Word up!

Everyone knows how John's gospel kicks off: 'In the beginning...'
If you've got one of those cool chronological bibles, this is (obviously) where it starts. Perhaps that's weird - I had to do a mental double-take when I first thought of the first verse chronologically.

And the rest of John follows that theme for me - plenty of mental double-takes along the way, because John, as hopefully you know, isn't written like the rest of the Gospels. It's written in a more analytical style, looking to prove the divinity of Jesus Christ, using facts from his life as crucial evidence.

Most of John is unique to his Gospel, in contrast to Mark, which is nearly all covered in the other three.
What's best and most unique for me about John is his Jesus-focus. I know all four Gospels are about the life of Jesus, but I really feel like I'm being drawn an intimate portrait here - Jesus' actions and responses are the focal point of each and every section.

Looking back to last week, John is also where we see many prophesies fulfilled - Jesus himself says this in Jn 5:45-47, saying Moses spoke of him (Gen 3, Deut 18), and that really excites and challenges me. If people writing hundreds or thousands of years before Christ got it, why don't we sometimes!?! Do we always see Jesus, especially when we look at the poor and weak in this world?

This weekend a few of us have been at the Youthwork Conference - don't worry, we'll be hitting you with some things from there soon. A link between that and John's Gospel is in the word passion.
There's some things I'm now even more passionate about - a weekend of focussing on God will do that to you - and having read through John's Gospel on the train back, I've spent a few hours really focussing on Jesus.

The result? I'm more passionate about Jesus and the claims he made - and I dare you to read through John if you haven't already this week, preferably in one sitting, and not feel different about the world by the end of it.

If you don't, please consult the medics in our church, and instruct them to check your pulse.