Bible Journaling: Book of John

In this final Gospel book, we find the so-called “beloved disciple”s version of events. How did John uniquely view the ministry of Jesus? Is there anything that John mentions that is absent from the other Gospels?

For a broader view of this book of the Bible, we encourage you to watch this video:

Bible journaling tip: 

I’ve been in children’s ministry for five years now, and I have found that there is no better way to memorize Scripture than through creating actions / moves. There are also many other methods for memorizing verses from the Bible, like repetition or creating associations. A fun journaling activity that you can do is to try to illustrate a Bible verse in an image. This can look like a comic strip (Jesus went to Galilee) or a more metaphorical image (Abide in the vine).

LOOK UP (information): encounter God through the Scripture 

Author:

John was often called the beloved disciple, and some say that he was Jesus’ best friend. Imagine if you wrote a book about the life of your best friend - even recording events from before you knew them. It’s interesting that all the other Gospel books begin with gynealogies and the story of Jesus’ birth or John the baptist, but John is the only one who begins with Creation. He takes his reader all the way back to Genesis… “In the beginning…”

Audience:

The book of John is perfect for people who have a lot of questions about the Christian faith. He explains difficult concepts in simple ways, and starts at the very beginning - making it easy for any reader to follow along.

History:

The Gospel of John was written in Asia Minor. Do a quick search to find out what Asia Minor looks like, or even better: what it looked like at the time when he was writing this letter. We need to do all that we can to make the Bible come alive for us and with today’s resources we really have no excuse to claim ignorance.

Genre:

This is the final of the four Gospels. What are some characteristic parts that you found in all 4 Gospels? What do you know about this genre as a whole? Is there any characteristic about this genre that you particularly enjoyed?

LOOK IN (revelation): contemplate / reflect on our own lives

Key verse:

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Inspiration:

John, the beloved disciple and friend, very clearly says that Jesus is the only way to God. This is a controversial opinion to have today. Jesus calls himself “the way” - what do you think He made a way in? 

What are some other ways that the world says we can connect with God / spirituality? What does this verse say about those ways? Think of one example each, how Jesus is the way, truth, and the life for you.

LOOK OUT (transformation): respond with creative worship action  

Drawing prompt:

John begins his Gospel by describing that Jesus was with God from the very beginning, because He was God. Draw a typical creation sequence based on Genesis 1 or 2, and then add the elements that you read about in this introduction to John’s book. 

Where was Jesus at creation? Why? What was God’s plan all along? What did He have in mind for people? What does this say about God’s character?

Bible Journey with HolyJot:

Here are some questions / prompts provided by the HolyJot community. 

• Who heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John? (John 4:1)
• What hour did Jesus sit to rest on the well in Sychar? (John 4:6)

Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.

Writing prompt:

Imagine being best friends with Jesus. Write a letter to Jesus, and imagine that you are John. When we talk to God we often unknowingly use really weird big words that we never really use when speaking to a friend - we do this because God is holy and we have respect for Him. But, what if we saw God as a true friend, like John would see Jesus. What would we say differently?

Prayer:

God, I want to thank you for the book of John. This book is beautiful and it allows me to see into the friendships you had, Jesus - that fills me with awe. Let my response to this text be worship unto you!