Who Wrote John’s Gospel and Where?
John’s Gospel declares that it was written by “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who “has seen” the crucified Jesus and has borne witness (19:35), not merely by verbal proclamation, but also by putting the Jesus tradition in writing. What this disciple spoke and wrote is categorically attested by a community as “true” (21:24).
The epithet “The Gospel According to John” appears in the papyri manuscripts P66 (second century CE) and P72 (ca. third century CE). Who is this John? Is he “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who is traditionally identified as John the Son of Zebedee? Was he one of the Twelve or a disciple outside the Twelve? Was he a historical figure or a symbolic figure created by the writer? Why does he appear only in the later part of the Gospel (13:23; 19:26–27; 20:2–5, 8; 21:7, 20–24)? Some accept “the disciple whom Jesus loved” as both a historical and symbolic figure from Judea and as one of Jesus’ disciples, but not as one of the Twelve.5 There is little doubt about the Beloved Disciple as an eyewitness who wrote the Gospel. But scholars are not sure of the identity of this disciple.
The fact that this unnamed disciple was lying close to the breast of Jesus during the Passover meal (13:23) gives us the clue that he must have been one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. Otherwise, John’s use of the phrase “having loved his own” in the context of Jesus’ supper with them (13:1–2); the presence of Judas Iscariot (13:2, 27), Simon Peter (13:6, 24, 36, 37), Thomas (14:5), Philip (14:8–9), and Judas (not Iscariot; 14:22); Jesus’ exemplary act before those who called him “Teacher and Lord” (13:13–15); the whole “farewell discourse” after the Supper (13:31–16:33); and Jesus’ subsequent prayer for the men whom God had given to him (17:1–26) would all be inexplicable. The Synoptic tradition shows that the Twelve alone were eating the Passover with Jesus (Matt 26:20; Mark 14:17–18; cf. Luke 22:11, 14). The intimate relationship between the Beloved Disciple and Peter and their complementary roles in the community, as drawn from John (e.g., 13:23; 20:1–10), show that the Beloved Disciple is likely John the Son of Zebedee (cf. Acts 1:13; 3:1, 3, 4, 11; 4:13, 19; 8:14; see also comment on 13:23). The arguments against the view that the Beloved Disciple is John the Son of Zebedee6 depend mainly on the fact that John’s name is plainly mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels but not in John’s Gospel. This observation ignores the fact that John uses the Synoptic tradition freely in combination with his own tradition.7
The statement “This is the disciple who . . . has written these things” (21:24) does not necessarily imply that he wrote the Gospel as we have it today. The assumption that John the Son of Zebedee, a Galilean Jew, wrote the whole of John ignores the numerous Judean elements that the Gospel contains, including the correct geographical references to the events that took place in Judea.8 True, John, being a leader in Jerusalem church, would have known well the places and practices in Judea. However, the numerous parallels between John and the Qumran documents, the underlying rabbinic and targumic traditions, John’s christological apologetic rooted in the OT, and the reinterpreted Jewish mysticism, etc. presented in John far exceed the possible intellectual knowledge of a Galilean fisherman.
Hengel contends that the author of the Fourth Gospel, John the Elder, being a Jew from Jerusalem, migrated at the verge of the fall of Jerusalem in 66–70 CE to Asia Minor, most probably to Ephesus, where he started a school, normally known as the Johannine School.9 However, we have evidence for the migration of John the Son of Zebedee to Ephesus. The apocryphal Acts of John (ca. 150–60 CE) shows that John was widely involved in evangelistic and pastoral ministry in Asia, including Ephesus.10 Irenaeus (ca. 130–200 CE) had heard Polycarp (ca. 70 CE–160 CE), who received information about the works and words of the Lord from the eyewitnesses, including John (Eccl. Hist. 5.20.4). Irenaeus writes that John the disciple of the Lord ministered in the church in Ephesus, founded by Paul, until the time of Trajan (98–117 CE; Eccl. Hist. 3.23.3–4; cf. 5.8.4).
Dionysius of Alexandria (the third century CE) indicates that there are in Ephesus tombs of two Johns (see Eccl. Hist. 3.23.6; 7.25.16; cf. 3.31.3; 3.39.6; 5.24.3 for Polycrates’ confirmation that the resting place of John was in Ephesus). The Apostolic Constitutions (third century CE) mentions that the apostle John installed another John in Ephesus as his successor. Papias refers to two Johns in his writing (125–35 CE), in the context of his enquiry with those who had contacts with some of the disciples of Jesus about “what John and Matthew said” and about “the things which Aristion and John the elder, the disciples of the Lord, say” (Eccl. Hist. 3.39.4).
The above-mentioned writings enable us to infer that there were two Johns: John the Son of Zebedee, who was the apostle John, and John the Elder. Both of them were Jesus’ disciples who were ministering in Ephesus, though John the Elder was not one of the Twelve. Hengel, who finds a close parallel between the order in which Papias gives the names of disciples (Eccl. Hist. 3.39.4) and that in John’s Gospel, identifies Aristion and John the Elder with the “two others of his disciples” of John 21:2.11
John the Son of Zebedee, who may be the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” must have moved with a group of his followers, among whom was also the presbyter John, from Palestine to Asia Minor around 66–70 CE and perhaps joined the church in Ephesus founded by Paul.12 This community eventually accepted the authority and leadership of the Beloved Disciple and hence is known as the “Johannine community.” John the Elder (cf. 2 John 1; 3 John 1), who was ordained by the apostle John to be his successor in Ephesus, could have been a Jew, possibly from a priestly family in Jerusalem.13 He might have founded a learning center in Ephesus on behalf of the Johannine community for studying, learning, teaching, and writing.14
By reconstructing the available information, we may say that John the Elder composed the Fourth Gospel in Ephesus by using the sources written and orally communicated by John the Son of Zebedee, an eyewitness of the life and ministry of Jesus, when the apostle had died (ca. 98–117 or 98–101 CE).15 The experience of John the Elder, who himself was a disciple of Jesus, and the sharing he had in the community of Jesus’ life and ministry, would have been an added source to compose the Gospel with his own theology.
We may also see the hand of an editor in the final stage of the writing the Gospel in the glosses, comments, and explanations, including the translations of Hebrew/Aramaic words into Greek. The addition of chapter 21 after a proper conclusion in 20:30–31, with a final conclusion in 21:24–25, confirms the additional work of an editor. While the phrase “I suppose” (21:25) implies the editor as an individual, the phrase “we know” (21:24) refers to a community on whose behalf the editor gave final shape to the Gospel.
The authorship of John’s Gospel, then, needs to be placed in at least three stages of development: in the Johannine community at Ephesus16 with the real author (John the Elder of Judea, who actually wrote the Gospel), the implied/ideal author (the Beloved Disciple, who could probably be John the Son of Zebedee) whose writings were used, and finally an editor from Johannine community who added explanatory notes and the epilogue.17
When Was John’s Gospel Composed and Published?
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