The 4th Gospel

The time has come to study together the Gospel of John. I have deliberately done other studies ahead of this one, because it will be long and slow. John is profoundly spiritual and physically lengthy, filled with much detail about the God-Man Who is our Savior. We will want to savor all those details as we encounter them, because they reveal to us deep truths of God the Son before, during and after His incarnation. Having considered other studies of a topical nature, this one keeps waking me up at night and in mornings and I know that means we must examine this marvelous gospel while we have opportunity to do so.

This is the book I was reading at the moment of my salvation. God’s Word speaks for itself, and John’s Gospel most clearly speaks the plan of salvation to the convicted unbeliever. Jesus’ own words, quoted by John, were the ones that awakened the spirit within me as a young woman with some time on my hands and a little gift Bible from a childhood Christmas long ago. Therefore, I approach this work perhaps even more reverently than some others, because it attended my new birth, and like a little freshly hatched duckling who attaches to the first living thing it sees, I consider John my spiritual midwife and mentor.

As has been mentioned in other studies, John was one of Jesus’ first disciples. He was the youngest of the 12, and lived much longer than all the others. His gospel was the last to be written and the first of his 5 New Testament books. He and his brother James were the sons of a wealthy fisherman, Zebedee, and his wife Salome who some scholars believe to be the sister of Jesus’ mother, Mary.

John begins his biography of Jesus in eternity past.

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

Beginning: Greek word arche. Commencement. First of order, place, time or rank. First principle. Before all else. Before creation. Before time.

Was: derivative of eimi. Always was. Eternal existence.  

Word: logos. Principle of life. Revelation, intelligence, order, communication. Expression of thought.

The logos exists eternally, face-to-face with God because He is God.

Repeat, for emphasis and further identification:

John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.

Please notice it was HE, not it, who was in the beginning with God. John takes our hand and gently leads us through the time barrier to the truth of the person of Jesus Christ. This does not describe a helpless infant in Bethlehem. This describes the Sovereign creator of the universe before there was a universe.

John 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Logos – the Word of God – is our creator. If it exists, He made it. That includes you and me.

John 1:4  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Where did life come from? It sprang from the Logos, the Word of God, our animator, by His direct bidding.

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Logos, God’s Word, is our illuminator. He is the light in the darkness of the universe, and the darkness cannot diminish His light. Nothing can overpower the Word of God, though evil forces continually try to do that.

God’s Word, our creator, our animator, our illuminator -  is our salvation and security.

After introducing The Word, John the apostle now introduces a powerful witness to The Word: John the Baptist.

John 1:6-8 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

In the time of the Baptist’s ministry, the nation Israel was in bondage to Rome and was longingly awaiting the coming Messiah of Old Testament prophecy. John the Baptist was a striking and plain-spoken individual who showed no fear of religious or government rulers, so it isn’t surprising that many would believe him to be that Messiah. He was not, and he knew it, but he knew he had a specific assignment: to recognize and reveal The Light.

John the apostle himself, and his brother James were originally disciples of The Baptist, so their souls were already being prepared to receive Jesus when He began His own ministry. As soon as The Baptist realized Who Jesus was, he advised his serious disciples to follow the Lamb of God:

John 1:29-30 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. 

Notice that phrase: “a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.” Humanly, John was several months older than his cousin Jesus. John obviously knew something everyone else didn’t know.

John 1:9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 

Every person’s life and illumination comes from the Word of God. Every person’s opportunity to be saved comes from the Word of God. Having existed before time, He was now entering time, on a specific mission.

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Living in time, He appeared as any other man, and the world which was looking for a super-hero did not recognize the most powerful being in existence:

The eternal Word of God.