The Book of Life: A Study in the Gospel of John

The gospel of John is a biography of Jesus written 2,000 years ago by one of his best friends, named John. John met Jesus and was his student when he was in his late teens and early 20s. John was with Jesus when Jesus turned water into wine, healed people with incurable diseases, fed thousands of people with just a few pieces of fish and bread, walked across the surface of the sea, and raise a man from the dead. John was there when Jesus was betrayed by another disciple, a mutual friend named Judas, and falsely accused of both political crimes and theological heresy. John was there when Jesus willingly gave himself to be arrested, imprisoned, arraigned, taken to trial, condemned, sentenced to death, flogged, and executed by crucifixion. John was the one Jesus asked to take care of his mother. John witnessed Jesus being buried on a Friday afternoon. And John was there when he visited the tomb and there was no body there. John was there when Jesus miraculously ascended to heaven away from human sight. And John gave the rest of his life to telling everyone who would listen about his friend Jesus. For John, Jesus was not just a friend, but a teacher; but not just a teacher, but a Savior; and not just a Savior, but a powerful King; and not just a powerful King, but God the Son himself in human nature. John refused to deny that Jesus was not just a man but fully man and fully God. John refused to deny that Jesus died for human sin and was raised from the dead. John chose persecution and torture and prison, when all he had to do was deny the name of Jesus. He didn’t deny the name of Jesus. He gave his life to the name of Jesus, and after decades of preaching, teaching, serving and pastoring God’s church, he decided to write it all out. To tell the story of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When he wrote, God the Holy Spirit filled him so that he wrote not just his word’s but the very words of God. He wrote the story in four sections. There is an opening scene, called the Prologue (1:1-18). The second section is called The Book of Signs (1:19-12:50), which tell the story of all the miracles Jesus did and conversations Jesus had to prove he was the Christ, God the Son in human nature. The third section is called The Book of Glory (13:1-20:31), which tells the story of his last days on earth, his death, and his resurrection. Fourth, the last chapter is called the Epilogue (21:1-25). We saw last week that John wrote all of this for one simple and beautiful reason: John 20:31: But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. This whole book is about life, finding life like God intended you to live when he made you. And the only way to life is through believing in Jesus.