John 1:1-18—The Word Became Flesh + PDF Teacher's Notes

John was writing to unbelievers—but not just any unbelievers. Arguably, he was writing to Jewish unbelievers who were scattered throughout the Roman Empire (Hellenistic Jews). John's Gospel assumes the readers were well familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures—something that would not have been true of the typical Gentile living in the Roman Empire. Also, in his writing, John drew a sharp line between his readers (unbelieving Hellenistic Jews) and "the Jews" of Palestine who had already rejected Jesus.