If you could go back in time, what would you do differently? How have you matured? How have you changed?
For each of us, time offers the benefit of hindsight. We learn from our mistakes, we strive to be better, and through the work of the Holy Spirit we grow in our faith.
When we combine life experience with a commitment to pursue Christ, God grows our wisdom. Over time, we see the world differently.
This is the gift we discover in John’s Gospel. Unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke, most scholars believe that the apostle John wrote his Gospel account toward the end of his life, 20 to 30 years after the other three were written. Early Christian writings even suggest that John may been familiar with the three Gospels before choosing what to include in his own.*
After a lifetime reflecting on the words and teaching of Jesus, John carefully crafted his eyewitness account. Today we benefit from his hindsight. John’s Gospel is known for its unique content and timeline, but the author’s tone truly sets it apart.
John’s enduring faith and love for Christ are evident in every chapter and verse.
So how can we build a faith like John? When we examine his life, we uncover the source of his hope, freedom, and perseverance.
After a lifetime of reflecting on the words and teaching of Jesus, John carefully crafted his eyewitness account.
Hope in adversity
After Jesus’s resurrection and ascension to heaven, God grew the early Church. But as Jesus had warned in Matthew 10:16-39, the lives of these early Christians were marked by pain and persecution. While the Holy Spirit sustained these faithful believers, Jewish and Roman officials ruthlessly persecuted anyone who proclaimed the name of Christ.
As one of Jesus’s disciples, John would have been at the center of this violent turmoil. He watched as government officials brutally martyred his friends and family, one by one. From Acts 12:1-2 we know that John’s brother James was among the first to be “put to death with the sword” in the name of Jesus.
In AD 70, John would have grieved the deaths of an estimated 1.1 million Jews and Christians during the Roman siege of Jerusalem. And as his brothers and sisters in Christ suffered, John himself was hunted, persecuted, and exiled.
John referred to himself as “your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus” (Revelation 1:9).
As we reflect on those words, we realize that John fixed his eyes on Christ’s kingdom to come. Through Jesus’s love and sacrifice, John’s commitment to Christ remained steadfast. When he could have written a memoir of bitterness, John wrote a Gospel of hope.
Through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, the words recorded by John encourage us today, “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
1 JOHN 5:14
Freedom through humility
Before writing his Gospel account or shepherding the early Church, John was simply a fisherman who chose to follow Christ. Known by Jesus as the “sons of thunder” in Mark 3:17, John and his brother James were two of the most vocal disciples from the Gospel accounts. In Mark 10:35-36, we read about the brothers’ request of Jesus, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
Asking for a place of prominence, James and John wanted greatness. But somewhere in the course of following Christ, John’s perspective changed. In his writing, John elevated the name of Jesus above all else. Instead of taking credit as “John, best among the apostles,” the author calls himself, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
The same man who once sought eternal greatness later chose to remain anonymous. Instead of proclaiming his own name, John anchored his identity in Christ.
Through simply becoming “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” John proclaimed his identity in Christ alone. Instead of seeking fame or authority, John rested in his position as child of God (John 1:12).
The same man who once sought eternal greatness later chose to remain anonymous.
Peace in perseverance
Through a lifetime of adversity, John persevered in faith. By shifting his perspective toward eternity, John held fast to these words of Jesus.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
John’s faith was remarkable, but his story reminds us that God faithfully matures ordinary men and women. When we spend a lifetime reflecting on the person and words of Christ, we too can discover hope, freedom, and perseverance.
Jesus Himself said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).