John 1-8

^1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning.
 ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Hello everyone. This has to be my favorite beginning to any book of the Bible. John sets the stage right away, letting us know who Jesus is and that He is indeed the God who was, and is, and is to come.

John wrote the gospel that bears his name sometime around 90 A.D. in the city of Ephesus. John's gospel is unique when compared to the other three. Ever noticed that Matthew, Mark and Luke are all very similar? Each were written to a specific audience as well as written at about the same period of time, roughly 40-50 A.D. John wrote his later on, in part, to combat the Gnostic teachings about Christ. The Gnostics believed that flesh was evil, so evil in fact, that the Spirit of God could not reside inside of it. Therefore, Christ was spirit only and only appeared to be in the flesh. Now that's just silly.

John has lots of exclusive material not found in the other Gospels. Major themes that we run across while reading through John are Jesus' "I AM" statements. I won't be writing about all of them, but I will touch base on as many as I can. After all, there's lots of good stuff in John. Let us first look at perhaps the most popular chapter in Scripture; John chapter 3.

^3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
 ³ In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
 ⁴ “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
⁵ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

How often do we skip right over this and focus on John 3:16-17? Have you ever wondered why Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night? Nicodemus was a Pharisee, though not militant against Jesus like the others, that's what he was. The Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus right from the start. So Nicodemus goes at night to conceal his visit.

Nicodemus' initial query to Jesus is interesting.  He calls Jesus rabbi to acknowledge Jesus' authority, which is polite according to Jewish custom. However, he does not yet know He's the Son of God. Nicodemus doesn't get any further before Jesus lays it on him. He does not mince words. "No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again." This confuses Nicodemus, and it would me too if I were him. Jesus clarifies further by adding "born of water and spirit."

We understand from Scripture that we have to die and be raised to life with Christ. How does that work? At what point do we die and at what point do we rise to new life? Think about it. Jesus says "born again." We celebrate birthdays all the time to remember the day our lives started. Jesus is using a metaphor to show us that we enter into new life when we receive the Holy Spirit. When do that happen? Acts 2:38 is very clear that we receive the Holy Spirit upon our baptism. The Greek here means to be immersed.

There is some argument about whether this is baptism by the Holy Spirit or baptism by water to receive the Holy Spirit. To be immersed means to go under. Can we go under the Holy Spirit? No, but we can go under water.  When we go under the water is when we die. We can not have new life unless we first die. When we come out of the water is when we are brought back to life, cleansed and regenerated. This is when we receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that give us life in Christ. 

When we read Scripture in a whole Bible context, it eliminates wiggle room. Unfortunately, many have read one verse and have developed an entire doctrine without consideration to what the Bible says as a whole on the subject. Therefore, I tell you, baptism is essential for salvation. For it is only by being immersed in water that we can be born again.

Next, chapter 4 is the account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.  We can focus on many things here, but I want to briefly touch on one part.

^4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The Samaritan woman has just talked about how they worship on Mt. Gerizim and the Jews in Jerusalem. "A time is coming" refers to not being tied to sacred sites for worship. We are to worship in spirit. This refers to the Holy Spirit, which all Christians have inside them and is the only requirement as to what place you worship. Everywhere we go, the Spirit is with us. Hence, we can worship anywhere.

This is awesome!!! But Jesus adds one more. True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. This means we are to worship according to the Truth of God. Where can we find what the Truth of God is? We find God's truth in the Bible. If you worship by the Spirit and according to Scripture, you are the kind of worshiper the Father seeks. I think American churches would have less issues with music in worship if we took this passage of Scripture more seriously.

^6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jesus says these words after He crosses over the Sea of Galilee following the feeding of the five thousand. Have you ever noticed that Jesus teachings usually have visual aids prior to the actual verbal teaching. Here we see a crowd of people who have followed Jesus because He fed so many people. Hey, if I can get a free meal I can. But he tells them this: ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.Just as Jesus provided them with physical food until they had their fill, so too will He provide spiritually for all who come to Him. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 1-8 has many things I could write about, but I doubt anyone would get through this blog if I did. : )
I will leave you with one more tidbit. John 7:52-8:11 is what is known as a spurious passage because it does not appear in our most reliable manuscripts and historical witnesses. It flows as if it were meant to be there. But if it was not there, it would still flow. Was it a part of John's original gospel? No one can be for sure though many have their theories. 


A woman caught in adultery is brought before Jesus by the teachers of the law and Pharisees in an effort to gain grounds to accuse Him. Jesus does what none of them expected. 


^8:7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

One by one they all dropped their stones and left, the older ones first. They realized that they had no right to condemn this woman of her sin when they were all guilty of sin of their own. God alone is judge, we need to remember that.

^8:10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
 ¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.
   “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

He does not condemn us, so neither should we condemn others. Instead, just like Jesus, we should always work to encourage others to leave their life of sin. That's all for today. Until next time...

Peace and grace be with you all.