Introduction to JOHN.

John, the last Gospel to be written, is very different from the others. John writes for a new generation that never met Jesus. Most are Jewish Christians, and many have been kicked out of their synagogues. Do they have to choose between Judaism and Jesus? John comes to their aid.

A word of warning: don't be misled by John's frequent condemnation of "the Jews." When John uses this term, he means certain religious leaders, not the Jews as a whole. Remember that John was a Jew, as were the other disciples, Mary, and Jesus himself. In John's Gospel, Jesus gives new meaning to Jewish festivals like the Sabbath and Passover. He applies Old Testament symbols to himself: light, water, bread, the good shepherd, the vine, and even God's ancient name, "I Am." Jesus does not repudiate Judaism; he reinterprets it.

John writes with one purpose, "so that you will believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that you will have life by believing in him" (20:31). Calling himself "the one whom Yeshua loved," John emphasizes that he personally witnessed the events he describes. However, believing is more important than seeing. As Jesus told doubting Thomas, "Blessed are those who haven't seen me but believe" (20:29).

Stories unique to John include the wedding at Cana, where Jesus changed water to wine (2:1-12); conversations with Nicodemus, in which Jesus told him he must be born again (3:1-21), and with the woman at the well, first to know that Jesus was the Messiah (4:1-42); and Lazarus's return from the dead (11:1-44). As you read John's stories, notice how each one invites you to believe in Jesus as Messiah, Savior, Lord, and God.

Halfway through the book, Jesus begins to teach his disciples what they will need to know in order to live as Christians after he has left them. He promises a helper, the Holy Spirit, to remind them of his words. He urges them to live in unity with one another and with him. He promises peace, even when they are scattered around the world. After his death and resurrection, he has especially tender words for the grieving Mary from Magdala and the remorseful Peter, whom he commissions to proclaim the Good News and nurture its followers.

The Good News is still true, John tells his readers. Jesus is still with us. Carry on.

Key Names of God in John Spirit Word I Am Friend Light of the World Son of Man Son of God Savior Rabbi, Teacher Father Lamb Bread of Life Gate Good Shepherd Messiah, Christ Lord Bridegroom JOHN.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20.

21.

The Word Becomes Human 1 1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was already with God in the beginning.

3 Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.

4 He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.

5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.a 6 God sent a man named John to be his messenger. 7 John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. 8 John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.

9 The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn't recognize him. 11 He went to his own people, and his own people didn't accept him. 12 However, he gave the right to become God's children to everyone who believed in him. 13 These people didn't become God's children in a physical way-from a human impulse or from a husband's desire to have a child. They were born from God.

14 The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindnessb and truth.

15 (John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, "This is the person about whom I said, 'The one who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.'") 16 Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is. 17 Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Yeshua Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. God's only Son, the one who is closest to the Father's heart, has made him known.

John Prepares the Way-Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-18 19 This was John's answer when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 John didn't refuse to answer. He told them clearly, "I'm not the Messiah."

21 They asked him, "Well, are you Elijah?"

John answered, "No, I'm not."

Then they asked, "Are you the prophet?"

John replied, "No."

22 So they asked him, "Who are you? Tell us so that we can take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

23 John said, "I'm a voice crying out in the desert, 'Make the way for the Lord straight,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

24 Some of those who had been sent were Pharisees. 25 They asked John, "Why do you baptize if you're not the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet?"

26 John answered them, "I baptize with water. Someone you don't know is standing among you. 27 He's the one who comes after me. I am not worthy to untie his sandal strap."

28 This happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

John Identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God 29 John saw Yeshua coming toward him the next day and said, "Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 30 He is the one I spoke about when I said, 'A man who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.' 31 I didn't know who he was. However, I came to baptize with water to show him to the people of Israel."

32 John said, "I saw the Spirit come down as a dove from heaven and stay on him. 33 I didn't know who he was. But God, who sent me to baptize with water, had told me, 'When you see the Spirit come down and stay on someone, you'll know that person is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I have seen this and have declared that this is the Son of God."

Calling of the First Disciples 35 The next day John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 John saw Yeshua walk by. John said, "Look! This is the Lamb of God." 37 When the two disciples heard John say this, they followed Yeshua.

38 Yeshua turned around and saw them following him. He asked them, "What are you looking for?"

They said to him, "Rabbi" (which means "teacher"), "where are you staying?"

39 Yeshua told them, "Come, and you will see." So they went to see where he was staying and spent the rest of that day with him. It was about ten o'clock in the morning.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two disciples who heard John and followed Yeshua. 41 Andrew at once found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means "Christ"). 42 Andrew brought Simon to Yeshua.

Yeshua looked at Simon and said, "You are Simon, son of John. Your name will be Cephas" (which means "Peter").

43 The next day Yeshua wanted to go to Galilee. He found Philip and told him, "Follow me!" 44 (Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.) 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the man whom Moses wrote about in his teachings and whom the prophets wrote about. He is Yeshua, son of Joseph, from the city of Nazareth."

46 Nathanael said to Philip, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip told him, "Come and see!"

47 Yeshua saw Nathanael coming toward him and remarked, "Here is a true Israelite who is sincere."

48 Nathanael asked Yeshua, "How do you know anything about me?"

Yeshua answered him, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."

49 Nathanael said to Yeshua, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!"

50 Yeshua replied, "You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." 51 Yeshua said to Nathanael, "I can guarantee this truth: You will see the sky open and God's angels going up and coming down to the Son of Man."

WORD.

John's Gospel begins by calling Jesus the Logos (LO-gos), the "Word." Though Logos was a term used in Greek philosophy, John's usage differs from the Greek sense. Rather than referring to a rational principle or an impersonal force, John uses Logos to represent the one who created the universe simply by speaking it into existence. While the Hebrew prophets merely spoke God's word, John depicts Jesus as the one who is God's dynamic, creative, lifegiving Word.

Furthermore, John says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us"(John 1:14). The Greek for "made his dwelling" is linked to the word for "tent" or "tabernacle." Jewish readers would have immediately recognized this as a reference to the tent of meeting, in which God's glory dwelt prior to the building of the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus, the Word made flesh, became a man so that through his life we could perceive God's glory. As Logos, or "the Word," everything about Jesus-his teaching, miracles, suffering, death, and resurrection-speaks to us of God.

We are to respond to Jesus, the Word, with both faith and faithfulness, reproducing Christ's life so that the Word may become flesh in us.

Praying to the Word I have always been fascinated by the opening words of John's Gospel, but I did not begin to suspect how fascinating they are until I began delving into what it means to call Jesus the Word.

The first two verses of this Gospel link Jesus with Genesis 1-to the beginning of creation. Interestingly, Genesis doesn't say that God dreamed the world into being or that he thought it into being. Nor does it tell us he somehow conjured it. No, it says God spoke the world into being. Here's how Genesis 1:3 expresses it: "Then God said, 'Let there be light!' So there was light" (emphasis added).

Over and over, it is the same formula. God speaks and something is created-light, water, land, seed-bearing plants, fruit-bearing trees, a sky full of stars, sea creatures, birds, people, and beasts, wild and tame. According to Genesis, a lush, abundant world sprang up when God spoke.

Now let's look at what happened when Jesus spoke: Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. (Matthew 8:26 NIV, emphasis added) Then he said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home." So the man got up and went home. (Matthew 9:6-7, emphasis added) Jesus ordered the spirit, "Keep quiet, and come out of him!" The evil spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out of him with a loud shriek. (Mark 1:25-26, emphasis added) Jesus took her hand and called out, "Child, get up!" She came back to life and got up at once. (Luke 8:54-55, emphasis added) Over and over, Jesus speaks a word and things happen-a storm is calmed, a lame man walks, a demon flees, and a child is raised from the dead. Could it be any clearer? God's Word is what brought the world to life. When the world became marred and distorted by sin, the Word became flesh in order to dwell among us so that he could begin to reshape creation, restoring it to God's original purpose.

What word has Christ spoken to you lately? Your sins are forgiven; sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor; don't be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows; go and make disciples of all nations? Whatever Christ is saying, let his Word grow big in you, bigger than the noise of all the other words that threaten to smother your faith. For God is at work, re-creating you and the world that he has made through the power of the Word.

Lord, you are the Word calling out to us, healing our deafness and bringing us back to God. Open our ears and help us to listen. Reshape us according to your steadfast love and your creative, lifegiving power.

Promises Associated with the Name WORD.

While Yeshua was speaking, a woman in the crowd shouted, "How blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and the breasts that nursed you." Yeshua replied, "Rather, how blessed are those who hear and obey God's word." (Luke 11:27-28) Do what God's word says. Don't merely listen to it, or you will fool yourselves. If someone listens to God's word but doesn't do what it says, he is like a person who looks at his face in a mirror, studies his features, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like. However, the person who continues to study God's perfect laws that make people free and who remains committed to them will be blessed. People like that don't merely listen and forget; they actually do what God's laws say. (James 1:22-25)

Jesus Changes Water into Wine 2 1 Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Yeshua's mother was there. 2 Yeshua and his disciples had been invited too.

3 When the wine was gone, Yeshua's mother said to him, "They're out of wine."

4 Yeshua said to her, "Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come."

5 His mother told the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."

6 Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.

7 Yeshua told the servers, "Fill the jars with water." The servers filled the jars to the brim. 8 Yeshua said to them, "Pour some, and take it to the person in charge." The servers did as they were told.

9 The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn't know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom 10 and said to him, "Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now."

11 Cana in Galilee was the place where Yeshua began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.

12 After this, Yeshua, his mother, brothers, and disciples went to the city of Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.

Jesus Throws Merchants and Moneychangers out of the Temple Courtyard 13 The Jewish Passover was near, so Yeshua went to Jerusalem. 14 He found those who were selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons in the temple courtyard. He also found moneychangers sitting there. 15 He made a whip from small ropes and threw everyone with their sheep and cattle out of the temple courtyard. He dumped the moneychangers' coins and knocked over their tables.

16 He told those who sold pigeons, "Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"

17 His disciples remembered that Scripture said, "Devotion for your house will consume me."

18 The Jews reacted by asking Yeshua, "What miracle can you show us to justify what you're doing?"

19 Yeshua replied, "Tear down this temple, and I'll rebuild it in three days."

20 The Jews said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple. Do you really think you're going to rebuild it in three days?"

21 But the temple Yeshua spoke about was his own body. 22 After he came back to life, his disciples remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scripture and this statement that Yeshua had made.

23 While Yeshua was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, many people believed in him because they saw the miracles that he performed. 24 Yeshua , however, was wary of these believers. He understood people 25 and didn't need anyone to tell him about human nature. He knew what people were really like.

A Conversation with Nicodemus 3 1 Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish council. 2 He came to Yeshua one night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that God has sent you as a teacher. No one can perform the miracles you perform unless God is with him."

3 Yeshua replied to Nicodemus, "I can guarantee this truth: No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."a 4 Nicodemus asked him, "How can anyone be born when he's an old man? He can't go back inside his mother a second time to be born, can he?"

5 Yeshua answered Nicodemus, "I can guarantee this truth: No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh and blood give birth to flesh and blood, but the Spirit gives birth to things that are spiritual. 7 Don't be surprised when I tell you that all of you must be born from above. 8 The windb blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you don't know where the wind comes from or where it's going. That's the way it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

9 Nicodemus replied, "How can that be?"

10 Yeshua told Nicodemus, "You're a well-known teacher of Israel. Can't you understand this? 11 I can guarantee this truth: We know what we're talking about, and we confirm what we've seen. Yet, you don't accept our message. 12 If you don't believe me when I tell you about things on earth, how will you believe me when I tell you about things in heaven? 13 No one has gone to heaven except the Son of Man, who came from heaven.

14 "As Moses lifted up the snake on a pole in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. 15 Then everyone who believes in him will have eternal life."

16 God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. 18 Those who believe in him won't be condemned. But those who don't believe are already condemned because they don't believe in God's only Son.

19 This is why people are condemned: The light came into the world. Yet, people loved the dark rather than the light because their actions were evil. 20 People who do what is wrong hate the light and don't come to the light. They don't want their actions to be exposed. 21 But people who do what is true come to the light so that the things they do for God may be clearly seen.

John the Baptizer Talks about Christ 22 Later, Yeshua and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them and baptized people. 23 John was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim. Water was plentiful there. (People came to John to be baptized, 24 since John had not yet been put in prison.) 25 Some of John's disciples had an argument with a Jew about purification ceremonies. 26 So they went to John and asked him, "Rabbi, do you remember the man you spoke so favorably about when he was with you on the other side of the Jordan River? Well, he's baptizing, and everyone is going to him!"

27 John answered, "People can't receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. 28 You are witnesses that I said, 'I'm not the Messiah, but I've been sent ahead of him.'

29 "The groom is the person to whom the bride belongs. The best man, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed when the groom speaks. This is the joy that I feel. 30 He must increase in importance, while I must decrease in importance.