Journey Through the Gospel According to John

If you truly want to get to know someone, one of the best ways to do that is by speaking to someone who knows that person very well. Well, John was one of the inner circle disciples and one of the closest men to Christ during our Lord’s earthly life and ministry. As a matter of fact, he is called the beloved disciple, the one who leaned on Jesus’ breast at supper. He wrote the most intimate of the four gospel records. Let us journey through John to learn more of this beloved disciple.

Listen: Journeying through John

Overview of the Gospel According to John

The Gospel According to John is the next stop in our journey, and it is a unique book. The first three gospel records gave us a presentation of Christ, but John gives us more of an interpretation. In the opening books of the New Testament, we find revealed the human side of Christ, but now we see an emphasis on the divine. Matthew, Mark and Luke gave a great deal of His public discourses, but John reveals more of His private discourses. This gospel follows that progression, beginning with Christ’s public ministry from chapter one through about chapter twelve, and then from chapter twelve on it details His private ministry.

Remarkably, over half of John’s gospel is devoted to the last week of Jesus’ life. Why? Because that was the most important week of His life, and that was the week that John had indelibly impressed on him by the Holy Spirit to record. Matthew, Mark and Luke record his Galilean ministry. But John is devoted to His Judean ministry. The first three gospel records are very historical, with very little commentary. But John is mostly doctrinal and is full of commentary. You might say it this way: Matthew, Mark and Luke were the earthly story, but John gives the heavenly meaning. It is interpretive in so many ways, serving as a commentary on everything that has already been recorded about the earthly life and ministry of the Lord Jesus.

John – The Beloved Disciple

The Gospel of John has a very special purpose, and for that, the Holy Spirit chose a very special man, John, the beloved disciple. Did you know he is mentioned thirty-five times in the New Testament and next to the Apostle Paul, he is the leading writer of the New Testament? Think about what this man saw and was privileged to record. He wrote the gospel record that bears his name. He wrote the epistles of 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. And then he wrote the capstone of the New Testament, the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

In many ways he is the apostle of the church. In the gospel record, He shows us the founding of the church. 1, 2, and 3 John records the forming of the church. Finally, in the Revelation he reveals to us the future of the church. I don’t know about you, but John is one of the men I am looking forward to meeting in glory and shaking hands with. He wrote the last of the gospel records and the last revelation of Jesus Christ. He is the one who pens for us the last words given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And that, my friends, is powerful.

Key Words in John 

The Gospel According to John has several key words.

• The word “believe” in some form is found 98 times
• The word “world” is found 78 times
• The word “life” or “live” is found 55 times
• The word “know” is found 55 times

Consider those words: believe, world, life, and know. My friend, the only way for this world to have life is to know and believe on Jesus Christ. That is the root of the recurring theme of John’s gospel record. It pops up over and over again.

Theme of the Gospel According to John

There are two parts that make up the theme of the gospel of John. The theme is the Son of God, making sons of God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only begotten Son, who is making sons of God.

The Son of God

First, He is the Son of God. That is His relationship to God. John 1:1 records this, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Recall that Matthew traced Christ back to Abraham. Mark traced Him back to Nazareth. Luke traced Him back to Adam. But John goes back further than any of them. He traces Him all the way back to the beginning: back to God. John 1:1 actually predates Genesis 1:1. John takes us even before the creation.

Making Sons of God

We have seen His relationship to God. He is the eternal Son of God. What of His relationship to man? He is the Son of God, making sons of God. John 1:11-12 states, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

My friend, it is through the Son of God that we enter the family. It is through the only begotten Son that we become sons. We have access to the heavenly Father. That is wonderful! Christ came so that we could know God and receive eternal life by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. The great message of this book is the Son of God making sons of God.

Key Verse

The key verse is found near the end of the book. It is John 20:31: “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” That is the purpose statement. That single verse summarizes everything in this book. In fact, it summarizes what all the gospel records are about.

• The Person: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God
• The Plan: That believing
• The Promise: Ye might have life through His name.

May I ask you, have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you put your faith in the only one who can save? Have you entered into the family of God? If not, then I want to urge you today, come to Jesus. You may say, how do I do that? Simply believe on Him. That is how you receive Him. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That is why the Word of God was given. That is why the Gospel According to John is such a powerful record for us to use in dealing with people who are searching, trying to understand who Christ is. (If you do not know Christ, CLICK HERE.)

The Gospel According to John – A Book of Answers

Many times through the years, I have said to people who had questions, read the Gospel According to John. I remember years ago leaving a man’s home, trying to lead him to Christ, and he would not come to a point of decision. I said to him, “Would you promise me you will read the Gospel According to John? He said he would. The next time I saw him, I tried to witness to him again. I said to this man, “Would you like to believe on Christ?” He looked at me and replied, “I have already done that.” “You have?”, I responded. He answered, “Oh, yes. I was reading through that book. What is it called? John? When I got in the middle of that book, suddenly it made perfect sense who Jesus was. I got down on my knees and I asked Christ to come into my life and be my Savior”. There is power in the Word of God, and there is power in this particular book because it reveals to us who Christ truly is.

Unique Features of the Gospel According to John

Eight Great “I AM” Statements of the Gospel According to John

• Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58)
• I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
• I am the light of the world (John 8:12)
• I am the door of the sheep (John 10:7)
• I am the good shepherd (John 10:11)
• I am the resurrection, and the life (John 11:25)
• I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)
• I am the true vine (John 15:1)

Eight Miracles that Reveal Who Jesus Is

• Turning Water Into Wine (John 2:1-11)
• Healing of the Nobleman’s Son (John 4:46-54)
• Healing the Lame Man at Bethesda (John 5:1-15)
• Feeding of the 5000 (John 6:5-14)
• Walking on Water (John 6:16-24)
• Healing the Man Born Blind (John 9:1-7)
• Raising Lazarus from the Dead (John 11:1-45)
• The Resurrection of Jesus (John 20)

Eight Private Discourses

• The New Birth (John 3:1-15)
• The Water of Life (John 4:7-26)
• The Divine Son (John 5:17-47)
• The Bread of Life (John 6:35-58)
• The Life-Giving Spirit (John 7:16-52)
• The Light of the World (John 8:12-59)
• The Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18)
• The Farewell to His Disciples (John 13:31-16:33)

These were private things that Jesus taught to His disciples and, on occasion, just to the inner circle. And John was there! He heard it firsthand.

Eight Titles of Christ Found in John  1

• The Word (John 1:1)
• The Life (John 1:4)
• The Light (John 1:5-9)
• The Christ (John 1:17)
• The Son of God (John 1:34)
• The Lamb of God (John 1:36)
• The King of Israel (John 1:49)
• The Son of Man (John 1:51)

Jesus Christ is the Son of God

Repeatedly in John’s gospel record, he reveals one thing to us. He is revealing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Luke showed Him as the Son of Man. That is His humanity. But John reveals Him as the Son of God. That is His deity. Friend, someday soon, we are going to see the Lord Jesus Christ as John saw Him in all of His glory, not just His humanity, but His deity.

We are going to see Christ face to face. Today could be the day. Can I challenge you to read through the Gospel According to John again and rejoice in who Christ is? Never get far away from Christ Himself, from His cross, and from His great purpose. And then, take the Gospel According to John and share it with someone else today. Challenge someone else to read it with you, and pray that the Son of God will help them to understand who He is, and that they too, will enter the family of God.

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About Scott Pauley

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