the gospel according to john
it's one of the earliest accounts of
jesus's life and we learn at the end of
the book that it comes from one of jesus
closest followers called the disciple
whom jesus loved now he appears many
times in the story itself and there's
some debate about whether it's john the
son of zebedee one of the twelve or a
different john who lived in jerusalem
and was known in the later church as
john the elder whichever john it was the
book embodies his eyewitness testimony
and it's been brilliantly designed with
a clear purpose that he states near the
end john says the story is written so
that you may come to believe that jesus
is the messiah and that by believing you
may have life in his name john believes
that the jesus you read about in this
book is alive and real and that he can
change your life forever the book's
design is really cool its first half
opens with an introductory poem and a
short story that's followed by then a
big block of stories about jesus
performing miraculous signs that
generate increasing controversy and it
all culminates in his greatest sign the
raising of lazarus which creates the
greatest controversy as israel's leaders
decide to kill jesus and that launches
into the book second half these chapters
focus on jesus's final night and last
words to his disciples which are
followed by his arrest trial death and
resurrection the book concludes with an
epilogue in this video we're just going
to focus on the first half so the book
opens with a two-part introduction first
a poem that begins in the beginning was
the word an obvious allusion to genesis
1 when god created everything with his
word now a person's words they're
distinct from that person but they're
also the embodiment of that person's
mind and will and so john says that
god's word was with god that is distinct
and yet the word was god that is divine
and as we ponder this claim we hear
later in the poem that this divine word
became human in jesus then john goes on
to draw from the stories of exodus
saying that jesus was god's tabernacle
in our midst the glorious divine
presence that hovered over the ark of
the covenant became a human in jesus
which leads to his last claim that the
one true god of israel consists of god
the father and the son who has become
human to reveal the father to us now as
we consider these mind-bending claims we
then start to hear a story about how
john the baptist first met jesus and
then led other people to meet him and
become his disciples and one by one as
people encounter jesus they say out loud
who they think he is and in this one
chapter jesus is given seven titles now
these titles prepare us for john's love
of sevens in designing the book but
altogether they also make a claim that
this fully human jesus from nazareth is
the messianic king he's the teacher of
israel and he's the son of god who will
die for the sins of the world now that's
a big claim to make about someone and
john will now go on to support it
through the stories in chapters 2
through 12. they all have the same basic
pattern jesus will perform a sign or
make a claim about himself and that will
result in misunderstanding or
controversy and so in the end of each
story people are forced to make a choice
about who they think jesus is the first
section shows jesus encountering four
classic jewish institutions and in each
case jesus shows that he is the reality
to which that institution pointed so
jesus is at a wedding party and the wine
runs out and jesus then turns these huge
jugs of water like 120 gallons total
into the best wine ever and the
headwaiter says to the groom you've
saved the best wine for last which is of
course true but john also calls this
miracle jesus's first sign in other
words it's a symbol that reveals
something about jesus so just as isaiah
said that the messianic kingdom would be
like this huge party with lots of good
wine so this first miraculous sign
reveals the generosity of jesus's
kingdom next jesus goes to the jerusalem
temple the place where heaven and earth
were supposed to come together and god
would meet with his people and jesus
asserts his authority over it running
out all the money exchangers stopping
the sacrificial offerings and when the
temple leaders threaten him he says
destroy this temple and i will raise it
again in three days jesus is claiming
that his coming sacrificial death is
where heaven and earth will truly meet
together his body that will be killed is
the reality to which the temple building
points
then jesus has this all-night
conversation with a rabbi named
nicodemus who thinks that jesus is just
like him another rabbi and teacher for
israel but jesus says that israel needs
much more than just another teacher with
new information israel needs a new heart
and a new life or in his words no one
can experience god's kingdom without
being born again jesus believes that
humans are caught in a web of
selfishness and sin that leads to death
but he also knows that god loves this
world and so he's here to offer people a
new birth a new chance at life from here
jesus travels north and he ends up at a
sacred well in a conversation with a
samaritan that is a non-jewish woman and
they start talking about water which
jesus turns into a metaphor for himself
he says he's here to bring living water
that can become a source of eternal life
now in john this term refers to a new
quality of life one that's infused with
god's eternal love and it's a life that
can begin now and last on into the
future after this john has designed
another collection of stories that took
place during four jewish sacred days or
feasts and again jesus uses the images
related to the feasts to make claims
about himself so jesus first heals a
paralyzed man on the sabbath which
starts a controversy with the jewish
leaders about working on the day of rest
and jesus says it's his father who's
working on the sabbath and so is he
and they catch his meaning that he was
calling god his father making himself
equal with god and so they want to kill
him the next story takes place during
passover the feast that retold the
exodus story with the symbolic meal of
the lamb and bread and wine and jesus
miraculously provides food for a crowd
of thousands which results in people
asking him for more bread and then jesus
goes on to claim that he is the true
bread and if they eat him they will
discover eternal life
and this offends many people who stop
following him after this is a block of
stories set in jerusalem during the
feast of tabernacles which retold the
story of israel's wilderness wanderings
as god guided them with the pillar of
cloud and fire and provided them water
in the desert and jesus gets up in the
temple courts and he shouts if anyone is
thirsty let them come to me and drink
and then later he says i am the light of
the world he's claiming to be the
illuminating presence of god and the
life-saving gift of god to his people
and some people believe and follow him
but others are offended and still others
try to kill him for these exalted claims
the final feast story is during hanukkah
which means rededication it's about how
judah maccabee cleared the temple of
idols and set it apart as holy once more
and jesus goes into the temple area and
says that he is the one whom god has set
apart as the holy one and that he is the
true temple where god's presence dwells
and he also says i and the father are
one this makes the jerusalem leader so
angry they set in motion a plan to kill
jesus and so he retreats from the city
now all these conflicts they culminate
in one last miraculous sign jesus hears
that his dear friend lazarus is sick but
his family lives near jerusalem which is
now a death trap for jesus now jesus
could stay away and he would save his
own life but he loves lazarus so once he
hears that lazarus has died he goes to
raise him from the dead and he calls him
to life out of his tomb knowing that it
will cost him his own life and the news
of this amazing sign it spreads quickly
of course and just as jesus knew it
happened the jerusalem leaders hear
about it and begin conspiring to murder
him and so he rides into jerusalem as
israel's king who's rejected by its
leaders so the first half of john draws
to a close with this story about jesus
laying down his life as an act of love
for his friend and this of course is
also a sign pointing forward to the
cross which we'll explore more in the
next video but for now that's the first
half of the gospel of john