John, Part 1 – The Word Who Came Near

We walk the big picture of John’s Gospel, from the cosmic prologue to breakfast by the sea, to show how Jesus reveals God’s heart up close. Signs, I Am statements, the cross, the Spirit, and restoration form one story that invites belief and brings life.

• how John differs from the Synoptics 
• who wrote John and why that matters 
• the prologue’s claims about the Word 
• seven signs that reveal identity and compassion 
• seven I Am statements that invite trust 
• love that serves in the upper room 
• the Holy Spirit as helper and guide 
• the cross, the resurrection, and restoration of Peter 
• John’s purpose: belief that leads to life

If this episode helped you see Jesus a little more clearly, share with someone who might need that reminder too

Related Episodes:

• The Gospel of Matthew Explained: Jesus the King
• The Gospel of Mark: The Fast-Paced Story of Jesus
• A Seat at the Table: Exploring the Gospel of Luke

Resources:

Barnett, P. (2011). John: The shepherd king (Rev. ed.). Reading the Bible Today Series. Sydney, South NSW: Aquila Press.

Benware, P. (n.d.). Survey of the New Testament (Rev. ed.).

Burge, G. M. (1995). John. In Evangelical commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3). Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Galan, B., & Curiel, J. (n.d.). Bible overview (p. 402). [Kindle edition].

Got Questions Ministries. (2002–2013). Got Questions? Bible questions answered. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

Keown, M. J. (2018). Discovering the New Testament: An introduction to its background, theology, and themes: The Gospels & Acts (Vol. I, pp. 287–289). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Meyer, J. (n.d.). Everyday life Bible.

Tyndale House Publishers. (n.d.). Life application study Bible (NKJV).

Zondervan. (2011). The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Author. (John 13:34–35)

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Note: All scripture references are from the NIV translation unless otherwise indicated.

Episode Transcript

Jacqui (00:12):
Greetings, listeners.
Have you ever wondered what Godwould be like if he showed up
in person?
Would he look powerful, gentle,would he stay distant, or sit
beside you and ask how you'rereally doing?
That's exactly what the Gospelof John is about.

(00:33):
God showing up in the person ofJesus.
John begins with a breathtakingstatement.
John is more than a story, it'san invitation to see God's
heart up close.

(00:53):
Well, welcome everyone.
I'm your host, Jacqui Adewole,and this is the Bible Basics
Podcast, where every two weekswe break down the basics of the
Bible into understandablebite-sized chunks.
Today we begin a three-partseries on the Gospel of John.

(01:17):
In part one, we'll get to thebig picture of the whole book.
In part two, we'll hear whoJesus is in his own words
through the I am statements.
And in part three, we'll lookat the signs and what John means
by believing.

(01:38):
So let's start by setting thescene and talk a bit about why
John feels different.
If you've been with us a while,we've already walked through
the first three Gospels,Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
They're called the SynopticGospels, which just means seen

(01:59):
together, because they tell manyof the same stories and follow
a similar path through Jesus'life.
The Gospel of John takes adifferent path.
The other Gospels show us whatJesus did.
John focuses on who Jesus isand why that matters.

(02:20):
Most scholars place this gospelnear the end of the first
century, written for believerssorting through the big
questions about Jesus.
Some in that time claimed Jesuswas only a spirit and not truly
human.
And we see that in the book of1 John, chapter 4, verses 2

(02:41):
through 3.
Others said he was only ateacher and not truly God.
We see that in the book ofJohn, chapter 10, verse 33.
John answers both ideas bytaking us all the way back to
the beginning.
Quote, In the beginning was theWord, and the Word was with

(03:01):
God, and the Word was God.
John is saying in this veryfirst verse of the book that
Jesus has always existed, thatHe is with God, and that He is
God.
Then John brings this truthclose to us.
The Word became flesh and madehis dwelling among us.

(03:25):
God the Creator stepped intohis creation.
God became truly human in Jesusso that we could know him.
Before we go any further, let'stalk about the person who wrote
these words, John.
Because when you know who'stelling the story, you start to

(03:50):
understand why they tell it theway they do.
The writer is John the Apostle,not John the Baptist.
John was one of the originaltwelve disciples.
He was the son of Zebedee andthe brother of James.
He was part of Jesus' closestcircle with Peter and James.

(04:14):
They saw things the othersdidn't, like the raising of
Jarius' daughter in Mark chapter5, verse 37, the
transfiguration in Mark chapter9, verse 2, and Jesus' agony in
Gethsemane, Mark chapter 14,verse 33.

(04:36):
In this gospel, John doesn'tname himself as the author.
He uses the title, The DiscipleJesus Loved.
We see that in chapter 13,verse 23, and several other
places in the book of John.
Now he wasn't bragging, he wasbeing humble and reverent.
John had a uniquely closerelationship with Jesus, having

(05:01):
stood beside him for threeyears.
He'd heard his teaching andleaned against his shoulder at
the Last Supper.
In chapter 19, verse 26,nearing his death on the cross,
Jesus entrusted the care of hismother to John.
Those moments changed himcompletely.

(05:21):
The same man who wanted to calldown fire on people who
rejected Jesus.
We see that in Luke chapter 9,54.
He later wrote letters thatsound like a changed man, full
of love for God and for people.
Now let's talk a bit about thestructure and the purpose of the

(05:46):
book.
That's chapter 1, verses 1through 18.
John opens his gospel with oneof the boldest statements in all

(06:10):
of Scripture.
In the beginning was the word,and the word was with God, and
the Word was God.
Right here, John gives us threekey truths about Jesus.
First, he's eternal.
In the beginning, he alreadywas.

(06:32):
Second, he's distinct from Godthe Father.
The Word was with God.
And third, he is fully God.
The Word was God.
In just one verse, John showsthat Jesus did not begin in

(06:53):
Bethlehem.
He has always existed.
The same word who was with Godin the beginning is the very one
through whom everything wasmade.
Verse 3 says, Through him allthings were made.
That's the same creative powerwe see in Genesis.

(07:16):
The creator himself steppinginto his own creation.
Early Christian traditionplaces John in Ephesus, a major
city where both Jews andGentiles lived.
We see that in Acts 19, verses1 through 12.

(07:36):
That setting helps explain whyhe begins by calling Jesus the
Word, or in Greek Lagos.
For Jewish readers, the wordmeant the powerful voice of God
that spoke creation into being.
And God said, Let there belight.

(07:57):
For Gentile readers, those whowere not Jewish, Lagos carried
the idea of divine reason orwisdom, the mind that orders and
sustains the universe.
By using this word, John bringsboth ideas together to say the

(08:19):
divine power behind everythingyou've ever known has now taken
on flesh, and his name is Jesus.
Then in verse 14, John makes anextraordinary claim.
Quote, the word became fleshand made his dwelling among us.

(08:40):
That means the eternal God tookon human life.
Jesus became one of us, notdistant or unreachable, but
right here, living among us,sharing our struggles and
showing us the heart of God.
John continues saying thatJesus is, quote, full of grace

(09:05):
and truth.
Grace means God's kindness andlove that we could never earn.
Truth means what's real, study,and trustworthy.
In Jesus, grace and truth meetperfectly.
John's also saying in chapter1, verse 9, that Jesus is the

(09:31):
true light that gives light toeveryone.
That light helps us see clearlyin a world that can often feel
dark and confusing.
Some rejected that light, evenhis own people.
But to all who receive him, toall who believe in his name, God

(09:52):
gives the right to become hischildren.
That's what the opening of Johnis all about.
The eternal word, who is GodHimself, became human so that we
could know him personally.
So if you've ever wondered whatGod is like, look at Jesus.

(10:13):
He's the light of the world andthe love of God made visible.
After introducing who Jesus isin the prologue, John moves to
show what Jesus did in the firstmajor section of the gospel.
That's chapter one, verse 19through chapter twelve, verse

(10:38):
50.
This section records sevenmiracles or signs that reveal
Jesus' identity and compassion,turning water into wine, healing
the sick, feeding the hungry,calming storms, and even raising

(10:59):
the dead.
John calls them signs becausethey point to something deeper.
They aren't just displays ofpower, they reveal God's heart
and invite people to believe.
Each miracle shows a littlemore of who Jesus is, the

(11:20):
creator restoring creation, thehealer, bringing wholeness, the
bread of life feeding the hungrysoul.
We'll go deeper into thesesigns in part three of this
series.
Also throughout these chapters,John includes the seven I am

(11:41):
statements, where Jesusdescribes himself using images

people could understand (11:46):
bread, light, a shepherd, a vine.
We'll cover those in part twoof the series.
So together the signs and the Iam statements reveal that Jesus
is not only powerful, butpersonal.
He came not to impress, but toinvite people to believe.

(12:11):
Sadly, not everyone believed.
This section ends with a momentof decision.
Some people rejected Jesusdespite all they'd seen, while
others believed and followedhim.
Their choice mirrors the oneeach of us must make when we see

(12:32):
the truth about who he is.
From chapter thirteen onward,we have the second major section
where the story really slowsdown.
Almost a third of John's gospelfocuses on the final week of

(12:54):
Jesus' life, his time with thedisciples, his death, and his
resurrection.
John calls this the moment ofJesus' glory.
This section features Jesusteaching his disciples
privately, beginning with asimple but powerful act.

(13:17):
Jesus washing the disciples'feet, showing that love serves.
And we see that in chapter 13,verses 1 through 20.
Jesus was preparing these mento go into the world to serve
God, to serve one another, andto serve the people who would

(13:39):
hear the message of salvationthrough them.
That same night, he gives thema new command.
Love one another, as I haveloved you, so you must love one
another.
That's chapter 13, verse 34.
That's one of the greatestthemes in John: loving God,

(14:03):
receiving his love, and lovingothers in the same way.
During these final hours, Jesusalso teaches about the Holy
Spirit.
He calls the Spirit our helper,our comforter, and the Spirit
of truth, the one who will livewithin believers to guide and

(14:27):
strengthen them.
While the other Gospels mentionthe Spirit, John's focus is
unique.
He shows us that the Spirit'sministry in us begins through
Jesus' death and resurrection,continuing God's work in and

(14:48):
through his followers.
Then John takes us to thecross.
Jesus willingly lays down hislife and declares it is
finished.
Those words mark the completionof his mission, the moment when

(15:11):
sin is defeated and grace ismade possible.
The resurrection follows,confirming everything Jesus said
about himself and showing thatlove has the final word.
Now we move to the epilogue orthe closing.

(15:34):
John closes his gospel with onelast beautiful scene.
This is John 21.
After the resurrection, Jesusmeets his disciples by the sea
and shares breakfast with them.
In that quiet moment, herestores Peter, the disciple who

(15:56):
had denied him, and calls himto keep following and caring for
others.
It's a simple yet powerfulending that reminds us what this

whole book is about (16:07):
a God who restores, forgives, and invites
us into relationship.
Each of these sections, fromthe opening prologue to the
closing scenes by the sea, worktogether to tell us one unified

(16:28):
story.
John wants his readers to seeJesus clearly, not just as a
teacher or a miracle worker, butas God Himself, who brings
light and life to the world.
And that brings us to thereason John wrote this gospel in

(16:50):
the first place.
John doesn't leave us guessingabout why he wrote all this.
Through every chapter, Johninvites us to see God's heart

(17:41):
and his compassion, hismiracles, his teaching, and his
sacrifice.
He's the God who washes feet,who weeps with the grieving, who
feeds the hungry, and whorestores the broken.
He is the God who came close,the light that still shines in

(18:04):
the darkness, and the love thatstill reaches for us today.
As you go about your week, takea moment to think about this.
The same God who spoke creationinto being stepped into his
creation to walk beside you.

(18:25):
He isn't far away.
He understands your fears, yourstruggles, your hopes.
Wherever you are today, he isnear, full of grace and truth.
If this episode helped you seeJesus a little more clearly,

(18:49):
share with someone who mightneed that reminder too.
You never know whose heartmight be encouraged by hearing
that God still comes close.
Until then, keep reading, keepseeking, and keep growing in

(19:09):
your faith.