Encouragement
Reasons for Studying John’s Gospel:
John was the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Not to say that Jesus did not love all of his disciples, but to say, that what John felt coming forth from Jesus was more love than he could comprehend, so he simply called himself the disciple Jesus loved.
John was the one who leaned on Jesus’ bosom at the Passover meal, the Lord’s last supper with his disciples, before the long night of betrayal and arrest. John longed to be near Jesus; just to touch him comforted him. Perhaps, he too sensed the impending doom that was to come.
John loved Jesus desperately, unashamedly, and in fact he changed his entire demeanor for the lover of his soul. Jesus loved the mind, will, and emotions of his followers and it was obvious that he held the once “Son of Thunder’s” soul in the palm of his hand.
The soul is the mind, and the will, and the emotions of a person. Our souls are the part of us that will live forever. The Lord longs to befriend and mold into his image the soul of every individual.
John’s love of Jesus although passionate, was a holy love that he portrayed in unabashed innocence. John knew the deep hole in the center of his own soul, and he knew that only Jesus had been able fill that need. Our Lord never looked down on John for this. No, rather he trusted John with his most precious earthly possession, his Mom. At his crucifixion he asked John to care for Mary just as if she were his own mother, and from that time on, that was exactly what John did.
Still today, he promises that he never will put us down for seeking his help.1 He longs to use us and he calls us to become trusted friends in the harvest.2 Can he trust you with his most precious earthly possession, the people he has placed within your grasp?
It starts in the heart Dear One, Jesus still, is calling us to come and fall-in-love with him. Perhaps for the first time ever, or perhaps you have moved away from your first love, if so, he is calling you back into his arms of fellowship and sweet release. But he will not settle for second place, he must be first. That can only come as we surrender ourselves completely to his strong arms of unconditional love.
There is a most amazing fact that I have been shown concerning the very character of God. Did you know, that the fruit of the Spirit we are told to manifest is also the very definitive character of the Godhead? For out of his unconditional love, he exudes joy for the journey, peace that passes all understanding, passionate patience, covenant kindness, powerful goodness, tenacious faithfulness, purpose-driven gentleness in the face of arrogance, and alert discipline. Yes, the nine-fold fruit of the spirit 3 so convey the very character of our Lord. And it is this character that he desires to flood you with.
Come my Friend and follow the fisherman John, as he shows you just a few of the majestic moments he spent with his Lord. Perhaps you, like John have been a son or daughter of thunder, unable to control your passions, your anger, your words…or perhaps you relate more to Peter, the strong fisherman who was ready to do battle, until he found out that the battle wasn’t physical but spiritual. And then he ran scared and trembling from the scene, only to re-live the disappointment in himself, after the crucifixion, over and over again; until Jesus on the banks of the sea of Tiberias,4 confronted Peter on the whole love issue, and drew him back to himself with such an irresistible pull, that later, at the end of Peter’s life, tradition tells us that he chose to hang upside down on the cross because he felt unworthy to hang as Jesus hung.
Or maybe, you see your-self like Matthew the tax collector 5 who had been busy serving another god, the god of materialism. Till one day, Jesus passed his way. Matthew in that one moment of time gave up his earthly pursuit of riches for the greatest adventure of a lifetime and the greatest love of his life. Yes, even the draw of materialism waned in the light of this man Jesus.
John, Peter, Matthew, Phillip, Thomas, Andrew, Nathaniel, these were some of the closest to the Lord. Yet, still they were taken by surprise on a daily basis. John said in his gospel that the world would not be able to contain all the things they saw Jesus do if they were all written down.7 So John just chose a few as the Holy Spirit directed him. The point of this great gospel of John is to show you Jesus as you have never seen him before that you might believe, and by believing have gained eternal life.
Phillip ran to tell Nate about the Messiah. Nate looked at Phillip, and probably thought to himself my, such naiveté, and touted his opinion from his intellectual high brow stance, “can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Phillip filled with hope and not discouraged by his friend’s remark said simply, “come and see.” And Nathaniel did just that, he was not disappointed in the least. 8 Do you find your self to be among the intellectual doubters of today? That’s okay Jesus has words for you that can give you hope. Perhaps you find your self to be like Phillip, excited, perhaps a little naïve, but none-the-less ready for Jesus?
Phillip, Andrew, John and the others, had found their Lord, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, their personal Master; and they gladly surrendered to him, not as slaves but rather as friends. The friendship showed in their obedience to him. Now, this was not the normal tug and pull of a friendship that was of two equals. Rather, they were dependent upon the Lord, just as Jesus was dependent upon the Father.
Jesus was always listening to the Father and doing the Father’s will 9 rather then his own selfish desires. For the flesh is selfish and Jesus came down and dwelled in a body of flesh, just to show us the Father and the way back to the Father. But not only that, he came to experience our fleshly sufferings so that he could honestly be our high priest10 Just as Scripture states, it is true that the Father prepared a body to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins.11 But here he was their friend, their teacher, the One they just wanted to spend every moment with. Yet as their friend, they did not see their equal. No Dear One, they saw the one who could help them in their own frailties. Still today He wants to help you and me.
Perhaps we are far too satisfied with our own mere existence when God has a great adventure in store for the individual who will cast their net out into the deep. Perhaps we feel so flooded with this existence that the idea of a great adventure simply overwhelms us. You know, dear one he has not called us to travel alone but has given us his Holy Spirit to dwell inside each believer and Jesus himself, who has sat down at the right hand of God having completed the work that the Father sent him to do, listens carefully to every request, and pleas your case before the Almighty, because Jesus knows what it is to live in a body of flesh and has suffered in everyway that we have, yet without sinning.12
John, on his part, had quickly become dependent upon Jesus, and his heart said, I need you. You are all that matters to my soul. You are my reality. Just as John showed his dependency upon our Lord, so Dear One, can we. It is the only safe dependent relationship on this earth.
All other relationships wane in the irresistible love affair that awaits each one who turns aside to come follow him. That is what a purpose filled life is all about. It is about coming to him as the lover of your soul, and loving him back with your very life.
It is my prayer that as you study this unique gospel of John, you will find the lover of your soul waiting for you with his passionate patience, and you will, as John did, rest your head on his bosom, for his name is El` Shaddai-the All-Sufficient One.
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