Intro to John

I will be going through John Verse by verse over the next forseeable future. I want to use this to help people supplement their own scripture reading as I think it is really important that everyone reads the Bible everyday. I will be going through John in the English Standard version for anyone who wants to know why the verses are different then what they are reading. With this in mind each week I will be attempting to do one or two verses and filling out more information of those verses with more context and spiritual insights.

This first study is going to be an introduction to John as it is always important to understand the book and the author of the book before being able to understand indivudual passages and verses. John is one of the discples that actually walked and talked with Jesus and so his insight is invaluable to understanding that time and what Jesus said. This book has a couple unique aspects which makes it different than what are called the synoptic gospels; these include the Light and Darkness motif, the I AM statements that Jesus declares about Himself, and the obviousness of Jesus declared divinity in the book.

The first observation that everyone will have as they read the gospel of John is the Light and Darkness Motif. This light and darkness motif is evident in almost every chapter of John. The light repreasents Jesus. This can be observed in the John 1:4 “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This gives the reader a template for the rest of the gospel to understand that Jesus is the life and that life equals light, Jesus does not just bring life but brings a life that illuminates the darkness of the world. In contrast to the light throughout John there is a passive force that the light acts on and that is the darkness. John writes next “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The action is on the light for the most part piercing the darkness, even though the darkness attempts to overcome it is to show that when the light comes in the darkness must be dispersed. When reading through remember these two points the light is Jesus and his life which acts on the darkness that then must clear to make way for the illumination of the light.

The second observation in the Gospel of John is the I AM statements that Jesus makes about Himself. These books end the back half of the gospel of John that show aspects of who Jesus through different physical examples. Jesus shows how he is life in these statements. The first statement shows this when Jesus says “[…] ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live.’ (John 11:25). These I AM statements then callback to other passages in the Gospel where that was demonstrated. A demonstration of Jesus being the resurrection and the life when Jesus talks to Nicodemus being born again (John 3:3-8). Nicodemus in the passage is rightfully confused about how a grown man can be born again but when we can look through the lens of Jesus being the resurrection and the life it makes more sense that Jesus is referring to dying again that He might resurrect Him to new life.

The final observation that one can make throughout all the gospel of John is about the divinity of Jesus. From the very beginning of the gospel John refers to the divinity of Jesus. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” this is an outright statement at the beginning of the book that the Word, which is Jesus, is God this is a completely different choice then the other gospels make which all the rest start with the birth of Jesus. This is not the only reference to Jesus being God though John also gives an example of when Jesus declared it. When Jesus is preaching in the temple later in the gospel He comes out and says, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). This is Jesus saying that He is one with Father God meaning Him and God are the same this not only was a shocking statement, but it also caused the religious leaders that were listening attempt to stone Him. These two examples are just a couple of direct references to Jesus’ divinity.

It is important to really keep these references in mind as we delve further into the gospel of John to understand the deep and impactful meaning that it has for our lives. This is not just a book about the story of some man but a rich story of the God man telling us who He is and how we can still meet and talk with Him today. Jesus is the Light of the world, He is the resurrection and the life, and He is God. He is God that wants to meet with you today if you want to all that is required is to ask.