What is the Book?
The book
is an eye witness testimony about Jesus written by the disciple whom Jesus
loved. Church tradition names the
apostle John as the author. There are
many arguments for this, but I think the most compelling is found within the
text of the book itself. Let us look at
it through deductive logic. The
authorship is obviously an eye witness to the events written, and declares
himself to be an eye witness (21:24), therefore, the author must be a disciple. The author never refers to himself by name,
but only as “The disciple whom Jesus loved” (13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, and 21:20). The author is precise in naming the other
disciples, but John who is mentioned throughout the synoptic Gospels is never
named here, therefore, the author must be the apostle John.
What is the Theme?
The theme
is that Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee is the Christ (the promised Messiah of
Israel), the Son of God (God incarnate), and everyone who believes in Him has
eternal life. The book centers around
seven miraculous signs; turning water into wine (2:1-11), healing a Nobleman’s
son from a great distance (4:46-54), healing a lame man (5:2-9), feeding five
thousand men (6:1-14), walking across the sea of Galilee (6:16-21), giving
sight to a man born blind (9:1-12), calling a dead man out of the tomb alive
(11:30-44). Seven Predicate Emphatic I
AM statements; the Bread of Life (6:35), the Light of the World (8:12), the
Door (10:9), the Good Shepherd (10:11), the Resurrection and the Life
(11:25-26), the Way and the Truth and the Life (14:6-7), the Vine (15:5). And seven Absolute Emphatic I AM statements;
4:26, 6:20, 8:24, 8:28, 8:58, 13:19, 18:5.
Lastly the book concludes with the greatest sign of all; Jesus death,
burial, and resurrection. He then presented
Himself alive, after His suffering, to His disciples on three occasions in the
book.
It seems that both the numbers seven and three play an important
role in the theme of the book.
What is the Purpose?
The
purpose is so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing you may have life in His name (20:30-31). There is debate on who the “you” is in the
purpose statement. Some have said that
the “you” refers to every person. This
cannot be since some will live and die and never hear this Gospel. However Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they
will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (10:27-28). The book is evangelistic, therefore, I use it
for that purpose. I recite it publicly
and hand out copies of the Gospel while availing myself to talk with people
about the Lord in faith that the sheep will hear His voice and follow Him.
In Christ
alone,
Mike Peek
