John

Author
The internal evidence of the gospel is that it was written by the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (Jn 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20-25), and early tradition identifies this as the apostle John, the brother of James and the son of Zebedee (Jn 21:2, Lk 5:10).

Recipients
This gospel contains no explicit reference explaining exactly to whom it was written, but the author assumes his readers are familiar with Christianity by his cryptic beginning (Jn 1:1-18) and unexplained use of technical terms (Jn 6:70, 13:23).

Place of Origin and Date
No specific information regarding the place of origin or date of this gospel is contained in it. Early tradition tells us this gospel was written from Ephesus late in the first century.

Immediate Occasion
The only internal evidence that gives us a clue about the immediate occasion of the gospel is Jn 20:31, "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ." John's purpose is to give his Christian readers faith in Christ, as though their faith was being threatened by external forces. (We should not think that Jn 20:31 suggests that the gospel of John contains all that someone would need to know in order to become a Christian.)

A known threat in the late first century was gnosticism, which basically denied the Deity of Jesus. John clearly states that Jesus was God (Jn 1:1, 14). Perhaps John's readers were being threatened with gnosticism and John's gospel was designed to draw them back to a deep conviction that Jesus was really the Christ in the flesh.

Main Theme and Focus
John has several main themes in which he wishes to give faith to his readers. John wants his readers to have personal faith in Jesus on the basis of the testimony of the apostles, not necessarily the witnessing of miracles. Notice that the Jewish leaders saw miracles and yet did not believe (Jn 12:37, 15:24), while there is praise for those who do not see miracles and yet still believe (Jn 20:24-31).

Additionally, John goes into an extensive discussion of Jesus' relationship to the Father (Jn 1:1-2, 3:35-36, 4:34, 5:16-44, 6:43-51, 7:28-29, 8:54-55, 10:22-38, 12:44-50, 14:5-14, 17:1-5). John also highlights the conflict between the Jews and Jesus, especially Pilate's desire to release Jesus (Jn 19:6).

John's main style in writing is to discuss an event for the purpose of explaining a truth about Jesus. At the end of the book, he expresses a frustration about not being able to tell us everything he remembers, yet at the same time assuring his readers that he has told them enough for them to put their trust in Jesus as the Christ (Jn 20:30-31, 21:25).

Key Passages for Today
Jn 1:1-18 The purpose of Jesus.
Jn 3:1-7 The teaching on new birth.
Jn 8:31-32 True discipleship.
Jn 13-16 The farewell discourse.
Jn 17:1-26 Jesus' prayer for the church.