John: May We Believe and Have Eternal Life in Jesus Christ

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Open your Bibles, if you would, to the Gospel of John. Starting last year, in January, I began to preach a series of sermons through every book of the Bible. And the goal was to present each book one sermon at a time. So, we have made our way up from Genesis all the way now to the Gospel of John. And the reason for that is because a lot of times we can go years, if not decades, without hearing from God's word in certain portions, in certain books of the Bible. So, this way, I know it's a heavy dose; but you get an overview of all of the Bible. And I pray that it would be a great resource for us for years to come.

The title of the message is, “May We Believe and Have Eternal Life in Jesus Christ.” Have you ever witnessed to someone before? By witnessing, I don't mean inviting them to church; although that is a good start. By witnessing, I mean, have you given them the gospel? Not on paper but verbally? Have you shared the gospel with someone? And what I mean by the gospel is: have you told them enough of the truth of Scripture, so that they could be saved?

What should we include, though, when we share the gospel? I mean, there's 66 books pointing to the Messiah, pointing forward or looking back. I don't think anyone would give you that much time. But what do we need to tell them? What about Jesus's life? If you only have three minutes, what are you going to include, and what are you going to leave out? What are you going to tell them about God the Father? Do they need to know about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? What do they need to know about sin? Do they need to know what sin is, or that sin will send them to hell? Normally, that's kind of a showstopper; when you're talking to someone, if you mentioned hell, or sin or something like that. What about repentance? Should we include repentance? If you're familiar with the Scriptures, you know that Jesus, as he was going about his life saving people, he did not share the Gospel the same way every time. In fact, he didn't share a lot of things that we would say you would need to have--you must have--in order for someone to be saved.

So, what are the essential elements? What do you need to boil it down to? What must someone know in order to be saved? I would think you can summarize it this way: they must understand their sin, and they must understand the Savior. You think, “Oh, that's sounds pretty simplistic. I mean, Jesus could have just given us a couple of verses for that.” Well, he did give us some really good summary verses, which you see on signs at football games. But we must tell people that sin must be paid for, and belief in Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved -- the only way.

Jesus paid for sin through His life, death, burial and resurrection, and has ascended to the right hand of the Father. And belief in his Name can bring forgiveness; belief in his Name brings salvation. You say, “What about repentance? Didn't Jesus say to repent and believe?” Well, if you've been here for more than one Sunday, you've probably heard that 50 times. Yes, he did say, “Repent and believe.” But John doesn't even use the word “repentance” in the entire Gospel. Do you know what word John used to show repentance? There are multiple words he used, but the most common, or one of the most common, is “follow me.”

Jesus said, “Follow me. Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men.” That is, turn from the life you currently have to the life I will show you. Remember after the ascension, and Jesus is talking to Peter? He says, “Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Tend my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-19) Do you know the last thing he says in that section: “Follow me”? “Follow me.” That's what he wanted Peter to remember.

So, have we left anything out so far? How am I doing on my gospel presentation score? Are we missing some theologically loaded words? Some of you, I know, have the gospel memorized and many verses memorized about this. One word we're missing is “grace.” Right? What about grace? Does John talk about grace in his book? He uses it four times. That's it, four times. But you see, John's gospel is about Jesus. So, he says, “Jesus is full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) So in John's gospel, when he's talking about grace, he is pointing you to a person. Grace, of course is unmerited favor. But when you receive Jesus, you receive grace and truth, because you receive Jesus Christ. A person must of course understand they do not earn their salvation. No amount of good works can merit salvation or add any merit to the perfect finished work of Jesus Christ. You will hear that a lot out there, that you can have merited favor. But Jesus, of course, said “It is finished.”

But John's gospel is probably only paralleled by Romans. The theology of John's gospel, I would submit in the first eighteen verses, is some of the most dense and wonderfully packed scripture in all of the Bible. You see, John just doesn't want us to have a little drop of Jesus. He wants it to be a downpour, a monsoon. He wants us to be overwhelmed with the grace, with the love of the person of Jesus Christ. You could say that John is about the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's a summary of John.

If you have your Bible journals, there, the little handouts, you can follow along. But these theologies, this gospel, this grace, it's all meant not to just provide knowledge. But it's meant to bring us to one place. And all the miraculous signs that are described in the book of John, and they are called signs; he describes it, and he wants it to bring us to a critical decision, a life-changing decision. And normally, you don't read the end of the book when you start, unless you're in school. But let's go to John chapter 20, verse 30, and see what the purpose of the book is. I love that he just spells it out here for us. John chapter 20, verse 30: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that [that's your purpose clause, if you will, 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.”

This is a powerful gospel. In fact, it is a life-changing gospel. And I want to ask you from the outset: “Is your life changed?” Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, having the very divine nature of the Father himself, the fullness on display, the fullness of God's glory manifested to us? Do you believe in that Jesus? Not the nice portrait that most commonly is given out there, but one that requires you and I to take up our cross, as Jesus Himself did. So, John gives us a deep theology of Jesus Christ. And I will do my best to overview it for you today, so that you, too, may believe and live a changed life.

When he says that Jesus is the Christ, that means that he is the Messiah. So, as you read that word over and over again, John is identifying Jesus as the Messiah. That's why he gives the account of John the Baptist, because John pointed to the One who was to come. And he says he is the Son of God, and you will see that over and over again. You need to know that what he is saying, ultimately, is that salvation is only possible in his name. There's only one God. So, what is John's focus as he tries to give us all of this theology? What word do you think he uses the most? Well, as I've already said, “repentance” has a big count of zero in John's gospel. “Obey,” your other favorite word, is used once. In John's gospel, “love” is used 57 times. And no, I did not count them; my software did. And “believe” is used 98 times.

John is about belief. It is about understanding. It is about faith in God. And just so you know, that is a lot in this gospel; that is almost three times more, using the word “belief,” than all the other gospels combined. Okay, so John has a laser-focus on this idea. The word “love” is used more than all the other gospels combined. But you need to know that John has a wide vocabulary for “repentance” and “obedience.” You didn't think I leave that out, did you? You see, if we search for “obey,” but then add to it “keep my commandments; add to it “follow me;” add to it “abide in me,” and add to it “bear fruit,” you have the second greatest collection of ideas in the book of John.

So, it's “belief,” “follow,” and “love.” And you'll see how all of those go together. And why does he talk about that? Because he wants you to understand true faith -- not just any faith -- but true faith, real faith, saving faith. If you want to grow your faith in Jesus Christ; if you want to have a deeper understanding of what it means to believe, then the Gospel of John is your book. You should pour into it, and let it saturate your heart and your mind and your life and help your understanding of what it means to believe.

So, you need to know that the apostle John, here, one of the 12, wrote this around 80 AD, maybe even as late as towards 90 AD – that would be roughly 50 years after Jesus ascended -- somewhere in that range. And the whole book can be divided into three sections. And I've put those sections there in your journal. They would be the public ministry of Jesus in chapters 1 to 12, the private ministry of Jesus in chapters 13 to 17, and the passion and resurrection of Jesus in chapters 18 to 21. So, instead of just telling you about John's gospel, which would be the surefire way to get through most all of it, let's get into the gospel.

Turn to chapter one, if you would, with me. And as I read chapter one: this is the public ministry of Jesus that you must know, the public ministry of Jesus that you must know. Look for references to the deity of Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Did you catch the reference to the deity of Jesus Christ: “The Word was God”? We just need to know who the Word is, which will be explained. Verse two, “He was in the beginning with God.” Well, how does that point to the Deity? Well, it's his pre-existent self before taking on flesh. Jesus is eternal; only God is eternal. You and I have a finite beginning. Jesus did not; so, it says “he was in the beginning with God.”

Verse three, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. [Sounds like Genesis, doesn't it? Because that is like Genesis.] In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” How is that a reference? Well, eternal life is only found in God alone. And John is saying, the life is in the person of Jesus. Verse five, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [That’s John the Baptist, not the author.] He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” That should be significant. How can the true light come into the world? In the person of Jesus.

Verse 10, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” We must receive the person of Jesus and believe in him to become children of God. We must receive Jesus -- not Buddha, not Hare Krishna, not self, not self-fulfillment, not the righteousness of our own life -- but in Jesus himself.

Verse 13, “who were born, [those who believe in him] who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” You must believe in the sovereign grace of God; that it is the will of God for you to be saved. And this is a particular salvation, because it just says in verse 11, “his own people did not receive him.” So, who did receive him? Those whom God had the will to be saved. That's verse 13. Verse 14, we normally like to go from one to 14. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Word who was God, right, and the Word was God became flesh. God became flesh.

Verse 15, “(John bore witness about him, and cried out ‘This was he of whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) [again the pre-incarnate existence of Jesus] For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [Where do we receive grace? From his fullness.] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” You'll later find out Moses spoke of him. So, we also receive truth through Jesus Christ. This is narrowing it down, over and over and over again. “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” Jesus is God at the father's side. That is quite a start, friends. And I would say that's a theological summary of the entire book of John. It clearly paints Jesus as divine, with explicit mentions of his divinity in verse one and 18. The first truth: Jesus is divine.

Next, still in the first chapter, John goes on to explain that he is, of course, the Messiah. Look in verse 23. “He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, [This is John the Baptist.] ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now you can turn over there, if you want, to Isaiah chapter 40, verse three. And this is why I think we need to be very careful about what word “Lord” we use. Isaiah 40, verse three says, “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of Yahweh; [Now this is gonna blow our theological brains here.] make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” So, when he is saying in verse 23, “make straight the way of the Lord,” he is saying, make straight the way of God, the Son. He is pointing in and trying to hedge in every single way he can, that Jesus is from God and is God. This is a robust truth for us to consider.

The Gospel has truth dripping from its pages. And a lot of this Gospel is unique. It's not found in the other gospels. A lot of the things Jesus did and said are given here from John the Beloved. And we don't find those in the other gospels. It's a very personal Gospel here. Then John the Baptist goes on to explain other things. And the apostle John relates to us that Andrew, Phillip and Nathaniel all declare Jesus to be the Messiah, with Philip in verse 45 of chapter one, saying that he's the one Moses wrote about. So, if you have the first five books of the Bible, you have testimony about who? -- about Jesus. He is the Messiah.

But in verse 29, it is declared, “’Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” Over and over and over again, you're going to see John force you and force me to consider these deep truths, and then come back to the point that Jesus is the one who takes away sin. “But isn't God the one who forgives in Psalm 133 and four and a host of others? It's God who can take away iniquity. It's God alone.” So, as you think through this terminology that John is using, he at times will be very explicit; and at times he will make great inferences to the theology of Jesus's person and work.

Well, being a master teacher himself, the apostle John records seven miracles of Jesus. And I guess if you add the resurrection and him causing Peter and his boys to bring in a lot of fish after the ascension, there would be nine miracles; but in his public ministry in chapters one through 12, John gives us the seven signs for Jesus, and they're not just signs like, “Oh, wow, he's got power.” The Bible doesn't just say things for no purpose and no reason. And I want to show you just one of these. And it points to Jesus's glory.

Have you ever considered what it means to see the glory of Jesus or the glory of God? It's one of those words that you can describe, but not quite define. What do we have something concrete that explains Jesus's glory? Remember, in verse 14, “we have seen his glory.” What are they talking about? Well, remember, it says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,” John chapter one, verse 14. So, what did they see besides Jesus himself? They say that they've seen his glory.

Well, do you remember the first sign that he did? Turn to John chapter two, verse 10, if you would. This is the account of him turning the water into wine. And at the end, after Jesus turns the water into wine, and they take it and they give it to everyone, and the master of the wedding ceremony has something to say; and he says, “You've kept [in verse 10] you've kept the good wine until now.” So, the nonbeliever, maybe believer, we don't know, but the one who didn't see Jesus do that, declaring that this water is indeed wine. He didn't know it was ever water. So, we see this miracle of Jesus where he makes a lot of wine for all the guests. Verse 11, John 2:11, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

His miraculous power was a manifestation of his glory. So, when you think about Jesus's glory, you now know what to think about. You see, the seven signs in John, the seven miracles that are recorded, are signs of the power and glory of Jesus, which point to who he really is. “And his disciples believed in him,” it says. They, at least at this point, believed that he had the power to do things no one else did. Which makes Jesus unique. Isn't that the point of John's gospel: is to have us believe. And after we see the first sign, his disciples believe in Jesus and who he is and what he's showing. They don't say, “Oh, you're just tricking us.” They don't say, “We shouldn't follow you anymore.” Because of the miracles, people believe in Jesus. That's what miracles do. They point to Christ.

Well, there are seven of them, which since I only have an hour, we're not going to go over them. But you can read through them. And I want to move ahead to chapter 12. See, we just made up a lot of ground there. You thought that we were going to be here three hours. This is the triumphal entry. And I know we read some of this today, but I just want us to soak it in even more. John 12:12, “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed it as he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!’”

This is, of course, the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, and it is showing that Jesus is the one; there is no other one to look to. That's what this triumphal entry means. All the people knew he was the one, that there wasn't another Messiah; they were saying he comes in the name of the Lord. They were saying “the king of Israel.” In other words, he's in the line of David, as others account show us, and they were saying “Hosanna!” They were praising Him. They should praise no one but God alone. And the crowd, here, they have their theology: it’s about as good as it's gonna get. And there's hundreds of 1000s of them. They did, of course, miss that his earthly kingdom was not yet. But other than that, they had a pretty good idea that this is the only one that we should be considering right now.

You wonder why did he say all these things? Why did John go into all this detail? It's that: to help us to know there is no other. Years ago in work, I had lots of conversations about the gospel before I was a pastor, before going to seminary and things; and people would ask me about Jesus Christ: “Who is he and “What has he done?” And “How do you know that he's the only one? There's so many religions out there? How do you know he is the only one?” And I would say, “Well, Jesus says that he is exclusive.” There's not: Jesus plus someone else. It's not just the “coexist” bumper sticker idea. It is that Jesus is the only one. So, if you just start with the only leader in all the world who claimed to be God, incarnate -- not reincarnate, but incarnate -- then you just have to figure out who Jesus is. And if you decide and land on the fact that Jesus is God, now you don't need to go look into everything else. But if you do look into everything else, you'll see how unsustainable their worldview is.

So many people were going after Jesus, even the Pharisees. In chapter 12, verse 19, said, “’Look, the world has gone after him,’” speaking of the magnitude of the crowds. And I want to point out here, too, we remember God speaking to Jesus in his baptism, remember God speaking on the Mount of Transfiguration; but there's a third place where God speaks. And it's in verse 27 of chapter 12. Jesus is being honest with the things he's about to endure. And he says, “’Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’” Do you ever feel like that? Sometimes pastors might feel like that on Sundays, I guess, “save me from this hour.” But do you ever feel like “I can't take this. I'm on empty, and I've got 100 miles to go.” Jesus was being real.

And then he says this most amazing statement. “’But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’” The Father confirming the purpose and the obedience of the Son. It's not just man's testimony now. It is the Father's testimony once again.

And I think for you and I, we can learn a little bit about the power of glorifying God, because sometimes we just throw around the verses that talk about, you know: “What's your purpose?” “Well, to glorify God and enjoy him forever, but life's horrible.” And we're like, what does that mean? How do I glorify God when I'm brushing my teeth; and we kind of make these interesting questions. But there really is so much power and purpose in it. Jesus' fortitude and diligence and strength to go to the cross was wrapped up in his determination to glorify God.

How much strength does glorifying God give you in your life? Does it just stay in this kind of, “I think I understand what that means.” “I'm supposed to live the way I'm supposed to live.” Or does it propel you? Does it prepare you for whatever is coming? You see, the sovereignty of God brings many things into your life and the troubles that come, God has also prepared you to handle to give him glory. Because we say, “Our lives are not about us; they're about Christ.” “It's not I who live, it's Christ who lives in me.” “It's not my strength; it's his”. It's, “when I'm weak, he is strong,” and because of that, it gives God glory in all that I do.

He was 100% motivated by glorifying God. And in your deep and darkest trials, I pray that we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, to be strengthened by the purpose of glorifying his name. And can I just add: it is in the deepest, darkest trials, that you will have the most opportunity to glorify God. When life is going well, anybody can be happy then. But where is your joy; where is your joy when you're in the ER? Where is your joy when you don't seem to get the recognition for all the work that you do? Where is your joy when you get passed up for promotions? Where is your joy when, you know, the friends say, “Man, I just love being around so and so,” and they never mention our name. Right? Where's our joy then? Where's our joy when we lose loved ones? Where is our joy? It comes in that deep and abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way. It is found in Christ and Christ alone.

Well, John is also going to give many I AM statements; there are seven I AM statements. Remember, God when he was talking to Moses in the burning bush. He said, “Who sent me?” Say, “I AM sent you.” So, there are statements of Jesus in this Gospel as well, seven of them. If you count all the statements where he uses the phrase “I am,” there's over 20. But we say there's at least seven where he says, “I am the bread of life.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the resurrection and the life,” and he's claiming for himself who he is. And there's one very significant statement that only his disciples hear.

And this leads us into the next section which we will call: the private ministry of Jesus that you must embrace, the private ministry of Jesus that you must embrace. And this is chapters 13 to 17. This section is called the farewell discourse. Why farewell? Because, well, he's going away. He's leaving. And he's saying things that are kind of hard to understand, like, “Abide in me.” “But you're leaving. And you even tell us we can't come with you.” “But you say that we have to be connected to you. What are you talking about?”

So, he gives them this I AM statement that you're very familiar with in John 14:6. “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Not religious rituals. Right? It's not, “come to the Father” through those things. It's not coming through tithing, and we all said “Amen.” It's not coming through the amount of time you spend in your quiet time and your prayer life. Again, we all said, “Amen.” It's not how well we do from day to day and having to live a perfect life. And again, we all say “Amen.” I know you're saying it in your mind.

But we think of this verse only in terms of salvation. But Jesus was talking to the disciples, and they wanted to know: “Where are you going? We don't know where you're going, how are we going to be with you?” Jesus told them it's through him. “No one comes to the Father except through me,” through me. You must have the way; I am the way. You must have me. I am the truth. You must have me if you claim to have the truth; you must have me. If you want eternal life, you must have me. This is during his last supper. He's going to wash their feet; he gives them these wonderful truths. He's going to tell them, “Even though I'm going away, it's to your advantage that I go away, because I'm going to send the helper.” And in chapter 16, the Holy Spirit is going to “convict the world of sin and unrighteousness and judgment.” Right? “The Holy Spirit is going to be there, and the Holy Spirit is going to remind you of everything that I've told you.” Why? It's gonna remind them of the truth.

That's where all true disciples want to be is with Jesus, to be with God. Friends, we must not be silent about this. We must not be vocal about the news and silent about Jesus. We must not be vocal about policy and silent about the truth. We must not be vocal when someone wrongs us, but silent when someone wrongs Jesus. See, if my life is not my own, and I've been bought with a price, then I have a purpose that is not my own. It is something given to me and something I must follow. We must share the way, the gospel with others. They need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, to confess with one's mouth and to believe in one's heart. To know, is to know Jesus.

Let me ask you, how well do you know Jesus? Would you say that you are learning significant things about Jesus in this church and whatever preachers you listen to? Are they speaking significantly about Jesus, or is it just Easter egg hunts and happy candy drops? Right? So many churches in the area, promoting insignificant things to draw us in. And we should demand more than that. We should demand the deep theological truth that is robust in the book of John, and so many books. You see, we can't grow on sugar candy; we need the meat; we need the substance.

And he wants you to know him more, not just so that you can use 50-cent words, but so that you can love him. He wants you to abide with him, to push off other things, to have time with Jesus, to say that, “I'm not going to do this, so I can be with you, Lord.” “I'm not going to go there, so I can be with the body.” “I'm not going to do the things that caused me to go away from Christ.” Why? That's because he loves you. That's the safest place to be, is in the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he doesn't just talk about love in that way. As I said, he talks about abiding; he talks about following. And he talks about all these different phrases. And he ties it in with love.

If you would, look at John 14:21 with me. And this is also for our benefit. You think obedience is just something that you know. It’s there to keep us away from things, but it's really there to draw us to something. John 14:21, “’Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’” Isn't that what we want, is to be loved: like a parent who loves their child, like a friend who stays by your side in adversity, like a mature believer who puts the needs of others first?

You see, obedience reveals a love for Jesus. But it comes with these three promises that I just read, three promises. One: “he who loves me will be loved by my Father.” Jesus will love him. And Jesus will make himself known to them. You see, sometimes we cry out for God to show himself to us, to in the words of verse 21, to “manifest” himself to us. “If I could just see a miracle, then I would believe.” No, then you would believe in the miracle. And if you didn't have that, you'd have no relationship with Jesus. Right?

We want God to manifest himself to us in some way. And in John 14:21, Jesus connects that manifestation with our love for Jesus. See, our obedience flows from love. And when it flows from love, we are loved by the Father, loved by Jesus, and we will have Jesus make himself known to us. How does that work specifically? The Holy Spirit will remind you of the things he has said, John 16. This is how the Father and the Son and the Spirit work in tandem to draw us specifically to himself, and to reveal himself specifically to us.

Well, this takes us to the final section. It should be point three: the passion and resurrection of Jesus that you must believe. Chapter 18, turn there with me if you would. So, we must know the truth. We must embrace the truth And, we must believe it. John 18:1-6 says this, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now, Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with the disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. [This is one of my favorite sections in all of Scripture. Verse four,] Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward [He invited what they were going to do.] and he said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ They answered him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I am he.’ Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. And when Jesus said to them, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”

If Jesus made everything, this is what describes real power: in the name of Jesus. Not just, that if you don't know what to say, say the name of Jesus; don't do that. It physically made people fall over to hear him say his memorial name, “I am he.” He's claiming to be God. Then, after showing his power with his very voice to overcome them, he submits himself to their plan. And in chapter 19, Jesus is flogged; he is beaten; he is crucified, and he declares, “It is finished,” in chapter 19, verse 30.

But there's one verse that happens, while Jesus is dead on the cross, and we sometimes overlook this. And you may remember this when we read it. But it attaches the purpose of the whole book to it once again. In John chapter 19, verse 34, says when Jesus is dead on the cross, “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness -- his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth -- that you also may believe.” Can you imagine being in the place of John, I wonder if this is why he took so long to write down the records and make them public for people.

Can you imagine standing there with Jesus' mother, whom Jesus just said, “Behold, your mother!” and “Mother, behold, your son!”. Standing there as Jesus' side is pierced, and there's nothing you can do about it. It is profound. And he wants us to know exactly what happened, even though this is a gut-wrenching recounting of what he saw with his own eyes, so that you may believe. John was beloved but John also loved. He had a heart for the lost. This is what a heart for the lost looks like, even recounting difficult things for the benefit of others. He says, “I was there and I tell you the truth.” That's what John is about.

Well, after three days, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Even though Peter and John ran to the tomb, Jesus waited to appear to someone until they ran off again. A little patience might have gotten them a quick glimpse of Jesus. Mary wasn't going anywhere; she got to see him and cling to him. And what a great privilege for Mary. Later that day, the ten disciples, at that point, got to see Jesus; he appeared in a room to them. “Well, wasn’t there 11, at least?” Well, Judas was gone at this point, and Thomas was nowhere to be found. So, he had to wait another eight days to see Jesus, probably the longest eight days of his life, feeling left out, I'm sure.

But John ends with telling of the compassion of Jesus in John chapter 20, verse 24. And he appears when Thomas is there, and you know, the disciples by now had already told him, “Hey, we've seen the risen Lord, and you missed it.” And he's like, “Unless I see his hands and see the scar, I will never believe.” All the disciples were the same way in some measure, shape or form. They didn't believe the women when they came back from the tomb, right, to say that Jesus had risen from the dead, and they’re like, “Oh, you're just telling a tale.” I mean, it should have been rejoicing. So, Thomas gets a little bit of a bad rap. He didn't have much different thought than any of them.

But I wonder if Jesus heard him, in his divinity, say these things, even though he wasn't there. And I think you'll see the answer here. John, chapter 20, verse 24, “Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ [Verse 26] Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. And although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; [Can you imagine Jesus, just, “Here you go. Put out your hand and place it in my side. Here you go”?] Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord, and my God!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

“My Lord and my God” is what all true followers call Jesus Christ. It was the most information they had had. It was the most eyewitness testimony they had received. It was the greatest moment in Thomas' life. And he didn't just say, “I knew it.” He called Jesus his Lord, his Savior, his God. Is Jesus your Lord and God? If so, then you can be comforted with the words of John in verse 30 and 31, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 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.”

Dear friend, if you do not know Jesus, turn to Jesus now. Not later today. You are not guaranteed later today. I think it was last year that one of the men in seminary at the Master’s seminary was older, older than me. So, he's really young. But he was older, and he walks across the stage, gets his diploma; and at the bottom of the steps, four steps later, drops dead. You are not guaranteed later today. I beg you. You will not be disappointed by avoiding the eternal fires of hell and believing in Jesus Christ. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed, dear friends, who have believed. Increase your faith by reading John. Learn more about your belief in your beloved Savior.

Let's pray. Lord God, you are Lord, and you are God. We pray for salvation of anyone who doesn't know you. We pray for our family members and the lost that they would repent and turn to you, that they would put their belief in you, Lord, that they might be saved. My friends, let's just take a moment right now and ask God to help us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal life that we have in Him. Dear Lord God, what a powerful message; what a powerful portrayal John gave us of your life. Dear Lord, I pray that You would help us to do anything it takes to share Jesus with others this week. Thank you for writing this down and sharing him with us. In your precious, Holy Name. Amen.