁸
This took place in
Beth'any
beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God

29
 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the
Lamb of God
, who takes away the sin of the world!
 
*
³⁰
This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.'
³¹
I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."
³²
And John bore witness, "I saw
the Spirit descend as a dove
from heaven and remain on him.
³³
I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
³⁴
And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."

The First Disciples of Jesus

35
 The next day again John was standing with
two of his disciples
;
³⁶
and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
³⁷
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
³⁸
Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
³⁹
He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about
the tenth hour
.
⁴⁰
One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
⁴¹
He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found
the Messiah
" (which means Christ).
⁴²
He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called
Ce'phas
" (which means Peter
^c
).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43
 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
⁴⁴
Now Philip was from
Beth-sa'ida
, the city of Andrew and Peter.
⁴⁵
Philip found Nathan'a-el, and said to him, "We have found him of whom
Moses in the law and also the prophets
wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
⁴⁶
Nathan'a-el said to him, "Can anything good come out of
Nazareth
?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
⁴⁷
Jesus saw Nathan'a-el coming to him, and said of him, "Behold,
an Israelite indeed
, in whom is no guile!"
⁴⁸
Nathan'a-el said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
⁴⁹
Nathan'a-el answered him, "Rabbi, you are the
Son of God! You are the King of Israel
!"
⁵⁰
Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these."
⁵¹
And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God
ascending and descending
upon the Son of man."

The Marriage at Cana

2
  On
the third day
there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;
²
Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.
³
When the wine failed,
the mother of Jesus
said to him, "They have no wine."
⁴
And Jesus said to her, "O
woman
, what have you to do with me?
 
*
My hour has not yet come."
⁵
His mother said to the servants, "
Do whatever he tells you
."
⁶
Now
six stone jars
were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
⁷
Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
⁸
He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it.
⁹
When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called
the bridegroom
¹⁰
and said to him, "Every man serves
the good wine
first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."
¹¹
This, the first of his
signs
, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.