Sermon
#43[1] Through The Bible Series
Title: John ― Christ
the Son of God
Text: John 20:30-31
Introduction:
The apostle John tells us
exactly what his purpose was in writing his gospel narrative (20:30-31).
(John
20:30-31) “And many other signs truly
did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
(31) But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
John’s
purpose was not to tell us everything our Savior did and said while he was on
the earth, but to show us who he is, that “we might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, we might have life
through his name.”
There
is one word used throughout these 21 chapters. The word is the key to all
things spiritual, the key to spiritual life, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual
understanding. The word is “believe.” John uses it 98 times in this
Gospel. His intention is that “we might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing, we might have life through his name.”
May the God of all grace give us grace to go on believing “that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God.”
Difference
John
wrote his Gospel to show us that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of
God; and he begins his message by stating that fact clearly, emphatically and
beautifully (1:1-2).
(John
1:1-2) “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the
beginning with God.”
Matthew,
Mark and Luke are called “The Synoptic Gospels” because they each give us an
orderly, well-arranged narrative of our Savior’s earthly life and ministry,
describing (for the most part) the same events in different ways and for
different purposes.
John’s
Gospel is different. It was written much later than the other three. In the
Gospel of John we are given the inspired reflections of an old man who had
faithfully served the Son of God many, many years. With one foot in heaven, he
tells us of his all-glorious Christ, the Son of God, that we might believe him.
John’s
Gospel is neither a historical biography nor a theological textbook. Rather,
what we have here is the loving adoration of a saved sinner for his great
Savior, describing the greatness, grace, and glory of the Son of God as he had
experienced it.
Distinctive Features
There
are several things that stand out as distinctive features of John’s Gospel.
Unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John does not mention any of our Lord’s
parables. Yet, he was inspired to describe miracles not recorded by the other
writers. John alone tells us about…
· The Lord Jesus turning water
into wine at the marriage feast in Cana (2:1-11),
· The healing of the
nobleman’s son (4:46-54),
· The healing of the lame man
at the Pool of Bethesda (5:1-9),
· The feeding of the 5,000
(6:1-14),
· The Lord Jesus coming to his
disciples walking across the stormy sea (6:15-21),
· The healing of the man born
blind (9:1-7),
· And the resurrection of
Lazarus (11:38-44).
The
miracles described by John seem to have been specifically intended to lay the
foundation for something our Lord was about to teach. When the Master was about
to teach some great truth, he performed a miracle to illustrate what he was
about to say. He had a way of getting people’s attention.
1. Just before he drove the
money changers out of the temple and told how that he was about to build a
greater, more glorious Temple by his death and resurrection, our Savior turned
water into wine.
(John
2:11) “This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples
believed on him.”
2. Just before declaring
himself to be the Son of God, into whose hands the Father has committed all
things in chapter 5, our Lord healed the nobleman’s son and the impotent man.
3. Just before telling us that
he is the Bread of Life in chapter 6, our Savior fed 5,000 men with five loaves
of bread and two small fish.
4. The Lord Jesus came walking
across the stormy sea, showing his dominion over all things, teaching us to
trust him, just before his disciples saw the multitudes abandon him because of
the gospel he preached (chap. 6).
5. In John 8:12 our Savior
declared, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk
in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Then, in chapter 9, he
healed the man who was born blind and said, “I am the light of the world.”
6. After declaring to Martha, “I
am the resurrection and the life” (11:25), the Master went out to the tomb
and raised Lazarus from the dead.
“I
AM”
Another distinctive feature of John’s Gospel is the fact that he
alone gives us the seven “I AM” sayings of Christ. Seven
times the Lord says, “I am.” These sayings are very precious and give us
a delightful, instructive picture of our Redeemer.
“I AM” is the name by
which the Lord God revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 3:13-14.
(Exo
3:13-14) "And Moses said unto God,
Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me,
What is his name? what shall I say unto them? (14) And God said
unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children
of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
1.
"I am the bread of life"
(6:35). ― If we would live we must eat this Bread.
2.
"I am the light of the world"
(8:12). ― If we would see we must have this Light.
3.
"I am the door of the sheep"
(10:7). ― If we would enter into life we must enter by this Door.
4.
"I am the good shepherd"
(10:11). ― If we are saved we must be saved by this Shepherd.
5.
"I am the resurrection and the life"
(11:25). ― If we would be partakers of resurrection glory and eternal
life, he who is the Resurrection and the Life must be ours. We must trust him.
6.
"I am the way, and the truth, and
the life" (14:6). ― If we would have eternal life we must be in
the Way, know the Truth, and be given the Life.
7.
"I am the true vine"
(15:1). ― If we would bring forth fruit unto God we must be grafted into
this Vine.
The fact that the Lord Jesus
used this name to described himself is very significant. Our Lord’s use of them
enraged the Jews because they understood exactly what he meant by them. ―
He was saying, “I am the eternal God, Jehovah, the Redeemer and Deliverer. I am
everything, for I am God.” Using these two words, “I AM,” with reference
to himself identified him as the covenant God of Israel. Liberals and religious
infidels today may not recognize that fact; but the Jews who heard the Master
understood him perfectly (John 8:58-59; 10:31-33).
(John
8:58-59) "Jesus said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (59) Then took
they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the
temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."
(John
10:31-33) "Then the Jews took up
stones again to stone him. (32) Jesus answered them, Many good works
have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
(33) The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but
for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God."
The Hour
John
also gives a distinct emphasis to the fact that the Lord Jesus spoke of a
specific time and hour for which he came into the world (2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20;
12:23, 27-28; 13:1; 17:1).
(John
2:4) "Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come."
(John
7:6) "Then Jesus said unto them, My
time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready."
(John
7:8) "Go ye up unto this feast: I
go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come."
(John
7:30) "Then they sought to take
him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come."
(John
8:20) "These words spake Jesus in
the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his
hour was not yet come."
(John
12:23) "And Jesus answered them,
saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified."
(John
12:27-28) "Now is my soul troubled;
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I
unto this hour. (28) Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice
from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it
again."
(John
13:1) "Now before the feast of the
passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of
this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he
loved them unto the end."
(John 17:1) "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:"
Divisions
In
chapters 1-12 John tells us who Christ is, giving highlights of his life and
ministry during the three years of public, earthly ministry. In chapters 13-21
the apostle gives an account (an account none could give except a
tender-hearted old man, full of love for Christ) of our Lord’s last night upon
the earth, his death as our Substitute, and his resurrection.
Christ our God
That
Man Luke described, the Servant Mark portrayed, and the King Matthew declared,
Jesus of Nazareth, is himself the Christ, the Son of God, our eternal God and
Savior. That is what John asserts with utter dogmatism in chapter 1. John
declares that this man is…
· The Word who is God (v. 1),
(John
1:1) "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
· The second person of the
holy trinity, altogether equal with the Father (v. 2),
(John
1:2) "The same was in the beginning
with God."
· The Creator of all things
(v. 3),
· And the incarnate God our
Savior (vv. 10-18, 29).
(John
1:14) "And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
(John
1:18) "No man hath seen God at any
time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him."
(John
1:29) "The next day John seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world."
Best Things Last
In
chapter 2, when our Lord turned the water into wine and began to show forth his
glory, the governor of the feast said to the bridegroom, “Every man at the
beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that
which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (v. 10). That
is exactly what our Savior does in his wondrous works of grace. He saves the
best wine until the last (1 Cor. 2:9).
(1
Cor 2:9) "But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
The New Birth
In
the first chapter we are told that sinners are made to be the sons of God and
are born again by the will of God alone (11-13).
(John
1:11-13) "He came unto his own, and
his own received him not. (12) But as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God."
In
chapter 3 we have our Lord’s discourse on the new birth with Nicodemus. Here,
he shows us both the nature and necessity of the new birth. Until a person is
born again he can neither see nor enter into the kingdom of God (vv. 3, 5). And
this new birth is altogether the work of God the Holy Spirit sovereignly giving
life and faith to whom he will (v. 8). Then, the Master told Nicodemus that the
only way any sinner can live before God, the only way we can be saved is by
trusting him as our sin-atoning Substitute (vv. 14-18).
(John
3:14-18) "And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
(15) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. (16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. (17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved. (18) He that believeth on
him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
All grace, all salvation, all life, all hope is in Christ. Do you believe on the Son
of God? Do you trust Christ alone as your Savior? That is the one thing that
must be settled. To believe Christ is to have life. To abide in unbelief is to
abide in death, under the wrath of God. That was John the Baptist’s message and
that is the message of God’s preachers in every age and place (vv. 35-36).
(John
3:35-36) "The Father loveth the
Son, and hath given all things into his hand. (36) He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
The Samaritan Woman
In
chapter 4 John gives us a tremendous picture of God’s grace. Our Lord Jesus “must
needs go through Samaria” because there was an elect sinner there for whom
the time of love had come.
· Grace chose her.
· Grace marked the place at
which grace would be given.
· Grace brought the Samaritan
woman to the appointed place at the time of love.
· Grace brought Christ to the
sinner.
· Grace brought the sinner to
Christ and gave her faith.
The Impotent Man
In
chapter 5 our Savior came to the Pool of Bethesda. There were around the pool
many who were impotent, blind, halt, and withered. But the sovereign Savior
came there to show mercy to one, certain man, a certain chosen sinner who had
been impotent for 38 years. “And immediately the man was made whole” (v.
9).
That
is another picture of God’s saving grace. It is sovereign, distinguishing,
effectual grace. Spiritually, God’s elect are totally impotent. We could never
be saved if any part of salvation depended on us. But that is not the case. The
Lord Jesus saves poor, impotent sinners by his own almighty arm of omnipotent
mercy (Eph. 2:1-5).
Witness to Christ
In
the second half of chapter 5 our Lord Jesus shows himself to be the Christ by
numerous witnesses. As we read these verses and others like them (10:16-18), we
must not imagine that our Lord is declaring anything that might suggest him
being inferior to the Father. Rather, our Lord is declaring his voluntary
subjection to the will of his Father (Isa. 50:5-7) as our Mediator and Surety
(19-31).
(John
5:19-31) "Then answered Jesus and
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of
himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise. (20) For the Father loveth the Son,
and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater
works than these, that ye may marvel. (21) For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
(22) For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto
the Son: (23) That all men should honour the Son, even as they
honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which
hath sent him. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (25) Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (26) For
as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in
himself; (27) And hath given him authority to execute judgment also,
because he is the Son of man. (28) Marvel not at this: for the hour is
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, (29) And
shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and
they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (30) I can
of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just;
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent
me. (31) If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true."
· John the Baptist bore
witness to him as the Christ, the Lamb of God, the eternal Savior (vv. 33-35).
· His own works bear witness
that he is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior (v. 36). ― His
Miracles! ― His Satisfaction! ― The Rent Veil!
· The Father bore witness to
Christ (v. 37 ― At His Baptism ― At His
Transfiguration), trusting him as our Surety (Eph. 1:12), putting all things in
his hands as the Son of man (v. 27), and giving him all pre-eminence (Col.
1:18; Phil. 2:8-11).
· The Book of God bears
witness to him, that he is indeed the Christ (vv. 37-39).
(John
5:37-39) "And the Father himself,
which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice
at any time, nor seen his shape. (38) And ye have not his word abiding
in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. (39) Search the
scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which
testify of me."
· Moses (vv. 46-47), in all
the books of the law, bore witness to him typically and prophetically and by
the veil being rent when he had fulfilled the whole law, satisfying the wrath
and justice of God as our Representative.
(John
5:46-47) "For had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. (47) But if ye
believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"
The Offence of the Gospel
Multitudes
followed our Savior, not because they were converted by his grace, but because
they had eaten the loaves and fish. They were religious because they found
religion profitable. They followed Christ outwardly, because of what the gained
by doing so. But then, our Lord preached a message that offended the crowd. We
read in John 6:6 ― "From that time many of his disciples went
back, and walked no more with him." What did he preach? What was it
that so greatly offended the multitudes? It was the message of God’s free,
sovereign, saving grace, the same message that offends lost religious crowds
throughout the world today. It was the declaration that…
· Salvation is by the will of
God alone (vv. 37-40).
(John
6:39-40) "And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (40) And this is
the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last
day."
· Fallen man’s natural, total
depravity makes salvation by the will of man impossible (v. 44).
(John
6:44) "No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the
last day."
· Salvation is altogether the
work of God’s free, sovereign, irresistible grace (v. 45).
(John
6:45) "It is written in the
prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."
· This salvation can be
possessed only by faith in Christ, eating his flesh and drinking his blood,
trusting his righteousness and his atonement as our only ground of acceptance
with God (vv. 47-58).
(John
6:47) "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
· This salvation was obtained
by Christ laying down his life for chosen sinners scattered throughout the
world (v. 51).
(John
6:59-66) "These things said he in
the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. (60) Many therefore of his
disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who
can hear it? (61) When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured
at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? (62) What and if ye
shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? (63) It is the
spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (64) But
there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who
they were that believed not, and who should betray him. (65) And he
said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were
given unto him of my Father. (66) From that time many of his
disciples went back, and walked no more with him."
These
were the same people who sought just a short while earlier, to take him by
force and make him a king (6:15).
“If Any Man Thirst”
In
the seventh chapter “the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.” His
brethren tried to get the Lord to go up to the feast, to show himself to the
world, but he refused. Later, he went up to the feast privately. Then, on the
last day of the feast, as our Master beheld the multitudes going home from
their empty, meaningless religious ritual, he proclaimed a great, gracious,
magnanimous invitation to needy souls that is echoed around the world to this
day, wherever the gospel is preached (vv. 37-38).
(John
7:37-38) "In the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. (38) He that believeth on me,
as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water."
The Adulterous Woman
The
eighth chapter opens (vv. 1-11) with a tremendous picture of redemption and
grace in Christ. A woman taken in adultery, scorned by men and condemned by
God’s holy law, is freely and fully forgiven of all sin by the Son of God who stooped
to the earth and rose again.
Disciples Indeed
Beginning
in verse 31 of chapter 8 our Lord gives us four unmistakable marks by which
true disciples, true children of Abraham are identified in this world.
1. They do the works of Abraham
(v. 39). That is to say, they believe God.
2. True disciples love Christ
(v. 42).
3. They receive, bow to, and
believe God’s Word (v. 47).
4. They keep Christ’s doctrine
(v. 51). They continue in his Word (v. 31) and holdfast the gospel.
The Good Shepherd
In
the 9th chapter our Lord healed a man who was born blind. Because of
the goodness of God he experienced, the Jews churched him. They kicked him out
of their church because the Son of God gave him sight. When they did, the Lord
Jesus took him into his arms and into the sheepfold of his grace. Then, John
gives us our Savior’s great discourse on the Good Shepherd (chap. 10).
· Christ is the Good Shepherd.
· He has some sheep.
· He voluntarily laid down his
life for his sheep.
· He calls his sheep by name.
· He must and shall save his
sheep. He gives his sheep eternal life.
· His sheep shall never
perish!
Lazarus
The
11th chapter tells us about Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, our Lord’s
beloved friends, the sickness and death of Lazarus by the will of God and for
the glory of God. Then, we see the Son of God raise Lazarus from the dead by
the Word of his omnipotence. What a picture this is of God’s saving operations
of grace!
· Like Lazarus, I was dead.
· Like Lazarus, the Lord Jesus
loved me.
· He came to where I was.
· He called me by name.
· I came forth to him.
· And he set me free.
Chapter
12 opens with our Lord in the home of his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus
again. Mary anoints him for his burial. As he sets his face toward Calvary, our
Lord declares that which he would there accomplish by the sacrifice of himself
(vv. 31-33).
(John
12:31-33) "Now is the judgment of
this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. (32) And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (33) This
he said, signifying what death he should die."
Foot Washing
Chapter
13 begins the second section of John’s Gospel. Everything, from here through
the end of chapter 19 took place in the last hours of our Savior’s earthly
life. In chapter 13 he gives us an example of how we ought to love one another,
by washing his disciples’ feet. He did not do this to establish foot washing as
a church ordinance, but to show us how to love one another. Love involves
action, not sentimental words. Love bows low and gladly performs the most
menial task for the sheer comfort of its object.
(John
13:35) "By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Then our Lord told Peter how that he would deny him three times before the morning sun arose. Immediately after that, we read those sweet, sweet words of comfort and assurance in John 14:1-3.
(John
13:36-38) "Simon Peter said unto
him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not
follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. (37) Peter said unto
him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
(38) Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me
thrice."
(John
14:1-3) "Let not your heart be
troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) In my Father's
house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also."
Comfort
Chapters
14, 15 and 16 are filled with words of tender comfort and instruction for God’s
people in this world in which we must endure constant sorrow and tribulation.
(John
16:33) "These things I have spoken
unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
The Lord’s Prayer
Then,
in chapter 17, John gives us the Lord’s great, high priestly prayer for us, in
which he prays not for the world but for his elect, asking his Father to keep
us throughout our days on earth, through all our tribulations, and then to
bring us safe to glory.
(John
17:22-26) "And the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (23) I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me. (24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with
me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for
thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous
Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have
known that thou hast sent me. (26) And I have declared unto them thy
name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me
may be in them, and I in them."
Gethsemane
Chapter
18 brings us with our all-glorious Christ into Gethsemane. But John leaves out
most of he the things described by Matthew and Luke. Instead, he tells us of
our Savior’s care for his disciples when the soldiers came to arrest him,
emphasizing the fact that he is God in total control even over those who
arrested him. Here again, we have a picture of redemption and grace.
· The Savior takes the
initiative. ― “Whom seek ye?”
· “I AM!”
· They fell down as dead men.
– The law slain!
· Then, the Master said, “I
AM (“He” is in italics.) If therefore ye seek me, let these go their
way.” Hat is exactly what our Savior says to the law of God. You can’t have
me and my sheep. If you take me, you must let my people go free!
“It is Finished”
In
chapter 19 our Savior is crucified. In verse 30, we read these great,
triumphant words of our victorious Redeemer ― “It is finished!”
(John
19:30) "When Jesus therefore had
received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave
up the ghost."
What was finished?
· The law.
· The prophets.
· The work he came to do.
· Atonement
· Righteousness.
· Judgment.
· Sin.
Restoration
Chapters
20 and 21 tell us about our Lord’s resurrection and his appearances to his
disciples after the resurrection. By his death and resurrection as our
Substitute, our Lord Jesus reconciled us to our God, restored all that we had
lost by the sin and fall of our father Adam, and restored us entirely to our
God. Is it not most fitting that John shows us the restoration of his fallen
disciple in this context? The Lord Jesus came to Peter in grace, assuring him
of his love and forgiveness, and assuring Peter of his love for his Savior.
Conclusion
(John
21:25) “And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I
suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be
written. Amen.”
When John says, “I suppose,”
he is still writing by inspiration. It is as though the Lord God is telling us,
― “You do not know how big My Son is, how great He is. If you go into
every detail of who He is and what He has done the world itself would not hold
the books.” There could not be a more fitting conclusion of the Gospel of the
Son of God.
[1] Date: Tuesday
Evening— 2004
Saturday (PM) ― arch 6, 2004 ― Jackson,
MO
Tape # Y-5a
Readings: Bobbie Estes and Larry Brown