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From the very first verse of the book, it is clear that the focus of John’s gospel is Jesus as God. As brain-twisting as that revelation is, it opens up a marvelous new realm of truth for us to understand and apply. Geographically, John’s laser focus was Jerusalem. He leaves out many key events which were included by the other gospel writers; he omits Jesus’ birth, His baptism, His temptation, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, His Ascension, the demonic cleansings, and Jesus’ parables.
Why would he leave out such critical information? For that answer, we will journey to the very last verse he writes in his gospel account.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.
John 21:25 HCSB
From this statement, we can grasp that John was not focused on quantity. He had a specific focus.
So many leaders today set up their ministries to be built upon man. They hold the so-called “key” to the Bible. They have a “hidden word” that no one else has. In fact, if you ever have a Jehovah’s Witness show up to your house, John is the perfect chapter to dig into. Seriously. The next time this happens, go get your Bible and have a discussion with them about John 1:1. They use the New World Translation.
JW Bible (John 1:1) – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.
If you aren’t careful, you will miss it. A god? Jesus is THE God!
“The deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translations. Joh 1:1 is translated: ‘ . . . the Word was a god,’ a translation which is grammatically impossible. It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.”
Dr. William Barclay
F.F. Bruce calls this translation of the Greek “totally indefensible.” Charles L. Feinberg writes that this translation “is not held by any reputable Greek scholar.” Think about it. Adding ONE WORD in Scripture changes the ENTIRE Bible! If Jesus is only a god and not THE God, His statements are no longer exclusive and humans can add or subtract whatever they want from the text!
My heart grieves for the people who are deceived by religious heretics. John the Baptist came proclaiming the Word in the Spirit and he was immediately questioned and shut down by the religious elite. They wanted to control the message and control the people.
The significance of Jesus is that He allows us to read the Bible on our own and through the Holy Spirit be transformed without a middle man. Yes, sound doctrine is important. Context is king. Biblical interpretation should be done within church tradition and with the accountability of other Spirit-filled believers. You can tell fake from genuine by following the path and discovering where it leads. If ministry leaders are setting you up to rely on them, they have failed. The Holy Spirit does not draw attention to Himself; He draws attention to Jesus. What does this say about ministry leaders who are continually pointing people back to themselves?
Godly leaders will always point you to Jesus and the intimate, personal relationship that can be experienced between you and Him!