Gospel of John Study Questions

[Tous_Logous]

I just recently completed reading through whole Bible in one year (including Deuterocanonical books) and now I want to do a (personal) Bible study on the Gospel of John.

I have the Gospel of John: A Catholic Commentary on Scripture book, some audio CDs and lectures, as well as one or two videos. I realize that I may be getting too analytical but when I read through the whole Bible, I just read it for the sake of reading it the whole way through. Now I want to focus on one book to start out with and I have always been fascinated with the Gospel of John.

Just wondering if I should read through the whole Gospel first before listening to audio and reading commentary. Any ideas?

 

[patrick457]

This is ultimately just going to be my opinion, what I would personally do, so feel free to take it or leave it, but if I were you, I’d probably read the actual gospel first before I digest any commentary or other supplements.

Commentaries are just that, study aids, supplements: they are not the text. I mean, wouldn’t it’d be like putting a DVD on the CD rack and watching all the extras first before you do the actual movie? (To be honest, I do tend to do that. )

 

[johnnyc176]

I just recently completed reading through whole Bible in one year (including Deuterocanonical books) and now I want to do a (personal) Bible study on the Gospel of John.

I have the Gospel of John: A Catholic Commentary on Scripture book, some audio CDs and lectures, as well as one or two videos. I realize that I may be getting too analytical but when I read through the whole Bible, I just read it for the sake of reading it the whole way through. Now I want to focus on one book to start out with and I have always been fascinated with the Gospel of John.

Just wondering if I should read through the whole Gospel first before listening to audio and reading commentary. Any ideas?

I don’t read the whole Gospel or chapter of the Gospel first. I use this study…

agapebiblestudy.com/John_Gospel/John_Gospel_Menu.php

The format is setup where you read a section of Scripture then commentary and questions pertaining to just that section of Scripture (keeping in mind the CCC references at the bottom).

Example…

Please read The Gospel of John 1:19-23:
John 1:19 This is the witness [martyria] of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’

Question: This is a repeat of what theme from the Prologue?
Answer: In John 1:6-7 we were told that “John” was sent to witness to the light…now this is his testimony. See CCC# 717

The term, “the Jews” [Ioudaios in Greek and Yehudi meaning “Yahweh’s people” in Hebrew] occurs more than 50 times in this Gospel while the expression “King of the Jews” used by gentiles in the Gospel, occurs only 6 times. In the other Gospels, on the other hand, there are 12 instances of the expression “King of the Jews”, and only four passages in which the word “Jews” occurs. In John’s Gospel he makes a distinction between “the multitude” or crowds of ordinary people who inhabit the Galilee and Judea as opposed to the “Jews” — the Judeans who are the leaders of the Old Covenant Church in opposition to Jesus. This is an important distinction to keep in mind while studying the Gospel because the idea underlying the word “Jews” is that of separation from the character and privileges of a true Israelite who will recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

Once again, is important to remember, every Jew is an Israelite, but not every Israelite is a Jew. A Jew is one from the tribe of Judah or nation of Judah [in the first century AD Judah is the Roman occupied province of Judea]. This distinction between Jews and Israelites is, I believe, an indication that John is an Israelite and not from the tribe of Judah. St. Paul, as a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe that was part of the Judeaic kingdom, identifies himself as a “Jew”. See CCC#575

Question: Why did the Priests from the Temple in Jerusalem and the Levites, a lower degree of the ministerial priesthood who served as teachers of the Law and performed the assigned functions in the Temple, much like a deacon in the Catholic Church [see Numbers 3:11-13; 18:1-7], come to John to demand an answer to the question: “Who are you?” These men are the religious authority of the people of God.
Answer: The prophetic symbolism associated with John’s ministry was so strong that they wanted to see for themselves what the “signs” meant. The coming of the Messiah was, in the 1st century AD, a national expectation. To answer the question whether this was the time for the fulfillment of the prophecies, this delegation, which probably came from the Sanhedrin [the supreme council of the Jews], was send to get an answer.

Question: What was the function of the Sanhedrin? Consult a Bible dictionary for your answer.
Answer: The Romans in most cases allowed conquered provinces to govern themselves. The Sanhedrin had the power to govern Judea in all matters pertaining to religion and civil law except in the case of executions. Only the Roman authority could order an execution because Rome controlled life and death for conquered people. The Sanhedrin had the power to arrest, bring to trial, and to convict offenders of the Law. It was comprised of the ministerial priesthood =Priests and Levites (Sadducees), the lawyers/ teachers of the Law called the Scribes (the Scribes were mostly of the sect of the Pharisees), and the elders of the chief families and clans. In Jesus’ time the jurisdiction of the Council was limited to Judea.

 

[rciadan]

You may want to try the link below, to an online source for the homilies on John by St.John Chrysostom.

biblestudytools.com/history/early-church-fathers/nicene/vol-14-saint-john-chrysostom/homilies-on-john/