Series: John

John 1:1-2 tells us God the Word [Logos] has always been, He was herebefore anything was created; He was here in the beginning with God, and He is the Eternal God.

Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” 17c-18a, “I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!”

John 1:3-4 tells us the Word is the Creator of all things, and the full embodiment of life from God, the revelation of God to all mankind (Genesis 1:1).

John 1:11-12 says all those who believe in the Word, Christ, become spiritual and eternal children of God, (v. 13) being born-again by the Spirit of God.
John 3:6-7, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”
See John 1:14… God, the Creator and life giver, put on flesh and lived among His creation. God became fully man, yet remaining fully God.

1Timothy 3:16, “Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

God was in the flesh of Jesus, and the glory of God was clearly evidenced in Him, for He is God the Son, who came from God the Father and made His dwelling lived in a tent, i.e. tented) among us.

In the OT God lived (tented) among Israel: in the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35;) and in the Temple (1Kings 8:10-11). In eternity God will dwell (tent) with His people (Revelation 21:3-4).

Jesus (God in the flesh, Immanuel) revealed God’s glory, although not fully, due to His flesh, but it was still magnificent. Up on the mountain, with Peter, James and John, when Christ was transfigured, we are told (Matthew 17:2), “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.”

God was in Jesus’ Body, full of grace and truth…

Grace = unmerited mercy, blessing & favor of God.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Titus 2:11, “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.”

Truth = without error, as things really are, were and will be…
Ephesians 1:13, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the

word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”

Ephesians 4:21, “Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.”

1Timothy 2:3-4, “God our Savior [who] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (John 8:32, the truth will set you free)

Back in verse 7 we read that the Baptizer was a witness to testify (that the Word, Jesus Christ, is the exact representation of God), in order that we might believe in God through Him, who said:

John 5:22-23, “The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him.”
John 8:23-24, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins.”

John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

In 1John 2:23 we read, “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

See John 1:15… The Baptizer said, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'”

Jesus was born six months later than the Baptizer
Jesus came to the Jordan River after the Baptizer
Jesus eternally exists and has always existed; yet, He was the One (Micah

5:2) who was coming as, “ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times,” (NASB) “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” Yet He was still to come: birth, death, returns, King, Judge…

He has always existed
See John 1:16… God’s grace provides everything we need, bringing blessing after blessing (see 2Peter 1:2-4).

See John 1:17… God’s Law saves no one!

Please turn to Romans 3:19-22, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

The Law is not grace, but instead, God’s grace is granted to law breaking sinners who repent, bringing forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice. The Law convicts us and condemns us – making evident our need for the grace and truth that has come through Christ the Lord (Galatians 3:24), “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” See John 1:18… No one has ever seen God, except for God’s Son, the Word of God who came from the Father.

It is through Jesus that we have seen God; for it is Christ who shows us, revealing and making known the Father.

Please turn to Colossians 1:15-20, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”

“No one has ever seen God, except God the One and Only, at the Father’s side, who has made Him known.” “At the Father’s side” [in the bosom of the Father], is very similar to what is expressed in John 1:1-2; in that, the Son was with the Father in intimate fellowship since the beginning – and so, only the Son can reveal the Father to us.

Please turn to John 14:6-7, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.’”

9 “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

11 “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

Matthew 11:27, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

The Word of God’s main purpose was to exegete the Father, i.e., to show, reveal, make known. explain and interpret the Father for us, that we might hear and believe in God’s Son, the Savior who has provided forgiveness for sins and eternal life.

From the very beginning, upon creating life, God revealed Himself to His creation, humankind:

– He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve

– He spoke to people of faith throughout history, e.g., Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David…

– He sent prophets to speak to the Jews

– He was present with the Jews in the desert as a pillar of smoke/fire, in the Tabernacle, the Temple…

– Then God left the Jews for 400 years
– He again broke the silence with His Son
God Himself came to earth, putting on flesh, living among humankind,

proclaiming the way of salvation, becoming the payment for our sins, taking our punishment, redeeming all who believe in Him.

Jesus said:

John 6:40, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:46-47, “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only He has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes [in Him] has everlasting life.”

What a gracious God we have, of all the people on the earth, we, God’s children ought to be thankful.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

 Last week we dove into the first five verses of John chapter 1, incredible

theology and truth about the Lord, the Word of God, God the Son, Creator, Sustainer, Judge and Savior: Jesus Christ.

Today we will be studying how people responded to the Light and Life of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, the Logos, the full embodiment and God’s nature, wisdom and power.
Read John 1:6-9… And so we go from the awesome declaration in verses 1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God, and in Him was life, and the life was the Light of God,” to the presentation of a man who came from God, whose name was John, not the author John, but the Baptizer John, cousin of Jesus, from now on to be called the Baptizer or Baptizer.

Notice John says about the Baptizer, he was “sent from God” fulfilling a special role laid out in prophecy concerning the coming of Messiah, the Christ (Isaiah 40:1-3), “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her… A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

Both Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:2-3 proclaim that John the Baptizer is the fulfillment of this prophecy, “This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.'”

Scripture speaks of an Elijah-like prophet coming before the Day of the Lord:

Malachi 3:1, “‘See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the LORD Almighty.”

Malachi 4:5-6, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

See Luke 1:11-20, 57-66, 76-80… The angel Gabriel told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear him him a son (John, the Baptizer), and he would be a prophet of God who would announce “the Messiah is here.”

Matthew 3:1-2, 5-6, “In those days John the Baptizer came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”

John the Baptizer broke the john400 years of silence between God and Israel and he was clear on his mission and his subordination to Christ:

Luke 3:16, John [said to the people], “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

John 1:15, “John testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'” 29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”

Jesus declared John the Baptizer to be the greatest man who had ever lived up to that time.

Matthew 11:11, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

Matthew 21:23-26, “Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while He was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him. ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave You this authority?’ Jesus replied, ‘I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism–where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?’ They discussed it among themselves and said, If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’–we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

The Baptizer’s mission was to be a witness of Messiah and to testify about the Light, so that people would believe and be saved; he was to stir their hearts, that they would be convicted that they had sinned against God; as the forerunner of Christ, the Baptizer called people to repent (to acknowledge their sins) and to be baptized (a public declaration of their need for Messiah).

The Baptizer was not the Light of God, he was a mere reflection of the Light, and he was to testify concerning the Holy One of God, the Word of God, Christ, who is the Light of God coming into the world, so that the people might understand and believe in Him and be saved.
Read John 1:10-13… The Word of God, Jesus Christ, is the Creator, He is the Light of God who has come into the darkness of this world to save those who will receive His Light (2Corinthians 4:4), “the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (see Luke 4:14-20, 28-30).

God’s Word tells us:

John 3:16-17, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

The dreadful reality is that the majority of mankind rejects the Light of God who has come into the world, and therefore they bring judgment upon themselves.

John 3:18-20, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

Jesus came to His own, mankind in general, the Jews specifically (cf. Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38); they did not know Him, i.e., they rejected Him as Messiah, Savior and Lord, again, bringing judgment upon themselves.

God knew the world would reject His Holy One, the Word of God, Messiah, and so God allowed them to put to death His own Son, knowing that the grave couldn’t keep Him, e.g., you can kill the body of Jesus that God lives in, but you can’t kill God, as Peter proclaimed:

Acts 2:22-24, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

The great news (John 1:12-13) is that everyone who receives Christ, those who believe in His name (all that He is [God], all that He does [Savior/Redeemer]), He gives the right to become children of God, born of God’s Spirit, born from above.

Our salvation is entirely by grace:
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.”

As we will later study in depth, in John 3:6-7 Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, explaining spiritual birth to him, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”

Notice in John 1:13 it says, “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

natural descent (lit. blood = heritage or ancestry via a bloodline) human decision (lit. flesh = desire or free will)
husband’s will (lit. man = man-made system or adoption)

This birth by God, brings you into an intimate relationship with God as His child, this cannot be obtained through a bloodline or ancestry, it doesn’t matter who your great great great grandparents were; nor can this spiritual birth be brought about through the sexual relationship between a man and a woman, for this heavenly birth is not done through human birth; nor can a man through his own volition select or adopt a child to belong to God, God chooses, calls and confirms His own.

Spiritual rebirth, being born again from above, born by God’s Spirit, born of God, is made effectual only through a person’s heartfelt response to the Word of God who is the life and Light of God to all who believe in Him.
Romans 10:9-13, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’ (Isaiah 28:16). For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Joel 2:32).

John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

1John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

How you respond to Jesus Christ will set your destiny forever: heaven or hell, it totally depends upon whether you receive or reject God’s One and Only Son.

Everyone who calls on Him for the forgiveness of sins will receive eternal life.

Why would anyone reject God’s free offer? Do you know for sure that you belong to Jesus?

Don’t delay another day, sincerely ask Him to forgive your sins and you will become a child of God, forever!

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 1 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

John’s opening verse states a most profound truth:
Read John 1:1… Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Here in John 1:1, the “Word” was n the beginning, the Greek word translated beginning means source, origin, ruler, one in authority. The Greek word translated “Word” [Logos] means the embodiment of all divine authority, power and wisdom. Jesus is God’s revelation of Himself to the world; and in fact, He is the final word from God to mankind about salvation (see Hebrews 1:3).

John tells us that not only was the Word in the beginning, but that the Word was with God – the Greek for the phrase “was with God,” actually means “face to face,” i.e., the Word [Christ, God the Son] was in an intimate, up close and personal, fellowship with God the Father long before anything was created; and not only is that significant, the Word was God. Jesus Christ is God!
Read John 1:2… John more clearly defines the “Word,” notice, John says “He” was in the beginning with God. The “He” of course is Jesus Christ, God’s Son. John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made “His” dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” No wonder Jesus said (John 14:6), “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Again, the Word, Christ, being there in the beginning means that He is God, because only God is preexistent and eternal, everything else is created.

The major truth declared by John is, Jesus is God!

Paul declared (Colossians 2:9), “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,” Peter (2Peter 1:1) calls Jesus “our God and Savior,” and the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:8) says about Jesus, “Your throne O God, will last for ever and ever.”
Read John 1:3… Christ was there before anything was created or came into being; and so He is not a created being, but instead, He is the creator of all beings and everything that was and will be created.

Only God, the Creator, has always existed, everything else was created by Him. The Word of God, Christ (in the flesh of Jesus), is the Creator of the universe (see Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:1-2) and the Ruler of the universe (see Colossians 2:10; Philippians 2:8-11).

Jesus and God are called by the same pronouns: Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8; 22:13)
Holy One (Isaiah 10:20; Acts 2:27; 3:14)
I AM (Exodus 3:14; John 8:24)

Judge (Genesis 18:25; 2Timothy 4:1, 8)
Light (Psalm 27:1; John 8:12)
Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17; Revelation 17:14)
Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6; 10:21)
Redeemer (Isaiah 41:14; 48:17; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12) Savior (Isaiah 43:11; Acts 4:12; Titus 2:13)

Jesus’ attributes are unique to God alone: Eternal (Micah 5:2; Isaiah 9:6)
Immutable (Hebrews 13:8)
Omnipotent (Philippians 3:21)

Omnipresent (Matthew 18:20; 28:20) Omniscient (Matthew 11:27; John 16:30; 21:17)

Jesus does things only God can do:
Creates all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16)
Sustains all things (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3)
Forgives sin (Mark 2:10-11)
Raises the dead (John 5:21; 11:25-44)
Receives worship (John 9:38; Philippians 2:10; Hebrews 1:6)
Receives prayer (John 14:13-14; Acts 7:59-60)
Read John 1:4… The themes of “life” and “Light” permeate John’s gospel; the word [Greek, zoe] translated “life” refers to the life Jesus gives His true disciples, i.e., spiritual life or eternal life; this is differentiated from the [Greek, bios] word translated “life,” that refers to physical life, also given by God.

Jesus Christ, had zoe within Himself, because He is self-existent – He was not created, He is the Creator who is eternally existent. That is, in a way, the awesome nature of God’s name “I AM,” (Exodus 3:14).

Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the
Almighty.’”

There was a time when the universe did not exist; but there was never a time when God did not exist. Jesus Christ, the Word [Logos], is God, He has always existed.

In Christ was the life and light of God – you cannot have life [zoe] from God without the Light [revelation] of God. Jesus is the source of life from God (see John 11:25; 14:6; 1John 1:1-4); He is also the source of Light from God (see John 8:12; 9:5; 1John 1:5-7).

Read Genesis 1:1-4… Without the light of God there is only darkness, Satan’s domain (see Ephesians 6:12)

Read John 1:5… The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood [lit. overcome] it.

It is not that darkness hasn’t understood the Light (see Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:34; Luke 4:34; James 2:19). The demons of darkness understand very well the judgment awaiting them in Christ. They have tried relentlessly to keep the Light and life of God from mankind (see 2Corinthians 4:4-6):

Throughout the OT Satan tried to destroy Israel so that Messiah [the Christ] could not be born.

Satan, through Herod, tried to kill the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16).

Satan tried to deter Jesus from going to the cross, by tempting Him (Matthew 4:1-11).

Satan used one of Jesus’ followers (Judas) to betray Him into the hands of the Jews (Matthew 16:21-23).

Satan thought he had won the battle when Jesus was nailed to the cross to die, but in reality, Satan brought about his own defeat and signed his own death warrant (see Acts 2:22-24; Colossians 2:15; 1John 3:8).

The Word of God is Jesus, God’s Son, Lord and Savior.

John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” 16, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.”

John 14:6, Jesus said, “”I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Everyone who calls on this Jesus, the Word of God, God the Son, to forgive their sins, will be saved!

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 1 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

I am very excited to finally begin our study of John’s account of the gospel of Christ. Having said that, we will not begin our verse by verse study today, as there is some background information you need to be aware of before we begin.

The Book of John is set apart from the other three gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, in a variety of ways. Matthew, Mark and Luke are synoptic accounts (from a Greek word meaning “to see together”). The Synoptics follow a similar story line of Christ’s life, providing many of the same narratives and events, but each one through the eyes of the author that bears the name of that book.

John’s account does not contain any narrative parables, no list of the twelve apostles, no eschatological [last things] discussions.

Interestingly, the majority of the material found in John is not present in the Synoptics, most importantly: Christ’s pre-existence as God and the incarnation (putting on the flesh of a man) (1:1-18); His enlightening dialogue with Nicodemus (3:1-21); His interactions with the Samaritan woman at the well (4:7-26, 39-42); His healing of the lame man at Bethesda (5:5-17); healing the blind man near the Temple (9:1-41); His claim to be the living water (7:37-38); the resurrection of Lazarus (11:30-46); the washing of the disciples’ feet (13:3-15); and Jesus taught on the Holy Spirit more in John than in all of the Synoptics.

But understand this, there is nothing in John that contradicts anything in the Synoptics and nothing in the Synoptics that contradicts anything in John.

Also, it is important to note that both John and the Synoptics bear witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of Man, the Messiah (Mark 2:10; John 1:51), and He is the Son of God (Mark 1:1; John 1:34). All four gospels present Jesus as the Savior who came to save us from our sins by dying on the cross, that He was buried, and He rose from the grave on the third day.

The gospel of John doesn’t name its author, neither do the other three gospels; but the early church fathers (Irenaeus, Eusebius, Tertullian and Clement) unanimously named John as the author of this “Fourth Gospel”.

B.F. Westcott was a 19th century commentator and biblical scholar, he did a magnificent job of summarizing the evidence that would conclusive name John as the author of this work. The following is a summary of Westcott’s work:
1. The author had to be a Jew – He was very familiar with contemporary Jewish customs, traditions, and teachings of the Messiah (1:21, 25; 6:14-15; 7:26-27, 31, 40-42; 12:34); Jewish attitudes toward the Samaritans (4:9), women in general (4:27); wedding (2:1-10) and burial (11:17-44; 19:40) customs; the Jewish feasts of Passover (2:13; 6:4; 11:55), Tabernacles/Booths (7:2), Dedication/Hanukkah (10:22).

2. The author was a Palestinian Jew – He had a detailed knowledge of many of the local places only a resident of Palestine would know about. John describes at least three locations not mentioned in the Synoptics: the pool of Bethesda [5:2], the pool of Siloam [9:7], the Kidron Valley [18:1]; and John had a very detailed knowledge of the temple (2:14, 20; 8:20; 10:22-23) only one who was familiar with the temple would know this.

3. The author was an eyewitness to what he wrote – He gave specific details that were not necessarily important to the story; but these details were not from the Synoptics, because they were not recorded in them: the name of Judas Iscariot’s father (6:71; 13:2, 26); how long Lazarus was in the tomb (11:17, 39); that the loaves the boy had at the feeding of the five thousand were made of barley (6:9); that the fragrance of the perfume Mary poured on Jesus’ feet filled the whole house (12:3); that the branches held by the people when Jesus entered Jerusalem were palm branches (12:13); that Roman soldiers accompanied the temple guards to the Garden of Gethsemane (18:3, 12); that Jesus’ garment was seamless (19:23), and at the tomb of the resurrected Jesus’ His head cloth was folded up separate from the linens that wrapped His body (20:6-7).

4. The author was an apostle – He was intimately aware of the thoughts, feelings and actions of the Twelve (2:11, 17, 22; 4:27; 6:19; 12:16; 13:22, 28; 20:8-9; 21:12).
5. The author was the apostle John – John is mentioned over twenty times in the Synoptics, yet he is never mentioned in his own gospel. There is just no good reason why any other NT Christian, other than John himself, would have omitted John’s name when writing this gospel account. John was a very prominent figure in the NT Church, only his own humility would keep him from mentioning his name in the account he wrote.

Also, it would have taken a person of unquestioned authority to write an account of the gospel, that differed from the Synoptics, and have it universally accepted by the church, as is expressed by the early Church Fathers.

Instead of claiming to be written by John, it says it was authored by “the disciple whom Jesus loved”; at the Last Supper, only the twelve were with Jesus (Matthew 26:20; Mark 14:17-18; Luke 22:14); here in John’s gospel, there is no one else who could be referred to as the “beloved disciple” (13:23; 21:20).

John’s gospel was most likely written in Ephesus, AD 80-90, after the Synoptics were circulated in the church.

John is the only gospel writer who gives a statement in his writings as to the specific purpose of his writing, (20:31) “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

John used “believe” (and its derivatives) twice as much as the Synoptics did. From the very beginning, John’s purpose was to convince and convict his readers of the true identity of Jesus’ and the gift of forgiveness and eternal life granted to those who believe in Him, as:
God incarnate (1:1, 14), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth,” (10:30), “I and the Father are one.”
Messiah (4:25-26), “The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, He will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I who speak to you am He,’” (Mark 14:61-62), “the high priest asked [Jesus], ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One [Jehovah]? ‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’”
Savior of the World (4:42), “this One [Jesus] is indeed the Savior of the world.”

John repeatedly gave testimony to Jesus’ miraculous signs as proof that He was the Son of God, Messiah, Lord and Savior, and John recorded eight of these specific miracles: turning water into wine (2:1-11), healing an official’s son (4:46-54), healing a lame man (5:1-18), feeding the five thousand (6:1-15), walking on the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21), healing a blind man (9:1-41), raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-45), providing a catch of 156 large fish (21:6-14), and the most convincing of all the miracles was Jesus’ own resurrection (20:1-9, 19-20, 24-29).

Next week we will begin working, verse by verse, through this great book that presents Jesus Christ as the eternal Word, the Messiah, Son of Man and yet, Son of God who, through His own death and resurrection has made available forgiveness [salvation] and eternal life, to all men, women and children of age.

As John said (John 20:30-31), “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><