Exploring John - In the Beginning was the Word

John 1:1-14

The Gospel of John opens in a way unlike any other Gospel. While Matthew and Luke begin with Jesus’ birth, and Mark begins with His baptism, John begins before creation itself.

The fourth Gospel was written by the Apostle John – who describes himself with touching openness as Jesus’ “beloved,” Jesus’ dearest and closest earthly friend.

John writes in his first letter how he heard Jesus, saw him with his own eyes, and touched him with his hands. His Gospel is his eye-witness account of the life and teaching of Jesus.

Apparently, John wrote this later in life, after decades of prayerful reflection on the things he had witnessed. Certainly, John’s Gospel is quite different to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the three synoptics which “look together” and present Jesus’ life and teaching in roughly the same order and manner.

John reports fewer events and discourses than the others but in greater depth. He does not begin his Gospel like Matthew and Luke with the birth of Jesus, nor like Mark with his earthly ministry. He begins “in the beginning,” before time.

And John alone states the purpose of his Gospel; which comes towards the end:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

During the Fall season, many people love to head to the mountains for the changing season with its magnificent colors. The orange and brown colors can be breathtaking. While hiking or simply riding, the view of the valley below leaves one speechless. Some trails even offer lookout points so you can stand and take everything in.

Over the course of the next several months, I have chosen nine parts of John upon which to sit and ponder the grand vistas of the whole Gospel. This view will be more like a highlight reel or snapshots of beautiful passages.

While we will not be able to take all of John in at this time, we will revisit John in the coming year focusing on the seven signs (miracles) that point to Jesus as the Christ, as well as the seven “I AM” passages (Our ladies just started a study on these seven statements of Christ identity; you should join them.), and, of course, the Farewell Discourse in John 13-17.

We begin with the highest vantage point of all, the so-called Prologue, the first fourteen verses of John. I hope you can join us, as we answer questions such as these: What do these verses teach about our Creator? And ourselves? And how ought we to respond to our Creator?

In Christ,

Pastor Wayne