The Gospel of John Introduction: The Word and the Witness
Introduction:
John 1:1-18; 20:30-31
The author of the Gospel is John the Beloved disciple. He was probably a teenager when he began following Jesus. He was the oldest living apostle and, according to tradition, the only one to die a death other than martyrdom. This is the same John who wrote the three epistles of 1, 2, and 3 John and the Revelation.
The Gospel of John is unique among the four Gospels. It contains accounts of miracles, encounters with individuals, and sayings of Jesus not found in the synoptic Gospels. John is the last of the Gospels to be written.
In Christian art and iconography, John's Gospel has been represented by an eagle. The eagle symbolizes the way John emphasizes the Deity of Jesus. John does not immediately begin with Jesus's earthly family line as Matthew does, or rush past details to the deeds of Jesus as Mark does. He does not concern himself with the historical circumstances of Jesus' life, and ministry as Luke does. The portrait of Jesus that John paints is one that looks back to the beginning of time and declares that before anything was, Jesus is the I AM. Jesus is Heavenly.
John, like Luke, specifically tells his readers the purpose of his Gospel.
John 20:30-31
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.
KEY WORDS:
Sign
Believe
Name
Life
Light
The word sign is significant for the structure of the way John tells his story of Jesus. John refers to the miracles or acts of Jesus as signs. He chose seven of these signs and strategically placed them next to sayings and encounters of Jesus to preach the Gospel to his readers that they might believe and obey the Gospel. John is writing to reveal the identity of Jesus. Each of the seven signs and each of Jesus' conversations or speeches disclose an aspect of Who Jesus is. In John, the miracles of Jesus become moments of revelation.
SEVEN SIGNS:
Water into wine (2:1-12)
Official's son healed (4:43-54)
Lame man healed (5:1-47)
Feeding of 5,000 (6:5-14)
Walking on water (6:16-24)
Healing of the blind man (9:1-41)
Raising of Lazarus (11:1-57)
We will look at these seven signs, and the sayings of Jesus interspersed between them, followed by what John calls Jesus glorification and finally read the epilogue. As we read John, it is essential to pay attention to his use of the word glory. In John, glorification refers to Jesus's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. These are the central events of Jesus' ministry, and the events that He says must take place before He gives the gift of eternal life to all those that believe in Him by their reception of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39). But, let's begin where John began.
THE PROLOGUE:
The Gospel begins with a prologue. This prologue takes readers back to the edge of the start of the cosmos to the eternal plan and purpose of God. John 1:1-18 reads like a poem or a hymn.
The Eternal Word
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John was a person thoroughly immersed in the Hebrew Bible. As we read John, we will hear echoes of the Law, Prophets, and Psalms. He begins his story of Jesus by looking back to the dawn of the first creation. Perhaps, he looks back to the beginning because he is writing about the second. Creation was born once and must be born again. Humanity is born once and must be born again (John 3:5). The first creation began with God's spoken word. The book of Genesis says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..." (Genesis 1:1) The second creation begins as humanity believes the Word that God uttered in the Incarnation (John 1:12-13).
The same Creative Word that formed everything that we can see and not see is the Creative Word that John will be writing about through the following 21 chapters.
In the Hebrew Bible, God's Word is personified as being with Him (Proverbs 8). This prologue is poetic and invites reflection on the Word's role in creation in anticipation of the work the Word will do in the new creation. The Word comes from God and returns to God (John 8:42; 14:28). God's Word completes what He utters it to do.
Isaiah 55:11 NKJV
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
The Greek word translated Word is logos. "Logos can signify reason, communication, utterance, spoken word, speech, discourse, articulated plan, or self-expression" (Apostolic Study Bible, p. 1648).
This Word is the plan upon which everything in creation hinges (Colossians 1:15-17). John writes in the Revelation that Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). In his high-priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus speaks of the glory that He had with God before the world began. As we said, "glory" in the Gospel of John has to do with Jesus's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. All things were made with the Incarnation in view. Nothing could exist if the Incarnation was not foreordained. It is the central Word, reason, or Logos upon which the entirety of creation is built. This is the miracle that verse 14 will talk about.
Have you ever thought about the fact that you live in a miracle every single day?
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
In the creation account in Genesis 1, the creation of light is a theme. God separates light from darkness and creates light-bearers that rule the day and night (Genesis 1:3-5, 15-18). He is the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17). John picks up on this theme and uses it here in the prologue to foreshadow the conflict between Light and darkness that will happen in the Gospel. Ultimately, Light prevails, and the prince of darkness is cast out.
Light is life-giving. Beautiful things grow in the light. The energy of the light of the sun is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis. We, along with other creatures, eat plants and absorb that life-giving energy. The ultimate Source of all life and light is the Creative Word. As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. Real spiritual life can only come from the belief in the Creative Word, Who is Jesus.
The Witness
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
John the Baptist appears in the Gospel of John as a "witness" who points others to the Light with the purpose that they might believe and receive eternal life. This eternal life has to do with receiving the Spirit. John's consistent message in all four Gospels is that Jesus is the One "who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (v. 33).
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
As the Light, Jesus--The Word, also "enlightens every man that comes into the world" (v. 9). All truth has as it's Source, the Logos. All moral knowledge that exists in the bosom of humanity, all scientific knowledge, all beauty of all that creation offers by way of true knowledge has as its Source the Word. All truth is God's truth. And the ultimate fulfillment and clearest picture of truth takes place in the Incarnation when "the Word became a Human Being" (v. 14).
This is a beautiful and heart-wrenching portrait of the Incarnation. The God of all spoke Himself into His own creation, and those made in His image did not even recognize Him. "He came unto His own things, and His own people did not receive Him" (v. 11). "The Creator of the universe stepped into His created order, but humanity as a whole did not recognize Him" (Apostolic Study Bible). Those He had chosen to be the bearers of His revelation in Sacred Scripture, who He had made a covenant with, rejected Him during His earthly ministry and ultimately murdered Him. They missed the miracle. Even though there were miracles that they witnessed, they were so satisfied with the status quo, or so preoccupied with the past and the future that they missed the present. There are miracles in the present!
Illustration:
Mark Batterson writes:
On a January morning in 2007, a world-class violinist played six of Johann Sebastian Bach's most stirring concertos for the solo violin on a three-hundred-year-old Stradivarius worth $3.5 million. Two nights before, Joshua Bell had performed a sold-out concert where patrons gladly paid $200 for nosebleed seats, but this time the performance was free.
Bell ditched his tux with coattails, donned a Washington Nationals baseball cap, and played incognito outside L'Enfant Plaza Metro station. Street musicians are not an uncommon sight or sound for Washingtonians...
The [social] experiment...was filmed by hidden camera. Of the 1,097 people who passed by, only seven stopped to listen. The forty-five-minute performance ended without applause or acknowledgment. Joshua Bell netted $32.17 in tips, which included a $20 spot from the one person who recognized the Grammy Award-winning musician.
On an average workday, nearly a million passengers ride Washington's Metro system, and L'Enfant Plaza is one of the busiest stops. A stampede of tourists and government employees hustle and bustle through turnstiles, trying to get where they're going as quickly as possible. But those circumstances don't discredit or disqualify the question raised by the social experiment:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the greatest musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, on one of the most beautiful instruments ever made, how many similarly sublime moments do we miss out on during a normal day? Miracles are happening all around us all the time, but you won't see them if you don't know how to look for them. (Mark Batterson. The Grave Robber.)
Just think, God--the Yahweh of the Hebrew Bible walked among men as a Man, and for the most part, they didn't recognize Him. I think this is a great teaching moment in our text about the importance of developing an awareness of and sensitivity to what God is doing NOW. The Christian faith is not merely historical or eschatological, it is a right now faith!
In the Gospel of John, there are eight "I AM statements." In each of these, Jesus reveals an aspect of Who He presently is.
I AM STATEMENTS:
And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12).
"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture" (John 10:9).
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (John 10:11).
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25).
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser" (John 15:1).
"Before Abraham was I AM!" (John 8:58).
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever! He is what you need right now. Your miracle is as close as the mention of His Name. The whole earth is filled with His Glory. It looks chaotic, but the Word is actually ordering all things. John is trying to get us to see that it may seem like the world is dominated by darkness, but the reality is that the kingdom of God is already here, and the invitation is to all who will look and see the Word and believe in Him. Each may enter the kingdom of God. Each may receive the authority to become the sons of God!
The name of God is a theme that is first introduced in verse 12. Jesus will say later that He came in His Father's Name (John 5:43) and that the Holy Spirit will come in His Name (John 14:26). He will also pray and declare that He has revealed the Father's Name to the disciples (John 17:6). The Highest Name by which God is revealed is the Name of JESUS!
To believe on His name is synonymous with being baptized in His Name. We will talk more about what John and Jesus have to say about baptism in our look at chapter 3. John will also expand on being born of the Spirit in chapter 3. We find the New Testament plan of salvation in the Gospel of John. Jesus invites us to follow His pattern of death, burial, and resurrection through repentance/belief, water baptism in His Name, and receiving the Promised Gift of the Holy Spirit!
The Word Became Flesh
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
The Word became a Human Being and moved into the neighborhood (MSG). God came to us as we are! The glory was as an only-begotten son with a father.
"The logos, encompassing the essence of God's being, will, plan, and articulated Word (Isaiah 55:11), became enfleshed or incarnate and "dwelt" or "tabernacled" (skenoo) among the eyewitnesses. The term skenoo called to mind the ancient Israelite Tabernacle, the tent-like structure in which God's presence dwelt among His people. Like the Israelites of old (Exodus 40:34-38), the disciples "beheld his glory" (Apostolic Study Bible, 1649).
John the Baptist acknowledges and witnesses to Jesus's Deity. Though we know from the other Gospels that, as to His Humanity, Jesus was John's biological cousin. Here, the Baptist, recognizes that there is a sense in which Jesus is before him. Later, we will see that Jesus is before John as the I AM. Next week, we will see that part of this pre-existence of the Word is as the Lamb of God. John the Beloved gives us a picture of this in the visions in the Revelation. It is as the Lamb of God that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father, but by Him!
We receive of His fullness! All the Fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus in bodily form. It is because Jesus poured out His soul unto death and gave His life a ransom for many that we can receive the fullness of God's blessing. In John 7:37-39, Jesus tells us that after His glorification that all who believe would receive the Spirit. Moses came down the mountain and covered his face so that the children of Israel could not see that the glory would fade away over time. The glory of the grace of God in Christ shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day!
Moses' law could not justify. It could only condemn. But, the Word became flesh that the world might through Him be redeemed! The contrast between Moses' law and the grace and truth that come by Jesus Christ is going to crescendo in the Jewish authorities crucifying the Incarnate Word.
"No man has seen God at any time..." God is Spirit (John 4:24). The heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him in His transcendent essence (1 Kings 8:27). God told Moses that no one could see Him and live (Exodus 33:20). Throughout the ages from creation, humanity caught glimpses of various aspects of God through His Word. The very act of creation, and it being sustained reveals the glory of God (Romans 1:20; Psalm 19). God spoke His Word through heavenly messengers and through men (Hebrews 1). He spoke through the Hebrew Bible. But, no one has ever truly seen Him. In Christ, God has become more real to humanity that He ever had. For, in the Face of Jesus, we behold the true Glory of God!
Jesus is the Only-Unique Son. There has never been anyone like Jesus and never will be! In John 14:9, Jesus will tell Philip, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." The only God you will ever see is the Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Eternal Word of God!
This Unique Son has declared God. The word for declared has to do with expounding Him. It is not merely what Jesus said, but Who He is that declares the Invisible God. He is the WORD! He is God! And He is in the most intimate relationship with God!
Conclusion:
So what? If God has given a full expression of Himself and given all who believe the authority to become the sons of God, what should our response be? What should we do?
We should be diligent that we do not miss the miracle that is right before us every single day.
One of the most significant signs of growing spiritual maturity is seeing the Word working in those things that seem mundane. The Jewish authorities and many residents of Judea and Jerusalem missed Jesus in the first century. The Father and Creator of all of life had uttered Himself into His own creation and those to whom he came missed Him. My exhortation to you at the close of this introductory Bible Study on the Gospel of John is that you stir up the childlike wonder in your soul. Children ask questions. That is why they can believe in miracles. The older we get, the fewer questions that we ask. We come to the conclusion that we know how it all works. The Pharisees were self-assured, but the disciples realized that the Word had answers that they had not even imagined. I believe the Lord wants to show us His miracle-working power. We will never receive miracles merely by seeking them, but when we realize the wonder of the miracles around us every day and look towards Him, we may see Him perform things we could not otherwise have imagined!
Spend this upcoming week looking for the miracles that are around you, by asking Jesus where He is working and if you can come along the journey.
Let us pray.
