An Introduction to John

by | Apr 1, 2016 | 10 Week Bible Podcasts, Bible Study, John, Podcasts

An Introduction to John

 

In today’s podcast, we’ll discuss:

John wants us to understand that Jesus is someone we can know personally, but never exhaust the depth of. John invites us into a world where we should have far more questions than answers. He takes us to a place where we should be in awe and wonder of a Holy God that defies and goes far beyond our understanding.

 

John wants to challenge everything we think we know about Jesus and encourage us to get to know Him personally.

John does this through the way he tells the stories about Jesus. He has hand-picked stories to put next to each other throughout the book that intentionally cause us to wonder what is going on. I will talk about these as “curiosities”. He also makes a point to place his stories in such close succession that the message of them look like obvious paradoxes.

Why would John do this? Because he doesn’t want us to walk away from his book knowing more about Jesus. He wants us to walk away knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus like John knew Jesus: intimately.

Seeing the paradoxes that John brings up causes us to ask questions. God, why would you say this here and then say exactly the opposite here? What are you trying to say? What is your point?

I will be reading from the NIV, not because I think it is the best translation, but because I think it is the easiest to read “on air”. I encourage you to read through the book of John 10 times in 10 weeks and read several translations during that time. Unless you are an expert in ancient Greek, it is very hard to understand the complexities and nuances and difficulties the translators face, but in reading several translations in close succession, you will see some of the places where translators may have differed.

I encourage you to read this 10 times in 10 weeks because it will change you in a powerful way. You will “get it in you” in a way you never have before. The power of repetition will cause you to meditate on God’s Word. You will think about it at stoplights and when you go to bed, without even trying to. That is powerful!

Special things to understand in John:

  • The Prophet
  • The Messiah
  • Elijah
  • Signs – their relation to prophets and “the Prophet”
  • Functions of a prophet (inherently intimidating, etc.)

Pin It on Pinterest