The Gospel of John was written by the John the Apostle, not to be confused with John the Baptist, whose testimony about Jesus is featured in the opening chapters.

This Gospel stands apart from Matthew, Mark and Luke and offers a wonderful insight into who Jesus is. John is highly concerned with presenting to us a full and comprehensive picture of Jesus, the Son of God, from eternity to the incarnation, his life and ministry and his death and resurrection.

Here in John we have some wonderful detail recorded of Jesus speaking and revealing to us his identity as the Eternal Son of God. This Gospel means to impress on us a ‘big’ view of Jesus and his cosmic relevance.

Reading this Gospel should open our hearts to the one it is all about. John is referred to as ‘the disciple who Jesus loved’ and was clearly very close to Jesus, being the one who was reclined into him at the Last Supper (John 20:20). In chapter 20 verse 31, we are told why this Gospel is written. It is a beautifully simple statement that we should carry with us as we read this Gospel:

‘These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’