The Johannine community denotes a network of churches that were situated in Asia Minor and were behind the production of the four New Testament writings that is, the Gospel of John and the three letters 1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd John. Combining these books demonstrate how this specific Christian community handled the religious tensions that were present in the last decades of the C.E.’s first century. The Johannine community may have included Christians who migrated to Asia Minor from Palestine after Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E.
Various academicians argue that the tensions between the Jews and members of the Johannine community accelerated after a curse was spelled against Christians (Nazoreans) to the liturgies in the synagogue. Therefore, the reference of the Gospel of John on followers being removed or excommunicated from the synagogue for acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, somehow indicate that the actions were taking part when the Gospel was being drafted than over Jesus’s lifetime- but this remains unclear since it may have occurred during both times and places.
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On the other hand, it is also argued that the relationship between Christians and Jews was actually very tight, and hence the tension may have developed from the Johannine community’s members opting to go back to the synagogues. For instance, it is seen like the schism highlighted in 1 st John 2:18-25 concerned the retreat of community members who got back to the religious conviction of the synagogue instead of remaining in the more inexperienced community with Gentile who believed in Jesus (Mackay, 2003). Equally, other critics opine that Christian-Jewish tensions can be overstated because the Johannine community also faced in other areas. Evidently, community members may have experienced challenges after the Roman imperial cult maintained that followers should worship the emperor Domitian as “God and Lord” during his regime between 81 and 96 C.E. Besides, some teachers of the Gentile Christian clearly encouraged adaptation with the world, purposing to evade suffering. They taught that Jesus himself never suffered rather he was a spiritual being and not the flesh-and-blood human (Mackay, 2003). Lastly, hierarchical struggles arose with other Christian communities, as is demonstrated by their denunciation by Diotrephes, a church leader who “loved to be first” (3 John 1:9-10). To this effect, this paper explores three passages from the gospel of John that shed light on a specific theological issue faced by the Johannine community.
Internal Struggles of the Johannine Community
The narrative of the community of the beloved disciple continues beyond the Epistle Gospel period. The 2 nd and 3 rd Epistles of John were single-paged letters crafted by an individual “the presbyter.” The primary concern of this author is to reinforce the audience against a group that has disaffiliated itself from the community (1 John 2:19) although he also tries to pull in more followers. Despite the Gospel reflecting the Johannine community's association with outside dealings, the Epistles are focused with insiders. Subsequently, the 2 nd and 3 rd Epistles of John were drafted and sent to various churches that were far from where the author was located (but ones that he intended to visit) and this is sufficient evidence that the Johannine community was not located within the same geographical place (Mackay, 2003). Accordingly, since during this period Christian community congregated in house churches that had limited space, each town or city had more than one house churches that served the Johannine Christians.
In the First Epistle it is stated that one group in his community has broken ranks (I John 2:19) and therefore, it is seen as if the two parties understood the claims of Christianity that are available in the Fourth Epistle, although they hold a different meaning. Every side was supporting that its interpretation of the Gospel was accurate; hence, showing a level of frustration from the onset (I John 1:4; 2:7). Their critiques sound as though they understand the Johannine Gospel, even though in their interpretation they are misrepresenting it simply for the reason that they are ignorant of the tradition held in the community.
Accordingly, the key issue is purely Christological. The secessionists emphasized Godly principle in Jesus that the earthly duty of the divine principle was undermined. They clearly understood that Jesus's human existence although real was not salvifically important. Their only critical issue was that eternal life had been brought down on earth through a divine Son. Specifically, there were conflicts regarding the implications of Christology for Christian practices (Coutts, 2017). However, the secessionists can be challenged on three fronts. One, they argued that there was an intimacy with God such that they sinless or perfect. Two, they failed to put much weight on upholding the commandments. Finally, they are exposed to the subject of neighborly love.
The Deity of Jesus
In chapter 20 verse 31, the Gospel explains seven out of the thirty-five miracles that Jesus performed. The intention of John when selecting these seven miracles was to demonstrate that Jesus was the Son of God and the Christ (John, 20:31). Accordingly, making people to believe that Jesus was indeed the Son of God was a way of giving them life. It should be noted that these miracles performed by Jesus were envisioned to show that he was the true messiah and to prove this John, used the seven miracles to demonstrate that the power of Jesus originated from God the Father. These miracles included:
Healing an official’s son in Capernaum
Miracle Reference
Changing Water into Wine at the Wedding in Cana
Walking on Water
Healing an invalid at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem
Feeding the five-thousand people at the Sea of Galilee
Healing the blind man in Jerusalem
Resurrecting Lazarus from the dead in Bethany
Although these miracles were intended to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, they also contain the fundamental theme of the deity of Jesus.
Divinity
It is clear that in the Gospel of John, Jesus is presented as divine. Specifically, from the onset verse, John proclaims, “the Word was God” (John 1:1), and in the last parts of the Gospel John 20:28, the Apostle Thomas declares Jesus to be “My Lord and my God.” Similarly, it can be argued that various other instances depict Jesus as divine. These instances include his divine birth-born of the Holy Spirit (Coutts, 2017). Further, his ministry is a replication of divinity. The whole ministry is dotted with His voluntary subservience to the will of His Heavenly Father. Third, His atoning Sacrifice through his suffering for purposes of cleansing the sins of Man where it is said that He suffered as only God could suffer. Others include his literal resurrection, and his promise to return to earth.
Signs of divinity can be traced throughout the Gospel advocating that Jesus Christ is the divine being.
In John 1, 29, He is argued to be the savior of the sin-sick world as the Lamb of God that washes away the sin of the world. Accordingly, in John 14:6, Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and hence no man can go to the Father unless it is through Him. All these examples among others illustrate the divinity of Jesus Christ and this makes him equal to the Father. Thus, relying on John 20, 31 the Divinity of Jesus is chiefly an issue of life or death among Christians as well as for the hope of man of eternal salvation. Specifically, St. John holds that all these signs and miracles that were performed by Jesus exist so that man could believe that Jesus the Son of God, the Christ and believe that man can have eternal life is they believed in Him.
In summary, the Gospel of John is very critical in the everyday Christian life. Although the gospel is characterized by tension between Christians and other traditional societies, it is still evident that John was keen on reinforcing the values of Christianity. For instance, it is evident that the community in question was not comfortable with Jesus proclaiming to be the son of God since this to them was Jesus declaring himself to be God. However, in the principles of deity and divinity that is evident throughout the Gospel, it becomes clear especially through seven key miracles that St. John addresses in his Gospel.
References
1 st John 20:28 NKV
1 st John 20:31 NKV
1 st John 2:18-25 NKV
Coutts, J. (2017). ‘My Father’s Name’: A Survey of Research on the Use of onoma with Respect to the Father in the Fourth Gospel. Currents in Biblical Research , 15 (2), 248-260. DOI: 10.1177/1476993x15602148
Mackay, H. (2003). The Problems of Jewish Christians in the Johannine Community. Journal of Jewish Studies , 54 (2), 339-340. DOI: 10.18647/2505/jjs-2003
