We have covered John 1 to John 10 previously. We are now studying the second half of the gospel of John, beginning with Chapter 11.

It may be helpful to recapitulate: the gospel of John is distinct from the other three gospels (collectively known as the synoptic gospels). John wrote so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing,  you may have life in His name (John 20:30,31).

Compared to the synoptic gospels, there are no narrative parables in John, no account of the transfiguration, no record of the institution of the Lord’s supper. John’s accounts of the miracle of the changing of the water into wine, the conversation with Nicodemus and His ministry in Samaria are not mentioned in the other three gospels. In fact, what is highlighted in chapter 11 on the raising of Lazarus from the dead is only found in the gospel of John.

John is customarily divided into two parts: chapters 1-10 and  chapters 11-21. Part 1 describes Jesus as the Christ and the Son who has come from the Father in heaven to reveal His Father. Part 1 (chapters 1-10) is sometimes called the ‘book of signs’; here John deliberately selects a number of key ‘signs’ and ‘miracles’ to make clear who Jesus really is. Part 2 (chapters 11-21) focuses on the Son returning to His Father in heaven to open the way to His Father.