John: More Than a Biography (Introduction)

I hold in my hand a book written by Andrew Bonar. It is a biography of a man by the name of Robert Murray McShane. Over my years of living, which has been 67 of them, almost 68, I have read many biographies.

But there's one biography that stands head and tails above them all. And it's this one. It's about a man whose ministry spanned six and a half years.

He lived to be 29 years of age. He died two weeks before his 30th birthday. He pretty much turned Scotland upside down with the gospel.

He pastored Dundee Church in Scotland. And yet his ministry only spanned six and a half years. When he died, historians tell us that 7,000 people gathered as a memorial.

That was in an age where there was no television, no social media. Word was given by horseback or word of mouth to make sure others heard about what had taken place. So by the time he died and the time they gave the memorial service a few days later, 7,000 people would gather to celebrate the life of one man who turned Scotland upside down with the gospel.

In fact, it was Charles Spurgeon who said these words about Mr. McShane. He said, this is one of the best and most profitable volumes ever published. The memoir of such a man ought to surely be in the hands of every Christian and certainly every preacher of the gospel.

The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray McShane by Andrew Bonar stands heads and tails above every other biography written by any other man simply because in six and a half years he turned a country upside down. I have on my desk in my office a quote by Mr. McShane. And that quote stares me in the face every time I open my Bible, every time I sit in my chair.

This is the quote. In fact, I think it's the best quote ever given for any pastor who's ever lived. This is what it says.

Mr. McShane is writing to a fellow colleague and in his letter he explains this.

Do not forget the culture of the inner man. I mean of the heart. How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his saber clean and sharp. Every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember, you are God's sword, his instrument.

I trust a chosen vessel unto him to bear his name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus.

A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. That is what characterized the life of Robert Murray McShane. Something about a holy instrument being the most awful weapon in the hand of the living God.

And it's a reminder to us as fathers, it's a reminder to us as leaders, especially a reminder to us as pastors, that as God's chosen vessels you're used by God for the glory of his precious name. But the memoirs and remains of Robert Murray McShane is a book about one man's life. It's a biography.

And as great as the biography is, there is a greater biography. In fact, there are four authors of that biography, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And yet their biography is not about a man necessarily who lived a great life.

It's about the God-man who gives life, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are about to embark on a study of the Gospel of John, John's unique gospel, which by the way, 93% of John is not in the other three Gospels. So it is unique.

It's written 20 to 30 years after the other writers wrote about the Christ. But John's gospel is so unique that he gives us the Christmas story in four English words, four Greek words. He gives us the Christmas story at its greatest description.

And he does it without any of the historical figures, but with all the theological facts. That's what makes John's gospel so unique. And the gospel is found in verse 14 of chapter one in four words.

The word became flesh. That's the Christmas story. No Mary, no Joseph, no shepherds, no Bethlehem, no manger, no cradle, no sheep, no hay, just the word became flesh.

The historical figures are unique in and of themselves. But the theological facts are what defined for us Christmas. The word became flesh.

And the word is defined in verse number one of John's gospel, first chapter, where it says that in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, or literally God was the word. And so you realize that God became flesh. It's a summation of the Old Testament's theological facts about Christmas.

But in the Old Testament, it's in one word, and in the New Testament, it's in four words. But the one word in the Old Testament is translated with four words. And that's found in Isaiah 7, verse number 14.

And that is Emmanuel, which translated means God is with us. So four words in the Old Testament, four words in the New Testament, give us all we need to know about the Christmas story. And we are about to embark on the greatest story of the greatest man who ever lived, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Such a unique gospel as John writes it. It was Martin Luther who said that this book is the unique and tender and genuine chief gospel. You see, John is more than a biography.

John is the gospel. It's the good news. The gospel writers give us the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

It screams nothing but good news. They just do it from different perspectives. It was William Barclay in his commentary on John who said this, for many Christian people, the gospel according to St. John is the most precious book in the New Testament.

It is the book on which above all they feed their minds and nourish their hearts, and in which they rest their souls. For John has the most penetrating gaze of all the New Testament writers into the eternal mysteries and the eternal truths and the mind of God. Many people find themselves closer to God and Jesus Christ in John than in any other book in the world.

Most of us, as new believers, began our reading in the gospel of John. And that's because John's gospel is written with simplicity. It's written with sublime words.

In fact, very, very often he describes everything in no more than two syllables. Every once in a while he will embark on a three-syllable word, but for the most part it's the easiest gospel to read. So let me, as we introduce to you the gospel of John, give you the ABCs of our introduction.

First of all, the author, then the background, then the characteristics, and then your decision. The ABCs by way of introduction. Let's talk first of all about the author.

John's name is not mentioned by him. He doesn't say that he is the author. He is referred to ten different times in his gospel, but five times he's referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

In fact, it says over in John 13, now they were leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. That's how he refers to himself. And think about that with me if you will.

Jesus never asked John, do you love me? But he asked Peter, do you love me? But never asked John that question. In fact, he asked Peter that question and the response was, if you love me, feed my sheep. If you love me, tend to my lambs.

If you love me, do this. But to John he said this. John chapter 19, verse number 26, when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold your son.

Then he looked at John and said, behold your mother. As Christ hung on the cross, as he thought about his mother, he entrusted his mother into the care of one man, the man who knew he was loved by the Lord and the man who truly loved his God. Historians tell us that John cared for Mary until she died.

But it's interesting to note that even though he was known as the disciple whom Jesus loved, he was also known as Boanerges, a son of thunder. In fact, he had a brother named James. They were called the sons of thunder.

So even though he was the disciple whom Jesus loved, and even though he was the one that Jesus truly loved and entrusted his mother to, he was an impetuous man. He was a ferocious man. He was an explosive man.

He was the one who wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume those who would not follow Christ or believe in Christ. This is the disciple whom Jesus loved. In fact, he says in his epistle, in 1 John 3, verse number 1, he says, Oh, what manner of love is this that the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God? The word he uses is potapen, which means something that's from another world, from another, not just another generation, but something that's otherworldly.

What otherworldly kind of love is this that the Father would bestow upon us that we should be called the children of God? John was so overwhelmed with God's love because he was such a ferocious man. He was called the son of thunder along with his brother James. And yet God loved him.

And he recognized that. And he responded to that in a very unique and special way. And John, as he writes 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, you'll notice the great contrast because John was somebody who was not a gray man.

He was a black and white man. Everything he wrote was in black and white, stark contrasts. Contrasts like light versus darkness, life versus death, spirit versus flesh, the redeemed and the lost, the righteous and the unrighteous.

He was a man of stark contrast. He didn't mince words. He made it very clear what he believed and what others would believe if they were true followers of Christ.

Because he was a true follower of Christ. He truly loved the Lord and was overwhelmed that the Lord would even love him. I wonder if you are in that category of people who are overwhelmed that God would even love you.

The Bible says that God loves the world. I don't understand that. I don't grasp that magnitude of love.

But God's love is uniquely different than ours. It's infinite. Ours is finite.

His is perfect. Ours is imperfect. But John was able to recognize God's love for him, and he responded in a way by helping other people know how they could be loved by God as well.

What a great man he was. At the end of his life, he was banished to the Isle of Patmos. He was the only one of the twelve that we know of that was not martyred.

He died an old man. But before he died, he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos in which he would receive the great revelation of the return of Christ. His writing was somewhere around 95 or 96 AD, which is very important to understand because he was exiled under the reign of Domitian.

And Domitian reigned from 88 AD to 98 AD. He was exiled to that island, was able to receive the glorious vision of the return of Christ, and the book of Revelation explains all you need to know about the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. But that's the author.

How about some background concerning the gospel of John? John does it differently than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They write as if they have a videographer with them, and they're videotaping as they move along through the life of Christ. But John is more a snapshot kind of guy.

He gives you a snapshot of this and a snapshot of that, a snapshot of this and a snapshot of that. He doesn't do it necessarily in a chronological order, but in a very systematic kind of way to prove his point. In fact, there are four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels, but each of them has an emphasis. And I think you need to grasp this, because each gospel is an elongated version of one verse of the Old Testament. Let me explain it to you.

The book of Matthew is all about the royalty of the Messiah, the King has come. So Matthew writes about the King and his kingdom and all of his royalty. And in Matthew's gospel, you have a genealogy that traces the lineage of Christ back to David, so that you will know that he is the rightful heir to the throne, that he is the son of David.

He is the King of Israel. Very unique, the gospel of Matthew. And you can write in gold letters across the top of the book of Matthew, behold your King.

Phrase taken from Zechariah 9, verse number 9. So one verse, Zechariah 9:9, behold your King, is unfolded for you in the gospel of Matthew. You come to the book of Mark, Mark's gospel. So while Matthew emphasizes his royalty, Mark emphasizes his humility, because he emphasizes the servanthood of the Messiah.

So when you read the gospel of Mark, you have one key word that is spread all throughout the gospel, and it's the word immediately. Because servants act immediately when it comes to accomplishing their task. And Mark's gospel has a unique emphasis on the hands, arms, and feet of the Messiah, because it's the hands and the feet and the arms of the servant that do all the work.

And so you can write across the gospel of Mark these words, behold my servant. Isaiah 42, verse number 1. So Zechariah 9:9 is unfolded in the gospel of Matthew, and Isaiah 42, verse number 1 is unfolded in the gospel of Mark. You with me so far? You taking good notes? I hope so, because you'll be quizzed on this before you leave today.

I'm just kidding you. Then you come to the gospel of Luke. Oh, by the way, Mark has no genealogy in it.

Why? Because nobody cares about where a servant's from. That's important to understand that. Then you come to the gospel of Luke.

Luke is all about the humanity of Christ, and Luke has a genealogy. But the genealogy that Luke gives goes all the way back to Adam to prove the humanity of the Messiah. He is the son of man.

And so you can write in gold across the top of the gospel of Luke, Zechariah chapter 6, verse number 12, behold a man. So Zechariah 6, verse number 12 is unfolded in Luke's gospel. Then you recognize that Isaiah chapter 42, verse number 1 is unfolded in Mark's gospel.

Zechariah 9:9 is unfolded in Matthew's gospel. Then you come to the gospel of John, and John's emphasis is on the deity of Christ. So you have Matthew on his royalty, Mark on his humility, Luke on his humanity, and John on his deity, the son of the living God.

And there you're right across the top of the gospel of Luke, Isaiah chapter 35, verse number 4, which says, behold your God. See that? So one verse in the Old Testament is magnified in each of the gospels in a very specific and strategic way by the Spirit of God. All of it's inspired by God, but Matthew is going to unfold his kingship, and Mark's going to unfold his humiliation as a servant, and Luke's going to show us that he's the son of man, his humanity, the humanity that wraps around deity.

And then when you come to the gospel of John, ah, it's all about the Son of God. He is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. What an incredible understanding of how the Old Testament introduces to us the New Testament.

And now the New Testament is able to fulfill all that was spoken in the Old Testament, to show us the continuity of the Spirit of God as he begins to show us the beauty of all that's there. Now John's gospel does not contain certain elements. John's gospel does not contain the birth of Christ.

It doesn't contain the baptism of Christ. It doesn't contain the temptations of Christ. It doesn't contain the ascension of Christ.

In fact, it doesn't contain the Lord's Supper. It doesn't contain Gethsemane. In fact, John's gospel has no parables in it, none.

Interesting to note that John would not discuss any of the parables of our Lord. You also realize that in John's gospel, of the miracles he chooses, not one miracle deals with demonic activity in casting out demons, not one. But John does tell us about the first miracle, the wedding at Cana of Galilee.

The other gospels do not. He talks to us about the narrative with Nicodemus about what it means to be born again. The other gospels do not.

He incorporates the woman at the well and the conversation he has with her. The other gospels do not. In fact, he includes the raising of Lazarus, which the other gospels do not.

He also includes the washing of the disciples' feet, which the other gospels do not. And he incorporates in his book all that took place on the eve before the crucifixion when it came to discussing the ultimate comforter that would come, the Holy Spirit. The other gospels do not.

And then, of course, he records the high priestly prayer of Christ, which the other disciples or other apostles do not. So there's a lot of uniqueness to John's gospel that sets it apart from the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. For John's emphasis is proving the deity of Christ, that Jesus is the Son of God.

So when the Mormons come to your door and they say that Jesus is a brother of Lucifer, you say, no, he's not. He's the Son of God. When the Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door and say that Jesus is just Michael the archangel, no, he is the Son of God.

And the phrase that is used is huios, to describe son, which is very, very important because huios never is about origin. The word for that is teknon or brifos. Jesus is never called the little born one of God.

He is the Son of God, the huios of God. And huios is defined as position, equality, and the rightful heir of the Father. He is the Son of God.

You will note that John's gospel refers to God as Father 127 times because Jesus refers to God as his Father. You will also note that there was never ever in the history of Judaism where a Jew ever referred to God as my Father. God was a father of Israel in terms of a nation.

He was the father of the nation. But no Jew up until the time of Jesus ever referred to his Father in heaven as my Father because that would be blasphemous. But Jesus comes along.

He talks about his Father, my Father in heaven because he is the Son of God. He is equal in nature. He was equal in position as God.

That's what huios means. He is the Son of God. So John is here to prove to us in various ways that Jesus is who he said he was.

He is God in the flesh. So you move from the author to the background to the characteristics. And what I want you to see about this is just one verse because it gives us John's motive, John's message, and John's manner in which he gives us the message.

Turn to John chapter 20. Very familiar words. Verse number 30, Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

The motive by which John writes is that you might believe. That word is used 92 times in John's gospel. He's writing that you may believe.

Listen very carefully. If you have a family member that does not believe, this is where a family member needs to be every Sunday morning. If you have a friend that doesn't believe, this is where they need to be every Sunday morning.

Bring them with you. If you have to drag them with you, drag them here. However you can get them here, get them here.

Because if you ever want them to believe who Jesus Christ is and be a follower of Christ, they need to hear what John has to say. Because the whole motive behind him writing is that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and the Messiah is the Son of God. So whatever you do, if you have a friend or family member that doesn't believe, get some handcuffs, put it around your wrist, put the other one around their wrist, and bring them with you every Sunday morning.

And then you can unlock it when they leave, when it's over. But let them know, I want you to believe because John wrote, I want you to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. That's his whole motive for writing.

He uses the word witness 47 times. He used the word truth, truth some 66 times. He used the word know 117 times, because he wants you to know for certain who Jesus Christ is.

There's a great emphasis in John about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Do you believe in him? Do you know him? Do you understand the witnesses that talk to us about him? This is so important.

I can't emphasize it enough. That if you know someone who doesn't believe, do whatever you have to do to bring them with you, that they might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. That's his motive.

What's his message? That Jesus is God in the flesh. That's why he gives those eight I am statements, ago, a me, direct translation of the four Hebrew consonants that make up the tetragrammaton in the book of Exodus that describe God. In fact, when you read the gospel of John, let me suggest that you do this.

You take your shoes off. For in Exodus chapter 3, God said, take your shoes off. Moses, you're standing on the holy ground.

There is no more holier ground than the gospel of John, because every page is ablaze with the reality of the deity and glory of Christ. In fact, we should probably have some kind of place out in the foyer where you can take your shoes off. When you walk in here, because when you open up the gospel of John, it's all about seeing Christ as the son of God, the great I am.

That's why Jesus said, or John says in John 8, quoting Jesus, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. You must believe that Jesus is the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3. You must believe that.

If you do not believe that, you have another Jesus. If you have another Jesus, you'll never be saved. You have to believe in the Jesus of the Bible, because the Jesus of the Bible is the God of the Bible.

The Jesus of the Bible is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I try to explain to my Jewish friends, they have another God. They don't have the true God.

They will say, well, I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I say, no, you don't. Because if you did, you would believe in the great I am, that Jesus is the Messiah, who is the true and living God.

But you don't believe that. The Jews serve another God. I'm sorry to say that, but that's the truth.

And we must come to grips with the reality of the Bible says, Jesus is God. They do not believe that. They believe what the Muslims believe, that Jesus is just another prophet.

But that's the truth. Was he a prophet? Yes. Was he the prophet? Yes.

But he's much more than a prophet. He's the son of the living God. And so you read the witnesses of people like John the Baptist.

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Nathanael, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel. Peter, John 6, we believe and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.

Martha, John 11, yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, and He who comes into the world. Thomas, my God, my Lord, my King. You have all these witnesses.

You have the witnesses of the scripture, the witness of the Spirit, all saying the same thing. Behold, your God. One book that fulfills Isaiah 35, verse number 4. And the manner? He tells you.

And John chapter 20. Many other signs did Jesus do. Interesting that he has seven signs, seven miracles.

He chooses them very strategically, very specifically to inform us about what took place at a very unique time in the life of Christ to show you that all these signs prove without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is God in the flesh, that the Messiah is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He wants to prove to you that Jesus is the Son of God. And so he's going to begin in chapter 1, verse number 1, all the way through verse number 18, giving us an introduction to the Son of God.

And then in chapter 1, verse number 19, all the way to chapter 12, he's going to give us the public ministry of the Son of God. And then in chapter 13 through chapter 17, he's going to give us the private ministry of the Son of God. And then in chapter 18, 19, and 20, he's going to give us the passion ministry of the Son of God.

And then chapter 21 will be the conclusion. So you have an introduction in chapter 1, a conclusion in chapter 21. You have the public ministry, private ministry, and passion ministry of the Messiah.

That's how the book of John is outlined. Very simple, yet very, very important for us to understand that Jesus is the Son of God. The last point is D, and that is your decision.

What decision have you made about the Christ? Who is Jesus in your mind? Better yet, who really truly is Jesus? Do you see Him as the Bible portrays Him and proclaims Him? Do you see as you open up the perfect law of liberty, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, we with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord? We open up the gospel of John, and what do we see? We see the brilliant shining forth of the glory of God. And therefore, when you read it, you're being changed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, even as by the Spirit of God. If you want to be transformed, if you want to be changed, behold the face of God.

You see Him clearly in John's gospel. So who is Jesus, and what must I do to be saved? Boy, John will give that to you in great detail as he discusses his Christ encounter with Nicodemus. But interestingly, when you come to the end and Christ is before Pilate, He brings out Jesus, and He says, behold the man at a place called the Echohomo there in the city of Jerusalem.

Behold the man. Having been beaten beyond recognition, it's almost as if Pilate is saying, behold, He doesn't look like a man anymore, but He is a man because He's been beaten so severely and completely bloodied and marred and broken. He stands unrecognizable.

Behold the man. And then a little later on, He brings Christ out again, and He says to Israel, behold, you're a king. You're a king.

You're a king as a man, but stand in awe at your king. So Pilate would write the inscription that would be carried with Jesus and hung on the cross, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. And the Jewish leaders were upset.

Say that that's what He said. And Pilate said, I have written what I have written because He wrote the truth. Jesus of that despised village of Nazareth is your king.

But yet Luke 19 says, we will not have that king rule over us. I wonder if you made the decision for Him to rule over you, that the Son of the living God came in the flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, John says, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Because of the truth of the living God, He bestows grace upon those who are so undeserving.

That's me. That's you. Have you made the decision to be a follower of Christ? Let me pray with you.

Our most gracious heavenly Father, we are grateful for today, the brief moment that we could spend just introducing this marvelous gospel. And what lies before us are so many unbelievable pages of the glory of Christ. So with anticipation, we look to what you're going to reveal to us that we might truly believe.

I pray for everyone in the room that, Lord, they would be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would not leave without committing their life to the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And for those of us who know those that do not believe, compel us to bring them with us, that they might hear how the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld the beauty and splendor and glory of the Son of God. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our King.

Amen.