Preaching the Gospel of John: Proclaiming the Living Word

Front Cover
Westminster John Knox Press, Jan 1, 2004 - Religion - 342 pages

In this accessible treatment of the major themes of the Gospel of John, renowned New Testament scholar Lamar Williamson blends the best of biblical scholarship and a close reading of the Fourth Gospel to meet the practical needs of weekly preaching. A more reflective Gospel in which the risen Jesus speaks in signs and discourses, John does not simply tell stories, but allows us to experience the Word and to see Jesus offering living water to the aridity of the institutional church and bread to the hungry hearts of individual disciples. More than mere exposition,Preaching the Gospel of Johnincludes at the end of each passage three to five possibilities for preaching the text--creative and pertinent suggestions that can help preachers apply the words of the Fourth Gospel to the lives of today's churchgoers. Proclaiming the living Word is a major theme of the Gospel of John, and this clear and insightful commentary captures that message in the preaching moment.

From inside the book

Contents

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5259
83
Confrontation in the Temple 81259
103
141
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135
311633
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291
Afterword
304
Notes
317

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2036
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Preliminary Remarks
163
Glossary
333
Select Bibliography
341
Copyright

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Popular passages

Page 138 - The very God ! think, Abib ; dost thou think? So, the All-Great, were the All-Loving too — So, through the thunder comes a human voice Saying, 'O heart I made, a heart beats here ! Face, my hands fashioned, see it in myself. Thou hast no power nor may'st conceive of mine, But love I gave thee, with Myself to love, 310 And thou must love me who have died for thee !' The madman saith He said so : it is strange.
Page 132 - I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
Page 107 - If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
Page 66 - I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Page 76 - Interpreter takes them apart again and has them first into a room, where was a man that could look no way but downwards, with a muck-rake in his hand. There stood also one, over his head, with a celestial crown in his hand, and proffered...
Page xi - For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Page 239 - ... to be very uneasy for the situation of the preacher. For I could not conceive how he would be able to let his audience down from the height to which he had wound them, without impairing the solemnity and dignity of his subject, or perhaps shocking them by the abruptness of the fall.
Page 81 - Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Page 337 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

About the author (2004)

Lamar Williamson Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia.

Bibliographic information