The simple and yet profound nature of John’s Gospel has led to it being described as a pool that a child can paddle in and a lake for an elephant.
John’s Gospel is rather different from the other three accounts of Jesus’ ministry (the ‘Synoptic Gospels’ of Matthew, Mark and Luke). Whilst still, like the Synoptics, announcing the good news of how God became king through Jesus Christ, John constructs his account of this around seven signs performed by Jesus and seven discourses and seven ‘I am’ sayings which he spoke. During this series we will work our way through the gospel with a particular focus on John’s major theme of how Jesus’ actions and words revealed God’s glory and consider ways in which we can respond to this more faithfully.
During July 2013 we looked at the emphasis in John’s Gospel upon how the actions and words of Jesus revealed God’s glory. John’s Gospel is carefully constructed around seven signs which revealed this glory plus seven discourses and seven ‘I am’ sayings which he spoke. Combining the qualities of an eyewitness account with what appears to be years of prayer and reflection, John’s Gospel is written ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name’.
During October 2013 we looked at its distinctive challenge to recognise the signs of God’s glory in Jesus and to receive eternal life through believing in him. These signs culminate in the raising of Lazarus before the second part of the Gospel then turns to focusing upon Jesus’ death as the supreme revelation of God’s glory and the way in which God became king.
During January and February 2014 we looked at the second part of the Gospel as John turns to focus upon Jesus’ death as the supreme revelation of God’s glory. These passages also include a great deal about the promised ‘comforter’ – the Holy Spirit – whom the Father sends to those who believe in his Son and during this series we will think about how this applies to both Christ Church and our personal lives.
