The Gospel According to John.

[Hansc]

The Gospel according to Saint John

Writing on the Gospel of John, Martin Luther said,” “This is the unique, tender, genuine chief Gospel,…. Should a tyrant succeed in destroying the Holy Scriptures and only a single copy of the Epistle to the Romans and the Gospel according to John escape him, Christianity would be saved”.

I know that when I talk to sinners about God, John’s Gospel is one of my chief foundations and in it is found the basic simple Gospel of God’s redemptive love.

It is probably the portion of Scripture that more people have come to know Christ through, than any other section of the Bible.

Saint Jerome said, “John excels in the depths of divine mysteries”.

This Gospel touches the very heart and nature of Christ to a greater extent than the other three Gospels. Its special emphasis is on the deity of Christ.

That’s why in reference to John’s Gospel, Saint Augustine says, “Saint John not undeservedly with reference to his spiritual understanding compared to an eagle, has lifted higher, and far more sublimely that the other three.”

In the medieval world, Saint John was symbolized by the eagle, due to his grand views of Christ in his writings. In medieval art, frequently when we see an eagle, it is a symbolic reference to John.

The Gospel of John is strikingly different than the other three and was the last one to be written, probably sometime between 85-95 A.D. To a large extent it focuses more on the things Jesus said, rather than what He did, and is a more reflective work than the others which are more in a narrative style.

Many Christian scholars believe that it is the most important book ever written. Often when people first come to Christ, they are given one book to read first, and it often is the Book of John.

The purpose of the Gospel was spelled out by John when in chapter twenty he says, “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”

John weaves together the sayings, statements, miracles and events of his Gospel to build a case for the deity of Christ. That is his chief focus, Christ’s divinity.

He wrote this work long after the other Gospel writers had passed away. He was alone left of all the Apostles, and knowing that he must also go home soon, left the world with a final glimpse beyond the veil of glory.

In his work, John takes us down the labyrinthine halls of eternity long gone by, across immeasurable time, beyond the incomprehensible vastness of space, beyond anything the mind of man can conceive, and out of these mists of untold ages steps the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, God eternal, the Alpha and Omega.

Go back in time as far as your mind can conceive, and out from beyond the conceivable steps the inconceivable , the man of no origin, no beginning, no end, the living Word, the Lord of Glory.

This Gospel of John is in essence the upper room for believers, where Christ takes us aside and reveals things to us that the world may not know.

It can be a difficult work to study in depth, yet God has not called us to be geniuses of God, but rather children of God. Jesus didn’t say that we had to be seminary graduates to serve and understand Him, He merely asked, “Do you love me?”

Paul in writing to the Philippians said:

Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death

Know Him….

Knowing Him is what it’s all about. Knowing Him is not the same as knowing doctrines about Him. It says know Him , not speculate about Him.

Paul at the end of His life and work stated that his purpose was to know Him. Our salvation is based upon our relationship with Christ, not on our relationship with any other organization.

The Gospel of John is all about knowing Him. Let us focus our study and lives on knowing Him more and more. And with that let’s begin.

[JONAH]

My favorite Book of the Bible!

Did you know that John records exactly 8 miracles performed by the Lord? I think there is significance in this. The 8 souls who were saved by the ark represent a new beginning. John notes that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (or the 8th day), also signifying renewal. John's gospel is incredibly deep!

The Gospel according to Saint John

Writing on the Gospel of John, Martin Luther said,” “This is the unique, tender, genuine chief Gospel,…. Should a tyrant succeed in destroying the Holy Scriptures and only a single copy of the Epistle to the Romans and the Gospel according to John escape him, Christianity would be saved”.

I know that when I talk to sinners about God, John’s Gospel is one of my chief foundations and in it is found the basic simple Gospel of God’s redemptive love.

It is probably the portion of Scripture that more people have come to know Christ through, than any other section of the Bible.

Saint Jerome said, “John excels in the depths of divine mysteries”.

This Gospel touches the very heart and nature of Christ to a greater extent than the other three Gospels. Its special emphasis is on the deity of Christ.

That’s why in reference to John’s Gospel, Saint Augustine says, “Saint John not undeservedly with reference to his spiritual understanding compared to an eagle, has lifted higher, and far more sublimely that the other three.”

In the medieval world, Saint John was symbolized by the eagle, due to his grand views of Christ in his writings. In medieval art, frequently when we see an eagle, it is a symbolic reference to John.

The Gospel of John is strikingly different than the other three and was the last one to be written, probably sometime between 85-95 A.D. To a large extent it focuses more on the things Jesus said, rather than what He did, and is a more reflective work than the others which are more in a narrative style.

Many Christian scholars believe that it is the most important book ever written. Often when people first come to Christ, they are given one book to read first, and it often is the Book of John.

The purpose of the Gospel was spelled out by John when in chapter twenty he says, “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”

John weaves together the sayings, statements, miracles and events of his Gospel to build a case for the deity of Christ. That is his chief focus, Christ’s divinity.

He wrote this work long after the other Gospel writers had passed away. He was alone left of all the Apostles, and knowing that he must also go home soon, left the world with a final glimpse beyond the veil of glory.

In his work, John takes us down the labyrinthine halls of eternity long gone by, across immeasurable time, beyond the incomprehensible vastness of space, beyond anything the mind of man can conceive, and out of these mists of untold ages steps the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, God eternal, the Alpha and Omega.

Go back in time as far as your mind can conceive, and out from beyond the conceivable steps the inconceivable , the man of no origin, no beginning, no end, the living Word, the Lord of Glory.

This Gospel of John is in essence the upper room for believers, where Christ takes us aside and reveals things to us that the world may not know.

It can be a difficult work to study in depth, yet God has not called us to be geniuses of God, but rather children of God. Jesus didn’t say that we had to be seminary graduates to serve and understand Him, He merely asked, “Do you love me?”

Paul in writing to the Philippians said:

Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death

Know Him….

Knowing Him is what it’s all about. Knowing Him is not the same as knowing doctrines about Him. It says know Him , not speculate about Him.

Paul at the end of His life and work stated that his purpose was to know Him. Our salvation is based upon our relationship with Christ, not on our relationship with any other organization.

The Gospel of John is all about knowing Him. Let us focus our study and lives on knowing Him more and more. And with that let’s begin.

[Hansc]

My favorite Book of the Bible!

Did you know that John records exactly 8 miracles performed by the Lord? I think there is significance in this. The 8 souls who were saved by the ark represent a new beginning. John notes that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (or the 8th day), also signifying renewal. John's gospel is incredibly deep!

Jonah, thanks for the insight, and welcome to the board. I didn't realize there were exactly eight miracles recorded in John.

[Hansc]

JOHN,1
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD


1.) Jesus Christ is God

1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

In the beginning…

The Gospel according to John opens with an echo of the opening verse of the Bible, “in the beginning” when time began. When we go back to the very beginning of all time and creation , the Word was already there. He was before all things. He Himself has no beginning.

This unique name for Jesus, the Word, is only used four times in the New Testament and only by John.

the Word….

This term in Greek is one we commonly hear and it is LOGOS. In the Greek this means “word” or “reason”. In the ancient Greek world the philosopher Heracleitus thought that the Logos of God was the reason for the existence of all things in the universe.

The philosopher Plato, believed that the Logos of God was the highest form of the unchanging good. When John wrote his gospel the writings of both of these men were in wide circulation.

To the Greek mind, there were two worlds, the one we live in, which was a world of shadows, copies and unrealities, while the other world which was the real world, held true reality. To the Greeks the unseen world was the real one, while the seen world was only a poor copy or reflection of a greater unseen reality.

Plato in his writings spoke of the many unseen mysterious of this unseen world and expressed the hope that someday a LOGOS from God would come forth and give men clarity and understanding.

the Word was with God…..

The Greek of this ( pros ton theon) could be rendered as “face to face with God”. This shows the Word as a distinct person, and yet having “face to face” fellowship with another distinct person. The Word here was “with” God, that is to say, he is shown to have a conscious personal existence distinct and separate from God.

Jesus tells us that:
John 6:46
“Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.” (LIV)


and the Word was God….

And yet, in spite of being distinct and separate from God, the Word is none the less inseparable and associated with Him.

Yet, lest we think that the Word is less than God, we are told that the “Word was God”. Actually literally it reads, “And God was the Word”, the subject and predicate are reversed in the closing thought thereby underlining and placing greater emphasis that the Word while being distinct is none the less God, eternal.


This distinctness yet none the less is not the distinctness of two totally different beings, as if there were more than one God, but of fellowship within a divine plurality, and speaks of the absolute unity of God.

In this we see, that the Lord Jesus is the Lord of Eternal Glory, the living Word. Jesus is God Almighty, Jesus is God Eternal.

[JONAH]

Great post!

JOHN,1
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD


1.) Jesus Christ is God

1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

In the beginning…

The Gospel according to John opens with an echo of the opening verse of the Bible, “in the beginning” when time began. When we go back to the very beginning of all time and creation , the Word was already there. He was before all things. He Himself has no beginning.

This unique name for Jesus, the Word, is only used four times in the New Testament and only by John.

the Word….

This term in Greek is one we commonly hear and it is LOGOS. In the Greek this means “word” or “reason”. In the ancient Greek world the philosopher Heracleitus thought that the Logos of God was the reason for the existence of all things in the universe.

The philosopher Plato, believed that the Logos of God was the highest form of the unchanging good. When John wrote his gospel the writings of both of these men were in wide circulation.

To the Greek mind, there were two worlds, the one we live in, which was a world of shadows, copies and unrealities, while the other world which was the real world, held true reality. To the Greeks the unseen world was the real one, while the seen world was only a poor copy or reflection of a greater unseen reality.

Plato in his writings spoke of the many unseen mysterious of this unseen world and expressed the hope that someday a LOGOS from God would come forth and give men clarity and understanding.

the Word was with God…..

The Greek of this ( pros ton theon) could be rendered as “face to face with God”. This shows the Word as a distinct person, and yet having “face to face” fellowship with another distinct person. The Word here was “with” God, that is to say, he is shown to have a conscious personal existence distinct and separate from God.

Jesus tells us that:
John 6:46
“Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.” (LIV)


and the Word was God….

And yet, in spite of being distinct and separate from God, the Word is none the less inseparable and associated with Him.

Yet, lest we think that the Word is less than God, we are told that the “Word was God”. Actually literally it reads, “And God was the Word”, the subject and predicate are reversed in the closing thought thereby underlining and placing greater emphasis that the Word while being distinct is none the less God, eternal.


This distinctness yet none the less is not the distinctness of two totally different beings, as if there were more than one God, but of fellowship within a divine plurality, and speaks of the absolute unity of God.

In this we see, that the Lord Jesus is the Lord of Eternal Glory, the living Word. Jesus is God Almighty, Jesus is God Eternal.

[JONAH]

Here's something to think about during this upcoming celebration of the Lord's resurrection.

"And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." -John 20:12

Does anyone recognize this imagery from the Old Testament? Hint: Think back to the Ark of the Covenant.

[Hansc]

Here's something to think about during this upcoming celebration of the Lord's resurrection.

"And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." -John 20:12

Does anyone recognize this imagery from the Old Testament? Hint: Think back to the Ark of the Covenant.

Reminds me of the two angels overlooking the ark.

[Hansc]

2.) Jesus Christ is the uncreated Creator

John 1:3
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus is the creator of all things; He spoke the worlds into existence. He does not have a beginning, but rather gave a beginning to all things. He was the one who created Adam and Eve and walked in the Garden with them. He was the one that hung the stars in their paths.

Christ who died on the cross was the creator all things.

Colossians 1:16-17
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

All stars, all galaxies, all angels, all powers, all thrones, were created by Jesus Christ. They were created by Him and for Him. He Himself has no beginning, no ending; He is the Alpha and Omega, the Lord of Glory.

When people ask me who Christ is, I like to say the He is the uncreated Creator.

[JONAH]

Reminds me of the two angels overlooking the ark.

You got it!

"Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat." - Exodus 25:19 (NKJV)

Hebrews Chapter 9 elucidates this connection.

Have a blessed Easter! He is risen!

[Hansc]

3.) In Him was ZOE

John 1:4
In Him was life; …..

In Him was LIFE….

The term used here is ZOE, and refers to not just biological life, but rather to the very LIFE of God Himself. In this context here, ZOE is used as a reference to eternal LIFE.

This eternal LIFE, this ZOE, whatever else it may be, is clearly more that life which simply lasts forever. In ZOE, there is more than just duration of life, but also a certain quality of life. All people, because they are at core spiritual beings will have eternal existence, but only those who receive Christ will have eternal LIFE.

Jesus has in Him, the very eternal LIFE of God. This is one of the key words and themes of the book of John. When we read in John’s writings the term “life”, we need to pay attention. He is actually talking about ZOE, not regular human life, but rather LIFE.

Jesus is the eternal Word of LIFE made manifest in the flesh. Jesus offers men and women, ZOE, the entering into the very LIFE of God.

I John 1:1-2
That which was from the beginning, which we have listened to, which we have seen with our own eyes, and our own hands have handled concerning the Word of Life--
the Life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and we declare unto you the Life of the Ages which was with the Father and was manifested to us--(Weymouth)

John again declares Jesus to be the Word of LIFE made flesh. He is the LIFE of the Ages, and has always been with the Father from the beginning. This LIFE was manifest, and was seen by men. This means that man can know the truth of God.

The Word of LIFE has stepped into the world of fallen man and given unto man a true revelation of God. Man by this is able to know the truth of God.