The Gospel of John was written by an old man. I do not say this is an insult; I state it as a fact. It is not just a piece of trivia, rather it is a piece of information that helps us understand the book of John. When John wrote his gospel, Matthew Mark and Luke had already written theirs years before. They wrote their Gospels while they were young. They focused upon what Christ did and what He said. Younger men tend to focus upon events more than upon the meaning and interpretation of events. As you read John you will notice that he does not always follow the same chronological order as the other Gospels. That is because he is not focused in the same way, and on the same things; his age has caused him to focus upon the meaning and interpretation of events more than just the facts. His book is not so much about, “What did Jesus do?” but is more focused upon, “What does the life of Jesus mean?”

The most important conclusion he made from his time spent with Jesus is revealed in the first five verses of his book. He believed the life of Jesus proved that Jesus was both the Son of God and God. That truth is beyond the ability for most of us to fully comprehend. However our inability to comprehend something does not make it any less true. John does not try to make it fully comprehensible, but rather he seeks to help us interpret what that truth should mean for us.

The Hebrews already knew that God was the beginning of everything. John states that in the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and was God. The Hebrews knew that God created everything, but John tells them that it was through Jesus that God created everything; without Jesus there is nothing. Jesus is life, and light. This means rejecting Jesus is spiritual suicide and results in eternal darkness, while accepting Christ is life.