In John 1 He is the Word who is God (1:1). In Him was life, and this life is the light of men (v. 4). He is the One who is received by His believers and gives them the authority to be the children of God (v. 12). He is the One incarnated as a man, the Word who became flesh who is full of grace and reality (v. 14). He is the One who is declared and testified to us to be the very Lamb of God (v. 29). Ultimately, He is the heavenly ladder who joins the earth to the heaven and who brings heaven to the earth (v. 51).
In John 2, He is not only the temple (vv. 19, 21) but also the wine (v. 10). Wine is a real enjoyment. In this portion of the word, wine, the life-juice of the grape, signifies life. Water signifies death (Gen. 1:2, 6; Exo. 14:21; Matt. 3:16a). The Lord changed water into wine, which means that the Lord swallowed up death, changing death into life (v. 9).
In John 3 there are several items of Christ for our enjoyment. First, Christ is the brass serpent. As Moses lifted up the brass serpent on the pole, even so Christ as the Son of Man was lifted up on the cross. God told Moses to lift up a brass serpent on behalf of the children of Israel for God’s judgment. Whoever looked upon the brass serpent would live. In John 3:14, the Lord Jesus applied this type to Himself, showing that He was in “the likeness of the flesh of sin” (Rom. 8:3). The brass serpent had the likeness, the form, of the serpent, but without the poison. Christ was made in “the likeness of the flesh of sin,” but He had no participation in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). After the serpent in chapter three, there is Christ as the bridegroom (v. 29).
In chapter four, there is not only the living water, but also a well (v. 14). This well, which replaces Jacob’s well (v. 6), is the eternal well, the heavenly well, and within this well, there is the living water (vv. 11, 14). The living water is the content of the well. Also in chapter four, there is the harvest (v. 35). In chapter five, the Lord Jesus is the very substitution, the replacement, for any kind of religion. In this chapter the law-keeping religion, the Jewish religion with its pool and angels, is replaced by the Lord Jesus as the substitution of all things. He is much better than the angels (Heb. 1:4). He is the substitution for the law-keeping of any kind of religion. If we have Him, we do not need religion.
In chapter six, there is Christ as the bread of life. Included in the bread of life is the Lamb with the blood to shed and the meat for eating (John 6:35; 1:29; 6:51 and note 514—Recovery Version). In chapter seven, the Spirit is the rivers of living water (vv. 38-39 and note 384—Recovery Version). In chapter eight, there is Christ as the great “I Am.” This title, “I Am,” is mentioned at least three times in this chapter: 1) “Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins” (v. 24); 2) “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am” (v. 28); and 3) “Before Abraham came into being, I am” (v. 58). “I Am” indicates that Christ is all-inclusive. He is whatever we need. He is like a blank, endorsed check. As the I Am, He is whatever you need. If you need healing, “I Am” is healing. If you need life, “I Am” is life. If you need power, “I Am” is power. If you need light, “I Am” is light. What you need, He is. He is I am that I am, the great I Am (Exo. 3:14). How rich is the Gospel of John!
In chapter nine, Christ is the light of the world (v. 5). Chapter ten reveals that Christ is the shepherd (v. 11; Psa. 23:1) and the door (vv. 2, 9). This door in chapter ten is not only for God’s elect to enter, but also for His people to come out. It is not a door for entering heaven, it is a door to come out of the bondage of the law. We all must come out of the fold. Who is the door for us to come out? Christ is the door. Christ is the door, not only for God’s elect to enter into the custody of the law, as did Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, in the Old Testament time before Christ came; but also for God’s chosen people, such as Peter, John, James, Paul, and others to come out of the fold of the law after Christ came. Thus, the Lord indicates here that He is the door not only for God’s chosen people to go in, but also for God’s chosen people to go out.
Christ is not only the door but also the pasture (10:9). Pasture signifies Christ as the feeding place for the sheep. When the pasture is not available in the winter time or in the night, the sheep must be kept in the fold. When the pasture is ready, there is no further need for the sheep to remain in the fold. To be kept in the fold is transitory and temporary. To be in the pasture to enjoy its riches is final and permanent. Before Christ came, the law was a ward, and to be under the law was transitory. Now, since Christ has come, all God’s people must come out of the law and come into Him to enjoy Him as their pasture (Gal. 3:23-25; 4:3-5). This should be final and permanent. Christ is our shepherd, the door for us to leave the fold of the law, and the pasture, the feeding place, after we leave the fold. Ultimately, in chapter ten He tells us that He is one with the Father (v. 30), so He is the Father (14:9; Isa. 9:6).
In chapter eleven, Christ is resurrection (v. 25). He is not only life, but resurrection. Resurrection is life which has been tested even with death. The strongest thing in the whole universe besides God is death, yet even death cannot hold the resurrection life. Christ is the resurrection and the life.
In chapter twelve, Christ is the grain of wheat (v. 24). If a grain of wheat is sown into the earth, it dies and then grows up to become many grains. His death released the divine life concealed within Him (1:4). In chapter thirteen is the significance of the Lord washing the disciples’ feet (v. 5). This is like the laver in the outer court of the tabernacle (Exo. 30:18-21), which washed the priests from earthly defilement. The washing of feet in chapter thirteen indicates that until this chapter, the things are still only in the outer court and not yet in the holy place or in the Holy of Holies. It is not until chapter fourteen, following the experience of the laver, that we enter into the holy place.
In chapter fourteen, Christ is the Father (vv. 9-11) and the Spirit (vv. 16-18). The Lord Jesus is the embodiment and expression of the Father, and as the Spirit, the Son is revealed and realized. The Father is His fullness, and all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily (Col. 2:9). The Father as the fullness and the reality dwells in the Son, and the Son is now the Spirit. The Spirit is the transmission of the Triune God, as revealed in 2 Corinthians 13:14 which says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The fellowship of the Spirit is the Spirit Himself as the transmission of the grace of the Lord with the love of God for our participation.
In chapter fifteen, Christ is the great, universal vine. In chapter sixteen are the Spirit (vv. 7, 13-15) and the newborn child (v. 21). Christ is this newborn child. He is the firstborn of the dead (Col. 1:18), the firstborn of the newborn ones. He is the firstborn Son of God brought forth in resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; Rom. 1:4).
The prayer of the Lord concerning the divine oneness in chapter seventeen is fully answered and realized in the New Jerusalem. John 17:23 says, “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one.” The believers are to be perfected into one in the Triune God that they might be perfect. The universal building, the mingling of the Triune God with all the believers, is the New Jerusalem, which is the answer to the prayer of John 17. In the New Jerusalem, all the believers will be perfected into one in the Triune God. In chapter eighteen, Christ is the real Lamb who was judged, the One who bore the universal judgment. He was the real Passover Lamb examined for four days before He was put to death (See Mark 12:37 and note 371—Recovery Version; Exo. 12:3-6).
In chapter nineteen is the cross with the blood and the water (vv. 17, 34), and in chapter twenty is the breath of life. The Lord Jesus breathed into the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22). In chapter twenty-one there are fish and lambs. With the fish there is also bread for eating (vv. 9, 13). There is no need for us to fish; the Lord has the fish already (vv. 5, 9 and note 91—Recovery Version). After our satisfaction, we have to take care of the little lambs (vv. 15-17). These are the items of Christ as God’s embodiment in the Gospel of John for us to enjoy.