RE: Unless you can read minds of persons writing long ago you can only perceive intent from they wrote and is available to us. And just what that intent was is a matter of how one views the entirety of what John wrote.
You can KNOW John’s intent not only from one verse in the Bible but from the OVERALL tenor of his gospel. You can also know the intent of what John wrote by comparing his intent to the other gospels.
For instance, why would he record that Thomas told Jesus after he realized that he resurrected “MY LORD AND MY GOD”?
Why did John record that when he said, “I and the Father are one.”
The Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
“For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
YES, the Jews understood what Jesus was trying to tell them.
In another instance, John records that “For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
If John’s intent was to repudiate that idea, I would expect him to say so.
Why did Luke for instance note that Jesus’ disciples WORSHIP HIM (Luke 24:52) when he knew very well that the Jews are all commanded to worship no one but God?
Hence, John’s INTENT is INDEED to show that Jesus is Jehovah incarnate.
And why was John’s ( and the other gospel’s ) intent this?
SIMPLE, to show the Jews that GOD HIMSELF has come as a person to save them. HE is their Messiah come in the flesh.
THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US as John said in the first chapter of his gospel.
RE: I simply must ask: Who of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Orthodox, etc., etc. views the Son, Jesus, as being the same as the Father, Jehovah? Or does the Father, Jehovah, become the Son, Jesus, by incarnation?
Let’s explain what Christians ( Catholics, Protestants. Orthodox ) believe.
We believe that GOD IS ONE.
God is one Being (the one and only divine Being). This divine Being exists as three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible also teaches that there is only one God. These three persons in the Godhead are distinct.
Though we can understand some facts about the relationship of the different Persons in the Godhead to one another, ultimately, it is incomprehensible to the human mind.
Understand that this is not in any way suggesting three Gods. It is simply explaining what SCRIPTURES ITSELF has taught. we can apprehend it but we, as finite beings cannot fully comprehend it.
You can ask ANY knowledgeable and devout Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox that and they will give you the same answer I just gave.
Oh my! You’ve wandered off the path of our discussion and become lost in the thickets of your theology.
If you find your way out long enough we can continue with the subject at the beginning. Til then...have a nice day.