Throughout the Gospel of John “the Jews” are presented as hostile to Jesus and to all who assert that he is the Christ. They are said to plot against him, to convince Pilate to execute him; even after his crucifixion they are said to oppose Pilate placing the sign ‘King of the Jews’; supposedly the disciples hid for fear of “the Jews”.In the past this has led to some terrible misunderstandings and crimes against the Jewish people:This toxic history has made some conclude that the language of John is so violently anti-Semitic that the time has now come to stop using the Gospel in today’s Christian churches – that we should lay John quietly to rest.However, so much scripture is culture bound within the first century, that were we to start editing and cutting the Bible to irradicate awkward passages we should never stop – so perhaps it is better to understand, to de-construct, to re-interpret.Particularly, we need to be very clear about the purpose of John’s Gospel and what is truly meant by this term “the Jews”.