The Four Keys to Sharing Good News: Commentary on the Gospel of John

By Frank Tyler

Introduction

Written in conjunction with The Four Keys to Sharing Good News, this commentary is a companion to a ten-session course developed by The True Vine Fellowship to equip brothers and sisters in Christ to share their faith directly from the Bible using the Living Water Gospel of John. The True Vine Fellowship is not a church, but an evangelistic fellowship serving a multitude of churches with differing traditions and backgrounds in order to promote outreach on the Olympic Peninsula.

Historically, commentaries on the Gospel of John are anchored to various theological traditions. Some are highly technical emphasizing the original language Koine Greek and various exegetical methodologies while others are pastoral and devotional. Bible studies abound. As a compliment to The Four Keys course, this particular commentary is written from the perspective of an evangelist who equips brothers and sisters in Christ to share their faith… but what more could possibly be written that has not already been written about the Apostle John’s account?

God explicitly ordained the Apostle John’s account as an eyewitness to persuade individuals that Jesus is: 1) the crucified and resurrected Lamb of God who has successfully taken away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 19:30), 2) the Christ, the Son of God who to this very day gives eternal life or life in His Name to all those who believe in Him (John 20:30-31). [1] This commentary, written from an evangelist’s perspective, highlights the two-fold simplicity of this eyewitness and encourages pastors and their flocks to share their faith in Jesus directly from John’s account.

Author, Title, and Date

The Greek title Kata Ioannen (According to John) reveals an essential enigma; nowhere in John’s account is he named as the author. Scholars reason from a short list of disciples extrapolated from chapter 21 that the Apostle John wrote this account:

… he (the author) describes himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and he “who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said. ‘Lord, who is the one who betrays You?’” (John 21:20.) Only Peter, James and John fit that description. However, the author is clearly not Peter as John 20:20-21 shows. Since Herod killed James in AD 44 (Acts 12:2), the beloved apostle John authored the Fourth Gospel. [2]

Like the synoptic accounts Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the word gospel was added to John later; hence, the title, “Gospel of John.” By the author’s own admission, the disciple whom Jesus loved, Kata τὸν μαθητὴν ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς (John 21:20), wrote Kata Ioannen or “According to John.” We might more accurately title this account, “According to the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved.” [3]

The prologue reveals the account John records as the eyewitness of the apostles : And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Father’s Only-begotten, full of grace and truth (John 1:14; underlining added). Indeed, John’s fellow disciples attest to this eyewitness corporately: This is the disciple who testifies to these things and wrote them down; and we know that his testimony is true (John 21:24; underlining added). Furthermore, according to His prayer recorded in chapter 17, the words Jesus received from the Father, He in turn gave to His disciples that they might believe in Him as the sent one of the Father.

17:7 Now they have come to know that all things You have given to Me are from You.

17:8 For the words which You have given to Me, I have given to them; and they have received them and known for sure that I came forth from You. And they have believed that You sent Me .

(John 17:7-8; underlining added)

6:68 Then Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

6:69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (John 6:68-69; underlining added)

The use of the third and first person plural confirms the corporate nature of the eyewitness John records; hence, “The Witness of the Disciples According to the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved.”

Relying on external witnesses, many conservative scholars have dated the account roughly fifty to sixty years after Jesus’ ascension (80-95AD):

Because the writings of some church fathers indicate that John was actively writing in his old age and that he was already aware of the synoptic Gospels, many date the Gospel sometime after their composition, but prior to John’s writing of 1, 2, and 3 John or Revelation. John wrote his Gospel c. A.D. 80-90, or about fifty years after he witnessed Jesus’ earthly ministry. [4]

However, nowhere in the Gospel of John is the 70AD destruction of the temple mentioned. Consider Jesus’ prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem.

19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,

19:42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

19:43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,

19:44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

How could the disciple whom Jesus loved record Jesus’ witness to the temple authorities in His first cleansing of the temple (John 2:19-10) and fail to record the temple’s destruction in 70AD especially when the fulfillment of this prophecy (Luke 19:41-44) only further confirms His authority over the temple as the Christ, the Son of God? Ironically, Jesus prefaced the second cleansing of the temple (Luke 19:45) with this very same prophecy. If John could not have recorded his account after 70AD, then perhaps you and I should look elsewhere to date the book of John.

Indeed, the internal evidence against a late date for the Gospel of John grows stronger when those disciples present with Jesus in chapter 21 attest to the truth of the account recorded by John: This is the disciple who testifies to these things, and wrote them down; and we know that his testimony is true (John 21:24; underlining added). Within the immediate context, the we who know that his testimony is true are Simon Peter, Thomas (called Twin), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons (James and John), and two others of His disciples(John 21:2), then the account must have been attested to prior to James’ death in 44AD (Acts 12:2). [5] Should you and I decide to include Jesus within the wewho attest to the truthfulness of John’s account, then the account is attested to prior to our Lord’s ascension.

Following the rejection of His Messiahship, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven in parables concluding with the parable of the scribe and householder.

13:51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

13:52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

(Matthew 13:51-52; underlining added)

One of the responsibilities entrusted to the apostles was to act as a scribe and bring out of his treasure… new and old. Given His purpose in writing, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31), surely the account John records is an utterly priceless treasure—especially in light of the controlling kingdom parable, the Sower and His Seed. Moreover, the instruction to bring out treasure… new and old is not merely to record as a scribe, but to steward as a responsible householder who brings out the account of things understood.

Of the three candidates to record and steward this account (Peter, James and John), Peter, as the acknowledged leader of the disciples, would appear the most likely candidate, yet his repeated unwillingness to heed His Lord and Savior (John 13:36-38, Matthew 16:22-!7:5) cost him dearly. True, Jesus restores Peter to ministry (John 21:15-19), but He does not reward him with the honor of recording and stewarding an account so instrumental in fulfilling God’s kingdom parables. Might this contribute to the underlying tension between Peter and the Sons of Zebedee that surfaces Peter’s question:But Lord, what about him(John 21:21)? You and I may only speculate; on the other hand, this we know for sure— the disciple whom Jesus loved was entrusted to steward a priceless treasure, a testimony explicitly purposed by our Lord to bring forth life in His name. In light of Peter’s failure, would Jesus entrust this responsibility to an apostle who would wait fifty to sixty years to record and distribute it?

Paul writes a faithful saying revealing for Timothy the time the apostle believed on Jesus for everlasting life:

1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

1:16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

(1 Timothy 1:15-16; underlining added)

Paul was converted on the road to Damascus in 33-34AD and thereafter considered the longsuffering mercy of the Lord to those who are going to believe on Him for eternal life as a pattern. If this pattern were already established shortly after our Lord’s ascension, would the Apostle John wait fifty to sixty years to record a witness so instrumental in fulfilling this pattern?

When as a baby believer Nicodemus seeks out Jesus for understanding of his new found faith, Jesus immediately responds: Amen, amen, I tell you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Though highly esteemed as a teacher of Israel (John 3:10), Nicodemus struggles, like all believers do, to grasp the miracle of being born again—so much so that even as ateacher of Israel, he stumbles to find words (John 3:4). Jesus answers:

3:5 “Amen, amen, I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

3:7 Don’t be amazed that I told you, ‘You all must be born again.’

3:8 The wind blows where it will, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it is coming from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

(John 3:5-8; underlining added)

Even a highly esteemed teacher of Israel must acknowledge the absolute necessity of being born again while at the same time humbling himself to a miracle far beyond his ability to understand, let alone put into words. This timeless and most elemental wonder lies at the very heart of discipleship—as followers of Christ, we must learn without exception to live a miracle we can neither fully grasp nor merit in any way. This miracle is life in the name of our Lord and Savior and remains to this day the very purpose of the testimony John records (John 20:30-31). If after a long tiring day of ministry in the temple, Jesus makes time into the dark hours of night to address a teacher of Israel and his disciples, and if, like Nicodemus, all born again believers continue to share this same elemental quandry, then are we to believe the disciple whom Jesus loved waited fifty to sixty years to record this vital discipleship truth?

You and I may not know the exact date of writing for the Gospel of John, but the internal witness rules out any date that fails to account for the destruction of the temple in 70AD. The disciples who attest to the account include James who died in 44AD. Dating John’s account late raises a myriad of challenging questions that leave you and I asking, what is gained by late dating a testimony designed to bring forth life in the name of our Lord and Savior? For purposes of this commentary the Gospel of John is a testimony authored by the disciple whom Jesus loved, was a part of a stewardship both to record and distribute entrusted to him prior to Jesus’ ascension, and was attested in written form by his fellow disciples prior to James’ death in 44AD. Though we will henceforth refer to John’s account as the Gospel of John, it would be more accurately titled: “The Witness of the Disciples According to the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved.”

A Two-Fold Audience That Authenticates

Jews of that Generation that Crucified Christ

In John, the Greek word Ιουδαῖοι is used roughly 70 times and frequently translated ethnically as theJews. This striking feature of John’s testimony causes many scholars to declare this gospel the most anti-Semitic account in the entire Bible. Jewish scholar Geza Vermes comments: “One of the most dismaying features of the Fourth Gospel is its determined claim that the Jews, or at least the inhabitants of Judea—the Greek Ioudaioi can designate either—were profoundly and universally inimical to Jesus.” [6] …“John’s hatred of the Jews was fierce. I often wonder whether he could possibly have been Jewish himself.” [7] Daniel Goldhagen writes:

The Christian Bible presents its Christian faithful with a relentless and withering assault on Jews and Judaism. The structure of the Gospels in particular is antisemitic. The Jews are presented as the ontological enemy of Jesus and therefore of goodness… The story’s narrative structure, its force, it many warning and inducements depend upon the castigation of the Jews as the essential and dramatic villains who oppose, reject, and assault Jesus and whom he must overcome but does so only through the tragedy of his end. [8]

“The Gospel According to Mark has approximately forty antisemitic verses,” [9] Luke sixty, Matthew eighty, while “the Gospel According to John contains approximately 130 antisemitic verses.” [10] … “Because the structure of the Gospels is to present Jews as the ontological enemy of God, the damaging individual statements about Jews qua Jews get subsumed into the nature and essence of Jews.” [11]

Vermes and Goldhagen paint a very troubling picture: How can an anti-Semitic account be a part of God’s word to both Jew and Gentile alike? From their perspective, the Gospel of John is most likely the work of the early first-century Gentile church as it struggles with prejudice against the Jewish people for their supposed murder of Jesus Christ. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

In John’s account, the central irony of Jews commenting on Jews authenticates the testimony of the disciples by addressing the elephant in the room for all Jews immediately following Jesus crucifixion and resurrection: 1) If Jesus is the crucified and resurrected Son of God, then how did the leadership of Israel (the Ioudaioi or Judean authorities) fail to identify Him as the long-awaited Christ? 2) How and why did these same authorities lead the people to demand His crucifixion? 3) And lastly, what does God call His people to do in the wake of Messiah’s crucifixion and resurrection? That the vast majority of John’s account records Jesus’ interactions with the Judean authorities or Ioudaioi in Jerusalem and the surrounding environs of Judea rightly reflects the larger Jewish audience’s (Judea, Galilee, and the Diaspora) pressing need to investigate a catastrophic failure in leadership within Judaism and an impending disaster for the nation of Israel.

The early witness of John the Baptist recorded by the Apostle John ought not surprise us; afterall, each of the four gospel accounts record John the Baptist’s ministry. Luke reveals the dialogue between John and a broad spectrum of individuals, the multitudes from tax collectors to soldiers (Luke 3:7-14), but only the Apostle John records the specific inquiry by the Judean authorities about the Baptist’s ministry as the forerunner of Messiah (John1:19-23). If an official inquiry of the Baptist was merited to discern whether or not he was Israel’s coming Messiah, then how much more so an investigation of the leadership that failed to recognize God’s Messiah who had come in the flesh and was crucified on a Roman cross. Indeed, the Judean authorities heard John the Baptist’s three-fold witness (the Father, the Holy Spirit, and John the Baptist) that Jesus is both the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and Son of God (John 1:34) and yet led the nation to reject their now crucified and resurrected Messiah.

As the heavy footsteps of Rome leading up to the 70AD destruction of the temple and Jerusalem grow louder, John’s witness becomes more and more urgent to those asking the question; where is Israel’s deliverer, God’s promised Messiah? [12] If the Ioudaioi or Judean authorities so badly misled God’s people, then in whom can the people place their faith? The Apostle John’s witness remains true to this day to both Jew and Gentile alike: Believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the crucified and resurrected Lamb of God, who has taken away the sin of the world and now gifts eternal life to all who believe in Him and His promise of life.

Prior to his ascension, Jesus commands his apostles: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). On Pentecost, the Apostle Peter preaches his first sermon:

2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “ Men of Judea (Ἄνδρες Ἰουδαῖοι,) and all who dwell in Jerusalem (οἱ κατοικοῦντες Ἱερουσαλὴμ) let this be known to you, and heed my words.

2:22 “ Men of Israel (Ἄνδρες Ἰσραηλῖται), hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

2:29 “ Men and brethren (Ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί), let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. (Acts 2:14. 22. 29; underlining added)

As the underlined vocatives and content of his sermon reveal, Peter targets a Jewish audience about their Jewish Messiah whom they as Jews crucified, that all the house of Israel (may) know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). The account John records is no more anti-Semitic than the sermon Peter first preached on Pentecost.

Again, consider the Apostle Peter’s words to his Jewish brethren inside the temple as he recounts their complicity.

3:17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

3:18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

3:20and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,

3:21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:17-21; underlining added)

In order for the nation of Israel to receive God’s promised Messianic kingdom, Peter, as a Jew, instructs fellow Jews complicit in the crucifixion of the Jewish Messiah to repent of their sin and be converted that: 1) their sins may be blotted out; 2) times of refreshing may come ; lastly 3) God may again send their Messiah, Jesus Christ. This is hardly the message of someone who hates his Jewish brethren. Addressing this same elephant in the room, the Apostle John records the apostles’ testimony to individual Jews of that generation that wrongly rejected Jesus as Messiah that even following His rejection, they, as individuals, may have life in the name of their Jewish Messiah. The testimony of the apostles recorded by John is in no way anti-Semitic… no, not hardly! Jewish disciples addressing the larger Jewish audience about their failure to receive Israel’s Jewish Messiah and the Judean authorities’ role in that failure remains an essential part of an indelible watermark of authenticity for all following generations both Jew and Gentile. [13]

The Apostle Paul, himself a former Pharisee, writes regarding his outreach to both Jew and Gentile:

1:22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:22-24)

Given this insight, should you and I be surprised that the witness of John is structured around eight signs? Truly, the Jews didrequest a sign:

2:18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “ What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:18-19)

12:38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

12:39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38-40; Luke 11:29-30)

All the gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, knew it was vital for those hearing of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection to understand the cross as a sign that reveals Him as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. If I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all peoples to Myself (John12:32) includes both Jews and Gentiles… beginning with the Jew first.

Far from being a harbinger of first-century anti-Semitism, the Apostle John’s introspective examination of those Jews who crucified Jesus—of those who failed to discern God’s Messiah and so badly misled their fellow Jews—remains the first half of the indelible watermark of authenticity . What then is the second half?

The World

First to Jews of that generation that crucified Christ and then to the world, the world forms the other half of this indelible watermark. Consider the Prophet Isaiah’s words: It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). Upon seeing the baby Jesus, Simeon praises the Lord:

2:30 …my eyes have seen Your salvation

2:31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,

2:32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,

And the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

According to Isaiah’s prophecy, Israel’s Messiah must also be a source of revelation and salvation to the Gentiles; Simeon rightly rejoices in the baby Jesus.

In the Gospel of John, the prophetic fulfillment of Jesus’ ministry to both Jews and Gentiles is revealed in His ministry to the world. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)! God loved the world in this manner that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16)… that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:17). After spending two days with Jesus, the men of Sychar conclude this really is the Savior of the world, the Christ(John 4:42)! Having witnessed Jesus miraculously feed 5,000 men and their families, the men conclude: This man really is the Prophet who was coming into the world (John 6:14)! Jesus is the bread of God… who gives life to the world (John 6:33). He is the living Bread who gives His flesh for the life of the world (John 6:51). Jesus came as a light into the world… not to judge the world but to save the world (John 12:46-47). Jesus spoke openly to the world (John 18:20). Jesus is a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice (John 18:37). Underlining of phrase the world has been added to each of these passages to underscore the vital importance of this audience to John’s account. Again, the world includes both Jew and Gentile.

Lastly, consider Jesus’ prayer for unity and evangelism in John Chapter Seventeen; the word worldis used nineteen times in twenty six verses:

17:20 I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in Me through their message;

17:21 that they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that in Us they also may be one, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

17:23 I in them and You in Me; so that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know the you sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me. (John 17:20-21, 23; underlining added)

The world, both Jew and Gentile, depends upon the authentic witness of the one and only Jewish Messiah through the message entrusted to Jewish apostles. In John, this message remains authoritatively “The Witness of the Disciples According to the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved” purposed first for those Jews of that generation that crucified Christ and secondly for all Jews and Gentiles to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God and His promise of eternal life.

Some Definitive Features

The testimony left us by the Apostle John has several features not found in the Synoptics that help define Jesus’ person and ministry. Consider just these seven: 1) The Word of God, 2) The Lamb of God, 3) The Herald of Eternal Life, 4) The Eight Signs, 5) The Eight I Am Statements , 6) That You May Believe and Abide, 7) The Call to Repent.

The Word of God

Few truths are so guaranteed to shock the ears of God’s chosen people, yet few truths are as elemental to our Lord’s person and ministry:

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1:2 He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2; underlining added)

The translation, the Word was God, causes some in Christendom great consternation. Some go so far as to translate θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος as “the Word was a god.” [14] However, fascinating the argument between definite and indefinite predicate nominatives may be, it confuses the apostles’ witness. The NET Bible translates in a qualitative sense “and the Word was fully God” providing the footnote: “The translation ‘what God was the Word was’ is perhaps the most nuanced rendering, conveying that everything God was in essence, the Word was too.” [15] In other words, the apostles testify that the Word or Jesus was Divine in the qualitative sense without being the same person as His Father. This is a truth observed time and again throughout the apostles’ witness essential in confirming Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

The Lamb of God

All four gospel accounts record Jesus’ baptism, but only John reveals in explicit detail John the Baptist’s witness that comes forth from His baptism. Truly, nothing could be more elemental to the witness of the disciples than the testimony of John the Baptist: Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John1:29)!

Knowledge of John’s witness early in Jesus’ ministry is critical to understanding the Judean authorities’ culpability and failure as leaders of God’s people. Equally important, the Baptist’s witness is an authoritative three-fold testimony involving God the Father, the Holy Spirit and himself as Messiah’s forerunner. The priests and Levites sent to investigate John learn that he is not the Christ, but rather the forerunner announcing that among you stands Someone you do not know. He is the One coming after me, who ranks ahead of me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie (John 1:26-27; underlining added)! Clearly, those looking for the Christ would not have departed for Jerusalem when the Christ is so near; indeed, the very next day John boldly declares, Look! The Lamb of God (John 1:29)! John the Baptist’s witness forms the basis for the authorities to request a sign authenticating Jesus’ authority to cleanse the temple (John 2:18). Jesus cryptic answer (John 2:19) strikes at the very core of the work His Father entrusts to Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). That Jesus is the One anointed by God to take away the sin of the world is also crucial to persuading John’s larger Jewish audience that He is the Christ, the Son of God.

The Herald of Eternal Life

According to the Apostle Paul, the elects’ acknowledgment of the truth and call to godliness is in hope of eternal life(ζωῆς αἰωνίου) which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began (Titus 1:1-2). Though you and I do not have recorded the actual promise of eternal life God made before time began, we see its effects very early in the Old Testament.

During the patriarchal period (Genesis 11-12), Job in the midst of terrible suffering testifies with great certainty and boldness.

19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And He shall stand at last on the earth;

19:26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,

That in my flesh I shall see God,

19:27 Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

(Job 19:25-27)

As Job’s suffering rages like a swollen river, the unseen rock of God’s promise reveals itself forcing the currents of Job’s faith to rise up and boil. How certain was Job of God’s promise? Oh, that my words were written! … with an iron pen and lead, forever (John 19:23-24)! Though his flesh may die, he shall yet live and see God in a new (resurrection) body. How would Job understand this truth except God promised it to him.

The hope of eternal life based upon God’s promise profoundly influenced another very famous patriarch. Consider the commentary by the author of Hebrews:

11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

11:18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”

11:19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead , from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

(Hebrews 11:17-19; underlining added)

The promisesreceived refer to God’s covenantal promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:4-6). Abraham inferred eternal life and resurrection from these covenantal promises; and like Job, Abraham’s faith reflects God’s promise of eternal life from before time began. For Abraham not to conclude that God was able to raise Isaac up, even from the dead , in the larger sense would have been unbelief in the hope of eternal life .

Throughout the Old Testament, the hope of eternal life(Titus 1:2) remains so clearly implied that not to infer it is also unbelief in the very

promise of a coming Messiah and His kingdom. Consider the dry bones prophecy of Ezekiel:

37:5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

37:6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.

37:8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

37:9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live .” ’ ”

37:10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

37:11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. (Ezekiel 37:5-11; underlining added)

At the very core of Israel’s faith in Messiah remains the promise of His coming kingdom, but God’s promise proves vain unless the citizens of this coming kingdom are made alive eternally with resurrection bodies. Implied in Ezekiel’s prophecy, is the propositional content of His promise—to believe in God’s coming Messiah is to believe in His promise to breathe life into the dead bones of Israel. The believing remanent of God’s people are those who infer and believe that God promises them eternal life and resurrection bodies in order to serve in the coming kingdom. Thus, the whole house of Israel will be those made alive in resurrection bodies.

Although there are many likely candidates through whom God might have overtly spoken His promise of eternal life—Job, Abraham, Moses, King David, the Prophets—not once throughout the whole of the Old Testament is God’s promise of eternal life explicitly recorded. Not until our Lord, the Sent One of the Father, is the promise explicitly heralded in the New Testament Scriptures. Indeed, the testimony of the disciples recorded by John reveals Jesus as the exclusive herald of God’s promise of eternal life. Consider a few of these passages from John: [16]

3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, likewise the Son of Man must be lifted up,

3:15 so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον).

3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον).

3:17 For God Did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

(John 3:14-17)

4:10 …“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water!”

4:13 … “Everyone who drinks from this water will be thirsty again.

4:14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never thirst again—forever! On the contrary, the water that I will give him will become within him a spring of water gushing up to eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον).” (John 4:10, 13-14)

5:24 “Amen, amen, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον), and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24)

6:47 “Amen, amen, I tell you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον·).

6:48 I am the Bread of Life. (John 6:47-48)

11:25 …”I am the Resurrection and the Life (ζωή·). He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.

11:26 And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

11:27 “Yes Lord,” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” (John 11:25-27)

In each of these passages Jesus overtly heralds the promise of eternal life. Lastly, in his first epistle the Apostle John declares:

2:25And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life (τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον). (1 John 2:25)

5:11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον), and this life (ζωὴ) is in His Son. (1 John 5:11)

Who could this One possibly be—the One who so boldly heralds, with the perfect power and authority of the One True God, the promise of eternal life that echoes forth from before time began (Titus 1:1-2)? The promise of eternal life or life in His name defines Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God as definitively as His crucifixion and resurrection.

The Eight Signs

Most commentors of John consider only seven signs, yet ironically the eighth sign is the greatest sign of all. Though chronologically not first, it is first in that it culminates and defines His person and ministry from its inception: [17]

2:18 So in reply the Jews said to Him, “ What miraculous sign do You show, since You do these things?”

2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this sanctuary and I will raise it up in three days!”

2:20 Therefore the Jews said, “This sanctuary took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?”

2:21 But He was talking about the sanctuary of His body .

(John 2:18-21; underlining added)

And it is the last and culminating sign:

2:22 So when He was raised from the dead His disciples remembered that He had said this. And they believed the Scripture and the statement that Jesus had made. … (John 2:22)

19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “it is finished!” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.

(John 19:30)

20:27 Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and observe My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. And don’t be unbelieving but believing!”

20:28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

20:30 Jesus actually performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book,

(John 20:27-28, 30; underlining added)

In John’s account of Jesus’ ministry, the sign of the cross, forms an inclusio that defines the significance of the other seven signs recorded in the Gospel of John: But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name (John 20:31; underlining added).

Throughout John’s account, seven other signs continually foreshadow the greatest sign of all, the cross. In chronological order:

First Sign—Turning Water into Wine (John 2:6-11): First chronologically, this sign foreshadows the beginning of His ministry and the soon passing of the old covenant (ceremonial water) and the coming of the new covenant (the finest wine) which only the Christ, the Son of God can bring about.

Second Sign—Healing a Royal Official’s Son (John 4:47-54): By His word, the boy and by extension all men are healed.

Third Sign—Healing a Paralytic (John 5:2-9):Following in His Father’s footsteps, Jesus has authority to heal by His word on the Sabbath day.

Fourth Sign—Feeding 5000 Men and Their Families (John 6:5-14): Jesus is the prophet like Moses and greater still who by His blessing miraculously transforms five barley loaves and two fish into a meal of overabundance.

Fifth Sign: Walking on Water and Instantaneously Delivering His Disciples to Shore (John 6:18-21): Jesus commands not only nature, but time and space itself.

Sixth Sign—Healing of a Man Born Blind (John 9:1-12): Jesus performs a miracle only Messiah can do by giving sight to a man who had never before possessed it.

Seventh Sign—Bringing to Life a Man Dead for Four Days (John 11:38-44): Jesus performs a miracle only Messiah can do, raising from the tomb a man dead for four days.

Eighth Sign—Crucified unto Death and Three Days Later Resurrected unto Life (John 19:16 thru 20:31): Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who by His death as the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world and who, by His resurrection in fulfillment of His Father’s will, guarantees the promise of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before time began (Titus 1:2).

All of Jesus’ signs attest to who He is, but John selected only eight signs in order to convince his audience that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who gives eternal life to those who believe Him and His promise of eternal life.

Following the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter returns to this same witness in the midst of the temple:

2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

2:23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

2:24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

(Acts 2:22-24; underlining added)

A Man attested by God… by miracles, wonders, and signs clearly reflects the purpose of John’s witness:

20:30 Jesus actually performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.

20:31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)

Peter’s emphasis on the greatest sign of all, the cross, is John’s emphasis… as well as the Apostle Paul’s emphasis. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; underlining added).

The Eight I Am Statements

The witness of the apostles is also structured around eight I Am statements, each an affirmation and apologetic expression of Jesus’ deity.

3:14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה). And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM (אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה) has sent me to you.’ ”

(Exodus 3:14; underlining added)

Just as God sent Moses to the children of Israel to liberate them from Egyptian bondage, so too God the Father sent His Son to the children of Israel to liberate mankind from the bondage of sin and death. Indeed this One is the Prophet like Moses…

18:15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,

18:18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.

18:19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

(Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19)

…Who is yet greater than Moses.

“I am the Bread of Life.” (John 6:35, 48, 51)

“I am the Light of the world.” (John 8:12; 9:5)

“I AM” (John 8:58)

“I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:8, 9)

“I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11, 14)

“I am the Resurrection and the Life.” (John 11:25)

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6)

“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1, 5)

The Christ, the Son of God, Jesus is I AM Who I AM who has the power and authority to make Himself the Bread of Life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the true vine , because He is indeed I AM.

That You May Believe and Abide

Many have called John the Gospel of belief. The Greek word for believe, πιστεύω, occurs 99 times in John’s Gospel and 10 times in 1 John. With the singular exception of John 2:24, it is translated in the New King James Version (NKJV) as “believe.” (But Jesus did not commit(ἐπίστευεν)Himself to them, because He knew all men(John 2:24, NKJV). The Logos 21 Version reads: Jesus, however, would not trust(ἐπίστευεν) Himself to them, since He knew all men .) The unbeliever is challenged to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God who gives eternal life to those who believe in Him and His promise of eternal life. The one who believes is challenged to abide.

The Greek word μένω, frequently translated “abide,” is used 41 times in John’s gospel and 25 times in his epistles for a total of 66 uses. Consider the following chart developed from the New King James Version.

Uses of μένω in John’s Gospel and Epistles

Translation	Gospel	Epistles	Total
abide	18	23	41
be present	1		1
continue		1	1
dwell	2		2
endure	1		1
remain	15	1	16
stay	4		4

Clearly, the word μένω is used often by the Apostle John. The translators of the NKJV most frequently render it as “abide.” The second most common rendering, “remain,” is similar in nuance to “abide.” The Complete Word Study Dictionary offers the following definition: “Of the relationship in which one person or thing stands with another, chiefly in John’s writings; thus to remain in or with someone, i.e., to be and remain united with him, one with him in heart, mind, and will.” [18] Abiding is a work Jesus commands His disciples.

The Greek verb μένω means to abide, remain, stay, dwell, endure, continue, or be present. The believer who abides is a productive branch or disciple bearing fruit for Jesus.

15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

15:2 Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He props up, and every one producing fruit He prunes so that it will produce more fruit.

15:3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch is unable to produce fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, is the one who produces much fruit, since you can do nothing apart from Me

15:6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown aside like a withered branch and withers. Then they gather such branches, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you wish, and it shall be done for you.

15:8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit. So you will be My disciples.

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love.

15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

15:11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may abide in you, and your joy may be complete.

(John 15:1-11; underlining added)

In this key passage, the word abide is used 10 times in 11 verses; 3 times in verse 15:4 alone; therefore, the importance of abiding in evangelism should come as no surprise. Two questions arise: 1) How can you and I effectively share the gift of eternal life, if we do not know for sure we have eternal life? and 2) How can we share our relationship with our Lord and Savior, if you and I do not know for sure we have that relationship? An individual first believes the promise of eternal life, then as a disciple, continues believing the promise in order to abide and share the good news of eternal life.

The Absence of Repentance

Although the call to repent is recorded in the Synoptic gospels, in John, the one book explicitly designed for a person to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God and to have life in His name, neither repentance nor repent are mentioned... no, not once.

John choses eight specific signs to structure a testimony sufficient for a person to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God and to have life in His name (John 20:30-31). If anything required for sufficiency has been left out, then John badly misleads his audience and fails his stewardship to the Lord. For this reason, many commentators desire to read at least the concept of repentance into John’s account. Thankfully, neither the apostle, nor the truth of God’s Word has failed.

Repentance is not a requirement for a person to receive eternal life. This truth is not a theological imposition, but an essential part of the disciples’ witness. The argument is not from silence, but about silence… a wholly deafening silence. Ironically, the Apostle John understands the role of repentance in coming to believe in Jesus, but has purposefully left out repentance as a requirement to receive life in His name or eternal life. [19] That repentance is not a requirement for receiving the gift of eternal life is a non-negotiable part of John’s testimony.

In calling the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord commissions his ministry and commands him:

6:9 “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

6:10 “Make the heart of this people dull,

And their ears heavy,

And shut their eyes;

Lest they see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart,

And return and be healed.”

(Isaiah 6:9-10; underlining added)

The idea of returning in verse nine implies repentance or turning away from the sin that deafens and blinds the people to the One True God and His Word. If they turn or repent, God heals their ability to hear and see. Turning away from sin and turning to God and His Word does not guarantee a Godly transformation in behavior; nonetheless, to those who turn to God and His Word, He heals their ability to perceive, to hear and see.

Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 following His rejection as Messiah in Matthew chapter 13 and at the close of His public ministry in John chapter 12:

13:14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

“Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,

And seeing you will see and not perceive;

13:15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears are hard of hearing,

And their eyes they have closed,

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn (ἐπιστρέψωσιν) , So that I should heal them.’

(Matthew 13:14-15; underlining added)

Again, if the leadership of Israel turns away from the sin which blinds and deafens them to Messiah and turns to God and His Word, then God would heal their ability to perceive Him and His Word. Jesus reminds His disciples:

13:16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;

13:17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Even among prophets and righteous men who possessed the ability to perceive God and His Word… many did not see or hear the things Jesus shares with His disciples. Although God heals those who repent or turn from sin, this restoration of the ability to perceive God and His Word does not necessarily mean they will perceive and/or believe.

Summarizing the response of the Judean authorities to Jesus’ person and ministry, John writes:

12:39 The reason they were unable to believe is because Isaiah said again:

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

And hardened their hearts,

So that they would not see with their eyes,

Nor understand with their hearts

And be converted(ἐπιστραφῶσιν,) ,

So that I should heal them.”

(John 12:39-40;underlining added)

The Greek verb for turnin Matthew 13:15 is ἐπιστρέψωσιν, an aorist, active, subjunctive while the same verb translated be converted (Logos 21) in John 12:40 is ἐπιστραφῶσιν, an aorist, passive, subjunctive. The NKJV renders this verb in John 12:40 in an active sense as turn . For purposes of comparison between the two passages, the translation in 12:40 might be better rendered “be turned.” [20]

Roughly one hundred times the Greek word for believe appears in John’s account, yet the word for repent surfaces nowhere… even in a passage that reveals the reason for the Judean authorities’ unbelief (John 12:39). Lest you and I mistakenly think John prefers ἐπιστραφῶσιν (to turn) instead of μετανοέω (to repent), consider that he uses the Greek word ἐπιστραφῶσιν only four times (John 12:40, 21:20; Revelation 1:12) but uses μετανοέω the most of any New Testament writer outside of Luke, twelve times in the book of Revelation.

As verses 39-40 reveal, the apostles understand the importance of repentance or turning from sin to God and His word. Throughout John’s account, Jesus confronts both corporately and individually the Judean authorities who suffer grievously from spiritual deafness and blindness: He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God (John 8:47). Sin is like a deafening wax in the ears or dark sunglasses at midnight. Only God can drain the wax and remove the sunglasses from the one who repents or turns from sin. In turn, the ability to hear and see affords the opportunity to believe, but is not itself the conviction of faith. Indeed, throughout John’s account, individuals repeatedly believe in Jesus without the necessity of repenting or turning from sin. Although repentance may well be necessary for a person to perceive, it is emphatically never a requirement to receive eternal life.

A Divinely Ordained Corporate Testimony

In the Synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke use the Greek noun for gospel, εὐαγγέλιον, and/or the verb to proclaim good news, εὐαγγελίζω, frequently but not once in his account does the beloved apostle use these words. [21] When referring to his account John uses the Greek verb for testifies , μαρτυρῶν, and noun for testimony, μαρτυρία: This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true (John 21:24; underlining added; see 19:35). Understanding John’s account as Divinely ordained corporate testimony opens our understanding to John’s larger purpose and the book’s unique place in the New Testament.

The Apostle John introduces the idea of a Divinely ordained corporate testimony very early: 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 (John 1:14; underlining added). As previously noted, the use of the first person plural, us and we, reveals that what you and I commonly refer to as a gospel account is actually a testimony or witness of the eleven (less Judas) disciples as recorded by the beloved disciple. The expression only begotten is better understood as “one of a kind;” The disciples testify that Jesus is the one of a kind Word become flesh, full of grace and truth, who dwelt or tabernacled among them.

In his first epistle, John reveals the intimacy of the three and a half year-long relationship with the Word of life that he and his fellow disciples bear witness to:

1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—

1:2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— (1 John 1:1-2; underlining added)

Note that the Greek verb (μαρτυροῦμεν) translated bear witness comes from the same root as the noun (μαρτυρία) translated testimony (John 1:14); again, even in his first epistle, John uses the first person plural extensively (we, us, and our) to emphatically reveal the corporate nature of the testimony to which the disciples bear witness.

According to the biblical standard established in both Old and New Testaments, the witness of two or three establishes truth.

18:16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’

(Matthew 18:16)

19:15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. (Deuteronomy 19:15)

Indeed, the account recorded by the beloved disciple is good news, but more particularly it is the authoritative intimate eyewitness witness or testimony of Jesus’ disciples by which the truth shallor may be established .

Truth is everything in a testimony or witness… the truth is everything in evangelism. Consider what most scholars consider the purpose statement for John’s account:

20: Jesus actually performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.

20:31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)

Of all the many signs performed by Jesus that the disciples witnessed, only eight are included in the testimony recorded by John. The last and greatest sign is the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, but according to their testimony any one of these miraculous signs are sufficient for a person to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Indeed, if anything has been left out of the apostles’ witness of Jesus’ person or ministry deemed necessary for an individual to believe in Him as the Christ, the Son of God, then their testimony is not sufficient and their witness recorded by John is not true.

In his first epistle, the Apostle John affirms the power and authority of God’s witness to bring forth life in the name of His Son or eternal life.

5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.

5:10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.

5:11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

5:12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

(1 John 5:9-13; underlining added)

Though the corporate testimony of men is worth receiving, the witness of God is greater : And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life . This is the truth that underlies all of evangelism; it is the very purpose of the beloved apostle’s testimony; it is the truth that Jesus’ disciples corporately affirm according to their eyewitness of Jesus’ person and ministry.

Just prior to the last supper and His final preparations for the cross, Jesus explains the nature of His witness:

12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words , has that which judges him— the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

12:49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

12:50 And I know that His command is everlasting life . Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak .”

(John 12:48-50; underlining added)

Just as God the Father speaks with perfect power and authority, so the Son speaks the very word of God that will judge in the last daythe one who rejects Him and does not receive His words. The truth to which Jesus testifies according to His Father’s command is the promise of eternal life confirmed by the crucified and resurrected Lamb of God and His apostles.

English Translations

This commentary relies on two translations: The New King James Version of the Holy Bible (NKJV) and The Logos 21 Version of the Gospel of John (Logos 21).

The vast majority of differences between the three Greek Texts, Textus Receptus (TR), Critical (NU), and Majority (M), have little impact on the meaning of the New Testament. True, the NKJV translates the Textus Receptus, a manuscript no longer considered for scholarly work. [22] In this light, those responsible for updating The King James Version (KJV) provide translation notes which indicate textual differences between the NU and M texts and the TR. This feature alone makes the NKJV a valuable resource. Likewise the lyrical qualities of the original KJV and its literal yet very readable updated English translation make the NKJV a preferred translation. With the sole exception of the Gospel of John (Logos 21), this commentary, unless otherwise indicated, uses the NKJV.

The Gospel of John, Logos 21 Version, translates The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text: Second Edition edited by Zane C. Hodges and Arthur L Farstad (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1985). Farstad acted as the Executive Editor for the NKJV published in 1982 and then with the support of a team of Greek scholars translated and copyrighted the Logos 21 in 1996. Absolutely Free Incorporated currently publishes the Living Water Gospel of John using the Logos 21 translation. Like the NKJV, the Logos 21 translation is a literal and very readable contemporary translation.

The apostles were charged with the responsibility to record and steward the distribution of the New Testament (Matthew 13:51-52). The relatively small number of manuscripts on which the Critical Text is based reveals a surprising lack of distribution in an area of the world (Egypt) otherwise conducive to the preservation of manuscripts, whereas the Byzantine area (Greece and Turkey), though wet and far less conducive to the preservation of manuscripts, hosts large families of representative manuscripts, hence the Majority Text. Noted NU scholar Bruce M. Metzger acknowledges “… the Byzantine form of text was generally regarded as the authoritative form of text and was the one most widely circulated and accepted.” [23] Of the NU manuscripts, Hodges and Farstad note,

…the most important papyrus witnesses in this group of texts are the Chester Beatty papyri (P ^{45 46 47}) the Bodmer papyri (P ^{66 75} ). The text which results from dependence on such manuscripts as these may fairly be described as Egyptian. Its existence in early times outside of Egypt is unproved. [24]

Hodges and Farstad go on to argue that

the Egyptian type… is probably a local text which never had any significant currency except in that part of the ancient world. By contrast the majority of manuscripts were widely diffused and their ancestral roots must reach back to the autographs themselves. [25]

The small number of poorly distributed manuscripts on which it is based leaves the Critical Text uniquely vulnerable at times to outliers.

In particular, two omissions in the Critical Text reveal the depth of this problem in John:

5:3 …waiting for the moving of the water,

5:4 because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who went in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had.

(John 5:3-4)

7:53 So each one went to his house.

8:1 And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives

8:2 But at the break of dawn Jesus went to the temple courts again, and all the people were coming to Him. And He sat down and began to teach them.

8:3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand in the center

8:4 and said to Him, “Teacher, we found this woman in the very act of adultery.

8:5 Now in our law Moses command us to stone such women. So what do You say about her?”

8:6 They said this to test Him, so that they might have an accusation against Him. But Jesus stooped down and started to write on the ground with His finger.

8:7 So when they persisted in asking Him, He looked up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her!”

8:8 Then H stooped down again and wrote on the ground.

8:9 But when they heard this they went out one by one, starting with the older men down to the very last. Only Jesus was left, with the woman in the center.

8:10 So when Jesus had straightened up, He saw her and said, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”

8:11 “No one, Lord,” she said. “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus told her, Go, and don’t sin any more.” (John 7:53 thru 8:11)

The great irony is that most English translations of the Critical Text translate both of these passages, while bracketing and/or footnoting them as not in in the original text. [26]

Not only does the Living Waterprovide a Majority Text translation of John, but Absolutely Free Incorporated makes these Gospels of John available for evangelism by publishing and distributing them for free. Nothing could be truer to the stewardship originally entrusted to our Lord’s disciples; nothing could be more helpful in promoting evangelism in the local church than access to the only book of the Bible explicitly purposed for the unbeliever to be saved, especially when the translation is both literal, highly readable, and free.

Conclusion: An Evangelist’s Commentary

Many famous scholars have authored commentaries on John—why countenance an evangelist’s commentary? Pastors and their flocks need to understand and have confidence in the Gospel of John as a vital eyewitness ordained by God explicitly for the work of evangelism. In very broad strokes, the good news recorded by John and testified to by the apostles is the two-fold message of the cross: 1) The crucified and resurrected Lamb of God has taken away the sin of the world (John 1:29) successfully completing the work entrusted to Him by the Father and declaring, It is finished (John 19:30). 2) To this day, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, offers the gift of eternal life or life in His name absolutely free to all those who believe in Him and His promise of eternal life. This simple two-fold message of the cross testified to by His disciples and recorded by the disciple whom Jesus loved is all too often obscured in the commentaries on John. The Gospel of John remains essential to the work of the evangelist and evangelism within the local church.

Appendix A: Nouns and Verbs—Gospel Verses Witness

Word	Matt.	Mark	Luke	Acts	John
The noun εὐαγγέλιον (gospel)	4	8	0	2	0
The noun μαρτύριον (testimony or witness)	3	3	3	2	0
The noun μαρτυρία (testimony or witness)	0	3	1	1	14
The noun μάρτυς (witness)	2	1	1	13	0
The verb εὐαγγελίζω (to preach good news)	1	0	11	15	0
The verb μαρτύρομαι (to bear witness, testify)	0	0	0	2	0
The verbμαρτυρέω (to bear witness, testify)	1	0	2	11	33
The verb ψευδομαρτυρέω (to bear false witness)	1	3	1	0	0
The verb καταμαρτυρέω (to testify against)	2	2	0	0	0
TOTAL	14	20	19	46	47

John uses the noun μαρτυρία (testimony or witness) and the verb μαρτυρέω (to bear witness, testify) 47 times. Total word usages show a greater preponderance in Acts (46 times) and John. In Acts, Luke uses the noun εὐαγγέλιον (gospel) and the verb εὐαγγελίζω (to preach good news) 17 times; the three synoptic gospel accounts, 24 times. In marked contrast, the noun εὐαγγέλιον (gospel) and the verb εὐαγγελίζω (to preach good news) are not found in John’s account. While Luke uses verbs and nouns associated with witness or testimony 29 times, he only uses these words 8 times in his gospel account. Matthew uses words associated with witness or testimony 9 times and Mark 12 times.