Why is John's Gospel different from the synoptic gospels?

Answer 1

A:The Gospel According to St John differs to such an extent from the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) that Origen felt obliged to defend the Gospel, saying, "Although he does not always tell the truth literally, he always tells it spiritually" (Origen, Commentary on John).

Part of the explanation is that all the New Testament gospels were originally anonymous and were only attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John later in the second century. Biblical scholars say there is no good reason to accept those attributions, and that none of the gospels could have been written by an eyewitness to the events described.

Scholars have demonstrated that Matthew and Lukewere largely based on Mark's Gospel, which explains the consistency among the three synoptic gospels. Matthew and Lukealso both copied sayings material from the hypothetical 'Q' document.

John's Gospel was much later, written early in the second century, and further removed from Mark's Gospel. The fourth gospel was inspired by Luke's Gospel, but the author felt free to change details for theological reasons. He also knew Mark's Gospel, as a small amount of material and literary styles were used direct from Mark. John's Gospel was written at a time when anti-Jewish sentiment was at its height in the early Church, reflected in stronger sentiment in John and the more frequent references to generic 'Jews' rather than Pharisees and scribes. The author can also be seen to have dealt with issues that had arisen in his time, by inserting events and dialog into his gospel account.

Answer:

Part of the enigma of John is its distinctiveness from the other three canonical Gospels. John does not tell of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem; scarcely mentions the kingdom of God; has no parables; has no list of the twelve disciples; has nothing like the Sermon on the Mount; has no healing of lepers; has no bread and wine at the last supper; and never mentions demons. John reports Jesus' extended discourses rather than the Synoptic short, pithy sayings. In the Synoptics, Jesus spends His entire ministry in and around Galilee and makes on trip to Jerusalem, just a week before His death. According to John, however, Jesus made four trips to Jerusalem (John 2:13, 5:1, 7:10, 12:12) and spent a significant part of His ministry in Judea. The Gospel of John gives a distinctive account of Jesus' "signs", His words, and His ministry. The roots of the Johannine tradition reach back to the ministry of Jesus, and the Gospel stands on eyewitness testimony (John 19:35-35, 21:24-25).