In 2019, we went through the primeval account in Genesis 1.1-11.9. It was my first attempt at making consistent posts and I must confess that it was trying at times. Nevertheless, it was quite a learning experience for me – and I hope for some of the readers. During the last few months of 2019 I asked some friends for suggestions on how to continue in 2020. Based on their suggestions as well as events that have happened in India during this period, I have decided to undertake the immense task of going through the Gospel According to John. The reasons should become evident during the course of this study, so I will not make them explicit here. The journey through the Gospel According to John will take us easily two years by an initial reckoning! And that too, without any breaks!
I have titled this post ‘A Gospel with a Purpose’ and that is probably misleading. All four canonical Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – have their own purposes. Matthew, for example, bookends his Gospel with the genealogy that traces Jesus’ descent from Abraham, stopping at David and the exile, and the Great Commission, underscoring Matthew’s intention that the reader should understand that this Jesus, who is descended from Abraham, is the fulfillment of God’s promise to be with his people. Mark just bursts forth announcing that his Gospel is the beginning of the Good News announced by and embodied in Jesus, a Good News that has no ending. Luke declares Luke declares to Theophilus that he has done extensive research so that “you may have secure knowledge about the matters in which you have been instructed” (Luke 1.4)
John’s purpose, however, is of a different sort. Toward the end of the Gospel, at 20.31, John states, “But these ones are written so that you may believe that the Messiah, the son of God, is none other than Jesus; and that, with this faith, you may have life in his name.” (John 20.31) A chapter later, John writes, “There are many other things which Jesus did. If they were written down one by one, I don’t think the world itself would be able to contain the books that would be written.” (John 21.25) John, therefore, tells the reader that he has been selective about what he has included in his Gospel, which leads to the conclusion that whatever he has included must, at least according to John, be sufficient to fulfill the purpose of John 20.31.
Before I proceed, a (not very short) note is in order. I have just quoted two verses from the New Testament. Both these verses are reasonably well-known in Christian circles and the text I have quoted might seem strange. For the study of the Gospel According to John, I will be using The Bible for Everyone translation. The Old Testament of this translation was done by John Goldingay and is published separately as The First Testament. The New Testament of the translation was done by N.T. Wright and is published separately as The New Testament for Everyone in the UK and as The Kingdom New Testament in the USA.
Since I will be using a not yet very common translation, I think the reader should be aware that this translation, especially the New Testament done by N.T. Wright, has received mixed reviews.1 Some, like reputed scholar, Robert H. Gundry, claim that the translation has, “Too much unnecessary paraphrase. Too many insertions uncalled for. Too many inconsistencies of translation. Too many changes of meaning. Too many (and overly) slanted interpretations. Too many errant renderings of the base language.”2 Others, like equally reputed scholar, Scot McKnight, states, “So, yes, there’s a touch of the new perspective, or as Tom calls his approach, the ‘fresh’ perspective, but it’s very even-handed and not at all overdone.”3
The differing views about Wright’s translation seem to be reflective of the stance of the respective authors vis-a-vis what McKnight calls ‘the new perspective’.4 Those who oppose the new perspective seem not to care much for Wright’s translation, while those who are in favor of the new perspective seem to have a positive view of it. While I do think that Wright has, at times, strayed too far from the intent of the text, for the most part I think The New Testament for Everyone is a breath of fresh air. With that detour out of the way, let us turn back to the Gospel According to John.
Once again, John’s purpose is that the reader “may believe that the Messiah, the son of God, is none other than Jesus; and that, with this faith, you may have life in his name.” This simple statement of purpose is packed full of terms like ‘Messiah’, ‘son of God’, ‘faith’, ‘life’ and ‘in his name’. What John means by these words and phrases will only be clear once we have read his Gospel, which is probably why he has this statement of purpose toward the end.
Nevertheless, a surface reading of this statement of purpose reveals that John would want the reader to reach, by reading his Gospel, a faith in Jesus that leads to life. What this means is that we need to read the Gospel in that manner as well. While I intend to be as rigorous with the Johannine text as I was with the text of Genesis in 2019, I will also attempt to write in a manner that reflects the purpose of the Gospel. This is a text that is intended to lead to life and any discussion of it must also be as life giving as possible.
Prayer:
Our heavenly Father. As we begin our journey through the Gospel According to John, we pray that you would lead us by the power of your Spirit to a deeper love for Jesus. We know that this is your deepest desire and we ask you to make this our deepest desire as well. As we go through this Gospel, enable us to see the life giving nature of the text and continuously be struck by it to recognize the glory of Jesus that it reveals to us. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
1. For a review of John Goldingay’s The First Testament, see Miles V. Van Pelt. The First Testament: A New Translation. (Accessed on 27 December 2019). Van Pelt concludes by stating “we commend Goldingay’s translation of the ‘First Testament’ to readers for their use in careful study and comparison with other standard Bible translations.” Another review is James C. Howell. Two new (very different) Old Testament translations. (Accessed on 27 December 2019), who approvingly quotes Goldingay’s rationale for using ‘Yahweh’ instead of ‘the LORD’, namely,“I have accepted Yahweh’s invitation to call him by his personal name.”↩
2. Robert Gundry. Tom’s Targum. (Accessed on 27 December 2019)↩
3. Scot McKnight. Tom Wright’s New Testament Translation. (Accessed on 27 December 2019)↩
4. For a brief overview of the controversy surrounding the new perspective, see my previous post.↩
Purposes Crossed 