John - Introduction

Genre: Gospel/Biography — but distinct from the three Synoptic Gospels in structure and emphasis, built around seven selected "signs" and a series of "I am" statements rather than a chronological survey of Jesus's ministry.
Author & audience: Written by the Apostle John, son of Zebedee, who identifies himself only as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Tradition places him ministering from Ephesus late in the first century, writing to a mixed audience of Jewish and Gentile believers spread across the wider Greco-Roman world, not to one local church.
Historical/cultural background: Written later than Matthew, Mark, and Luke — likely toward the end of the first century — John assumes his readers already know the basic gospel story and instead writes to deepen their conviction of who Jesus is. He states his purpose directly: "these are written 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 20:31). The Gospel confronts early challenges to Christ's full deity and true humanity, presenting Jesus as the eternal Word made flesh through carefully chosen signs, extended discourses, and direct claims to divinity.

John authored the second most books in the New Testament.

He lived the longest of all the disciples.

Jesus gave him responsibility for Mary (Jesus's mother).

He is more focused on the mystical aspect of Jesus. He doesn't just state the facts, but really draws our attention to the spiritual aspects of Jesus as God rather than the human aspects of Jesus.

John records 2 sets of 7 "I am" statements that Jesus made.

These statements echo the "I am" statements that God made in the Old Testament.

The first set of statements record Jesus saying that He is something: