The sermon 'Introduction to the Gospel According to John' by Jason Dohm explores the unique aspects and significance of the Gospel of John within the New Testament. The primary purpose of this Gospel, as articulated by the sermon, is evangelistic, aimed at fostering belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior, thereby granting eternal life to believers. The author, identified as the Apostle John, is described as 'the disciple whom Jesus loved,' a close eyewitness to Jesus' ministry, providing a distinct perspective. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—John's Gospel emphasizes theological insights over historical accounts, with a focus on Jesus' divinity and his relationship with God the Father. The sermon outlines several unique elements of John's Gospel, such as the seven 'I Am' statements and seven pre-crucifixion signs, highlighting its depth and suitability for both new believers and seasoned scholars. The Gospel is intended for a universal audience, bridging both Jewish and Gentile contexts, and serves as a wellspring of spiritual growth, urging readers to deepen their love and understanding of Jesus Christ.

Since your wonderful book, the Lord granted us through John. I'll give you just a second to get there as we take this in together. The Gospel according to John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light.

That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him, but as many as received him. To them He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And we beheld his glory, the glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of him and cried out saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time.

The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." Now this is the testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked Him, what then? Are you Elijah?

He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And He said, No. Then they said to him, Who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?

He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. Then they asked him, saying, Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?' John answered them, saying, I baptize with water. But there stands one among you whom you do not know.

It is He who coming after me is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." These things were done in Bethapara beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who was preferred before me. For he was before me. I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel.

Therefore, I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, This is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." Again, the next day, John stood with two of the disciples and looking at Jesus as He walked, He said, Behold the Lamb of God! The two disciples heard Him speak and they followed Jesus.

Then Jesus turned and seeing them following, said to them, what do you seek? They said to him, rabbi, which is to say when translated teacher, where are you staying? He said to them, come and see. They came and saw where he was staying and remained with him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which is translated the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, he said, You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which is translated a stone.

The following day, Jesus wanted to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Philip said to him, come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said of him, behold, in Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit. Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree I saw you. Nathaniel answered and said to him Rabbi you are the son of God.

You are the king of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. And he said to him, most assuredly I say to you hereafter, You shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Chapter 2.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding, and when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. Jesus said to her, Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do it.

Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, Fill the water pots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, Draw some out now and take it to the master of the feast, and they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. The master of the feast called the bridegroom, and he said to him, Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.

You have kept the good wine until now. This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum, his brothers and his disciples, and they did not stay there many days. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and he found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers doing business. When he had made a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.

And he said to those who sold doves, take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of merchandise." Then his disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house has eaten me up. So the Jews answered and said to him, what sign do you show to us since you do these things? Jesus answered and said to them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three days?

But he was speaking of the temple of his body. Therefore, when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus said. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Chapter 3.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who was born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of man who is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he remained with them and baptized. John also was baptized in Annan near Salem because there was much water there, And they came and were baptized. John had not yet been thrown into prison. Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.

And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, all are coming to him. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

And what he has seen and heard, that he testifies. And no one receives his testimony. He who has received his testimony has certified that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Chapter 4 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples. He left Judea and departed again to Galilee, but he needed to go through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there.

Jesus, therefore, being weary from his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, give me a drink, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself as well as his sons and his livestock?" Jesus answered and said to her, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw.

Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have said Well, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. In that you spoke truly." The woman said to him, "'Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain that you Jews, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, woman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

For the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. And at this point, His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman.

Yet no one said, what do you seek, or Why are you talking with her? The woman then left her water pot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? Then they went out of the city and came to him. In the meantime, his disciples urged him, saying, Rabbi, eat.

But he said to them, I have food to eat which you do not know. Therefore the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him anything to eat? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.

And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this saying, the saying is true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored. Others have labored and you have entered into their labors. And many of the Samaritans of the city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified, he told me all that I ever did.

So when the Samaritans had come to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his own word. Then they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." Now after the two days he departed from there and went to Galilee, for Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they had also gone to the feast. So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine.

And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and implored him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe. The nobleman said to him, "'Sir, come down before my child dies.' Jesus said to him, "'Go your way, your son lives.' So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him saying, "'Your son lives!' Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.

And they said to him, "'Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.' So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, your son lives, and he himself believed, and the whole household. And again, this is the second sign Jesus did what he had come out of Judea into Galilee. Chapter 5. After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches.

In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the movement of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool, and stirred up the water. Then whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease he had. Now certain man was there who had an infirmity 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already that he already had been in that condition a long time, he said to him, "'Do you want to be made well?' The sick man answered him, "'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water stirred up, but while I'm coming another steps down before me.' Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your bed and walk.

And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him, Who was cured, it is the Sabbath. It's not lawful for you to carry your bed.' He answered them, He who made me well said to me, Take up your bed and walk. Then they asked him, Who is the man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk?

But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See, you have been made well, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My father has been working until now, and I have been working.

Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was his father, making himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son. That all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly I say to you, He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

There is another who bears witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. You have sent to John, and he is born witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things, that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's, for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me.

And the Father Himself who sent me has testified of me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him, you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of me. But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life.

I do not receive honor from men, but I know you that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father, and there is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you trust.

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? This morning we have an introduction to the Gospel according to John. And I'm so excited to be here. Aren't you excited to be here embarking on a Gospel?

It's been four years, believe it or not, since we left Matthew. Right when the church was started, I think our first Sunday worshiping together here was the second Sunday in the exposition of Matthew. So we spent our first two years here. It's been four years. We've been in other books of the Bible.

That's all been good. That's all been a blessing. I wouldn't go back and do anything differently in terms of what books we were in, but what a joy it is to be back into the life and the sayings and the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The book of John has 21 chapters and we haven't split them up yet. We're just starting to do that.

But I can't see that it would be less than two years. So we're going to be here for a while, so I hope you like John. Let's pray. God, Your Word is such a precious gift. What would our minds think if we didn't have Your Word to come and teach us truth, challenge all of our wrong thinking and set it right?

And then, at the height of Your Word, we have the Gospels that speak about our Lord Jesus Christ, who fulfills all the prophets. Father, I pray that you would bless our time in this book to Come and do heart work among us. Come and work on our hearts to change us and mold us and to make us more like Christ. This is what we need. We are desperate for this.

That your spirit would use the words of the Gospel of John to come and conform us to this beautiful image of your son Jesus. Make us love him, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm going to begin this morning. This will be a shorter sermon since we've had a public reading of the first five chapters.

I have no intention of going an hour, but I would like to begin with six introductory comments, sort of categories, that will bring us into the book of John. And here they are, number one. With this Gospel, it helps to begin at the end. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, It's begin, end. With this Gospel, with the Gospel of John, it helps to begin at the end.

If you're at the end of John, which I'm asking you to be, turn to the last couple of verses in chapter 20. John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31. Follow along as I read those verses. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

And that believing you may have life in His name. The author of this Gospel has not left us in doubt what His purpose is. We have a purpose statement here in John chapter 20 verse 31. His purpose is that we would read all of this about Jesus so that we would believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that salvation is through Jesus alone, and that we would believe and be saved. So this is an evangelistic gospel.

This is a mission's gospel. Paul says this in Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. There's only one way to have life from God, and it's by faith. And how will you have faith unless you have Jesus set before you?

The truth about Jesus and His life and His death set before you. It is the power of God to salvation. So John gets this. John was actually taught this by Jesus. So John understands it better than we ever will.

And he says this, I am relating all these things to you so that you might believe and have life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look in the last chapter, John 21, I'd like to read verses 20 through 24. Coming into what I'm getting ready to read, Jesus has been speaking with Peter about his martyrdom. So at the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks to Peter about how Peter is going to die. And this is coming out of that section.

I'll be reading John 21 verses 20 through 24. Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on his breast at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? Peter seeing him said to Jesus, but Lord, what about this man? In other words, Jesus had just said that Peter is going to be martyred. Now Peter wants to know about what will happen to the disciple who Jesus loves.

Verse 22, Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me. Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die, yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but if I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true. So the disciple that Jesus loved is the disciple who wrote the gospel that we'll be in for the next two years.

And so you don't have a verse in this gospel that says where John identifies that he is the author of himself. And yet if you take this phrase, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and you just use the process of elimination, you pretty much end up with John. Not perfectly, but every indication is that the disciple that Jesus loved is John. Now how curious that the author would identify himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Isn't that sort of arrogant?

Well, there are two things I'd like to say about that. The first is this. If love is the fulfillment of the law, and it is, and if Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law, and he did, then no one was ever loved in human history like these disciples were loved. They spent three years with him, they lived with him, he was with them all the time for three years. And if we learn anything, it's that the law of God is about love, and Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law, so no one even had the capacity to love like Jesus.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if another one of the twelve were to read this and say, wait a minute, I was the disciple that Jesus loved. No, no, no, I was, no, I was. All having felt like they were loved so well by Jesus, love, they'd never been loved like that before. The second thing that I would say about this is that it's clear from a study of the Gospels, plural, that John had a very special relationship with Jesus. The thought that John was well loved by Jesus even in a special way.

It's not even reserved for the Gospel of John. John did have a special relationship with Jesus. And a couple of points down, we'll talk more about that. John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. And this is the overwhelming consensus of the early church.

In fact, church tradition has it that John truly was the only one of the twelve who was not martyred. Judas took his own life. Judas committed suicide and then the other ten were martyred according to church history. But John died a quote unquote natural death. There is no such thing.

Everyone is killed by God. If you die, you were killed by God. But John was not martyred in that way. Here's what John MacArthur says. Listen to this note from the MacArthur Study Bible.

Although the author's name does not appear in the Gospel, early church traditions strongly and consistently identified him as the Apostle John. The early church father Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John, and he testified on Polycarp's authority that John wrote the Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia Minor when he was in an advanced age." Okay, So we get a string of names there. Let me try to unwind that a bit. You have Jesus who is Lord and Savior. And he discipled John.

John is the disciple whom Jesus loved. That's how John identifies himself in his gospel. John discipled a man by the name of Polycarp. He directly discipled this man, and then Polycarp directly discipled another man named Irenaeus. And these are both men who wrote a lot.

They're part of the writings of the early church. They came from both Polycarp, who was discipled by John, and Irenaeus, who was discipled by Polycarp. And Irenaeus said in his writings, Polycarp, who was discipled by John, told me that John wrote this gospel and that he wrote it while he was in Ephesus. So there are not many links in this chain. It's Jesus to John to Polycarp to Irenaeus, and the testimony is, John wrote this gospel and he wrote it while in Ephesus.

There's nothing really good in early church history that would contradict that. I think we should assume that That's true. Most conservative scholars date the book, say that this gospel was written sometime in the 80-95 AD. So in other words, 50-60 years after the death and the resurrection of Jesus, this gospel was written. Commentators, almost all of them, refer to this sooner or later in their commentary as the fourth gospel.

In other words, it's overwhelmingly known as the gospel that was written last of all. So Matthew, Mark, and Luke would have been written earlier. John was the last to be written and put into distribution. And so the commentators call it the fourth gospel. So where are we so far?

We've been given the purpose in John chapter 20 verse 31. The purpose is that you would believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior, and that in believing you would have life. Who is the author, the disciple whom Jesus loved? John. Where is the likely location for where this was written?

Well, according to John's disciple's disciple, Ephesus, wrote it in Ephesus. And then the likely date was probably somewhere in the range of 80 to 95 AD, or 50 to 60 years after Jesus had died. Number two, John is a fantastic eyewitness. So if you're filling in blanks, it's eyewitness. John, the disciple and the apostle is a fantastic eyewitness.

Why so? Well, because even among the disciples, John is one of a few who are given an inside view. It's Peter, James, and John. They're never given special titles, but they're given special privileges in terms of being allowed to participate in certain events in the life of Jesus. So let me give you some of them.

John was taken with Peter and his brother James up to the Mount of Transfiguration. That's in Matthew 12. Only three went up on the mountain and saw Jesus transfigured and Elijah and Moses come and speak with Jesus. It was Peter, James, and John. That makes him a great eyewitness to be a gospel writer.

With Peter and his brother James, he was brought in to see a little girl raised from the dead in Luke chapter 8. Do you remember that story? They come into the house, the little girl has died, and Jesus takes her mom and dad, and Peter, James, and John only into this room and he raises her from the dead. John was standing there when a dead girl came to life. This makes him a great eyewitness.

With Peter, John prepared the Passover meal. We see this in Luke chapter 22. In Luke chapter 22, Jesus tells two of his disciples to go make ready for the Last Supper. It's Peter and it's John. Also, it was John who was leaning on Jesus at the Passover meal.

We see this in John chapter 13. John is just leaning back. He's reclining on Jesus at the Passover meal. Clearly, they had a special and close relationship. You really don't hear of any other descriptions with any other disciples that is like this.

He's leaning back and in fact when Peter wants to know who the betrayer is, he asks John, who's reclining back on Jesus, ask him who the betrayer is. With Peter and his brother James, sorry I have a gap in my notes here, I have no idea what that was intended to be. I'll move on. John was given the care of Mary, Jesus' mother, in John chapter 19. This is assuming you buy the premise that the disciple that Jesus loved is John.

Assuming you agree with that. When Jesus is on the cross, he looks at John and says, Behold your mother, about Jesus. And he looks at Mary and says, Behold your son. And John chapter 19 says that from that day, from the day that Jesus died on the cross, Mary was a part of John's household. With Peter, John received the news of the resurrection from Mary Magdalene.

She runs back to tell the disciples. She encounters Peter and John, and they run off to the grave. And John's faster than Peter. He makes sure to record that. He makes it there first.

This is in John chapter 20. So that's point number two. John is a fantastic eye witness. He's an insider, even among the insiders and has special privileges along with Peter and his brother James. He is a participant to just some of the wonderful things that happened in the life of Jesus in a unique way.

Number three, this gospel was written for both Jews and non-Jews. So if you're filling in blanks, it's Jews and Jews. This gospel was written for both Jews and non-Jews. So if you're filling in blanks, it's Jews and Jews. This Gospel was written for both Jews and non-Jews.

John clearly has in mind a universal audience. We see this at the very beginning of John. The first words of the book are what? In the beginning, what would any Jew think of Genesis 1.1? It begins like the Bible begins.

It begins like the Old Testament witness of what God has done in the world, starting with His creation begins. And there are many tie-ins to the Old Testament in the Gospel of John, like in the other Gospels. And in a unique way, the Gospel of John describes Jesus' ministry in and around Jerusalem. Most of The focus of Matthew, Mark, and Luke is around his ministry in Galilee. John is overwhelmingly focused on what happens in and around Jerusalem and in making specific tie-ins to Jesus as Messiah.

It's clearly written with Jews in mind, but also if you look at John chapter 1 verse 38, we see this. John chapter 1, 38, then Jesus turned and seeing them following, said to them, what do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi, parenthesis, which is to say when translated, teacher, where are you saying? No Jew needs that. No Jew needs you to explain what the Aramaic word Rabbi means.

Every Jew would know that. We see it again in verse 41. When Andrew comes to Peter and says, We have found the Messiah, parentheses, which is translated to Christ. No Jew would need an explanation of what the Aramaic word for Messiah means. But we find many of these instances where either words are translated or customs are explained.

Clearly, non-Jewish readers are also in view. John knew that both Jews and Gentiles needed his testimony and so he really, in certain ways, gears the writing of his gospel towards both of these audiences. Listen to this quote from the Expositors Bible commentary. There is no other book in the Bible that to the same degree serves as a simple primer for new believers, while at the same time continues to challenge the most learned scholars with its theological depths. More graphically, Morris, I don't know who Morris is, but more graphically Morris describes it as, quote, a pool in which a child may wade and an elephant can swim.

So, whatever level you find yourself, there lies before you a work that will not only inform you, but whose full meaning and significance will always seem to lie just beyond our reach." What is the Expositors Bible commentary saying? It's saying, as we work through John, expect to find this. Expect to find plain things that tell us things that are so helpful, things that we need to know, and yet always expect to be feeling like you don't quite grasp the depths of it. This is characteristic of the book of John. A pool in which a child may wade and an elephant can swim.

New Christians need John because it teaches these fundamental truths so powerfully, but even the most learned scholars end up feeling like they haven't quite gotten there in the book of John. In fact, when you have J.C. Ryle, who was just a tremendous Bible scholar, he says, when I was writing this commentary, so often I would tremble to even comment on the truths that Jesus was giving us. That's number three. This Gospel was written for both Jews and non-Jews.

Baby Christians and Bible scholars. Universal audience. Number four. The Gospel of John is a very different Gospel. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's different.

The Gospel of John is a very different Gospel. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's different. The Gospel of John is a very different Gospel. It's not like Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels.

This comes from a Greek word synopsis meaning seeing together. Matthew, Mark, and Luke sort of see things together in terms of the life and the ministry and the death of Jesus. They supplement one another, but they really are sort of coming from the same viewpoint. They have a very historical thrust. The focus of those synoptic gospels, or Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are primarily historical and speaking of the events and the teachings of Jesus' life.

Here's what Matthew Henry says about the difference between Matthew, Mark, and Luke on one hand and John on the other. Matthew Henry says, he, John, gives us more of the mystery of that of which the other evangelists gave us only the history. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are focused on the history and many, many, many places the Gospel of John is focused on the mystery. In other words, he has a deeply theological bent in what he gives to us. Listen to what is missing from the Gospel of John.

In other words, we're going to go from John chapter 1 through John chapter 21, and we're never going to see these things. We're never going to be given a birth narrative. We're never going to have a baptism account. There will be no temptation account where Jesus was led in the wilderness, it's not in John at all. There will be no sermon on the mount.

It's totally missing in the Gospel of John. There will be no Lord's Prayer. There will be no Transfiguration. Think about that. John was there.

Three disciples were taken up to see Jesus Transfigured before them. Peter, James, and John. And yet the transfiguration does not even appear in the Gospel of John. There will be no Lord's Supper. There will be no narrative parables.

Not one of the parables finds its way into the Gospel of John. There will be no demon exorcisms. All of the other gospels have essentially all of those other elements to them, but they are totally missing in the gospel of John. By the way, My personal view on this, you'll not find a text that says this, my personal view is this is far and away the last gospel to be written, and that John wrote them with an awareness of the contents of the other gospels. That's what I believe is reflected here.

John knew what they wrote, and he didn't do it to repeat what they had written, but had written it to go hand in glove with those other gospels and to provide these different things that are missing there. Listen to what is unique to John. The resurrection of Lazarus. You will not find the resurrection of Lazarus in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. It is in John.

Frequent visits to Jerusalem with extended accounts of teaching in the temple. You almost never find Jesus teaching in the temple in Matthew, Mark, or Luke, but you find him often teaching in the temple in John. The synoptic gospels focus on Galilee. The Gospel of John focuses on his ministry in and around Jerusalem. Much of the private instruction to the disciples is in John.

The synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are filled with public teaching. And John has that as well. But most of the private instruction to the disciples is actually recorded in the Gospel of John. They're different. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are very similar in many ways.

John is very different. We need them all. Finally, listen to D.A. Carson, this quote from D.A. Carson's commentary.

It could not have been long after the fourth gospel was published, before it was collected with the other three to form the fourfold gospel. In other words, for the most part, the gospel of John early circulated as part of one book. Now what is Carson saying here? Carson's saying when you look back to the history of the early church you don't find a long period of time where individual gospels were circulating by themselves. What you find is they were collected up and they were made into one book.

In fact the titles even reflect this. The titles began as According to Matthew, According to Mark, According to Luke, According to John and the gospel according to, was added later. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were collected up and were distributed and meant to be had as... Together. That was point number three.

No, that was point number four. The Gospel of John is a very different Gospel. Point number five, some distinguishing features. Some distinguishing features, if you're filling in blanks, it's features. First, we have seven pre-crucifixion signs and seven I Am statements.

We'll be developing these throughout the chapters of the Gospel of John. There are seven main signs that Jesus performs. And they're signs because they are proofs that Jesus is sent by God. Jesus wasn't sent by himself, his heavenly father sent him. His heavenly father proved it by having Jesus do these seven signs.

We have the seven I am statements. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. Jesus says, I am the door. Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.

Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus says, I am the vine. And in each of these we have the echoes of God's revelation of his name, I am, from Genesis chapter 3 verse 14. When God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush, and Moses said, who should I tell them sent me?

He said, tell them I am sent you, that the self existing Jehovah God sent you. Jesus is identifying himself as God when he says, I am these things. And this will actually come to a culmination in John chapter 18 verse 6 when when they come to get him at Gethsemane and he says, who are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And in John 18 verse 6 it says, I am He.

Jesus says, I am He. But you'll notice if you have one of these Bibles that does this, He is in italics and that means the translators added it. It's not there. What Jesus actually says when they say we're looking for Jesus of Galilee, he says, I am. And here's what it says, they drew back and fell to the ground.

Who are you looking for? Jesus of Nazareth. I am. The power of that statement in the mouth of the Son of God knocks them down they draw back and fall to the ground. Consider this from Andreas Kostenberger in his commentary.

John's Christology, particularly affirmations of Jesus' deity and of his human and divine natures, decisively shaped the formulations adopted by the early church councils and creeds. Here's what Costenberger is saying. The early church wrestled with who is Jesus precisely and accurately. What does it mean that he is the son of God? The doctrine of the Trinity actually came out of wrestling through this in the early centuries of early Christian life.

There were councils and there were creeds that came out of these councils. And Kastelberger saying, without the Gospel of John, these creeds wouldn't be nearly what they are. They wouldn't have nearly the precision about who Jesus really is and what that means in terms of God the Father and God the Spirit. So much of the early church councils and early church creeds comes right out of the Gospel of John and if you didn't have the Gospel of John we would have big holes in our theological understanding. Praise God for the Gospel of John.

The largest amount of teaching in the Gospels on the Holy Spirit is in the book of John. Far and away, John records what Jesus taught about sending the Holy Spirit and what His ministry would be. We're going to get a lot of the Holy Spirit in our study of the Gospel of John. The triumphal entry is in chapter 12. Okay, so think about this.

We have 21 chapters Chapter 12 the beginning of chapter 12 is the triumphal entry which signals the last week of the life of Jesus So 1 through 11 is about 3 years of public ministry, and 12-21, 10 full chapters are the last week of Jesus' life and what happened after the resurrection. 10 of 21 chapters are 48%. Half of the Gospel of John is the last week of Jesus' life. Now the other Gospels are actually disproportionately weighted towards that period too, but None of them like John, none of them have given half of their gospel to that intensely important week of Jesus' life and what happened after the resurrection. Finally, along the same lines, we're given the most substantial account of what happened after the resurrection by far.

Most of the gospels say very little about what happened after the resurrection. John says a whole lot about what happens after the resurrection. If we were missing the Gospel of John, there would be so much that we don't know that God has wanted to reveal to us. That was number five, some distinguishing features of the Gospel of John. Number six, and finally, Let me introduce you to some friends who will be helping me.

That's what the stacks are. They're friends who will be helping me. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's friends helping. Let me introduce you to some friends who will be helping me. Let me start with...

And by the way, this is on purpose, this is symbolic. The Bible sits on all the friends that will be helping me. Really what we need is the Bible. And unadorned is fine. Unadorned would give us exactly what we need.

And yet, there are men and women that God has raised up through history to throw light and to help us to see connections within Scripture and to unfold these things in a way that helps us to understand what's in the Bible better. So we should be thankful for these things, but honestly, we could clear off all the rest of this and be with this and we would be fine. Okay, here are my friends. I want to start with the study Bibles. Every week, the first thing that I always read and will be reading is the Nelson Study Bible.

It's really plain. I mean that actually in a complimentary way, not in an insulting way at all. It's right down the middle, solid as a rock, thoughts and notes. And if I had only one study bible, that would be the one I had. If I put the ESV study bible up here, I wouldn't have been even.

So the ESV study Bible I'll be reading every week, the notes on that. That's probably my second favorite. I'm doing them in order of how much I like them. MacArthur I love. I love him third best, but that means I love him a lot.

There are many, many, many study Bibles out there. These are my favorites. MacArthur has soaked in New Testament teaching. He's taught every week in the New Testament for 40 years. Not a bad commentator.

He's got a 34-year head start on me or something like that. And then the Reformation Heritage, this is Joel Beeke and crew, Very reformed theologically in terms of the notes that are in there. So I start my week study in those four study Bibles. The reason I have four is that they occupy somewhat different space within evangelical thought. So all Bible loving, but sort of different perspectives.

They're different enough that it makes it worthwhile having all four. And as you begin to collect resources that help you, find faithful people, but find some different perspectives sort of within the faithful spectrum. Now, my old friends, my dead friends, The friends I like the best. Matthew Henry, no matter what we're studying, I'll be reading Matthew Henry. I think this is volume five of a six volume set on the whole Bible.

So that sort of tells you how much of John is in here. This is Matthew to John. So this is on the four gospels. So about the fourth of this I'll be reading. Couldn't do without Matthew Henry.

Matthew Poole is fantastic. This is part of a three volume set on the whole Bible, so that gives you kind of a sense. The letters in here are brutally small. It's really hard to read. But Matthew Poole is so concise.

If you only had one kind of full length commentary that gives you the most punch for the space, it's definitely Matthew Poole. Then John Calvin. I actually don't usually read Calvin, but I'm going to try him here. He was really good on Philippians. I didn't read him at all for Esther, and so I'm going to try him on John.

Of these four old friends, old dead friends that I'm giving you, I'll probably vote one of them off the island after a couple of chapters when I find out which ones are the best and most helpful. I'll probably get rid of one of them. My guess is John Calvin will get voted off the island, but you never know. I know J.C. Ryle will not get voted off the island.

I've already waded into expository thoughts on the Gospels. Not a lot in John, but I know enough about J.C. Ryle and the Gospels to know how refreshed my soul will be from reading him week to week. I sent out an email earlier in the week. I just want to come in to you again.

I gave you a free option online. I gave you a $1.75 option for a four volume set for Kindle. Outside of the Bible you will not find more gold for a dollar seventy five in the history of the world or something like that. I'm given to hyperbole. Ryle on John is different than Ryle on Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

He gives his expository thoughts, which are focused on the main themes within the text and he doesn't gravitate towards the controversy Or towards the things that are harder to understand he gives you the main thrust no matter what it is so that's what makes the The reading so refreshing with John though. He wanted to make it a full length scholarly commentary, so he does that, his normal expository thoughts, and then he'll give you five times that much in notes on the same text. He goes about six verses at a time. It's pretty reliable, four to six verses. He'll take that chunk, he'll give you the expository thoughts on the main thrust.

And then in the book of John, he gives you five times that much in notes about what other commentators have said. And then he does work on the difficulties in the text and the controversies in the text. Hey, read Ryle along with me every week. Just accept the challenge to do that. You'll really benefit from that.

And now, my new friends. And I will probably vote one of the new friends off the island too by chapter four as my guess. And I don't have a guess who it will be. D.A. Carson has written, this is just on the Gospel of John, so these are really the whoppers, and this is new scholarship.

All of these guys are alive. And so this sort of reflects more modern scholarship. If I was just reading for pleasure, I would stick with the old dead guys and would be content to not even touch these. But the understanding what is out there in the modern scholarship is really important. These are sound authors who will even tell you what the bad stuff that's out there is.

I feel like if I'm preaching on these texts, I need to understand what the false doctrine associated with these texts are so that I'm aware of them and there may be times where I'll say, hey, you're going to encounter this teaching out there and it's wrong because of this. These guys will help me with that. D.A. Carson is a very famous modern theologian and has written a whopper here. But it's not as big as Andreas Kastenberger's.

My attraction to the Kastenberger commentary is twofold. One is he is known to be a scholar of the first rank and just has a sterling reputation and has written wonderful, wonderful things on gender roles and biblical teaching on family. He's one of the best authors out there on that. But the second reason is he lives in Wake Forest. He teaches at the seminary here.

He's a world famous theologian, but he lives right here. And we really wanted to expose ourselves to more of his writings. And then finally, and I almost always use this to the Expositors Bible commentary. This is one of five volumes of this size on the New Testament, so it's a pretty beefy commentary, and a lot of just good basic exposition in here. So anyway, all that to say, I have a lot of reading ahead of me, but I'm looking forward to it.

I want to give you a couple of exhortations. Two. One. I want to give you again the good student speech. The speech I give whenever we start a new book.

Starting a new book is the opportunity to redouble our efforts to be a good student of the Word of God. And to just take the new book more seriously than we've ever taken any of the books that go before it, and to use it as an opportunity to become an expert on the book before us. Why not argue against being a good student of the Gospel of John, a particularly attentive student of the Gospel of John. Doing a little extra study on your own on the Gospel of John just a little bit every week. What will the yield of that be?

What will the return on that investment be? It'll be significant. So here's the challenge, Make yourself an expert on the Gospel of John. What we study? Meditate on it.

What we study? Really study it. Like carefully, word by word, thoughtfully. Pray over the text every week. What we memorize, like memorize it, memorize it.

If you've been like me and been a little slack in quarters gone by on this. This is not the time to be slack with memorization. This is the time to say it over and over and over and over and over again in our homes so that we have it and it will be in our minds for the rest of our lives. We'll be blessed by that. Let me say this, we will not regret it if we make ourselves experts in the Gospel of John.

No way we would regret it and want the time back. Exhortation number two comes in the form of a question. What do we need more than an increase in our love for Jesus? Think about the things that you need. Now, which of them are more, are a greater need than needing to love Jesus more than you love him now?

Think of how many other categories this bleeds over into in a helpful way. Meaning, when we love Jesus more, it affects our marriages. It affects our parent-child relationships. It affects our relationship with our neighbors. It affects our work life.

Loving Jesus more affects everything to the good. Plus, it is its own reward. Loving Jesus more is its own reward. You really don't need any of those other things. They're just bonus.

Loving Jesus is the root of spiritual life and vitality. There is no spiritual life and vitality without love for Christ. You want more spiritual life and vitality? You have to grow your love for Christ. It's a one-to-one correlation.

The gospels are wells of refreshment. You are standing beside a well of refreshment. All you have to do is reach down in and dip it out. Do it week by week. People who love Jesus more are happier and they're holier.

Does anybody want to take up the other side of that debate? People who love Jesus more are happier than people who love Him less. People who love Jesus more are happier and they're holier. Does anybody want to take up the other side of that debate? People who love Jesus more are happier than people who love Him less.

People who love Jesus more are holier than people who love Him less. Finally, I'll end with Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has also highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The purpose of Jesus being sent into the world is that we may have life and that God may be glorified through it all.

This is our chance to imbibe the mind of Christ, to be more like Christ by studying His life and desiring to be changed and conformed into His image. Oh God, may this be the great outcome of the next couple of years in this Gospel. Use it to conform us into the image of Your Son. Use it to refresh our souls. May we love Christ more and be happier and be holier oh God by your spirit do this work in us we pray in Jesus name Amen