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Publish date: January 31, 2022

Through this course we have learned that John distinguished himself and his Gospel from Synoptics. The Synoptics seem to have been written targeting a specific group, whereas the Gospel of John was written for all people, the statement verse of the whole book being John 3:16. John says in chapter 20 that his purpose for writing this is that all who read “would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31). John’s Gospel as a great historical narrative should, tell us the story of Christ with a purpose. Every historian has a purpose in sharing a historical narrative, that is shown true especially in John. The Synoptics showed many miracles of Christ, John showed fewer than they but rather pointed out the signs accompanying His revelation of Christ as the Son of God. The whole Gospel culminates in Jesus’ raising of Lazarus (John 11) and His showing of being Lord over life and death. There are many things that the modern-day Church can draw from this Gospel, but three I will point out in this paper are: God’s revelation of Himself through His Son Jesus; Jesus as Godman leading by example; and unity among Christ’s followers.

John begins a great revelation of who Christ is with the very first verse of John 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God has always desired to communicate with man. He begins with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as He communed with them, “in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). He continues throughout Old Testament history with person after person, generation after generation, etc. This culminates undoubtedly with the entrance of Christ after 400 years of silence, no known communication from God. To send “word” is to send a statement, it is a form of addressing someone, engaging someone. Appropriately, this Gospel begins with God’s Word, God’s form of communication . If God doesn’t communicate then we don’t know Him, Who He is, What His desires are, etc. The modern-day Church should be encouraged that God’s desire is that this Word still effect the life of all who encounter Him. John reveals to us that the Word spoken of in chapter one is more than just an address, more than just a statement albeit a powerful one, the Word is a Man. Namely, the Word is the Man prophesied of in the Old Testament time and again, and John says this Man comes from God, and is God. For surely, John declares in chapter 1 verse 14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” Continuing in verse 18 of the same chapter John says, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” Koester says, “In Jesus, God’s Word comes to people as an embodied human being .” The Church must hold to the belief that Jesus is the complete and perfect representation of God’s Word for all of history and the Church must hold to the belief that Jesus is the only Word given by God to mankind that leads to eternal life.

This revelation given by John of Christ as the Word leads into great theology that begins to develop in the letters given by the apostles. Peter builds upon this idea in 1:23, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” The Word (Christ) is this imperishable seed that lives and endures forever and when sown into the heart, a man, woman, boy, or girl becomes born again. This idea of being born again begins in John 3 when Nicodemus comes to the Word (Jesus) and asks how to inherit eternal life. The Church must know there is no other way than the Word. We must put a premium upon God’s Word more than ever before. The Word is Jesus and Jesus is the Word. When the Word is preached, Jesus is preached. When the Word is taught, Jesus is taught. When the Word is sung, Jesus is sung. The Church must renew its grip in and on the Word for an unbelieving world, and for ourselves when ravenous wolves creep in and seek to divide and conquer us. The Church still needs the reality that John gives us of the Word of God being the Son of God.

As God continues through John to reveal Christ as His Son, we begin to gain an understanding that Jesus is a man like us, but He is God as well. He has been henceforth called the Godman. He is the only Way to the Father. He is the Way given by the Father, and He is the Way back to the Father. Jesus declares in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except by me.” Jesus is God given to us, leading us back to Himself. Yet the fact that He is Divine doesn’t cause Him to negate the purpose of His coming. He proclaims Who He is, from where He comes without shame, and He also shows us through example what living in this Way looks like. Koester says for us to relate to Jesus is for us to follow Him. Because Jesus is a real man, the life He exemplifies in John is a real life to embody, to practice. Effectively when we follow the example and the path set forth by Christ as His Church we are practicing the very presence of God Almighty.

In John 8 He shows us the example of forgiveness, in John 10 He gives us the example of the Good Shepherd, and in John 11 He gives us the example of the Life-Giver. The examples given by Christ and embodied in Him throughout John are many. They are all given with purpose, that purpose is leading the Way to the Father, to eternal life. The Church needs to understand that unless we lay our life down to follow Him that we are not practicing discipleship as Christ embodied. In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.” Koester says that walking connotates a way of life that involves the whole person and is dynamic, not static. The light is the truth of God through His Son, Christ. As we live in that light and follow that light we will have the light of life. Living in the light is following the example of Jesus, the Godman. The Church cannot follow our own example, nor the example of mere men (no matter how Godly), the Church has one pure, perfect, holy, and Divine example to follow above all else and that is Jesus Christ. One powerful way Christ led by example was given before His death as He washed His disciples’ feet and stated to His disciples, “As I have washed your feet, so you must also wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). Koester says that Jesus shows His love to the end of His life through this manner. In so doing Jesus is calling the disciples to forsake self-love and show forth love for one another. In a Church attacked by division, strife, fear, hierarchies, academic debates, etc. we must recapture our love for one another.

The recent revelation of following Christ’s example leads us to unity. The Church must show unity that is birthed out of our love for one another. Not just our love, but the agape love that Christ exemplifies and embodies. No chapter personally is so pivotal for me in John than John 17. I have always been enamored by Christ’s prayer in John 17 for us, His Church. He begins this awesome prayer by praying for Himself. He knows the hour of His exaltation is coming and He is praying for Himself. The Church can learn from this that we need pray for ourselves. Each of us have a part to play in God’s great plan and we need the Father’s strength given through prayer to accomplish it. Koester says, “The prayer looks to life within an expanding circle of believers, which will be created through the work of his followers after his resurrection. ” The unity that Christ is praying about is to witness to the world of His power within us. The Church’s unity within shows without to the power of God.

John is powerful and surely could be expounded upon time and again. The Church has so much to investigate when listening and reading John. John is the very heart of Christ shown to the world, where more powerful than to the Church? The Church is made up of flawed men and women and is therefore imperfect, but if we will live in and on the Word of God which is Jesus, if we will follow the examples He laid out and walk in Him, and if we will endeavor to keep unity among us we will do a mighty work for Christ.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Koester, Craig R. The Word of Life: A Theology of John’s Gospel. Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 2008.

Pastor Saxton Odom