ABUNDANCE IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

Andrew Wilson always has something edifying to share, and I look forward to his column in CT magazine every month. In the March 2023 issue he provides a wonderfully concise review of the instances found in the Gospel of John referring to God's abundant giving to His people. Here are those references listed in the order in which they occur there:

John 1:16 “From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”

John 2:1-11 At the wedding at Cana, Jesus did not merely transform a little water into wine, but a great abundance instead.

John 3:34 “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit.”

John 4:14 The water of life that Christ provides is not a mere sip but “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 5:20 God will show the Son all that He is doing, including greater works at which people can marvel.

John 6 Jesus multiplies a few fish and loaves of bread to the point where it not only feeds the whole crowd, but there is even some for leftovers.

John 7:38 As a follow-up to Jesus' statement in 4:14, he proclaims to the crowd, “He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” This is not an exact quotation from the Old Testament, but the general sense is given in passages such as Proverbs 18:4 and Isaiah 44:3; 58:11.

John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” This statement along with 1:16 might well provide the overall theme for this whole study on heavenly abundance found in John's Gospel.

John 12:24 In a saying reminiscent of John 4:14, Jesus tells the crowd that whoever drinks in his words will have rivers of living water coming out of their heart, as a reference to the promised Holy Spirit.

John 15:11 At the end of Jesus' teaching of the vine and the branches, he states that he is telling this story “so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 21:11 The risen Savior was not stingy with His gifts either, as we can see in the story where he provided his Apostles with a miraculous catch of 153 fish.

John 21:25 From these closing words we are informed that all of the recorded gifts Jesus provided to others while on earth are only a small portion of all His works on behalf of others.

But even this is not a complete list of all the references to abundance in John's Gospel. We can easily add the following:

John 1:14 The quotation from 1:16 above is only part of the story, which begins two verses earlier with the statement: that Jesus was “full of grace and truth.” And it was this overflow that provided the eternal fount of His loving acts and words to live by.

John 1:50 Jesus amazes Nathanael at their first encounter with his secret knowledge. However, Jesus informs him that in the future he would see even greater things that these.

John 3:29 Concerning John the Baptist, Jesus tells John's disciples, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom: the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full.”

John 5:20 Jesus informs the Jews that they will show them greater works than they have yet seen him perform and will marvel at them.

John 5:36 He continues by saying to them that his testimony is greater than that of John the Baptist, as witnessed by the great works which he was doing.

John 7:31 Despite the unbelief of some, others rightly point out, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs that this man has done?” The answer to this rhetorical question is of course - “No.”

John 14:12 After all the comments by Jesus and others regarding His miraculous works, He now tells his followers that they will do even greater works after he ascends to the Father. This sounds like an unbelievable statement, but it may refer to “greater” in the quantitative rather than the qualitative sense.

John 15:2 Jesus tells his followers that the Father will prune them in order that they might bear even more fruit than they have already produced.

John 15:5,8 And the promise of “much fruit” is repeated in these two verses.

Wilson concludes is short essay with this valuable observation:

“Perhaps we emphasize divine abundance too much. Maybe our obsession with material wealth and welfare results from too much time reflecting on God's fullness. My suspicion, however, is the exact opposite: that we grab what we can because we think our Father's resources will run out. Only be reflecting on his bounty – the vats of wine, the baskets of bread, the grace upon grace – do we cultivate lives that are generous and hearts that are filled with joy unspeakable. As Jesus says in Matthew 10:8, 'Freely you have received; freely give.'”