Gospel of John
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The Gospel of John begins by stating that God sent John the Baptist to identify Jesus Christ as the true Light and Savior. First, Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us. He was full of loving forgiveness and truth. One day while John was baptizing in the Jordan River, Jesus approached to be baptized. Once He was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven in the form of a dove and rested on Jesus. This sign told John that Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus performs many miracles and still there are people who dont believe in him. First, He turned water into wine. Second, Jesus healed the sick son of a Capernaum government official on account of his faith. The fourth miracle accomplished by Jesus was healing a man that had been sick for 38 years. After he healed him physically, he healed him spiritually and told the man to roll up his sleeping mat and go home. Jewish leaders became angry with Jesus for instructing the man to carry his mat, since it was considered working on the Sabbath. Fifth, Jesus fed 5,000 people using five loaves of bread and two fish. Even after this last miracle, many followed Jesus, not because they believed in Him, but because He had fed them.
Jesus own brothers didnt believe in Him and made fun of Him saying, “Go where more people can see your miracles, you cant be famous when you hide like this. If youre so great, prove it to the world!” The Pharisees convicted Jesus of blasphemy before he was even tried, because they said that Jesus couldnt be the Messiah, because he would have been a descendent David, in Bethlehem, and not of a carpenter in Nazareth.
At the last supper, Jesus tells Judas that he will betray him and Peter that he will deny even knowing him three times before the cock crowed the next morning. Jesus then tells his disciples that hes going away soon to a place they cannot follow, but that hell return and send the Holy Spirit to help them. Jesus prays for Himself and later while he and his disciples are in a grove of olive trees, he is arrested.
Pilate judges Jesus to be not guilty, but the Jews dont accept this, yelling, “Crucify Him!” Hoping to not cause trouble with the Jewish people or Caesar, he sent Jesus to be crucified. Joseph of Arimathea had been a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jewish leaders, but asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus body down. Nicodemus went with Joseph to use embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes on Jesus before wrapping him and placing him in a new tomb. Two days later, Mary Magdalene, according to John, went to the tomb early Sunday morning and found the stone rolled away from the entrance. She returned with Peter and John who saw and believed that Jesus had risen.
Jesus appears to his disciples and they receive the Holy Spirit. Thomas was the only one not present and so he couldnt believe it unless he could see Jesus himself. Eight days later, the disciples were together again, this time Thomas was there, and Jesus appeared to them. He offered to let Thomas place his finger in the nail wounds and hand in his side, but Thomas already believed from seeing. Later Jesus appeared to his disciples for the last time after Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, and John had been fishing all night with no luck and decided to go in. Jesus, from the shore, instructed them to cast their net on the right hand side, and when they did they couldnt lift the net in because of the weight of all the fish. As soon as Peter realized who had spoken to them from the shore, he swam to meet Jesus. When the others arrived they dragged the net ashore and Peter counted 153 large fish and yet the net hadnt torn. Finally, Jesus asked Peter 3 times whether he loved him for which Peter replied thrice that he did, symbolizing Jesus forgiveness for the three times Peter had denied Him the night before his crucifixion.
The Gospel of John is written in a simple style. Throughout his life, John maintained an appearance of utmost simplicity. John believes that faith in Jesus is necessary for his readers to be saved, and defines faith as “believing in the special relationship which connects Jesus and the Father and trusting totally in Jesus for everything related to eternal life”.
The Apostle John wrote the fourth gospel near the end of the first century in Ephesus, a city