Paper Summary:

Though the Gospel of John shares some concrete similarities with the synoptic gospels (such as the crucifixion), its text differs radically in its form and content. This paper aspires to delineate the elements of the Gospel of John (often referred to as the "the Fourth Gospel") that separate it from the synoptic gospels. The paper concludes that it is quite evident that there are numerous significant elements which separate John's Gospel from the synoptics in a profound way.

From the Paper:

"John's Gospel lacks a substantial amount of material that is found in the Synoptic Gospels. Some of the significant events omitted include: "the temptation of Jesus, Jesus' transfiguration, and the institution of the Lord's supper". John does not mention any instances of Jesus performing exorcisms. Although, Walton and Wenham interestingly propose: "The gospel which fails to describe any of Jesus' individual exorcisms still has the idea of Jesus casting out the evil cosmic ruler through his death." They continue to further suggest that John gives a "host of clues." For example, when John draws a parallel between "Jesus' death with the bronze snake lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, to save the Israelites from their sins (John 3:14; to Num. 21:9)." Other omissions include the sermon of the mount, the Lord's prayer and narrative parables. Just as John lacks material found in the synoptics, he also includes a large body of material which is not found in the synoptics including material found in John 2 to 4 (Jesus' inaugural scene a "richly symbolic narrative" at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turns water into wine and another scene where Jesus is talking with a Samaritan woman), Jesus' early Galilean ministry, the seventh sign-miracle, the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11) and the extended Farwell Discourse (John 13-17). Another glaring difference includes Jesus' humility displayed before the last supper: "humility and self-abasement of the Son of God is clearly the meaning of the foot-washing scene." Brown further states that "in context of the early Christian community, there may well have been an underlying sacramental motif... and some of the Fathers see baptismal implications in the washing of the feet."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Logos. Online: Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos> This page was last modified 21:46, 7 November 2005.
• Borg, Marcus J. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally. NewYork: Harper Collins, 2001.
• Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel of St. John and The Johanine Epistles. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1960.
• Gaebelein, Frank E. The Expositors Bible Commentary Vol. 9. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1981.
• Hanson, Anthony Tyrell. The Prophetic Gospel: A Study of John and the Old Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991.

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