4. Gospel of John - Tim Mackie (The Bible Project)

all right let's keep going all right let's ground to cover okay wasn't that did this right here I was this major payoff right here the water in the blood the way that ingesting Jesus symbolically by face I just Britt starts to bring all of these things together here and then the way that in Tabernacles he describes himself as the water of life he's also gonna describe himself as the light and as the shepherd this is the Good Shepherd discourse is in year two so Jesus is the water he's the light of the world that brings this and then he's the Good Shepherd so my recommendation would be again to at least try and do this section in a couple messages and just do a thematic approach as opposed me not you know if you are just like I'd like to move through and just cover everything god bless you do it if you're trying to help people get the essence of a section then this section is worth at least I think at least a couple teachings because the Good Shepherd we don't have any time but the Good Shepherd discourse is Jesus riffing off of Ezekiel 34 where the new David is gonna be the Shepherd of Israel but it's all it's all this stuff right here of Jesus all of these symbols connected with Israel's time in the wilderness and their need for a new Moses well it all gets wrapped together here one just one little brief comment here I'm gonna come back to the sermon outline doc so we had working on the Sabbath that was chapter five passover bread six let's see blindness yeah Jesus is the water and light oh and jesus heals the blind man you know what's happening right now there's just too much so we I can't do everything I just want to help you do the right things that'll set you up for success so dude the blind man chapter nine oh that's incredible this is the most incredible story it's really long but it just tells itself and it bring it's once again you can see these are starting to build on each other aren't they so now you have a story where blindness and sight and light and dark here is all brought together here in one story and it just picks up elements the water story is going to pick up wine and water things here and also point forward at the same time the Good Shepherd activates the bad Shepherd's like Nicodemus and our need for a Good Shepherd who will die lay down his life for the Sheep because that's what a Good Shepherd does that points forward so there you go how many is that's like five now how many messages for the section this becomes oh no three look at that if you have water oh if you if you were to I'm the water of life come drink from me and I'm the light of the world you could do that as one message then you could do the blindness the blind man's story which is all about believing is seeing and oh we have which is of course the Thomas thing isn't yes it's all connected so you guys get what I'm saying here somehow you need to figure out a way to do this section because it's unwieldy but I think there's a way to block it off into for sure for but at least three units and then if you were to do that you would I think give people a great tour of this Tabernacle section right there so that make sense okay the last one I'll just put it down is Hanukkah and that's 1022 on through the end of ten and I'll just point out one thing real quick here and then we'll move on to the Lazarus and then this the latter parts will go we'll go a little quicker but Jesus makes his comment so Hanukkah yeah it goes through 39 so it's a shorter section Hanukkah so Hanukkah you have to know about the Maccabees Antiochus Epiphanes it's connected to stuff going on in Daniel but it's essentially in the late second temple period a Syrian King not an Assyrian King those were earlier a king from Syria makes judaism illegal to practice in jerusalem and then he starts executing any jews who are being torah observant eating kosher and so the books of first and second Maccabees in the Protestant Apocrypha tell these incredible stories about faithful Jews who gave up their lives like having their skin stripped off of them in the temple courts in Nice it's absolutely horrifying so all of those all of those stories are about the temple being defiled and there was a pig sacrificed on the altar and so on and so this was such an outrage what the books the first in Maccabees talked about was the response there was the family that rose up was a guy named Matthias and they lived in the town of Modena and then he had seven sons Judas sorry yes I mean he has know the story Maccabees it's incredible go read second Maccabees it's epic so it would make the most amazing one of those type of movies as somehow it hasn't been made it may be husband I have no idea anyway so the whole point is that they rededicate the temple they purify it and this this long narrative and they begin an annual remembrance of it that's been going for 2150 see seven years I was a long time yeah they've been doing it every year it overlaps with the same time period as Christian Christmas in the winter and so you light the lamps which is about the relighting of the menorah in the temple and they purified the temple so jesus walks into the temple and you're getting used to this now you're like oh he's gonna say something right scandalous and symbolic so he goes in and everybody's asking him tell us if you're the Messiah and so it's this long thing and it's all of the themes of the previous stories all wrapped together right so I told you but you don't believe I'm doing the work of my father yeah you're like oh I've heard this is like a greatest hits story because they testify about me you don't believe you're not my sheep my sheep hear my voice I give them life my father's given to me and so on and no one can snatch him from my father or from my hand because you know listen o Israel the Lord is our God the Lord is so Jesus takes the Shema and he puts himself in the Shema ha all right all right and the father are the one God so now we're there again and and they pick up stones to stone him wait what what I thought you liked my magic tricks no it's not for any of that it's blasphemy you're making yourself God oh yeah then he appeals to Psalm 82 Jesus essentially says yes listen the Hebrew Scriptures talk about the sons of God right the lower spiritual beings that do things on God's behalf so you guys already have a category for spiritual beings that are different than God but that are more than just human so you know I'm like that except more so essentially his argument here and listen if just look at what I'm doing I'm doing the work of my father now look at and look at what he calls himself he calls himself the one whom the father has made holy or set apart as Holy this is during Hanukkah so he's walking into the temple having this debate and it brings all of these themes to a culmination but then Jesus describes himself in a way he hasn't used this language at all he calls himself the holy one or the sanctified one yeah and he's doing this it precisely the holiday room remembering how the temple was made holy once more so that it could start doing the temple we guys with tracking with me so he's describing himself in exactly the vocabulary of what was done to the temple during the dedication feast of Hanukkah but it's just this little comment here of I'm the Holy One really the main thing on the stage is this growing momentum of this theme that when you see Jesus you you see the father so it's of the Holy One and so notice in that connection there Jesus is once again making a connection between himself and the temple so you made the temple holy and as we celebrate every Hanukkah but I am the ultimate holy one that the father has sent into the world so it's very similar to here where the temple becomes a symbol for himself and this happens on the little portico which echoes this opening story and then boom we're into the transition story there samam this book are you guys what this is really an amazing section of the Gospel of John lots of opportunities and notice everyone is just making the same basic point Jesus is awesome people are stupid and to really understand who God is and who I am and the depth of my own sin and failure but also the the degree to which I am loved by God because he's full of covenant love and truth and so he knows what's inside of people like no one needs to tell him that he already knows that and that's why he's here to do this thing and this thing on our behalf and so it's what every story is about they're just making the same idea make the same point but through different biblical imagery and symbols and narratives and of course that's what it's about cuz it's what he said here every story is trying to persuade you to believe in Jesus as he already told you that and and so the now that's what it's going for hey guys Jen okay so moving on to the to the transition Jesus is someone some dear family friends of Jesus in John 11 Lazarus of Bethany some dear friends Mary and Martha so first of all he's Lazarus is sick so this is interesting it was it's the brother of Mary and her sister Martha oh yeah this is the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair you know that Mary you know that Mary that was so fascinating that story hasn't happened yet this is a flash-forward so he's identifying a character by something that they're going to do that you haven't read yet but because you read this thing ten times a year you yeah it's basically the same thing so this whole thing is that Jesus intentionally allows someone he loves to die and it breaks his heart doesn't it he weeps he weeps over people's unbelief he weeps over the reality of death for his friend Jesus is a really complicated character in the story so he delays arriving that sets up the whole drama and then he goes to Jerusalem so then he has this conversation with Martha and he Jesus gives another I am and Jesus says listen your brother's gonna rise again I know I believe in the resurrection to Jesus and Jesus said no no you don't understand I am the resurrection I am the life so this is another moment it's like this I am the bread I am the water right I am the light but here it's just it's a story about life and death it's a story I mean it's just you don't have to work hard especially in a sermon setting you don't have to work very hard to make this real for people right so the the loss that the death of someone you love what that represents is like a rupture of everything that you know is good and right in the world you with me it's just like you don't have to convince anybody of that immediately you know in your heart what how messed up it is to lose someone you love and so the whole point is Jesus isn't only the fulfillment of these amazing symbols were like right back to Genesis 1 through 3 stuff here life and death humans experienced death and mortality because of the brokenness and evil of our world and Jesus is life he is the resurrection and he is the life so Jesus says that about himself within a narrative where he is going to bring someone back to life from the dead are you with me so it's both a narrative illustration and a claim about Jesus himself that once again it's pointing forward to this to this element right here so that's right there on the surface of the narrative I forget somebody smart some John nerd some John's caller point this out to me and then it gave the Lazarus story and even greater depth so follow the follow the logic of the story here so a dear friend of Jesus dies that's tragic and horrible so Jesus intentionally delays so that this can become a sign of the reality that he is the creator become human he is the resurrection and the life but is Jesus a welcome presence in and around Jerusalem how do people how do people feel about Jesus down in Judea they want to kill him right so look at what this gets thematized in the story becomes a theme so in chapter 11 Jesus said hey let's go down to Judea oh you can't go there you're gonna die don't go they're gonna kill you if you go down there so now all of a sudden Jesus going to bring life to his friend is now there's a drama created you see this because if he goes to give life to his friend it will be at the cost of his life do you see that he has to give up his life to save the life of the friend that he loves and this is a major theme in the story it just keeps going so look at what Thomas says when they finally get ready to go Thomas says alright Jesus has gone down to Judea and he's gonna die so this is like a like a macho saying like we'll die with you Jesus this kind of thing you guys are you with me all right it's the martyr syndrome saying you're right he's gonna go down and glory kind of thing so they think that going down to rescue Lazarus means that we're all going to die and in fact that's what happens look at how so the story goes I'm the resurrection and the life he goes to the tomb and all and think in terms of the narrative this scene and this scene there's electricity going on here roll back the stone yeah this this almost becomes a preview of this resurrection scene right here so roll back to the stone Jesus says oh it's gonna stink Jesus right he's been dead for four days didn't I tell you I would believe if you believe you'll see the glory of God what was the first revelation of the glory Jesus was the temple and we saw his glory what was the first manifestation of his glory the wine Ryan here here it's the recreation of life out of death so they removed the stone Jesus raised his eyes father I thank you that you've heard me I know you hear me but because of the people standing around I say this so that they may believe that you sent me Lazarus come forth he cries out with a loud voice Jesus cries out with a loud voice four times yeah one of them was here I'm the water one of them's right here come out and one of them's right here three times sir force one well this little easter egg here to go fine all right there's at least three crying out with a loud voice Lazarus come forth and then look at this he comes out with all these wrappings and it just like all this description of the wrappings okay our burial wrappings ever gonna get talked about again yeah it's gonna play a huge feature in this like see how they were all folded and what sections of the tomb there in the wrappings right there's a narrative preview of of Jesus's resurrection so he comes out except he's bound in his wrappings Jesus was definitely not unbind him and let him go therefore many of that can you keep this kind of thing secret many of the Jews who came to Mary saw what he had done so some believed in him but others went to the Pharisees and the tattletale and so the Pharisees say wow what are we gonna do the Romans are gonna come kill us all if this you know upstart King actually gains a following then this is the moment where Caiaphas right says you know I wouldn't be so bad cuz they could just kill one guy on behalf of us all he had no idea what he was talking about you guys but he was actually prophesying about Jesus death oh yeah not just for Israel but for all of those other sheep that God wants to bring into the fold he's gonna be dying for those guys to do so oh yeah and that was the day that Lazarus death was reported that they started to make a plan to kill him okay therefore Jesus no good so notice how he's wrapping this all together here this story becomes a preview of this set of events we're already familiar with that pattern but but this this is a narrative moment where Jesus is laying down his life for his sheep are you with me um which is what the Good Shepherd does right here so he lays oh yeah and in 13 greater love has no man than this and he lay down his life for his friend mm-hmm yep so Jesus symbolically and literally is laying down his life for a friend which is can you imagine a better transition narrative into this section of the book right here it's of Jesus doing and embodying the very things he was talking about here here in the story so that's that's just chapter 11 is the Lazarus story after this you get you know Palm Sunday and chapter 12 oh man chapter 12 yeah there's no time oh dude chapter 12 so amazing really really cool things happening there okay all right okay show you one okay all right so Jesus goes it's a few days for Passover six days oh yeah the countdown the next seven days before there was the first seven days the last seven days start counting down right here six days before Passover then you get the story about Mary who is anointing Jesus ooh Jesus gets anointed he gets anointed who what kind of people get anointed Kings he's getting anointed as the king and but what does Jesus highlight here so notice the symbolic joining of anointing to become King is the same anointing for his coming death do you see this here so this is our this being portrayed as his royal moment for which he is anointed so this is the is like an ironic reversal of Samuel showing up to anoint David here's mayor here's Jesus anointing it's Mary that's cool that's not the thing I was going to talk about but that is also cool so Jesus rides in on the donkey and that's you know classic classic scene but watch this now there were some Greeks who were there so they're they're not Jewish Gentiles but they loved that they loved the deal right they want to come to Jerusalem be a part of the thing so these came to Philip from Bethsaida of Galilee and said use me sir we'd like to see Jesus so Andrew came and told Philip Andrew Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus does this remind you can we see Jesus oh this guy tells this guy this guy tells this guy this guy tells this guy is that remind you of anything that was this or this thing here in chapter one John the Baptist gives his testimony this guy tells this guy this guy tells this guy this guy this guy and they all end up coming to Jesus except now who's being led down the chain to Jesus it's Greeks yes Greeks so jesus answered them typical like cryptic riddle the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified the Son of Man is gonna rise up and be exalted on his throne beside the Ancient of Days yeah Daniel 7 but I tell you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies it bears much fruit just like what but do you get it so the the hour of the enthronement of the Son of Man and then he tells a riddle about how but you know new life only comes about when something dies so the enthronement something dying to bring wife you know if you love your life you'll lose it but if you hate your life you'll keep it if anyone serves me you have to follow me and where I am and what I'm doing that's what my servants do and my father will honor him you guys with me this is this is this is so Hebrew Bible type of sequence of thought just like three or four things in a row they kind of relate but they also kind of don't and you just have to sit and think about it but there's the chain of thought here isn't there about Jesus is enthroned then death giving up your life is gaining your life and if you want to be like Jesus then you'll see this is this is what it means to follow him so Jesus cries out and a crowd of people here there's a divine voice from heaven that speaks about Jesus and a whole bunch of people hear it and Jesus says oh you know the voice hasn't come for my sake it's for your sakes but now's the moment the ruler of this world I'm going to cast him out I'm going to be lifted up lift it up alright so we're in 12 right now and there's this language about lifting up exaltation language Daniel son of man right lifted up in throne meant language now sorry he was saying this about being lifted up to indicate how he would die he was tracking casket uh-huh so he goes on to have this conversation with these people and it's what they do essentially is they don't believe in him and so Jesus leaves so he just had this the Greeks believe he has this conversation about how he's going to be lifted up and the people don't believe in him that's how this narrative in 12 ends and then John begins this long little aside here and says now okay Jesus was in Jerusalem and other than just a few people nobody believes in him now this would surprise everybody unless you've been reading the book of Isaiah then you wouldn't be surprised that this is what happened here's the passage in Isaiah I'm talking about Lord who believed our report to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed this is the opening line of what chapter of Isaiah is the opening line of oh yeah this is I already have my Bible opens opening line of Isaiah 53 so Isaiah 53 right which is about the suffering royal servant who died is on behalf of Israel it begins telling you yeah listen the way that this servant dies as a way of being exalted and rescuing his people like nobody believed it that's already built into the storyline of the book of Isaiah so keep reading so this is why they couldn't believe and actually do you remember that thing about Israel being blind and hardened of heart from Isaiah chapter 6 that's what was happening in this moment it was the hardening but Israel being hardened and not believing so that the Messiah could do for them what they can't do for themselves okay you guys with me we're on the same track here that's what John's doing he's bringing you in now look at verse 41 this is the thing or everyone to show you now Isaiah said all these things because he saw his glory and he spoke about him so okay Isaiah said this this is a quotation from what blind hardened hearts that's Isaiah 6 this quotes from Isaiah 53 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory who's the his Isaiah saw whose glory what story is he becoming Isaiah 6 yeah okay so watch this is remarkable Isaiah 6 begins in the year of king uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne yeah it's King I sought King Yahweh the king of Israel hi and lift it up lofty and exalted you see that right there so the high lifted up exalted king of Israel who is whose job way now this little phrase right here lofty and exalted it's in Hebrew it's venice' lift it up and exalted that little phrase you might think oh there's probably lots of high and exalted things in the Bible actually there's not and in fact there's only one other passage in the whole Hebrew Bible where these two verbs are right next to each other hi and lift it up can you guess behold my servant will prosper he will be around Vanessa so who are the two high exalted ones in the Book of Isaiah its Yahweh the king of Israel and it's the servant who dies on behalf of Israel sins this is in Isaiah this is already happening in Isaiah these two figures are getting superimposed on each other and so john knows this hebrew bible like nobody's business and he's put this together and so for him this is the moment where Jesus is exaltation right I'm going to be lifted up it's all about this and so what he what he's saying he's talking about man so let's pretend this is Isaiah he has to have a beard because he's a Bible guy and so it's he sees this image this vision he's having this dream vision of the of Yahweh sitting on a throne and of course it's all in smoke he can't see anything above but what does he see he sees the Train of his robe like down here yep so like the divine feet so to speak you can't see my face but you can see my back or my feet right so and this is called he sees the glory right holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty the whole earth is full of his glory the glorious exalted king of Israel Yahweh sized their six Isaiah 53 is the glorious exalted servant of Israel whose exaltation is his death and so John joins Isaiah 53 and Isaiah six as if they're talking about the same person Yahweh is the suffering servant do you see that's the link that he's making right here and so he so Isaiah said this he saw the exalted King and you know what it only made sense once I saw the exalted King then it all became clear to me what this was really about so this whole thing is moving towards the cross as Jesus's royal exaltation that's why it makes a big deal about his crown of thorns right and the robe and the the scepter that he gets and even though they're you know they're all a farce or in irony it's like it's more true they really are exalting their king just like Caiaphas is prophesying about the one dying on behalf of the many that's are you with me here so man I don't know the Naza the Lazarus story is really like that's so cool what's going on here this is trickier because the narrative isn't super sequential there's a lot of back-and-forth conversation and the payoff is in all these hyperlinks but this is really cool so do with that what you will in terms of in terms of a message so you could write the Lazarus story just kind of tells itself in that section there I'm here there's the story of Jesus being anointed as the king moving towards his death the glorious exaltation of Yahweh the servant it's complicated I've never tried to preach through that sequence of John 12 and if you want to brave if you want to go for it let just let me how it goes you could join it here's what you could do you could since the anointing scene actually only goes through verse eight you could start it in eleven excuse me chapter twelve verse 12 which is Jesus's royal entry into Jerusalem so a Palm Sunday and so it's all about King Jesus hooray how's he gonna become King he's gonna be the divine servant who dies to take his throne that could be the arc of a message which case that would be through quite a long section of through verse 50 that's a long section okay this is just a side comment it's moments like this where I realize John didn't design this text to be broken up and preached on over the course of four months he designed it to sit down and read it in two hours because that's how long it takes are you with me nothing we shouldn't do that shouldn't do a preaching series on it but I would put it to you how to do an experiment somewhere in your John series maybe multiple times and just have a like sponsor a whole bunch of pizza and punch and just play an audio version of John allowed in a rim and invite people to just come experience the whole thing it takes a little over two hours as people sit and watch movies like nobody's they'll binge watch for four hours he's not saying on Netflix and I see I just listened to John in my drive up here last night just to upload it all into my head it's so awesome to just hear the whole thing and ones in one sitting it'll blow your mind have you done it before dude you guys got to do it oh um oh the loop it's live action LUMO project is live ah but it's yes yep yeah yeah that's cool the LUMO project a heaven there in the Bible app hmm right by the fire project videos so yeah yeah there you go this is this hard section to try and think about in terms of a sermon but there you go that's how you do you how do you guys done okay from here we go to the Upper Room discourse there's two moments here two great opportunities once thirteen you know it it's it's the last meal oh yeah what's missing in John's retelling of the last meal the meal there's no yeah like the past the cup and the bread it's not here I had more than likely it's because he there you can go read about it in the other ones and what he wants to highlight is a moment that just blew his mind and it was the moment when Jesus becomes literally and symbolically the servant by washing the feet and so it was actually really especially thinking after the servant of Isaiah is activated here it's the moment that I named it black Ben it's yes Jesus describing himself as the servant and it's exactly right as he washes the feet of the disciples let's get some water in there a little water mm-hmm right I don't know what's happening to Peter's leg right there anyway so right so this once again it's a get John gives us a Rembrandt a moment that sticks in your mind for the rest of your life Jesus gets on his hands and knees and washes poop and dirt and mud off of his friends feet and and then he says it's a sign it's a symbol of his love for them right so we've heard about God loving the world and so on but here the act of Jesus serving love as sacrificial costly service this is a whole theme of this right here and once again boom he says you don't understand what I do for you now but you will later yeah that's what he says so good so gosh that that will preach that's good stuff right that's right there and then we're into 14 through 17 if you've ever tried to preach through first John you'll know how stinking hard to this because it doesn't work and it was a logical flow of thought it's a cyclical spiral thought and it's developing isn't it it really develops the ideas but it does it in a very different way than Paul the Apostle does this section feels exactly the same there's about five core ideas and he just boom he just kind of moves around them in this final discourse it's the most read letters in the Gospel of John 14 to 17 just one long speech and my my recommendation would be just to settle down here for a series of messages and take a take a somatic approach so in the notes here I list just kind of a short handful of themes right here this is on page 20 of the notes Jesus actually here I should save this I'm gonna save this save the best one for last so Jesus is going away and so in three different texts he talks about sending the advocate or the spirit so there's just a whole you can bring those three texts together as Jesus it's the whole thing if I'm going away you think that's a bummer but actually that's the best thing for you is because if I'm physically here and stick around I can only be in one place at a time if I leave I can be everywhere at all times through that through the spirit advocate so this can be a wonderful I mean the things that he says the spirit doesn't draw attention to the spirit self the spirit takes from what is mine it takes from the father and gives it to you so the spirit is like a spotlight the point isn't to look at the spotlight the point is the spotlight shines on Jesus so that could be a whole message right there just on putting all those teachings of the Spirit together there are five different texts where Jesus goes around the spiral of if you love me you'll obey my teachings and if obey obey my teachings you love me and those who love me will love the father and if you love the father you'll obey my teachings and so is that whole like tell me this is the great sermon of like if you love I love me but it's not just about duty it's about love there's that whole thing Jesus predicts that if you follow Jesus your best life is not now are you with me and it's not it's not about I'm sorry actually I don't usually do that kind of thing but but it's difficult I mean Jesus is very clear you're signing up you're introducing tension into your life you're voluntarily introducing tension into your life by following me it doesn't mean that this it's a lot like parenting it's the richest thing but it comes through the highest highs and the lowest lows and it's just the nature of the thing so those are three themes right there boom boom boom boom the spirit the love and obedience and you got a hard time coming but I'm with you in the midst of it you guys tracking okay so each one of those you could break out as a teaching here as this the spirit Tech's the love equals obedience and obedience is an expression of love and then you've also got the trials and paying a weight but I'm with you these are these are sort of like I learned when I first started having to preach regularly this is the number of years ago and like many of you you know you're just looking for voices people to give you guidance and so on and so I had like everybody shot to had my Tim Keller season so grateful for that guy you know and I'm sure like my sermons from that era sounds a lot like a and that's fine I you know I was learning from him but he had I don't remember one of his many books he had this thing about there should be just a handful of core themes the work make make themselves into every series you ever teach and key themes that ought to come up probably every like three months and so to me that's this category of messages life sucks and Jesus is with you he loves you and he's gonna walk you through it like he just that's a regular staple so hey Jesus really loves you and you actually need to follow him like follow him that kind of thing and spirit he's with you and he is the right the presence of Jesus and the father wherever you go all right there's these kinds of things which is why they make sense of their in the in the Upper Room discourse the crown jewel of this however is chapter 17 oh my goodness this is such an amazing such an amazing text so it's this prayer and he begins it's the moment before the machine gets moving that's gonna destroy him so we're right here the next things that where the story is gonna go is into the Garden of Gethsemane into the trial before Sanhedrin into the trial before and then to Golgotha and so we were like right at the the threshold of that whole thing and so he talks about the hour this is right this is the moment of glory this is the moment where you glorify me this is the moment where I glorify you this thing right here Daniel 7 you've given the son of man thora t-they he may give life and this is eternal life this is the only explicit definition of eternal life in the New Testament there are lots of passages that have associated images with turn wife but this is the only sentence in the New Testament this is eternal life and what is it it's knowing the father knowing the father the one true God and Jesus Messiah whom you've said wait is it knowing God or knowing Jesus yes right we're back to that thing Word was with God and the Word was God so eternal life is knowing God and knowing Jesus through is the only one through whom we actually really know who God is so he has this prayer about the Apostles about how he's represented the father to the apostles they've believed in him then he moves on in the prayer you probably know it goes down and oh yeah that's great so the glory that you've given me I've given to them what's Jesus's glory well as manifesting all these signs and then this is the ultimate act of glory so the honor of doing this for those whom you love I am giving that to them this is his glorification what does it mean for Jesus to say no you get my glory you know I thank you I guess that they may be one just as we are one I in them and you in me that they may be perfected in oneness so that the world may know that you sent me and that you loved them so notice remember if you eat and drink with the Sun it's Jesus abiding in you and you abiding in Jesus remember that will phrase there so now that little phrase it's gonna get developed into a whole Trinitarian thing here where the father is in the son son is in the father but now the whole point is that the father the spirit and the sons want to welcome a new member of the family and it's you are you with me it's you so this community of love that you write it's just about to say it in a sentence you loved me before the foundation of the world the glory that I had with you before the world was created this eternal love fest alright that is the one true God the whole point is that God wants to invite his creatures into the eternal community of love and so it began with the historical appearance of the beloved son who then shared it by creating the family the nucleus of the renewed Israel in in the family of Abraham with the apostles and now he's out gonna pray for those who believe through the Apostles which is anyone just reading this book and write does this believes in the name it's you so I you can just see it here know what it's the it's this poetic logic that he's going to go through right here so I and them you and me that they may be perfected in unity so that the world may know that you sent me and that you loved them just like you love me father I desire that they also those whom you've given me may be with me where I am so that they may see my glory that you've given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world o righteous father the world they don't know you but I know you and these that know that you sent me I've made your name known to them and I will make it so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them [Laughter] yeah but it's this right here is this it's the culmination of the prayer and I have this in the John notes yeah this theme began in chap these are all the I and them and they in me text and John all together in one place and just watch it it started here by believing in the son is the equivalent of eating from him the one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwelleth in me and I in them then 14 oh yeah in 14 look at this I'm gonna send the spirit he will dwell with you and he will be in here I won't leave you as orphans I will come to you wait I thought the Spirit is coming to you wait who's coming to me the spirit or Jesus exactly and in that day you will know that you that I am in my father I am in my father and there sorry can you read it aloud I can't quite where am I supposed all right there all right it's just so remarkable that they very difficult to read that screen right now he will dwell with you and be in you yes you'll know that I am in my father and you are in me and I am in you this this so the spirit being with you is like the Sun being with you and I am in my father and if you are in me do you see what's happening here remember drawing these in school the spirograph like that's what's he's just circling around it in every in every possible way chapter 15 dwell in me and I in you this is the vine and the branches just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself so you can't bear fruit unless you dwell in me now the one who dwells in me and I in him will bear fruit you know if you dwell in me my words will also do well in you so yeah the word dwelling in you so dwell in my love and then down to the prayer father you were in me I'm in you they be in us that they may be one as we are one I in them and you and me so that the love of which you love me might be in them and also I in them there it is that's all that's all of them right there know this so it's like the sentences makes sense he's invited this we're clearly at the limits of language aren't we but language is trying to describe a being that exists in a way that we don't have categories for and what's beautiful is that these images invite us into it and so it's it's your Sinus simultaneously can make sense of it and ultimately can't make sense of it are you with me is so beautiful and the thing that we can't wrap our minds around is that there's if this universe has any meaning and purpose this claim is that it exists as an expression of God's love and that you and I have alienated ourselves from this community of eternal love and the father sent the son to bring us back into the family of love that's what the whole story is about and so there you go man get an artist in your church too draw something or paint something somebody make a sculpture of this to as many ways as this thing can get represented visually we need to because this is such a beautiful truth and of course it's the culminating it's a culminating speech of the whole of the whole book I guess done three twenty three twenty two minutes to land the plane okay great I think we're good I think yeah twenty minutes we'll be okay so let me come back to here all right can I just put Trinity lovefest Trinity lovefest and the invitation to be reconnected to God's love yeah man it's so beautiful okay the passion and the resurrection narratives are John moves into a pretty classic narrative mode here but he keeps planting these little verbal echoes that pick up threads of of what came before so for example oh Jesus goes to a garden he's in a garden anybody just the moment garden all right just be activated so Jesus is in a garden he's he's betrayed and only John tells this story where they say we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth and he says I am whenever you see the italics in the new American Standard that means they've inserted the English word so in Greek I am alright you get it yeah yeah I am he says it again I am and they fall to the ground two times Peter and the sword the trial before the Sanhedrin is actually pretty short it's condensed in John's account and what he really wants to highlight is Peters multiple denials so think of the way Jesus relates to his friends the way Jesus his friends relate to him see that contrast he lays down his life for his friend but Peter won't return the favor yet so that's interesting contrast here in those narratives so he gets sent to Pilate or after the denials and then the conversation with Jesus and Pilate is unique here in Matthew they have a bit of a conversation and Luke a little bit longer mark it's pretty short in John it's really long and of course it makes perfect sense so Pilate isn't right convinced that Jesus is guilty and so Jesus has this line here my kingdom is not yah-hoo of this world okay can we just quick just real quick do you see this word of and actually you should you see the little Greek word down there even if you don't know Greek you can pronounce those two letters so that's the standard Greek word not four of but from about source or origin so my kingdom the values and purpose and mission of my kingdom aren't derived from the world are they for the world are you with me yeah this isn't a separatist thing they aren't from the world just like you need to be born from a noose new source of life so my kingdom is not from this world listen if my kingdom was being built on the value set of this world right now you'd have guerrilla assassins crawling through you you'd have a knife in your throat right now do you see that so to be of this world is about the value set so here's how kingdoms work in this world I kill you and then I get your land and your stuff that's how kingdoms work and Jesus is saying yeah that's my kingdom isn't grounded and that kind of value set so if they were then you're right you'd have a knife in your back but my kingdom is not from this place oh you are a king Pilate says you say that I am notice correctly as the new American Standard Edition right there so look at Jesus won't even truly accept the title King so you're a king you say it right because even the word King oh yeah what does Jesus never called himself once in the whole story he's never called himself King what's he called himself servant and son of men servant and son of men and Sunday his son of is the son of man in Daniel 7 lifted up and glorified mm-hmm he is but only after he's been trampled by the Beast in the dream the Daniel has and so it's as if Jesus to avoid any connotation of that kind of kingship he even never uses the title and when he acts when people call him by that he won't even fully accept it so he says for this I've been born to come into the world to testify to the truth testify to the truth everyone who's of the truth hears my voice yeah we're back to hear the tale of two seeds yeah people who want to join the new humanity the gods creating will recognize it's through Jesus and so it's those who trust and believe so I come to testify to the truth and those who recognize the true my sheep they hear my voice and then classic so good pilots what's his response what is truth now okay so is this coming from like you know a philosopher are you with me it's coming from a guy relaxing huge library Plato Aristotle smoking his pipe so who's Pilate he's a puppet governor so that's a different context for the question even isn't it so for a philosopher to ask what is truth is very different than a power broker to ask what is truth so again I'm not saying read as many commentaries as you want to on this I'm sure this is worth a long walk in a cup of tea but this is always struck me this isn't a conversation about philosophy right so in in in Roman propaganda truth is whatever caesar makes it to be so oh we want the land of the Gauls or whatever then they're subhuman we deem them subhuman we kill them all and take their land that's and that's the truth you know saying like that's that's the kind of person that he's talking to and so Jesus comes representing one definition of truth Pilate is just like what is this so the pilots about to define it as the true and good thing to do to let Jesus be killed the truth is moldable for Pilate very powerful this man so powerful story and that's the last thing that they say so Barabbas gets released in jesus's place bar abbas anybody its aramaic for abba father bar means son so the son of the father is released in the place of the son of god and then comes the crucifixion and john particularly again highlights they put a crown on him hail king wearing the crown they take him out they put the sign over his face meanwhile the Jewish leaders are saying that if you don't crucify Jesus you're no friend of Caesar the Jewish leaders are saying you're no friend of Caesar right Jesus is presented as a king he has a sign put over his cross that he's like do you get the point here this is Jesus's royal in enthronement and and it becomes the culminating moment and so notice notice he doesn't even have to load this moment with all of the key words here glory our blood water wine because he's already done all that work had the heavy lifting here now he just narrates the moment and you're just kind of watching it all come into a realization my recommendation would be because the trial just has some there's the arrest save multiple moments you have the garden arrest and then especially the trial before Pilate there's this contrast between Jesus is arrested in the garden and he's Yahweh I am and that what Yahweh goes on to do is to act powerless through the story and so everybody is acting on Jesus but it's so clear that he's the one in control story so this these ironic dynamics of the servant becoming powerless but it's actually through his love that he's controlling the whole situation so everybody's doing exactly what he wants them to do even though they think they're doing so uh I think that this is a kind of a seamless narrative of the GART right from the garden through the trial with Caiaphas through the pilot conversation man that's just one really powerful moment right there that's all talking about those upside down power power dynamics hmm and then it's nineteen B is the crucifixion message proper that's in nineteen seconds this is eighteen through nineteen a the crucifixion scene is worth lingering on for a couple a couple things here that are unique to John there's John committing his mother Mary over to the Beloved Disciple so once again in giasses moment of death what he's looking out for is the well-being of other people even has he's on the cross that's remarkable there's Jesus knowing that all things had been finished he takes the sour sour wine look at Jesus drinking sour wine and then declaring it's done ooh I am holy cow like this is just a cool thing right here this little word here under finished you can see it down at the bottom that's pronounced Taleo it occurs about half a dozen times it's another soccer ball Taleo is no soccer ball move down the field multiple times in here Jesus will talk about finishing my work the father sent me to finish the work I'm here to finish the work it's not quite finished but it's going to and he talks about so the work and the finishing the work it's a whole theme and then here it all comes with its culmination right here that's a whole like you could riff off that as the culmination of the the death scene so that would be a crucifixion it is finished would give you a moment to just focus right in on the the death of Jesus and then he gives up his spirit then you get the burial scene and the blood and water coming out man actually I would just plus the blood and water but but the blood and water is pay off if you've done the work leading up to the blood and water so you'll have to think about that think about that hmm then there's the burial after that the then the empty tomb scene comes in two movements one is Mary discovers it she invites Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple they've run there and notice how it goes they see these wrappings and look at it he sees and believes and that sets the stage for you see Thomas excuse me yeah the Beloved Disciple sees all he has to see is the empty cloths and he believes and he's contrasted with Thomas again Thomas right he doesn't see and he doesn't he says I'll only believe if I can see not the claws but the actual Jesus himself so it's this interesting like different portraits of belief and unbelief even among the apostles my favorite moment here is once those disciples go away puzzling and the first person that Jesus chooses to grace with his resurrection appearances this is Mary Magdalene so she's standing there weeping and she saw these two angels why are you weeping I don't know where my lord is she turned around and it's Jesus but she can't recognize him it's such an amazing moment so you can see him but you can't see him and so what is the thing what has to happen for Mary to be able to see and it's just one it's just one thing that happens in the story first he first he calls her woman why are you crying and she thought he was the gardener sir if you carried him away tell me where you've laid him so even speaking you can be face to face with Jesus and not even know it what is it that's the trigger in the story she says her name so beautiful he can't have this conversation with her and she can't see him and so the thing that's the transition is when he gives her a name he says her name that's when she recognizes him tell me that's not a beautiful narrative moment right there so good and then she tries to crass she tries to grab his feet and he says don't touch me that's right and you know actually I was I was listening to it in the car and I was like oh man I have not ever followed that rabbit trail don't touch me I haven't yet ascended to the Father anybody I have not nerd it out on this at all and it's always been a puzzle what time do I have to stop talking 3:45 okay all right here do you wanna this is John 20:17 I just want to wear as yeah see what Maryann May Thompson says about this a prickly problem remains she says in understanding Jesus's words don't touch me got a prickly problem what exactly does Jesus forbid Mary to do and why in light of Jesus later invitation to Thomas that's interesting to put his finger into the wounds of Jesus Jesus a subsequent words to Mary for I haven't yet ascended to the Father are sometimes taken as explanatory once Jesus has ascended Mary will be able to touch him but that explanation causes more problems than it solves yep it assumes Jesus has returned to the Father has taken place between his appearance to Mary and Thomas and that it's somehow possible to touch the ascended Jesus who's with the father but not the Risen Jesus who's standing right there the text seems to assume rather that both Mary and Thomas can touch Jesus if not why the prohibition to marry the thrust of Jesus command not to touch him may be eliminated by juxtaposing it with Jesus command to go to my brother's to tell them that he is about to ascend to my god and your God my father and your father for the risen Lord whom Mary now sees who can indeed be touched hasn't not returned to be with her or the disciples but it is ascending to the Father this is what Mary is to go and tell Jesus brother she hasn't found Jesus corpse she's encountered the risen Lord who's returning now to the father often spoken of together Jesus's resurrection and ascent are not a single event in John Mary sees the living Lord he must now return to his father well I need to think about that there you go that's the interesting part of the story yep not not enough hours in the day if you figure that one out let me know I'm gonna keep thinking about it then there's the announcement narrative the first appearance to the disciples we talked about this this is cool huh you ever wonder what Jesus is breath smells like this is a story where you can speculate about it so you have the risen Jesus who appears first to Mary then you have the risen Jesus who appears to the disciples and what he does is breathe on them and as he breathes on them what does he say he says first peace notice it's connected to the Commission as the father sent me I send you so the mission that I just went on is the mission you're now given and so you're gonna need some help so he breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit when's the last time that God breathed on someone anybody it's page page 2 of your Bible Genesis 2:7 God breathed into the dirt and it becomes a living a living creature so okay so work so work with me amen John's is always intentional here so we he activates Genesis language here right breathing on people Genesis 2:7 do I have categories already for God creating new humans through Jesus yep yeah the new family being born get a life Nicodemus right so being born of water and the spirit being created as a new human there's the water and the blood here ooh somebody just tuck this one away Jesus makes this comment in 12 about how his coming death is like a woman in labor and then he describes he's described as crying out with a loud voice as water and blood come from his body are you with me cease labor imagery that Jesus is giving birth almost here on the cross to a new family and then here in this moment he's it's a new that's on the other creation narrative in chapter 2 where Jesus breeze on the disciples and they become the nucleus of the new humanity as they are you with me this whole thing's echo it's like an echo chamber of Genesis imagery so then he breathed on them and then you get the story of Thomas so my so there's multiple movements here to the crucifixion story there's the first part of 20 which is the Mary Peter beloved disciple of seeing but not seeing Jesus and then the calling of the name of Mary's name like this is such a beautiful moment in the story then there's the second half of the resurrection narrative which is about it be it's just a short little moment where Jesus sends the disciples and breathe on them and then that activates all this Genesis to new humanity symbolism so maybe you want to tackle all that in one message or you might want to think about breaking that into two but there's enough there to do there's enough material to do more than one message there if you wanted I think I'm supposed to stop talking but dude the epilogue how many times had Peter denied Jesus who does Jesus specifically end up in a conversation with in that vlog Peter yeah and he asked Peter to do something ridiculous Peter does it find success then Jesus comes and as this conversation was Peter and how many times does he ask him if he loves him this is Peter's Redemption it's Peters Redemption after his triple denial this is now his triple commitment to Jesus and he's called to do what Jesus said he was do to become the Shepherd of the Sheep and then it ends with the little conversation of Peter said hey what about that guy Peter turned around like alright so you want me to follow you what about that guy and Jesus said what if I wanted to live forever with that to you and so you know some people thought that Jesus predicted that that guy would live forever but that's not what Jesus said Jesus said if I want him to live forever what's that to you Peter that's the guy who's wrote this book and and now we're to Jerry with me we're back here again that's the guy who wrote this book and we know that his testimony is true and man he could have written so many more books but this will do believe in Jesus [Laughter] it feels anti-climactic in a way but it's about Peters Redemption right his his triple denial his Redemption matches Peters betrayal and so it's this beautiful you know this triumphant image of yes go follow Jesus represent him the father sent me I send you yes awesome and who was the we that Jesus is sending well you know put your cowards and people who betray him and who actually aren't very faithful to him in the first place and apparently Jesus has a lot of patience with people like that it's that's the note that it ends on here it's really cool and then that interesting will narrate a segue into the Beloved Disciple coming to its end right there hey guys Jenn that's like a fire hose I've never done that in four hours the shortest it's taken me is eight hours to take a class through the Gospel of John so that was four hours but yeah I guess we have time we're gonna take a break we're gonna take a break a break and then Q&A okay that's great let's take a 10-minute break all right [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Tim Mackie Archives

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Length: 81min 23sec (4883 seconds)

Published: Sat May 19 2018