Words by Dustin Murray | Image by Blakeney Clouse
The Gospel of John is a God-given, Spirit-inspired sunbeam illuminating the majesty of Christ.
Every word, dialogue, and miracle recorded by the beloved disciple of Jesus unveils His glory with increasing clarity. Page after page, we are called to behold and believe Christ, to come and drink from the Fountain of Living Water, to taste and see his infinite excellencies—to look to Him and live.
It’s as if Jesus is lifting our tired chins, placing his nail-pierced hands upon our faces, and calling us to look into his divine eyes. From its opening verses, the author heralds Jesus as God the Son, the Son of God, full of grace and truth. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Witness after witness beckons us to come and see the Christ. John the Baptist called his hearers to behold Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Thomas declared him his Lord and his God. These testimonies force readers to reckon with what they will make of Jesus.
The reactions to Jesus swing from heralding him as Messiah to labeling him a blasphemer—from curious to condemning. We meet men like Nicodemus, who comes quietly in the night, filled with misunderstanding and questions (Ch. 3), but who later confronts his fellow religious leaders’ harsh reaction to Jesus (Ch. 7) and ultimately carries away the crucified body of Christ with Joseph of Arimathea to prepare him for burial in the light of day (Ch.19). We meet the people of Sychar in Samaria who passionately proclaim him the Savior of the world. In the very next chapter, we glimpse religious leaders who harbor murderous thoughts toward Jesus in their hearts.
Each encounter provokes the inevitable and personal question: Who is this Jesus?
As for Jesus’ claims about himself, our Lord left no room for confusion. To the woman at the well, he proclaims himself the fountain and giver of living water (4:10, cf Jeremiah 17:13)– the Messiah himself (4:26). To the religious leaders who wished him dead, he made himself equal with God (5:18) and declared himself the Son of Man (5:27, cf Daniel 7:13-14). To the same opposition, he boldly tells them that the entire catalog of Jewish Scriptures bears witness to him (5:39-40). His “I Am” statements implore us to rest in him as the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door of the Sheep, and the Good Shepherd. He heralds himself the Resurrection and the Life– indeed, the Way, the Truth, and the Life– the True Vine in which we abide.
This Jesus—the True Temple (2:21), the True King (19:14), the one anointed by the Spirit, who with the Father gives the Spirit to all those who will receive him, the one to whom every Old Testament promise, shadow, and type pointed, was crucified.
But when all hope seemed lost, John’s recording of Jesus’ grave-shattering resurrection brings the believers to their knees in worship and hope-saturated adoration of the Lord of lords.
Who is this Jesus? He is the Savior we behold and in whom we believe.
John wrote these things “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name ” (20:31). Jesus said these things “so that you may be saved ” (4:34). John’s gospel bids us come and see, behold and believe, and go and tell others this good news.
… for your progress and joy in the faith.
