The Gospel of John: Chapter 1
First, a few interesting tidbits about the author.
John is obviously his name.
He and His brother James were called by Jesus to join him while they were in their fishing boat with their Father, Zebedee.
He seems to have ended up being Jesus' best friend during his time on earth or at least during his 3 year ministry, from the time he changed water into wine until his crucifixion.
He was much trusted by Jesus as he was one of the three disciples he took up on the Mount of Transfiguration, one of the three he took with him to pray on the night he was betrayed and most tellingly, when he told him to take care of His mother, Mary, after he was gone.
Jesus actually spoke to John about His mother while hanging on the Cross.
Amazing.
Jesus called him and his brother James the "sons of thunder".
He also is the author of 1st, 2nd and 3rd John and The Revelation.
He is thought to be the only disciple to die of natural causes (old age).
The rest, with the exception of Judas, are thought to have been martyred (put to death for their beliefs) via various methods.
He is not to be confused with John the Baptist who, by the way, was Jesus' cousin.
More on him later.
Most scholars believe that John was written around the early to mid 60's AD.
This would have been approximately 30 years after Jesus was crucified and John would have been around 60 years old.
One of the main reasons for this date (a date before 70 AD) is because Jerusalem was invaded in 66 AD by the Romans and the Temple was completely destroyed in 70 AD.
One can hardly imagine a writing of this nature not mentioning that incredible event unless it hadn't happened yet.
Especially when you consider the fact that Jesus prophesied that the Temple (in Jerusalem) would be destroyed in Matthew Chapter 24.
Of the 4 Gospels, John is unique in several ways as we shall see.
The other 3 Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are called the Synoptic (similar) gospels because they share many of the same events and parables.
I will share a few more things, personal ways that I approach the Bible, some of the study helps that I have used over the years, etc.
(in later posts).
But for the most part I'll just say that I believe the Gospel of John is the most important piece of literature (of any kind) that has ever been written and I can't wait to begin.
John is obviously his name.
He and His brother James were called by Jesus to join him while they were in their fishing boat with their Father, Zebedee.
He seems to have ended up being Jesus' best friend during his time on earth or at least during his 3 year ministry, from the time he changed water into wine until his crucifixion.
He was much trusted by Jesus as he was one of the three disciples he took up on the Mount of Transfiguration, one of the three he took with him to pray on the night he was betrayed and most tellingly, when he told him to take care of His mother, Mary, after he was gone.
Jesus actually spoke to John about His mother while hanging on the Cross.
Amazing.
Jesus called him and his brother James the "sons of thunder".
He also is the author of 1st, 2nd and 3rd John and The Revelation.
He is thought to be the only disciple to die of natural causes (old age).
The rest, with the exception of Judas, are thought to have been martyred (put to death for their beliefs) via various methods.
He is not to be confused with John the Baptist who, by the way, was Jesus' cousin.
More on him later.
Most scholars believe that John was written around the early to mid 60's AD.
This would have been approximately 30 years after Jesus was crucified and John would have been around 60 years old.
One of the main reasons for this date (a date before 70 AD) is because Jerusalem was invaded in 66 AD by the Romans and the Temple was completely destroyed in 70 AD.
One can hardly imagine a writing of this nature not mentioning that incredible event unless it hadn't happened yet.
Especially when you consider the fact that Jesus prophesied that the Temple (in Jerusalem) would be destroyed in Matthew Chapter 24.
Of the 4 Gospels, John is unique in several ways as we shall see.
The other 3 Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are called the Synoptic (similar) gospels because they share many of the same events and parables.
I will share a few more things, personal ways that I approach the Bible, some of the study helps that I have used over the years, etc.
(in later posts).
But for the most part I'll just say that I believe the Gospel of John is the most important piece of literature (of any kind) that has ever been written and I can't wait to begin.
Source...