The Prophecy Disciple
The Old Testament prophet Daniel was told by the Angel Gabriel no less than three times that he was highly favored by God.
In studying the book of Daniel, we can see that he was reserved for a special time as his to serve a very special purpose. Daniel was one of the first Jews exiled from Israel into Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar since the time Joshua took the land that was promised to Jacob.
Daniel’s story of living in a secular world alongside a pagan king proves to be a story of faithfulness to God. It’s the kind of faithfulness that endures even through the most challenging of trials up to the point of death. It’s inspiration for all Christians of today facing a rising tide of evil and worldly rejection of anything that is of God.
Daniel was also reserved to tell of the beginning of God’s prophetic story of the last days that begins with the spirit of Babylon. The prophecy that Daniel found difficult to understand and a burden to carry would serve to be the groundwork for what Christ would reveal to John that’s come to be known as the book of Revelation.
We find striking similarities in the disciple John as the self described “one whom Jesus loved.” John who also had a special relationship with God was reserved to finish in more detail the prophecy that God gave to Daniel some five hundred years earlier.
These two men, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament both demonstrated a level of favor from God. Both of them were reserved to write the most prophetic apocalyptic books, one for each Testament. Both shared a very special relationship with God.
The Inner Circle
John was part of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. Jesus and John shared a relationship among the disciples as someone that would’ve been Jesus’ best friend.
John, John’s brother James, and Peter were Jesus’ inner circle. They all had unique access to events such as the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:49-51), Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 13:32-34) and the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-2).
John’s special access to Christ is likely the reason why stories such as these are only found in John’s Gospel. When Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:1-12), Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42), and His raising of Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:1-44).
John’s account gives us a unique perspective into the ministry of Jesus which includes His life, death and resurrection.
Out To Show that Jesus Is God
John iss believed to be the last disciple of Christ to still be alive at the time Jesus appeared to him to reveal Revelations. It’s likely that John was aware of the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Rather than add another gospel attributed to the chronological events of Jesus’ ministry, he set out to compliment those books with his own to show the world that Jesus was in fact God. John takes a more thematic approach in his gospel. He stuck to themes especially those demonstrating the divinity of Jesus.
John would continue to validate his witness of Christ in his first epistle. Indicating that the stories he was telling were not tales of the past, but that he was there with Christ standing next to Him. He saw His face, he heard His voice, he saw the emotions in His eyes and he felt His warm embrace. This was proof that John’s stories were real.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.”
1 John 1-4
The Theology of John’s Gospel
The word came from heaven to accomplish His work on earth so that we who are on earth can have a home in heaven.
The Great “I Am”
John writes of the seven great “I Am” statements that reveal the attributes of the divinity of Christ. These statements are: the bread of life (John 6:48), the light of the world (John 8:12), the gate for the sheep (John 10:7), the good shepherd (John 10:11), the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), the way (John 14:6), and the true vine (John 15:1)
The Jews of Jesus’ day would have been able to associate these statements with God’s proclamation to Moses, when He said, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14)
That You May Have Life
The overriding theme of John’s Gospel is the divinity of Jesus Christ. Several other themes are interwoven into this main theme. The reason for the divinity of Christ is so that He can offer life to mankind. The life that comes from being born again in the Holy Spirit. Thus Jesus had to be both human and God.
He is the bridge across the schism that exists between mankind and God. He is the ONLY bridge connecting to the Father.
Christ himself uses the word “life” almost 50 different times in John’s account of Jesus’ ministry. He is the bread of life (John 6:33), water of life (John 7:37-38), abundant life (John 10:10), and the way of life (John 14:6).
Don’t make the same mistake the Catholic church makes by interpreting Christ as the bread of life, that a man, called a Priest has the power to bring Christ from the right hand of God and confine Him to a small wafer of unleavened bread made by human hands. This is blasphemy. This teaching directly opposes the Word of God. This is a false gospel.
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
The purpose of John’s Gospel is so that you will believe that He is the Son of God, and through Him you may have life.
”Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31
We all have an internal spiritual desire for the things of God. It’s part of our being inherently created in the image of God. Some deny this thirst and others, when they’re introduced to Christ, embrace the hunger for the spiritual life He has to offer.
John Gospel is replete with the word “life.” Throughout the Bible, God has repeatedly offered mankind two choices. The first choice being life and the second being death. God never forced anyone to choose life, but He highly encouraged mankind to choose “life.”
In God’s final covenant with mankind, through His Son, Jesus Christ, He extends these two choices one last time. Choose my Son, Jesus Christ or choose the world. One brings life, the other brings death.
John, in his beautiful gospel account of some of Christ’s most personal moments during His ministry is saying, “Believe (choose life) so that you can live!” Choose life! Choose Jesus Christ!