The Intimacy of the Gospel of John
Intimacy with God
This Saturday, January 25, at 3 p.m., we start a new radio program in Spanish on the Christian radio station Radio Luz a las Naciones. This program will be called “El Verbo de la Vida” (The Word of Life) and will be a commentary on the Gospel of John. As most Christians know, John’s Gospel presents Jesus Christ as the Son of God and John begins by presenting a biography written in eternity before the beginning of all creation. The experts tell us that John wrote his history 60 years after the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. These three give an account of many of the miracles of Jesus, but John explains the significance of all that He did.
It’s not hard to arrive at the conclusion that this book is the most spiritual of the four Gospels. What other cites the prayer of the Son with the Father? When we read that prayer in chapter 17, we are treading on holy ground. And, of course, this Gospel contains the most quoted and well-know verse in the Bible… John 3:16.
John’s purpose in writing his Gospel was to help readers to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and, in believing, that they might have life in Him. What occurred to me this time, as I meditated in preparation for the radio programs, is that John, chosen and inspired by the Holy Spirit, also is inviting his readers to a life of intimacy with God. I don’t believe that there is another book in the Bible comparable to it in this respect.
Without any attempt at humility in saying so, I will refer to my weakness, unworthiness, and incapability in tackling this subject, but I intend to highlight it as I teach. John was the disciple, who was closest to Jesus. Literally en 13:23-25, Simon Peter, so prominent throughout the Gospels, had to direct his question to the Lord through John who “was reclining on Jesus’ bosom”. In mentioning that situation, I am forced to clarify that the relationship between the two was in no way physical.
“To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled,” Paul told Titus. Men interpret the Bible according to their own character and in these days of world-wide perversity, we can expect the most twisted interpretations, beyond anything that has ever existed in all history. The Mormons, at their beginning and because of their corrupt minds, approved and practiced polygamy, teaching that Jesus Himself had two wives. I don’t even want to repeat the conclusion, to which those homosexuals, who so falsely pretend to be “Christians”, have come, regarding the relationship between John and Jesus. These two heresies are blasphemies that are particularly horrible!
The heart that is pure sees the purity and holiness in their love for one another. It is the incomparable love of God that is above all worldly love. There is an intimacy in God that is eternal and spiritual, but people, who do not have the mind of Christ, can never comprehend it and certainly will misinterpret it.
The Gospel of John will show you a love and intimacy that initiates in God’s heart and leads us closely to Him. It teaches us that Christ will return for His own, because He longs for them to be with Him (14:3). The book reveals His love for His disciples and causes us to see that all Christian living is motivated by love (14:15, 21-23).
Jesus treats His disciples as friends, not servants, and confirms it by teaching them the secrets of His Father (15:9-16). His conclusion is that no master ever confides in his servants in this way. He prayed for them that they might have a personal knowledge that is divine and intimate. He not only wanted them to know about Him, but desired that they might know experientially the Father and the Son in personal relationship. He said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (17:3). This longing for them took into account their need to be sure that they were in contact with the true God, the God of the Bible. As He continued praying, He assumed the responsibility of caring for them, so they would not perish (v.12), and extended His prayer to include those of us who live in the 21st Century (v.20).
He prays for a perfect oneness that can only occur, when He is in them, as the Father is in Him, and that great mystery of God in human beings, will catch the attention of the world (v.23). Again He expresses the desire that His disciples should be with Him in heaven and finally, He asked that divine and eternal love should be in them through Him.
Do you see why I am saying that this Gospel calls us to intimacy with God? There is much more to discover concerning this theme, especially in chapters 13 through 17, but this article is only meant to be a door to the subject.
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