Intro to John
Hello Blog Readers!
It has been months since my last post and I was delighted to see that despite not having put out new content, I’ve had a regular stream of visitors from all over the world. I’ve been contributing in this online space for the last 10 years and am always amazed that God consistently brings believers to engage with Him through my posts. What started out as an act of gratitude as my family of four moved into the house He built for us, has become a space for me to grow alongside you and share out what He is doing in me as He builds His church. Thanks for sticking with me as a took a break this summer. God gave the green light this week at work as a coworker (Thanks B!) encouraged me to get back to my writing, which was the nudge I was needing.
This post is a preview of a new series I’m developing and intend to put out each week. It’s not a bible study or a devotional, but a hybrid of the two. I’m calling it “biblical meditations” as the hope is you would slowly digest a portion of scripture and reflect on it, being aware of the things the Holy Spirit brings to light as you engage with the guided process. Here is a road map of what to expect:
1. Orientation-the big picture view of where the passage falls within the narrative arc of the book
2. Introduction-an introduction to give context to the reader
3. Prayer-a short prayer based on our reading for the day to prepare your heart
4. Meditation-time to read and reread the passage, taking God’s word in deeply
5. Paraphrase-rewriting a phrase or verse that the Holy Spirit brings forth during meditation
6. Reflect-journaling some personal application from the passage
7. Pray-a guided prayer with space for you to respond authentically
The book we will be working through is the book of John. As I normally do before starting a new series, I’ll be spending the rest of this post giving you an brief overview of the book.
The author of John is John the apostle, not John the Baptist. He was one of the inner 3 among Jesus’ disciples and refers to himself as “the one Jesus loved” throughout the book. The genre is gospel-a narrative recounting of what Jesus said and did and how people responded. Though there are four gospels, John stands out by some stylistic differences. Instead of parables, the teaching mostly comes from discourse between Jesus and others. By reading John, we also gain unique insight into the Passion story, the week leading up to His crucifixion, as half the book is spent on this time in the life of Jesus.
John was written to all people, believers and non-believers, for the purpose of proclaiming Jesus was the promised Messiah and that by believing in Him, can have eternal life[1]. For the believer, this book is rich in theology. For the non-believer, it is made clear who Jesus claims to be and the necessity of trusting in Him for salvation.
John incorporates many stylistic conventions to show who Jesus is. The first half of the book is a series of miracles which are connected to a discourse or teaching. You will also notice many contrasts: light/dark, life/death, love/hate, etc. to show simple spiritual principals. Jesus also describes himself through symbolism. In John we read the famous “I am” statements, where Jesus highlights aspects of His character by comparisons familiar to the audience.
If you’d like to take things deeper, here are some suggested ways to overview the book:
-read the book introduction in a study bible
-watch a book overview at https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/john/
-read through the book in it’s entirely
-Get John by R.C. Sproul and use it as we study each section. This commentary is approachable for beginners.
-share this website with a friend, do the meditations separately, then get together and talk about it
Looking forward to diving into John with you over the next year! -Rayna
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