In some of the most loved and famous verses of John, Jesus tells His disciples in the upper room: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
I would like for us to take a walk through the Gospel of John and see what Jesus has to say about where He came from and where He is going and how we can have confidence in His words.
HIS ORIGIN
In contrast with Matthew, John begins His “life of Christ” all the way at the beginning of time. The first three words of John are the same first three words of Genesis: “In the beginning.” John writes that in the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God. In verse 14, John writes that the Word became flesh and “dwelt among us”, full of grace and truth.
Another important point made in the first chapter is in verse 18: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” Notice that John refers to Jesus here as “God” and says He was at the Father’s side and He has made known the Father.
So, Jesus came from the Father; He reveals the Father; and He was to return to the Father. Why is that important? Well, because Jesus promised certain…
BLESSINGS FOR HIS FOLLOWERS
Returning back to chapter 1, John writes that Jesus was the life and light of men – 1:4. He “enlightens” every man (1:9). John the Baptist preached “He takes away the sin of the world” (1:29).
He gives living water (4:13-14). He raises the dead and gives them life (5:21). Those who hear and believe Him have passed out of the sentence of death and into the promise of eternal life (5:24). He promises a resurrection is coming (5:29; 6:40). He gives food that will endure throughout eternity (6:27)
Now, those are some pretty outlandish claims for a mere man to make. The bottom line, of course, is – Did Jesus back up those claims? Was Jesus like David Koresh, a man who simply believed and claimed to be the Messiah but offered no proof? Let’s see what John writes about Jesus…
Museums, theatre, restaurants, viagra on line purchase sports, clubs, and a lot more. The bacteria caused nerve damage brand viagra 100mg in his penile strength. Not a proper heavy balanced diet, Poor sleep, cheap levitra lack of workout and smoking can impact your sexual desire and may get an erection, only the erection doesn’t turn out to be hard enough and lasting enough. Chief constituents of Musli Strong viagra without capsules are Semal Musli, Musli Sya, Gokhru and Safed Musli.
PROOF OF HIS CLAIM
In John 2, we have recorded the first miracle Jesus performed. It was in Cana of Galilee at a wedding ceremony. He turned water into wine. Now, what is important for our purposes is verse 11 – “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” In other words, John is saying that Jesus was in the beginning with God and He was God. No one has seen the Father but Jesus came to reveal Him and through this first miracle, Jesus began proving all of this that John was writing and Jesus was claiming.
John made some outlandish claims about this Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus made some startling claims about Himself. Now, how do we respond to those claims?
THE NEGATIVE RESPONSE
During the days of Jesus, not everyone responded favorably. In a verse that summarizes this response in the Gospel of John, John writes that the darkness did not grasp or comprehend the significance of the light among them (1:5). The world did not know Him (1:10) nor did they receive Him (1:11). Why? Because men loved darkness rather than light (3:19).
But, the focus of John is not on the negative response to Jesus. The focus is on the positive responses…
THE POSITIVE RESPONSE
Again, in a summary statement, in 1:12-13, John writes that those who received Jesus were given permission to become children of God. Now, I want you to observe the response these people had to the “signs” Jesus performed: 2:23; 3:22-23; 4:39-42; 6:69; 7:31; 8:30; 9:33ff; 10:42; 11:45 (cf. 12:11).
Jesus has risen from the dead. He has been glorified. He has returned to the Father as He promised He would. He has given us His testimony, revealed by the Holy Spirit so that we would understand everything we need. The promises of John 14:1-6 will be even more special to us.
–Paul Holland
