John

John is different from the other three. Instead of beginning in Bethlehem or Galilee, it begins before everything: "in the beginning was the Word". It selects seven "signs" — water into wine, the healing of the paralytic, the feeding of the multitude, the raising of Lazarus — and uses them as doorways into long dialogues. Here are the "I am" statements: the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the vine. Chapters 13 to 17 record the last night with the disciples, with the foot washing and the final prayer. The author states the purpose in chapter 20: "that believing, you may have life in his name".