John takes a different perspective. Like a visitor to an art gallery who selects a few works for more detailed perusal, John chooses particular aspects of Christ and His work for close consideration. His is a reflective gospel, one that takes us by the hand and leads us into the depths of the mysteries of Christ’s person and the wonders of all He accomplished for His people and for the world.

When we are looking for a book to read—especially if it is by an author we have not read before—it is not unusual to look for the “blurb” that provides information about the author and their rationale for writing. So too when it comes to exploring the Gospels. However, partly because the human authors of the Gospels did not take the initiative of writing upon themselves, we often find them reluctant to say much about themselves. The words that they were enabled to pen as they were “carried along by the Holy Spirit” were designed to throw the spotlight not on them, but on their ultimate author, God (2 Peter 1:21).

Who, then, was John, the fourth of the Gospel authors? We first meet him in the gospel record at the very beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, in Mark’s account of Jesus’ calling the first disciples by the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16–20). The first to be mentioned were Simon and Andrew, who were brothers and fishermen by trade. But almost immediately after this, we are told that Jesus approached two other young men, James and John, who were sons of Zebedee and also fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. They all responded to Christ’s invitation by leaving their nets—which were their source of income—and following Jesus.

It would be easy to downplay the courage of the first disciples’ response or fail to appreciate the significance of what this step of faith meant for them in real terms. They were prepared to walk away from the safety of an assured income to entrust themselves to an unknown carpenter’s son from Nazareth. Was it blind faith on their part? No!

The four men whom Jesus called at this point clearly had an attachment to the local synagogue, the place where Jesus was asked to preach the following Sabbath when He was publicly challenged by the shouts of an evil spirit who had taken possession of one of the worshippers (Mark 1:21–27).

The newly called disciples, as much as the other congregants present that day, must have been profoundly shaken by what happened, partly due to the shock of the demonic outburst, but even more so by the calm yet irresistible authority of Jesus’ words.

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