II.
"Life" in John's Gospel

In John’s Gospel, Jesus talks a lot about life.  The word “life” is used 47 times in this Gospel.  Jesus uses a lot of pictures to get His point across and He ties life to Himself.:

In John 6 He calls Himself the Bread of Life (after feeding the 5000)

In John 11 He calls Himself the Resurrection and the Life (just before raising Lazarus from the dead)

In John 10 He says that He is the door into life, and that He came that we might have life and have it abundantly (after contrasting Himself with leaders who manipulate and abuse people)

In these instances, He is using the word ‘life’ in two ways.  First, He is talking about eternal life in the sense of life after we die in this world.  Second, He is talking about a kind of life that we can live while in this world that will continue into the next.  And He ties both of these to Himself. In all of these places, Jesus is making a big point that the life He is inviting us to is the real life in contrast to what’s on offer around us; a kind of life that brings contentment, satisfaction, and joy.  A kind of life that is not dependent on how much money you have, or how little trouble you have to deal with in this life.