The Gospel of John: It’s Purpose

Transcript

GR 332
9/30/1979
The Gospel of John: Its Purpose
John - Introduction
Gil Rugh

We’re going to start a study of the Gospel of John this morning—the Gospel of John and we’re going to preach in John until the Lord comes! And if He doesn’t come in the next 20 years, we'll do another book! We're going to take an extended time in John—not 20 years, although I note that James Montgomery Boice who preaches at 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia where Donald Gray Barnhouse used to pastor started a study of the Gospel of John in December of 1970 and he concluded in July, 1978. So he was almost 8 years but I don't think we’ll match that record but we want to look through the Gospel of John rather thoroughly and saturate ourselves with the message of this key book. Martin Luther said that if we lost all the books in the Bible except the Gospel of John and Paul's letter to the Romans, Christianity could survive and thrive. I'm just driving home the importance of these two books and I think the Gospel of John is a key book. I encourage you to be saturating yourself with this Gospel—read it and read it and read it and read it Just saturate yourself with the content of the book and you'll find how much more you'll grasp out of the studies of the book and how much more you'll retain as you move along.

In our study today, we want to do some introductory matters pertaining to this gospel. And then in our next study, we'll move into the Deity of Jesus Christ as discussed in the opening verse of the first chapter. The writer of John is the Apostle John. He also wrote the book of Revelation and the epistles that bear his name, I, II and III John. So he is responsible for much of our New Testament. He is the last surviving apostle. He wrote that letter, that message from Christ—the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ—while a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos as an aged man. He was one of the most outstanding of the apostles from the standpoint that he had a very intimate relationship with Christ. He was probably the closest of the apostles. There were 12 apostles and within them there was an inner circle of 3 and in that inner circle John seems to have occupied the position of intimacy and closeness to Jesus. He was also a man who seemed to have contact with some of the other disciples before he became a follower of Jesus Christ. He was a fisherman by trade. He had a brother named James who was also an apostle who was the first of the apostles martyred. The book of Acts chapter 12 Herod put James the brother of John to death to please the Jews. Evidently John’s family and Peter's family were in business together because Luke chapter 5 says they were joined in their fishing trade and they worked together. So Peter and Andrew, brothers, and James and John, brothers. The parents of John being Zebedee and Siloam. We know a little bit about his family—you can take a Bible encyclopedia and look up John and they’ll tell you something about his background and interesting highlights of his life. We won't take time to do that today. We want to primarily focus in on the book and the purpose that John had in writing the book.

The flow of the book is rather simple to follow. He has a simple outline. The book breaks down into several major divisions—three major divisions with an introduction and a conclusion. The first 18 verses of the book form the introduction or the prologue and lays the foundation for what will be developed through the rest of the book. Chapter 21 forms an epilogue or a conclusion for the book in matters that tie the book together. Now in between you have three major divisions. From chapter 1 verse 19 through chapter 12 you have the public ministry of Jesus Christ. John presents Christ in His public ministry. In chapters 13 through 17, you have Jesus presented in a private or personal minister—the upper room discourse, and the events leading to the Garden of Gethsemane and the betrayal. Then chapters 18 through 20 you have the events surrounding the crucifixion or the passion ministry of Christ. So those are the three areas that John divides his book into—Christ’s public ministry, Christ’s personal or private ministry, and Christ's passion ministry or the
death of Christ. We’ll look through each of these sections, obviously, to see something in detail. We're going to focus our attention this morning in John chapter 20 to start because here John gives us very clearly his purpose in writing the book and it's helpful if you can start out and know what the purpose is in the book you are reading. You can then be discerning in why he mentioned what he mentioned, why he brought it in when he did. He is writing for a specific purpose to drive home a specific point. Now if you've studied the other gospels, you may be familiar with the fact that there is a major difference in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The content is not the same. 92% of the material in the Gospel of John does not appear in the other gospels. We call the synoptic gospels. It means 'to see together' because they see things together. They are very similar in content. John is very different. So you can be studying in one of those gospels while we're studying John's gospel and there won't be much overlap. You can be working in the same time framework but the material presented will be for the most part different. So John has a unique purpose in his writing. He’s not writing so much just the history of Christ as the other 3 gospels are. He writes something of the history but it's the history in how it applies and what our response ought to be to those historical facts.

Let's read verses 30 and 31 of John chapter 20. They state the purpose of the gospel of John. "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." So, John says what happened is that Jesus has done many signs—we'll talk about that word in a minute. It's John's word for miracles. He did many miracles. 'I have selected out of all the miracles that Jesus did certain ones, so I have not written them all. I have not been complete.' In John chapter 21 he'll tell us he couldn't have been complete because there wouldn't be enough room for all the books that could be written in all the world for all that Jesus did. And you get some rasp of that. Someone has figured out that the gospel of John covers approximately 30 days in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Thirty days out of a 3-year ministry. You get some idea of how selective John has had to be and we might well be glad! It’ll take us some time to work our way through the gospel of John. What a hopeless task it would be if he had written everything over the 30 years, so we would have volume after volume after volume and we could never hope to wade through it. So under the Spirit’s direction, John has been selective and picked out certain miracles. So the gospel of John, for particularly the public ministry of Christ, is built around the miracles that he has done through the first 12 chapters and the response to those miracles.

Now he said he selected some of these which were done in the presence of the disciples—eye witnesses here who saw what he did, now being recorded. I've selected these out, verse 31—for a two-fold purpose. Two purposes clauses here— the first, "...in order that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." Second purpose clause—"...and in order that by believing you may have life in His name." So I’ve written that you might believe and that you might have two life. Of course, the two purposes are inseparable. The word 'believing' ties them together. He is writing so that people might believe, believe concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. "That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." We think the gospel of John as emphasizing the Deity of Jesus Christ, and it does—very strongly. But it also emphasizes the humanity of Jesus Christ very strongly. This name ’Jesus' standing alone often draws attention to the humanity of Christ. It would have been His earthly name—Jesus. The angel announced to call His name Jesus for He would save His people from their sins. But there is a tie here to humanity. You know John uses the word ’Jesus’ more often than any other gospel writer. Almost a hundred times more than the next closest writer—about 245 times he uses the name Jesus. A strong stress on the humanity of Christ. But a strong stress on the Deity of Christ as well. Now this Jesus, this man that I am writing about, he is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. He is the one in whom all the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament culminate and find their fulfillment. He is the Christ. I have written in order that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the one about whom God prophesied and wrote throughout the Old Testament. And He is not only the Christ, He IS the Son of God. We're not just talking about a man here, a human Messiah, we're talking about a man who is also deity, the God-man. And 'Son of God' I take it is stress on the deity of Christ, that He is not just man but He is God. By being Son of God, He partakes of the essence and nature and character of God. We'll see as we analyze some of these signs this morning that the Jews understood this very clearly. When Jesus called God His Father, and that word is used of God more often in the Gospel of John than any other Gospel. The Jews recognized that He was making a claim to be equal with God. The same as God. To be deity Himself.

Now you note. He is writing so that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that He Himself is God, God the Son. Now as a result of believing, you have life in His name. So I am writing in order that you may have life, but how do you have life? By believing. So believe and life are key words in the Gospel of John. John uses the word believe 98 times. Interestingly, he only uses the verb 'to believe'. He doesn't use the noun, only the verb form. Pes-to, to have faith or believe. 98 times, and we might think that all the gospel writers used it a lot. But the next closest one in number is Mark and Mark uses it 15 times. Luke uses faith 9 times and Matthew 11. John 98 times. Because those gospel writers write concerning the historical activity of Christ. John weaves the history in, particularly the miracles, constantly emphasizing 'you must believe this. You must believe. It's important to believe.' 98 times. Life—John uses that word Zo-a, we use it in a word like zoology for a study of life—35 times he uses the word life. The next closest gospel writer uses it 7 times. John inseparably links believing—having life, belief-life. This is Jesus. This is what He did. It proves He's the Messiah. It proves He's the Son of God. You must believe in Him for life. Number of other words that John uses that are unique to him—a word like love. John uses it 44 times. Next closest is Matthew and he uses it 9 times. Love pervades—agape love— John’s writings, his epistles as well as his gospel. Truth—46 times John uses the word truth. Other gospel writers? Mark and Luke use it 4 times each. You see the dominate idea that pervades John as he tries to draw home the point. I just don't want to tell you the history of Christ, I want to tell you with the goal that you will recognize who He is and believe. Important statement here that is essential that a person believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I do not believe in light of what John says here that it is possible for a person who denies the deity of Jesus Christ to be a saved person because John says I am writing in order that you might believe Jesus is the Son of God and that by having that kind of faith in Him as God's Son, you might have life. This speaks to some of the groups that we have today who deny the deity of Jesus Christ and yet talk about having faith in the Bible. It's not faith in the Bible that saves a person. It's faith in Jesus Christ as presented in the Bible. The Bible presents Him as the Messiah, the eternal Son of God, deity Himself who died on a cross paying the penalty for sin. So that those who believe might have life. This is John's purpose and the whole book will be built around that. Here are the miracles that Jesus did. Now that proves that He is the Messiah, the Son of God. Believe in Him and you will have life. A presentation of the evidence, in effect, that ought to result in faith.

'That you may believe' in verse 31 encompasses two groups I take it. Those that will come to believe and experience salvation; those who do believe and have their faith further confirmed and established. Both I take it are encompassed. The word 'believe' here is probably a present tense—'that you may be believing in Him.' It ought to be reinforcing to us who are believers to study the gospel of John, to give us a greater appreciation of the person of Christ and what He has done. And for those who have not believed, it ought to give them opportunity to confront Christ and thus believe in Him. Now this word ’signs' is John's favorite word for the miracles—verse 30, "Many other signs Jesus did..." Other gospel writers favor other words, but John favors the word 'signs'. He could have used the word 'power' because the miracles are works of power. He could have used the word 'wonder' because the miracles evoked a wonder, an amazement, and an awe. But he uses the word 'signs' because as John views them they were for the purpose of driving home a message, of revealing something of the character of Christ, of demonstrating that He IS the Christ. So they are signs to reveal and make something known to those who are confronted by them.

We want to spend our time this morning just looking over these miracles, particularly through the first eleven chapters and the public ministry of Christ and at the response that they evoked. Then as we go back and work through the details we'll have some feeling for how John is going to move us along from sign to sign, from miracle to miracle through the public ministry of Christ.

The first miracle in the earthly ministry of Christ and the first one recorded by John is back in John chapter 2. Again, we won't do the details of these miracles. We'll do the details as we come along to them. Particularly we just want to note what the miracle was and what kind of response that it caused and you'll note there will be two distinct responses—there'll be those who believe in Him and there'll be those who reject Him, who do not believe. And for those who believe they will be encouraged; for those who do not believe they will be antagonized. What you're going to see as we move through John is the building opposition to the ministry of Christ, a growing antagonism. A person who is not going to believe is antagonized by the ministry and message of Jesus Christ. It grates on them. They do not care to hear it. That's the reaction it causes amongst the bulk of the nation Israel.

In John chapter 2 we have water turned to wine at the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee. It's covered in the first eleven verses of the chapter. He takes the water the wedding feast has run out of wine—and turns the water
into wine. Then you'll note in verse 11, "This beginning of signs..." There's John's word. This beginning of miracles... Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. Now note—"...and manifested His glory." That's what the signs are. They are a manifestation of the glory of Jesus Christ. This beginning of signs, this manifestation of His glory so that the signs that are recorded are manifestations of the glory of Jesus Christ which reveal that He is the Christ. He is the Son of God. You note the response. "...and His disciples believed in Him." Those who were His followers were confirmed in their faith and caused to believe. They had their faith established. So here you see the miracles operating. They are a manifestation, a revealing of the glory of Christ and they are also used to bring about faith and confirm the faith of the disciples.

Now over in chapter 4 you have the second miracle. Chapter 4 verses 46-54 you have the healing of this noble man's son. He hears that Jesus has come into the area of Judea of Galilee—the nobleman being of Capernaum. He comes to Jesus and he says 'My son is at the point of death. Come and heal him.' And Jesus, in verse 48, notes the problem. "Unless you people see signs and wonders you simply will not believe." They need these evidences. Now the nobleman here is a little bit at a loss, he says 'Look, we don't have time to talk. My son is dying.' Jesus says 'Go on back home, your son will be fine.' The nobleman turns around and goes back home. He meets his slave on the way, asks them and they tell him that his son's okay. He asks 'When did it happen?' And you'll note verse 53, when they tell him the time, he knew it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, 'Your son lives' and he himself believed, and his whole household. This sign had the result of producing faith. Now the faith, I'm aware, is the result of the Spirit of God using it to bring the man to this point and producing the faith. But the immediate cause used by God was the miracle. And what did it do, what did this sign do? It caused him to believe this IS the Messiah, this is the Son of God. And his whole household is brought to faith as a result.

Over in chapter 5 the first 16 verses you have the third miracle that John records. There will be 7 altogether through the first 11 chapters. Then you have the resurrection of Christ as an 8th and final in chapter 20. The sick man in chapter 5, verses 1-16. Very simply this man had been sick for 38 years and we'll talk about the details later. The water supposedly gets churned by an angel, he thought if he stepped down into the water he’d be healed but no one could put him into the water. Verse 8, "Jesus said to him, 'Arise, take up your pallet, and walk.'" Immediately the man got up and walked. The man hadn’t walked for 38 years and he says ’Well, I can’t get into the water.’ Jesus said ’Well that is a problem. Why don’t we just skip the water. Get up and fold your bed and go on home!’ Now you can see what's going to happen here. Problems. You'd think all Israel would be in amazement. You know what's going to happen? These leaders are really bent out of shape. Know why? Here's a man carrying his bed on the Sabbath. Now you talk about missing the point! A man who hasn't walked for 38 years now gets up and walks and the only thing they see is that he's carrying a bed! Now what would you have done! If you had been laying for 38 years? Would you have said 'Well, I can’t get up and carry my bed because it's the Sabbath. Could you come back tomorrow?' Probably not! This was just one of the silly rules they had of the day to make themselves more religious. But you'll note in verse 17. As he's questioned by the Jews, Jesus said, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." You'll note here—My Father. He's identifying Himself as the Son of God, as John talked about 'that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God.' Note in verse 18 how the Jews respond. "For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, (as they viewed it) but also was calling God His Father, making Himself equal with God." They understood Jesus' claim to be the Son of God as a claim to deity, to be of the same essence and nature, to be God in the flesh. You note the antagonism here. 'They sought all the more to kill Him.' Why? He doesn't keep our rules. And
He claims to be God. You note that they've lost the point. They haven't analyzed to see if indeed He is who He claims because of what He has done. They've already made up their minds. So faith is not generated here—antagonism is generated among the Jews.

Look over in chapter 6 the first 14 verses, the feeding of the 5,000.well it might be—5,000 people are recipients of the benefits of this miracle where Jesus took the 5 barley loaves and the two fishes and, that's in verse 9, broke them for the people so that these 5,000 could be fed. And verse 13, there are 12 baskets left over. Note verse 14, the response to this miracle—"When therefore the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, 'This is of a truth the Prophet who is to come into the world.'" They recognized Him. This has to be the Messiah. This has to be the Prophet that Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18. He is the one. So what did it do? It produced a faith on their part.

Then there’s another miracle that immediately falls after this one, Jesus walking in the water. Verses 15-21 and after He dismissed the crowd the disciples leave early on a boat, the crowd is dismissed. There are no boats available so Jesus just walked across the water to get to the other side. The disciples welcome Him into the boat a little bit shaken by the whole experience. The next day the multitude comes to the other side on the boats and here's Jesus and they say 'How in the world did you get here? There were no boats available?' And they are confused. Then Jesus goes on to give some teaching on His miracles and He particularly ties it back to the feeding of the 5,000 because they have been part of that miracle and the significance of it. You note verse 29, "Jesus answered and said to them,'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."' They had asked 'What should we do to do the works of God? What should we do to please God?' Very simply, 'Believe on the One God has sent.' Verse 30, "They said therefore to Him, 'What then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe? What work do you perform?'" They missed the point, didn't they? I mean feeding 5,000 people from just a 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes til their all stuffed and you have 12 baskets left over, that wouldn’t be a sign would it? You know what Jesus goes on to do? You missed the sign folks. You remember the manna from Heaven, bread out of heaven? The Old Testament?

Verse 35, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." Look at verse 39, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." Now you note..."For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son, and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." This is God's will. ’Believe in Me.’ It's interesting how John puts it as he records this account, ’Everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him...' Now I take it that’s what John has done as He records the accounts of the life and ministry of Christ. As we study them, we are given the opportunity to behold Jesus Christ. We are seeing Him as He is presented and revealed in the Word, and then as we behold Him as revealed in the Word, those who believe in Him will have life. So the issue has not changed. He said ’Those who confront Me, the Father’s will is that they believe in Me and have life.' The issue hasn't changed. John says 'I'm writing these things in written form for the same purpose—that you might be confronted with Jesus Christ. The manifestation of the glorious character and the signs that He did and then that you might believe that He is who He claimed to be and has accomplished what He said He accomplished— redemption through His death and resurrection.

Turn over to chapter 9 for the next miracle. And this is the healing of the man that was born blind, recorded in the first 12 verses. He had been born blind, blind all his life. He was sitting as a beggar and Jesus gave him his sight back. Tremendous miracle! And it really throws the Jews into a turmoil. Now here is a man who is going around born blind so the Jewish leaders talked to him, and say 'Well, maybe there's something wrong here. Let's get his parents. Because maybe he really wasn’t born blind.' So they go get his parents. They say 'Yep! That's our son. He was born blind.' Jewish leaders say 'How can you explain that?' In effect, they're putting pressure on the parents. You know it's not normal for a man born blind who has been blind all his life to see. How would you explain it? Parents say 'Well, look. All I can tell you is that's our son. He was born blind.' The Jews were looking for 'Maybe they'll say he wasn't born blind or maybe they'll say that's not our son.' Two things these parents are sure of-'born blind, he's our son. Now how he got his sight you'd better talk to him.' It's interesting to me in this miracle that the parents do not believe. You know what it says? It says they were afraid of being put out of the synagogue. So you read down in verse 20. "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind" - those two things we can tell you. "..but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he's old enough. He can speak for himself." Since when do parents have to speak for someone who is how old, 30-40-50? Now you note why they said this. "His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews." Isn't that often the case that those closest to something God is doing are those who miss it? How often is it that someone in a family is saved. They come to believe in Jesus Christ and their life is transformed and those that are the closest miss it. All they can see is 'We've been part of this church for years.
I don't know what would cause him to do this.' And the whole impact of it goes right on by.

That's what happened here—they're afraid of getting put out of the synagogue. Who could be concerned about belonging to the synagogue at this point in time! When your son who was born blind can see and their big concern is 'What impact would it have on our social standing if we got put out of the synagogue?' What a travesty! They missed the point altogether. They are living in the presence of a miracle and they missed it. You note the Jews— they've already made up their mind. The Jews had already agreed in verse 22 that if anyone should agree that He’s the Messiah, they'll excommunicate them. You can see these Jewish leaders aren't searching around to find out if He is who He claimed to be. They're trying to build a case against Him. So already it's prejudiced. 'If you say that Christ did it, you're out!' So what can they say but 'We don't know.' Religious people. They're not open and they're not ready.

Jump over to John 9:35. They put the blind man out. Can you imagine that? That's how the Jews handled the problem. Here's a man born blind and Jesus gives him his sight back. What are we going to do? You can't have this miracle sitting in the synagogue Saturday after Saturday! They excommunicated him. Note verse 35. "Jesus heard they had put him out; and finding him, He said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He answered and said, 'And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?'" We'll talk more about that expression 'Son of Man' as we move through John. He recognized that as a title for the Messiah. "Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.' And he said, 'Lord, I believe.' And he worshiped Him." He believed that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. He worshiped Him. You remember in the book of Revelation when John falls down and worship the angel he is forbidden, 'Don't do that.' Jesus accepts worship because He is God. And here is this man as a result of this miracle and the work of Christ in his life. He has been caused to believe and what does he do? He worships Him. He has come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God?

Alright, the 7th miracle and the climatic miracle is the resurrection of Lazarus in chapter 11. Climatic from the standpoint of the public ministry of Christ. The miracle is in chapter 11, then opposition in chapter 12, and then we are done with the public ministry of Christ. We move into the upper room events in chapter 13. In chapter 11 you have the resurrection of Lazarus. Perhaps the greatest miracle that Christ performed during his earthly ministry. Raising a man who had been in the grave 4 days and this had a tremendous impact. People came from all over to see and hear Jesus Christ and to look at Lazarus and say ’There’s a man who had been in the tomb 4 days! Can you believe it!
Looks better than you do! Four days in the grave and here he is at dinner.’ Tremendous miracle and it had a fantastic impact, and it just grated on the Jews.
The Jews are in turmoil. What are we going to do? Soon as the miracle is over, verse 46, "Some of the Jews went away to the Pharisees"(religious leaders). If you want to find opposition to the gospel, go to the religious leaders and talk about the gospel. Went away and told the Pharisees, told them the things that Jesus had done. "Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council." Here you have the climax to the opposition to Christ that will culminate in crucifixion. They call the council together, the Sanhedrin, saying "What are we doing? This man is performing many signs." Now note that. He's doing many miracles, that ought to tell us something. No debate in Jesus' time about the validity of the miracles. They could have denied the validity of the miracles, believe me, they would have done it. The thing they’re stuck with is that He's doing miracles. We can't deny it. Note the problem. "If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him." He has presented and manifested His glory and the result is that people are believing and having life and they're concerned. You know what will happen? They'll believe in Him as the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Romans will come and take away our place and we won't be bosses in Palestine anymore. Here is the One who is the Messiah who offers them a kingdom where they'll rule over the world and they're concerned that the Romans aren't going to like it. They missed the point.

Now Caiaphas ends up being the blind—you know the further up the ladder you go, it seems the blinder religious people get and Caiaphas is the high priest and he hasn't grasped anything. He's missed the point totally. And it's interesting how he starts his speech. "You don't know anything!" Now here is a man who has failed to grasp anything! He has no understanding or comprehension of what's going on and now he wants to give a lecture and he starts out by saying ’You people don't understand anything!' And he doesn't understand a bit of what's going on. "You know nothing at all!" Then he goes on in verse 50 to give a brief statement, and he is a high priest so God is using him as a spokesman in spite of himself. Caiaphas meant it one way and God meant it another way. Verse 50, "Nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." What Caiaphas is saying is 'Look, you don't have any understanding of how things ought to work. It's very simple. We'll kill him, and then the Romans won't come and destroy the nation.

Now isn't it reasonable that we should execute one man to preserve the whole nation?' That's what he's saying. Here is man who is to be the religious leader of Israel and he has come up with a good, practical reason for executing the Messiah. Huh! We'll put him to death! You don't understand. That's a good thing to do, right?
It preserves the nation from the Romans. But note God's purpose, verse 51. "Now this he did not say on his own initiative..." He didn't know enough to say that!
He was too spiritually blind. "But being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." Caiaphas meant 'We'll execute Him so that the Romans don't destroy the nation. We'll execute one man and save the nation.' God meant by that statement, that one man will die so that all mankind will have opportunity for salvation. So it's interesting how God worked here.

But note where we've come to in verse 53. "From that day on they planned together to kill Him." Amazing. Here all these mighty signs and miracles, resulting in people believing in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, but the Jewish leaders say the only way to stop Him is to execute Him. So, two lines have developed. What has happened? For some, they are confronted with this glorious manifestation of Christ and they believe. Others, they do not believe and they are antagonized. And what do people who are antagonized with the gospel do? They try not to be exposed to it. So how are they going to get rid of it? They can only execute Him. Jump over to chapter 20 with the climatic miracle overall in the gospel, the entire Bible, the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself. The resurrection of Lazarus was perhaps the greatest physical healing or miracle that Christ had done during His earthly ministry, but His own resurrection was the greatest of all miracles. That’s what happens in chapter 20.

Now, the disciples didn’t understand that Christ was going to be raised from the dead. You note in verse 9. Even as you come to the day of the resurrection we're told 'They did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead." They didn’t understand that until after the resurrection had occurred and then Jesus explained the Old Testament scriptures to them. But then He confronts the disciples. Thomas was told that Jesus had met with the disciples a week earlier in a room where they were closed in by themselves. Thomas said 'I have to see it.' So verse 26, as they're all closed in this room, Jesus comes and meets with them and Thomas with them. "And He said to Thomas, 'Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.' Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!'" You note what has happened here. As a result of this dramatic miracle of the resurrection and presence of Christ, he is caused to acknowledge Him as Messiah and as God. 'My Lord and My God—the Lord of me, the God of me.' Full recognition of His person and His character. "And Jesus said to him, 'Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.'" Then John gives verses 30 and 31, the summary purpose of writing the gospel. So you note what he did. He built to that climatic, positive response to the gospel to the presentation of Christ and His person. Thomas' acknowledgement that He is the Son of God, God Himself. Up through chapter 11 you built to the response of opposition and rejection, culminating in the crucifixion. But John's message is to bring people to faith. He uses Thomas as the climatic event, where Thomas believes and acknowledges Him as Lord and God. Now John can say 'Now I wrote that you might believe.' Jesus - 17 - said 'Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe?' None of us have seen. We read John's account. John tells us what Jesus did, and here are the miracles laid out. Here is the display of Christ's glory as it's recorded for us and we are called upon to make the same kind of decision—to either believe that indeed this is the Christ. This is the Son of God. And now I recognize that He in His death was paying the penalty for my sin. His resurrection is an evidence that He has accomplished that work of redemption. And the moment I believe I have forgiveness of sins. I have life. Believing results in life. Believing in the person and work of Jesus Christ results in life. But for some, they are confronted with the facts, the same truth, the same message, and they do not believe. The situation hasn't changed. Just as in Jesus' day people were confronted with the same message, the same reality—some believed, some did not.

In this auditorium, some are confronted with the same miracle, the same message. Some believe and some do not. The exciting thing is that we have it presented
here clearly. That God Himself has been on earth in human form. God the Son.
As Man, as God. He died on a cross, paying the penalty for my sins. Isn't it amazing? All God calls upon me to do is believe. Well, I believe He is indeed the person that He was, that He accomplished for me. And the moment I do, I enter into the realization of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Interesting the way John puts it at the end of verse 31, "...that believing you may have life in His name." You'd think the 'in His name' would go with the believing but it doesn't. That by believing you may have life in His name. His name stands for all that He is—His person, His character, and life is found in Him by virtue of being found in Him. And you come to be in Him when you come to believe in Him and rely upon who He was and what He did. Let's pray together.
Father, we thank you for the message that John has recorded for our benefit so that we can be here this morning to behold Jesus Christ, to have an accurate and true presentation of the manifestation of His glorious character. Lord, that we can be called upon to believe in Him as your Son. Father, to rely upon the fact that He died and paid the penalty for our sins. Father, pray for each one who is here this today that the Spirit might work in our hearts that we might more fully understand and appreciate the greatness of the person that we worship and love, the greatness of the one who is our Savior and Lord.