Thesis

John 1: 6-18; 20:30-31

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. ⁹The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹²But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴And 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. 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.’ ”) ¹⁶For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. ^20:30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹but 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.

I still remember my days as a student when the teacher taught the lessons on how to write a good five paragraph essay. The first thing we had so work on was the thesis statement. I would spend the greatest amount of time writing that statement because if it was solid the rest of the essay just seemed to flow together and typically it was placed toward the end of the first paragraph. Apparently, John didn’t go to class the day they taught this topic, because he has placed his thesis statement at the end of the book! But it ties in with our reading for today and thus the addition of the verses from John 20.

There are a couple of things going on in our reading for today. First we are introduced to John the Baptist who was sent by God as a forerunner of Jesus. Seen by the people of his day and by scholars for generations as actually being an Old Testament prophet, John announces the coming of the Messiah while being very careful to make sure we don’t look at him (John the Baptist) as the Messiah in any way.

“It was important for the apostle John to identify the role of the Baptist because apparently some people followed the Baptist instead of Christ or otherwise confused the missions of the two (Acts 19:3, 4; Matthew 21:25; Luke 9:18, 19). It was more important, however, for John to establish that reliable witnesses, beginning with the Baptist, have testified to the light. After four centuries of silence from God’s prophets, the Baptist heralded the coming of the light into the world. This gospel reveals his testimony and others for one purpose, as said here of the Baptist, so that through him all men might believe.”

Baumler, G. P. ©1997. John (pp. 12–13). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House.

Then we come to the pivot point of the reading.

¹⁴And 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. ^20:30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹but 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 gets to the thesis statement of the book, or theme verse if you will. Jesus came in human flesh and lived here with us and the reason John wrote this book about his personal witnessing of Jesus' life so that YOU might believe the truth that He is the Son of God and your Savior. As we read through the book of John, keeping his goal in mind will prove helpful. Once again, just as with the Revelation, this book is completely Christ-centered. If you are constantly looking for and at Jesus as you read these words you will always find truth. John was laser focused. He wanted people to know Jesus personally. I believe that’s why it this book is written in such a personal manner. Jesus is personal for each and every one of us. We may live here together but we die alone, each one having to rely on his/her own relationship with the Lord Jesus for salvation. Your mama (or her faith) can’t save you – not this time.