2. Intro cont'd

The Gospel of John is always recommended as a “first reader” for the new believer, and yet it should still be considered advanced theology for the bible scholar. As an example, throughout the book is a collection of “I am” statements. Jesus said, in ch. 6.35- “…I am the Bread of life”, in 8.12- “…I am the Light of the world”, in 10.11- “…I am the good Shepard” and so on. There are statements that serve to identify Jesus with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (8.57,58); in 10.30 we read, “…I and My Father are One”; while in the upper room, just before His execution by crucifixion, He gives some of the most significant teachings in all of scripture concerning Holy Spirit. And John tells us that the vast number of the sayings of Jesus could not even be contained in all the books that this world could produce!

You know, we’re going to read that a religious leader came to Jesus by night, and our Lord said to that religious leader, who had religion coursing through his veins, “…you must be born again”! He needed to have a new life, and he needed to get rid of his old religion! Jesus said that He had not come to sew a new patch onto an old garment, but rather, to “…clothe us with the garments of salvation, and to cover us with the robe of righteousness”, as Isaiah 61.10 prophesies, to prepare us to meet our God.

It was Jesus Who, as recorded on these pages, secured the truth of the “believe/receive” principle for salvation, as described all the way through from ch. 1.12 to 3.16 to 20.31, the key verse in the Gospel, and stating the purpose of its recording,”…that believing, you might have life through His Name”! It was Jesus Who performed the working of miracles as recorded here, eight of them in fact (ch. 2.1- the wedding feast, 4.43- the healing of the nobleman’s son, 5.1- the healing of the lame man in Jerusalem, 6.1- the feeding of 5000, 6.19- the healing of the man blind from birth, 11.1- the raising of Lazarus and all of ch. 20- His resurrection), all as signs of His Divinity, as well as to prove His place as Saviour and Redeemer and the true Son of God! In ch. 4.53 we read of the nobleman, after the healing of his son, that he “…himself believed, and his whole house”! But we also see from passages such as ch. 12.46-49, that Jesus also came to tell the world of the judgement to come.

Finally we have Jesus, rising in resurrection power from the darkness of His entombment, and we’re told in ch. 20.8 that “…that other disciple”, perhaps John himself, as he entered the empty tomb, “… saw and believed”!

Believing, really is seeing!