Why, when three gospels were already available, did John write another? He seems to have been aware of the other gospels; he felt no need to re-announce Jesus’ birth or detail his baptism. He left no record of Jesus’ calling of the disciples, or repeat his parables or the Lord’s Supper narrative. He left out certain details that had been passed along by other witnesses. He also added information and stressed themes that fit with his unique purpose.

Like every book in the Bible, the fourth gospel was uniquely inspired by God. He used a special human author to write an important message to a particular original audience, a message that he has carefully preserved to our day. Puritan William Perkins called John (along with Romans) one of the keys to unlocking the message of the rest of Scripture. Understanding the special characteristics of John’s gospel can prepare us to meet in a fresh way the One about whom he writes.

Who Wrote John?

The fourth gospel is technically anonymous; the heading According to John is probably not original. By simply reading the gospel we discern that the author was a Palestinian Jew who followed and trusted in Jesus as the promised Messiah. Church history identifies the author as the apostle John, the son of Zebedee, a fisherman who responded to Jesus’ call to become a fisher of people (Luke 5:1–11). The book itself supports this evidence; it is hard to explain why John’s name is never mentioned in the fourth gospel if he was not its author.

Instead of simply using his name John identified himself as the disciple Jesus loved (13:23; 20:2; 21:7, 20). If that title sounds boastful, it is the right kind of boasting (Gal. 6:14). He wasn’t bragging about his own love for Christ; he was magnifying Jesus’ love for him. If John knew Jesus loved him, and if he wasn’t claiming to be more loved than others, why not self-identify in this way? He is simply echoing what Paul wrote earlier: Jesus “loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

John invites believers to join him in identifying themselves as the “beloved of God” (Rom. 1:7). After all, what if the most important thing we can say about ourselves is that “the deep, deep love of Jesus…vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, [rolls] as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me.” How might it help us to say when we feel unloved by others and can’t imagine why anyone would love us, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Charles Wesley teaches us to borrow John’s language and sing, “Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly” (cf. John 13:23).

John’s self-designation is even more compelling given what we know of him from the rest of Scripture.

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