Study: The Gospel According to John

Background:

The Gospel of John was written by the disciple John and not as many would think, John the Baptist. The word Gospel means good news. This is usually the book recommended to the new believer simply because it contains a good view of all three parts of the Holy Trinity.

Reminders: When we study this book or any books of the Bible we desire that the Holy Spirit teaches us. We do not want to rely upon a commentary. Remember that a commentary is written by man, not inspired by God. This is not to say that the commentary is of no value, but rather we want to see what the Lord will say to us, personally. (1 John 2:27)

Lets dig in...

Matthew, Mark, Luke...

John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

This verse is the beginning of this book and also states who was in the beginning. Now, when we look at this verse there are a few things that we know. We know that the Word was in the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God. First, we need to look at this word, "Word". Word is the name of a person. How do we know this? Because the word, Word, is capitalized making it a proper noun. We also know that the Word (proper name) is God. Without looking ahead we really do not know who this Word is, yet. But we do know that the Word was in the beginning. Now, the question needs to be asked, what does it mean "in the beginning"? Is it the beginning of time or the beginning of earth or maybe the beginning of mankind. Well, knowing that the Word was in the beginning and that the Word is indeed God then we have to come to the conclusion that the Word has been around since the beginning of time as far as our little minds can comprehend. However, we must remember that God does not have a true beginning as our minds try to understand. Time is not applicable to God for He is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 41:13, 2nd Peter 3:8, and Revelation 1:8). In this verse we also see the second part of the Triune God. Again, we do not yet know who this "Word" is. We do get a look at the fact that this "Word" shares an attribute with God that we, as humans, do not get to share. The attribute of being infinite.

Prelude: verses 2-13 are going to give us some insight as to what who the Word is, what His roles are, and what He has done.

John 1:2, "The same was in the beginning with God."

Verse two reiterates for us that the "Word" was in the beginning, which is what verse one tells us.

John 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

This verse gives us more light on the role of the "Word". He was partner in the creation of the world, universe, etc. All things were made by him. Does that sound familiar? Look at the book of Genesis 1:1. The verse states,

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth".

This reaffirms verse one that tells us that the Word is God.

John 1:4, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men."

The Word had life in Him and in through His life was the light of men. This gives us more detail of who the Word is but still at this point we do not now the name of the Word.

John 1:5, "And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

Whenever the light of God shines it is hard to understand. Once we understand who the "Word" is we will understand why the world/darkness did not understand it.

John 1:6, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."

This man is the man known as John the Baptist. We will see this in the verses to come. One thing that needs to be mentioned is that John is sent from God not that he was God.

John 1:7, "The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe."

The same came for a witness, meaning the person named in the verse above, came to bear witness of the Light. This is capitalized which means it is referring to a person. Also remember that this Light is another name of the Word. The Light and the Word are synonymous because remember that verses two through thirteen describe the first verse.

John 1:8, "He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light."

Who was not that Light? John was not that Light but rather the Word was the Light. And again we are reminded that John was sent to bear witness of the Light.

John 1:9, "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

This Light is the true light. This Light has life in Him and His life is the light of the world. This reiterates verse four.

John 1:10, "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."

The Light was in the world. The world was made by Him shows us that the Light was indeed God because remember verse three says, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." We are beginning to see how the Light and the Word are fitting together. They are one in the same. Do not mistake the Light and the Word to be two separate people. So not only does the Light make the world but the world does not know Him. Refer to verse five. Verse five tells us that the light shines into darkness but the darkness does not comprehend it.

John 1:15, "John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me."

John the Baptist is baring witness of Jesus and informing his listeners that He (Jesus) is the one that was spoken of. Refer to verse six and seven. The purpose for John was to bare witness of the Light/Jesus. Not only do we see John baring witness but we also see that John understood that he was not the answer to the sin problem that the world faced. He says that Jesus is preferred before him. We also get to see something very interesting in this verse, "for he was before me" shows us that Jesus was around before John. If you look at Luke 1:26-45 you will find that John is actually older than Jesus, physically. However, we see John acknowledging that the one coming after him, which is Jesus, is before him. This shows us that Jesus was actually around before he became man. As we have already seen in our study He (Jesus) was in the beginning and nothing was created without Him (verse one and three).

John 1:16, "And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace."

This reminds us that Jesus is the fullness of God. We did not get part of God through Jesus but rather we received the fullness of God through Jesus. The latter part of verse 14, "full of grace and truth" is reiterated through this verse.

John 1:17, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

This is self explanatory. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth through Jesus. Again refer to the latter part of verse 14. With Jesus, expect nothing less than grace and truth.

John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."

No man can see God, this reiterates what the Father had already said to Moses in Exodus 33:20. But the only begotten Son (Jesus) which is the center of God's affection made it known that he has seen God and is equal to God because He is God.

John 1:19, "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?"

We will see in the next few verse how John testified as to who he was. The Jews sent the priests and Levites to ask who he was.

John 1:20, "And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ."

When the priests and the Levites came to John wanting to know who he was John informed them that he was not the Christ.

John 1:21, "And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No."

Because John the Baptist denied being the Christ the priests and the Levites then asked him if he was the prophet Elijah. And as we see, John the Baptist responds with "no" once again.

John 1:22, "Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?"

Here we get to see the priests and the Levites pressing John yet again to find out who he is. They tell John to give them some type of answer as to who he is so that they can go back to the Jews, the ones who sent the priests and the Levites, and give them an answer.

John 1:23, "He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias."

John tells the people that he is the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied. Isaiah 40:3-5 tells us what John the Baptist proclaims. He is a voice crying in the wilderness and he is making a path for the Lord Jesus.

John 1:24, "And they which were sent were of the Pharisees."

Here we see that the priests and Levites were sent by the Pharisees not just Jews (verse 19). A Pharisee is a sect of Jews that upheld the oldest traditions of Israel during the time of Jesus. In plain English, they were traditionalists which we will see confirmed for us later in this book.

John 1:25, "And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?"

By now the Jews understood that John was not the Christ, which they were waiting for based upon the Old Testament prophesies, nor Elijah, which was a powerful man of God, neither that prophet. So they ask why are you baptizing? Look to the next verse to find the answer.

John 1:26, "John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;"

John responds with a humbled response. We see that John takes them away from talking about himself because in all honesty it isn't about John and how he baptizes with water. We do not want to say that it isn’t important because it is. If it wasn't important then God would not have had John to do it. But we see John turning the attention of the Jews to the one (Jesus) that stands among them. We as believers can learn a very practical tip from this, when God calls you to do something remember that no matter how well you do never let the attention be on you but rather the One that sent you.

John 1:27, "He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose."

We see how going from the 26th verse to the 27th stays consistant with the idea that it isn’t about John but Jesus. Reference verse 15.

John 1:28, "These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."

John 1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

The day after the questioning that John received from the Jews he sees Jesus and says look the Lamb of God! He is the one which takes away the sin of the world. Why would Jesus be referred to as the Lamb? Because Jesus would become the ultimate sacrifice to cleanse us of our sin.

John 1:30, "This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me."

We are told here, by John, that this is the one that I have been telling you about. Remember that up to this point John did not know who the one that was preferred before him and was before him was. But finally John sees who he has been talking about, Jesus.

John 1:31, "And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water."

We see once again that John the Baptist did not know who it was that was coming behind him. But what John did know was that whoever would come it was going to be made obvious to Israel. That is why John was baptizing with water. God was going to use this man that baptized with water to introduce Jesus.

John 1:32, "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending form heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him."

This is the first time that we get to see the third part of the Holy Trinity in this book. Notice that the word "Spirit" is capitalized which indicates a proper noun. In other words this is the name of the Holy Spirit. We also need to address the fact that the Spirit descended from heaven like a dove not that the Spirit is a dove. And finally John lets us know that the Spirit abode upon Jesus. Why is this important? Look at the next verse.

John 1:33, "And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit."

This is an awesome verse because we get to see that John Spoke with God himself. We also get to see that God gave him explicit directions. First, John was sent. Second, God told John to baptize with water. Third, God told John that the one coming after him, but was preferred before him (verse 15 and 30), would be made obvious (verse 31) by the Spirit descending upon him and remaining. And whoever the Spirit descended and remained upon would be the one that would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

John 1:34, "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."

Since John saw the descending of the Spirit, just as God told him it would be (verse 33), john knew that he was looking at the Son of God.

John 1:35, "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;"

The day after, John declared that he saw the Son of God. He and his two disciples (students) stood.

John 1:36, "And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!"

Once again, with great excitement, John the Baptist says, "Behold the Lamb of God" which is to say, look the Lamb of God. (refer to verse 29)

John 1:37, "And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus."

John's two disciples heard their teacher (John) say that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Remember that John was very humble and when the Jews (in earlier verses) tried to find out who John was he always put the attention on the Lamb of God and not himself. John realized that he was not the one people ought to follow but rather Jesus. He does it once again with those that followed him.

John 1:38, "Then Jesus turned, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?"

In this verse we see the impact that Jesus has on man. Jesus said nothing directly to these men, yet they followed.

John 1:39, "He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour."

Here we see Jesus giving the invite for the men to join him at his resting place and they went.

John 1:40, "One of the two that which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother."

Now we are beginning to learn about the disciples of Jesus. First, we are introduced to Andrew who was originally a disciple of John the Baptist.

John 1:41, "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ."

In this verse we see evangelism in its finest. Andrew goes to his brother proclaiming that he has found the Messias, or the Christ, which is interpreted as the anointed one.

John 1:42, "And he brought him to Jesus, And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone."

As Andrew brings his brother Simon, Jesus looks at him and changes his name to Cephas which means stone. This is our second disciple.

John 1:43, "The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me."

In this verse we get to see how Jesus goes and finds who he is looking for, which in this case happens to be Philip, our third disciple.

John 1:44, "Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter."

This verse is self explanatory.

John 1:45, "Now Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Much like verse 41, we see evangelism again. Philip went and found Nathanael. After that Philip informed him that he had found the person that Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus.

John 1:46, "And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see."

Here we get to see the doubt of Nathanael. He doubts that the Christ (anointed one) could come from a place like Nazareth.

John 1:47, "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith unto him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"

As Jesus sees Nathanael approaching he makes the comment that he is indeed an Israelite and he is not deceitful or cunning (sly). That would lead us to believe that Jesus knows this person, right? Continue on to the next verse.

John 1:48, "Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee."

Nathanael wants to know how Jesus knows him (refer to previous verse). Then we get to see another example as to how we know that Jesus is truly all knowing. Jesus tells Nathanael that he saw him under the fig tree before Philip came to get him. Jesus knows all and sees all. Jesus is God.

John 1:49, "Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel."

Now that Nathanael has heard that Jesus was able to see him even before they met he is convinced that Jesus, regardless of his hometown (verse 46), is indeed the Son of God and the King of Israel.

John 1:50, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these."

Jesus is letting Nathanael know that if telling you that I saw you under the fig tree is all it takes for you to know that I am the Son of God and the King of Israel, then wait to see what else I will do---You haven't seen anything yet! For the things that you will see next will be greater than this.

John 1:51, "And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

Jesus states truly, truly, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon me.