(1 Cor.13:8) Love “is a perfect bond of union.” (Col. 3:14) Love, of the kind that John advocated, sticks to principle and is capable of strong reproof, correction and discipline, as well as kindness and mercy.

Wherever he appears in the three synoptic Gospel accounts, as well as in all of his own writings, John always manifested the same strong love and loyalty toward Jesus Christ and his Father Jehovah. Loyalty and hatred of that which is bad are manifest in his noting of bad motives or traits in the actions of others. He alone tells us that it was Judas who grumbled at Mary’s use of expensive ointment to anoint Jesus’ feet and the reason for Judas’ complaint: because he carried the money box and was a thief. (John 12:4-6) He points out that Nicodemus came to Jesus ‘under cover of night.’ (John 3:2) He notes the serious flaw in Joseph of Arimathea, that he was “a disciple of Jesus but a secret one out of his fear of the Jews.” (John 19:38) John could not countenance the fact that anyone could profess to be a disciple of his Master and yet be ashamed of it.

John had developed the fruits of the spirit to a far greater degree when he wrote his Gospel and letters than when he was a young man newly associated with Jesus. He was certainly not the same person who had asked for a special seat in the Kingdom. And in his writings we can find expression of his maturity and good counsel to help us to imitate his faithful, loyal, energetic course.

JOHN, THE GOOD NEWS ACCORDING TO

One of the four accounts of Jesus Christ’s earthly life and ministry, and the last one to be written.

WRITERSHIP

Although the book does not name its writer, it has been almost universally acknowledged that it was by the hand of the apostle John. From the beginning his writership was not challenged, except by a small group in the second century who objected on the ground that they considered the book’s teachings unorthodox, but not because of any evidence concerning writership. Only since the advent of modern “critical” scholarship has John’s writership been challenged anew.

The internal evidence that the apostle John, the son of Zebedee, was indeed the writer consists of such an abundance of proofs from various viewpoints that it overwhelms any arguments to the contrary. Only a very limited number of points are mentioned here, but the alert reader, with these things in mind, will find a great many more. A few are:

(a) The writer of the book was evidently a Jew, as indicated by his familiarity with Jewish opinions.—John 1:21; 6:14; 7:40; 12:34.

(b) He was a native dweller in the land of Palestine, as indicated by his thorough acquaintance with the country. The details mentioned concerning places named indicate personal knowledge of them. Among these are: “Bethany across the Jordan” (John 1:28) and ‘Bethany near Jerusalem’ (11:18); there was a garden at the place where Christ was impaled, and a new memorial tomb in it (19:41); Jesus “spoke in the treasury as he was teaching in the temple” (8:20); “It was wintertime, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon” (10:22, 23), and many other exact descriptions.

(c) The writer’s own testimony and the factual evidence show that he was an eyewitness. He names individuals who said or did certain things (John 1:40; 6:5, 7; 12:21; 14:5, 8, 22; 18:10); he is detailed about the times of events (4:6, 52; 6:16; 13:30; 18:28; 19:14; 20:1; 21:4); he factually designates numbers in his descriptions, doing so unostentatiously.—1:35; 2:6; 4:18; 5:5; 6:9, 19; 19:23; 21:8, 11.

(d) The writer was an apostle. No one but an apostle could have been eyewitness to so many events associated with Jesus’ ministry; also his intimate knowledge of Jesus’ mind, feelings and reasons for certain actions reveals that he was one of the party of twelve who accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry. For example, he tells us that Jesus asked Philip a question to test him, “for he himself knew what he was about to do.” (John 6:5, 6) Jesus knew “in himself that the disciples were murmuring.” (6:61) He knew “all the things coming upon him.” (18:4) He “groaned in the spirit and became troubled.” (11:33; compare 13:21; 2:24; 4:1, 2; 6:15; 7:1) The writer was also familiar with the apostles’ thoughts and impressions, some of which were wrong and were corrected later.—2:21, 22; 11:13; 12:16; 13:28; 20:9; 21:4.

Additionally, the writer is spoken of as “the disciple whom Jesus used to love.” (John 21:20, 24) He was evidently one of the three most intimate apostles that Jesus kept nearest to him on several occasions, such as the transfiguration (Mark 9:2) and the time of his anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. (Matt. 26:36, 37) Of these three apostles, James is eliminated as the writer because of his being put to death about 44 C.E. by Herod Agrippa I. There is no evidence whatsoever for such an early date for the writing of this Gospel. Peter is ruled out by having his name mentioned alongside “the disciple whom Jesus used to love.”—John 21:20, 21.

AUTHENTICITY

The Gospel of John was accepted as canonical by the early Christian congregation. It appears in nearly all the ancient catalogues, being there accepted without query as authentic. The epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 C.E.) contain clear traces of his use of John’s Gospel, as do also the writings of Justin Martyr a generation later. It is found in all the most important codices of the Christian Greek Scriptures: the Sinaitic, Vatican, Alexandrine, Ephraemi, Bezae, Washington and Koridethi codices, and in all the early versions. A fragment of this Gospel containing part of John chapter 18 is contained in the John Rylands Papyrus 457 (P⁵²), of the first half of the second century. Also parts of chapters 10 and 11 are found in the Chester Beatty Papyrus (P⁴⁵) and part of the first chapter in the Bodmer Papyrus (P⁶⁶) of the early third century.

WHEN AND WHERE WRITTEN

It is generally thought that John had been released from exile on the island of Patmos and was in or near Ephesus, about sixty miles (c. 97 kilometers) from Patmos, at the time he wrote his Gospel, about 98 C.E. Roman Emperor Nerva, 96-98 C.E., recalled many who had been exiled at the close of the reign of his predecessor Domitian. John may have been among these. In the Revelation John received on