Love in its Purest Expression

    
A powerful Gospel 

    Reading the Gospel of John is a beautiful journey where we will find parallelism with the Old Testament from the beginning of the book. We will also find the word love fifty-seven times and the word believe (Pisteuo) 98 times. Remain “abide” (Meno) forty times. The longest prayer of Jesus, called the High Priestly Prayer, is found in John 17. Archbishop William Temple states, “If the synoptic gospels provide us with a series of photographs of Jesus, John's gospel surely provides us with a portrait." John's Gospel fulfilled the mission of telling us more than what Jesus did and who Jesus is. We can compare this gospel with a chain because it always connects one point with another.

    This inspirational and intentionally gospel has been a motive for study for several scholars. One of them was Dr. A.T. Robertson, who called the Gospel of John "the profoundest book in the world." In this gospel, John shows us Jesus the Father (John 14:7), Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), and the Way (John 14:6). But all these statements would not be complete if we did not speak about the love of Jesus (John 15:13; 3:16) at the end; this is the main theme of the Gospel of John. Jesus gave his life for love. Everything He did was out of love for His creation. We always have to remember that when we speak about John's gospel, we are speaking about love too.

    Genesis 21:1–19 tells us the story of when God asked Abraham to kill his son. Of course, we know that the angel sent from God stopped this at the right moment. But what this story is telling us is that God is portraying how He, as a father, will give His only Son for humankind. Offering Jesus from His birth as a lamb (He was born in a barn like the lambs). When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, "Look at the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The only way to provide salvation was through sacrifice; a lamb needed to be offered so God could provide His only Son. Skip Heitzig (2016) states, Jesus is the bridge between heaven and  earth." 

    In 1 Kings 8:27, the king Salomon asked, But will God really dwell on earth? God answered this question by sending His Son. We have to understand that the time of Jesus on earth was one of the most confrontational times in the history of humankind. His holiness had put in evidence the sin in men. Because of that, Jesus had experimented with hate in its purest expression. The answer to Salomon’s question is yes; God can dwell on earth. But the real question should be: Can we dwell in God’s presence? Jesus made this possible by opening the door to salvation through redemption. The key word for this is grace. 

    The Gospel of John is a masterpiece that expands our knowledge to a new level. To learn about this gospel has been an amazing journey. I had finished studying a guidebook and two other books as a complement. I also read the Gospel of John twice this month. We can say that I have finished. But I realized that I was just at the beginning of a new journey. I honestly do not know if one day I will finish studying this gospel. Because in every study I do, I discover new things. What I definitely know