This new commentary -- part of Eerdmans's acclaimed NICNT series -- gives primary attention to John's gospel in its present form rather than the sources or traditions behind it.

J. Ramsey Michaels assumes that the John who authored the book is someone very close to Jesus and, therefore, that the gospel is a testimony to events that actually happened in the life of Jesus. Yet Michaels does not ignore the literary character of the gospel of John or its theological contribution to the larger Christian community from its own time to the present day. Through a detailed verse-by-verse commentary, Michaels reveals how the gospel of "the disciple whom Jesus loved" is a unified composition, intertwined with the synoptics, yet drawing on material none of them cover.