1. The Gospel of John...Introduction

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God"! (John 1.12). The Gospel of John…the last in the list of the four Gospels; maybe the last Gospel to be written, and maybe even written by John, the fourth disciple to have been chosen by Jesus to assist Him and to accompany Him, and to learn from Him throughout His earthly mission. And oh, what a mission it was to be…from a manger to the cross to the grave, and from the grave to a resurrection (“the first fruits of those who died”, 1 Cor. 15.20), and from the resurrection to the very right hand of The Father!

The phrase, “the disciple whom Jesus loved“, is one of the unique features of this record. It is first used in chapt. 13.23, on the occasion of “the last supper”, so-called, and then at the cross of His crucifixion in 19.26, 20.2, 21.7, 20. Finally, it is stated in chapt. 21.24 that it was “this disciple” who wrote “these things” and that “his testimony is true”. But whatever your understanding of who the author of this Gospel may be, it is enough for us to know, and to be assured, that this is God’s word, composed by inspiration of Holy Spirit and recorded maybe, by John the disciple of Jesus.

Now it’s traditional at this point to have something to say about the four Gospel records and their relationship to one another, i.e. the possibility of Matthew presenting Jesus as “the Son of David”, with His genealogy being presented there in the opening paragraphs of the book; Mark presenting Him as “the Son of Man”; and so on. The fact is, each Gospel presents the same story of the same Saviour, Who was born and lived and died and rose again to take up His rightful place in eternity!

The very clearly stated purpose of this Gospel is very clearly recorded for us in chapt. 20.30-31..."...that you may believe...", and is in every way, in agreement with all of scripture. The goal of all scripture in fact, is not to merely present information, but to present Jesus and His eternal purposes; and any study of the Gospels, along with the rest of The Book, violates the Divine Author’s purposes if the student does not become increasingly committed to His Lord.

The whole “counsel of God” (Acts 20.27), including the Gospel of John, serves to show us Who Jesus is and what He came to do...that is, to die as the last sacrifice for sin, and to bring the castaways to faith that leads to eternal life! And John’s way of recording what Holy Spirit gives him, helps us to understand this “bottom line”...the choice between life and death and light and darkness, right from the very opening verses. Sometimes, like all other books of the Bible, it seems too simple, and at other times, too difficult; or it seems too harsh, while at other times, too lenient; sometimes it seems simply too good to be true, while at all times, it most certainly is true! And John will assuredly, keep us focused on that “bottom line”.

To be continued soon. Thanks for lookin’in!