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Introduction to John

John is unique among the gospels. The first three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are known as the Synoptics (from a Greek word meaning “to see together”) because of their similarities to each other. Although each has its own distinctive emphases and themes, the Synoptics have much in common. They follow the same general outline of Christ’s life and are similar in contents, structure, and perspective.

But even a cursory reading of John’s gospel reveals it to be strikingly different from the first three. All four contain a mixture of narrative history and discourses of Jesus. John’s gospel, however, contains a higher proportion of discourse in relation to narrative than do the Synoptics. Unlike the Synoptics, John contains no narrative parables, no eschatological discourses, no accounts of Jesus exorcising demons or healing lepers, no list of the twelve apostles, and no formal institution of the Lord’s Supper. John also does not record Jesus’ birth, baptism, transfiguration, temptation, agony in Gethsemane, or ascension.

On the other hand, John includes a large amount of material (more than 90 percent of the gospel) not found in the Synoptics, such as the prologue describing Christ’s pre-existence and incarnation (1:1–18); Jesus’ early ministry in Judea and Samaria (chaps. 2–3); His first miracle (2:1–11); His dialogue with Nicodemus (3:1–21); His encounter with a Samaritan woman (4:5–42); His healing of a lame man (5:1–15) and a blind man (9:1–41); both at Jerusalem; His Bread of Life discourse (6:22–71); His claim to be the living water (7:37–38); His taking for Himself the name of God (see the discussion of 8:24 in chapter 29 of this volume); His discourse presenting Himself as the Good Shepherd and its aftermath (10:1–39); the resurrection of Lazarus (11:1–46); the washing of the disciples’ feet (13:1–15); the Upper Room Discourse (chaps. 13–16); Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer (chap. 17); the miraculous catch of fish (21:1–6); and Jesus’ recommissioning of Peter and prediction of His martyrdom (21:15–19). John also contains more teaching on the Holy Spirit than is found in the Synoptics.

Two things must be borne in mind concerning the differences between John and the Synoptic Gospels. First, those differences are not contradictions; nothing in John contradicts the Synoptics, and vice versa. Second, the differences between John and the Synoptics must not be exaggerated. Both John and the Synoptics present Jesus Christ as the Son of Man, Israel’s Messiah (Mark 2:10; John 1:51), and the Son of God, God in human flesh (Mark 1:1; John 1:34). All four gospels picture Him as the Savior, who came to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21; cf. John 3:16), died a sacrificial death on the cross, and rose from the dead.

John and the Synoptics were designed by the divine Spirit to supplement each other. They “represent an interlocking tradition, that is, … they mutually reinforce or explain each other” (D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992], 161. Italics in original.). For example, at His trial (Mark 14:58) and while He was on the cross (Mark 15:29), Jesus’ enemies accused Him of having claimed that He would destroy the temple. The Synoptics do not record the basis for that false allegation, but John does (2:19). The Synoptics do not explain why the Jews had to bring Jesus before Pilate; John explains that the Romans had withheld from them the right of capital punishment (18:31). The Synoptics place Peter in the high priest’s courtyard (Matt. 26:58; Mark 14:54; Luke 22:54–55); John explains how he gained access (John 18:15–16). The call of Peter, Andrew, James, and John (Matt. 4:18–22) becomes more understandable in light of John 1:35–42, which reveals that they had already spent time with Jesus. The Synoptics record that immediately after the feeding of the five thousand Jesus sent the crowds away (Matt. 14:22; Mark 6:45); John reveals why He did that: They intended to try to make Him king (John 6:15). From John’s gospel it is evident that when the Sanhedrin met on Wednesday of Passion Week to plot Jesus’ arrest (Mark 14:1–2) they were merely implementing a decision made earlier, after the raising of Lazarus (John 11:47–53).

Not only does John’s background information make passages in the Synoptics more understandable; the opposite is also true. John, writing decades after the others, assumed his readers were familiar with the events recorded in the Synoptics. The birth narratives in Matthew and Luke reveal how the eternally preexistent Word (John 1:1) came to have a human family (John 2:12). In 1:40 John introduced Andrew as Peter’s brother, although he had not yet mentioned Peter. John’s explanatory footnote that “John [the Baptist] had not yet been thrown into prison” (John 3:24) assumes that his readers knew he eventually would be. Yet the gospel of John does not record the Baptist’s imprisonment, which is described in the Synoptics (Matt. 4:12; 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:20). John noted that “Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country” (John 4:44), yet that statement is not found in his gospel. It is, however, recorded in the Synoptics (Matt. 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24). John 6:67, 70–71 refers to the twelve apostles; but as noted above, John’s gospel, unlike the Synoptics (Matt. 10:2–4; Mark 3:14–19; Luke 6:13–16), does not have a list of the twelve apostles. From the way they are introduced, John evidently expected his readers to know who Mary and Martha were (11:1), even though he had not previously referred to them. They are, however, mentioned in Luke’s gospel (10:38–42). In that same connection, John noted that Mary was the one who anointed the Lord’s feet (11:2). He would not relate that story until chapter 12, but assumed his readers would be familiar with it from the synoptic accounts (Matt. 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9). John’s account of Philip’s hesitancy to bring the Greeks to Jesus until after he consulted first with Andrew (12:21–22) may have been motivated by the readers’ familiarity with Jesus’ command, “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles” (Matt. 10:5).

THE AUTHORSHIP OF JOHN’S GOSPEL

Like the other three gospels, the gospel of John does not name its author. But according to the testimony of the early church, the apostle John wrote it. Irenaeus (c. A.D. 130–200) was the first person to explicitly name John as author. In his work Against Heresies, written in the last quarter of the second century, Irenaeus testified, “Afterwards [after the Synoptic Gospels were written], John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia” (3.1.1). What makes his witness especially valuable is that Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 5.20), who was a disciple of the apostle John (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3.4). Thus there was a direct line from Irenaeus to John, with only one intervening link. Theophilus of Antioch, who lived at about the same time as Irenaeus, wrote, “The holy writings teach us, and all the spirit-bearing [inspired] men, one of whom, John, says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God’” (To Autolycus, 2.22). The church fathers after Irenaeus consistently held that the apostle John authored this gospel. The Muratorian Canon (a second-century list of New Testament books), Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Dionysius of Alexandria, and Eusebius all cite him as its author.

Earlier writers, while not naming the apostle John as its author, show familiarity with the fourth gospel. Justin Martyr (c. A.D. 100–165) quoted John 3:5 (First Apology, 61). That his student Tatian included John in his Diatessaron (the earliest known harmony of the gospels) offers further evidence that Justin was familiar with it. Even some outside the church (e.g., Gnostics such as Heracleon, Ptolemaeus, Basilides, and the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas; Marcion [who rejected all the gospels except Luke]; and the pagan opponent of Christianity, Celsus), though they rejected it or twisted its truth, acknowledged that the fourth gospel was penned by the apostle John.

The title (“According to John,” or “The Gospel According to John”) is not part of the original inspired text, but was added in later manuscripts. Nevertheless, no manuscript has ever been found that attributes John’s gospel to anyone other than him. Daniel B. Wallace notes that

the unbroken stream suggests recognition (or at least acknowledgment) of Johannine authorship as early as the first quarter of the second century. Indeed, John’s Gospel is unique among the evangelists for two early papyri (p66 and p75, dated c. 200) attest to Johannine authorship. Since these two [manuscripts] were not closely related to each other, this common tradition [of Johannine authorship] must precede them by at least three or four generations of copying. (“The Gospel of John: Introduction, Argument, Outline” [Biblical Studies Press: www.bible.org, 1999])

Unlike the canonical gospels, spurious gospels written by forgers invariably claimed to have been authored by a prominent figure in the early church, but could not survive scrutiny externally or internally. On the other hand, the true gospels have always withstood every legitimate examination as to authorship, though the authors’ names are not included.

The earliest extant portion of any New Testament book is a tiny fragment (p52) containing a few verses from John 18 and dating from about A.D. 130 (or earlier). (Another early fragment, known as the Egerton Papyrus 2, also quotes portions of John’s gospel. Scholars date it no later than the middle of the second century.) Nineteenth-century critics confidently dated the gospel of John in the second half of the second century. The discovery of p52 early in the twentieth century sounded the death knell for that view. The fragment was found in a remote region of Egypt. Allowing time for John’s gospel to have circulated that far pushes its date of writing back into the first century. In addition to the above-mentioned manuscript fragments, there is some archaeological evidence that also suggests that the gospel of John was known early in the second century (see Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979], 28–29).

As well as the external testimony, the internal evidence also points to the apostle John as the author. The nineteenth-century commentator and textual scholar B. F. Westcott summarized that evidence in a series of concentric circles, gradually narrowing the focus down to the apostle John (The Gospel According to St. John [Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978], v–xxiv). His reasoning is still valid today; “Westcott has not so much been confuted as bypassed. Nobody seems to have dealt adequately with his massive argument (Morris, John, 9). His argument may be briefly summarized as follows:

1. The author was a Jew. He was familiar with contemporary Jewish opinions about a wide range of topics, including the Messiah (e.g., 1:21, 25; 6:14–15; 7:26–27, 31, 40–42; 12:34), the importance of formal religious training (7:15), the relationship of suffering to personal sin (9:2), and the Jews’ attitude toward the Samaritans (4:9), women (4:27), and the Hellenistic Jews of the Diaspora (7:35). He was familiar with Jewish customs, including the necessity of avoiding ceremonial defilement from contact with Gentiles (18:28), the need for purification before celebrating Passover (11:55), as well as wedding (2:1–10) and burial (11:17–44; 19:40) customs. He was familiar with the great Jewish feasts of Passover (2:13; 6:4; 11:55), Tabernacles (Booths; 7:2), and Dedication (Hanukkah; 10:22).

2. The author was a Palestinian Jew. He had a detailed knowledge of local places available only to one who had actually lived in Palestine. He distinguished between the Bethany beyond the Jordan (1:28) and the Bethany on the outskirts of Jerusalem (11:1), and he knew the precise distance of the latter from Jerusalem (11:18). He was familiar with Jerusalem, describing at least three sites not mentioned in the Synoptics (the pool of Bethesda [5:2], the pool of Siloam [9:7; though Luke mentions a tower near the pool; Luke 13:4], and the ravine of the Kidron [18:1]). He also had a detailed knowledge of the temple (2:14, 20; 8:20; 10:23).

3. The author was an eyewitness. He gave specific details, even when they were not essential to the story. Many of those details could not have come from the Synoptics, which do not record them. They include the name of Judas Iscariot’s father (6:71; 13:2, 26), how long Lazarus had been in the tomb (11:17, 39), how long Jesus stayed in Sychar (4:40, 43), the precise time at which certain events occurred (1:39; 4:6, 52; 19:14; cf. 13:30), and exact numbers (1:35; 2:6; 6:9, 19; 19:23; 21:8, 11). He alone recorded that the loaves the boy had at the feeding of the five thousand were made of barley (6:9), that after Mary poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet the house was filled with its fragrance (12:3), that the branches the people lined the road with during the triumphal entry were palm branches (12:13), that Roman soldiers were in the party that accompanied Judas to Gethsemane (18:3, 12), that Jesus’ tunic was seamless (19:23), and that His facecloth was separate from the linen wrappings (20:7).

4. The author was an apostle. He was intimately acquainted with what the Twelve were thinking and feeling (e.g., 2:11, 17, 22; 4:27; 6:19; 12:16; 13:22, 28; 20:9; 21:12).

5. The author was the apostle John. It is remarkable that the apostle John, mentioned some twenty times in the Synoptic Gospels, is not named once in his gospel. Leon Morris observes, “It is not easy to think of a reason why any early Christian, other than John himself, should have completely omitted all mention of such a prominent Apostle” (Morris, John, 11). Further, only a preeminent person of unquestioned authority could have written a gospel that differed so markedly from the other three (see the discussion above) and had it universally accepted by the church.

Instead of naming the apostle John as its author, John’s gospel claims to have been written by “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (21:20). An analysis of the texts that mention him makes it clear that the beloved disciple is none other than the apostle John. The first clue to his identity is that he was present at the Last Supper (13:23). Since only the Twelve were present at that meal (Matt. 26:20; Mark 14:17–18; Luke 22:14), the beloved disciple had to have been an apostle (which means he cannot have been John Mark, Lazarus, or the rich young ruler [who was not even a believer! (Matt. 19:22)], as some critics have proposed). John 21:2 further narrows his identification to Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee, or two other unnamed disciples. Peter, Thomas, and Nathanael cannot be the beloved disciple, since they are named in the text. (He also cannot be Peter, because they address each other [13:24; 21:7]). The two unnamed disciples can also be ruled out; if one of them was the beloved disciple and hence the author of the fourth gospel, why did he not mention the apostle John by name? Further, his closeness to Jesus (“reclining on Jesus’ bosom” [13:23]) at the Last Supper reveals that the beloved disciple was one of the inner circle of the Twelve. Of those three, he cannot, as noted above, have been Peter. Nor could he have been James, because he was martyred too early to have written the gospel of John (Acts 12:2). By process of elimination, the beloved disciple and author of John (21:24) can only be the apostle John. That identification is further strengthened by the beloved disciple’s close association with Peter (13:23–24; 20:2; 21:7), which was true of John (Luke 22:8; Acts 3:1–11; 4:13, 19; 8:14; Gal. 2:9).

Despite the powerful external and internal evidence, many critics, as always desperately needing to assault the integrity of Scripture to discredit its truth and authority over their sinful lives, deny that the apostle John wrote the fourth gospel. The arguments they put forth are reflective of unbelief, unconvincing, and often highly subjective. Some argue that John, like his brother James, was martyred too early to have written the gospel of John. But that view is based on a misreading of Mark 10:39, which merely indicates that the two brothers would suffer, not necessarily that they would be martyred.

Others point to a “John the Elder” mentioned (according to Eusebius’s interpretation) by Papias. But it is unlikely that such a person even existed, much less wrote anything (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991], 69–70).

Another baseless argument put forth by the critics is that the Christology of the fourth gospel is too advanced for a first-generation Christian to have written it. But John’s Christology was divinely revealed (which critics reject) and is in harmony with that of the rest of the New Testament (cf. Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Col. 2:9; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1).

Still other spiritually blind skeptics maintain that an uneducated (Acts 4:13) Galilean fisherman could not have been fluent enough in Greek to have written the fourth gospel. But Acts 4:13 does not mean that John was illiterate, but merely that he had not been trained in the rabbinic schools (cf. John 7:15). Galilee was near the predominantly Gentile region known as the Decapolis, which was east and south of the Sea of Galilee. There is also evidence that Greek was commonly spoken throughout Palestine in the first century (cf. Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry, “The Languages Jesus Spoke,” in A Harmony of the Gospels [Chicago: Moody 1978], 309–12). In addition, John wrote this gospel after many years of living and ministering among Greek-speaking people in Ephesus (see below). Therefore it is foolish to make dogmatic presumptions regarding his competency in Greek.

A closer look at John reveals that he was the younger of the two sons of Zebedee (James is almost always listed first when the two are mentioned together, suggesting he was the elder brother), who was a prosperous fisherman on the Sea of Galilee and who owned his own boat and hired servants (Mark 1:20). John’s mother was Salome (cf. Mark 15:40 with Matt. 27:56), who contributed financially to Jesus’ ministry (Matt. 27:55–56), and who may have been the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus (John 19:25). If so, John and Jesus would have been cousins.

John first appears in Scripture as a disciple of John the Baptist (John 1:35–40; though characteristically, John did not name himself). When the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the Messiah, the apostle John immediately left him and followed Jesus (1:37). After remaining with Him for a while, John went back to his father’s fishing business. Later, he became a permanent disciple of Jesus (Matt. 4:18–22).

Along with his brother, James, and fellow fisherman, Peter, John was one of the three most intimate associates of Jesus (cf. Matt. 17:1; Mark 5:37; Mark 13:3; 14:33). After the ascension, John became one of the leaders of the Jerusalem church (Acts 1:13; 3:1–11; 4:13–21; 8:14; Gal. 2:9). According to tradition, John spent the last decades of his life at Ephesus, overseeing the churches in the surrounding region (Clement of Alexandria, Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?, 42) and writing his three epistles (c. A.D. 90–95). Toward the end of his life (according to Ire-naeus [Against Heresies, 3.3.4], John lived until the time of the emperor Trajan [A.D. 98–117]), John was banished to the island of Patmos. It was there that he received and wrote down the visions described in the book of Revelation (c. A.D. 94–96).

Despite his reputation as “the apostle of love,” John had a fiery temperament. Jesus named John and James “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17), and the two brothers lived up to that name. Indignant when a Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus and the disciples, and overestimating their apostolic power, they eagerly asked the Lord, “Do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). In the only place recorded in the Synoptic Gospels where John acted and spoke alone, he reveals the same attitude, saying to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us” (Luke 9:49).

Though he mellowed toward people over time (I trace the development of his spiritual character in my book Twelve Ordinary Men [Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2002]), John never lost his passion for the truth. Two vignettes from his years at Ephesus reveal that. According to Polycarp, “John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving [the heretic] Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, ‘Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within’” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3.4). Clement of Alexandria relates how John fearlessly entered the camp of a band of robbers whose captain had once professed faith in Christ and led him to true repentance (Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?, 42).

DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING

There is nothing specific in the gospel itself to indicate when it was written. Dates given by conservative scholars range from before the fall of Jerusalem to the last decade of the first century. (As noted above, a date in the second century is ruled out by the discovery of the papyrus fragments p52 and Egerton Papyrus 2.) Several considerations favor a date toward the end of that range (c. A.D. 80–90). The gospel of John was written long enough after Peter’s death (c. A.D. 67–68) for the rumor that John would live to see the second coming to have developed (John 21:22–23). That rumor would have had more plausibility when John was an old man. John does not mention the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple (A.D. 70). If his gospel were written a decade or more after that event, it may no longer have been an issue to his readers. (The temple’s destruction in any case would have been less significant to Gentiles and Jews of the Diaspora than to Palestinian Jews.) Finally, although not dependent on them, John was aware of the Synoptic Gospels. The later date allows time for them to have been written and circulated among John’s readers. The testimony of the church fathers further confirms that John was the last of the four gospels to be written (e.g., Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1.1; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.24, 6.14).

According to the uniform tradition of the early church, John wrote his gospel while living in Ephesus.

PURPOSE

John is the only one of the gospels that contains a precise statement of the author’s purpose: “But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:31). John’s objective was both apologetic (“that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God”) and evangelistic (“and that believing you may have life in His name”). In keeping with his evangelistic purpose, John used the verb “to believe” nearly one hundred times—more than twice as much as the Synoptics, emphasizing that those who savingly believe in Jesus will receive eternal life (3:15–16, 36; 4:14; 5:24, 39–40; 6:27, 33, 35, 40, 47–48, 54, 63, 68; 10:10, 28; 12:50; 14:6; 17:2–3; 20:31).

John’s apologetic purpose, which is inseparable from his evangelistic purpose, was to convince his readers of Jesus’ true identity. He presents Him as God incarnate (1:1, 14; 8:23, 58; 10:30; 20:28), the Messiah (1:41; 4:25–26), and the Savior of the world (4:42). To that end, John repeatedly stressed Jesus’ miraculous signs (e.g., 3:2; 6:2, 14; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18; 20:30), including eight specific ones: turning water into wine (2:1–11), healing a royal official’s son (4:46–54), healing a lame man at the pool of Bethesda (5:1–18), feeding the five thousand (6:1–15), walking on the Sea of Galilee (6:16–21), healing a man born blind (9:1–41), raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1–45), and providing a miraculous catch of fish (21:6–11). In addition to those signs was the most convincing sign of all—Jesus’ own resurrection (20:1–29).

In short, John presents Jesus as the eternal Word, Messiah, and Son of God who, through His death and resurrection, brings the gift of salvation to mankind. People respond by either accepting or rejecting the salvation that comes only through believing in Him.

OUTLINE

  1. The Incarnation of the Son of God (1:1–18)

    1. His Deity (1:1–2)

    2. His Pre-incarnate Work (1:3–5)

    3. His Forerunner (1:6–8)

    4. His Rejection (1:9–11)

    5. His Reception (1:12–13)

    6. His Becoming Flesh (1:14–18)

  2. The Presentation of the Son of God (1:19–4:54)

    1. Presentation by John the Baptist (1:19–34)

      1. To the religious leaders (1:19–28)

      2. At Christ’s baptism (1:29–34)

    2. Presentation to His First Disciples (1:35–51)

      1. Andrew and Peter (1:35–42)

      2. Philip and Nathanael (1:43–51)

    3. Presentation in Galilee (2:1–12)

      1. First sign: water to wine (2:1–10)

      2. Disciples believe (2:11–12)

    4. Presentation in Judea (2:13–3:36)

      1. Cleansing the temple (2:13–25)

      2. Teaching Nicodemus (3:1–21)

      3. Preaching by John the Baptist (3:22–36)

    5. Presentation in Samaria (4:1–42)

      1. Witness to the Samaritan woman (4:1–26)

      2. Witness to the disciples (4:27–38)

      3. Witness to the Samaritans (4:39–42)

    6. Presentation in Galilee (4:43–54)

      1. Reception by the Galileans (4:43–45)

      2. Second sign: healing the nobleman’s son (4:46–54)

  3. The Opposition to the Son of God (5:1–12:50)

    1. Opposition at the Feast in Jerusalem (5:1–47)

      1. Third sign: healing the paralytic (5:1–9)

      2. Rejection by the Jews (5:10–47)

    2. Opposition in Galilee (6:1–71)

      1. Fourth sign: feeding the 5,000 (6:1–14)

      2. Fifth sign: walking on water (6:15–21)

      3. Bread of Life discourse (6:22–71)

    3. Opposition at the Feast of Tabernacles (7:1–10:21)

    4. Opposition at the Feast of Dedication (10:22–42)

    5. Opposition at Bethany (11:1–12:11)

      1. Seventh sign: raising of Lazarus (11:1–44)

      2. The Sanhedrin plots to kill Christ (11:45–57)

      3. Mary anoints Christ (12:1–11)

    6. Opposition in Jerusalem (12:12–50)

      1. The triumphal entry (12:12–22)

      2. The discourse on faith and rejection (12:23–50)

  4. The Preparation of the Disciples by the Son of God (13:1–17:26)

    1. In the Upper Room (13:1–14:31)

      1. Washing feet (13:1–20)

      2. Announcing the betrayal (13:21–30)

      3. Teaching on His departure (13:31–14:31)

    2. On the Way to the Garden (15:1–17:26)

      1. Instructing the disciples (15:1–16:33)

      2. Interceding with the Father (17:1–26)

  5. The Execution of the Son of God (18:1–19:37)

    1. The Rejection of Christ (18:1–19:16)

      1. His arrest (18:1–11)

      2. His trials (18:12–19:16)

    2. The Crucifixion of Christ (19:17–37)

  6. The Resurrection of the Son of God (19:38–21:23)

    1. The Burial of Christ (19:38–42)

    2. The Resurrection of Christ (20:1–10)

    3. The Appearances of Christ (20:11–21:23)

      1. To Mary Magdalene (20:11–18)

      2. To the disciples without Thomas (20:19–25)

      3. To the disciples with Thomas (20:26–29)

      4. Parenthesis: John’s purpose in writing his gospel (20:30–31)

      5. To the disciples (21:1–23)

  7. Conclusion (21:24–25)