All Articles For John

“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:6–7 The word “fellowship” appears four times in 1 John 1 and is the key idea in the chapter, perhaps even in the epistle. “That ye also may have fellowship with us” (v. 3). “Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ”...

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. John 20:17 These words were spoken by Jesus to Mary Magdalene at the tomb on the day of His resurrection. Mary Magdalene had come to the tomb earlier that morning with several other women to anoint Jesus’ body. To their complete surprise the stone had been rolled away from the opening of the tomb. While the other women entered the...

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. John 10:17-18 We must never in the whole of our Christian lives forget the suffering of our Lord and Savior. For without His suffering there is no salvation. If Jesus had never died on the cross in the way He did, nothing else would matter about...

The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. This means that the words were spoken by the Holy Spirit. Christ does not want to give you the right to run to and fro in search of the Spirit, to lose yourself in reverie and say: “I have this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” Actually, it may be the devil who inspired you! Thus they alleged in the edict issued at the Diet of Augsburg: “The church is holy; therefore it follows that its proclamations are holy and given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” Christ...

“Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” John 19:18 Jesus’ crucifixion in the midst of two sinners reveals Him as the Savior of His people. Two notorious sinners hung condemned on either side of the Savior. Both saw and heard enough so that they could know that Jesus was the promised Messiah. By virtue of their close proximity to Jesus, each was forced to face the question, “What will you do with the crucified Christ?” The contrast between Jesus and these two sinners could hardly have been greater. In...

(Speech delivered Aug. 29, 1945 to the Federation of Protestant Reformed Young People’s Societies). “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it.” John 14:12-14 Christ’s departure from His brethren was to them a tremendous mystery. They believed in Him as the...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 8:16 God so loved. . . . And that explains the “must” of the preceding verse! As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. Another way than the way of the cross there was not for the Son of man to enter into His glory. He must be exalted, to be sure, but only through deepest humiliation and shame. For God so loved...

And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. John 1:1-6 Marvelous confession! For, let us not overlook the fact that in the words from John’s gospel-narrative we have a personal confession concerning the Christ. Out of His fullness have all we received! This is not a mere dogmatic statement by a theologian. It is not even a mere objective testimony as to the fullness and glory of the Son of God. But it is an expression of experience, of the experience of faith with respect to the Christ as the ever flowing, ever abundant, ever satisfying...

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. John 20:16, 17 Mary! Rabboni! Touch me not! I have not yet ascended. . . . But I ascend! Also this, that the risen Lord was not the ascended One, the disciples must learn to recognize, and that, too, before anything else...

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” John 10:27-30