by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
The gospel of John is very unique in that it sets forth a proposition as in a debate, and then seeks to present evidence to prove the proposition is true. The proposition is stated in the first 18 verses that Jesus was actually God with God from the beginning of creation, that Jesus made everything, and then became flesh to bring us light and life.<\/p>\n
The proposition might seem too hard to believe, except for the fact that John uses the rest of the book to present evidence of what Jesus did (His miracles) and what He said (words with eternal promise), all of which is further confirmed by His resurrection from the dead.<\/p>\n
The miracles were only a select few among many that Jesus performed. John said he could have written about many more of Jesus’ miracles, but the ones he selected “are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).<\/p>\n
The nature of the miracles was widely known in those regions. No one denied that Jesus worked those miracles. Unbelievers had to try to explain them away as sorcery or Satanic power, but they could not deny the fact of those miracles. Peter said the miracles were well known (Acts 2:22).<\/p>\n
The credibility of John’s gospel was powerful and has stood the tests of time. But the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection was open evidence that Jesus had power over death and Satan. While Satan managed to bring death on man, he had no power to raise man from the dead, and definitely would not have raised Jesus if he could. Thus, the empty tomb and eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ resurrection proved that Jesus was no mere man. He was God come in human flesh.<\/p>\n
John proved his proposition was true. Eternal life can truly be ours because Jesus was real and came here with a mission to save our souls if we will trust Him and obey Him. Jesus can feed our souls and heal our souls, and give us eternal life. Only a very foolish person would not want to get in on this offer. Don’t be one of the foolish! Be wise! Study the evidence with a fair mind! You will be eternally glad you did!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton The gospel of John is very unique in that it sets forth a proposition as in a debate, and then seeks to present evidence to prove the proposition is true. The proposition is stated in the first 18 verses that Jesus was actually God with God from the beginning of creation,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[360,709,90,73,959],"class_list":["post-89080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-deity","tag-evidence","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-john"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":84663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/rational-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":89080,"position":0},"title":"Rational Faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The faith we are to have in Jesus is based on testimonial evidence that has stood the test of time since it was first scrutinized in the first century. Each gospel writer (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) was quite aware of the scrutiny they were under\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66279,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/reasoning\/","url_meta":{"origin":89080,"position":1},"title":"Reasoning","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The exercise of thought upon ideas to sort the true from the false, the stronger idea from the weaker idea. It is thinking through the available evidence to reach a conclusion. The book of John sets forth a propositional statement that says God came in human\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66482,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-testimonial-testaments-to-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":89080,"position":2},"title":"Two Testimonial Testaments to Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Paul \"reasoned\" with the Jews for three Sabbaths (Acts 17:2f) from the Scriptures (their own Scriptures). Thus, he started with what both sides agreed was true. The Scriptures had long been settled as true and authoritative to both sides participating in the discussion. The Scriptures would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66848,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-presents-testimonial-evidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":89080,"position":3},"title":"The Bible Presents Testimonial Evidence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Bible is actually a divinely legal set of 66 pieces of testimony, making the case for Jesus of Nazareth in a most remarkable and amazing way. The first 39 pieces of written testimony lay out the plan for the first arrival of Jesus and what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87108,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-miracles\/","url_meta":{"origin":89080,"position":4},"title":"Why Miracles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Jesus was constantly demonstrating His divine power over disease, demons, death, and nature. Why did He perform miracles? Miracles were designed to bring glory to God. Many praised God for the wonders they witnessed (Luke 5:24-26; 18:43; 19:37; John 11:4). Miracles were also intended to motivate people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39659,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-faith-be-based-on-what-we-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":89080,"position":5},"title":"Should faith be based on what we see?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day Sir, Someone once told me that her faith has grown more through the things she has witnessed (miraculous healing, prophecies, people delivered from demons, etc.). Can this be true since prophecy has ceased? Further, should faith be based on what we see? 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