Bible - John vs Synoptic Gospels

Knowing and understanding God is central in every religion

It is often assumed the various names for God: Yahweh, the Father and Allah refer to the same entity with similar attributes. Unfortunately, this is not true!

The table below compares the Gods and the theological differences in understanding them.

Synoptic Gospels Mark, Matthew, Luke	John
First event mentioned

This set of Gospels includes Matthew, Mark and Luke The term "Synoptic" refers to the idea that these three books come from "one-view" These are more historical in nature	Is significantly different in terms of themes and chronology so much so that it is not thought to be of the same view as the other three Gospels.

MARK This was the earliest Gospel to be written with an approximate date of 60 to 70 a.d. The most plausible date is c A.D., because of the reference to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem Evidence suggests that the Gospel of Mark was written in Rome In terms of its style the Gospel of Mark was written as an action packed narrative.
CONTENT
	Even to the casual reader, the Fourth Gospel may seem somewhat different from the other three within the canon. Nowhere in the other Gospels is Jesus said to be the Word of God, the creator of the universe, the equal of God, or the one sent from heaven and soon to return. Nowhere else does Jesus claim that to see him is to see the Father, that to hear him is to hear the Father, and that to reject him is to reject the Father.
Backbone Stories These stories make up the backbone of the Synoptic accounts of Jesus. What most casual readers of the New Testament do not realize is that none of them is found in John. Jesus is said to be born in Bethlehem, to a virgin named Mary. In all three, his public ministry begins with his baptism by John, followed by a period of temptation in the wilderness by the Devil. When he returns, he begins to proclaim the coming kingdom of God. This proclamation is typically made through parables; in fact, according to Mark's Gospel (4:33–34), this is the only way that Jesus taught the crowds. In addition to teaching, of course, Jesus also performs miracles. In Mark, his first miracle involves the exorcism of a demon. Throughout the first part of his ministry, then, Jesus engages in exorcisms (and other miracles) and teaching, principally in parables. Halfway through these Gospels, he goes up onto a high mountain and is transfigured before his disciples; it is there that he reveals to them his glory. Otherwise, it remains hidden. Indeed, he does not speak openly of his identity in these books (even in Matthew, where it is occasionally recognized), and he commands the demons and others who know of it to keep silent. At the end, he has a last meal with his disciples, in which he institutes the Lord's Supper, distributing the bread ("This is my body . . .") and then the cup ("This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood . . ."). He afterward goes out to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he asks God to allow him to forgo his coming Passion. He is then arrested by the authorities and made to stand trial before the Jewish authorities of the Sanhedrin, who find him guilty of blasphemy before delivering him over to the Romans for trial and execution.	There is no word about Jesus' birth in Bethlehem here or about his mother being a virgin (in John, as in Mark, Jesus appears for the first time as an adult). Jesus is not explicitly said to be baptized by John. He does not go into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. He does not proclaim the kingdom of God that is coming and he never tells a parable. Jesus never casts out a demon in this Gospel. He does not go up onto the Mount of Transfiguration to reveal his glory to his disciples in a private setting, nor does he make any effort to keep his identity secret or command others to silence. Jesus does not institute the Lord's Supper in this Gospel, nor does he go to Gethsemane to pray to be released from his fate. In this Gospel, he is not put on trial before the Sanhedrin or found guilty of committing blasphemy.

Jesus' birth (baptism in Mark)	Creation of the world
Authors
Conservative view: Matthew; Mark and Luke, co-workers of Paul	Conservative view: John
Liberal view: Unknown authors	Liberal view: 2 or more unknown authors
Key Events
Virgin birth: Mentioned in Matt, Luke	Virgin birth: Some interpret John 1:45 as denying the virgin birth
Jesus
Jesus, Son of God From the time of his birth or baptism	Jesus, Son of God From the time that the universe was created
Jesus, emphasis: Jesus' humanity emphasized	Jesus, emphasis: Jesus' deity emphasized
Jesus baptism
Jesus, baptism: Described	Jesus, baptism: Not mentioned


Preaching style
Brief one-liners; parables	Essay format
Jesus teaches as:
A sage	A philosopher and mystic
Exorcism
A main function of his ministry	None performed

Christology
Low Compare Mark who begins his Gospel with Jesus' baptism and Matthew and Luke who begin theirs with Jesus' birth.	High The Prologue to John's Gospel (1:1-18) presents Jesus as the Lovgo" become flesh (1:14). John begins his Gospel with an affirmation of Jesus' preexistence and full deity, which climaxes in John 20:28 with Thomas' confession "My Lord and my God!" The non-predicated ejgw eijmi sayings in the Fourth Gospel as allusions to Exod 3:14 also point to Jesus' deity (John 8:24, 28, 58). John begins with eternity past ("In the beginning the Word already was…").
Many	None
Theme of his teaching:
Kingdom of God	Jesus himself. Kingdom of God is a background theme.
Jesus' theology
Deviated little from 1st century CE liberal Judaism. Similar to beliefs taught by Hillel.	Largely independent of Judaism and in opposition to much of its teaching.
Response expected from the reader ₂₀
Respond to God's will as expressed in the Mosaic law	Respond to Jesus as the definitive expression of God's will or revelation
Exorcism of demons
Many	None
Involvement with the poor and suffering
Focus of his ministry	Rarely mentioned
Involvement with Scribes (Jewish teachers)
26 references to scribes, who are puzzled and angered by Jesus' teachings	No references at all.

Miracles performed by Jesus
Many "nature miracles," healings, and exorcisms	Few; all "nature miracles"
Jesus references to himself
Rare	Focus of the gospel, including the many "I am" sayings
Basis of personal salvation
Good works, helping the poor, sick, imprisoned, and needy	Belief in Jesus as the Son of God
Duration of ministry
Jesus' Ministry
Duration: 1 year The synoptics appear to describe only one journey of Jesus to Jerusalem (the final one), with most of Jesus' ministry taking place within one year.	Duration: 3-4 years According to John, Jesus' public ministry extended over a period of at least three and possibly four years. During this time Jesus goes several times from Galilee to Jerusalem.
Location: Mainly Galilee	Location: Mainly Judea, near Jerusalem

Aggravated assault committed in the Temple courtyard:
Near the end of his ministry	Near the start of his ministry
Date of the Last Supper
Passover eve	Night before Passover eve
Ceremonial event at the Last Supper:
Communal meal	Foot washing
Crucifixion
Cross-bearer: Simon	Cross-bearer: Jesus
Sunday visitors: Mary Magdalene+1 more women	Sunday visitors: Mary Magdalene only
Who was present in the tomb?
Present at Tomb: One angel or two men	Present at Tomb: Two angels
Burial shroud
A single piece of cloth	Multiple pieces of cloth, as was the Jewish practice at the time. (John 20:5-7)
Resurrection
First Appearance: At Emmaus or Galilee	First Appearance: Jerusalem
Grammatical Style
	The Gospel of John is written in a style of Greek quite different from the synoptics. The range of vocabulary is smaller. There is frequent parataxis (use of coordinate clauses rather than subordinate clauses). Asyndeton frequently occurs. Related to paragraph (7) above, there is little difference between the words that are ascribed to Jesus and the words of the Evangelist. Example: try to determine in John 3:1-21 where the words of Jesus to Nicodemus end and the interpretive comments of the Evangelist begin.

	PLUSES Religious conservatives frequently concentrate on the Gospel of John, because: It emphasizes Jesus' deity, It is the basis of many of the historical, fundamental Christian beliefs, and It bases an individual's salvation on faith rather than works.
This is paralleled in Matthew 10:40 and Luke 10:16.	John 13:20 where Jesus swears to God that if the public welcome his apostles, they are welcoming him as well.
This paralleled in Mark 6:4, Matthew 13:57 and Luke 4:24.	They did find one sentence in John that they felt was similar to something that actually Jesus said. It is John 4:44 where Jesus commented that a prophet is given no respect in his home territory.
	"The Fellows of the [Jesus] Seminar were unable to find a single saying they could with certainty trace back to Jesus in the Gospel of John."
	"The words attributed to Jesus in the Fourth Gospel are the creation of the evangelist for the most part, and reflect the developed language of John's Christian community." - R.W. Funk et al., "The Five Gospels: The search for the authentic words of Jesus,"MacMillan (1993), Page 10.
	"The two pictures painted by John and the synoptic gospels cannot both be historically accurate." "In sum, there is virtually nothing of the synoptic sage in the Fourth Gospel. That sage has been displaced by Jesus the revealer who has been sent from God to reveal who the Father is." - R.W. Funk
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are often called the "synoptic" gospels. "Synoptic" is a Greek word meaning "having a common view."	John differs significantly from the synoptic gospels in theme, content, time duration, order of events, and style. "Only ca. 8% of it is parallel to these other gospels, and even then, no such word-for-word parallelism occurs as we find among the synoptic gospels." - F.V. Filson, "The Literary Relations among the Gospels," essay in C.M. Laymon: "The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible," Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, (1991) The Gospel of John reflects a Christian tradition that is different from that of the other gospels. It was rejected as heretical by many individuals and groups within the early Christian movement. It was used extensively by the Gnostic Christians. But it was ultimately accepted into the official canon, over many objections. It is now the favorite gospel of many conservative Christians, and the gospel least referred to by many liberal Christians.
Claims to be Eye-witness Account
	Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. John 21:23-24
Omissions
	John's Gospel omits a large amount of material found in the synoptic Gospels, including some surprisingly important episodes: the temptation of Jesus, Jesus' transfiguration, and the institution of the Lord's supper are not mentioned by John. no examples of Jesus casting out demons. The sermon on the mount and the Lord's prayer are not found in the Fourth Gospel. no narrative parables in John's Gospel

Symbolism
	John makes more frequent use of these literary techniques than the synoptics. Examples: John 2:25 (temple/body); John 7:37-38 (water/Spirit); John 12:32 (lifted up/exalted). Much of this symbolism takes the form of dualistic antitheses: light/darkness (1:4; 3:19; 8:12; 11:9; 12:35, 46); truth/falsehood (8:44); life/death (5:24; 11:25); above/below (8:23); freedom/slavery (8:33, 36)
Misunderstood Statement
	John makes frequent use of the "misunderstood statement" as a literary technique. Jesus says something to someone which is misunderstood, thus giving Jesus a further opportunity to clarify what he really meant. Examples: John 3 (Nicodemus' misunderstanding of the new birth as a second physical birth; John 4 (the Samaritan woman's misunderstanding of the living water as drinkable water).
Content
Emphasis: The Kingdom of God	Emphasis: Eternal Life The emphasis on the Kingdom of God found in the synoptics is largely missing in John (the phrase basileiva tou' qeou' occurs only twice in John's Gospel (3:3, 5) and the noun basileiva only three times (all in 18:36). Instead we find John's emphasis on 'eternal life' as a present reality (John 5:24 etc.).
Writing: First Person The synoptics are written from a third person point of view, describing the events as if the authors had personally observed all of them and were reporting what they saw at the time. Thus they are basically descriptive in their approach.	Writing: Third Person John's Gospel, on the other hand, although also written from a third person point of view, is more reflective, clearly later than the events he describes. The author of the Fourth Gospel very carefully separates himself from the events he describes (cf. the role of the Beloved Disciple in the Fourth Gospel). However clear it is that he was an eyewitness of the life of Jesus, it is no less clear that he looks back upon it from a temporal distance. While we see the events through his eyes, we are carefully guided to see the events of Jesus' life not as John saw them when they happened but as he now sees them. We understand more of the significance of the events described from the position the writer now holds than an eyewitness could have understood at the time the events took place. In this sense John's Gospel is much more reflective. 4 examples of third person: (a) John 2:17—ejmnhvsqhsan oiJ maqhtaiV aujtou' o{ti gegrammevnon ejstivn… (b) John 2:22—o{te ou hjgevrqh ejk nekrw'n… (c) John 12:16—tau'ta oujk e[gnwsan aujtou' oiJ maqhtaiV toV prw'ton… (d) John 20:9—oujdevpw gaVr h[/deisan thVn grafhVn… In each of these passages it may be easily seen that John has adopted the "post-resurrection" point of view. He looks back on the events and emphasizes the inability of the apostles to understand the things that were happening in their true perspective at the time they occurred. It is only possible for us to understand these things when we consider the resurrection of Jesus and its significance in God's plan.

CREDIT
https://bible.org/seriespage/2-major-differences-between-john-and-synoptic-gospels
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_john.htm
https://ehrmanblog.org/differences-between-john-and-the-synoptics/

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Bible - John vs Synoptic Gospels

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