Son of God - John

The author of the Gospel of John was “son of thunder”, the disciple whom Jesus loved. In this gospel, we are shown that the baby of Bethlehem was none other than “the one and only, who came from the Father” (John 1:14). All things were made by him (John 1:3), in him was life (John 1:4), yet he became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14). No person can see God; therefore, Christ came to declare him.

We open the gospel of John and find an unwritten question – What do you think of Christ? In the first 18 verses, John discusses about Christ and gives us the answers. It opens like the book of Genesis, Jesus portrayed as the Son of God. Our Lord had no beginning. He was in the beginning. He is eternal. Christ was before all things, therefore Jesus is no part of creation – He is the Creator. “The Word was with God”. He is the Second person of the Triune God (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit). He is called “The Word”. He came to declare God, to tell about God.

“If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well” – John 14:7.

In the first chapter we see John the Baptist confessing that he knew Jesus was the Messiah because he saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him (John 1:32). So he says, “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).

We see in John 1:35-40, Christ calling his first disciples. It is different from that of Luke. Both the gospels we see Andrew being called. But in John, the second person’s name is not mentioned. But in these verses it is mentioned that Andrew went and called Peter. So the person who was with Andrew when Christ called them was not Peter. But when you read the last chapter of John, we see John himself testifying that he is the person who was not mentioned by name in the Gospel. So technically we can prove that John, not Peter is the first disciple. But that does not matter in our way towards our life destiny. Jesus is our main objective, not who his first disciple is.

In the public ministry of Jesus, we see him giving wonderful teachings about eternal life to Nicodemus (John 3:16) and the new birth (John 3:6). Nicodemus was a moral upright man, yet Christ said to him, “You must be born again” (John 3:7) in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Being born again means, being born in Christ so that you live a life with Christ’s characteristics. Another place he saw an immoral woman face-to-face and showed her what kind of life she was leading. Christ did not condemn her or pass judgement upon her, but he did reveal to her that he is the water of life. People are trying everything, but they still are unhappy and restless. She went back and her simple testimony brought a whole town to Christ (John 4:1-42). She can be called as the first ambassador of Jesus Christ.

The raising of Lazarus is the final sign we see on John’s Gospel. Here the great claim Jesus made for himself to Martha is recorded, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:15-26). He talks about eternal life.

In John 13:18-30, Jesus foretells his betrayal by Judas. Christs last week can be seen from John 13 to 17. We call it Passion Week.

·         The triumphant entry into Jerusalem

·         The cleansing of the Temple

·         The conflicts in the temple

·         The discourse on the Mount of Olives

·         Preparation for the Passover

·         The Last Supper with his disciples

After announcing his going, the Lord gives his disciples “a new commandment”, that they love one another (John 13:34-35). Discipleship is tested not by the creed you recite, not by the hymns you sing, not by the ritual you observe, but by the fact that you love one another. After he ended his talk with the disciples, Jesus spoke to the Father.

Immediately following his prayer, Jesus went into the garden of Gethsemane, knowing all things that should come upon him. Jesus was now ready to give the real sign which he told in John 2 – “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” John 2:18-19.

Almost as sad as Judas was Peter, the deserter in the hour of need, denying three times that he had any connection with Jesus. This is a lesson for us – overconfidence.

Jesus was crucified on Golgotha, “place of a skull”. They crucify him afresh and put him to an open shame. Salvation is costly. Christ died for our sins. It cost him his life.

From John 20 we see, on the third day, the tomb was empty. The grave clothes were all in order. Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus appeared 11 times in all after resurrection which helped his disciples to believe that he was God. Jesus wanted every doubt to be removed from each one of his disciples (Thomas the doubter John 20:28). They must carry out his great commission and bear the Gospel into the entire world (John 20:21).

In conclusion, people had sinned and lost the image of God, so Christ “the image of the invisible God” came to dwell in people. No person could see God; therefore the only begotten Son who was in with Father came to declare him to us. Jesus is God himself in human form, coming to earth. Jesus is the witness of the Father to humans. Jesus knew the Father and came to tell what he knew. He wanted humans to know the Father as he knew him. In John 1:13, we see what salvation is not – being born of natural descent. The new birth when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour makes us “children of God”.

I pray that you accept the free salvation which is being given by Christ Jesus by praying and asking to forgive your sins and make you his child so that you will be born again and be his child.