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Every question from from Gospel of John(M4A_128K) · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Do you really know what John meant when he said
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  in the beginning was the word? Do you really understand
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  why Jesus turned water into wine or why he looked
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  into Nicodemus's eyes and said, you must be born again?
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  What if I told you that the Gospel of John
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  might be the most misunderstood book in the entire Bible.
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  You've heard its verses whispered at funerals, printed on banners
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  at sports games, even quoted by skeptics who don't believe
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  in God. But beneath those familiar words lies a mystery
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  most Christians never dare to wrestle with. Here's the unsettling truth.
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  Many believers have memorized John three sixteen but remained strangers
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  to the depth of John's gospel. They quote it for
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  comfort but miss its confrontation. They see it as poetry,
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  when in reality, it is war, a revelation that divides
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  darkness from light, lies from truth, death from life. And
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  here's the dangerous question. If you've misunderstood John, have you
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  misunderstood Jesus himself? By the end of this video, every
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  question you've ever had about John will not only be answered,
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  you'll feel the gospel. Pierce you like fire. You will
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  walk away not with trivia, but with transformation. And once
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  your eyes are opened, you'll never read John the same
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  way again. Before we dive in, let me pause here.
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  You're watching deep Bible stories, a place where scripture is
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  explained with depth, clarity, and passion. If you've found yourself
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  asking hard questions about faith, you're in the right place.
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  We've already walked through every book of the Bible, Isaiah's Visions,
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  the Thunder of Romans, the mysteries of the Trinity, and
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  the psalms that carried Israel through the storm, and every
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  teaching we've done is waiting for you. Add free on
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  our website along with e books for deeper study. Our
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  mission is not to fill your head with knowledge, but
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  to draw you closer to the God who still speaks.
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  If that's your heart, subscribe, share this with a friend,
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  and walk with us deeper into the Word. With that said,
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  let's dive back in. So we begin with a question
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  that lingers in the minds of so many. Who really
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  wrote the Gospel of John? And why does it even matter?
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  Some of you have wondered if this book was just
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  another anonymous writing a collection of stories about Jesus passed
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  around by early Christians others may have heard. Skeptics say
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  no one really knows who wrote John, as though the
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  foundation of this gospel rests on shaky ground. But what
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  if the truth is far more secure, far more personal,
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  and far more powerful than you've been told. What if
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  the identity of the author isn't just a scholarly detail,
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  but the very key to unlocking why this book feels
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  so different from Matthew, Mark or Luke. Think about it
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  like this. When you hear a story, doesn't it matter
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  who tells it. If you're in a courtroom, a witness's
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  credibility can determine the entire verdict. If you're listening to
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  a friend describe an accident, their perspective shapes what you
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  believe happened. If you're hearing a love story, the emotions
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  hit differently depending on whether it comes from someone who
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  lived it or someone who just heard its second hand.
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  The Gospel of John is like that. It isn't just
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  any account. It's told by the disciple whom Jesus loved.
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  Can you imagine a man who leaned on Jesus chest
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  during the Last Supper, who stood at the foot of
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  the Cross when everyone else ran away? Who outran Peter
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  to the empty tomb? This is not a distant historian
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  writing from a safe distance. This is someone whose heart
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  beat once matched the heartbeat of Christ. Does that move
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  you the way it moves me? The author identifies himself
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  not by name, but by relationship, the disciple whom Jesus loved.
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  For centuries, Church tradition has understood this to be John,
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  the son of Zebedee, one of the Twelve, the fisherman
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  turned apostle, whose life was forever changed by walking with Jesus.
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  And if you're wondering, why wouldn't he just write? I
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  John wrote this? Think of it this way. Have you
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  ever had a love so profound that your identity fell
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  completely wrapped up in it? John no longer needed to
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  announce his name. His entire self was swallowed up in
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  this staggering reality. Jesus loved him. That was enough. And
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  isn't that what every one of us craves to be known,
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  Not by our career, not by our mistakes, not by
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  what people whisper behind our but by the unshakable truth
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  that Jesus loves us. But let's press the question deeper.
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  Why four gospels? Why not just one? Have you ever
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  noticed how when something significant happens, a wedding, a tragedy,
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  a historic event, people tell the story from different angles.
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  If you interviewed four people at the same car accident,
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  each would notice different details. One might focus on the
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  sound of the crash, another on the expressions of the people,
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  another on the weather that day, and another on how
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  the road was shaped. None of them would be wrong.
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  Together they give a fuller picture. That's exactly what God
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  gave us. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew writes
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  with the precision of a Jewish tax collector, weaving Old
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  Testament prophecy into every line. Mark is fast paced, direct,
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  like a man in a hurry to tell the urgent news. Luke,
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  the doctor, records details with the care of someone used
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  to studying the body and the heart. And John John
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  tells it like a lover, a poet, a theologian who
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  isn't content with mere history. He wants you to see
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  eternity break into time. Have you ever asked yourself why
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  God didn't just give us a single gospel to avoid confusion.
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  Perhaps it's because he knew how easily we would flatten
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  the story if given only one perspective. He knew our
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  tendency to simplify, to reduce Jesus to a mere moral
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  teacher or miracle worker. So he gave us four lenses,
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  four voices, four witnesses. Together they form a symphony that
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  cannot be ignored. And yet John is the one that
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  so often feels like it's singing in another key. While
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  the others begin with genealogy, birth narratives, or ministry introductions,
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  John begins before time itself. In the beginning was the word.
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  Have you noticed how he doesn't even let us catch
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  our breath before confronting us with eternity. No shepherds, no manger,
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  no magi. John pulls back the curtain on creation itself
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  and says, this is where your savior begins. Now, maybe
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  you've wrestled with this. When exactly were these gospels written?
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  Why do the dates matter? Imagine a friend tells you
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  about something incredible that happened twenty years ago, and another
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  friend says it happened yesterday. Does the timing change how
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  you trust them? Scholars believe John wrote near the end
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  of the first century, after decades of reflection. When the
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  Church was facing confusion, persecution, and questions about who Jesus
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  really was. Matthew and Luke had already circulated, but false
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  teachings were beginning to rise, voices saying Jesus wasn't truly God,
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  or that his body wasn't real, or that his resurrection
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  was just a spiritual metaphor does that sound familiar because
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  even today people still say the same things. John steps
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  in not to repeat what others have already written, but
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  to pierce through the lies with light. He gives us
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  theology that bleeds, history that breathes and truth that still
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  demands a response. Maybe your thinking, but why should I
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  care about harmony between the gospels. Isn't it enough to
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  just believe in Jesus? Let me ask you this. Have
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  you ever had someone twist your words, take something true
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  you said, and turn it into a weapon against you.
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  That's what happens when people set the Gospels against each
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  other instead of seeing them as companions. The harmony of
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  the Gospels isn't about erasing their differences. It's about letting
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  their voices blend. Imagine four instruments playing together, one violin,
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  one trumpet, one piano, one drum alone, each is powerful. Together,
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  they create a fullness that none could achieve alone. That's
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  what God gave us. Harmony, not contradiction, unity not uniformity.
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  And I want to ask you personally, have you ever
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  struggled with doubt because you thought scripture didn't line up perfectly?
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  Have you ever been caught in conversations where critics throw
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  out the gospels don't agree. Did that ever make you
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  feel shaken, maybe even embarrassed? If so, You're not alone.
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  Countless believers have felt that sting. But hear me. The
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  differences are not flaws, They are fingerprints. They prove These
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  weren't robotic copy and paste accounts, but living testimonies. John
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  wasn't worried about copying Matthew's words or Luke's structure. He
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  wanted to reveal what only he could reveal, That Jesus
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  is the eternal Word made flesh, the Light who cannot
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  be overcome, the God who loved him and loves you.
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  And that's where this leaves us. The Gospel of John
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  is not just another biography. It is a testimony written
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  by a man who had nothing left to prove, nothing
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  left to boast about, except that he was loved by Jesus.
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  He lived long enough to see his friends martyred, his
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  city destroyed, his people scattered. And yet when he sat
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  down to write, he wasn't bitter, he wasn't broken. He
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  was burning with the revelation that in Jesus, heaven had
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  kissed earth. So let me turn the question back to you.
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  If John could define himself by nothing else but the
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  love of Jesus, what would that mean for you? What
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  if the deepest truth of your identity wasn't you your
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  success or your shame, but that you are loved by him?
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  Wouldn't that change how you see the rest of this gospel?
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  Wouldn't that change how you see your entire life? Because
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  as we step further into this journey, you're going to
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  see how everything John writes flows out of this foundation.
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  The questions you've carried about the Word, the light, the water,
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  the miracles, the cross, they all make sense once you
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  start here, a beloved disciple, inspired by the spirit, writing
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  to show you not just history but eternity. And if
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  you'll walk with me, you may discover that the same
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  Jesus who leaned close to John is leaning close to
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  you right now. Whispering the same truth into your soul.
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  I love you. And that's the mystery of authorship and purpose,
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  solved not by ink and parchment, but by love and revelation.
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  So now, with that foundation in our hearts, let's open
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  the gospel itself and ask what did John really mean
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  when he said GHI in the beginning? Was the word?
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  If John's gospel begins with the testimony of a beloved disciple,
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  then naturally the next question rises like a wave in
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  our minds? What did he mean when he opened his
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  account with those staggering words in the beginning? Was the word?
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  And the word was with God? And the word was God.
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  You've probably read them or heard them recited so often
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  that the weight of them might have dulled over time.
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  But pause with me for a moment. Does it not
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  make your heart tremble that John doesn't start with Bethlehem
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  or with shepherds in the field, or with angels in
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  the sky. He begins before time itself? Why would he
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  do that? What was he trying to show us? And
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  more personally, have you ever sat with that phrase the
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  word was God and wondered what it really means for
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  your life? Life? Today, let's make this reel. Imagine standing
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  at the shore of the ocean before sunrise. The sky
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  is still dark, and you hear only the sound of
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  waves rolling in, one after another without end. You can't
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  see where they come from, and you can't command them
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  to stop. They existed long before you arrived, and they'll
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  still be moving long after you've gone. That's what John
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  is doing with his opening. He places us not in
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  the middle of history, but at the edge of eternity.
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  He pulls us back past Genesis, past creation itself, and says,
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  this is where Jesus begins before anything else moved. He
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  was there. Does that strike you the way it strikes me? Now?
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  Think about how revolutionary this was for John's first readers.
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  Many were Jews who already knew Genesis one in the beginning,
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  God created the heavens and the earth. To them, John
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  wasn't just being poetic. He was saying, the same God
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  who spoke light into the darkness is the same Jesus
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  who walked among us. And for the Greeks steeped in philosophy.
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  The word John used logos translated word was a loaded term.
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  To them. Logos meant the divine reason, the ordering principle
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  of the universe. John takes their idea and says, yes,
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  there is a logos, but he isn't an abstract force
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  or impersonal power. He has a face, he has a voice.
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  He is Jesus. Have you ever noticed how God often
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  speaks to us in our own language, in terms we
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  can grasp, and then takes us deeper than we imagined.
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  But let's press into the heart of it. In the
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  beginning was the word? Notice John doesn't say from the beginning,
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  as if Jesus came into being when time starts. No,
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  he says in the beginning, which means when the clock
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  of the universe started ticking, Jesus was already there. When
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  galaxies swirled into being, when atoms first spun, when light
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  pierced the void. He was not part of creation. He
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  was the source that changes everything. Because if Jesus was
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  there at the beginning, then he isn't just another teacher
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  or prophet who appeared on the stage of history. He
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  is the author of history itself. And I have to
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  ask you, doesn't that make you rethink how casually we
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  sometimes treat him? Now, maybe you've wrestled with this part.
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  The word was with God What does that mean? How
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  can he be both God and with God? John is
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  unveiling a mystery here that pushes against every shallow attempt
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  to reduce Jesus to a mere man. He is distinct,
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  yet inseparable, face to face with the Father, yet fully
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  God himself. Think of it this way. Have you ever
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  had someone so close to you, so bound to you that,
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  even though you are not the same person, you share
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  the same heart. A spouse, a sibling, a lifelong friend
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  who knows your every thought. Multiply that intimacy beyond measure,
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  and you have a faint glimpse of what John means
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  when he says the word was with God. Its fellowship
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  so perfect, so eternal, that human language strains to contain it.
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  And then comes the most explosive line of all, the
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  word was God. Do you feel the weight of that?
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  John doesn't leave us room to wiggle. He doesn't say
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  the word was like God, or the word was a God.
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  He says, flatly, the word was God. This is where
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  every shallow translation crumbles, because if you say the word
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  was a God, you turn Jesus into just another divine
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  being in a pantheon, a lesser spirit among many that's
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  not what John is saying. He's saying the Word is
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  not just divine in nature, but God himself, sharing the
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  fullness of deity, worthy of the same worship, possessing the
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  same glory. Have you ever noticed how cults and false
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  teachings always stumble here? They want Jesus to be less
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  than God. Why because if he is God, then he
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  has the right to demand everything from us. And that's uncomfortable,
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  isn't it. Let me bring this closer. If Jesus is
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  truly God, than when he speaks, his words carry the
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  same weight as the creator who said let there be light.
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  That means when he says to you your sins are forgiven,
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  it isn't wishful thinking, it's divine decree. When he says
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  I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, it's
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  not personal preference, its eternal reality. And when he looks
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  at your brokenness and says be healed, it's the same
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  voice the commanded galaxies into being. Do you feel the difference.
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  This isn't just theology. This is life and death. This
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  is why John wanted to make it clear from the
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  very first sentence, you are not dealing with a man
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  who claimed to be God. You are dealing with God
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  who chose to become man. And John continues, all things
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  were made through him, and without him, nothing was made
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  that was made. Have you ever stopped to think about that?
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  Not some things, not most things, all things. The mountains
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  you hike, the stars you wish upon, the child's laughter,
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  the sound of waves, even the very breath you're drawing
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  right now, it all comes through Him, which means your
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  existence is not random. Your story is not an accident.
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  You are here because the Word spoke you into being.
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  Isn't that breath taking? But let's be honest. Maybe some
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  of you have asked, if Jesus made everything, why is
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  the world so broken? Why does creation grown with earthquakes, diseases,
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  wars and betrayals. That's a real question, and John doesn't
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  ignore it. He starts with creation because he knows he
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  will take us to redemption. The one who made all
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  things is also the one who will remake all things.
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  He who spoke the first light will one day wipe
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  out all darkness. He who formed you in the beginning
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  will form you again through new birth. Have you ever
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  longed for a reset button on your life? John is
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  telling you Jesus is that reset not just for you,
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  but for the world. So here's the challenge for us.
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  If in the beginning the word and the word was God,
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  how are we living in response? Are we treating his
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  words as optional advice or as the voice of the
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  one who holds galaxies in his hands? Are we worshiping
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  him as Lord? Or are we trying to reduce him
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  to a life coach who fits our comfort. I want
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  you to sit with that, because the way you answer
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  those questions reveals whether John's opening verses have pierced your
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  heart or just passed over your mind. And maybe right
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  now your sensing something stirring inside you, a realization that
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  the Jesus you've known is bigger, greater, and closer than
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  you thought. If so, that's not coincidence. That's the same
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  word who spoke creation into being, now speaking into your spirit.
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  Will you let him? Will you hear his voice not
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  as distant thunder, but as the heartbeat of the God
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  who was, who who is, and who always will be.
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  Because John's prologue is not simply a poetic introduction, It's
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  a confrontation. It forces us to choose. Will we see
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  Jesus as he truly is the eternal Word, the Creator,
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  the God who was in the beginning, Or will we
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  settle for shallow translations that strip him of his glory?
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  My prayer is that you'll see him as John saw him, radiant, eternal,
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  and unstoppable. And as we carry this truth, we are
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  ready to move deeper. Because if the word was in
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  the beginning, then what does it mean that this word
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  is also the light shining in the darkness, and the
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  darkness has not overcome it. We have just stood at
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  the edge of eternity with John's thunderous words. In the
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  beginning was the Word, and the word was with God,
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  and the word was God. If that word is eternal, divine,
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  and the very source of all creation, then naturally the
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  next question presses on our hearts. What does John mean
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  when he says in him was life, and the life
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  was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness,
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  and the darkness has not overcome it. Have you ever
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  wondered about that? Because here John is not talking about
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  a light bulb or sunshine. He is describing something deeper,
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  something that reaches into the core of our being. What
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  is this life and light and how can it stand
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  undefeated against the darkness that seems to swallow so much
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  of our world. Let's start with something we all know.
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  Think back to a night when the power went out
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  in your house. Maybe it was a storm, maybe just
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  a neighborhood outage. Do you remember how thick the darkness felt.
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  Suddenly every familiar room becomes unfamiliar. Every step is hesitant,
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  your hands stretched out, feeling for walls, for furniture, for
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  something solid. But then one small candle, one flick of
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  a flashlight, and the entire mood changes. Isn't it wild
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  how just a little light makes the darkness retreat. That's
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  what John is telling us. The life of Jesus is
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  not just biological existence. It is the very light of
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  God that cuts through the confusion, fear, and despair of
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  human existence. In him was life. Have you noticed that
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  John doesn't say Jesus had life, but that life was
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  in him. He wasn't given life. He is life. Every
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  beat of your heart, every breath in your lungs, every
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  sunrise you've ever witnessed, it all flows from him. And
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  here's the difference. We think of life as survival, as
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  just getting through another day. But John means something greater.
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  The Greek word here is zoe. Not just physical life
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  by us, but spiritual, eternal life, the kind of life
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  that is rich, full, overflowing. Isn't that what we're all
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  really searching for, not just to exist, but to live?
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  And then John takes it further. The life was the
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  light of men. This means that the very life of
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  Jesus shines as illumination for us, showing us the way
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  in a world groping in shadows. Have you ever walked
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  through a season where you just didn't know which way
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  to turn? Maybe a relationship fell apart, maybe you lost
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  your job, maybe the diagnosis came back, and suddenly everything
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  felt dark. Isn't it true that in those moments you
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  crave direction more than anything. That's what John is saying.
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  Jesus is not just the source of existence. He is
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  the light that gives meaning, purpose and clarity in the
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  middle of our darkness. But here comes the dramatic confrontation.
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  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
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  not overcome it. If you're like me, you may have asked, really,
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  hasn't darkness one a thousand times over look round war's rage,
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  Families break addictions destroy and depression drags people into despair.
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  Doesn't it sometimes feel like darkness is stronger? Maybe you've
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  even whispered it in your own heart? Why does it
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  feel like evil keeps winning? If that's you, John is
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  speaking directly to your soul. The word overcome can also
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  be translated comprehend or seize. The idea is this, No
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  matter how hard darkness tries to grasp, extinguish, or swallow
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  the light, it cannot succeed. Light is undefeated. One can
• 26:00
  in a cavern will always push back the shadows always.
• 26:04
  Let me take you back to the first century for
• 26:06
  a moment. Imagine being one of John's readers. The Roman
• 26:10
  Empire casts its shadow across the world. Christians are being hunted, burned, crucified.
• 26:18
  The temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed. It looks like
• 26:21
  darkness has swallowed everything. And yet John writes with unflinching boldness,
• 26:27
  the darkness has not overcome it. Why because he had
• 26:31
  seen it with his own eyes. He watched Jesus crucified
• 26:35
  in brutal darkness on a Friday, and he walked into
• 26:38
  an empty tomb on Sunday morning. Death itself tried to
• 26:43
  swallow the light and failed. Isn't that why we're still
• 26:47
  here two thousand years later, because the darkness of the
• 26:50
  Cross could not overcome the light of the resurrection. But
• 26:56
  let's bring this into your story. Where does the darkness
• 27:00
  try to overcome you? Is it in your mind whispering
• 27:04
  lies that you'll never be free? Is it in your family,
• 27:08
  where broken patterns repeat generation after generation. Is it in
• 27:13
  your private struggles, the ones no one else sees, where
• 27:17
  shame has wrapped itself around your soul like a chain.
• 27:21
  Can I tell you something John is screaming from eternity.
• 27:25
  The darkness cannot win. It may press hard, it may
• 27:28
  surround you, it may terrify you, but it cannot extinguish
• 27:32
  the light that is in Christ. And if Christ is
• 27:35
  in you, then that light burns within you as well.
• 27:39
  Do you believe that John doesn't stop there. He adds
• 27:43
  that the true light was coming into the world and
• 27:46
  that it gives light to every person. This means no
• 27:50
  one is outside its reach. Think of how radical this
• 27:53
  was in John's time. Jews and gentiles, men and women,
• 27:59
  slaves and free all were being told that the light
• 28:02
  of Christ could pierce their darkness and It's still true
• 28:06
  to day that person you've given up on, that family
• 28:10
  member who seems lost beyond hope, that part of yourself
• 28:14
  you think is too far gone. The light is still shining,
• 28:17
  still reaching, still offering life. I wonder have you ever
• 28:22
  felt like you were walking in darkness without a guide?
• 28:24
  Maybe you even prayed God show me the way, but
• 28:28
  all you saw was shadow. John wants you to know
• 28:32
  you don't have to manufacture your own light. You don't
• 28:35
  have to stumble blindly hoping for the best. The true
• 28:38
  light has already come. Your role is not to create it,
• 28:42
  but to receive it, to turn your face toward him
• 28:45
  the way a flower turns toward the sun. Doesn't that
• 28:48
  change the way you see your struggles? So here's the
• 28:52
  question we must all wrestle with. Are we choosing the
• 28:55
  light or are we clinging to the shadows? Because lights poses,
• 29:01
  it shows the truth, and let's be honest, sometimes we
• 29:05
  preferred darkness because it hides our secrets. Have you ever
• 29:08
  noticed that sometimes we resist the light not because we
• 29:12
  don't believe, but because we're afraid of what it will reveal.
• 29:16
  But John assures us the exposure of light is not
• 29:20
  for our shame, but for our salvation. The light shines
• 29:24
  to heal, not to humiliate. As we sit with this,
• 29:29
  let's remember the Word is life, and that life is light.
• 29:34
  The darkness is loud, but it cannot overcome. Your despair
• 29:39
  is heavy, but it cannot last forever. And if the
• 29:43
  Resurrection proved anything, it proved this. When the light looks gone,
• 29:48
  it is only moments away from shining brighter than ever.
• 29:52
  And so we carry this truth with us as we continue,
• 29:55
  because if the light has come and the darkness cannot win,
• 30:00
  then we are left to face the next staggering mystery.
• 30:04
  What does it mean that this eternal word, this radiant light,
• 30:08
  did not stay distant, but became flesh and dwelt among us.
• 30:12
  We have just seen how John pulls back the curtain
• 30:15
  on eternity to reveal a light that no darkness can overcome.
• 30:20
  But that light raises another question that demands an answer.
• 30:24
  If Jesus is the eternal Word, the life, the light
• 30:29
  of all mankind, how does John dare to say in
• 30:33
  verse fourteen, the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
• 30:37
  Doesn't that sentence stop you in your tracks? How can
• 30:39
  the infinite God wrap himself in finite skin. How can
• 30:43
  the eternal step into time, the invisible clothe himself with visibility,
• 30:49
  the Holy enter into human fragility. Have you ever paused
• 30:53
  long enough to let the shock of that statement hit you?
• 30:56
  Because if we really believe this, it changes everything about
• 31:00
  how we see God and how we see ourselves. Think
• 31:04
  about the distance John is spanning here. Just a few
• 31:07
  verses ago, he placed us at the dawn of creation, galaxies,
• 31:11
  spinning stars, bursting into light, cosmic order flowing out of
• 31:16
  the Word. And now suddenly we're not standing in the heavens,
• 31:20
  but on the dirt roads of Galilee, where God himself
• 31:24
  breathes dusty air, tastes hunger, feels exhaustion, and even weeps.
• 31:30
  Isn't it almost scandalous to imagine? Maybe you've been taught
• 31:34
  to think of God as distant, cold, untouchable. But John
• 31:39
  says no, He didn't shout salvation from the heavens. He
• 31:43
  walked into our neighborhood. The word became flesh and dwelt
• 31:48
  among us. The word dwelt literally means pitched his tent
• 31:53
  or tabernacled among us. For the Jewish readers, this would
• 31:57
  have rung like a thunderclap, they would have remember but
• 32:00
  the tabernacle in the wilderness, where God's glory descended in
• 32:04
  fire and cloud to dwell with his people. And now
• 32:08
  John says, that glory you longed for, that presence you
• 32:13
  thought was confined to a temple, it has moved into
• 32:16
  your midst in a carpenter's son from Nazareth. Doesn't it
• 32:20
  stir something in you that God would rather camp among
• 32:24
  his people than remain locked away in heavenly distance. And
• 32:28
  John goes further, We beheld his glory. What glory? Not
• 32:33
  the kind that dazzles with gold crowns or intimidates with
• 32:36
  thundrous armies. No, this was a glory wrapped in humility.
• 32:41
  Glory and washing dirty feet, in touching lepers, in speaking
• 32:45
  with outcasts, in carrying across. Doesn't it make you stop
• 32:50
  and rethink what glory really means. We're trained to see
• 32:54
  glory in power, fame, wealth and achievement. But John is saying,
• 33:00
  true glory is seen in the face of Jesus, the
• 33:04
  only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now,
• 33:10
  let's talk about that phrase only begotten. Some people trip
• 33:14
  over it, thinking it means Jesus was created as though
• 33:17
  there was a time when he didn't exist. But that's
• 33:20
  not what John is saying. The Greek word monogenes means unique,
• 33:26
  one of a kind. He is not a son among many.
• 33:30
  He is the son, the only son, the eternal son,
• 33:35
  in a relationship with the Father, unlike anything else in existence.
• 33:39
  Have you ever been in a room full of people
• 33:42
  but one voice, one face stood out as irreplaceable to you.
• 33:47
  Multiply that infinitely and you get a glimpse of what
• 33:51
  John means here. The father's heart beats in the son,
• 33:56
  and the son reveals the father's heart to us. And
• 33:59
  then John adds this phrase, full of grace and truth.
• 34:02
  If you've lived long enough, you know how rare that
• 34:05
  combination is. Some people lean toward grace, their kind forgiving, understanding,
• 34:12
  but they avoid truth when it's uncomfortable. Others lean toward truth.
• 34:16
  They're sharp, honest, uncompromising, but they can be harsh, cold,
• 34:21
  even crushing. Jesus is the only one who embodies both
• 34:25
  fully perfectly. He never watered down truth to make people
• 34:29
  feel better, but he also never used truth as a
• 34:31
  weapon to destroy. He brought grace that heals and truth
• 34:36
  that liberates. Don't you wish our world had more of
• 34:40
  that balance? And doesn't it challenge you? How often do
• 34:43
  you live lopsided, leaning more toward grace without truth or
• 34:47
  truth without grace? John later writes, from his fullness, we
• 34:52
  have all received grace upon grace. That phrase almost sounds
• 34:58
  like waves crashing on the shore. Wasn't it grace upon grace,
• 35:02
  one wave followed by another, never running dry? Have you
• 35:08
  ever needed that? Maybe you've stumbled again in the same
• 35:13
  sin you swore you'd never commit. Maybe you've doubted again
• 35:17
  after promising you'd trust. Maybe you've failed someone you love
• 35:23
  and wondered if God's patience has finally run out. But
• 35:28
  John assures us the supply of grace never empties. It
• 35:32
  comes like waves, constant, relentless, covering the shores of your failures.
• 35:37
  Have you ever felt that wave wash over you? And
• 35:40
  here's the wonder. This grace and truth isn't abstract. It
• 35:44
  isn't a concept to memorize. It's a person. Jesus doesn't
• 35:49
  just bring grace. He is grace. He doesn't just teach truth.
• 35:54
  He is truth. And when the word became flesh, he
• 35:58
  gave us more than information about God, He gave us
• 36:01
  God himself. Isn't that why John can say with such confidence?
• 36:06
  No one has seen God at any time the only
• 36:10
  begotten son, who is in the bosom of the Father.
• 36:13
  He has declared him Jesus is the exe Jesus of God,
• 36:20
  the explanation, the unveiling. If you want to know what
• 36:24
  God looks like, you don't have to guess you look
• 36:28
  at Jesus. But let me ask you personally. Have you
• 36:32
  ever wanted God to just show himself plainly, to give
• 36:36
  you something you could see, touch, and hear. John is
• 36:40
  telling you that He has not in thunderbolts or blazing fire,
• 36:46
  but in the flesh of a man who laughed with children,
• 36:49
  shared meals with sinners, and laid down his life for you.
• 36:54
  Does that answer the cry of your heart? Or does
• 36:57
  it make you hunger to see him? More clearly, the
• 37:01
  staggering claim of John one fourteen is that the distance
• 37:04
  between Heaven and Earth has collapsed in Jesus. That the
• 37:08
  God you thought was unreachable has come close enough to touch,
• 37:12
  That the light who shattered darkness has wrapped himself in
• 37:16
  skin so he could walk with you, suffer with you,
• 37:19
  redeem you, and If that's true, then nothing in your
• 37:23
  life is too ordinary, too broken, or too dark for
• 37:27
  him to enter. So as we carry this truth, let's
• 37:30
  allow the wonder of it to sink deep. The Eternal
• 37:34
  Word became flesh. We have seen his glory. We are
• 37:38
  drenched in his grace, we are steadied by his truth.
• 37:42
  And if that's where John begins his story, then it
• 37:45
  makes sense that he now turns our attention to the
• 37:49
  one who prepared the way for this coming, the voice
• 37:53
  crying in the wilderness, announcing the Lamb of God, who
• 37:57
  takes away the sin of the world. If the Eternal
• 38:01
  Word has now stepped into flesh, and we have beheld
• 38:05
  his glory, then the natural question rises, how did the
• 38:09
  world first recognize him? How was the stage set for
• 38:13
  his arrival? John the Apostle takes a straight to another John,
• 38:18
  John the Baptist, the wild prophet in camel's hair, crying
• 38:22
  out in the wilderness, preparing hearts for the Lamb of God.
• 38:27
  And I wonder have you ever asked why God chose
• 38:30
  a man like that, in such an unlikely place, with
• 38:33
  such a raw and uncomfortable message, to be the herald
• 38:37
  of his son. Wouldn't it make more sense to have
• 38:40
  Jesus announced from the temple steps by priests with polished robes,
• 38:45
  But instead the voice came echoing from the desert. Doesn't
• 38:50
  that stir something in you that God often bypasses the
• 38:54
  places of power to reveal himself in the places of desperation.
• 38:58
  Let's step into the sea for a moment. Picture the
• 39:01
  Jordan River, its banks, crowded with people, weary of Roman oppression,
• 39:06
  burdened by religious hypocrisy, and desperate for something real. Into
• 39:11
  this moment bursts John the Baptist, fiery and uncompromising. His
• 39:17
  words cut through the air like thunder. Repent for the
• 39:22
  Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Can you hear the urgency?
• 39:26
  He wasn't trying to win applause, He wasn't trying to
• 39:29
  build a brand. He was preparing the way for someone greater,
• 39:33
  someone whose sandals, he said, he wasn't even worthy to untie.
• 39:38
  And I have to ask, do you ever feel like
• 39:41
  God is calling you to a kind of wilderness moment,
• 39:44
  a stripping away of distractions, so that your heart can
• 39:48
  be ready to recognize Jesus when he comes near. Who
• 39:52
  was John the Baptist? He was no ordinary man from
• 39:56
  the womb. He was set apart. Do you remember the story?
• 40:01
  His mother, Elizabeth Baron and advanced in years, conceived him
• 40:06
  through a miraculous promise, and his father Zechariah, was struck
• 40:11
  mute until the child was born. Even his birth was prophetic,
• 40:16
  a sign that God was about to break his silence
• 40:19
  and usher in a new era. He grew up outside
• 40:24
  the system, outside the comfort of the city, living on
• 40:28
  locusts and wild honey, wearing rough garments that told the
• 40:32
  world he was not there to impress, but to confront.
• 40:36
  Doesn't that challenge us in our comfort driven world? Could
• 40:40
  it be that God sometimes raises up voices we'd rather
• 40:43
  ignore because they disturb our peace. But John's role was
• 40:48
  not just to confront. It was to point. One day,
• 40:51
  standing by the Jordan, he looked up and saw Jesus approaching,
• 40:56
  and in that moment everything came into focus. Behold the
• 41:01
  lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
• 41:05
  Can you feel the weight of those words. He doesn't
• 41:07
  call him a teacher, a prophet, or even a king,
• 41:11
  though Jesus was all of those. He calls him the lamb.
• 41:15
  For every Jew listening, this image would have exploded with meaning.
• 41:20
  The Lamb was central to their story, the passover Lamb,
• 41:23
  whose blood on the door posts saved Israel from judgment
• 41:26
  in Egypt, the Lamb sacrificed daily in the temple as
• 41:29
  atonement for sin. The Lamb Isiah prophesied, led to the
• 41:34
  slaughter for our transgressions. And here John is declaring all
• 41:40
  of it was pointing here to this man, to this moment.
• 41:45
  Do you see how staggering that is? And then the
• 41:48
  baptism Jesus steps into the waters where sinners had been
• 41:52
  confessing their sins and being washed. The sinless son of
• 41:56
  God joins them, not because he needed cleansing, but because
• 42:00
  he came to identify with us completely. Can you picture it?
• 42:04
  The creator of the river, now standing waste deep in
• 42:08
  its waters, submitting to baptism at the hands of his
• 42:11
  own servant. And as he rises, the heavens tear open.
• 42:17
  The Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father's voice thunders,
• 42:21
  this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Father,
• 42:26
  Son and Spirit revealed together the Trinity unveiled in one
• 42:31
  breath taking moment. Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose
• 42:36
  to begin here. Maybe it's because from the very start
• 42:42
  he wanted us to know he came not to stand
• 42:47
  above us, but with us. But John doesn't stop there.
• 42:52
  He says something even more personal. I did not know him,
• 42:56
  But he who sent me to baptize with water said
• 42:59
  to me, on whom you see the spirit descending and remaining,
• 43:04
  this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And
• 43:08
  then John testifies, I have seen and born witness that
• 43:12
  this is the Son of God. Isn't that what faith
• 43:16
  really is, not figuring everything out, but seeing Jesus and
• 43:21
  bearing witness. And maybe I can ask you, have you
• 43:24
  seen him not with physical eyes but with the eyes
• 43:27
  of your spirit? Have you borne witness in your own
• 43:30
  life that he is the Lamb who takes away sin,
• 43:34
  even yours? And here is where this connects to us.
• 43:38
  John the Baptist's whole life was summed up in one sentence.
• 43:42
  He must increase, but I must decrease. Have you ever
• 43:48
  wrestled with that tension? Our world trains us to build platforms,
• 43:52
  chase recognition, maximize ourselves. But John shows us the opposite way.
• 43:58
  His joy was not in being the light, but in
• 44:02
  pointing to the light and I have to ask you, honestly,
• 44:06
  are you willing to live like that? To let your
• 44:09
  story fade so that His story shines. Now, before we
• 44:15
  move further, let me pause to share something important. The
• 44:19
  reason we take time to explain these deep truths is
• 44:23
  because we believe God's word deserves more than surface reading.
• 44:27
  That's why on our website we've created resources for you.
• 44:32
  Every one of our most watched videos has been turned
• 44:35
  into an e book designed to help you go deeper,
• 44:39
  to meditate slowly, to let these truths soak into your spirit.
• 44:45
  They're there for you if you want to study without distractions,
• 44:49
  offline or with friends at your own pace, because this
• 44:53
  isn't just about knowing the Bible, It's about letting it
• 44:56
  transform you. You can find those ebooks and much more
• 44:59
  in the description. So now we walk forward with our
• 45:03
  hearts stirred by the cry of the Forerunner and the
• 45:06
  unveiling of the Lamb. The Word has become flesh, the
• 45:10
  Lamb has been revealed, the Spirit has descended, and the
• 45:14
  Father has declared his son. The stage is fully set,
• 45:20
  which leads us to the next question we must face.
• 45:23
  Why did Jesus choose to reveal his glory first, not
• 45:26
  in the temple or the palace, but at a wedding
• 45:29
  in Cana where water turned into wine. Would whisper of
• 45:33
  a joy and a covenant yet to come. We have
• 45:36
  just heard John the Baptist cry out in the wilderness
• 45:39
  and point to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the
• 45:43
  one who takes away the sin of the world. If
• 45:46
  John prepared the stage, then the question now becomes, how
• 45:51
  did Jesus himself begin to unveil his identity? What was
• 45:56
  the first glimpse of his glory that the world would see?
• 46:00
  And doesn't it seem surprising, maybe even strange, that his
• 46:04
  first miracle was not raising the dead, not healing the sick,
• 46:08
  not casting out demons, but quietly turning water into wine
• 46:13
  at a wedding in Cana. Have you ever paused and
• 46:17
  asked why? Because if you or I were scripting the
• 46:20
  Messiah's debut, I doubt we'd start at a small town
• 46:24
  feast where the wine ran dry. Let's step into the
• 46:29
  scene together. Imagine the hum of music, the laughter of guests,
• 46:33
  the clinking of jars being poured. A Jewish wedding was
• 46:37
  no small affair. It was the celebration of Covenant, A
• 46:42
  week long feast where the entire community joined in to
• 46:45
  run out of wine wasn't just inconvenient. It was a
• 46:49
  cultural disaster, a shame that would follow the bridegroom for life.
• 46:54
  Into that crisis, comes Mary, who whispers to Jesus they
• 46:58
  have no wine. Can you feel the weight of her words?
• 47:03
  On the surface, she's asking for help with refreshments, but
• 47:08
  beneath it lies something deeper. She knows who he is,
• 47:12
  and she's urging him to act. Have you ever had
• 47:15
  someone close to you push you toward a step you
• 47:18
  weren't sure you were ready to take. That's what's happening here.
• 47:23
  And then comes Jesus reply, the one that makes many
• 47:27
  of us uncomfortable. Woman, what does this have to do
• 47:31
  with me? My hour has not yet come? Was he
• 47:36
  being harsh? Distant? Number? The word woman in that culture
• 47:42
  was not rude. It was respectful, like saying, madam. What
• 47:47
  he's really saying is the full unveiling of my glory,
• 47:50
  the Cross, the resurrection. That hour isn't here yet, but
• 47:55
  I will give you a sign, a whisper of what
• 47:57
  is to come. Doesn't that stir something in you? The
• 48:00
  miracles of Jesus were never just party tricks or random
• 48:04
  displays of power. They were signs pointing to his ultimate mission.
• 48:09
  And this one turning water into wine is rich with meaning.
• 48:15
  Think of the water jars. John mentions six stone jars
• 48:19
  used for Jewish purification. Rites into those jars, Jesus has
• 48:23
  the servant's poor water, and then he transforms it into
• 48:27
  wine of the finest quality. Do you see it? He
• 48:31
  is taking the old order of ritual cleansing and filling
• 48:34
  it with new wine, the wine of the New Covenant.
• 48:38
  In his blood, the water of religion becomes the wine
• 48:42
  of redemption. And isn't it beautiful that this first miracle
• 48:46
  happens not in the temple but at a wedding. It
• 48:50
  whispers of the greater wedding feast to come, when Christ
• 48:54
  the bridegroom will unite forever with his bride the Church.
• 48:58
  Have you ever longed for joy that doesn't run dry,
• 49:02
  for celebration that doesn't end. That's what this miracle is
• 49:06
  pointing toward. But Jesus doesn't stop with cana. After the wedding,
• 49:13
  John tells us he went to Jerusalem and entered the temple.
• 49:18
  And here comes another shocking moment, the meek lamb suddenly
• 49:22
  roaring like a lion, picture in weaving a whip of cords,
• 49:27
  driving out the merchants, overturning tables, scattering coins across the
• 49:31
  stone floor. The place meant for prayer had become a
• 49:34
  market place, and Jesus would not tolerate it. Take these
• 49:39
  things away, Do not make my father's house a house
• 49:42
  of trade? Can you hear the passion in his voice?
• 49:45
  And John tells us the disciples remembered the scripture zeal
• 49:49
  for your house will consume me. Have you ever seen
• 49:52
  someone so consumed by a cause that they couldn't sit still,
• 49:56
  couldn't stay silent. That's Jesus here, and it makes us
• 50:01
  ask why would he start his ministry with these two acts,
• 50:05
  a wedding and a cleansing. One reveals abundance, the other
• 50:10
  demands holiness. Together they show us the fullness of his mission.
• 50:16
  He came to bring joy that overflows, but also to
• 50:20
  purify what had been corrupted. He came to fill our emptiness,
• 50:24
  but also to confront our sin. Doesn't that sound like
• 50:30
  what he's still doing to day in our lives, pouring
• 50:33
  new wine where we've run dry and overturning tables where
• 50:37
  we've let idols take over. Maybe you've experienced both sides
• 50:41
  of this. Have you felt him turn your emptiness into joy?
• 50:46
  Maybe you once thought your story was ruined, but he
• 50:49
  brought laughter back to your home. And at the same time,
• 50:53
  have you felt him overturn your tables? Maybe he disrupted
• 50:57
  your comfort, exposed something you were clinging to, and at
• 51:01
  first it felt like loss, but in reality it was freedom.
• 51:06
  Can I ask you, do you recognize his hand in both?
• 51:10
  And let's not miss his words, My hour has not
• 51:13
  yet come. All through John's Gospel, that phrase echoes his
• 51:19
  hour was not the hour of miracles or debates, or
• 51:22
  even of temple cleansing. His true hour was the cross,
• 51:26
  where his glory would shine brightest, where the wine of
• 51:29
  His blood would be poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
• 51:33
  Every sign pointed to that hour. Have you ever noticed
• 51:38
  how God often gives us glimpses, moments of joy, flashes
• 51:43
  of glory, to strengthen us for what lies ahead. That's
• 51:46
  what Cana was, a sign post pointing to Calvary. So
• 51:51
  here we are standing at the threshold of jesus ministry,
• 51:54
  watching him reveal himself in signs that both comfort and
• 51:58
  confront and John is inviting us not just to marvel
• 52:02
  at them, but to interpret them, to see their deeper meaning.
• 52:07
  Because if the first signs point us to joy and holiness,
• 52:11
  then the next question presses in, what does it mean
• 52:15
  to be born again? To enter into this life not
• 52:18
  by tradition or ritual, but by water and the spirit.
• 52:22
  For that is where John now leads us in the
• 52:25
  midnight conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, where the call to
• 52:29
  new birth shakes us to the core. The last time
• 52:32
  we stood together, we were watching water turn into wine
• 52:36
  and tables crashing in the temple. Both were signs that
• 52:40
  Jesus had come to bring overflowing joy and uncompromising holiness.
• 52:45
  But those miracles raised a deeper question for the people
• 52:49
  who saw them, and it's the same one we face today.
• 52:53
  If Jesus has come to usher in something entirely new,
• 52:56
  how does a person actually enter into that life? That's
• 53:00
  exactly the question Nicodemus brought to Jesus one night under
• 53:04
  the cover of darkness, and it's the same question John
• 53:08
  places before us. What does it mean to be born again?
• 53:12
  To be born of water and the spirit. Have you
• 53:15
  ever asked that? Because I know many of us have
• 53:19
  wondered quietly, isn't being born once enough? Why would Jesus
• 53:25
  say we must be born a second time? Picture the scene. Nicodemus,
• 53:31
  a pharisee, a man of status, slips through the night
• 53:36
  to meet Jesus, the teacher of Israel, coming to the
• 53:39
  teacher from Nazareth. Can you imagine the weight of that meeting.
• 53:44
  Nicodemus wasn't some skeptic trying to trap Jesus, at least
• 53:48
  not here. He was hungry, he'd seen the signs, he'd
• 53:53
  felt the stir in his soul, but he didn't yet understand.
• 53:57
  And isn't that where so many of us live. We've
• 54:00
  seen enough of Jesus to be intrigued to know there's
• 54:03
  something real, but we can't quite piece it all together.
• 54:07
  Nicodemus begins politely, Rabbi, we know that you are a
• 54:13
  teacher come from God. For no one can do these
• 54:17
  signs unless God is with him. And Jesus doesn't waste
• 54:21
  time with small talk. He goes straight to the heart.
• 54:25
  Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom
• 54:28
  of God. Can you hear the confusion in Nicodemus's voice.
• 54:33
  How can a man be born when he is old?
• 54:36
  Can he enter his mother's womb a second time? It's
• 54:39
  almost humorous? But don't we all ask questions like that?
• 54:44
  Haven't you ever wrestled with spiritual truth and reduced it
• 54:47
  to literal terms just to avoid its challenge? Jesus answers
• 54:53
  with greater clarity. Unless one is born of water and
• 54:57
  the spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. So
• 55:01
  what does that mean? Being born of water points to cleansing,
• 55:05
  to baptism, to the washing away of the old life.
• 55:09
  Being born of the spirit points to renewal, to transformation
• 55:14
  from within. Together, they describe a rebirth that is both
• 55:18
  cleansing and empowering. Jesus is saying Nicodemus, it's not about
• 55:23
  starting over in your mother's womb. It's about starting over
• 55:27
  in your soul. And maybe I should ask you have
• 55:30
  you experienced that? Not just religious rituals, not just trying harder,
• 55:37
  but an actual rebirth where you knew the old you
• 55:41
  had died and something new had come alive. And then
• 55:47
  Jesus presses even deeper that which is born of flesh
• 55:51
  is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.
• 55:55
  He's drawing a line here. Flesh can only produce flesh.
• 56:00
  No matter how hard we try, No amount of human
• 56:03
  effort can drag us into God's kingdom. The spirit alone
• 56:07
  gives life. Have you ever felt the frustration of trying
• 56:11
  to fix yourself, trying to be better, only to fail
• 56:15
  again and again. Jesus says, you can't berth yourself into
• 56:20
  this life. Only the Spirit can do it. That's humbling,
• 56:23
  isn't it? Because it strips us of control? But it's
• 56:28
  also freeing because it means the pressure isn't on us
• 56:31
  to manufacture new life, It's on him to give it.
• 56:36
  And then Jesus offers an illustration. The wind blows where
• 56:40
  it wishes, and you hear it sound, but you cannot
• 56:44
  tell where it comes from or where it goes. So
• 56:49
  is every one born of the spirit? Isn't that both
• 56:52
  mysterious and beautiful? We don't control the wind, we don't
• 56:57
  fully understand it, but we see its effect, leaves, rustling branches, swaying,
• 57:03
  dust lifting. That's how the spirit works in us. Have
• 57:08
  you ever seen someone's life so transformed that you knew
• 57:11
  something invisible, uncontrollable divine had moved through them. That's the
• 57:18
  wind of the spirit. And maybe you've felt it in
• 57:21
  your own story, a shift in your desires, a peace
• 57:25
  that made no sense, a boldness you didn't think you had.
• 57:29
  That's not you, that's him. But Nicodemus still doesn't get it.
• 57:33
  And Jesus confronts him, you are the teacher of Israel,
• 57:37
  and you don't understand these things. And then he unveils
• 57:41
  the ultimate reason why rebirth is even possible. As Moses
• 57:46
  lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the
• 57:49
  son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in
• 57:53
  him may have eternal life. Do you remember that story
• 57:59
  Israel rumbling in the desert, venomous snakes, biting death, spreading
• 58:04
  through the camp. God told Moses to lift up a
• 58:07
  bronze serpent on a pole, and whoever looked at it
• 58:10
  would live. Jesus says, that's about me. I must be
• 58:15
  lifted up, not on a pole of bronze, but on
• 58:18
  a cross of wood, and everyone who looks to me
• 58:21
  will live. Have you ever realized that salvation is not
• 58:25
  about fixing your wounds, but looking to the one who
• 58:28
  heals them that eternal life is not earned, it's received
• 58:32
  by believing. And then come the words you and I
• 58:35
  know so well, but maybe don't always stop to feel.
• 58:38
  For God so loved the world that he gave his
• 58:41
  only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not
• 58:45
  perish but have everlasting life. Do you see how this fits?
• 58:50
  Jesus is saying, Nicodemus, the reason you must be born
• 58:54
  again is because God loves you too much to let
• 58:58
  you die as you are. He's sending his son to
• 59:01
  be lifted up so that you can live again. And notice,
• 59:05
  this isn't about God loving the good, the holy, the deserving.
• 59:09
  It's about God loving the world, the messy, the rebellious,
• 59:13
  the broken that includes you. Do you believe that? And
• 59:19
  Jesus continues, for God did not send his son into
• 59:22
  the world to condemn the world, but that the world
• 59:25
  through him might be saved. Isn't that exactly what many
• 59:29
  of us need to hear, because how often do we
• 59:32
  imagine God as a condemning judge waiting to pounce. But
• 59:36
  Jesus says the mission isn't condemnation, it's rescue. Yet he
• 59:42
  also says those who reject him, are already condemned, not
• 59:47
  because God is cruel, but because they refuse the light.
• 59:51
  Have you noticed that darkness doesn't have to be forced,
• 59:55
  It's chosen, and the invitation is always open. Step into
• 1:00:00
  the light, be born again and live. So let me
• 1:00:05
  ask you, as if you were sitting across from Jesus
• 1:00:08
  like Nicodemus, have you been born again? Not just reformed,
• 1:00:13
  not just religious, not just trying to be good, but
• 1:00:17
  reborn of water and spirit. Have you looked at the
• 1:00:20
  lifted up sun and found life in his name? Because
• 1:00:24
  John is telling us that this is not optional, This
• 1:00:28
  is the doorway into the kingdom. And if you've ever
• 1:00:31
  wondered if you can start over, here's your answer. Yes,
• 1:00:36
  in Christ, you can. And so we leave this night
• 1:00:41
  time conversation with Nicodemus not with confusion, but with clarity.
• 1:00:46
  To enter the life Jesus brings, you must be born again.
• 1:00:50
  The spirit must breathe on you, the sun must be
• 1:00:54
  lifted up for you, and belief in Him must become
• 1:00:58
  your life line. And as that truth settles in, John
• 1:01:02
  now leads us into another scene where the theme of
• 1:01:04
  water and life flows again, this time not in a
• 1:01:08
  private conversation. But in the blazing noon sun, where Jesus
• 1:01:12
  meets a Samaritan woman at a well and offers her
• 1:01:16
  living water that will never run dry. We just left
• 1:01:19
  Nicodemus under the cover of night, wrestling with the mystery
• 1:01:23
  of being born again, with jesus words echoing in his mind,
• 1:01:29
  you must be born of water and spirit. But John
• 1:01:34
  doesn't let the imagery of water fade. He moves us
• 1:01:37
  from the darkness of a secret meeting to the blazing
• 1:01:41
  sun at midday, where another question rises before us. What
• 1:01:46
  did Jesus mean when he offered living water to a
• 1:01:50
  Samaritan woman at a well? What does it mean that
• 1:01:53
  those who drink from him will never thirst again? And
• 1:01:57
  how does this moment redefine not only salvation but worship itself?
• 1:02:04
  Have you ever wondered why this story feels so personal,
• 1:02:07
  as though Jesus were speaking directly to us, exposing our
• 1:02:11
  own thirst. Picture the scene. It's noon, the hottest part
• 1:02:16
  of the day, when most women had long finished drawing
• 1:02:19
  their water in the cool morning air. But this woman
• 1:02:23
  comes alone, her isolation a silent testimony to her shame.
• 1:02:29
  Five husbands behind her, another man now, who isn't her husband,
• 1:02:32
  and the sideways glances of her neighbors burned into her soul.
• 1:02:37
  Can you see her trudging toward the well, the sun
• 1:02:40
  heavy on her back, her heart heavier still, and waiting
• 1:02:44
  there of all people is a Jewish man who breaks
• 1:02:47
  every social boundary by asking her for a drink. Can
• 1:02:50
  you feel her surprise, even her defensiveness. How is it
• 1:02:55
  that you, a Jew, ask a drink from me, a
• 1:02:59
  Samaritan woman, and Jesus responds with a shift so radical
• 1:03:04
  it still takes our breath away. If you knew the
• 1:03:07
  gift of God and who it is who asks you
• 1:03:09
  for a drink, you would have asked him and he
• 1:03:11
  would have given you living water. Doesn't that line pierce
• 1:03:15
  you if you knew? How often do we miss the
• 1:03:18
  gifts of God because we don't recognize who stands before us.
• 1:03:22
  The woman thinks, practically, you have no bucket and the
• 1:03:26
  well is deep. Haven't we done the same, tried to
• 1:03:31
  understand spiritual truth through physical terms? But Jesus pushes deeper.
• 1:03:37
  Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever
• 1:03:40
  drinks of the water that I shall give him will
• 1:03:43
  never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will become in
• 1:03:47
  them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
• 1:03:51
  Have you ever felt that kind of thirst, the kind
• 1:03:54
  that no amount of success, relationships, money, or even religion
• 1:03:58
  could quench. That's what Jesus is addressing. He's not talking
• 1:04:02
  about H two O. He's talking about the soul's desperate
• 1:04:05
  hunger for meaning, love, forgiveness, and peace. We sip from
• 1:04:10
  wells of achievement, of pleasure, of distraction, and yet we
• 1:04:14
  always come back empty. Have you noticed that, that cycle
• 1:04:18
  of thirst and return? And then here is Jesus saying,
• 1:04:22
  I can end that cycle. I can place within you
• 1:04:26
  a spring that never runs dry. Don't you feel the
• 1:04:30
  invitation tugging at your own heart? The conversation turns as
• 1:04:35
  Jesus does what he always does. He touches the tender wound.
• 1:04:40
  Go call your husband. She freezes, I have no husband,
• 1:04:46
  and Jesus replies, you are right. You've had five and
• 1:04:51
  the one you now have is not your husband. Can
• 1:04:55
  you imagine the shock, the exposure, the mix of fear
• 1:04:59
  and awe. He knows her completely, yet he doesn't turn away.
• 1:05:04
  Have you ever felt that tension, the fear of being
• 1:05:07
  fully known, but the hope of being fully loved. That's
• 1:05:12
  the living water. It's not given to the polished and perfect,
• 1:05:16
  but to the thirsty and broken. The woman shifts the
• 1:05:21
  conversation toward worship, perhaps to deflect, perhaps because the presence
• 1:05:25
  of this man stirs deeper questions. Our fathers worshiped on
• 1:05:31
  this mountain, But you Jews, say Jerusalem is the place
• 1:05:35
  to worship. Isn't that like us when confronted with personal truth,
• 1:05:39
  we often run to theological debates. But Jesus doesn't scold her,
• 1:05:44
  He lifts her higher. Believe me, the hour is coming
• 1:05:49
  when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain
• 1:05:52
  nor in Jerusalem. True worshippers will worship in spirit and truth,
• 1:05:56
  for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
• 1:06:00
  Do you see how revolutionary this is. Worship is no
• 1:06:04
  longer about geography or ritual. It's about heart and spirit.
• 1:06:10
  It's about aligning with God's truth and being filled with
• 1:06:13
  his presence. And maybe this hits you personally. Have you
• 1:06:17
  ever reduced worship to a location, a service, a song.
• 1:06:22
  Jesus is saying it's deeper than that. Worship in spirit
• 1:06:26
  and truth means you can meet God in your living room,
• 1:06:29
  in your car, in your work place. It means honesty,
• 1:06:32
  not performance, presence not pretense. Are you living that way?
• 1:06:37
  And then Jesus reveals himself more directly than he has
• 1:06:40
  to any one else so far. The woman says, I
• 1:06:44
  know the Messiah is coming, and Jesus declares, I who
• 1:06:48
  speak to you? Am? He? Can you feel the shock,
• 1:06:53
  the joy, the rush of living water flooding her heart?
• 1:06:58
  The very Messiah she had only heard and whispers of
• 1:07:01
  were standing before her, offering her eternal life. And what
• 1:07:05
  does she do? She leaves her jar, the very reason
• 1:07:09
  she came to the well, and runs back to the
• 1:07:12
  village to cry out, come, see a man who told
• 1:07:15
  me everything I ever did? Could this be the Christ?
• 1:07:18
  Don't you love that detail? She left the jar. The
• 1:07:22
  thing she thought she needed no longer mattered, because once
• 1:07:26
  you've tasted living water, you don't cling to the old container.
• 1:07:30
  And maybe that's the challenge for us. What jars are
• 1:07:33
  we still carrying thinking they'll satisfy us when the living
• 1:07:38
  water is already flowing? What old wells do we keep
• 1:07:41
  returning to, hoping they'll quench us when Jesus is offering
• 1:07:46
  us something infinitely better? Notice also, the beauty of God's order.
• 1:07:51
  Here Nicodemus, the respected Jewish leader, comes at night and
• 1:07:56
  leaves with questions. The Samaritan woman, the outcast, comes at
• 1:08:01
  noon and leaves as a witness. Doesn't that show us
• 1:08:05
  something about the upside down kingdom of God? That the
• 1:08:09
  ones the world dismisses are often the ones God uses
• 1:08:13
  most powerfully. And so here we stand at Jacob's well,
• 1:08:17
  watching a woman, once consume by shame, now consume by testimony,
• 1:08:22
  her thirst quenched by the Messiah himself, And the question
• 1:08:27
  comes to us, will we drink from the same living water?
• 1:08:30
  Will we worship not in form but in spirit and truth?
• 1:08:35
  Because as John's Gospel unfolds, this theme of sustenance and
• 1:08:39
  identity will deepen further. If Jesus is the living water
• 1:08:44
  who quenches our thirst, what does it mean when he
• 1:08:47
  also says I Am the bread of life? What kind
• 1:08:50
  of hunger is he pointing to? And what do the
• 1:08:52
  great I Am statements reveal about who he truly is?
• 1:08:58
  That is where John leads us next. Next, We've just
• 1:09:01
  walked away from a well in Samaria where a woman
• 1:09:04
  abandoned her jar because she found something better, living water,
• 1:09:09
  that could quench her soul forever. That moment naturally makes
• 1:09:14
  us ask if Jesus satisfies thirst, what does he mean
• 1:09:19
  when he calls himself the Bread of life? How does
• 1:09:23
  the feeding of five thousand with loaves and fish, his
• 1:09:26
  walk across stormy waters, and his astonishing I Am statements
• 1:09:32
  unveil not just what he does, but who he truly is.
• 1:09:37
  Have you ever wrestled with that? Because many of us
• 1:09:40
  know the phrase, but few of us have paused to
• 1:09:44
  feel its weight. I Am the Bread of life. What
• 1:09:49
  hunger is he addressing? And what does it mean for
• 1:09:52
  us to day? Let's step into the crowd by the
• 1:09:55
  Sea of Galilee. The sun is dipping, the people are restless,
• 1:10:00
  thousands gathered with nothing to eat. Have you ever been
• 1:10:04
  in a setting where the need was so overwhelming it
• 1:10:07
  felt impossible to meet? That's what the disciples faced. A
• 1:10:11
  boy with five barley loaves and two fish, hardly enough
• 1:10:15
  for a family meal, much less a stadium sized crowd.
• 1:10:19
  But Jesus takes the bread, gives thanks, and begins to break,
• 1:10:25
  And as he breaks, it multiplies, and as it multiplies
• 1:10:30
  it feeds, And not just enough twelve baskets left over.
• 1:10:36
  Do you notice how Jesus always gives, not barely but abundantly.
• 1:10:41
  But the miracle was never about bread alone. The people
• 1:10:44
  wanted more, so they followed him, and Jesus, instead of
• 1:10:49
  giving them what they craved, confronts them, you are seeking me,
• 1:10:54
  not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill.
• 1:10:59
  Isn't that our temptation to to seek Jesus for what
• 1:11:02
  he can give us comfort, provision, success while missing who
• 1:11:06
  he is? He presses deeper. Do not labor for food
• 1:11:10
  that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life.
• 1:11:15
  And then he declares, I am the Bread of life.
• 1:11:18
  Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes
• 1:11:21
  in me shall never thirst. Can you imagine the shock.
• 1:11:25
  Bread wasn't just food in the first century, it was
• 1:11:28
  life itself. To say I am the bread was to
• 1:11:32
  say I am your sustenance, your survival, your daily need.
• 1:11:37
  And he doesn't stop there. He pushes the metaphor until
• 1:11:41
  it unsettles. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son
• 1:11:45
  of Man and drink his blood, you have no life
• 1:11:48
  in you. Have you ever felt disturbed by those words?
• 1:11:52
  Many in the crowd did. They grumbled even walked away.
• 1:11:56
  But Jesus wasn't inviting cannibalism, was pointing to the cross.
• 1:12:01
  He was saying, you must take me into yourself as
• 1:12:05
  the true sustenance of your soul. And maybe I should
• 1:12:08
  ask what are you really feeding on day by day?
• 1:12:13
  What sustains you when life gets hard? The Bread of
• 1:12:15
  Life discourse doesn't stand alone. It's woven into a pattern
• 1:12:20
  of I Am statements, each revealing a different facet of
• 1:12:24
  his divinity. Think of them as light refracting through a prism.
• 1:12:28
  I am the bread of life for the hungry. I
• 1:12:31
  am the light of the world for those lost in darkness.
• 1:12:35
  I am the door for those searching for entry into safety.
• 1:12:40
  I am the good Shepherd for the wandering and weary.
• 1:12:43
  I am the resurrection and the Life for those crushed
• 1:12:47
  by death's shadow. I am the Way, the Truth, and
• 1:12:50
  the Life for those confused and seeking direction. I am
• 1:12:55
  the true vine for those desperate to remain connected and fruitful.
• 1:13:01
  Do you see the pattern? Each one answers a cry
• 1:13:06
  of the human heart. Which one speaks most to your heart?
• 1:13:12
  Right now? And notice this, The phrase I am itself
• 1:13:16
  is no accident. When Jesus says it, he is echoing
• 1:13:19
  the voice from the burning bush. In Exodus three, when
• 1:13:22
  God revealed his name to Moses, I am who I am.
• 1:13:27
  The Jews who heard Jesus understood it. That's why they
• 1:13:30
  picked up stones. In John eight, when he declared before
• 1:13:33
  Abraham was I am, they knew he was claiming not
• 1:13:38
  just to represent God, but to be God. Have you
• 1:13:42
  ever felt the shock of that the carpenter's son from
• 1:13:46
  Nazareth saying, I am the eternal God of Abraham, Isaac
• 1:13:50
  and Jacob. That claim forces us to choose either he
• 1:13:56
  is who he says he is, or he is a
• 1:13:58
  liar or lunatic. There's no neutral ground. And sandwiched between
• 1:14:04
  these revelations is that stormy night when the disciples see
• 1:14:08
  him walking on water. Do you remember their fear? The
• 1:14:12
  wind howling, the waves crashing, their strength failing, and Jesus approaches,
• 1:14:18
  saying it is I do not be afraid. The literal
• 1:14:21
  Greek reads, I am do not fear. Do you see
• 1:14:25
  the link? The one who fed the hungry also commands
• 1:14:29
  the storm. The God who named himself to Moses now
• 1:14:33
  reveals himself on the waves. And maybe I can ask
• 1:14:37
  what storm are you in right now? What waves feel
• 1:14:40
  like they'll swallow you whole? Can you hear his voice
• 1:14:44
  over the chaos? I am, don't be afraid. This is
• 1:14:49
  the rhythm of John's gospel signs, followed by explanations miracles
• 1:14:54
  pointing to identity. The bread wasn't just bread, the walking
• 1:14:59
  wasn't just walking. They were windows into the eternal. I
• 1:15:04
  am who entered our world. And the question comes back
• 1:15:07
  to us, are we following him for the bread that
• 1:15:09
  perishes or because he himself is our bread? Do we
• 1:15:14
  want his miracles or do we want him? The crowd
• 1:15:19
  in John six wrestled with it. Many turned back, and
• 1:15:23
  Jesus turned to his disciples and asked, do you also
• 1:15:26
  want to go away? Do you remember Peter's reply, Lord,
• 1:15:30
  to whom shall we go? You have the words of
• 1:15:33
  eternal life. Isn't that the decision each of us must make?
• 1:15:37
  Where else will you go? No job, no relationship, no pleasure,
• 1:15:43
  no success will feed the hunger of your soul? Only
• 1:15:48
  he can so. Here we are standing in the wake
• 1:15:51
  of miracles and words that stretch us to the breaking point.
• 1:15:55
  Jesus is not just meeting needs. He is revealing his
• 1:15:58
  divine name, his eternal identity, his sufficiency for every hunger
• 1:16:03
  and every storm, And as his words echo in us,
• 1:16:07
  I am the Bread of life, the Light, the shepherd,
• 1:16:10
  the way. John now leads us into the growing tension
• 1:16:14
  of what happens when the light of the world collides
• 1:16:17
  with the darkness of human hearts. If thee I am
• 1:16:21
  has come among us, what does it mean when he
• 1:16:24
  looks at us and declares I Am the Light of
• 1:16:27
  the world. And what happens when the darkness cannot stand
• 1:16:31
  the brightness of his truth. We just stood on the hillside,
• 1:16:35
  watching bread multiply in Jesus's hands, hearing him declare I
• 1:16:40
  Am the Bread of life, and watching him walk across
• 1:16:43
  waves with the words I am, do not be afraid.
• 1:16:48
  Those moments left no doubt Jesus was claiming not just
• 1:16:53
  to feed hunger and still storms, but to embody the
• 1:16:56
  very name of God. But if that's true, the next
• 1:17:00
  question presses in what does it mean when he declares
• 1:17:05
  I Am the Light of the world and why does
• 1:17:09
  this revelation spark such a violent clash with the darkness
• 1:17:14
  in human hearts, in religious leaders, and in the spiritual
• 1:17:17
  forces of evil itself. Picture the scene in John eight
• 1:17:22
  a woman is dragged into the temple courts by scribes
• 1:17:26
  and pharisees, caught in the very act of adultery. Can
• 1:17:30
  you feel the humiliation? Her shame is weaponized, her sin
• 1:17:36
  turned into a trap for Jesus. They throw her before
• 1:17:39
  him and sneer. The law says she should be stoned.
• 1:17:44
  What do you say? Have you ever been caught in
• 1:17:47
  a moment where your failure felt public, where eyes burned
• 1:17:50
  with judgment, where you were sure the stones were about
• 1:17:53
  to fly? That's this woman's reality. And yet Jesus bends down, silent,
• 1:17:59
  trace words in the dust. They press him, demanding an answer. Finally,
• 1:18:06
  he stands and speaks words that cut like lightning. Let
• 1:18:10
  the one without sin among you cast the first stone.
• 1:18:12
  One by one, the accusers leave until only she remains woman?
• 1:18:18
  Where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one? Lord?
• 1:18:23
  And he replies, neither do I condemn you? Go and
• 1:18:27
  sin no more? Do you see what just happened? The
• 1:18:30
  light exposed everyone in that courtyard, not just her sin,
• 1:18:34
  but theirs. The darkness of hypocrisy scattered in the face
• 1:18:38
  of truth. And yet to the woman, the light was
• 1:18:41
  not condemnation, but mercy. Isn't that exactly what many of
• 1:18:47
  us long for to be fully seen and yet still loved,
• 1:18:52
  to be told the truth, but in a way that
• 1:18:55
  sets us free rather than chains us down. It's immediately
• 1:18:59
  our this that Jesus declares, I am the light of
• 1:19:03
  the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
• 1:19:08
  but will have the light of life. Can you feel
• 1:19:11
  the weight of that statement against the backdrop of the
• 1:19:14
  woman's story. He is saying, I'm not here to shine
• 1:19:17
  a spotlight of shame. I'm here to guide you out
• 1:19:21
  of the shadows, to free you from the chains that
• 1:19:23
  hold you. And maybe I should ask you, where in
• 1:19:28
  your life do you feel like you're walking in the dark?
• 1:19:31
  Where do you crave that light to guide you. The
• 1:19:34
  conversation that follows with the Pharisees escalates into one of
• 1:19:38
  the sharpest confrontations in John's Gospel. Jesus tells them you
• 1:19:43
  will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
• 1:19:47
  It's one of the most quoted verses in scripture. But
• 1:19:51
  do you know what it really means? Freedom isn't just
• 1:19:55
  political liberty or escape from difficult circumstances. Its liberation from
• 1:20:01
  the grip of sin. From the lies that enslave us,
• 1:20:05
  from the fear of death itself. Yet the pharisees bristle,
• 1:20:09
  we are children of Abraham, We've never been slaves. Isn't
• 1:20:14
  that how we often react, denying our chains even while
• 1:20:18
  dragging them. And Jesus doesn't soften. He says, plainly, everyone
• 1:20:22
  who sins is a slave to sin. But if the
• 1:20:25
  sun sets you free, you will be free. Indeed that word,
• 1:20:31
  indeed still shakes me. Not pretend freedom, not temporary relief, real, unshakable,
• 1:20:38
  eternal freedom. Do you believe that's possible for you? Or
• 1:20:43
  have you grown so accustomed to your chains that you've
• 1:20:45
  stopped believing they can ever fall off? But the clash intensifies.
• 1:20:50
  Jesus exposes their spiritual lineage. You are of your father,
• 1:20:57
  the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.
• 1:21:02
  Can you imagine the fury that must have ignited religious leaders,
• 1:21:07
  proud of their heritage, now told they are children not
• 1:21:10
  of Abraham but of Satan. And Jesus doesn't hold back.
• 1:21:16
  He was a murderer from the beginning. He does not
• 1:21:20
  stand in truth, for there is no truth in him.
• 1:21:24
  When he lies, he speaks out of his own character,
• 1:21:27
  for he is the father of lies. Pause and let
• 1:21:31
  that sink in. Lies don't just happen. They have a father.
• 1:21:36
  Every time you hear the whisper, you'll never change. You're worthless.
• 1:21:40
  God can't love someone like you. That's the Father of
• 1:21:43
  lies speaking, and Jesus is saying, don't believe him. The
• 1:21:48
  light has come to unmask him. And I wonder what
• 1:21:53
  lies have you been carrying as truth? Have you mistaken
• 1:21:57
  the hiss of the serpent for the voice of godd
• 1:22:00
  The conversation crescendoes in one of the most staggering declarations
• 1:22:05
  Jesus ever makes. They accuse him of having a demon,
• 1:22:09
  of being insane, of dishonoring Abraham, and he looks at
• 1:22:13
  them and says, truly, truly, I say to you, before
• 1:22:18
  Abraham was I am? Do you hear it? Not? I was?
• 1:22:23
  Not I existed, But I am the eternal name of
• 1:22:27
  God spoken from the burning bush to Moses, now on
• 1:22:31
  the lips of the carpenter from Nazareth, and the crowd
• 1:22:34
  understands exactly what he means. They pick up stones to
• 1:22:40
  kill him for blasphemy. The light has shone too brightly,
• 1:22:45
  and the darkness rages in response, and maybe this is
• 1:22:49
  where it touches us most personally. The light of the
• 1:22:52
  world is not a comfortable glow. It exposes, it confronts
• 1:22:57
  it demands a decision. When Jesus said, as before Abraham
• 1:23:02
  was I am, he leaves no middle ground. Either we
• 1:23:07
  fall at his feet in worship or we pick up
• 1:23:09
  stones in rejection. Which parth are you on? Do you
• 1:23:13
  embrace his light even when it exposes your sin? Or
• 1:23:16
  do you retreat into the safety of shadows. So here
• 1:23:20
  we stand watching the light clash with darkness in a
• 1:23:23
  courtyard of hypocrisy, in debates with religious leaders, in the
• 1:23:27
  cosmic battle between truth and lies, and John is urging
• 1:23:32
  us to decide, will we walk in the light that
• 1:23:35
  sets us free or remain in the shadows that enslave us,
• 1:23:39
  Because from here the tension only grows. The light who
• 1:23:42
  exposes sin will soon face death itself, but not before
• 1:23:47
  revealing even more of his glory. And John now takes
• 1:23:51
  us into the next great unveiling, the Raising of Lazarus,
• 1:23:55
  the Upper Room discourse, and the high priestly prayer, where
• 1:23:59
  Jesus shows us that his hour has truly come, the
• 1:24:04
  hour where the light will seem to be extinguished, but
• 1:24:07
  in reality will shine brighter than ever. We just left
• 1:24:11
  the temple courts where jesus words struck like lightning before
• 1:24:16
  Abraham was I am. The light of the world had
• 1:24:20
  clashed head on with the powers of darkness, and the
• 1:24:23
  tension could not be ignored any longer. But this leaves
• 1:24:26
  us with the next pressing question. If the light reveals, confronts,
• 1:24:32
  and divides, then what is the ultimate purpose of his mission?
• 1:24:37
  What did Jesus mean when he spoke so often of
• 1:24:40
  his hour? And how is that hour revealed in John
• 1:24:44
  through miracles, intimate conversations, and his prayer to the Father.
• 1:24:49
  Have you ever asked yourself what Jesus meant when he
• 1:24:51
  said the hour has come for the son of Man
• 1:24:54
  to be glorified. The answer begins with a tomb. Lazarus
• 1:25:01
  had been dead for four days, his body sealed in stone,
• 1:25:04
  the air heavy with grief. Mary and Martha, the sisters
• 1:25:08
  who loved him, both said the same thing, Lord, if
• 1:25:13
  you had been here, my brother would not have died.
• 1:25:17
  Have you ever whispered that kind of prayer? God, If
• 1:25:20
  only you had shown up sooner, if only you had
• 1:25:23
  answered differently. I wouldn't be in this pain right now.
• 1:25:27
  But Jesus looks at Martha and says words that still
• 1:25:30
  thunder through history. I am the Resurrection and the life.
• 1:25:34
  Who ever believes in me, though he die, yet shall
• 1:25:38
  he live? And then he weeps. The Resurrection himself stands
• 1:25:44
  in tears. Isn't that astonishing? The glory of God shining
• 1:25:48
  through the grief of man? And then the command Lazarus
• 1:25:53
  come out and the dead man walks. Do you see
• 1:25:57
  how this sign points forward? It wasn't just about Lazarus's life,
• 1:26:01
  It was about Jesus hour. By raising Lazarus, Jesus set
• 1:26:06
  his own death in motion. The leaders saw this miracle
• 1:26:09
  and decided he had to die. The hour of glory
• 1:26:13
  was no longer distant. It was racing toward him. And
• 1:26:16
  maybe that resonates with you. Have you ever noticed how
• 1:26:19
  sometimes God's greatest work in your life draws the fiercest opposition.
• 1:26:24
  That's because resurrection power always shakes the powers of darkness.
• 1:26:29
  From Lazarus's tomb, John takes us to the upper room,
• 1:26:33
  where the hour feels heavier, more intimate. Jesus gathers his
• 1:26:37
  disciples for a final meal. He takes bread and wine,
• 1:26:41
  symbols of his body and blood. He washes their feet. Yes,
• 1:26:47
  the eternal son of God, kneeling with a towel, scrubbing
• 1:26:51
  dirt from callous toes. Can you picture it? Have you
• 1:26:55
  ever been undone by that kind of humility when someone
• 1:26:58
  you love lowers themsels else to serve you. That was
• 1:27:02
  glory in disguise, love made tangible. And in that room
• 1:27:08
  Jesus speaks words we are still clinging to today. He says,
• 1:27:13
  let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, Believe
• 1:27:17
  also in me. He promises to prepare a place. He declares,
• 1:27:21
  I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And
• 1:27:26
  then he makes another promise. I will ask the Father
• 1:27:30
  and he will give you another helper to be with
• 1:27:33
  you forever, the spirit of truth. Do you see it?
• 1:27:37
  The hour of Glory isn't just about the cross. It's
• 1:27:40
  about the spirit who will come when he departs. Have
• 1:27:44
  you ever felt abandoned like God had left you? Jesus
• 1:27:48
  speaks directly to that fear. I will not leave you
• 1:27:52
  as orphans. I will come to you. Isn't that the
• 1:27:56
  comfort we all crave, that we are never left alone?
• 1:28:00
  And then comes one of his most profound metaphors. I
• 1:28:04
  am the true vine, and you are the branches, he says.
• 1:28:10
  Abide in me, and you will bear much fruit. Apart
• 1:28:14
  from me, you can do nothing. Imagine the disciples hearing
• 1:28:18
  this on the eve of his death. Their instinct would
• 1:28:22
  be to scatter, to run, to hide. But Jesus says,
• 1:28:27
  your survival, your fruitfulness, your very life, depends on remaining
• 1:28:32
  connected to Me. And maybe this is the question we
• 1:28:35
  need to wrestle with. What are you abiding in? Is
• 1:28:40
  it Christ? Or is it something that cannot sustain you?
• 1:28:44
  Have you noticed how your life feels when you try
• 1:28:46
  to produce fruit without staying rooted in him. As the
• 1:28:51
  conversation deepens, he warns them of hatred from the world,
• 1:28:55
  but he anchors them with joy. These things I have
• 1:28:59
  spoken to you, that my joy may be in you,
• 1:29:02
  and that your joy may be full. Isn't that a
• 1:29:05
  paradox On the brink of his own suffering? He speaks
• 1:29:09
  of joy, full joy, and then he gives them a
• 1:29:13
  commandment that summarizes everything. Love one another as I have
• 1:29:18
  loved you. That's the heart of his glory, Love that serves,
• 1:29:24
  love that lays down its life, love that doesn't quit
• 1:29:28
  even when betrayed. And can I ask, are you letting
• 1:29:32
  his love define the way you love others? Or are
• 1:29:35
  you still clinging to self preservation? Then comes the crescendo,
• 1:29:40
  his high priestly prayer in John seventeen. If you've ever
• 1:29:45
  wanted to know what Jesus prays for, here it is
• 1:29:49
  he prays for himself. Father, the hour has come. Glorify
• 1:29:54
  your son, that the son may glorify you. He prays
• 1:29:57
  for his disciples, sanctify them in the truth. Your word
• 1:30:01
  is truth. And he prays for us, for all who
• 1:30:05
  would one day believe. Father, I desire that they, also,
• 1:30:09
  whom you have given me, may be with me where
• 1:30:12
  I am to see my glory. Have you ever paused
• 1:30:17
  to let that sink in? Jesus prayed for you by
• 1:30:21
  name before you were born, that you would be one
• 1:30:25
  with him, that you would behold his glory. Doesn't that
• 1:30:28
  move you to tears? What is the hour of glory? Then?
• 1:30:32
  It is Lazarus stepping out of the tomb, showing death
• 1:30:35
  will not win. It is a towel in Jesus hands
• 1:30:39
  showing glory is revealed in humble love. It is the
• 1:30:43
  vine and branches, showing life flows only in him. It
• 1:30:47
  is the promise of the Spirit, showing we will never
• 1:30:50
  be abandoned. And it is the Sun lifting his eyes
• 1:30:54
  to heaven, praying for you and for me. The hour
• 1:30:58
  is not about human treth triumph, but divine surrender. It
• 1:31:03
  is not about escaping suffering, but revealing glory through it.
• 1:31:06
  And as this hour reaches its climax, John takes us
• 1:31:10
  to the darkest and yet brightest moment, the cross itself,
• 1:31:15
  because the true hour of glory is when the son
• 1:31:18
  of man is lifted up when he cries. It is finished,
• 1:31:22
  when what looks like defeat becomes victory. And that is
• 1:31:27
  where our journey leads, next to Golgatha, where love and
• 1:31:32
  glory converge, where the Word made flesh gives his flesh
• 1:31:37
  for the life of the world. From the upper room,
• 1:31:41
  we heard Jesus pray for his disciples and for all
• 1:31:45
  of us who would one day believe, asking the Father
• 1:31:48
  to glorify him through the hour that had now arrived.
• 1:31:53
  That prayer presses us toward the final and most haunting
• 1:31:56
  question in John's gospel, What really happened in the finals
• 1:32:00
  of Christ? What do his last words from the cross
• 1:32:03
  mean for us to day? And how does his resurrection
• 1:32:05
  not only conquer death but restore the broken faith of
• 1:32:09
  his friends? Have you ever asked yourself what it means
• 1:32:12
  when Jesus cries it is finished? Was it simply the
• 1:32:16
  end of his suffering? Or was it the beginning of
• 1:32:19
  something eternal for you and me? Let's walk into the
• 1:32:22
  shadow of that hour. The night is torn open by betrayal,
• 1:32:26
  a kiss from Judas, a friend turned traitor. Soldiers seize
• 1:32:32
  Jesus while Peter draws the sword, trying to fight, only
• 1:32:35
  to be told, shall I not drink the cup the
• 1:32:38
  Father has given me? Can you feel the surrender in
• 1:32:41
  that line? Jesus isn't a victim dragged to his death.
• 1:32:46
  He is the willing lamb walking into it. From there,
• 1:32:49
  he's dragged to a trial in Caiapha's courtyard, mocked, accused, struck.
• 1:32:56
  Peter follows at a distance, swearing three times I do
• 1:33:00
  not know him until a rooster crows and shame pierces
• 1:33:04
  his soul. Have you ever denied Jesus, not with your lips,
• 1:33:09
  but with your silence, with your compromise. That's Peter's story,
• 1:33:14
  And if we're honest ours too. Morning comes and the
• 1:33:18
  Roman governor Pilot, questions him, are you the king of
• 1:33:22
  the Jews. Jesus answers, my kingdom is not of this world.
• 1:33:28
  Pilot tries to release him, but the crowd cries, crucify him,
• 1:33:33
  and so Jesus is flogged, crowned with thorns, mocked with
• 1:33:36
  purple robes. The irony drips heavy, the true king humiliated
• 1:33:41
  as a false one. Have you ever felt that sting
• 1:33:45
  when who you truly are is mocked, twisted, misunderstood? He
• 1:33:49
  bore it fully, and then, carrying his cross through the streets,
• 1:33:53
  he is led to Golgotha. There the nails pierce, the
• 1:33:57
  cross is lifted, and from those lips for all words
• 1:34:00
  that still echo across eternity. To his mother, woman, behold
• 1:34:06
  your son in trusting her to John, to the thief
• 1:34:09
  beside him. To day you will be with me in paradise,
• 1:34:16
  to his father. My God, my God, why have you
• 1:34:19
  forsaken me to the world? I thirst, and finally, with
• 1:34:24
  a loud cry, it is finished. Do you feel the
• 1:34:27
  weight of that? He doesn't say, I am finished. He
• 1:34:30
  says it is finished. The work, the debt, the curse,
• 1:34:34
  the separation, all finished, paid in full. Have you ever
• 1:34:37
  carried a burden so heavy you wondered if it would
• 1:34:40
  ever end? Hear him whisper over your soul. It is finished.
• 1:34:46
  Darkness covers the land, the earth quakes, the temple curtain
• 1:34:49
  tears in two, and with his last breath he gives
• 1:34:53
  up his spirit. The light of the world seems extinguished.
• 1:34:57
  Can you imagine the despair in those who loved Maybe
• 1:35:01
  you've felt it in your own life. The silence of Saturday,
• 1:35:04
  when hope feels buried, when prayers seemunanswered, when God feels absent.
• 1:35:10
  But John won't let us stay there, because early Sunday morning,
• 1:35:15
  the stone is rolled away. Mary Magdalen comes weeping, thinking
• 1:35:20
  the body has been stolen, but then she hears her name, Mary,
• 1:35:27
  spoken by the risen Jesus. Have you ever noticed how
• 1:35:32
  resurrection often comes in the form of a familiar voice
• 1:35:35
  calling your name, awakening hope you thought was gone. The
• 1:35:39
  disciples see him too, behind locked doors, his wounds still
• 1:35:44
  visible yet no longer fatal. He breathes on them receive
• 1:35:48
  the Holy Spirit, but Thomas isn't there, and he refuses
• 1:35:53
  to believe until he sees for himself. Maybe you've been
• 1:35:56
  there too, doubting, questioning, needing proof. And what does Jesus do.
• 1:36:01
  He doesn't scold, He invites, put your finger here, see
• 1:36:06
  my hands. Do not disbelieve, but believe. And Thomas, overwhelmed, declares,
• 1:36:11
  my Lord and my God, have you spoken those words
• 1:36:15
  with your heart yet? And then comes Peter. The same
• 1:36:20
  Peter who denied him three times, now sits on a
• 1:36:23
  beach with the risen Lord. A charcoal fire burns, just
• 1:36:27
  like the one where he had denied three times. Jesus asks,
• 1:36:32
  do you love me three times? Peter replies you, yes, Lord,
• 1:36:36
  you know I love you three times. Jesus says, feed
• 1:36:40
  my sheep. Do you see the restoration? The same lips
• 1:36:44
  that denied him are now commissioned to shepherd his flock.
• 1:36:47
  And maybe that's your story. You've failed, you've fallen. But
• 1:36:52
  Jesus comes not to discard you, but to restore you.
• 1:36:55
  He asks not for your perfection, but for your love,
• 1:36:59
  and from that love he calls you to serve. So
• 1:37:02
  what is the eternal call of John's Gospel? It is
• 1:37:05
  this that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the
• 1:37:09
  Son of God, and that by believing you may have
• 1:37:12
  life in His name, not just existence, but life, resurrection, life,
• 1:37:18
  abundant life, eternal life. Do you believe that because John
• 1:37:23
  has led us from in the beginning was the word
• 1:37:27
  to it is finished? To do you love me? And
• 1:37:30
  each step has been an invitation not just to understand,
• 1:37:34
  but to enter in. Let me end with a prayer,
• 1:37:38
  not as a formality, but as a cry from our
• 1:37:41
  hearts to the God who has spoken through this gospel. Father,
• 1:37:46
  we come before you, trembling at the story we have
• 1:37:49
  just walked through. We see the Word who was with
• 1:37:53
  you in the beginning, the light who no darkness could overcome,
• 1:37:57
  the lamb who bore our sin, a shepherd who calls
• 1:38:01
  our name. And we confess that we have been Nicodemus
• 1:38:04
  hiding in the night. We have been the woman at
• 1:38:07
  the well, thirsty and ashamed. We have been the crowd
• 1:38:11
  demanding bread but missing the bread of life. We have
• 1:38:15
  been the Pharisees, clinging to lies rather than truth. We
• 1:38:19
  have been Peter swearing we don't know you. And yet
• 1:38:24
  you have not cast us away. You came near, you
• 1:38:28
  bore our sin, you cried it is finished. You walked
• 1:38:32
  out of the tomb, and you called us by name,
• 1:38:35
  So now we ask breathe on us again. Fill us
• 1:38:38
  with your spirit, Restore our love where it has grown cold,
• 1:38:43
  Strengthen our faith where it has wavered. Teach us to
• 1:38:46
  abide in the vine, to walk in the light, to
• 1:38:49
  drink deeply of the living water, to eat of the
• 1:38:52
  bread that never fails. And when we stumble, remind us
• 1:38:56
  of Peter's restoration that your mercy is greater than our failure.
• 1:39:01
  We pray that our lives would become living testimonies of
• 1:39:04
  this gospel, so that others might look at us and
• 1:39:07
  hear not our voice, but yours. And we long for
• 1:39:11
  the day when faith will be sight, when we will
• 1:39:14
  sit at the wedding feast of the Lamb, when every
• 1:39:17
  tear will be wiped away, when every shadow will vanish
• 1:39:21
  in your glory. Until then, keep us close, keep us faithful,
• 1:39:25
  keep us in awe of the one who was, and
• 1:39:28
  is and is to come in Jesus name. Amen, Stay blessed,