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First, we want to consider some of the riches of Christ in the Gospel of John.
In chapter 1 He is the Word of God and the very God (v. 1). He is also the tabernacle of God, the only begotten Son of God (v. 14), the Lamb of God (v. 29), the Messiah (v. 41), the King of Israel (v. 49), and the Son of Man as the ladder (v. 51). In chapter 2 He is the temple (v. 21). In chapter 3 He is the bronze serpent (v. 14) and the bridegroom (v. 29), and in chapter 4 He is the fountain of living water (v. 14).
Chapter 5 shows us that Christ is the replacement of religion, of Judaism. Verses 1 through 9 of this chapter say,
After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down from time to time in the pool and stirred up the water; the first then to step in after the stirring up of the water was made well of whatever disease he was being held by. And a certain man was there, who had been thirty-eight years in his sickness. When Jesus saw this one lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, Do you want to get well? The sick man answered Him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your mat and walk. And immediately the man became well, and he took up his mat and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
The items in this portion of the Word — the holy city, the holy temple, the feast, the Sabbath, the angels, and Moses — form a religion. The poor man on one of the porticoes was weak to the uttermost. His religion afforded him something, but he had no strength to apply it. Although religion can be effective, you still need others to carry you to that effectiveness. Whoever has the strength and can be the first and the best will enjoy the working of religion. Christ, however, came to replace religion. We must come to Him to be enlivened. If we have Christ, we have everything because He is all-inclusive.
In John 5:24 the Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life.” Christ as the replacement for religion comes to impart life to people. In verses 39 and 40 the Lord said, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” This shows that when the Scriptures are separated from Christ, even they can become an item of religion. The Scriptures testify concerning Christ and should not be separated from Him. We may contact the Scriptures yet not contact Christ. Only Christ can give life.
In chapter 6 Christ is the bread of life (v. 35). The background of chapter 7 is the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:39-43). This was the last feast of the year for the Jews, implying the completion and success of man’s life (Exo. 23:16), which will end and will result in man’s thirst. At the end of such a feast, Christ cried out the promise of the rivers of living water, which satisfy man’s expectation for eternity (John 7:38). He was the cleft rock which flowed out the living water for the people to drink (1 Cor. 10:4). Chapter 7 of John also shows us the glorified Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, to be the Spirit (v. 39).
In chapter 8 Christ is the light (v. 12) and the great I Am (vv. 24, 28, 58). In chapter 9 we see Him as the anointing for the healing of the blind. Verses 6 and 7 say, “He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed his eyes with the clay, and He said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is interpreted, Sent). He went therefore and washed and came away seeing.” Clay mixed with the Lord’s spittle became an ointment to anoint the eyes of the blind man. Clay signifies humanity, and the spittle as something proceeding out of the Lord’s mouth signifies the Lord’s words, which are spirit and life (6:63). The Lord’s making clay of the spittle signifies the mingling of humanity with the Lord’s living word, which is the Spirit. This ointment became the medicine and cure for the blind man. By the anointing of the mingling of the Lord’s word (which is His Spirit) with our humanity, our eyes, which were blinded by Satan, can have sight. Christ is the mingling of divinity and humanity to anoint us, to cure us, to bring us sight.
In chapter 10 Christ is the door (v. 9) and the Shepherd (v. 11), in chapter 11 He is the resurrection and the life (v. 25), and in chapter 12 He is the grain of wheat (v. 24). The foot-washing in chapter 13 may be considered the washing in the laver in the outer court of the tabernacle, which washed away the earthly defilement of those who drew near to God, so that their fellowship with God and with one another could be maintained.
Actually, the entire Gospel of John presents a picture of the tabernacle. In chapter 1 the Lord Jesus came as a tabernacle. He was also the Lamb of God, offered on the altar, which signifies the cross, in the outer court of the tabernacle. This offering took away the sin of the world. Chapter 13 presents a picture of the laver in the outer court. In chapters 14 through 16, the Holy Place of the tabernacle can be seen. Christ is the bread of life, signified by the bread of the Presence, and the light of life, signified by the lampstand. His prayer in chapter 17, typified by the burning incense on the golden incense altar, ushers the believers into the Holy of Holies so that they can enjoy Him in the deepest way.
In chapter 14 He is the way, the truth, the life (v. 6), and the Spirit of reality (v. 17). In chapter 15 He is the vine (v. 1). Finally, in chapter 20 He is the breath of life (v. 22).
We need to notice that in the Gospel of John the first item of Christ is the Word, and the last item is the breath of life. The breath of life is the Spirit of reality. John tells us that the wonderful Christ is the Word of God who was incarnated to be a man. Then He passed through death and resurrection to become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). All the items of Christ in the Gospel of John are included in the Word, and the Word is the Spirit. In John 6:63 the Lord said that it is the Spirit who gives life and that the words which He speaks are spirit and life. If we are going to enjoy all the items of the riches of Christ, we must know how to deal with the Word and the Spirit. This is because all the riches are in the Word, and the Word is at the beginning of John, and the Spirit is at the end of John. Outwardly, we have the Word; inwardly, we have the Spirit. The outward Word is the inward Spirit.
Originally, He was the Word far away from us. Now He is the Spirit within us. Second Timothy 4:22 says that the Lord Jesus is with our spirit. The Word, through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, has become the Spirit who is indwelling our spirit. Praise the Lord that we have the Word in our hand and the Spirit in our spirit. In order to enjoy all the riches of Christ, we have to contact the Word outwardly and the Spirit inwardly. If we do not know how to deal with these two things, we do not know how to enjoy Christ. If we are going to enjoy the unsearchably rich Christ, we have to know that all of His riches are in the Word, and the Word is realized as the Spirit. The right purpose of studying the Word is for us to enjoy Christ.
