Introduction

The Gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ. John's gospel is an eyewitness account of Jesus and the story of all stories.  It is evangelistic in nature. Who is Jesus Christ? This is John's main question, and he invites us to join him as we read his gospel. Jesus is more than a humanitarian, a teacher, or a compassionate miracle worker. John highlights the main theme of the entire Bible in his gospel, the person, and the work of Jesus Christ.  It is the evangelistic book in the Bible (John 20:30-31). Once Jesus asked His disciple," Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15). Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.  Peter recognized the deity of Jesus Christ because it was supernaturally revealed to him.  Natural man can never understand Christ because He is a mystery to him (1 Timothy 3:16).  Natural man is spiritually blind.  Mystery can't be understood apart from divine revelation. History is incomprehensible without Christ. Someone has said "History is His story". The four gospels are the historical account of Jesus' life and ministry.  The force of the Gospel is revealed in the book of Acts and the interpretation of the Gospel is seen in the Epistles.  The central theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ. Christ is predicted in the Old Testament, revealed in the Gospels, preached in the book of Acts, explained in the Epistles, and anticipated in the book of Revelation. There is no study greater than the study of Jesus Christ. 

Authorship: 
John the beloved disciple of Jesus is the writer of this gospel.  He was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. John was an eyewitness of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1). He wrote his gospel to silence the philosophical speculation that denied the deity of Christ and to prove that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:31). Matthew presents Jesus as the promised Messiah and the hope of Israel (Matthew 1:21).  Mark was a close associate of apostle Peter, and he presents Jesus as the Servant of God (Mark 10:45).  Luke presents Jesus as the Savior of the world (Luke 19:10). He was with Paul in his missionary journey. John presents Jesus Christ as the Son of God (John 1:1,14).  John is known as the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23). The church fathers often quoted from the John's Gospel and attributed its authorship to apostle John. Scholars suggest that John wrote his gospel between A.D 85 and 95 from Ephesus.

Purpose:  
Apostle John identifies the purpose of writing his gospel in Chapter 20:30-31.  He wrote it to show that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing in him we will have eternal life. John presents seven miracles and reviews the seven “I Am" claims of Jesus in his gospel to prove His deity. The three key words in this gospel are Sign, Believe and Life. The first three Gospels are called synoptic Gospels because they look similar in the chronological account of Christ’s life.  But John's Gospel is different from other Gospels in many ways. It was written in a narrative format. John’s Gospel is the interpretation of the historic account of the life of Jesus Christ. Scholars suggest that ninety percent of its content is not discussed in the synoptic Gospels. The heartbeat of John’s Gospel is evangelism (John 1:29). This gospel highlights God's great plan of salvation through Christ.  John took half of his gospel to describe the last week of Jesus' life, his suffering and death (John 12:1-20:25). Some consider John's gospel as the most amazing book ever written.  It is commonly recommended to new believers. John 3:16 is the best-known Bible verse. John begins his Gospel in eternity past (John 1:1). There is no genealogy of Jesus given in this Gospel because God has no genealogy.  God became man, yet Jesus never ceased being God (Matthew 1:20).  His birth was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (Isaiah 7:14). The incarnation of Christ is a very important Christian doctrine. Christ's conception was supernatural, but His birth was natural. The gospel explains the story of the eternal being who invaded the fallen world to redeem sinners.

Christ's genealogy:
Matthew begins his gospel with the legal genealogy of Jesus through the line of Joseph to prove that He is the promised Messiah.  Luke gives His natural genealogy through the line of Mary. It was not a customary practice to include names of women in the Jewish genealogy. The inclusion of women with questionable backgrounds in the genealogy shows how gracious and merciful our God is. This reminds us that God accepts sinful people and removes all the man-made barriers. God wants to save Jews and gentiles, male and female, good and bad. Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost in their sins (Luke 19:10). In the Messianic line there was a curse pronounced upon king Jeconiah that his descendant shall never reign in the throne of David (Jeremiah 22:24-30). Since Jesus was supernaturally conceived and came through the line of Mary this curse was removed. Jesus is the born king to reign in the throne of David.

Jesus was born in the fullness of time:
Jesus was born in Bethlehem according to the prophecy (Micah 5:2).  He was born in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4). It was a spiritual and mental awakening period in history. Greek culture and language united people in the world.  But there was a spiritual vacuum among people. The philosophers and reformers couldn't fill that vacuum.  Only Jesus could fill the spiritual vacuum. The Roman Empire was in its prime time. Roman law brought law and order in the society. Roman roads linked people everywhere. They helped the spread of the gospel. Christ's birth was not an accident but a divine appointment.  We are all born to live but Christ was born to die (Mark 10:45). Jesus came to His own people, but they received Him not (John 1:11).  Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay His head".  The Son of God became the Son of Man that sons of men could become sons of God. Those who believe in Jesus, he gave them the right to become children of God (John 1:12).​