John (ACNT)

by Robert Kysar

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 1986

Overview

"John’s Gospel is the one, fine, true, and chief Gospel, and is far, far to be preferred over the other three and high above them." So wrote Martin Luther in one of the drafts of his Preface to the New Testament. Luther preferred John’s Gospel because it offered more of the words and fewer of the acts of Christ, and hence, for him at least, it was among the books which "show Christ and teach all that is necessary for you to know." His praise of the Gospel is justly deserved, for John’s Gospel presents the heart of the Christian message with clarity and force to reach contemporary readers. In this commentary on the Gospel of John, Robert Kysar outlines the literary, historical, and theological themes which illuminate John’s message for contemporary scholarship and modern readers.

Key Features

• Discussion of historical issues, such as authorship, dating, and location
• Textual and literary notes
• Bibliographies and suggestions for further reading and study
• Scripture references linked to your Greek New Testament or English translation

Contents

Top Highlights

“In sum, it is Christ who is all that humans need in order to find release from the realm of darkness and misunderstanding.” (Page 223)

“Only on the condition of faith do they reveal Christ’s glory. The result is a circular view: signs presuppose faith, yet they produce it.” (Page 47)

“Forgiveness is granted with the acceptance of the proclamation and retention when it is rejected. It is the gospel which offers forgiveness and hence causes humans to judge themselves by their response (cf. 3:18ff. above). For the Johannine community that probably had particular relevance to their struggle with the Jewish synagogue. It is worth noting again that John does not picture this power being given to a select group within the church (as Matt. 16:19) but to believers as a whole.” (Page 305)

“A range of suggestions has been made by modern commentaries, but the simplest solution seems to be that Jesus is made angry by the destructive force of death among humans. That is, he is angry at the reality of death that produces such suffering and pain as he witnesses in the sisters and their guests. The Creator is repulsed and horrified at the way in which death and suffering distort the goodness of creation and mangle the lives of humans.” (Page 180)

“Those ‘words’ in John mean to believe and live a life-style of faith, at the heart of which is love. It is not the moral content of the life of faith which interests John as much as it is the posture of faith; for he seems to have thought that morality followed naturally from such a posture.” (Page 227)

Product Details

• Title: John
• Author: Robert Kysar
• Editors: Roy A. Harrisville, Jack Dean Kingsbury, and Gerhard A. Krodel
• Publisher: Augsburg
• Series: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament
• Publication Date: 1986
• Pages: 333

About Robert Kysar

Robert Kysar earned his Ph.D. in New Testament from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, after an undergraduate education at the College of Idaho. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Religious Studies of Yale University, 1973–1974. After seventeen years of college teaching (of which twelve were spent at Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota), he became co-pastor of Christ United Lutheran Church, Gordon, Pennsylvania, with his wife, the Reverend Myrna C. Kysar. He is now professor of Homiletics and New Testament at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Among his several books are Called to Care and four books on the Gospel of John. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies.