John – Chapter 1

Every word of God (the Bible), from the front cover to the back cover is true and accurate. If you lack this faith, then you do not have the necessary faith to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Now that we have laid out most of the basics that have led us to this point, we are going into the first chapter of the book of John.

Jesus spoke, and galaxies came into existence, stars filled the heavens, and planets began revolving in space. Words of awesome, unlimited, and unleashed power spoke everything into existence. In Genesis, Chapter 1, scriptures states God took 6 days to create everything. On the sixth day, he created man. At the end of each day, God looked over his work and said, “All Is Good”. On the day that God rested, Satan like a snake, entered into the Garden of Eden. He deceived man and sin had entered into the world. Now sin would be passed from generation to generation by the seed of man! Jesus is, he was, and he always will be the Creator, Maker, and Lord of all that exists.

John wrote this Gospel for New Christians and Sinners. John discloses Jesus’ identity with his first few words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was with God in the beginning.” From our reading and understanding of the scriptures, we learn that John is the God-appointed messenger to announce the arrival of Jesus. We also know he is a preacher whose theme was repentance, a fearless confronter, known for his life-style of wearing goat skin and eating honey and wild locusts, and definitely uncompromising.

We can learn some lessons from John’s life: God doesn’t guarantee an easy or safe road life to those who serve Him. Doing what God commands is the greatest investment and standing for truth is more important then life it-self.

John makes it clear that Jesus is not just a man; he is the Son of God. He is the light of the world because he offers us eternal salvation. He was born to die to pay for our sins since the days of Adam and Eve. He was the way to bring man back to God. It is so foolish to call Jesus a good man or moral teacher. Yet we act this way when we choose to live our own way instead of following God’s will.

Believing is active, living, and continuous trust that Jesus is God. When we believe His words, His life, His death, and His resurrection, we are cleansed from sin and receive power to follow him. We must respond by believing.

The key verse in John, Chapter1: 1-51

”I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John The Baptist: yet he who least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

May God Bless You
Pastor Rocky

Synoptic Gospels

Now we have been given a brief over view of the four Gospels of the New Testament.  The word ‘gospel’ means good news. There are four gospel accounts in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

The first three gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are sometimes called the ‘synoptic’ (same view) gospels. This is because they each cover teaching and miracles by Jesus that are also covered in another account. John, writing later, recounts Jesus’ other words and miracles that have a particular spiritual meaning.

All four gospels present Jesus as both the Son of God and son of man. They all record His baptism, the feeding of the 5,000 from five loaves and two fishes, Mary’s anointing of the Lord Jesus, His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal, trial, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. However, each writer does so in a slightly different way, recording additional details or emphasizing one aspect more than the others.

Matthew was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus (Matthew 9:1; 10:1-4) and therefore an eye-witness; he records more of Jesus’ teaching concerning God’s heavenly kingdom than the other writers, for example the entire Sermon on the Mount.

Mark was Peter’s son (I Peter 5:13, possibly spiritual son), who wrote down what Peter said about who Jesus was, what He did, where He went and what happened; Mark’s gospel is therefore Peter’s account, an eye-witness account, written down by Mark.

Luke was a doctor and a co-worker with Paul (Colossians 4:14; Philemon v24). Because some spurious stories about Jesus were circulating, Luke decided to interview local eyewitnesses and people who had followed Jesus closely. Luke collated all the interviews into a single account, recording details not mentioned elsewhere, for example regarding the conception and birth of Jesus and Mary’s extended family, as you might expect of a doctor.

John was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus and therefore an eyewitness (John 19:35); John brings out the spiritual significance as well as recording the practical aspects of Jesus’ works and words. John lived to be older hen the other writers. It is therefore likely that he was familiar with their accounts and wanted to supplement theirs with additional teaching and miracles by Jesus which had a bearing on the situation towards the end of the first century AD.

Since Matthew, Mark, and Luke are so similar, we are going to begin in the Book Of John.  I am not saying John is the most important book of the bible, but we need to have a starting point.  I have in a feeble way, attempted to begin with the basic over view of the bible.  I pray I have proceeded in such a way as not to cause any confusion. I also pray that you are starting to receive a better understanding of the bible and maybe something I have posted has caused you to turn your life over to God.

Anytime you have a question, just ask.  For I am genially concerned about your soul and where you will spend eternity.

So, starting with John, I will endeavor to take one chapter at a time and break down the scriptures to a point of easy understanding.  I use the King James version and to many it is difficult to understand.  I pray the posts I make will as much as a blessing to you as it will be to me to write them.

Thank you and God Bless you!

The Book Of John

John’s father was called Zebedee. And John had a brother called James, who became also one of Jesus’ *disciples (Matthew 4:21; Mark 1:19-20; Luke 5:10). The family fished on Lake *Galilee. Zebedee owned a boat. He employed men to help with his business.

Jesus called John and James: the ‘Sons of Thunder’. Perhaps he gave them this name because they became angry quickly. For example, they wanted God to destroy a village in *Samaria. This was because the people there had not wanted Jesus to enter the village (Luke 9:52-56).

Simon Peter, who was their partner in the business, became also a disciple of Jesus (Luke 5:1-11). Simon Peter, James and John were Jesus’ special friends. They were the only disciples with Jesus when he raised Jairus’ daughter from death (Mark 5:37). On another occasion, Jesus took Simon Peter, James and John up a mountain. There, they saw him as he talked with Moses and Elijah. They heard God’s voice. God said that Jesus was his Son. And they must listen to Jesus (Mark 9:2-12). And on the night before Jesus died, John and Simon Peter made the arrangements for the Passover meal (Luke 22:8).

So John knew Jesus very well.

John did not refer to himself by his name in his Gospel. However, there are many references to ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. John did not mention this disciple’s name. Many people think that this disciple was John.

The purpose of John’s Gospel:

John wanted his readers to believe ‘that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son’ (John 20:31). That is why he wrote his Gospel.

Matthew, Mark and Luke recorded many miracles in their Gospels. But John chose to record only 7 miracles. He called them ‘signs’. A sign is something that gives evidence. The miracles gave evidence that Jesus is God’s Son.

John also emphasised that Jesus was human. John recorded that Jesus was tired (John 4:6). John also recorded that Jesus needed food (John 4:31). Jesus was very sad when his friend Lazarus died. At that time, Jesus cried (John 11:35). On another occasion, Jesus became angry with the people who did business in the Temple (John 2:15). And John also recorded that Jesus was thirsty (John 19:28).

Jesus was not half human and half God. He was completely human and completely God, too.

Many people agree that John emphasized this for a particular reason. In the early church, some people were teaching false beliefs about Jesus.

One group taught that Jesus was not really God. They said that he was just a man. They believed that the Holy Spirit entered him at his baptism. But before he died, the Holy Spirit left him. Another group taught that Jesus was not really a man. They said that he did not have a physical body. They believed that he was a spirit. And they believed that he only seemed to be human. Both these groups were wrong!

John and the other disciples had lived with Jesus for about three years. John knew that Jesus was a real man. Also John had seen the miracles that Jesus did. John watched Jesus die on a cross. And John had also seen Jesus after he (Jesus) had become alive again. John knew that Jesus had defeated death. And John had seen Jesus rise up to heaven.

So John knew that Jesus was a real man. But Jesus was and is also God’s Son. John wrote his Gospel to prove this.

John and the other *Gospels

In many ways, John’s Gospel is different from the other three Gospels. John did not include any stories about Jesus’ birth or his baptism. John only recorded 7 miracles, which he called ‘signs’. John did not include any parables (stories which Jesus told to teach something about God). But John recorded many long speeches that Jesus made.

The writer Eusebius (about AD 260-339) believed that John knew about the other three Gospels. But when he read them, John had not yet written his Gospel. He was still just talking to people about his life with Jesus. John agreed that the other Gospels were true accounts.

But Jesus was already preaching before King Herod put John the Baptist in prison. The other Gospels did not include an account of this. They recorded much about what Jesus did in Galilee. Also, they recorded what Jesus did in Jerusalem just before his death. But Jesus went to Jerusalem at other times, too. So John provided the facts that were missing from the other Gospels. He used information that they did not have. John’s account did not disagree with the other Gospels. It added different information, so that we can understand more about Jesus.

The second century writer, Clement, from Alexandria, called John’s Gospel a ‘Spiritual Gospel’. In some ways, he was right. John did not record just facts about Jesus. John had thought much about what Jesus had said. And John had thought much about the miracles that he had seen. He wanted to explain the spiritual meaning of Jesus’ words and acts.

But John also included many physical details. For example, the loaves that Jesus used to feed 5000 people were ‘barley loaves’ (John 6:9). He recorded the distance that the disciples had traveled across the lake (John 6:19). And he remembered how the smell of the perfume filled the house at Bethany (John 11:32). These details do not seem important. But they are memories of a person who was present at these events. So John’s Gospel is not just a *spiritual book. It is the personal account of someone who had seen these events.