The Gospel of John is regarded as many as the most important and

fundamental book in the Bible. Matthew presents Jesus the King

prophesied for thousands of years. Mark presents Jesus the Servant of all.

Luke presents Jesus the Savior of all. But John presents Jesus, the God of

all. The divinity of Jesus Christ.

Matthew was a tax collector. A Jew working for the enemy and profiting at

the expense of his people. Saved from all of that and from himself. Luke

was a physician. Established and accomplished. Mark was the prized pupil

of Peter. But John, John was a son. All we know of him is that he was the

son of Zebedee, a simple fisherman.

Next to Jesus, there was always John. From defending Jesus to the point

that Jesus called him and his brother, “The Sons of Thunder,” to the heavy

night of the last supper when John no doubt sensed the weight on Jesus and

leaned on Him while they sat together. The one that Jesus loved as John

refers to himself in this Gospel. The one and only disciple to brave the foot

of the cross…

All of the motivations that everyone had to be around Jesus…, from Peter

to Judas to those that followed Jesus into the wilderness… For what He

did, what He could provide…, the implication in all of scripture is that

John was with Jesus because of who Jesus was. John just loved Him. Not

for what he could get from Jesus, but because Jesus was who Jesus was.

So, he pens this Gospel and presents that Jesus to the readers.

He wrote this Gospel, which is very different than all of the other

Gospels…, we call the other Gospels the synoptic gospels (which means,

“seeing together”) because they present pretty much the same scenes just

from different vantage points. They are literary synonyms of one another.

Not John’s. John has some of the same accounts but it is vastly different

and contains different scenes and different sincerity than the others.

He wrote this Gospel for one simple reason. Given to us in John 20:31,

“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.”

It was written sometime between 70 and 100AD, and most likely from

Ephesus where we know John settled along with Mary, the mother of Jesus,

after Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus and where John pastored until he

died in 100AD. With that being said, we know Paul visited Ephesus at least

twice during this time and the theme of that letter reveals that John may

have had a part in discussing it through with Paul. Wouldn’t that be a great

conversation to witness…

Interesting as well, Ephesus is the first of the seven churches mentioned in

the Book of Revelation (which this John also wrote along with 1, 2, and 3

John) where we find out that church was on fire. So active and so alive and

so doing incredible and the right things. But interestingly, Jesus was most

interested in them focusing on their first and simple love for Him. A call

back to John’s original relationship with Jesus for sure…

Finally, by way of introduction, who was this book written to? Matthew

was written to the Jews. Using prophecy and Old Testament scripture and

types to make the case that Jesus is the promised King and Messiah. Mark

was written to the gentiles, giving several detailed explanations of Jewish

customs, showing the readers were most likely not Jewish. Luke was

written to an individual named Theophilus. But John…, John was written

to the world.

John is the place to start for any new Christian. To lay the foundation of the

deity of Jesus Christ from which to build on with the epistles, torah,

proverbs, poetry and prophecy. Scholars have noted throughout the ages

that the Gospel of John was crafted for and is able to both evangelize non-

believers and to deepen, to mature the faith of seasoned saints. Perhaps it

really is the most important and fundamental book of the Bible…

John Chapter 1 Verses 1 – 5

 This is a comprehensive introduction of Jesus. And with sufficient

time taken to understand verses 1-5, not only a foundation is laid that

is unshakeable and unmatched by any other thought, concept,

religion or deity, but it also is an understanding that continues to be

more and more understood with each Bible study.

 John starts his gospel out with a call back to the beginning of the

Torah. Perhaps a reset of all things, a rebirth of all things for his

Jewish readers, but this is not the same beginning. Genesis 1:1 reads,

“In the beginning, God created the havens and the earth…” But we

know that was not the beginning of all things…

 John says in the beginning, even before creation, was the Word, and

the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John’s word for

beginning in the Greek is “arche” which means the principle

beginning. The beginning of the beginning, the archaic of all archaics.

We know this predates Genesis 1:1 by statements made by Jesus later

in this book.

 John 17:5, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,

with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Also, John

17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom you gave Me may be with

Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given

Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

 So, John 1:1 predates and is a different beginning clearly than Genesis

1:1. In the beginning which had no beginning, the arche, was the

Word. In the Greek, the Logos. This speaks of origination authority of

all that we know. The Word or the logos is the thought of the thing

before the thing. The word of the thing before the thing. Just like the

car you drove to church in today was a concept, an invention, an idea,

a drawing engineered…, that is the logos.

 Whereas the Word of God we read from today is the codified

transcribed DNA of God, Jesus Christ is the personified Person of

God. This is why upon His return in Revelation 19:13 we read, “He

was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The

Word of God.”

 And the Word was with God and the Word was God. To be with and

also one is a mystery. But indeed, a mystery revealed in plentiful

repetition throughout the scriptures. That God is One and yet He

exists in Three Distinct Persons, The Father, The Son, and the Holy

Spirit. The best explanation I have ever heard of this is light…

 Interesting that 1 John 1:5 says, “God is Light,” and if you take light

and allow it to pass through a prism, it will show itself in three

primary colors. Same light, all one, three distinct colors. Not perfect,

but I really like that explanation.

 Others have said things like water. Water is the only substance that at

all times is a solid, liquid and a gas. I would argue a middle-aged man

is too, HA!! Enough to say, the Word was with God, and the Word

was God. So now we have an equalization. A revelation. That the

Logos, the Originator was with the Father and was One with the

Father in the beginning.

 Some groups add an indefinite article here and say that the Word was

with God and that the Word was “a” God. There’s a massive problem

with that among many massivito (Spanish for you) problems!! The

indefinite article “a” does not exist in the koine, or ancient, Greek.

 So, for two thousand years, Greek speaking scholars translated the

Bible into literally thousands of languages worldwide, but it wasn’t

until the 1800s that a non-Greek speaking self-proclaimed pair of

prophets of God being Joseph Smith and Charles Taze Russell decided

that everyone got it wrong until that time and added an indefinite

article into a text where it would be impossible that it was originally

written…

 But that’s not even the massive problem. The massive problem is

Jesus’ mouth! HA! Back to John 17. Jesus said, “And now, O Father,

glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You

before the world was.” Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord, that is My name;

and My glory I will not give to another.” Just one example… If Jesus

is a God, then He must be the one that was dispelled from heaven for

exalting himself above God… Or, Jesus is God…

 It is clear, and we know from the entirety of the whole counsel of all

scripture in agreement with itself, Jesus is God, who was and is the

Word, the Creator of all things, the Second Person of the Triune

mystery of Elohim, Jehovah!

 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was

made that was made. Jesus Christ is the Agent of all creation. No

wonder He would be the Redeemer; it was all His. And what was His

amassed a debt, so that debt, in a Creator type of way, was His to pay

or to let go of what was His. But Jesus stands undefeated…, so He

came and gave His life, in my place, stepped into His own creation, in

order to pay the debt of all Creation.

 And the greatest element or characteristic of His creation and His

ability to create? LIFE. The light of men. The life force. That thing

that animates and brings forth originality in each person in the form of

a soul. One of one in each of us…

 And it is still that way today! You want to put life into your life?

Surrender your heart to Jesus! It’s IN Him! Always was. That’s where

it came from! Without Jesus, there is no life. There is only tribulation,

trouble, work, trying, striving, and then you die and die again! Jesus is

the Only Way, Truth and Life because it all came from Him… Life is

actually a part of, hidden inside, Jesus! It’s made out of HIM!

 And today, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did and

does not comprehend. That word for comprehend can also be capture

or overcome. Nothing stands up to Jesus just as no darkness stands up

to any light. In fact, darkness isn’t even a thing. It’s the absence of a

thing. The moment light enters a room; darkness is no longer found.

Nothing can defeat the All Mighty who was and is Jesus Christ.

 Not the grave, not my sin, no darkness and not even death itself! This

is the comprehensive introduction to Jesus Christ whom if you don’t

know today, you NEED to know for so many more reasons than just

heaven when you die!

 He is the focal plane by which all things come into focus because He

is the Word, the originator, the Thinker, the One who explains and

makes sense of it all because He is the originator of the sense! Even

for you, for me, as we are also part of and His most prized creation!