Please read Chapters 11-22 of John's gospel.I said in class that John may be concentrating on Jesus' esoteric (private) teaching, while the synoptics concentrate on Jesus' exoteric (public) teaching. Choose a verse from the assigned chapters and a "parallel" verse from one of the synoptics on the same subject (e.g., money, leadership, faith, etc.). Compare and contrast the two verses. Do you see here two different ways of making the same point? A "deeper" teaching in one or the other? Explain.
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That was another test to make sure that my blogs will post. I chose to comment on the denial of Simon Peter. Before the crucifixion of Jesus, he had stated that all of his disciples would deny and forget about him.
Peter was one of Jesus's most loyal and trusted disciples. He was a fisherman and of the first disciples. He didn't believe that he would deny Jesus after his crucifixion. He thought that he would never forget his faith.
After Jesus's crucifixion, sure enough Peter did deny that he was a disciple of Jesus. A high priest
asked him if was a disciple and Peter stated "I am not." This was a story that I remember learning when I was a little kid and was attending Sunday school.
Alex Mason
Jesus states in both Mark 13:9-13 and John 15:18-16:3 that those that believe in Him will be persecuted and hated for their beliefs. Those that persecute "[Mark 13:9] will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them." Jesus tells his disciples to not worry because God will assist them to spread the Gospel to others. Jesus also predicts that even a disciple's family will betray them because of their hatred for Jesus and his teachings.
John writings are slightly different in that Jesus picked His disciples out of the world and that is why the world hates them. As Jesus was persecuted, so will His disciples be persecuted. Jesus also states that due to His presence, "They hated me without a cause" (15:25).
John goes into detail on why the world persecutes Jesus and his disciples. Mark goes into the what will happen when they persecute the disciples. While Mark spells it out on the procedure, John points out the philosophical reasons why they persecute Jesus and his followers.
While John does seem to focus a lot on Jesus's private teachings, he talks in Chapter 17 about the prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden. The way he wrote it makes it seem as though he was there close enough to hear it. In Matthew and Luke, they only say that He came back to the disciples and repremanded them for sleeping. One of the things that He tells them is that they should be ever vigilant to the coming of the Father, watching to see Him coming, just as in the Prodigal Son parable, the Father is watching for his son. So, in comparison, it seems as though John was close enough to Jesus to overhear the prayers in the garden and to remember them later on.
Let us remember John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." No where else is this mentioned to my knowledge. This statement made before the crucifixition is a foreshadow what will happen: that Jesus would die for his firends in the Father and Holy Spirit.
~Amanda Blood~
In both Luke and John, there is the story of Jesus praying before he was arrested and cruxified. In Luke, this story is titled "Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives," and in John it's titled "Jesus Prays for His Disciples."
In Luke, Jesus prays to "remove this cup from me..." In John, it is much more private and specific. In John he announces that he made God's name present on Earth. I am not sure if he specifically means to his disciples, but that is the way I read it. He says that he is asking for help on "their behalf" and not on behalf of the world. He also prays for those who believed him, and asks God to sanctify them in the truth. In my opinion, this message is directly to the disciples, causing it to be an estoric teaching.
Alyson Guthrie
In Luke 6:43-45, Jesus tell the parable “A Tree and Its Fruit” to a group of people during the Sermon on the Plain. He states “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
In this parable to the people, Jesus simply teaches that your heart will be revealed by your actions. If you have good in your heart, you will come across as a good person, for that is what you will be. The same is true with evil. John gives a different and deeper account of Jesus teaching (to his disciples, it appears) using the same fruit-type metaphors in John 15:1-8, sections of which follow:
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
This esoteric teaching of the same type of story goes much deeper than the account in Luke. It still emphasizes that people will bear good fruit, or show good, godly, outward actions if their heart is in the right place. However, John’s story goes a bit further. First, it explains that in order for us to bear any good fruit at all, we must truly believe and follow the teachings of Jesus. Without these things, no fruit is possible at all. It secondly reaches that if we follow Jesus’ teachings, he will remain by our side through anything and everything. This was probably a memorable concept for the disciples as they were being persecuted for following Jesus, especially after his death. Third, this section taught that it is glorifying of God when people bear good fruit, and it proves to God, to others, and to ourselves that we are true disciples of God.
However, the additional teaching doesn’t even stop here. In the following section of John, verses 9-17, Jesus uses similar wording to transfer the idea of servitude and faithfulness to that of love. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love…My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
So Jesus expands the relationship between God, himself, and us as it applies to obedience and faithfulness. He now teaches that we should love each other like Jesus loved us and gave up his life for is, and how God loved us and gave up his only son so that we may have eternal life.
By this example it’s easy to see that whereas Luke portrayed Jesus as teaching a simple story of outward appearances to a group of onlookers, John took a similar story with similar concepts and took it much deeper to levels of where fruit comes from, what its purpose is, and how we are to love each other. He makes the same basic point in both, but in John, Jesus’ lesson is taken much, much further.
Rachelle Rasmussen
I chose a verse from Matthew 19:13-15 and John 13:33-34. Both of these verses express the importance of having children take jesus into their lives at a young age and believe in him even though it is a very abstract idea for them.
I understand Johns translation clearer, because it is more direct. Explaining that they must love one another even though Jesus might not be visable. Essentially they must carryout his message all the time, not just when he is physically present.
Matthew explains it by saying that the little children should come to Jesus. "Let the children cometo me , and do not forbid them, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
One major difference between the two is with Matthew one has to read between the lines while John is much more understandable. Obvious that Matthew expects his readers to have more backround information. I think that John has a deeper meaning, but it also could be because I am able to "fish" more out of his translation compared to Matthew.
-Maggie Madrid
I choose the verse about Peter denying God. I think that John looks at the forgivness of it where as the other Gosples just state the fact. John looks much deeper into it and says that even though you are going to do this don't worry or be troubled by it but rather beleive and tell the good news. I think that this shows that Jesus forgives us right away even though we don't always deserve it. John does a good job at relating the message of grace to his audience not only in this passage, but in others too.
-Matthew Scott
There are noticeable differences between the gospel of John and the other synoptic gospels, however, one thing remains clear; the gospel of John focuses on salvation and individual faith. This is important, because John focuses on Jesus’ actions and miracles rather than genealogy and more concrete details. Also, John illustrates a keener sense of emotion and even Jesus’ possible frustration. His private emotions are more prominently displayed, while the other synoptics neglect certain internal struggles. For example, John 6:14-15 states, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.” Only after the men had been fed and the miracle had been performed did they acknowledge Jesus as the prophet. However, Jesus seems frustrated, because it takes a miracle to try to prove this and then inevitably it does not make a difference. Why cannot they just accept this faith? Interestingly enough, Mark fails to mention this part of the verse. Mark 6:42-44 states, They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. There is absolutely no mention of Jesus’ frustration or how people finally acknowledged his presence. This verse now takes on a completely different tone. I believe that John, demands greater attention to the emotional value and therefore creates a “deeper” meaning. It shows such sincere anguish and truly validates Jesus’ frustration because of the lack of faith. While Mark and John both address miracles, John’s approach is much more philosophical and personal. It provokes thought that you cannot let go of, whereas Mark merely states facts and moves onto another miracle.
Kirsten Saunders
One of the most moving of all the biblical stories is the prayer of Jesus in the garden before his crucifixion. This story in John is written at a much more personal level than in any of the other Gospels.
The only way that an author would write a very personal event in this amount of detail would be if he had a first hand witness of it or if he was in fact there. So to use such a personal event and to describe it as such is most interesting.
John Schirado
I will comment on the ointment that Mary of Bethany uses on Jesus both in Matthew and John. In Matthew the accuser of wasting such a valuable commodity isn't specific, saying the disciples; however, in John he says that Judas Iscariot (the one who betrays him) is the one who mentions the 'waste.' I think this is comparable because John is trying to make it clear that Judas is going to do wrong and is wrong in accusing Mary of wasting the ointment; whereas, Matthew is not concerned with picking a unlikable character such as Judas but is giving a message to a wider crowd. Both are pointing out that Jesus and his father are the important parts of life but one is making a broad group association and the other to the 'betrayer,' making it more personal to the reader.
I chose John 6, 1-15, the "Multiplication of the Loaves," and compared the section to Mark 6, 34-44, the "Feeding of Five Thousand." I learned that this story is in all of the gospels, and the section in Mark is in detail. In comparing the two sections, John's story does seem to be more in debth than Mark's. One thing that stood out to me was John 6, 15, something not mentioned in Mark, and is stated as a thought of Jesus. This could signal an esoterric teaching, that the Gospel Acc to John could have been intended for.
A common theme runs throughout the entire Gospel of John, which is no belief. Throughout the synoptic gospels there are parables to tell the people that they need to believe, and works of mercy that shows them that Jesus is truly the Son of God, but still they do not believe.
In John, especially in John 16:16, he again has to tell his disciple to believe. If I was Jesus, I would be frustrated at about this time, because this is nothing new for him. People in the community do not believe and very few of his disciples believe. He uses parables in the other stories, such as the fig tree, the ten virgins outside the gate, and separating the wheat from chaff All parables about believing, following, and having eternal life come from Jesus to the masses. Jesus tells his disciples straight out what he needs from them and what is expected to have eternal life in him. However, they are still a little slow on believing and doing.
Jesus tells his disciples this to prepare them for his death, and their ministry after his death because that is when they themselves will be persecuted and ridiculed. By preparingthem now, by directly telling them, he is hoping to harden their resolve and prepare them for this trial.
The passages I will focus on is "The Agony in the Garden" in Mark and "The Prayer of Jesus" in John, both of which are right before Judas's betrayal. The only part of the prayer Mark includes is "Abba Father all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will." Mark seems more conserded with Jesus and the men falling asleep. John on the other hand goes into much greater detail of Jesus's prayer and says nothing about the disciples falling asleep.
Eric Saathoff
Johm is the only gospel book that covers all the places Jesus was taken before his crucifixtion. The rest just tell of him going before pilot and Herod. John goes more indepth on the trial of Jesus.
Jessica Hinners
The Gospel of John does spend more time discussing singular/private miracles then those of the synoptic, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In John: Chapter 11- verses 19-29, Martha heard Jesus was coming to her house. Her brother had died. When she met Jesus outside, she said, “If you were only here a few days ago he could have been saved.” Jesus said her brother would rise again. Martha remembered old prophesies of the ending/revelations/judgment and said she knew her brother would rise. Verses 25-27 says:
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
26 And whosoever liveth and believe in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
There is much more to the passages in this chapter of John. They also mention a sister named Mary.
The Gospel of Luke: Chapter 10; verses 38 – 42 doesn’t mention the miracle performed for Martha.
38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she must help me.
41 And Jesus answered and sad unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
I don’t know if these passages in the two gospels are referring to the same women but if they are, it shows what one apostle emphasizes and the other doesn’t.
JinSeop Lee
There is difference expression between in the gospel of John and the synoptics. In the gospel of John 19:28~30, the writer of John wrote Jesus’ dying. “I’m thristy” and “It is finished!”. In the gospel of John, it was written Jesus’ dying using those seneteces. And also, we can realize the difference Jesus’ dying between in the gospel of John and the synoptics after reading the synoptics. In the Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, we can find the verse of Jesus dying. They wrote Jesus’ dying using “My god, my god, why have you forsaken me?”.
That is to say, we can find the difference between them. In the John, it expressed Jesus dying as a figure who attain the stage of high status. It is not a just common persson who will face died. It is godly dying to succed the plan of God. The word – “thirsty” and “finished” are very meaningful words in those senteces. However, in the synoptic, they expressed the jesus’ dying as miserable dying.
John has chapters 13-17 that focus on the esoteric teachings. Finding a verse that parallels John’s gospel from the synoptics is kind of hard compared to earlier when we compared them to each other. There are however a few, in John 15:7, Jesus states to his 12 disciples, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” This is paralleled in Mathew 7:7 when Christ speaking to the crowds on the mountainside, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” This is a perfect example of how Jesus is shown to have an exoteric teaching in the synoptics and an esoteric teaching in John.
-Nate Mills
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