John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend[a] it."
The Gospel of John is my favorite book of the Bible, and the Apostle John is my favorite person (besides Jesus) in the Bible. He was called, "the disciple whom Jesus loved." We are all Jesus' friends if we obey His commandments, but John was especially close to Jesus as a friend and disciple.
I like the way John writes about Jesus, and speaks of himself as a third person giving respect to Jesus and the other apostles. He focuses on the deity of Christ, as well as His humanity.
He was the youngest of the apostles, and therefore I think that he may have had a less tainted worldview because of that. Perhaps, unlike Peter who called himself a "sinful man," John hadn't been hardened by years of sin and pride.
He was given the privilege of seeing what would happen at the end times, when Jesus comes back. And he was able to make a record of it so that people today can know what to expect, and see the prophecies being fulfilled, proving the Bible to be true.
Here is the introduction to the Gospel of John in the Nelson Study Bible:
The Gospel According to
JOHN
JOHN
The words "Read This First" have taken an important role in the packaging of modern consumer products. Most consumers think life is too short for instruction manuals, so the packagers state it plainly: If you cannot read the manual, at least read this very important part. "Read This First"- it is for your own good. The Gospel of John makes a similar claim. It is the only book in the Bible that states its purpose clearly and succinctly: It was written to tell individuals how to find eternal life (20:31). This clearly identified purpose sets the Gospel of John apart from the other Gospels. It is not so much a life of Jesus as it is a powerful presentation of His deity. Every chapter presents evidence-both signs and statements-for His divine authority. According to John, believing that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, is the beginning of eternal life (3:14-17). What could be more important? John's statement about his Gospel is as good as a "Read This First" sticker for one's entire life.
Author
The author of the Gospel of John does not identify himself by name, but his identity can be learned from the dialogue recorded in 21:19-24. The author calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (21:20), a designation that occurs four other times in the book (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7). This was the same "disciple who ... wrote these things" (21:24). The author had to be one of the twelve apostles, because he is described as leaning on Jesus' bosom at the Last Supper, an event to which only the apostles were invited (13:23; see Mark 14:17). These details imply that he was one of the three disciples closest to Jesus: Peter, James, or John (see Matt. 17:1). He could not be Peter, because 21:20 states that Peter looked back and saw this one Jesus loved, and in another place asked a question of him (13:23, 24). On the other hand, James was martyred too early to be the author of this Gospel (see Acts 12:1, 2). Thus it is reasonable to conclude that this book was written by the apostle John. This conclusion is supported by early Christians such as Polycarp (a.d. 60-155), who was a follower of John.
Date
In the nineteenth century, many critics claimed that the Gospel of John was written around a.d. 170. Then in 1935 C. H. Roberts discovered a scrap of papyrus in Egypt containing portions of 18:31-33, 37, 38 that disproved their theory. This fragment, the Rylands papyrus, was written around a.d. 125. The Gospel itself must have been written before a.d. 125, or even a.d. 110, allowing time for it to be copied and then carried to Egypt.
Conservative scholars typically date the book between a.d. 85 and a.d. 95. The book makes no reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, implying that such a significant event must have occurred many years earlier. Moreover, the statement about Peter in 21:18, 23 seems to indicate that the Gospel was written when John was an old man. Only then would John have had to explain the death of Peter, or contend with a long-standing rumor of the early church. Others have suggested a date before a.d. 70 on the basis of 5:2, which indicates that Jerusalem was still standing. But there is a question about the interpretation of the tense of the verb to be. It is likely that the reason John used the present tense in this verse was to describe Jerusalem vividly, not to describe its present condition. Without more evidence than the tense of the verb in 5:2, the date of around a.d. 90 still seems most reasonable.
Theology
The Gospel of John is a persuasive argument for the deity of Jesus. It concentrates on presenting Jesus as the Word, that is, God (1:1) who became a man (1:14). Thus John meticulously records the statements and describes the miracles of Jesus that can only be attributed to God Himself.
Jesus called Himself the bread of life (6:35, 41, 48, 51), the light of the world (8:12; 9:5), the door for the sheep (10:7, 9), the good shepherd (10:11, 14), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way, the truth, the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1, 5). Each of these statements begins with the words, "I am," recalling God's revelation of His name, "I AM," to Moses (see Ex. 3:14). Jesus did not say He gave bread; He said He is the Bread which gives life. He did not say He would teach the way, the truth, and the life; instead He said He is the Way, because He is the Truth and the Life. These are Jesus' clear claims to deity: He was not a mere man.
Then there are the signs of Jesus' deity. Miracles in the Gospel of John are called "signs" because they point to Jesus' divine nature. John records seven such signs: changing water into wine (2:1-11), healing a man's son (4:46-54), healing a lame man (5:1-9), multiplying bread and fish (6:1-14), walking on water (6:15-21), healing a blind man (9:1-7), and raising Lazarus (11:38-44). These miracles show that Jesus is God; He possesses power over nature. Other indications of Jesus' deity include the testimonies of John the Baptist (1:32-34), Nathanael (1:49), the blind man (9:35-38), Martha (11:27), and Thomas (20:28)-not to mention Jesus'own words (5:19-26).
Jesus was also fully man. His body grew weary (4:6), His soul was troubled (12:27; 13:21), and He groaned in His spirit (11:33). At the same time, this God-man was Israel's Messiah. Andrew told his brother, "We have found the Messiah" (1:41). Nathanael concluded, "You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (1:49). Even the Samaritan woman testified to Jesus' identity (4:25, 26, 29). Jesus the Messiah was and is the Savior of the world (4:42; 11:27; 12:13).
John urges us to trust in Jesus for eternal life. Our trust is built on our belief that (1) the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in the Father (10:38; 14:10, 11); (2) Christ came from God (16:17, 30), and God sent Him (11:42; 17:8, 21; see 6:29); and (3) He is the Son of God (6:69; 11:27; 20:31). John reveals the Bible's most important message: Believe and follow Jesus, because He is the way to eternal life.
Author
The author of the Gospel of John does not identify himself by name, but his identity can be learned from the dialogue recorded in 21:19-24. The author calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (21:20), a designation that occurs four other times in the book (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7). This was the same "disciple who ... wrote these things" (21:24). The author had to be one of the twelve apostles, because he is described as leaning on Jesus' bosom at the Last Supper, an event to which only the apostles were invited (13:23; see Mark 14:17). These details imply that he was one of the three disciples closest to Jesus: Peter, James, or John (see Matt. 17:1). He could not be Peter, because 21:20 states that Peter looked back and saw this one Jesus loved, and in another place asked a question of him (13:23, 24). On the other hand, James was martyred too early to be the author of this Gospel (see Acts 12:1, 2). Thus it is reasonable to conclude that this book was written by the apostle John. This conclusion is supported by early Christians such as Polycarp (a.d. 60-155), who was a follower of John.
Date
In the nineteenth century, many critics claimed that the Gospel of John was written around a.d. 170. Then in 1935 C. H. Roberts discovered a scrap of papyrus in Egypt containing portions of 18:31-33, 37, 38 that disproved their theory. This fragment, the Rylands papyrus, was written around a.d. 125. The Gospel itself must have been written before a.d. 125, or even a.d. 110, allowing time for it to be copied and then carried to Egypt.
Conservative scholars typically date the book between a.d. 85 and a.d. 95. The book makes no reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, implying that such a significant event must have occurred many years earlier. Moreover, the statement about Peter in 21:18, 23 seems to indicate that the Gospel was written when John was an old man. Only then would John have had to explain the death of Peter, or contend with a long-standing rumor of the early church. Others have suggested a date before a.d. 70 on the basis of 5:2, which indicates that Jerusalem was still standing. But there is a question about the interpretation of the tense of the verb to be. It is likely that the reason John used the present tense in this verse was to describe Jerusalem vividly, not to describe its present condition. Without more evidence than the tense of the verb in 5:2, the date of around a.d. 90 still seems most reasonable.
Theology
The Gospel of John is a persuasive argument for the deity of Jesus. It concentrates on presenting Jesus as the Word, that is, God (1:1) who became a man (1:14). Thus John meticulously records the statements and describes the miracles of Jesus that can only be attributed to God Himself.
Jesus called Himself the bread of life (6:35, 41, 48, 51), the light of the world (8:12; 9:5), the door for the sheep (10:7, 9), the good shepherd (10:11, 14), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way, the truth, the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1, 5). Each of these statements begins with the words, "I am," recalling God's revelation of His name, "I AM," to Moses (see Ex. 3:14). Jesus did not say He gave bread; He said He is the Bread which gives life. He did not say He would teach the way, the truth, and the life; instead He said He is the Way, because He is the Truth and the Life. These are Jesus' clear claims to deity: He was not a mere man.
Then there are the signs of Jesus' deity. Miracles in the Gospel of John are called "signs" because they point to Jesus' divine nature. John records seven such signs: changing water into wine (2:1-11), healing a man's son (4:46-54), healing a lame man (5:1-9), multiplying bread and fish (6:1-14), walking on water (6:15-21), healing a blind man (9:1-7), and raising Lazarus (11:38-44). These miracles show that Jesus is God; He possesses power over nature. Other indications of Jesus' deity include the testimonies of John the Baptist (1:32-34), Nathanael (1:49), the blind man (9:35-38), Martha (11:27), and Thomas (20:28)-not to mention Jesus'own words (5:19-26).
Jesus was also fully man. His body grew weary (4:6), His soul was troubled (12:27; 13:21), and He groaned in His spirit (11:33). At the same time, this God-man was Israel's Messiah. Andrew told his brother, "We have found the Messiah" (1:41). Nathanael concluded, "You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (1:49). Even the Samaritan woman testified to Jesus' identity (4:25, 26, 29). Jesus the Messiah was and is the Savior of the world (4:42; 11:27; 12:13).
John urges us to trust in Jesus for eternal life. Our trust is built on our belief that (1) the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in the Father (10:38; 14:10, 11); (2) Christ came from God (16:17, 30), and God sent Him (11:42; 17:8, 21; see 6:29); and (3) He is the Son of God (6:69; 11:27; 20:31). John reveals the Bible's most important message: Believe and follow Jesus, because He is the way to eternal life.
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