Major Differences Between John and the Synoptic Gospels

Study By: W. Hall Harris III

Introduction: The Relationship of John's Gospel to the Synoptics.
Two basic positions on the relationship of Johns Gospel to the Synoptics are possible:
If John knew of the synoptics, then he wrote to supplement them. (To say John knew of
one or more of the synoptics is not to say, however, that he wrote his gospel with copies
of Matthew, Mark, and/or Luke in front of him. John may have been aware of the
existence of other written accounts of Jesus life and ministry without actually having
seen them.)
If Johns Gospel is totally independent from the synoptics, he had enough material to
choose from that much of it does not overlap with the synoptics (cf. Jn 20:30 and 21:25).
This point is strengthened considerably if one accepts the Fourth Gospels claim to reflect
eyewitness testimony about the life and ministry of Jesus (John 21:23-24).
Major Differences:
1. Omission by J ohn of material found in the synoptics.
Johns Gospel omits a large amount of material found in the synoptic Gospels, including some
surprisingly important episodes: the temptation of Jesus, Jesus transfiguration, and the
institution of the Lords supper are not mentioned by John. John mentions no examples of Jesus
casting out demons. The sermon on the mount and the Lords prayer are not found in the Fourth
Gospel. There are no narrative parables in Johns Gospel (most scholars do not regard John 15:1-
8 [the Vine and the Branches] as a parable in the strict sense).
2. I nclusion by J ohn of material not found in the synoptics.
John also includes a considerable amount of material not found in the synoptics. All the material
in John 24, Jesus early Galilean ministry, is not found in the synoptics. Prior visits of Jesus to
Jerusalem before the passion week are mentioned in John but not found in the synoptics. The
seventh sign-miracle, the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11) is not mentioned in the synoptics.
The extended Farewell Discourse (John 1317) is not found in the synoptic Gospels.
3. Different length of J esus' public ministry.
According to John, Jesus public ministry extended over a period of at least three and possibly
four years. During this time Jesus goes several times from Galilee to Jerusalem. The synoptics
appear to describe only one journey of Jesus to Jerusalem (the final one), with most of Jesus
ministry taking place within one year.
4. 'High' Christology as opposed to the synoptics.
The Prologue to Johns Gospel (1:1-18) presents Jesus as the Lovgo" become flesh (1:14). John
begins his Gospel with an affirmation of Jesus preexistence and full deity, which climaxes in
John 20:28 with Thomas confession My Lord and my God! The non-predicated ejgw eijmi
sayings in the Fourth Gospel as allusions to Exod 3:14 also point to Jesus deity (John 8:24, 28,
58). Compare Mark who begins his Gospel with Jesus baptism and Matthew and Luke who
begin theirs with Jesus birth. John begins with eternity past (In the beginning the Word already
was).
5. Literary Point of View: J ohn versus the synoptics.
The synoptics are written from a third person point of view, describing the events as if the
authors had personally observed all of them and were reporting what they saw at the time. Thus
they are basically descriptive in their approach. Johns Gospel, on the other hand, although also
written from a third person point of view, is more reflective, clearly later than the events he
describes. The author of the Fourth Gospel very carefully separates himself from the events he
describes (cf. the role of the Beloved Disciple in the Fourth Gospel). However clear it is that he
was an eyewitness of the life of Jesus, it is no less clear that he looks back upon it from a
temporal distance. While we see the events through his eyes, we are carefully guided to see the
events of Jesus life not as John saw them when they happened but as he now sees them. We
understand more of the significance of the events described from the position the writer now
holds than an eyewitness could have understood at the time the events took place. In this sense
Johns Gospel is much more reflective.
There are numerous passages in Johns Gospel which could serve as an example of this later
perspective. Four will serve as examples:
(a) John 2:17ejmnhvsqhsan oiJ maqhtaiV aujtou' o{ti gegrammevnon ejstivn
(b) John 2:22o{te ou hjgevrqh ejk nekrw'n
(c) John 12:16tau'ta oujk e[gnwsan aujtou' oiJ maqhtaiV toV prw'ton
(d) John 20:9oujdevpw gaVr h[/deisan thVn grafhVn
In each of these passages it may be easily seen that John has adopted the post-resurrection
point of view. He looks back on the events and emphasizes the inability of the apostles to
understand the things that were happening in their true perspective at the time they occurred. It is
only possible for us to understand these things when we consider the resurrection of Jesus and its
significance in Gods plan.
6. Extended dialogues or discourses rather than proverbial sayings.
John presents his material in the form of extended dialogues or discourses rather than the
proverbial or pithy sayings found often in the synoptics: John 3 (with Nicodemus); John 4
(with the Samaritan woman); John 6 (the Bread of Life Discourse); John 1317 (the Farewell
Discourse with the disciples). As L. Goppelt observed:
The Gospel of John passed on the words of Jesus predominantly in another genre than the
synoptics; it did not do so in sayings, parables, and controversy dialogues, but in connected or
dialogical discourses.
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7. Use of symbolism and double meaning.
John makes more frequent use of these literary techniques than the synoptics. Examples: John
2:25 (temple/body); John 7:37-38 (water/Spirit); John 12:32 (lifted up/exalted).
Much of this symbolism takes the form of dualistic antitheses: light/darkness (1:4; 3:19; 8:12;
11:9; 12:35, 46); truth/falsehood (8:44); life/death (5:24; 11:25); above/below (8:23);
freedom/slavery (8:33, 36). Much of this antithetical dualism is also found in the Qumran (Dead
Sea Scrolls) texts. See J. H. Charlesworth, A Critical Comparison of the Dualism in 1QS 3:13-
4:26 and the Dualism Contained in the Gospel of John, in John and the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed.
J. H. Charlesworth (New York: Crossroad, 1990).
8. Use of the misunderstood statement.
John makes frequent use of the misunderstood statement as a literary technique. Jesus says
something to someone which is misunderstood, thus giving Jesus a further opportunity to clarify
what he really meant. Examples: John 3 (Nicodemus misunderstanding of the new birth as a
second physical birth; John 4 (the Samaritan womans misunderstanding of the living water as
drinkable water).
9. Ipsissima verba versus ipsissima vox.
The long discourses in Johns Gospel do not necessarily represent Jesus exact words (ipsissima
verba) as long as they give a faithful summary and interpretive paraphrase (ipsissima vox) of
what he actually said. Jesus teaching in the Fourth Gospel may be couched in distinctively
Johannine style. On the other hand, some of Johns style may have been either directly or
indirectly inspired by Jesus own manner of speaking: in Mt 11:25-27 + Lk 10:21-22 Jesus uses
language almost identical to that which characterizes his speeches in Johns Gospel all things
have been given to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor the Father
except the Son and the one to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
10. Kingdom of God versus eternal life.
The emphasis on the Kingdom of God found in the synoptics is largely missing in John (the
phrase basileiva tou' qeou' occurs only twice in Johns Gospel (3:3, 5) and the noun basileiva
only three times (all in 18:36). Instead we find Johns emphasis on eternal life as a present
reality (John 5:24 etc.). The emphasis on eternal life in Johns Gospel is closer to the letters of
Paul than to the synoptic gospels, as the following chart shows: