Thank you to all of you who voted in the email poll about which book of the Bible we should study next. The majority of the votes were for the Gospel of John and so here we are! But before we dive into any book of the Bible it is always helpful to orient ourselves in terms of the book’s structure, its origin, and its main purposes. If you have ever read a commentary on any biblical book, you will have noticed that scholars always include an introductory section that deals with these things. While I am by no means a great Bible scholar, I do think it is helpful for us to at least be aware of these things before we jump in to the book.
So then what do we need to know?
John is different to the other gospel accounts
The Gospel of John is quite different to the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. We call these Synoptics because they give us a synopsis of Jesus’ life and teachings. The Synoptics generally follow Jesus’ life in roughly chronological order, but John arranges his gospel much more theologically. What we end up with then is a book that aims to give the reader good evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. John does this by providing an introduction, evidence in the form of miracles, evidence in the form of Jesus’ last days on Earth, and then an epilogue. As we explore these together it is worth realising that John is making a case to convince the reader that Jesus is truly the Son of God.
Who wrote John?
Traditionally, the Gospel of John has been attributed to the Apostle John, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. I see no reason to doubt this. There is lots of evidence to support John being the author. The earliest writings we have from outside the Bible affirm John’s authorship. Specifically Irenaeus, one of the early church fathers, wrote in his book Against Heresies, that John published this gospel account. You can go look this up for yourself, he writes this in Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter 1.1. There are also other, more technical, reasons to trust that John wrote this book, but they are beyond the scope of a devotional like this. If you are interested, I can highly recommend D.A. Carson’s Pillar Commentary on John. It is a touch pricy, but it is well worth the money. I will be drawing a lot from him in this devotional series.
Why did John write John?
This is a wonderfully easy question to answer. John tells us directly why he wrote he gospel in John 20:31 “… but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (ESV). So John writes as an evangelist and a Christian apologists. He wants his readers to be convinced by the evidence he provides that Jesus is truly the Son of God, and that as a result people will be saved.
How does John achieve this goal?
He achieves this goal by providing two types of evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. According to another scholar Raymond E. Brown, in his book, The Gospel According to John, John structures his book according to four main sections:
Prologue (John 1:1-18)
The Book of Signs (John 1:19-12:50): This is “Exhibit A” of the evidence. It shows Jesus’ power as he performs various miraculous acts that clearly show God’s power.
The Book of Glory (John 13:1-20:31): This is “Exhibit B” of the evidence. It shows Jesus’ glorification through the last supper, Jesus’ suffering, the crucifixion and Jesus’ resurrection.
Epilogue (John 21)
So why should we study John?
Because it is worth it. This book teaches us a lot about Jesus. John shows us Jesus’ love, his power and his identity as the second person of the Trinity. But John also teaches us about us. It shows us how much we need Jesus to come and bring the “light of life” into our lives as the redeemer of the world.
So it is my prayer that as we open this book together, we will be challenged and grown as we meet Jesus through the eyes of John.
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, as we prepare to open the Gospel of John, we pray that you will prepare our hearts. Help us to see Jesus through the eyes of John. Help us to be even more convinced by the evidence John provides, and help us to love you all the more as a result. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Take this moment to invite someone else along this journey too. Invite them to subscribe or share these emails with them, and then arrange to meet so you can discuss the book of John together. In this way you can help them be convinced
Welcome to the Gospel of John!