John 20:20-21
The Gospel of John:
What do y’all know doubt John & his gospel?
Gospel=Good news that God’s plan of salvation has come to fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
John=disciple of Christ. 1 of the 12. Also called John the Beloved/evangelist/the one whom Jesus loved.
John, in his gospel, did not include the birth of Jesus along with several other miracles and teachings. For these reasons:
1) Matt, Mark, and Luke were widely circulated throughout the church so it wasn’t needed to do so.
2) John wanted to focus on the meaning of Jesus and His actions/ministry rather than a full biography of Jesus.
Let’s look more closely at why John wrote this Gospel before we really begin to study his writings. John 20:30-31.
20:30 So John does not give us a complete bio of Jesus\’ life only some of it. But even that bit of it is enough to testify to the truth of Jesus. Again, this also further supports the idea that John knew of the other 3 gospels because he knows that other miracles were done by Jesus and recorded elsewhere.
20:31 John wrote this with the desired outcome that we, the reader, may believe that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. Notice that John emphasis the Messiah-ship and sonship of Jesus. Those will be the 2 main themes throughout this gospel/study.
John states that by believing in Jesus we would have life. Thus, all die but not all life. Not truly anyways. True, full life is found in Jesus.
Notice, John says in Jesus. Not in evangelism or community or praising. But in Jesus.
The mountain top moments of our Christian life/walk should not be found in evangelism or community; though these are indeed good/beneficial things, but in Jesus. In me and Him alone together in quite/humble submission/obedience to Him.
Our mountaintop moments should be found in our time alone with Him in prayer and in the reading/studying/meditating on the word. Because in those moments with Him we grow to know Him more/to taste and see that the Lord is indeed good and glorious. In these moments w Him we see His glory and know His presence and the things of the world, of our own flesh, become more and more repulsive to us and He becomes more and more satisfying to us.
Now, out of your Christian walk thus far what have been some mountain top/apex moments for you?
Are we seeking the Lord in our private study? Are we hungering and thirsting for Him? Are we pleading for His power in our lives? Are we praying for one another/Fairmount? Are we praying for our brothers away or around the world? Do we desire God?
And now I want us to close out here with time in prayer but first I want to read John 17:1-5 and notice Jesus starts with “Father”-notice the intimacy and love there is between them and also notice the usage of the word “glory”, used 5 times here and the phrase eternal life. And keep all this in mind as we pray.