The Gospel of St John

My favourite book in the Bible is St John’s Gospel. In my opinion, St John’s Gospel is the best book to depict Catholicism. To understand Catholicism, you need to understand St John’s Gospel. If you don’t understand Catholicism, most probably you interpret St John’s Gospel differently.

“Catholic” means universal. The Catholic Church is the universal church. The term “Catholic” can be first found in the epistle of St Ignatius of Antioch. St Ignatius is the disciple of St John. Besides that, St Polycarp is also St John’s disciple. Furthermore, St Irenaeus is St Polycarp’s disciple. The letters of St Irenaeus have a lot of contributions to the Catholic teaching, especially “Against Heresies” [1].

The Gospel of St John was thought to dispute Marcionite [2]. According to Catholics, Marcionism is a heresy, which contains gnosticism. Gnosticism is a heresy as well. The belief of Gnosticism includes dualism, the material is evil, and so does the body is evil. Hence, Gnosticism doesn’t believe in Jesus’ resurrection. Gnosticism is still influencing today, especially the New Age movement [3] and some Protestantism. That’s why there are so many Protestants do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In the Gospel of St John, it says “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. Jesus, the Incarnate Word, saves the world through his body. Jesus also gives his body and blood to us.

The Gospel of St John begins with a pattern like the Book of Genesis. This is because the New Testament is the new creation, Jesus is the New Adam. The first miracle of Jesus is the wedding of Cana. Mary, mother of Jesus, also the Mother of God (if you believe Jesus is God, then why Mary is not Mother of God?) was also at the wedding of Cana. She instructed the people to follow Jesus, “Do whatever he tells you.” And when Jesus was on the cross, he gives his mother, Mary, to his beloved disciple, John, says “Behold, your mother!” This is the marvellous deed of God. The Son of God became man, saves us all, to make us like God.

Secondly, the role of Peter. In the Gospel of St John, after the resurrection, Jesus asked Peter “Do you love me?” there times, because Peter denied Jesus three times. During this discourse, Peter was asked to take care of His sheep. That’s the reason why Peter is special among the apostles. When Peter says he is going fishing, the other apostles follow him. After the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus appeared to the apostles but Thomas was not with them, that’s why Thomas didn’t see Jesus. Thomas only saw Jesus when he was together with other apostles, and he said “My Lord and my God”. When Jesus was resurrected, the apostles were told that Jesus was not in the tomb, though John ran faster than Peter, he didn’t go into the tomb. Though John saw inside the tomb, he waited for Peter to enter the tomb first. John represents the mystic; Peter represents the magisterium [4].

Thirdly, the Eucharist. Jesus truly said unless we eat his body and drink his blood, we will have no eternal life. However, there are still people believing that the Eucharist is just symbolic, not the true Body and Blood. The God is almighty. The Word can incarnate and become man; a virgin can become a mother through the Holy Spirit; the water can become wine; the five loaves and two fish can feed five thousand people, yes people still don’t believe that Jesus says “this is my body”, “this is my blood”.

Fourthly, Holy Orders. During the Last Supper, Jesus washed the apostles’ feet. In the Old Testament, the priests were required to clean themselves, and wash their hands and feet (Ex 30:39). Jesus said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” In Greek, the word meris (portion) was used. Levites have no portion (meris), they have no inheritance because God is their inheritance (Num 18:20) [5][6]. Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, he firstly prayed for himself, then the apostles, then all the believers. This corresponds to the Old Testament, where the high priest made “made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.” (Lev 16:17) [7]. Thus, the priesthood of the apostles are different from the priestly role of the laities.

Fifthly, the Sacrament of Confession. Jesus said to the apostles, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”. Then he breathed on them, said “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Isn’t this Sacrament of Confession?

Holy Matrimony. The first miracle of Jesus was at the wedding of Cana. When Jesus was crucified, Jesus was the New Adam, and Mary was called “the woman”, St Augustine described this as a nuptial mystery [8].

Baptism. Jesus’ discourse with Nicodemus, saying “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Sacred Tradition. According to the Catholics, other than the Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition is also very important. However the Protestants believe that only the bible is the infallible word of God (Sola Scriptura). At the end of St John’s Gospel, it says, “But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” Furthermore, “I [Jesus] have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” As a result, Sola Scriptura is invalid. Regarding the Sacred Tradition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states,

“Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal.” Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own “always, to the close of the age”. (CCC 80)

“Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.” “And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.” (CCC 81)

As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.” (CCC 82)

Though Protestants do not accept Sacred Tradition, when they read the bible, they still using some kind of “tradition” to interpret the bible.

Lastly, the Divine Mercy. Divine Mercy is a private revelation of St Faustina. She saw the red and white light beamed from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is the the blood and water came out from the side of Jesus when he was pierced by the soldier (John 19:34). The water signifies the baptism; the blood signifies sacrament of the Eucharist. St John Chrysostom considered that since Eve was born from the side of Adam, similarly, this is how the Church was born from the side of Jesus [9]. The Divine Mercy Sunday is the week after Easter Sunday, and the Gospel reading of the day is, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Therefore, if we should confess our sins through the Sacrament of Confession and receive the mercy of God.

Divine Mercy also reminds me about Jesus Prayer, that’s “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. This is an essential prayer for the Eastern Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox.

Divine Mercy, in the Book of Exodus, God appeared to Moses and said “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exod 34:6). God is a merciful God. In Hebrew, the term hesed is translated to “steadfast love and faithfulness”. In Psalms, hesed sometimes is translated to “mercy” (for example, for his mercy endureth for ever). Hesed means covenant love. What covenant? The covenant of God and man, just like the marriage of husband and wife, man and woman. The beginning of the bible is about a man and a woman. Similarly, the last book of the bible is about a bridegroom (Christ) and the bride (the Church). This is God loves the people.

[1] “4 Ways St. Irenaeus Smashes Heresies,” Catholic Answers, 2023. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/apologetics-with-st-irenaeus (accessed Nov. 10, 2023).

[2] Catholic Answers, “The Odd Reason John Wrote His Gospel,” YouTube. Mar. 25, 2023. Accessed: Nov. 10, 2023. [YouTube Video]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPb9iVM9Tpc

[3] “Jesus Christ The Bearer Of The Water Of Life - A Christian reflection on the New Age,” Vatican.va, 2013. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html#1.3.%20Cultural%20background (accessed Nov. 12, 2023).

[4] J. Bergsma, “Easter Sunday,” Thesacredpage.com, Apr. 17, 2022. https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/17/easter-sunday/ (accessed Nov. 12, 2023).

[5] “Did Jesus Make the Apostles Priests at the Last Supper?,” Catholic Answers, 2017. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/did-jesus-make-the-apostles-priests-at-the-last-supper (accessed Nov. 12, 2023).

[6] J. Bergsma, “Holy Thursday,” Thesacredpage.com, Apr. 02, 2021. https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/01/holy-thursday/ (accessed Nov. 12, 2023).

[7] J. Bergsma, “Christ Our Priest: Good Friday,” Thesacredpage.com, Apr. 09, 2020. https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/09/christ-our-priest-good-friday/ (accessed Nov. 12, 2023).

[8] Dr. Christopher West, “The Nuptial Mystery is Consummated!,” Theology of the Body Institute, Mar. 13, 2019. https://tobinstitute.org/the-sacred-heart-is-a-nuptial-mystery/ (accessed Nov. 12, 2023).

[9] “St John Chrysostom on The Birth of the Church on the Cross,” Luminous Darkness, Sep. 23, 2013. /posts/2013-09-23-st-john-chrysostom-on-the-birth-of-the-church-on-the-cross/ (accessed Nov. 12, 2023).