The New Testament begins with four Gospels: the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the Gospel of John. These four Gospels, as biographies of the Lord Jesus, record His words and actions on the earth. Many people do not understand why the Bible has four biographies of the Lord, but this is because there are many different aspects related to the Lord Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew speaks of the Lord Jesus as the King who is bringing the kingdom of the heavens to the earth. The Gospel of Mark speaks of the Lord Jesus as the Slave who faithfully labors for God on the earth. The Gospel of Luke speaks of the Lord Jesus as a perfect man who is the Savior of mankind, and the Gospel of John speaks of the Lord Jesus as God who comes to be life to His people.
This may be compared to casting a bronze bust of someone’s face. In order to get an accurate cast, a sculptor needs to see the face from the front, the back, and both sides. In this way the bronze bust will closely match the real person. The blueprints of a house show a view of the house from the front, back, and sides. There are four sets of drawings but only one building, and when we stand in front of a house that has been built, there are the front door, the windows on both sides, and the patio in the back. In order to have a complete view of the house, we need to look at it from every direction. A full portrait of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament also requires four different viewpoints in order to unveil Him as the King, the Slave, a perfect man, and God. Through the portrait in the four Gospels, we can see that the Lord Jesus is a noble King, a lowly Slave, a perfect man, and the Most High God.
In this chapter we will look at the aspect of the Lord Jesus as God. Therefore, we need to study the Gospel of John carefully. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is portrayed as God. His introduction in the Gospel of John is different from what is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Both Matthew and Luke include a genealogy of the Lord Jesus. However, the Gospel of John begins, saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). In verses 2 through 5, it says, “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not one thing came into being which has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” From the beginning of the Gospel of John, the emphasis on the Lord Jesus relates to the fact that He is God. He is also revealed in verses 3 and 4 as the source of life: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not one thing came into being which has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This shows that without the Lord Jesus as life, man is darkened within and walks in darkness. The life of the Lord Jesus is the light of man.
Verse 14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.” Verses 16 through 18 continue, saying, “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” This shows that the Lord Jesus, who is God in the heavens, became flesh and lived among us. He came to be among man in order to contact every kind of person.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He contacted thousands and thousands of people. If we were to write down their stories, even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written (21:25). The cases that John recorded were specifically chosen by him to reveal various aspects about Jesus coming to be our life.
The accounts of those who contacted the Lord in the Gospel of John were specifically selected in order to show that God’s life meets the need of every man. The account in chapter 2 presents a general principle that involves all men, whereas the accounts in chapters 3 through 11 relate to specific kinds of people. Chapter 3 contains the account of Nicodemus, who was an educated and moral man of high reputation. He was a person from the upper class of society. Therefore, he represents moral persons with high standing in society.
In chapter 4 the Lord contacted a Samaritan woman involved in immoral relationships. In chapter 3 the Lord spoke with Nicodemus, who was a Jewish Pharisee, but in chapter 4 He spoke with a Samaritan woman, who had a base and low living. Chapter 3 shows that the Lord can meet the need of moral persons, and chapter 4 shows that He can meet the need of a person with no morality. Chapter 3 speaks of persons at the highest level of society, whereas chapter 4 speaks of persons with no standing in society. These two types of people are in direct contrast. Chapter 4 also speaks of the need of those who are dying. When the Lord visited a place with weak and fragile people who were dying, He healed them, including the son of a royal official, with His life-giving word (vv. 43-54).
In chapter 5 the Lord contacted a paralyzed man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. This man laid beside the pool of Bethesda, waiting for an angel to stir up the water, because the first person to step into the water after it was stirred up would be made well (vv. 2-5). When the water was stirred up, however, the paralyzed man was too weak to step into the water. This shows that he did not even have the strength to receive grace. Many people on this earth are like this paralyzed man. They know that they are weak, but they have no ability to rise up from their weakness. They cannot pray, and they do not even have the strength to receive grace.
In chapter 6 the Lord contacted people who were hungry, feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish. Many people are hungry; that is, they cannot be satisfied. They are troubled and always searching for something to satisfy themselves. Because they have a deep sense of their lack, they search. The number of people who are like this is relatively high. Chapter 7 speaks of people who are thirsty and in need of something to fill them up. This is the reason that the Lord stood up on the last day, the great day of the feast, and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (v. 37). There are many hungry and thirsty people on the earth.
In chapter 8 the Lord contacted a woman who was caught and condemned for committing adultery. She represents people who are under the bondage of sin. She was despised and condemned by others as a sinner for her immorality.
In chapter 9 the Lord contacted a person who was born blind. Even though he had eyes, he was born blind. There are many people in the world who are like this blind man. They have eyes outwardly, but they are blind inwardly. They are without light and are unable to see anything. The Lord purposely healed the blind man on the Sabbath to expose the vanity of religious ritual, which is the source of much blindness. Chapter 10 is a continuation of chapter 9. It speaks of man’s need for shepherding. The blind man in chapter 9 was such a sheep. He was led by the Lord out of the Judaism-fold.
Chapter 11 then speaks of those who are dead, as represented by Lazarus. Death is the most serious condition of man; death terminates everything. But in His contact with those who are dead, the Lord Jesus as life is able to resurrect the dead. In the Lord’s salvation He does not merely heal the sick; He also gives life to the dead. Hence, He remained where He was for two days until Lazarus had died (v. 6). The Lord does not reform or regulate people—He regenerates people and raises them out of death.
Chapters 3 through 11 cover every type of person and every need of man. Consequently, after chapter 11 no special people with different needs are introduced; rather, John focuses on those who have already come in contact with the Lord. The Gospel of John records nine types of people, including those who are moral, immoral, dying, impotent, hungry, thirsty, under the bondage of sin, blind, and dead.
Jesus is God who became flesh and who came to be among men. The people to whom the Lord came were honorable and moral, dishonorable and immoral, dying, impotent, hungry, thirsty, condemned and despised, blind, and dead. The Lord contacted all of these types of people.
Every one of the thousands of people whom the Lord contacted could be included in one of these nine types. This is like a housewife who goes to the fish market. While she is there, she will encounter many fish, but there will only be a few different kinds of fishes. Among mankind, some people are like Nicodemus, some are like the Samaritan woman, some are like the dying son in need of healing, some are like the weak paralytic, some are empty and hungry, some are dissatisfied and thirsty, some commit sins and are despised by others, some are darkened inwardly and blind outwardly, and some are breathing outwardly but are dead inwardly. Every person fits into one of these types of people in need.
Which type do you belong to? Are you a moral person like Nicodemus? Are you like the Samaritan woman who lost God and was seeking for happiness in sin? The Samaritan woman had five men as husbands, and a sixth man was not even her husband. When she was not happy with her first husband, she changed to another one. Because she was still unhappy, she changed husbands again and again. She was constantly looking and changing but never happy. According to the record in chapter 4, she came to draw water from a well because she was thirsty, and there she met the Lord, who said, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever” (vv. 13-14). Because she was drinking only “this water,” she was still thirsty. This shows that those who are far from God are thirsty. Being thirsty, they need to drink, but even after drinking, they are still thirsty. Thus, their thirst causes them to drink again and again, that is, to continually seek happiness through sin. People who indulge in dancing or who are infatuated with romantic novels and movies are never satisfied with the momentary happiness they receive from dancing, reading novels, or watching movies. After dancing, reading novels, and watching movies, they must repeat these activities again and again. They are seeking for a happiness that cannot be found. Those who drink and play mah-jongg are often far from God and unhappy. Therefore, they try to find happiness in sin.