John’s gospel begins by telling us that the Word, Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, was in the beginning with the Father — that Jesus, as the second person of the Trinity, was privy to the divine counsels that Father, Son and Holy Spirit had agreed to redeem fallen humanity.
After Jesus’ Farewell Discourse and final prayer, Jesus was arrested. But even though He knew He was going to be crucified, Jesus made no effort to avoid arrest. He allowed himself to be taken, beaten, and executed.
Jesus had the counsels of heaven. He understood the mission from the divine perspective. He also understood the ultimate outcome, the ultimate victory. That was one reason. We also know that Jesus understood that he was to come to atone for the sins of the world. He understood the purpose of his crucifixion.
As John the Baptist declared when he saw Jesus coming, “Behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world.” And so John’s gospel tells us that “God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish” but be saved. So Jesus understood the purpose of his atonement. As part of a study that, Jesus was the consummate, obedient human being. He says in John’s gospel that my food is to do “the will him who sent me.” So apart from His own feelings, apart from even the goal of his crucifixion, Jesus was perfectly and fully obedient to the Father.
In John 12- Jesus says for the third time, the Son of Man must be lifted up. But there’s a unique element added in chapter 12. He says, “When the Son of Man is lifted up, he will draw all men to him.” And then He goes on to say in chapter 12 that, “then shall the ruler of this world be cast out.” That Jesus, by his crucifixion, disarms Satan. That Jesus, by His crucifixion, broke the powers of this world that oppress, that enslave, that condemn, so that Satan no longer has any authority over us. Hebrews 2 tells us that Jesus destroyed the power of him who has the power of the fear of death, that is, the Devil.
In Colossians 1, notes that Jesus put to shame all the authorities and powers. So Jesus, in His crucifixion, is diving into death itself to destroy death from within, because when he arose from the dead, He would signify that the death that permeates this world, not just that holds us in the grave, but that manifests itself in our fears and dysfunctions, in our sins against one another, in our securities, these things have been destroyed. Their power is no more. So that when we look at the cross, we not only see the payment for our sin, but we see the end of the reign of the ruler of this world and the beginning of the reign of the ruler of the world to come.
The Gospel of John is a testimony to the love and faithfulness of God. John himself said that he wrote his gospel so people would believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing, they would have life in his name. We have no greater hope than this. And John’s gospel is a powerful witness to the truth of our salvation.