The Plot of the Gospel of John
ARTICLE • Writing explicitly to inspire readers’ faith in Jesus Christ (John 20:31), the apostle John masterfully crafted the plot of his eyewitness account of Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection.
Read time: 6 min
In contrast to the synoptic writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), John arranged his gospel not chronologically but thematically, selecting and sequencing key narratives about Jesus in order to illustrate and prove that Jesus was the Christ, the authoritative, saving, only begotten Son of God. This may help explain why John placed the famous ‘cleansing of the temple’ scene early in the ministry of Jesus, for example, despite the fact that Luke—who wrote in a strict, beginning-to-end chronological fashion (Luke 1:1–4; Acts 1:1–2)—placed what was likely the same event at the end of Jesus’ ministry and near his death (Luke 19:45–48). John was building a theological case for Christ and ordering many of the same narratives in specific places in his gospel to serve that end.
Prologue: John Previews the Plot
Importantly, before John launched into the vital historical narrative portions of his gospel, he set the reader’s expectations for what would follow in the next twenty-one chapters. We call this unique section John’s prologue, or introduction (John 1:1–18). He began his work with philosophical-theological statements to ground the rest of the book:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1–3).
In Greek philosophy, the logos (Word) was understood to be the ultimate organizing principle of all visible and invisible reality, “that which gives life and meaning to the universe” (ref). John employed this familiar concept of the logos and affirmed that Jesus was that logos! The apostle Paul would later use a similar technique by appropriating the Athenian altar to the “Unknown God,” the supreme deity they believed had “made the world and everything in it.” Paul—certainly not syncretistically acquiescing to whatever errors they espoused—nonetheless tied this undefined deity to the true God by affirming, “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23).
John doesn’t linger long in philosophical abstraction: he boldly names the eternal logos as the living, breathing person of Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal yet incarnate Son of God.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
A Two-Fold Plot
John’s prologue sets up the plot line that tracks throughout the gospel. The plot is two-fold:
Plot line 1: God entered space and time, subsisting in the union of the eternal logos with human sarx (flesh) in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14).
Plot line 2: Despite the God-man’s glory and absolute authority, he was almost universally rejected by the very ones to whom he came (John 1:11). So bitter was his rejection, that in the end his opponents would murder him (John 19:15–16).
To develop his two-fold plot in his gospel, John must (1) give evidence that Jesus was the incarnation of the eternal, divine logos, and (2) he must tell the story of how Jesus was rejected, hated, and killed as the sacrificial “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And this is exactly what we find throughout the rest of the gospel.
The Structure of the Plot
John’s twenty-one chapters are sometimes treated according to three main divisions, each of which support both plot lines:
Jesus’ public signs and discourses (chapters 1-12)
Jesus’ private discourse and farewell (chapters 13-17)
Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection, and post-mortem appearances (chapters 18-21)
Another even simpler way to divide the gospel is into two main parts: the “book of signs” (1-12) and the “book of glory” (13-21).
The Book of Signs
In the first 12 chapters, John records seven highly selective “signs” (as opposed to mere miracles), signs that display Jesus’ identity as the incarnate, divine logos:
Jesus turns the water of the purification vessels into wine.
Jesus heals a nobleman’s son.
Jesus heals an invalid man.
Jesus feeds 5,000+ with a few loaves and fishes (as the embodiment of the manna in the wilderness).
Jesus walks on the stormy Galilean sea.
Jesus heals a man who was blind from birth.
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.
The Book of Glory
The literary scenery changes and slows dramatically as John transitions, in chapters 13-21, to the final days of Jesus’ life. Giving this portion significant emphasis and space to recount, John narrated the final week of Jesus’ life by taking up well over half of the gospel (chapters 13–21). The touching scene of the exclusive Passover meal, Jesus’ discourses on the world and being his disciples, his promises and directives concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit after his departure, and his priestly prayer. These are recorded in chapters 13-17. John’s emphasis on the glorification of Christ in death is palpable beginning in chapter 12 and continuing all the way through his prayer for glorification (17:1). Jesus’ gutsy appearance before Pilate (to which the apostle Paul appealed when charging Timothy to be fiercely courageous, cf. 1 Tim. 6:13) and his grueling crucifixion create the climax of the entire book. As a decrescendo, in chapter 21 John employs Jesus’ intimate restoration and recommission of the apostle Peter as the epilogue to his gospel.
Unity of the Plot
John maintains a masterful unity throughout his twenty-one chapters, which he does by the repetition of key words and ideas.
Repetition of Key Words
The words “light” and “darkness” (including the various forms they take) together are mentioned 34 times.
Also, “life” and “death” (and their various forms) total some 86 occurrences in the gospel.
Less numerous but no less unifying is John’s six uses of the “hour” for which Jesus came into the world. On several occasions Jesus states that his “hour” had not yet come. John several times states that the authorities did not lay hands upon him, “because his hour had not yet come” (e.g. John 7:30).
Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Most famously, John further unifies his work by weaving Jesus’ seven “I am” sayings throughout the first fourteen chapters. Each time Jesus professed to be “I am,” there is no missing the deeper point. In fact, outside of the seven “I Am” sayings, twice more Jesus utters the words—once to claim to have been pre-existent to Abraham (John 8:58), and once in the garden, where at the saying the guards fall backwards at the power of Jesus’ words (John 18:6). The inference is unmistakable: Jesus is the incarnate Yahweh, the “I Am Who I AM,” who had spoken to Moses from the burning bush (cf. Ex 3:14). Here are the seven key sayings:
I am the bread of life (John 6:35).
I am the light of the world (John 8:12).
I am the gate of the sheep (John 10:7).
I am the good shepherd (John 10:11).
I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).
I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
I am the true vine (John 15:1).
The Aim of the Plot
As amazing as each ‘I Am’ statement is, John records them—and every narrative—to evoke a response of faith in the Jesus as the Son of God equal with the Father (John 5:18) and Savior (John 3:16). We should specifically notice the relationship of pistis (faith) to Christ as the infinitely worthy object of our faith. For instance:
Faith partakes of Jesus the Bread of Life to satisfy eternal hunger.
Faith welcomes Christ the Light.
Faith enters Christ the Door into eternal life.
Faith hears and follows Christ the Shepherd unto eternal life.
Faith is raised by Christ, the Resurrection, never to die again.
Faith pursues, obeys, and lives Christ the exclusive Way, Truth, and Life, for access to the Father.
Faith remains connected to Christ the Vine in order to be saved and bear fruit unto God’s glory.
With each analogy of the multifaceted glory of Christ, John would have us trust in Jesus for salvation from our sins and welcome him into our lives. Most clearly, in 20:31, John states this aim as the express purpose in writing his gospel all along:
“But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Seeing that this is John’s plot and aim, as you read his firsthand, eyewitness testimony, what is the response of your heart? ❖
