The Message of John

I read parts of this book while leading the bizad cg in my 2nd year in VCF. My brother recommended to me when i first mentioned that i wanted to read on John. A few weeks later, my staff worker recommended the same book to me - so i had no choice but to read it.

To be honest, John can be very easy to read and understand, yet there are plenty of room for in-depth study and discussion. Either way, i disagree with those who brush off the gospel as an-easy-to-read. You will discover a lot more things if you ask God to open your eyes to see the text.

This commentary makes a lot of reference to DA Carson's works on the Gospel. My conservative guess (as confirmed by other readers) is that Bruce Milne is not very open to the possibility that the gifts of the Holy Spirit maybe still available today. At various junctures, he states that the spiritual gifts have ceased since it is only an authentication of first century believers. Well, that is just the side stuff which i may like to highlight to charismatic friends. Well, the rest of the commentary lives up to its expectation of the BST series edited by John Stott. It is theological in nature with an effort to make applications on a pretty much broad level. It is the commentary for the preaching pastor on the go. The size of this volume may turn off some people... it is pretty thick for a BST commentary.

I still refer to this one every now and then. Would strongly asked those who are studying John Chapter 1 (which is very interesting to read in Greek) to seriously consider reading that portion of the commentary. A study guide is attached at the back of the book.


The Gospel of John
A. The ministry of the pre-incarnate king - 1:1-18
1. Jesus Christ and the eternal God - 1:1-2
2. Jesus Christ and the created universe - 1:3-5
3. Jesus Christ and redemptive history - 1:6-18

B. The ministry of the incarnate king - 1:19-19:42
1. The inauguration - 1:19-51
2. The procession - 2:1-12:19
3. The coronation - 12:20-19:42

C. The ministry of the risen king - 20:1-21:25
1. The appearing king - 20:1-31
2. The beginning of the mission - 21:1-25