Category Archives: John

It is always interesting to compare John with the Synoptics, and in the case of John 5, the comparison and the contrast are important. Even among the minimalists and deconstructionists, there are a handful of things that no one argues about when it comes to the life of Jesus of Nazareth. One of those is thatContinue reading “John 5”

John 4 may be my least favorite chapter of the book. I know, I’m not supposed to make those kinds of judgements, but I’ll have to live with the consequences. In the first place, the chapter is too long—it should have ended with the extended woman at the well ordeal. Who made up those chapterContinue reading “John 4”

There are pieces of the Nicodemus story that usually get a lot of press. If you’re from my tradition, what’s he saying about baptism? If you’re a “born again” Christian, the passage has some critical language for you. And the place of 3:16 goes without saying—after all, it outsells even “Footprints” in the realm ofContinue reading “John 3”

In chapter 2, John is setting us up nicely for the rest of the book. A critical eye trained on the Gospels leads us to the conclusion that John has relocated the “cleansing of the Temple” from the end of Jesus’s ministry to the beginning. If we can reconcile ourselves to the evidence (I’ll letContinue reading “John 2”

A couple of things stood out as I read John 1 this time. Having just finished Mark, with his very gradual and inductive conclusion about Jesus’ identity, John strikes me as opening with a lightening offensive on the identity of the story’s main character: the Logos incarnate, the true light, God the one and only,Continue reading “John 1”