The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were already in wide use among the churches of Christ when John wrote his own eye-witness account of the life of Jesus Christ. The absence of any prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem indicates that event had already taken place, putting 30-40 years between the writing of the Synoptics and the Gospel of John. While many of the key points in Jesus’ ministry are found in all four Gospels, the focus of John’s Gospel is not to simply relate the events and teaching of Christ, but to show the effects those can have in the spiritual life of the Christian. The Gospel of John will often clarify why Jesus taught or acted as He did from the perspective of Jesus as the divine Word, the very Son of God who came down from heaven to live for a time as a human. The purposes of the Tri-une God in the salvation of Mankind are opened to our eyes in the Gospel of John.