The goal, obviously, is to linger with and savor a single gospel account. In prior years, reading through the Bible in an entire year, the goal was coverage, getting from Genesis to Revelation. But with this four year gospel reading plan, the idea isn't coverage but to go deeper.
Having already spent a lot of time in John this year, this is a series sharing some of my reflections about the Gospel of John.
As you know, there are many differences between John and the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). And here's one that strikes you forcefully. Compared to the Synoptics, there's not a lot of moral content in the Gospel of John. To be sure, moral content does show up toward the end of the book, when Jesus washes his disciples' feet and gives them the new commandment to love each other. But for most of the book, chapter after chapter, the focus is less upon moral exhortations (like what we find in the Sermon on the Mount) than upon the identity of Jesus.
Frankly, this obsessive focus can get monotonous. You want to say to the author, "We get it. Jesus is the Son of God. Move along." This can also make teaching the Gospel of John in a Bible class a bit of a challenge. Week after week, you're telling a group of Christians that Jesus is the Son of God. Which they already know and believe. Most people in Bible classes want something practical, but John just keeps making Christological claims, over and over. These repeated Christological claims can seem like rehashing old news. It's rudimentary.
Scholars believe that John's Christological focus was due to the challenges the Johannine community was facing. Specifically, Jewish converts to the Christian faith were facing persecution and being expelled from the local synagogues for being heretics. Consequently, establishing the identity and mission of Jesus was vital for this community. Christology--Who is Jesus Christ?--was the critical issue facing these early Jewish converts.
In short, there's not a lot of moral exhortations in the Gospel of John--stuff like, "turn the other cheek"--because Jesus himself is the moral decision now facing you. In the Gospel of John, how you stand in relation to Jesus is the whole moral and ethical ballgame. Everything flows from that.
Facing expulsion from the synagogues, you can see how the Gospel of John was written to give the Johannine community assurance and courage to choose Jesus. As the old gospel song asks, "What will you do with Jesus?" That was the choice the Johannine community was facing. Christology was their crossroads.
Basically, the Gospel of John presents Jesus as "the Choice." And while Rudolf Bultmann got many things wrong in his seminal commentary on the Gospel of John, he did get this one thing right. Jesus confronts you in the Gospel of John as the "Existential Decision." Where do you stand in relation to Jesus? That is the Question of your life. The only real Question. In the Gospel of John, everything in your life depends upon how you answer.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus isn't a moral teacher. He's not a philosopher, sage or guru.
Jesus is the Choice.
