This week, we are beginning a new sermon series at our church, going through the gospel of John. We are calling it God With Us.
Actually, what I have done is divided the gospel of John into four smaller sections. Each section will be a sermon series in itself. We will cover two sections this year, and then break for the holidays, and another small series in early 2017. After that, we will pick back up in John and finish with the last two sections.
One of the main themes that runs through the book of John is the theme of Christ revealed. In each of the four sections, John seems to reveal a different aspect of Jesus, and builds around that characteristic. Each of these four areas are worth looking at individually, in order to see the whole picture that John represents.
John wrote his gospel about 30 years after Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote theirs. That means about 60 years after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into Heaven is the time frame in which John writes. And about 90 percent of what is in John is unique to John. It is not found in the other three, the Synoptic gospels. And John spends about two-thirds of his time focusing upon the last week of Jesus’ life.
John’s audience is also different than that of Matthew, Mark or Luke. Matthew had a Jewish audience in mind. Mark had a Gentile audience in mind. Luke was trying to write a well-ordered, historical account. So what they each chose to emphasize and highlight was different. By the time John writes, the culture has shifted, and he addresses the needs of a Greek, pagan society who are more than a generation removed from the time of Christ and his direct followers.
So John reveals four things about Christ though his gospel.
Life Revealed through Jesus Christ
In the first seven chapters of John, he writes about the life that Jesus brings. He speaks if eternal life and being born again. His focus is that Jesus came to bring life, and life of an eternal nature.
Light Revealed through Jesus Christ
In chapters eight through twelve, John’s focus shifts from life to light. He describes how Jesus is the light of the world and how he brings light into the darkness.
Love Revealed through Jesus Christ
As John moves into chapter thirteen, and through about the seventeenth chapter, John focuses on the love that Jesus displayed. These chapters describe Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the prayer Jesus offered for his followers in chapter seventeen.
Jesus Christ Revealed as Lord
Finally, in chapters eighteen through twenty-one, Jesus is revealed as Lord. His crucifixion, burial and resurrection prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is the Word in became flesh, and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14).
What John reveals about Christ was written to encourage the early church as they struggled to follow their Lord in a society that was increasingly hostile. John’s gospel reinforced their faith, and it reinforces ours, and proves that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!
Question: How has God revealed himself to you? What stands out most about the Christ in your spiritual walk? You can leave a comment by clicking here.