Summary of the Book of John

 

The book of John is a Gospel that contains Narrative History, Sermons, Parables, and a few Prophetic Oracles. It was written by the Disciple/Apostle John around 85-95 A.D. The key personalities of this book are Jesus Christ, His Twelve Disciples, Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, Lazarus, his sisters Mary and Martha, Jewish religious leaders, and Pilate.

It was written so that all may believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God who gives eternal life. John’s gospel uses the word “Believe” 98 times and the word “Life” 36 times, in an effort to embed the importance that one must believe in order to live eternally. John is not one of the three synoptic (common view) gospels, but instead was written with a more theological substance, yet equally as inspired and important as the first three gospels.

•    Chapter 1 is the preamble of the Messiah’s coming ministry. John gives clear evidence that Jesus is more than just a man, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). John then describes that the “Word” is Jesus who became a man to “live among us” (1:14). The beginning verses in the first chapter teaches us that Jesus is more than just a man who came into existence but rather, He is infinite God.

•    Chapters 2-12 consist of Jesus’ ministry. He meets with a religious leader named Nicodemus and teaches him that no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless they have are personally “Born-Again” (3:3). Several times throughout the book, Jesus claims that He Himself is God, “I am the Father are one” (10:30). Jesus also repeats and applies to Himself, the Jehovaic statement, “I AM” as found in Exodus 3:14, for example, when Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “I am the way the truth and the life” (14:6), “I am the door” (10:9), and “I am the bread of life” (6:35).

•    The events in Chapters 13-17 occur less than 24 hours before Jesus’ death. They describe the details of the Last Supper with Jesus and His disciples. Jesus taught many important topics to the Disciples during this time. Some of these were topics about the Kingdom, and about the work of the Holy Spirit that would be sent to them. He also prays for Himself, His disciples, and for all the future believers.

• Chapters 18-21 portray the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In these final chapters, He is on trial and then convicted illegally. After which He is appallingly beaten, humiliated, and then crucified. Jesus resurrected and arose from the tomb and appeared to Mary Magdalene and to His disciples. When John finishes his gospel he writes one of the most amazing truths about Jesus Christ,

“And there are many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written” (21:25).

 

John Chapter 1;  

 

The Eternal Word

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word, was GOD! 2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John’s Witness: The True Light

6  “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  7  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  9  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”

10  “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  11  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  12  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

The Word Becomes Flesh

14   “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

15  “John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. ”

16  “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  17  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  18  No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

A Voice in the Wilderness

19  Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21  And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?  He said, “I am not.  Are you the Prophet?  And he answered, “No.”

22  Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

23  He said: “I am The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24  Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  25  And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26  John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  27  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

28  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God

29  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

30  This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 

31  I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”

32  And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.

33  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 

34  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

The First Disciples

35  Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 

36  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

37  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”  They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

39  He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

40  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 

41  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 

42  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).  

Philip and Nathanael

43  The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 

44  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 

45  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46  And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

48  Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

49  Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

50  Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

51  And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

 

John Chapter 2;  

 

Water Turned to Wine

1   On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 

2  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 

3  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

4  Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come.”

5  His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

6  Now there were set there, six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.

7  Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

8  And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 

9  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

10  And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

11  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

12  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

13  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

14  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 

15  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 

16  And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 

17  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

18  So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

19  Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

20  Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

21  But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 

22  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

The Discerner of Hearts

23  Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 

24  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 

25  and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”

 

John Chapter 3;  

 

You Must Be Born Again

 

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus^a by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again^b he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^c 7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^d must be born again.’ 8The wind^e blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you^f do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^g 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^h

 

For God So Loved the World

 

16“For God so loved the world,ⁱ that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

 

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

 

22After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24(for John had not yet been put in prison).

25Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30He must increase, but I must decrease.”^j

31He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.