Stories in the Gospel of John

God’s hand guiding the lives of real people

Table of Context

• The Word and John the Baptist, read John 1:1-34
• Jesus meets His first disciples, read John 1:35-51
• Jesus’ first miracle- changes water into wine, read John 2:1-12 
• Jesus talks to Nicodemus, read John 3:1-21
• Jesus and the Samaritan woman, read John 4:1-42
• Jesus Heals a Royal Official’s Son, read John 4:43-54
• Jesus heals a man paralyzed for 38 years, read John 5:1-15
• Jesus feeds 5000, read John 6:1-15
• Jesus Walks on Water, read John 6:16-21
• Jesus the Bread of Life, read John 6:25-71
• Jesus heals a man born blind, read John 9:1-41
• Jesus the Good Shepherd, read John 10:1-42
• Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, read John 11:1-57
• Mary anointed Jesus, Jesus Triumphal Entry, read John 12:1-50
• The Last Supper, read John 13:1-38
• Jesus comforts His disciples, read John 14:1-31
• Jesus’ final words to His disciples, read John 15:1-16:33
• The Empty Tomb and Jesus’ appearances, read John 20:1-31
• The Miracle Catch, Peter Reinstated, read John 21:1-25

Introduction

To understand what John wrote about, we need to understand who John was and why and when he wrote his eyewitness account of Jesus’ ministry. We will look for God’s hand in the stories he tells in his Gospel. I will add a hand

where I see God’s guiding hand. You may see others that I missed. The truth in this Gospel can deepen our relationship with Jesus.

First, we need to ask who, what, where, why, and when about the people we meet in the Gospel. We will try to put ourselves in their shoes and think about God’s hand guiding their lives. Once we get a sense of that information, as we go through the stories, the all-important question will be how that truth applies to our life.

I have always been intrigued by the people that make a cameo appearance in Scripture and yet have a profound influence in God’s overall plan. A few of them are part of the backstory of John’s writing. In the first part of Luke’s Gospel, we see three of them. Zechariah and Elizabeth, John the Baptist parents, and Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. These three people built into the lives of Jesus and John as they grew and yet we know very little about them. That is intriguing to me. We underestimate what effect we can have in His Kingdom by living our life seeking His will daily.

In Luke 1 we are told that Jesus’ mother Mary and John the Baptist’s mother Elizabeth are related, so Jesus and John the Baptist are cousins. We can see God’s guiding hand in the accounts.

Luke 1, John the Baptist’s birth announcement

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive

, and they were both very old.

⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot

, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

¹³ But the angel said to him

: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to drink wine or other fermented drinks, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 

Mary visits Elizabeth

(In Luke 1, the Angel told Mary) ³⁶ Even Elizabeth, your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb

, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

 ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!”

I find it interesting that the scripture says, “Mary hurried”. Mary, as normal in her time for a young lady, matched up with a family heading where she was going. From where she lived it was a 90-mile journey, and they traveled on foot or by wagon. I guess hurry is a matter of the era you live in.

Elizabeth’s reaction when she heard Mary’s voice must have been reassuring to confirm to Mary that she was really carrying the Son of God. Imagine the conversations Elizabeth and Mary had while Mary was staying with her. Imagine the stories they both told the boys as they grew up. Even though they lived 90 miles apart, the families would see each other when all traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover, etc.

The Four Women at the Cross

Another interesting fact is found describing the four women listed at the cross during Jesus’ crucifixion in Matthew, Mark and John’s writings.

Matthew 27:55-56, “Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.”

Mark 15:40, “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome.”

John 19:25, “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”

In the reference book “Everyone in the Bible”, I discovered this information.

1. Mary, the mother of James (a disciple but not John’s brother) is the wife of Clopas.

2. Salome is the wife of Zebedee.

From the above information we then understand who the women were-

Matthew places Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome.

Mark places Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.

John places Jesus’ mother, her sister, Mary the mother of James and Mary Magdalene.

Salome is then the sister of Jesus’ mother. When I think of Mary and Salome being sisters, I wonder about their conversations about Mary’s pregnancy before she left for Bethlehem. Imagine two young women marveling at the thought of what will be.

This makes Jesus John’s cousins. Which makes Jesus, John and John the Baptist all cousins. Imagine John’s early years as he grew up and heard about his older cousins. We so often think of these three men as superhuman. Thinking about them as children and then teens help us see them as real people doing what God planed for their lives. God also has a plan for each of us. My hope is seeing the people in the stories in this Gospel will help us see God in our lives.

Who, What, Why, Where, and When about the Gospel

Who wrote this Gospel- John the Apostle

John was Jesus’ younger cousin, about 10 years younger.

John was also John the Baptist cousin.

John’s father Zebedee was a disciple of John the Baptist

John and Andrew were originally disciples of John the Baptist. (1:35)

John and Andrew were the first two disciples to follow Jesus. (1:37) 

John was in Jesus’ inner circle with Peter and John’s brother James.

The three were at the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration, etc.

John called himself the disciple that Jesus loved in this Gospel.

John was the last disciple Jesus talked to before He died where Jesus gave John responsibility for His mother (19:26-27).

What and Why he wrote it-

John’s goal with his Gospel is stated very clearly in John 20:30-31. His desire was that reading this would bring us to understand that Jesus is the Messiah.

Where and When did he write it-

John wrote this Gospel while serving as a pastor in Ephesus. He was pastor there more than 50 years. John was around 80 years old when he wrote this Gospel, somewhere around 85 to 95AD.

John had been preaching for over 50 years about his eye-witness account of Jesus and the three years of ministry he was part of. Imagine being one of the generations of people sitting at his feet as he told the stories over and over. The other three Gospels were written and distributed years before John’s Gospel (around 50 to 60AD). John certainly read the other Gospels to his congregation and taught from these writings for years. In his Gospel, John was filling in information the other three gospels left out. John’s explanation of why he wrote what he did is very clear in John 20:30-31. He couldn’t possibly write it all down.

As we go through John’s Gospel, let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the 20-year-old John as he travels this amazing journey with Jesus and the other disciples for three years. Turn to the Gospel of John and let’s begin. What is 80-year-old John thinking as he begins to write? It would be interesting to have sat with him as he wrote down, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, what he experienced and to hear his thoughts before they were written would be amazing.

The stories and the people whose lives were touched.