The Gospel of John is the fourth, and last, of the Gospels in the New Testament. You might recall that John was one of the first disciples whom Jesus called to follow Him. It all began on the shores of the Sea of Galilee as Jesus was teaching the crowds who had gathered. I’m pretty certain that He was teaching something about “faith,” as He noticed that Peter and Andrew, and James and John (the sons of Zebedee), had been fishing all night and caught nothing. As they were cleaning their nets, Jesus told them to cast out into the deep water and let down the nets again. After some doubt-filled grumbling by Peter, they did so, and caught more fish than they could have ever imagined, in fact, the catch filled both boats to the point of sinking. Of course, Jesus’ words to them still ring in our ears, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!”

From that point on, John faithfully followed Jesus throughout His ministry. But all was not so “rosy” for John, as he had some character flaws that needed to be transformed by the Lord. One day, when the disciples were rebuffed by some Samaritans, James and John wanted to bring fire down from heaven and consume them. Jesus noticed their anger and vengeful attitude, and so He nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder.” Well, that’s how John began His walk with Jesus, but by the end of his life, John became known as the “Apostle of Love.”

Interestingly, John not only wrote his Gospel, but also three letters and the Book of Revelation. But more on those other books later. There is some dispute among scholars regarding the time of John’s writings, some putting them early, around AD 65, and others thirty years later, around AD 95. I feel that there is little support for the later date, and so I’m a strong proponent of the early date, but let’s not get into that now. Let’s talk about the Gospel itself.

John doesn’t begin as did Matthew and Luke did with the “Christmas Story” in Bethlehem, but with Jesus’ deity and existence with God in the beginning. John refers to Jesus as the “Word,” or the eternal “logos,” the expression of God Himself. Check out the first three verses of the Gospel which portray Jesus as the “Eternal Son and Creator” of all things,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by him…” (Jn. 1:1-3).

Of course, those verses are filled with some basic Christian theology that is important for followers of Jesus to understand. But John doesn’t stop there, as he wanted to clarify just who this “Word” was,

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:14, 17).

So, that’s how John begins his Gospel, but in order to understand the rest of the book, we need to jump to the end of the Gospel where John gives us the purpose for all that he had written in his Gospel, including certain miracles that John recorded. Here’s what he said,

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; and that by believing, you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:30-31).  

John is telling us that Jesus performed many more miracles throughout His ministry, but John chose to include only 7 in his Gospel because, according to his own words, these 7 miracles, refer directly to Jesus’ deity, that He was not only the “Messiah” (the long expected One), but also the “Son of the Living God” (something that they weren’t expecting!). For the disciples, and His other followers, Jesus being the Messiah was not a huge leap of faith. But for Jesus to also be the “Son of God,” that was something that had to be revealed by God, as it was to Peter and to the other disciples, when they went to Caesarea Philippi (recorded in Matthew 16:16).

OK – So much for the true identity of Jesus — Yes, Messiah; Yes, the Son of God. But there is more. John said that if we will believe and put our faith and trust in Him, we will receive the gift of “life” through His name. The Greek word for “life” is zoe, that is, true spiritual life. Way back in the first chapter of John, John said “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn. 1:4). And, scattered throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus told the crowds that He was the “bread of life;” “the water of life;” “the way, the truth, and the life;” and “the resurrection and the life.” He wanted there to be no mistake about the fact that true spiritual life comes from a Person, Jesus the Messiah, the Giver of Life.

Friends, it is clear that Jesus is the only One who can give us “life.” It is a gift that must be received, and can never be earned by doing good works or by religious rituals. We receive it by faith, acknowledging Jesus’ provision for the forgiveness of our sins through His death on the cross, and by simply asking Him to fill us with His life, which is His gift to us. Once we are cleansed and emptied of sin, that’s when His life can fill us. If you have never received His gift of LIFE, just ask him to cleanse you from sin and fill you with His life today. What a wonderful time of year for you to do so!

Peggy and I want you all to know how blessed we are to have you in our lives. Thank you for your friendship!

Blessings to all, and Happy Thanksgiving.