Essay Sample on The Intended Audience in the Gospel of John

Introduction

In recording the Ministry of Christ, four Gospels were written to four different audiences both during the period when they were written and in the present world. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the four gospels. John wrote the fourth gospel, which was the main gospel. John's Gospel was independent and was completely different from the other three gospels. This paper will discuss the intended audience of the gospel of John.

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John wrote his gospel to a varied group of people comprising the Gentiles, the Jews, and individuals from various other communities. These people were from different communities and had varying traditions. They were banished from synagogues and churches (Bultman 23). Since John's Gospel emphasizes the divinity of Jesus Christ, it shows that the audience of his gospel were both believers and unbelievers. Therefore, it shows that the intended audience of his gospel is all people and not a specific group as is evident in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In essence, the Gospel of John was written to everyone since all individuals need to meet God and only Jesus can reveal Him.

In the book of John, a powerful God is represented in the form of human flesh. He is the controller and ruler of the universe, which He created. John, in his gospel, addresses a range of contemporary challenges that face the church between AD 90 and AD 100 (Carrier 469). The challenges include arming the believers against Gnostic, as well as Docetic teachings. It also corrects the alleged tendency of the followers to deny the Messianic claims of Jesus. These were aspects of spiritual and cultural context for most Christians at the time when the gospel was written and may not be true in any way. John wrote this gospel to encourage people to repent and have faith in Jesus who is the Savior of people from all sorts of sins that they may commit. However, whatever happened during the olden times may dominate the thought and think of individuals in the present world. The gospel encourages people to believe so that they may have life in the name of Jesus.

Additionally, it focuses on miracles that Jesus performed hence placing a unique significance on the miracles and show how they are connected with faith. John uses the word believe severally in his work and ties it with having everlasting life. In most verses of the gospel, belief is joined with the person who would receive eternal life and that the eternal life cannot be revoked or lost (Carrier 470). John is intent on his writing aimed at convincing the audience that Jesus is indeed divine and that the incarnate form of God-Man shows his divine nature. He is the only one capable of taking away human sins.

Ideally, regarding the intended audience of John's Gospel, different authors and researchers have varying views and perceptions. For instance, some authors challenge the beliefs held by different communities and people that John wrote the Fourth Gospel for the Johannine Community (Bauckman 21). Such authors affirm that even though people assume this specific community to be the intended audience of the Fourth Gospel, they rarely argue for it. In essence, these authors argue that the early Christians composed of various communities that were in close and constant communication with one another. From this aspect, he feels that the hypothesis of the Johannine Community is not plausible. From this argument, it is evident that the Fourth Gospel was not written to a specific community but rather was meant or everyone (Bauckman 25). Therefore, all believing communities and non-believers can read this Gospel and establish the message, which it brings forth to the audience. The intention of the gospel was for the general circulation in all communities, as well as the early churches, non-believers and Christians thereby representing all individuals.

Moreover, the Gospel of John elevates Jesus Christ's divinity and that He is a humbled God who condescended to the level of all humans. This shows that He was both fully God and fully Man. John delivers his message to the gospel readers that Jesus is powerful (Bultman 29). Since many other people have used the language John uses, it shows that the Fourth Gospel was aimed at different communities and not any specific community. The language also shows that he does not want to pass the message to a particular group. As such, the Christian community will grow as John's Gospel enables them to convert many people in various communities.

Importantly, John provides a four-fold purpose for his writing of the Gospel. The first purpose is evangelization of the non-believers and those who may be lost in worldly things and acts. In this aspect, he encourages the readers of his gospel to believe and repent so that their sins may be taken away. Another purpose was to establish and stabilize the believers. Through this, people would do away with heresies about the existence of Jesus and God Himself. He proves to the readers that Jesus truly existed. In this manner, the gospel seems to touch on every group in the society, which represent the audience group (Carrier 471). Since John is familiar with the content of the synoptic gospels, he understands the kind of messages, which is appropriate for his audience. He also presupposes that the readers were familiar with the other three gospels.

Due to the preconceived opinions of different people, they tend to accept to accept a late for the writing of John's Gospel. In essence, they deny the authorship of Johannine community. The predisposed date is established since the writing came about when Apostle Peter had already died. The Jews were also the confirmed enemies of Christianity and the Gospel.

Conversely, the distance between John and the Jews may lead some people to suppose that he was writing for the Gentiles, which is not true. In essence, the Fourth Gospel reacts to the perception of exclusion of some people. As such, it shows a sense of indifference to the converse of the Gentiles (Calvin 32). John also describes Christianity differently from those of the earlier gospels as his gospel was meant to appeal to all the readers, both intellectual and non-intellectual readers. The Gospel also enhances the spiritual transformation of the readers who connect it with various witnesses throughout the history of Christianity. As such, it becomes easy to understand the Bible deeply and learn a range of concepts and ideas brought forth in the book.

Christians of all ages use the Gospel of John for various purposes. Some of them use it to introduce their friends to Jesus as the Savior. Even the elderly Christians may still ask for assistance to read and understand what this Gospel entails (Bultman 31). Furthermore, children may memorize verses, as well as sing choruses based on the information they acquire and the truth they realize from John's Gospel. It can also be easy to account for what John talks about in his book due to the amount of material that he provides. This shows that the fragment of the New Testament that people use has been obtained from the Gospel of John, which promotes a deep understanding of the relevant Christianity principles.

Conclusion

The Gospel of John was written for everyone. As such, both believers and non-believers can read this Gospel to understand what it entails and what they need to ensure to receive eternal life. The Gospel requires people to believe and have faith so that Jesus Christ can wash away their sins and set them free. It was intended for the general circulation across different groups and communities with varying perceptions about the church, Christianity, the existence of Jesus, as well as the miracles that he performed. Therefore, the hypothesis that John's Gospel was intended for the Johannine Community in specific is implausible.

Works Cited

Bauckham, Richard, ed. The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1998.

Bultmann, Rudolf. The Gospel of John: a commentary. Vol. 1. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014.

Calvin, John. Commentary on the Gospel according to John. Lulu. com, 2018.

Carrier, Brian. "The Gospel of John. By Francis Martin and William M. Wright IV. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015. 368 pages. $22.99." Horizons 44.2 (2017): 469-471.