Prologue:
Firstly, I'd like to thank God for helping me through this. I read some entries I did a few months back...how dark my mind was. I can not say I have found the light. I will say I am still searching for it. But life has a way of doing things...making you turn back and reflect to your past and look at your present and see how far you've come.
I'd also like to thank my parents...especially my mum. The bible I have been reading was one she gave me a while back. I never read it, just carried wherever I found myself but never took time to look into the pages. She begged me and gave me tips, but somehow I refused.
I would also like to thank my friends...the ones who were telling me to seek God so much that it began to sound like a broken record to me...everywhere I turn my head to, I seem to find friends who say the same thing...not necessarily because I attended a Christian College for a while, mostly because a few of them have
been there and done that.
I'd also like to thank the mentors I had, a college professor, a Director of Student Affairs, another Director of Multicultural affairs at my old college etc. The ones who convinced me to keep my head up despite life's hopeless downs.
Intro:My mother suggested the first book I read was the Book of John. My mother explained that this book was perhaps the easiest book to understand the whole Jesus thing...I was reluctant to read it until certain events prompted me to have a second look at my life...so i decided to pick up the bible and for the first time in my life, I actually read the bible for a good resolve not necessarily for a good grade or for just something entertaining (as I did Revelations when I was 11)
Now that I'm done reading the book, What I'm writing here are jottings and notes I took down as I read the book, mostly my personal scraps of thought.
John 1:10-13I am looking for a rebirth
John 2:1-11Jesus Christ used miracles and his powers to make his disciples believe in him...
John2:13-16That's the problem with the Church in the modern times...it's now a marketplace...it's now more of business and making money and politics than about actually being the house of God.
John 3:16There is a life after death.
That's all I got out of it. Most Christians I know base this verse as what Christianity is all about. But I struggled with this verse understanding it and searching for a deep meaning in it...but I couldn't.
John 4:1-26I found it interesting that Jesus related with the Samaritan. Samaritans were people not to be considered as human beings, talk less of having an interaction with them. They were foreigners, outcasts...they were discriminated...pondering on this...are we supposed to learn a lesson in modern times? Maybe along the lines of not discriminating against the samaritans of our modern times?
John 6:26-27I realise Jesus is telling the folks who were following him for food, bread life's perishable objects to seek eternal life that is him. I feel in this world where a man can lose his riches in the stock market, or have his car stolen/crash...or he graduate and find no job...or having your mansion get swept away by the hurricanes...it's best we pray and ask for the things that matter to us in the long run...not things that are perishable and ephemeral.
John 6:32-58He kept on saying he is the bread of life. I didn't get it. Eventually this idea
turns away most of his disciples(John 6:60-70) because they don't get it.
I understand the significance of bread even in the modern world as a source of nourishment. We eat it almost everyday...even in your hot dog or burger. I guess what Jesus was saying was he is fundamental to us everyday just like bread.
John 8:7Speaks for itself.
Reading this book (so far) has made me see the perspective of the Jews about Jesus. They hated him. Here comes this man, the son of Joseph and Mary, an ordinary Man...coming to say he is the Son of God, how God speaks through him, how he has been there before Abraham.
John 9:4How do we know what is assigned to us by God?
I feel I know what I am assigned to do, but I don't know if it is right...and I'm not sure if I'm ready. Many have thought they received a calling but were lied to or lied to themselves. So how are we sure of what God assigns to us?
John 9:39-41You think you holy, you are not.
John 14:12-15Interesting take on prayer. All you need to do is ask him, and he will do it for you.
I find it interesting how Jesus tags the devil as "The Prince of this World"
John 15:1-15I felt like if it were a personal message to me...it was like it was telling me "Remain in me and you'd bear fruit, if not you wither"
John 15:18-27The mission as a Christian. I don't think I'm necessarily ready for it.
John 16:23-24Another look at prayer.
John 17:20-26A prayer for Christians by Jesus
John 18:10-11Had me thinking ; Ok, they had a chance to save themselves but Jesus said they should lay down their weapon and accept what the cup they had in front of them...sometimes God's will for us is not the most pleasant even if there seems to be a way to evade it.
John 20:29A blessing for people now who believe in him...they are truly blessed.
Conclusion:
Jesus was a man whose whole life was a fulfillment of scripture. From the beginning till the end. Reading this book made me have a clearer picture of Jesus Christ...
this (John 21:24-25) makes me feel like I have a lot more to read...a lot more to learn about this man Jesus...I want to believe in him...but I already believe his words...but I feel there's more I ought to learn...I feel I have not learned enough.
12-10-2007, 12:20 AM
A friend's breakdown of John
Linear Mode
