As we enter a new year, we continue our yearlong journey through the Gospel of John.
We began this journey last Easter. Since then, we’ve listened to Jesus’ teaching. We’ve seen the signs. We’ve watched the growing tension as “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
As we turn into our new year, we enter the final stretch of this book. John gives seven chapters to just one week in Jesus’ life. That’s nearly a third of the entire book! Everything in the story has been moving toward these moments.
This final week in Jesus’ life will take us 17 weeks. In these chapters, the pace slows. We see Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. He comforts and speaks truth to troubled hearts. He teaches on the Holy Spirit. He prays for us.
And then… He’s betrayed. Arrested. Mocked. Beaten. And lifted high on the cross.
This is why Jesus has come: to give his life for us. By his death and through his resurrection, we can all come by faith and receive him.
The promise of the gospel is for all of us. As John himself writes, “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:12).
I hope you’ll join us for this last stretch of our study as we sit with Jesus in the upper room, follow him into the garden, and draw near to him on the cross as the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Of course, the story doesn’t end with his death. It is through his resurrection that death is defeated and a new creation is born.
God is faithful.