Introduction: The beloved Gospel of John, written by the beloved disciple, is the great evangelical Gospel. It differs significantly from the synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—by not only omitting events from the life of our Lord that they contain, such as Jesus’ birth and Transfiguration, but also by including others that they omit, such as Jesus turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana and raising Lazarus from the dead in Bethany. Also unique to John’s Gospel are not only some of Christ’s most important personal talks with others, such as His talk with Nicodemus about the necessity of him being born again, and with the Samaritan woman about the necessity of her drinking living water to forever quench her thirsty soul, but also some of Christ’s most profound teachings, such as His identifying of Himself as the Bread of Life, who came to forever satisfy hungry souls, as the Good Shepherd, who came to give His life for His beloved sheep, and as the True Vine, within whom the branches, all believers, not only flourish, but become fruitful.

 

This Gospel, which contains John’s divinely inspired narrative of the life of our Lord, was written for a specific purpose, which John was compelled by the Spirit to unlock for all to see in the Gospel’s concluding and key verse. According to John 20:31, John wrote his Gospel to persuade you to believe and to profess “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” so that you “might have [eternal] life through his name.” 

 

To prove his case, beyond a shadow of a doubt, for the deity and divinity of Jesus Christ, John offers us corroborating and incontrovertible evidence. First, he gives us the seven great “I AM” statements of Jesus Christ. Each one, as well as two others, which are not metaphors (John 8:58-59; 18:4-6), are clearly instances in which Christ claimed to be God. This fact is indisputably proven in John 8:59, where the Jews take up stones to stone Christ for publicly declaring, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Here are the seven great “I AM” statements of Christ in John’s Gospel, where our Lord ascribes to Himself the sacred name of God, which God revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-14).

1. I AM the Bread of Life. (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51)
2. I AM the Light of the World. (John 8:12; 9:5)
3. I AM the Door. (John 10:7, 9)
4. I AM the Good Shepherd. (John 10:11, 14)
5. I AM the Resurrection and the Life. (John 11:25)
6. I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6)
7. I AM the True Vine. (John 15:1, 5)

To further prove his case, beyond a shadow of a doubt, for the deity and divinity of Jesus Christ, John offers us seven miraculous signs, all of which corroborate and incontrovertibly prove the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Here are the seven miraculous signs.

1. Jesus turns water to wine, which proves He is Lord over our circumstances. (John 2:1-11)
2. Jesus heals the nobleman's son, which proves He is Lord over sickness. (John 4:46-54)
3. Jesus heals the sick man on the Sabbath day by the Pool of Bethesda, which proves He is Lord over the Sabbath. (John 5:1-15)
4. Jesus feeds the five thousand, which proves He is Lord over our needs. (John 6:1-14)
5. Jesus walks on the water, which proves He is Lord over nature. (John 6:15-21)
6. Jesus heals the blind man, which proves He is Lord over our disabilities. (John 9:1-41)
7. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, which proves He is Lord over death. (John 11:1-57)

Truly, the beloved Gospel of John is paradoxical. Its simplicity invites the new convert to begin his or her Christian life by wading through its cardinal and crystal clear waters. On the other hand, it’s complexity challenges the mature believer in Christ to do a deep dive down into the fathomless depths of its profound truths. As it has been rightly and astutely observed, the Gospel of John is “a pool in which a child may wade,” as well as an ocean in which “an elephant may swim.” Furthermore, as Charles Erdman wrote of John’s Gospel, “Its stories are so simple that even a child will love them, but its statements are so profound that no philosopher can fathom them.”

 

John 1:1 — By introducing Jesus as the Word, John speaks volumes to us today, by revealing to us that Jesus Christ is God’s chief means of expressing Himself to mankind. Unlike former revelations of Himself, which were all part and partial, Jesus is the full revelation of God. 

 

Jesus Christ is God’s selfie. All we need to do to see God is to look at Jesus. In addition, Jesus is God’s last “Word” to lost humanity. When God said “Jesus,” He said it all. He has nothing else to say!  

 

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John 1:1 — By introducing Jesus as the Word, John spoke volumes to the Jews of his day, by revealing to them that Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God; that is, everything that God has ever said come alive. 

 

As the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ is not just everything God has ever said come alive, but He is also the ultimate fulfillment of every covenant and promise God has ever made. (Isaiah 41:5-8, 2 Corinthians 1:18-20; Ephesians 1:10)  

 

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John 1:1 — By introducing Jesus as the Word, John spoke volumes to the Greeks of his day, by revealing to them that Jesus Christ is not only the One who makes sense of it all, but also the One Plato hoped would one day come to solve the seemingly insolvable mystery of life. 

 

"The nature of Christ's existence is mysterious, I admit; but this mystery meets the wants of man. Reject it and the world is an inexplicable riddle; believe it. and the history of our race is satisfactory explained." (Napoleon Bonaparte)  

 

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John 1:1-3 — These three opening verses of John’s Gospel definitely and definitively declare the divinity and deity of Jesus Christ, who John not only describes as "the Word," but also declares to be the God of all eternity, as well as the Creator of everything and everyone.

 

I believe John’s stroke of genius in introducing Jesus Christ as “the Word” in the opening salvo of his Gospel is proof positive of divine inspiration, for what other explanation could there possibly be, apart from a divinely inspired pen, for how this former Galilean fisherman penned these famous, profound, timeless, and universally understood words?

 

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John 1:3 — God’s creative Word became incarnate, when the Creator incredibly became one of His creatures, and not just one of His lowly creatures, but the babe in Bethlehem’s crib and the bloody and bruised figure on Calvary’s cross. (John 1:14)

 

The incredible truth of the Incarnation is the most dumbfounding doctrine in the Bible. It teaches us the incredible truth that the baby we read about at the beginning of the New Testament is the Creator we read about at the beginning of the Old Testament. 

 

John 1:4 — The eternal life of the eternal God was in the mortal man Christ Jesus, who, by exemplifying how life should be lived, lighted the way for every man to live it.

 

In the introduction to his first epistle, John testifies, as he does here, in the introduction to his Gospel, of the reality of eternal life; that is, the life of God, which not only came into this world in Jesus Christ, but which John himself personally saw, heard, and touched in Christ. (1 John 1:1-3)

 

John 1:5 — Unfortunately, in spite of the light of eternal life shined by Jesus Christ into this dark fallen world, the darkened eyes of fallen men, who overlooked and opposed it, failed to either catch or comprehend it.

 

In the English Standard Version, as well as some other modern translations, this verse is translated, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Contrary to popular opinion, darkness cannot overcome light, but light overcomes darkness. The least little light can dispel darkness and all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the least little light.

 

John 1:6 — What a tremendous testimony the Apostle John, who was a former disciple of John the Baptist, pens here to his former master and mentor, by testifying that he was a man sent from God.

 

It should be said of all Christians, by all who know them, that they’ve been sent by God to them.

 

John 1:7-8 — Though John was mistaken for the Messiah, he was only a messenger who testified of the Messiah, so that men might believe, not in John, who was not the light, but in Jesus, who was the Light. (Matthew 14:1-2; 16:14; Luke 3:15-17; John 1:19-20)

 

John the Baptist is the epitome of what every Christian ought to be, someone who doesn’t want the limelight for themself, but who wants to be a witness to the real “light of life.” (John 8:12)

 

John 1:9 — The life Christ lived lights the way for all men to live. What Christ exemplified we are to emulate.

 

Man doesn’t need more light, but only to live in the true light he already has, for Jesus brought all the light into this world that man will ever need.

 

John 1:10 —  Although the Creator became an inhabitant of His created world, through His incarnation, He was as undetected in the world and as unrecognized by it, as though He had come incognito into it. 

 

Clad in mortality, divinity became an invisibility to most of humanity, so much so that oafish creatures crucified their own Creator. 

 

John 1:11 — Not only was the Creator not recognized by His own created planet, but He was also not received by His own chosen people. 

 

To not receive Christ, out of insolence, is worse than to not recognize Christ, out of ignorance, since the insolent cannot plead for leniency over their idiocy.  

 

John 1:12 — To become a child of God we must personally recognize and receive Jesus Christ alone as the Savior of the world. 

 

The name Jesus means “the salvation of Jehovah.” Therefore, to “believe on His name” means to believe that He is our only Savior and mankind’s only hope of salvation (Isaiah 43:11; Acts 4:12). All true children of God believe that Jesus alone is the salvation of Jehovah. Anyone who believes otherwise—that salvation is available apart from faith in Christ alone—cannot possibly be a child of God, since such a belief belies belief in Jesus' name.

 

READ: NO OTHER NAME

 

John 1:13 — Those who recognize and receive Jesus as the world’s only Savior, and believe on His name; that is, that He alone is the salvation of Jehovah, are born again as children of God according to the will of God into the family of God by the Spirit of God.

 

Notice, the second birth, our spiritual birth, unlike our physical birth, is not a matter of man’s will, but of God’s will. It is not produced by an act of man, but by an act of God. It is not a matter of man’s freewill—us choosing God—but of God’s election—Him choosing us. (John 15:16)

 

John 1:14 — John’s divinely inspired prolog proceeds from its commencement, the identification of the Word, to its climax, the incarnation of the Word; in other words, from Christ being God to God becoming a man in Christ! 

 

God became a man in Christ not only to show man His glory, but also to fully communicate to man the truth about His grace. 

 

The Greek word John uses for “dwelt” in this verse means “to live in a tent” or to be “tabernacled.” John’s use of this word, which is only found in his Gospel and the book of Revelation, which John also authored, is not just intended to remind us of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, within which God’s glory, the “Shekhînah,” dwelt among the people, but also to teach us that Jesus, during His earthly sojourn, was the Tabernacle in the world, within which God’s glory, the “Shekhînah,” dwelt among men.

 

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John 1:15 — John the Baptist pointed men to Christ, whom he publicly professed not just to be preferable to him, but also pre-existent and preeminent, not only to him, but to all humanity. 

 

Unfortunately, there are plenty of wannabe christs, who seek preeminence, in the contemporary church, but only a paltry amount of true witnesses of Christ, who use Christ’s preeminence as their personal hiding place, so as to assure that all of the attention and adoration of others goes to Christ alone, and absolutely none of it to themselves.

 

“Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.” (A. W. Tozer)

 

John 1:16 —  Christ was not only full of grace, but the fullness of grace was in Christ. Therefore, it being inestimable and inexhaustible, all men can dip into it without ever depleting it or even diminishing it.

 

No matter how much grace is dispensed, Christ always has more to dispense, for His miraculous grace is like the loafs and the fishes in His miraculous feeding of the multitude, in that He still miraculously has more than enough grace to spare after all He has already miraculously shared. (Matthew 14:19-20)

 

John 1:17 — The law, which showed us what we are like and resulted in our condemnation, was given by Moses, but grace and truth, which showed us what God is like and resulted in our salvation, was given by Jesus Christ. 

 

No sinner can be saved by the law—God’s sinless standard—which was given to us by Moses, since no sinner can live a life of sinless perfection. However, all sinners can be saved by grace and truth, which were given to us by Jesus Christ, God’s sinless Son, who not only lived for us a life of sinless perfection, so that we can be perfected, but also died to pay for our sins and imperfections, so that we can be pardoned.

 

John 1:18 — Jesus Christ came to live among us so that He might make God known to us.  

 

To know Christ is to know God, but to not know Christ is to not know God. (John 8:19) 

 

“The Gospel of John opens with Jesus Christ in the bosom of God, and closes with the sinner in the bosom of Jesus Christ.” (D. L. Moody)

 

John 1:19-23 — We, like John the Baptist, should profess to be who God proclaims us to be, nothing more nor nothing less. (Isaiah 40:3)

 

Although some suspected that John the Baptist might be the Christ, he swiftly squelched such suspicions, being unwilling, as we should always be, to either upstage or usurp Christ.

 

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John 1:24-28 — Like John the Baptist, all preachers of Christ should be self-depreciating and Christ-exalting, persuading others to look away from themselves to Christ! 

 

If people leave church talking about what a great sermon they’ve heard rather than what a great Savior they have, the preacher has greatly failed. 

 

John 1:29 — The corruptible blood shed by the sacrificial lambs on the altar of the Jewish temple temporally covered sin, but the incorruptible blood shed by Jesus, the Lamb of God, on the cross of Calvary takes away sin forever! (1 Peter 1:18-19)

 

Christ, the world’s Sin-Bearer, is not just the “Atlas” who bore all the sin of all the world, but also the “Azazel” (scapegoat) who takes away all the sin of all the world. (Leviticus 16:7-10 ESV)

 

John 1:30-31 — John came to administer the baptism of repentance so that Jesus could appear and reveal Himself to Israel, for it is only to those who have definitely repented to whom Christ is divinely revealed.

 

Until sinners see their need to repent of their sins they will never see Christ as their Savior nor turn from their sin to Him for their salvation. 

 

John 1:32-34 — John the Baptist knew Jesus was the Messiah, the promised Anointed One, as well as the Son of God, He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, when he saw the Spirit descend on Christ like a dove. 

 

Notice, the Spirit did not just descend on Christ, but remained on Christ, for Christ, the promised Anointed One, unlike Christians, Christ’s Spirit baptized and anointed ones, was not just anointed some times, but all the time, and had the Spirit, not just by measure, but without measure. (John 3:34; Romans 12:3)

 

John 1:35-36 — John didn’t want to persuade others to follow him, but to follow Christ, which explains why he pointed a pair of his own disciples to Christ and away from himself. 

 

As Christians we should not seek to make clones of ourselves, but disciples of Christ, for God doesn’t want any more children like us, but only more like Christ. (Romans 8:29)

 

John 1:37-39 — The question all Christians need to ask Christ is where does He dwell, so that we can abide with Him!

 

Jesus always asks those who follow Him, “What seek ye?” Our answer proves if we are a bona fide follower, who seeks to be with Him, or a bogus follower, who only seeks to get something from Him.

 

John 1:39 — It is believed that one of the two disciples of the Baptist who first followed Jesus was none other than the beloved disciple himself, the author of this Gospel who never refers to himself anywhere within it by name.

 

If John was one of these two original disciples of Christ, it is understandable why he records the exact hour of this memorable occasion, when he first met Christ. 

 

I can tell you the time, 

I can take you to the place, 

Where the Lord saved me 

By His wonderful grace.

 

John 1:40-41 — Andrew is mentioned four times in the Gospel of John. Each time he is doing the same thing, bringing someone to Jesus.

 

The first time Andrew is mentioned in the Gospel of John he is bringing himself and possibly John to Christ (John 1:35-40), the second time he is bringing his brother Peter to Christ (John 1:41-42), the third time he is bringing the lad with the loaves and fishes to Christ, and the fourth time he is bringing the Christ-seeking Greeks to Christ (John 12:20-22). Therefore, Andrew is a perfect example of what every saint should be—a soul winner! While we may not be able to fill big shoes, like Andrew’s brother, we can have beautiful feet, like Andrew (Romans 10:15).

 

John 1:42 — Peter did not remotely resemble a rock when Jesus first called him “Cephas,” but Jesus saw Peter, as He does us, not on the basis of his history—what he had made of himself—but on the basis of his destiny—what Jesus would make of him.

 

While we Christians are neither what we used to be nor all that we ought to be, we’re also not yet all that we’re going be!

 

John 1:43-44 — Philip did not find Jesus, but Jesus found Philip.

 

Contrary to today’s seeker-friendly churches, the lost do not seek and find Jesus, but Jesus seeks, finds, and saves the lost. (Luke 19:10; Romans 3:11)

 

John 1:45 — The first thing Philip did after Jesus found him was to find his friend Nathaniel and tell him about Jesus.

 

If we want our family and friends to know Jesus, then, we, who have met Him and know Him, must introduce Him to them. 

 

John 1:46 — You, like Nathanael, must come to see Jesus for yourself. 

 

Instead of contending with others over their prejudicial objections to Christ, we just need to personally invite others to come to Christ, for all who individually behold Him will inevitably believe in Him!

 

John 1:47 — The omniscient Christ sees us all as we are; nothing about us is hidden from Him and everything about us is known to Him. 

 

Like Nathanael, all genuine children of God should have a pure pedigree and be unpretentious; that is, “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.”

 

John 1:48 — The omnipresent Christ sees us wherever we are; no matter where we’re at or what we’re doing.

 

It is possible that the fig tree was Nathanael’s place for personal and private prayer. Thus, how fitting it was for Jesus to have His eye on Nathanael in the shade beneath the fig tree’s branches. 

 

John 1:49-51 — Nathanael believed Christ to be the Son of God, because Christ saw him beneath the fig tree, but Nathanael would also come to believe that Christ was the Savior of the world, when he saw Christ as Jacob’s ladder, the only way from earth to Heaven. (Genesis 28:12)

 

Jacob’s ladder, the lone ladder from earth to Heaven, is Jesus, as Christ Himself here confirms. Jesus, in His Incarnation, descended Jacob’s ladder from Heaven to earth, so that Christians, thanks to their salvation, can ascend Jacob’s ladder from earth to Heaven!

 

John 2:1-2 — Jesus was invited to the marriage in Cana of Galilee, as He should be to all marriages. God pity the couple who marry without the presence and blessing of Christ.

 

Tragically, many married couples today are not joined together by God, but simply get together on their own, which explains why so many marriages are so easily torn asunder. (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9)

 

John 2:3 — Mary simply took the need of others to Jesus, as we should, without telling Him what to do or how to do it. 

 

In our intercession for others we don’t need to inform Christ or to instruct Him, for Christ already knows better than we do all that needs to be done.

 

John 2:4 — Jesus’ response to His mother was not disrespectful, nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, He was simply informing Mary that He did not take His orders from her—His earthly mother—but from headquarters—His heavenly Father.

 

Jesus was not dictated to by the tyranny of the urgent or the expectations and demands of others. He only did what His Father told Him to do. (John 5:19; 12:49)

 

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John 2:5 — These are not only the last recorded words of Mary in all of Scripture, but also all the Scripture you will ever need to live a successful Christian life, since living a successful Christian life is as simple as doing whatever Jesus tells you to do! 

 

This explains why Jesus commended another Mary, who “sat at [His] feet, and heard his word,” for doing the “one thing needed,” for all we need to do to live out our lives as Christ intends is to live our lives listening intently to Him. (Luke 10:38-42)

 

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John 2:6 — The religionists in Jesus’ day had reduced salvation to ceremonial rituals, such as the proper washing of hands, cups, pots, and pans.

 

Tragically, the religionists in our day have also reduced salvation to ceremonial rituals, such as the observance of church ordinances or sacraments and charitable deeds and donations.

 

John 2:7-8 — Not only does Jesus work His miracles through those who do what He says, but His miracles are only worked where what He says is being done.

 

The size of Christ’s miracles in our lives is determined by the degree of our obedience, for if the servants had not filled the water pots to the brim, there would have been less miraculous wine in the end. 

 

John 2:9-10 — What Jesus does is always best and can never be bettered in anyway. 

 

Notice, it was the servants who were obedient to Christ, not the “ruler of the feast,” who knew the miraculous wine was the miraculous work of Christ.

 

John 2:11 — This miraculous changing of the water to wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee was the beginning of the miraculous works of Christ, which John would later say were too many to write about, lest "the "world itself could not contain the books." (John 21:25)

 

Notice, it was the disciples of Christ who believed on Him and glorified Him for this first of His many miracles!

 

John 2:12 — Following Jesus to Capernaum, which became the base of His Galilean ministry, was His family—His mother and brethren (stepbrothers)—and His initial followers or disciples. However, with His ministry just taking off, there was little time there for the troop to tarry.

 

Not only should we follow Jesus wherever He goes, but we should also tarry there as long as He tarries and leave there whenever He leaves.

 

John 2:13 — Religious celebrations without Christ amount to nothing more than glitz and glitter. While they may be extravagant in their pageantry, they are still mere exercises in futility without the actuality of the presence of Christ.

 

What the Passover memorialized and symbolized found its meaning and substance in Christ, the ultimate Pascal Lamb, who came to take away the sins of the world, so that God’s judgment on the world’s sin would pass over all who personally apply Christ’s shed blood to the doorposts and lintels of their hearts. (1 Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29; Exodus 12:21-23)

 

John 2:14 — In Jesus’ day, just like in our day, there were things in the house of God that should not have been there; such as, crass commercialism and cheap and convenient worship.

 

The merchandisers, who sold sacrifices at the temple, and the money changers, who were paid a fee to convert the coinage of temple-goers into the coinage of the temple, were profiteers who sought to cash in on the worship of God. Unfortunately, the house of God today is still filled with self-peddlers and self-promoters.

 

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John 2:15 — There is a vast difference in the way Jesus reacted to wrongful things in the house of God in His day and in the way we do in our day. He reacted with a whip and overturned their tables; we react with a whimper and let them overrun our churches.

 

Christ cleansed the temple twice, once at the beginning of His earthly ministry, as we read about here in John’s Gospel, and again at the end of His earthly ministry, as we read about in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46). Both cleansings of the temple positively prove one thing, the purity of God's house means far more to Christ than the popularity of God’s house! 

 

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John 2:16 — Self-marketers should be mustered out of church services.

 

Everything that is not exalting to God should be expelled from the house of God, lest it become an encumbrance to the worship of God. 

 

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John 2:17 — The problem in the church today is not so much the abundance of all that is wrong, but the absence of zeal. In other words, it’s not the abominable, the iniquitous, and the sinful, but the apathetic, the indifferent, and the silent.

 

Christ’s zeal for His house, which was not only predicted by the psalmist (Psalm 69:9), but seen by His disciples on two separate occasions during Christ’s first coming, will be seen again prior to His Second Coming. According to the Apostle Peter, end-time judgment will begin in the house of God (1 Peter 4:17-18), so that it, the church (Hebrews 3:6), which is the temple of God today (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5), can be cleansed, by being purged, purified, and prepared for Christ’s Second Coming. Contrary to popular opinion, the carnal contemporary church is not going to be secretly snatched up into the safety of Heaven before stumping its toe on any end-time tribulation. Instead, it’s going through the fiery trials of end-time tribulation, in order to be refined, so that it will be a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, washed in the water of the Word, and a beautiful bride adorned and prepared for her Husband’s return to the earth for her (Ephesians 5:26-27; Revelation 21:2). 

 

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John 2:18-22 — When the religious leaders of the Jews asked Jesus who died and made Him boss over the temple, Jesus answered that He would die, and afterward prove His Lordship over the temple, as well as over everyone and everything else, by rising from the dead! 

 

The temple in Jesus’ day was not a building in Jerusalem, but Jesus’ physical body, for God was alive in the world in Christ. Likewise, the temple in our day is still Jesus’ body; however, it is no longer His physical body, but His spiritual body, the church, for God is alive in the world today in Christians, both individually and collectively. (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 2:21-22)

 

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John 2:23-25 — It is not those who simply confess Christ, but those who are sincerely committed to Christ, to whom Christ is committed. Whereas many profess Christ, because they want miracles worked, few actually possess Christ, because all they want is the Miracle-Worker.

 

While you may, as Abraham Lincoln said, fool some people all the time and all people some of the time, you can never fool Christ at any time, because He knows all about you.

 

John 3:1 — Nicodemus, who is only mentioned in John’s Gospel, was both a Pharisee and a member of Israel’s ruling Sanhedrin.

 

Scholars suggest that Nicodemus, because of His acknowledgment of Christ as a teacher from God (John 3:2), his defense of Christ before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-53), and his assistance of Joseph of Arimathea with the burial of Christ (John 19:38-42), was one of “the chief rulers” who privately believed in Christ, but did not publicly profess Christ, for fear of being excoriated by his fellow Pharisees and excommunicated from the synagogue (John 12:42-43).

 

John 3:2a — This Pharisee and member of Israel’s ruling Sanhedrin probably came to Jesus at night so that he could conceal his meeting with the Master under the cover of darkness, lest he be lambasted by his hypocritical peers and lose his own high position.

 

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of Nicodemuses in the world today, incognito “Christians” who are so concerned with pleasing men and being praised by man that they will never acknowledge Christ publicly, but only privately. They will only associate and affiliate themselves with Christ in the night, never in the day, lest they jeopardize their worldly popularity, position, or possessions. (Matthew 10:32-33; John 12:42-43)

 

John 3:2b — Nicodemus, unlike other Pharisees, who in the midst of Christ’s miraculous works demanded from Him some miraculous sign to prove that He was from God (Matthew 16:1; Luke 11:16), saw all of Christ’s miraculous works as proof that He was from God (John 20:30-31).

 

All who see what Christ can do will come to Christ.

 

John 3:3 — If we, who are separated from God and spiritually dead to God, because of our sin, are to ever be reconciled and made spiritually alive to God, we must be born again, by believing in God’s Son and being spiritually quickened by God’s indwelling Spirit.

 

Notice, Jesus did not say that you should be or ought to be born again. Instead, He said you must be born again, for only the born again are Heaven-bound!

 

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John 3:4 — Nicodemus’ problem was trying to hear spiritual truth with his physical ears, which left him trying to figure out the miracle of the spiritual birth with his understanding of man’s natural birth. 

 

Whereas the natural man can neither receive nor understand spiritual truths, because they are foolish to his way of thinking, the spiritual man can both discern and understand them, because they make perfect sense to him, since he has the Spirit of Christ and therefore the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16)

 

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John 3:5 — One must be twice born to enter into the kingdom of God, not just “born of water,” when a woman's water breaks and the fluid-filled amniotic sac around her baby ruptures, but also “born of the Spirit,” when Christ comes to live in us in the person of the Holy Spirit.

 

As David Jeremiah has pointedly proclaimed: “If you have been born only once, you will have to die twice. However, if you have been born twice, you will have to die only once.” (Revelation 20:6; 21:8)

 

READ THE REBIRTH OF THE SPIRIT

 

John 3:6-7 — The second birth should be marveled over for the right reason, not for the wrong one, because it is a miracle performed by God’s Spirit, not something we’ve mistakenly presumed to be a product of our flesh.

 

Whereas our physical birth is the product of our flesh and of the will of man, resulting in our birth into our temporal earthly family as an heir of our earthly father and a joint heir with our earthly brethren, our spiritual birth is the product of God’s Spirit and of the will of God, resulting in our birth into our forever Heavenly family as an heir of our Heavenly Father and a joint heir of our Elder Brother Jesus Christ. (John 1:12-13; Romans 8:16-17; Ephesians 3:14-15; Hebrews 2:10-13)

 

READ THE REBIRTH OF THE SPIRIT

 

John 3:8 — Jesus taught us that the Holy Spirit is like the wind, we don’t know when He will blow, from where He will come, or even where He will go next. All we know is when He blows on us! (Acts 2:2-4)

 

The work of the Holy Spirit cannot be explained, but it must be experienced. While we do not know how to explain His work, we will definitely know when we’ve experienced His work.

 

John 3:9 — Once again, Nicodemus falls prey to attempting to grasp the spiritual birth, a supernatural work of the Spirit, with his natural faculties, which makes it an impossibility to his human rationality. 

 

Faith is not required in the realm of the natural and explainable, but only in the realm of the supernatural and inexplicable. As Thomas Aquinas said: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

 

John 3:10 — Christ calls into question Nicodemus’ qualifications as a religious leader of Israel, over Nicodemus’ quandary over Christ’s teaching that Nicodemus, just like all men, must be born again.

 

When the teachings of Christ are incomprehensible to religious leaders, it’s safe to say that the religions they lead are totally ignorant of the one and only true religion. (James 1:27)

 

John 3:11 — What Christ knew for sure and had seen, Nicodemus suspected and spurned; slighting Christ’s witness, Nicodemus selected his own wit over Christ’s Word.

 

Every time we spurn the written Word of God, the teachings of the Bible, and slight the Living Word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ, we do the same thing Nicodemus did, we select our wit over the witness and Word of Christ.

 

John 3:12 — Those who find the teaching of some earthly truths implausible, will undoubtedly find the teaching of all Heavenly truths impossible.

 

How can a bowed-down head grappling with terrestrial things ever be lifted up to grasp celestial things.

 

John 3:13 — According to Jesus, the fact that He alone had come from Heaven to live on earth, served as the convincing credentials for His counseling of all earthlings about Heavenly things.

 

Since no man on earth had ever ascended into Heaven, in order to descend back to earth to tell others about it, but Jesus alone had descended from Heaven to earth, in order to tell others about it, Jesus Himself was the only authoritative expert on the subject.

 

READ SHEOL: THE PLACE OF THE DEAD

 

John 3:14-15 — What the brazen serpent was to Israel, Christ is to us. (Numbers 21:4-9)

 

The Israelites had been fatally bitten by serpents in the wilderness, just as Adam and Eve were by a serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-24). Israel’s only cure, the brazen serpent, was shaped into the likeness of that which wounded, though it had no poison. Likewise, our only cure, God’s beloved Son, was made sin for us, though He knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). To save Israel from fiery serpents, the brazen serpent had to be lifted up on a pole, just as God’s beloved Son, in order to save us from our sins, had to be lifted up on a cross (John 12:32). And finally, to be saved, not only did each Israelite have to look in faith upon the brazen serpent for their own salvation, but each of us must also look in faith upon God’s beloved Son for our own salvation (Isaiah 45:22).

 

John 3:16 — This greatest verse in the Bible, which has been called the Miniature Bible and the Gospel in a Nutshell, tells us the greatest love story ever told!

 

Here, in the greatest verse in the Bible, we find:

THE GREATEST GIVER — FOR GOD

THE GREATEST LOVE —  SO LOVED THE WORLD, 

THE GREATEST ACT — THAT HE GAVE

THE GREATEST GIFT — HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, 

THE GREATEST INVITATION — THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM, 

THE GREATEST PROMISE — SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.

 

John 3:16 — If you’re searching for significance, your search can end here, in this single, but most sublime verse of Scripture, which teaches you that you’re so significant to God that He gave His Son for you and so significant to Jesus Christ that He gave His life for you.

 

All the significance you will ever need can be gotten by glancing at the bloody, bruised, and battered figure of Christ hanging on the cross of Calvary.

 

John 3:17 — Jesus Christ did not come into the world for the condemnation of the world, but for the salvation of the world, for the world was already condemned before Jesus came. 

 

God sent His Son into this fallen and sinful world so that its sinners could come to God by faith in His Son for salvation from their sin.

 

John 3:18 — Just as believing saints are already saved, unbelieving sinners are already condemned. Neither the salvation of the saints nor the condemnation of sinners awaits the hereafter, but both are here-and-now realities. 

 

Unbelieving sinners are already under the judgment of God, they are simply awaiting the carrying out of their death sentence, which could come at any moment.

 

John 3:19-21 — While Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it, His coming into the world distinguishes the condemned—those who loath the truth and won’t come to the light—from the saved—those who live in the truth and will come to the light.

 

Whereas the condemned love darkness and hate the light, because they don’t want their evil deeds exposed, the saved hate darkness and love the light, because they want what God has wrought in and through them made manifest for all men to see.

 

John 3:22-24 — When Jesus left the city of Jerusalem He went into the countryside of Judea, where He, like John the Baptist, preached repentance (Matthew 3:2; 4:17), and where His disciples, like John the Baptist, baptized the repentant (John 4:2).

 

Only the Gospel of John tells us of Jesus’ early Judean ministry, which was conducted concurrently with the ministry of John the Baptist, which abruptly ended when the Baptist was imprisoned. 

 

John 3:25 — Apparently, in spite of our Lord’s attempt to prevent it, by not personally baptizing anyone Himself (John 4:2), an argument still broke out over whose baptism provided the greater purification from sin. 

 

Purification from sin, regardless of whether the repentant were baptized by Jesus’ disciples in Judea or by John the Baptist at Aenon, was not determined by whose hands the repentant were baptized, but by whether the hearts of the baptized were truly repentant. 

 

John 3:26 — Nothing could have been more ridiculous to John the Baptist, whose ministry’s whole purpose was to prepare men for Christ’s coming and to point men to Christ once He came, than the suggestion that Christ had become John’s crowd-stealing rival.

 

Far from being slighted, the ministry of John the Baptist was proven successful by the crowds leaving him to go to Jesus.

 

John 3:27 — John the Baptist was keenly aware of the fact that the results of our service, as well as the fruits of our labor, are given to us from Heaven, not gained by us through the works of our own hands. 

 

To know, as John the Baptist did, that the results of our ministry upon earth is in the hands of Heaven, is to keep ourselves from being either crestfallen over it or taking credit for it. 

 

John 3:28 —  John realized and readily admitted that his time, as the forerunner of Christ, was coming to a close, now that Christ had come, so it was incumbent upon him to step aside into the shadows so that Christ could step up into the spotlight.

 

To know who Christ is and who we are in Christ keeps us, as it did John the Baptist, from ever confusing ourselves with Christ or claiming to be Christ.

 

John 3:29 — As the best man rejoices to see the bride brought to the bridegroom, John the Baptist rejoiced to see the crowds coming to Christ.

 

It should be the complete joy of every Christian’s heart to see converts come to Christ, so much so that we not only rejoice when we see ourselves overshadowed by Christ, but also when we see Christ become the center of attention. 

 

John 3:30 — This should be the motto of every Christian: “He must increase and I must decrease.” We should live everyday of our Christian lives in the hope that others will see more of Christ and less of us whenever they look at us.

 

Like John the Baptist, every believer in Christ should rejoice when the world’s attention is decreasing on us and increasing on Christ; after all, He, not us, is what it is all about!

 

John 3:31-32a — Jesus was not only different from all men, because, having come from Heaven, He alone could testify firsthand about it, but He was also superior to all men, because He was the God of Heaven, who had come to earth as a man.

 

John the Baptist knew, as we should, that the only way to get firsthand information about anyplace is from someone from that place. Therefore, since Jesus Christ is the only man who ever came from Heaven to earth, He alone could testify firsthand about Heaven.

 

John 3:32b-33 — For you to receive the testimony of Christ is for you to testify that God is true, however, for you to reject the testimony of Christ is for you to testify that God is a liar. (1 John 1:10; 5:10)

 

To receive Christ’s testimony is to not only place your seal upon it, but to stake your immortal soul upon it as well. It is to affix to it your personal stamp of approval, as a sign that you attest to it and affirm its authenticity.

 

John 3:34 — Jesus, who spoke the Word of God without modification, had the Spirit of God without measure. In other words, unlike you and I, His every word was uttered and His every work undertaken under the unction of the Holy Spirit.

 

Christians, unlike Christ, do not have the Spirit without measure. We are not always anointed, but move in and out of anointing. Sometimes we’re in the Spirit and sometimes we’re in the flesh, so the Spirit is not speaking or working through us all the time, but only some of the time.

 

John 3:35 — With the world in Jesus’ hand, there should be no worry in our heart.

 

Since Jesus is over everything, there is no need for us to be under anything.

 

John 3:36 — Whether we spend eternity with God or under the wrath of God is wholly dependent upon whether or not we believe in the Son of God! 

 

While eternal life is the present possession of all who profess true faith in God's Son, all who refuse to do so are already dead to God and abiding under the wrath of God.

 

John 4:1-3 — Like Christ, we too should leave the company of conceited Pharisees, who keep score in their perceived competition with religious rivals, by counting each other’s converts. 

 

It is a true sign of the carnality, if not downright illegitimacy, of Christians and churches to see themselves as competing with one another rather than cooperating with one another to win converts to Christ. 

 

John 4:4-7a — Jesus not only traveled the dusty roads of ancient Palestine, but also from Heaven to earth and from eternity into time to meet a divine appointment with a sinful woman in a shunned place.

 

Samaria was shunned by the Jews of Jesus’ day, who considered the halfbreed Samaritans dogs and would, in order to avoid stepping foot in Samaria and getting one grain of Samaritan sand on their sandals, walk twenty miles out of their way to go around Samaria rather than through it on their way from Judea to Galilee. Likewise, the sinful Samaritan woman was also shunned, at least by the women of her village, as is proven by her coming to the well to draw water at the sixth hour. Whereas the other women came to the well in the cool of the morning or evening, she came in the heat of the day, when she knew no other women would be there to criticize and condemn her.

 

John 4:7b-9 — The Samaritan woman was undoubtedly surprised to find someone at Jacob’s well in the heat of the day; however, her surprise turned to consternation when she realized it was a Jewish man, who unbelievably asked her, a Samaritan woman, for a drink of water.

 

Whereas Jesus’ disciples went into Samaria looking for a sandwich (verse 8), Jesus went into Samaria looking for a soul, which explains why Christ crossed every barrier to save the soul of the shady lady of Sychar.

 

1. Christ crossed the racial barrier, by stepping foot into Samaria and speaking to a Samaritan, in spite of the fact that He was a Jew.

 

2. Christ crossed the cultural barrier, by talking to a woman in public, in spite of the fact that it was taboo for any man to do so, especially for a rabbi.

 

3. Christ crossed the ethical barrier, by conversing with a sinful and worldly woman, in spite of the fact that He was the sinless Savior of the world.

 

4. And Christ crossed the physical barrier, by not only setting at the well tired, hungry, and thirsty, but also by waiting for His disciples to bring Him something to eat and wanting the Samaritan woman to give Him some water to drink, in spite of the fact that He Himself was both the Bread and Water of Life.

 

John 4:10 — Jesus explains that the real surprise was not that He asked the woman for a drink of well water, despite the fact that He knew she was a Samaritan, but that she neither knew who He was nor what the gift of God was; otherwise, she would have asked Him for living water.

 

As the weeping Prophet Jeremiah lamented, foolish men ignorantly seek to satisfy their thirsty souls in the broken cisterns of this fallen world rather than in Christ—the Fountain of living waters. (Jeremiah 2:13)

 

John 4:11-12 — The Samaritan woman stumbled over the spiritual truth of the soul-satisfying living water, since she saw Jesus as incapable of drawing it from the deep well, without a bucket and rope, as well as inferior to Jacob, who dug the well for his loved ones and livestock.

 

Little did the Samaritan woman know that she was conversing with one who had come and was far greater than the patriarchs, like Abraham, the prophets, like Jonah, and even King Solomon and the temple. (Matthew 12:6, 41-42; John 8:53-58)

 

John 4:13-14 — Jesus explains that the water the woman can give Him only temporally quenches one’s physical thirst, but the living water He can give her not only forever satisfy one’s spiritual thirst and immortal soul, but springs up within the soul into everlasting life.

 

Jesus impartially offers the living water that forever satisfies thirsty souls to whosoever will drink it. 

 

John 4:15 — The Samaritan woman asked Jesus for some of this miracle water of His, not because she hoped to be saved from her sin, but because she hoped she could stop coming to the well and being snubbed and scorned over her sin.

 

Many in the world today are like the woman at the well, in that they too want Christ to make their lives more comfortable and convenient, but don’t want Christ to change their sinful lives and save them from their sins. 

 

John 4:16-18 — Jesus cut to the chase, confronting the woman with her sin and letting her know He knew all about it. Consequently, she found herself, for the first time in her life, unconditionally accepted warts and all by someone who knew all the skeletons in her closet.

 

Christ does not accept all who accept Him because of who they are or what they have done, but in spite of it!

 

John 4:19-20 — The Samaritan woman, now perceiving that Christ was a prophet, because He plainly saw all of her personal sins, promptly attempted to change the subject from her sins to church; that is, from her wrongdoing to where she ought to worship.

 

Not much has changed from the days of Jesus, for sinners today, just like the Samaritan woman, quickly change the subject to whether or not they go to church whenever they are asked about whether or not they’ve ever come to Christ. Furthermore, and even worse, most saints today invite sinners to come to church, but never invite them to come to Christ.

 

John 4:21-23 — It doesn’t matter where we worship, but how and who we worship. Whereas worship is impossible anywhere, for all who neither know God nor worship Him in Spirit and in truth, it is possible everywhere, for all who do know God and worship Him in Spirit and in truth. 

 

God can be worshipped anywhere, as long as the Holy Spirit is not absent, the Holy Scripture is adhered to, and the worshippers are acquainted with God. On the other hand, God cannot be worshiped in the most ornate cathedral on earth and with the most flowery and flamboyant rituals, if it is all done in the flesh rather than in the Spirit, contrary to the Scripture rather than in conformity to it, and by those who are unwanted worshipers of God, because they are unknown to God and unacquainted with God.

 

John 4:24 — To worship God in Spirit and in truth is to worship in the Spirit the one true God who is revealed to us in the Scripture. It is not to worship in the flesh imaginary gods of our own making or the false gods of manmade religions.

 

True worship, which is not only what God desires of us, but our duty to God, is to be wafted by both the truth of God and the Spirit of God into an all absorbing adoration of God! 

 

John 4:25-26 — Christ reveals His identity to the Samaritan woman, which is the only way anyone ever comes to know Christ. We don’t come to know who Jesus is by human reason, neither ours nor others, but only by divine revelation. (Matthew 16:13-17; Galatians 1:11-12)

 

Notice, it is those like the Samaritan woman, who are expecting Christ, because they know how desperately they need Christ, who end up having life-changing encounters with Christ. 

 

John 4:27 — Christ’s disciples often marvel over those who meet the Master. 

 

“There will be three surprises in Heaven. First of all, I will see some people there whom I never expected to see. Second, there will be a number whom I expect who will not be there. And—even relying on God's mercy—the biggest surprise of all may be that I will be there.” (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)

 

John 4:28 — The woman left her water pot at the well to run back into the village to tell the men, since the women would have nothing to do with her, that the Christ had come.

 

Truly, all who encounter Christ, become so excited with Christ, that they take off to tell others about Christ, with no thought of the worldly things and tasks they’ve left behind.

 

John 4:29 — The woman called the men to come meet a man who must be the Christ, since He unconditionally loved her, despite knowing all about her. She was absolutely convinced that Jesus had to be the Christ, because only God could love someone like her in a way like that!

 

All who experience the unconditional love of Christ are not only convinced that He is God, but are also compelled to lead others to Him.

 

John 4:30 — The woman’s personal testimony about her personal experience with Christ is effectual, proving persuasive enough to convince the men to come out to the well to meet Christ for themselves. 

 

Like the Samaritan woman, all you need to be an effective witness for Christ is a personal testimony. As long as you’ve had a personal life-changing encounter with Christ, you don’t need a Bible college diploma or seminary degree to testify to others about all that Christ means to you and has done for you.

 

John 4:31-34 — Like Christ, all Christians should also prefer doing God’s will, their divine duty, to eating, even if it’s sitting down to some gourmet dining. 

 

Notice, Jesus’ spiritual sustenance, strength, stamina, and satisfaction came not only from doing the will and work of the One who sent Him, but from finishing it as well. Likewise, our spiritual sustenance, strength, stamina, and satisfaction should also come from fulfilling God’s will and finishing God’s work in our lives.

 

John 4:35 — As the Samaritan woman led the white-robed men of Sychar out to meet Jesus, our Lord called upon His disciples to lift up their heads upon the soul “fields” of Samaria, which were “white” and “ready to harvest.”

 

Whereas His disciples saw hated Samaritans, Jesus saw souls to harvest. What do you see when you look at lost souls? Do you see hated Samaritans, through the leering eyes of prejudice, or souls to harvest, through the loving eyes of Jesus.

 

READ THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

 

John 4:36-38 — Christ always leads His soul-winning disciples into white fields, where souls are either ready to harvest or at least have receptive hearts in which the seed of the Gospel can be planted or watered. 

 

While the laborers God sends into His fields to harvest souls may not reap the harvest, they will at least plant or water the seed, so that later laborers can reap where they have sowed and cultivated. (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2; 1 Corinthians 3:6-9; 15:58; Galatians 6:9)

 

READ THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

 

John 4:39-42 — It’s not enough to hear about Christ from others, you must hear Him for yourself. It's not enough to hear the testimony of others, you need to have a testimony of your own. Only after personally acquainting yourself with Him will He abide with you!

 

No one is ever won to Christ by the power of human persuasion, but only by the power of God. We can’t merely talk others into God’s kingdom, but God must miraculously transform them and translate them into the Kingdom of light and of His dear Son. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5; 4:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17-19; Colossians 1:13-14)

 

John 4:43-44 — It’s hardest for a prophet’s hometown, those best acquainted with him, to actually see God’s hand upon him and him as God's herald through whom God is speaking to them.

 

John 4:45 — Christ is welcomed wherever the wonderstruck are wondering over His works.

 

John 4:46-54 — The moment Christ is taken at His Word His miracles materialize.

 

John 5:23 — To honor Jesus Christ—God the Son—is to honor God the Father. and to dishonor Jesus Christ—God the Son—is to dishonor God the Father.

 

John 5:30 — If we, like Christ, are to fulfill the Father’s will in our lives rather than our own, we too will have to forgo our judgement for the Father’s judgment; that is, we’ll have to assess things as God assesses them.

 

John 5:39 — Jesus Christ is the subject and sum of Scripture. He is what it is all about and what it all adds up to..

 

John 5:39 — Jesus Christ is the subject and sum of Scripture. He is what it is all about and what it all adds up to..

 

John 5:39-40 — The purpose of Scripture—the written Word of God—is to get us to God’s Son—the living Word of God—so that we may have eternal life.

 

The Bible is a divinely inspired hologram, which when illuminated by God’s Spirit shows God’s Son, Jesus Christ, on its every sacred page.

 

John 5:43 — The world receives those who want to make a name for themselves, but rejects those who want to magnify the name of Jesus.

 

John 5:44 — No one honestly believes in Christ who would rather be honored by men than to honor and be honored by God.

 

 

John 6:5-14 — Human resources provide little for the crowd and prove little about Christ, but divine resources provide more than enough for the crowd and prove much about Christ.

 

John 6:8-13 —Like the lad, if we will give our all to Christ, no matter how meager it is, in His hands and with His blessing, our all, which is not near enough, will miraculously become more than enough.

 

John 6:9-13 — While it may seem to you but a pittance, give all you have to Christ, for in His hands, your meager less than enough miraculously becomes more than enough.

 

John 6:10 — To be a recipient of the miraculous work of Jesus, we must first sit down, ceasing to work ourselves, for the miracles of Jesus are never gained by us, but always given to us.

 

John 6:10 — We're never ready to receive the miraculous work of Christ until we're resting from our own work.

 

John 6:29 — The work of God is to simply believe in Jesus. While I must make myself available for His use, I must do so relying on His omnipotence to do all things and realizing my impotence to do anything.

 

John 6:37 — The Savior is a hoarder of souls. He saves and keeps every soul His Father gives Him, and will never let one of them go.

 

John 6:68 — Apart from Christ there is nowhere else to go nor no one else to turn to for eternal life.

 

John 7:17 — Both the will of God and the Word of God are positively proven to their practitioners.

 

To prove God’s Word you need but to practice God’s will.

 

John 7:24 — Nothing in this fallen world is as God created it to be. Therefore, we must peer through physical appearances and personal perceptions into spiritual realities to judge things rightly. Only through the eyes of faith can things be seen as they really are.

 

John 8:7 — The Christ-given qualification for stone throwing is sinlessness. Otherwise, as sinners ourselves, we need to drop the stones of sanctimonious self-righteousness and drop to our knees in sincere self-reproach.

 

John 8:32 — The acquisition of freedom is in direct correlation to one's acquaintance with the truth. The more familiar and intimate you become with the truth—the Lord Jesus Christ—the freer you'll be and the more liberty you'll know.

 

John 8:44 — Every lie spawns and gives birth to another bad seed of the devil, who is the father of lies.

 

John 8:44-45 — Truth tellers are always disbelieved and distrusted by the liar-loving children of the devil.

 

John 8:44-48 — Every spoken lie spawns and gives birth to another bad seed of the devil, who is the father of all lies. 

 

The truth-telling children of God are always disbelieved and demonized by the lie-loving children of the devil.

 

John 8:46 — Even Christ’s enemies found Him irreproachable.

 

John 8:57-59 — The great I Am became a man in the man Christ Jesus, so that He can be whatever we need. I Am what? We fill in the blank. If we need salvation, Jesus says, "I Am Salvation!" If we need healing, Jesus says, "I Am Healing!" Whatever we need Jesus can be!

 

John 9:31 — He who practices the worship of God and performs the will of God will be heard by God when he prays to God.

 

John 10:1-5 — If Christ’s sheep know His voice and will not follow, but will flee from the voice of a stranger, then followers of false teachers cannot possibly be members of the flock of the Good Shepherd

 

John 10:30 — All one has to do to see God is to look at Jesus and all one has to do to know God is to come to know Jesus. (John 14:8-9)

 

God the Father and God the Son are inseparable; not believing in one is to believe in neither. (John 5:23; Luke 10:16; 1 John 2:22-23)

 

John 11:11-14 — There are situations in life when we need our Savior to be plainspoken, soft-pedaling will prove inscrutable.

 

John 11:21-26 — The resurrection is not an event, but a person—the Lord Jesus Christ. The physical demise of all who believe in Him is therefore totally inconsequential, since believers in Him never really die, but live on eternally after their earthly expiration.

 

For the believer in Christ, death ain't no big deal!

 

John 11:25-26 — Death for the Christian ain’t no big deal; in fact, the Christian’s death is referred to by Christ as quite inconsequential.

 

John 11:35 — The shortest verse in the Bible speaks volumes to believers. Though we are never told that Jesus laughed, we are told that Jesus wept. There's tears, not tittering, in the train of "the man of sorrows." Therefore, tissues, not tinsel, are crucial to all followers of Christ.

 

John 11:35 — The shortest verse in the Bible speaks volumes to us of the Savior's sympathy for human suffering.

 

John 11:38-40 — Believers in Jesus Christ, who is the Resurrection, are alone promised to behold the glory of God at the burial sites of their beloved ones. (John 11:25)

 

John 11:40 — The eyes of faith are never more needed than when we can see no way out. It's in our darkest hour that the glory of God is best seen.

 

John 11:41-42 — Prayers prayed “in Jesus name”—in His stead and by His authorized surrogates—as Christ Himself promised, can’t miss, since the Father always attends to the prayers of His Son, even those prayed through His emissaries.

 

John 12:1-8 — The ministry that magnifies the Master is always centered on Jesus and criticized by all Judases. Furthermore, It always results in an irrepressible testimony that will prove immemorial! (Mark 14:1-9)

 

John 12:3 — The more costly our worship the more irrepressible our witness.

 

The most sacrificial worshipers are the most successful witnesses. 

 

John 12:9-11 — Are you, like Lazarus, whom Christ raised from the dead, targeted by Christ's enemies for being such a powerful testimony to Christ? You should be, if Christ has truly raised you too from the dead; that is, from your death in trespasses and sins. (Ephesians 2:1)

 

John 12:31 — In the shadow of the cross, Christ declared, “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Ever since Calvary, the devil has been illegally squatting on God’s redeemed earth. Therefore, all the redeemed need to do to cast him out of their lives upon this earth is show him his eviction notice, written in blood by a nail-scarred hand.

 

John 12:44 — To believe in Jesus Christ—God the Son—is to believe in God the Father.

 

John 12:47-48 — Although men today seek to sit in judgment on God's Word, it is God's Word that will ultimately be used to judge men.

 

Unbeknownst to all who reject God over their condemning of His Word, they will be condemned by God over their rejecting of His Word.

 

John 12:48 — Although men sit today in judgment on God's Word, on the Day of Judgment, God's Word will sit in judgment on all men.

 

To silence the voice of God is damnation in time! (Oswald Chambers)

 

John 13:3-17 — True spiritual authority is always girded in humility and worn by a servant. You will always find it kneeling at your feet. On the other hand, you should never call anyone a spiritual authority who insist upon your kneeling at their feet.

 

John 13:10 — Having been bathed by Jesus in His blood from our sins, all we need now is to have our feet washed by Jesus in the water of His Word. (Ephesians 5:26)

 

Being definitely and forever forgiven by the Savior, all the Christian needs now is to daily and faithfully follow the Scripture.

 

John 13:17 — The blessed Christian is not a professed Christian, but a practicing one. To be truly blessed you must live out your Christian faith, not just learn about it.

 

John 13:20 — To receive Jesus Christ—God the Son—is to receive God the Father.

 

John 13:23 — The heartbeat of Christ is learned by His most intimate disciples who live their lives leaning on Him. 

 

John 13:27 — Christ's words, "That thou doest, do quickly," were not so much a charge to Judas, as a command to Satan, who had just entered into Judas. It was time for God's plan for the salvation of man to be executed and for Christ to command the pawns in the plan to swiftly do their part.

 

John 13:34-35 — The only way to live Christlike before others is to love others as Christ loves us, which alone will prove to others that we are disciples of Christ!

 

Others will not care how much we know about Christ, until they know that we care for them like Christ.

 

John 14:6 — Any supposed Christian who professes to believe in the possibility of other paths to God apart from Christ is a spiritual imposter and no Christian at all.

 

John 14:6 — No one believing that there are other paths to God apart from Christ knows the truth about the way to eternal life.

 

John 14:6 — No one believing that there are other ways to God apart from Christ is acquainted with God.

 

John 14:6 — Jesus Christ is not a truth, but the Truth!

 

John 14:6 — Jesus Christ is not one of many ways, but the only Way.

 

John 14:6 — Jesus Christ is not a life choice, but Life itself.

 

John 14:6 — Jesus Christ is more than a prophet pointing out the way; He is the Way.

 

John 14:6 — Jesus Christ is more than a teacher teaching the truth; He is the Truth.

 

John 14:6 — Jesus Christ is not a philosopher explaining life, but He is Life.

 

John 14:8-9 — All you have to do to see God is look at Jesus.

 

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