John Introduction

Introduction

John was a disciple of Jesus. At the end of his book John tells why he wrote the story of Jesus. “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. If you believe this, you will have life because you belong to him.”

John begins the book by using the words from the Bible’s story of creation. These words are “In the beginning.” By using these words John shows us that Jesus’ story is about a new creation. The first story of creation takes place in seven days. So John uses the number seven in his new creation story too. In the Bible the number seven means that God has finished his work. Then we can see what God wants.

Seven times John shows Jesus using the words “I am” for himself. In the Old Testament God used those words to say who he was. John also shows Jesus performing seven mighty signs. All of this was to help people believe in Jesus.

John tells the story of Jesus’ life in two parts. The first part tells about Jesus’ teachings and mighty acts. John does this to make clear that Jesus really is the promised king of Israel. The second part tells about Jesus’ teaching during the last week of his life. And it tells about Jesus’ death and resurrection. When Jesus was raised from the dead, John uses the words “On the first day of the week.” This shows that it was the first day of the new creation.

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John Introduction: NIrV

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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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