The gospel of John is, we feel, a most extraordinary book. There can be little doubt that this gospel provides one of the deepest insights, if not the deepest insight, into the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other scriptures, including the gospel records of Matthew, Mark and Luke, certainly provide information, some of it detailed, on the movements and words of the Lord, but frequently it is John alone who offers some unique conversation, or sequence of events, which allows us to peek that little bit deeper into the character and purpose of the one who was sent to save us. To explain the motivation for this study, therefore, perhaps we can consider a few examples.
The love of God
Think of the midnight conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus, ruler of the Jewish council. It is in this conversation, exclusive to John, that we find the famous declaration of God’s purpose with man expressed in terms of love — the oft-quoted John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life (3:16).
It is from John that we have this principle of love so profoundly and concisely expressed: there is no other author who matches the depth and clarity of the expression of God’s love in His purpose with man in so few words. John shows in a single sentence the extent of God’s love for His children, and what He was prepared to give so that we might have a chance of life eternal.
Father and Son
This is not the only example of the uniqueness of John, by any means. Consider the bold statement in the tenth chapter:
I and my Father are one (10:30).
How better could we understand the Lord Jesus himself! Surely here is the most profound declaration of unity between the Son and his Father in all of scripture. And as far as describing Jesus’ role in this world — and the next — it is perfect. We should never feel the need to add vindication, corroboration or qualification to this most beautiful statement. It is simply perfect as it is, and, once again, it is unique to the Gospel of John.
The followers
There’s more, much more. For example, what better teaching could we obtain on how to act toward each other than the words of Jesus spoken to the eleven apostles over the last supper table?
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (13:34-35).
How clear are Jesus’ commands! Notice how this simple statement sweeps a sharp, two-edged sword through every human document that fussily attempts to define what does and does not constitute a disciple of Jesus Christ. Christ himself has spoken, and no one can gainsay him! His disciples will be recognised by the lives of love that they live in service to each other. Whatever qualities the disciple needs or however proficient he might be in his understanding, if he omits the one the Lord himself specifies, he cannot be recognised as a disciple by the Lord he professes. All three other gospels record events from this same, dreadful evening. But it is John, and only John, who lets us steal close enough to share a place on Jesus’ breast to hear these words, and learn of the love that he has commanded, invited, and provoked us to share with each other.
Furthermore it is only in the Gospel of John that we find discipleship described as the enviable status of being a friend of Jesus:
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit… (15:14-16).
Nowhere else can we find discipleship described as an opportunity to become the friends of Jesus: only the Gospel of John tells us this. What a wonderful elevation of status it is to learn that following Jesus’ commands transforms us from being an unprofitable servant into the friend of Jesus Christ! What a revelation these verses from John 15 give us that all that was made known to the Lord Jesus by God Himself was revealed to his disciples! Yet notice how this same passage eliminates any prideful thoughts that might result from our elevation to the state of Jesus’ friends: it is made perfectly clear in those same verses that we have not had the intelligence of mind nor the godliness of heart to choose Jesus. Rather Jesus has had the grace, the very grace of God, to choose us.
Remarkable comfort
There is still more. Consider the amazing statements of comfort that are made from the Gospel of John. From these pages Jesus tells us:
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you…I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble But take heart! I have overcome the world (14:18-20;16:33).
Jesus will come to us, he promises, so that he will overcome for us the world that would otherwise destroy us. When these words are properly absorbed, (if they can ever be properly absorbed) what immense comfort is ours who have heard them! Yet we must have heard them from the Gospel of John, for these particular words of comfort are not voiced elsewhere.
The Lord’s emotions
Finally, in our brief and incomplete list of examples of the uniqueness and intimacy of John’s record we note that John’s Gospel is the only place where we are told, in the shortest verse in all scripture:
Jesus wept (11:35).
Only John tells us this. Only John allows us this insight into the heart and mind of the Master. That is not to say we cannot find evidence of Jesus’ compassion outside of the Gospel of John. But it is exclusively within John’s witness that we find the record that Jesus actually wept. Why did he weep? The Jews who were with him at the time supposed it was because his friend Lazarus had died. While this may be true, it is probable that Lazarus’ death did not in itself make Jesus weep, because Jesus already knew Lazarus was dead, and, more importantly, Jesus alone knew that Lazarus would walk again before that very day was done. It may rather have been the sympathy that Jesus felt with the grief of those around him that caused him to weep. Or it may have been the fact Lazarus’ death made starkly clear the broader fragility of all flesh, the fact that men are like flowers: crumpled and blown away by the winds of time and chance. Or it may even have been that these events were causing Jesus to appreciate more and more the gulf that was widening between what he needed his followers to understand, and what they (and we?) were able to understand. This may have proven the most powerful pathos of all. We are not told why Jesus wept and therefore we cannot be sure. But we can be sure that these two simple words provide for us an insight into the depth of empathy and compassion of the Lord Jesus that is unparalleled by all other witnesses.
All these things are unique to that most remarkable document we know by the title The Gospel of John and which we have such a privilege to enjoy and share. It is not only these singular quotes, but also many broader concepts (e.g. the spirit, light and glory), through whose complexity and beauty we are shown to a deeper level in John. In any matter of spiritual weight John always takes the trouble to guide our understanding to the deeper levels.
Defining the Objective of this Study
The purpose of this study is simple to define, even if it is not so simple to achieve. It is our intention to explore this most fascinating book — to try and understand exactly why John has so much unique and insightful material, and to find whether there is a “bigger picture” by which we might come to gain a greater understanding of God’s word. So we pick up our mental tools and explore the Gospel of John in the spiritual equivalent of the archaeological style: digging and brushing carefully and methodically in the hope of revealing a structure that might be concealed beneath. In doing this, what happens early on is that we unearth a pattern, stretching from the first chapter to the last, which resembles the pattern of the six days of creation. It is tremendously exciting to discover a structure (which in this case we believe has been laid by the Divine Hand) underlying the surface parts (the stories in John’s Gospel) that have been visible for many years. For one thing, this allows all the “surface” material to be understood in a wholly new light: itself a very alluring prospect! Nevertheless, this discovery is still only a proposal, and a bold one at that, so we shall present as much evidence in support of it as we reasonably can so that the reader is able to judge for himself whether or not the idea makes sense.
The task of uncovering this creation model in John’s Gospel is as difficult (and oftentimes as confusing) as it is exciting. For this reason this study has taken a long time to reach this point, as well as taking many unexpected changes in direction along the way. For a while, it even reached such an impasse that it lay beached on a high shelf gathering dust for three years between 1989 and 1992, before finally being recalled to realise, with the blessing of God, the state in which it appears here. Even then there can be no doubt that it does little more than scratch at the surface of the rich veins of truth and beauty that are embedded in John’s gospel.
It is important to realise that the value of this creation model we shall be exploring is certainly not to merely achieve a structure by which the existing information in John might be mentally categorised. Nor is this model exclusive: The pattern presented here does not preclude other patterns that may pervade this remarkable book. The real value of this proposed creation model is twofold.
First it will allow us to understand why certain stories and conversations appear in the Gospel of John, why they appear in the sequence they do, and what their importance really is both on the surface level, and on the underlying spiritual level. For that reason we will, with some degree of excitement, blaze a trail throughout the whole gospel, looking at how the creation framework provides a new understanding of the gospel message. It will enable a greater appreciation of both the detail and the broader picture, and bring new and beautiful truths to light before our eyes.
Second we will find that this creation model in John provides unique insights into the nature of both the Lord Jesus Christ and God’s Kingdom. We will be better able to appreciate these discoveries after we have finished our study of the whole gospel; and thus, even though they are some of the most important ideas, they only crystallise in the later articles of this study. No précis of these findings is given in this introduction — not for the intended effect of saving the best for last, but simply because the truths uncovered are simply not available in such a format. All too often the most profound and beautiful truths do not lend themselves to being summarised in “catch phrase” format, and maybe this is not so surprising. The nature of God cannot be summarised in such a way, and therefore it is not unreasonable that the truths we have from Him often cannot be either.
It is not the purpose, and certainly not the result, of this work to provide new understandings that are available in small bite-size quotes that can be expressed in a couple of sentences. Value from a book as complex and deep as the Gospel of John will never be obtained or communicated in such a way. It is only by working carefully through every level of his gospel that John can gently peel away each layer of shielding to reveal the truths beneath, with the removal of each successive layer contributing to the ever-growing richness and complexity of our understanding of the whole.
There is one final point in consideration of our objective. This study is being presented, quite simply, to strengthen the faith of those who already believe. That is invariably what happens when another new and profoundly meaningful pattern is seen within the scriptural pages, convincing the reader of the Bible’s divine veracity and value. Thus if the work we embark upon here is able to strengthen faith in the existence of God, and the belief that He is a loving Father with a plan for the redemption of ourselves and this planet, it will have enjoyed success.
With these things in mind we begin our study, hoping to find a “big picture” in the Gospel of John, and then proceeding through the gospel with this pattern in mind, both to test it, and to use it as a new standpoint to regard the marvels that John, guided by the divine hand, will open to us. This is the journey on which we are about to embark, and on which you, the reader, are invited to participate.
This is John’s creation…
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One