John’s Gospel

FRI., FEB. 11, 1983, 5:34 AM
FARM, FRONT OF FIRE

You waited this morning, o son, for Me to present a theme, and so you see that I find it appropriate to offer you another lesson on this fourth story of My life as Jesus. As you know it is the “special” gospel for you, the one through which I speak to you most directly.

Yes, it is true that not all Scripture speaks equally clearly to each person, even to each seeker. So it is not something to regret when you find yourself drawn more to some “books” and passages than to others. The Gospel according to John is one of these “special” portions of Holy Writ through which I speak to you. Know that this is true… and I suggest that you read it through during this day, as an accompaniment to this Teaching.

John is a “born again” Gospel. In this account there is no doubt that I, Jesus, am the Son of God. I am not just a wisdom teacher, nor a young preacher who can only be called the Son of Man. “In the beginning was the Word”, and so it commences in mystical yet positive fashion. There is value in knowing something of the history and the scholarship regarding this account, and I reiterate that it was good that you took the course that you did, considering the doubts and possibilities about this Gospel, and yet, as you suspected, an ultimate purpose was to challenge your faith in what comes to you, highlighting the doubts and alternate possibilities that scholarship kindles.

At the same time that John is most mystical he presents Me in a most human way. The marriage at Cana is a short, sketchy story of a most human event, and I have given you insights on that event before. I was present at and enjoying a wedding feast… I was part of the celebrating “crowd”. I did not speak kindly and gently to My Mother, yet I did what she suggested… I performed a very practical miracle.

John tells of My picking out a man of no outward deserving qualities, Zaccheus (Nicodemus), inviting Myself to sup with him and giving to him, unholy as he was, that most spiritual of messages… you must be born again. It is not sufficient just to believe because you were “raised Christian” or because it seems “the thing to do.” You must be born into a conscious, living, personal relationship with Me. Yet saying “you must” can be frustrating to those who want this but do not have the spiritual maturity (or have too much academic, scholarly learning) to accept this offer and have this initial and continuing experience.

Then I encounter another unholy character, the promiscuous Samaritan woman at the well, to whom I gave the message that I am the Living Water, further thirst being unnecessary, and that God is Spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. Again there is a “must”.

But most importantly I tell My disciples that God, My Father, being Spirit, shall allow Me to send that Spirit to them… and to you… that Spirit that shall be the realization of the born again experience. I, who speak to you this day, “years later”, am that Spirit promised. No other Gospel makes this important promise.