Or, Why is John the Fourth Gospel?
Supper At Emmaus by Caravaggio
I’ve always loved the story at the end of Luke’s gospel about an unrecognized Jesus traveling with a couple of confused, heartbroken disciples. As they walked, he patiently unfolds mysteries, answering questions about the meaning of recent events in light of ancient ones, “…beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27 ESV) How great would it be to overhear that conversation? Jesus outlining world history, demonstrating where he had been in the overall story. What a delight!
Supper in Eammaus is a story inviting us into the space of a meal where we too can almost sit with Jesus and wrestle out the recent climatic events of the cross. But Luke’s story does not end in Emmaus. He wrote two volumes of history. In the book of Acts, he continues on from the life of Christ to the the lives of the apostles and the early church. Why then, would the folks organizing all of these early books place John’s Gospel between Luke and Acts? John has such an unexpected, non-linear structure. Maybe they weren’t sure what to do with the unusual account and decided to group the three similar gospels: Mathew, Mark, and Luke together and just tuck John in at the end of the Jesus stories before moving on to the later history of Acts.
Or maybe, they recognized John’s Gospel is in many ways like the conversation Jesus must have had during that long walk to Emmaus. Maybe, it is in itself the answer to the question, “ I wonder what Jesus said about his role in Moses and all the Prophets?” John constantly reflects Jesus back into the patterns and expectations of Moses, the Prophets and the Scriptures. He opens his book with Jesus in Genesis, “In the beginning was the Word…”; structures his book along the pattern of the week of creation; offers the start of a new creation, “On the first day of the week…”; and is constantly quoting the Prophets and Psalms, summarizing major themes of Scripture into phrases spoken by Jesus and the carefully chosen accounts of his actions. in John 5, Jesus explicitly tells an audience that they should be able recognize him from their reading in Moses. In fact, it is hard to find a theme in Moses, the Prophets, or the Psalms, which is not also explicitly reflected in John.
As just one example, take Psalm 36:9,
“For with you is the fountain of life, in your light do we see light.”
At the thematic center of John’s Gospel, Jesus stands in the cultural center of his heritage - the place where Heaven and Earth overlap - the Temple. He stands there during the highest celebration on his cultural calendar, Sukkot, the Feast of Booths which celebrates God dwelling with his people. Important water ceremonies are taking place recreating a river flowing from the Temple Mount and symbolically into all the world. All of Jerusalem is lit up with giant torches set-up at the corners of the Temple Mount. The Hallel prayers (Psalm 113-118) are being sung. In the very center of all of this celebration, Jesus declares openly to all who can hear that he, personally, is both the source of “rivers of living water” and “the light of the world.” Which is, of course, the exact pattern reflected from Psalm 36:9. (and the pattern from Psalm 113-118, and from Isaiah 58 and other places too). This language of rivers and light wasn’t lost on Christ’s original audience. Some thought him mad or worse, but they could not ignore the claim he was making. John brilliantly provides well - lit connections between us as readers and the earlier stories. He invites us to see these patterns and use them as a path into the entire story of world history and its climax in Christ.
Outline of major reflections in John’ Gospel
Those who shaped the books and letters about Jesus perhaps placed John where they did because they saw John as providing the details of that Emmaus conversation as he patiently unpacks the meaning of Scripture for his readers. I was always told John was the “easy” gospel. The approachable one. The one Bible novices could use to acclimate to the Jesus’ stories. John is in fact approachable and accessible; but the longer, more carefully one looks, the more the book reveals. Patterns and reflections throughout the text expand the story, inviting you to join Jesus at the Emmaus table. Reading John is like breaking bread with Jesus. As he opens our eyes in recognition, our hearts burn within us.