The Gospels - Lesson 5: The Gospel According to John

you [Music] you her name is Sophia well it isn't a real name it's the name she uses to hide from friends and family members who threatened to kill her because she now believes in Jesus Sophia comes from a background we're believing in Jesus sometimes brings persecution that's true today in many parts of the world and it was also true in the first century in the days of the Apostle John Jewish believers were being thrown out of the synagogue's because they believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of God's ancient promises to their forefathers they were being cut off from their families their history and their religion John wrote to assure these persecuted believers that Jesus really is the Christ the Son of God he wanted to make sure that even in their harsh circumstances they would remain faithful to Jesus and enjoy abundant life in him this is the fifth lesson in our series the Gospels in the series we're exploring the four books of the Bible that tell us how Jesus brought God's kingdom and glory into Earth's history this lesson is entitled the Gospel according to John in this lesson we'll study John's Gospel in a way that helps us read it with greater understanding love God more deeply and enjoy our lives in Christ more fully in our lesson will study John's Gospel in three important ways first we'll consider the background of John's gospel second we'll explore the structure and content of John's gospel third we'll look at the major themes of John's Gospel we'll begin by studying the background of John's Gospel we'll explore the background of John's Gospel by considering the author and the occasion of writing let's begin with the authorship with John's Gospel throughout church history Christians have consistently attributed this gospel to Jesus disciple John the brother of James the son of Zebedee John was one of the inner circle of Jesus most trusted companions and a pillar of the faith in the early Christian community his New Testament writings include not only the fourth gospel but also the letters first second and third John and the book of Revelation will study the authorship of John's Gospel in two stages first we'll see that the traditional view that the Apostle John wrote this gospel is reliable and second will explore John's personal history let's start by looking at the traditional view that the Apostle John was the author of the fourth gospel the Gospel of John is one of the books in the Bible that simply doesn't say who wrote it and that's where we start I think is Bible believing Christians we just acknowledge the fact that we don't have you know a definitive statement as to who authored the book by the second century Tertullian and iron essence and some others were definitely attributing it to the Apostle John so you have to ask the question why why did they believe it so close to the time when they either had contact with some of the last living apostles or at least the next generation for for them to come out as strongly as they did and there were others who did as well and then you go inside the gospel you have to look at the internal evidence in the book and there of course you've got you know the the eyewitness accounts where whoever's writing the book is is is writing about a story that they were present when it happened uh for example in the Lord's Supper the person is at the table and the Beloved Disciple is sitting at the table with with Jesus and and that's a very powerful thing we can affirm that John most likely wrote the fourth gospel because of three types of early evidence first we'll consider the ancient manuscripts of John's Gospel many ancient manuscripts of the fourth gospel list the author's name as John for example papyrus 66 and papyrus 75 both dated around ad 200 call the gospel young Gallion Kutta Ilan Eng meaning Gospel according to John and codex sinaiticus and codex Vaticanus both written in the middle of the 4th century AD call it simply Kutta yoy named meaning according to John of course John wasn't an uncommon name but it's clear from the writings of the early church that this attribution was intended to refer to the most significant John mentioned in the scriptures namely the Apostle John not only do the ancient manuscripts indicate that John wrote the fourth gospel but the internal evidence from the gospel itself leads to the conclusion that John is its most likely author the writer of the Gospel reported debates between Jesus and the Jewish leadership on particular points of Jewish law these debates show that the author had a strong understanding of Jewish law just as John the Apostle would have had as a Palestinian Jew going a step further there's strong evidence that the author of this gospel actually was a Palestinian Jew the Palestinian character of the gospel is seen in the descriptions of Jesus ministry for example in chapter 7 verse 15 he noted the importance of religious training in the eyes of Palestinian Jewish leaders the author of the fourth gospel also mentioned religious themes and used vocabulary that was similar to other writings from first century Palestinian Judaism for example a number of scholars have pointed out similarities in language between John's Gospel and the writings at Qumran commonly known as the Dead Sea Scrolls for instance the expression the sons of light appears in both the Qumran documents and in John chapter 12 verse 36 and the phrase the light of life appears both in the writings from Quran and in John chapter 8 verse 12 similarities like these indicate that the author of the fourth gospel was very much at home in the religious conversation of 1st century Palestine not only does the text of the gospel give the impression that it was written by a Palestinian Jew but it also gives the impression that it was written by an eyewitness this fits the profile of John the Apostle because he himself was an eyewitness to the life of Jesus we see evidence that the writer was an eyewitness in many places for example after Jesus death John chapter 19 verse 35 says this the man who saw it has given testimony and his testimony is true he knows that he tells the truth and he testifies so that you also may believe here the author clearly indicated that he was an eyewitness to Jesus death and we find a similar claim in John chapter 21 verses 20 through 24 which identifies this eyewitness by calling him the disciple whom Jesus loved indicating that the writer had a close personal relationship with Jesus think about what it was like for John the Last Supper when he laid his head on a bosom of Jesus think about that that closeness that had to exist between those two men and even on the cross when Jesus is dying he gives the care of his mother not to his brothers and sisters but to the Apostle John again there had to be a very deep intimate relationship between those two men and even in the self description John describes himself again not in arrogance not in pride as the disciple whom Jesus loved this disciple whom Jesus loved is mentioned several times in John's Gospel for example according to John chapter 13 verse 23 the Beloved Disciple reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper in chapter 19 verses 26 and 27 Jesus spoke to his beloved disciple from the cross and entrusted the care of his mother to him this same disciple ran to the tomb with Peter on the resurrection morning in chapter 20 verses 2 through 8 and in chapter 21 verse 7 the Luva disciple was the first to recognize Jesus on the shore the Apostle John is never mentioned by name in the gospel of that hero because he prefers to identify himself after one whom Jesus loves and in doing that he pretty much articulates or reveals his humility in one sense and then a celebration of his relationship with his Lord in another sense as you read the gospel is kind of interesting and telling while he would make mention of all the other disciples he never refers to you know his own name not once in the gospel is John referred to by name and it's surprising that a person who has mentioned so often in the other Gospels is never named in this one the most likely explanation is that John was the beloved disciple that wrote this gospel and that out of humility he refrained from even mentioning his own name instead he focused on the fact that he never would have been a follower of Jesus except for the amazing divine love the Savior had for him not only does the fourth gospel itself lend great support to the belief that John is its most likely author but the writings of the early church confirmed that conclusion by ad 170 to 190 the conviction that the fourth gospel had been written by the Apostle John was firmly established in the church clement of alexandria Tertullian and Irenaeus all affirmed that John the son of Zebedee was the author around ad 325 the church historian Eusebius provided the following quote from Irenaeus in his work ecclesiastical history book 5 chapter 8 section 4 then John the disciple of the Lord who had even rested on his breast himself also gave forth the gospel while he was living at Ephesus in Asia the testimony of Irenaeus is particularly important for at least two reasons first according to Eusebius Irenaeus had been a disciple of Polycarp the Bishop of Samaria and according to a letter from the Church of Smyrna regarding the martyrdom of the bishop Polycarp himself had been a disciple of the Apostle John so Irenaeus could have learned about John's authorship from a trustworthy man that knew John personally second Irenaeus traveled widely in the ancient church and therefore was familiar with many other bits of information that could have informed his understanding of the authorship of the fourth gospel it's also significant that there was no real opposition to John as the author nowhere in the writings of the ancient church is there ever any suggestion of an author for the gospel other than John the son of Zebedee in fact history records only two groups that opposed John's Gospel the alla goya and the marcia knights and while they rejected the teachings of john's gospel it's not entirely clear that even they denied his authorship although it might not be possible to prove beyond all doubt that this anonymous gospel was written by John the most convincing position continues to be the ancient tradition that John the Apostle is the author now that we've considered the traditional view that John wrote the fourth gospel and seeing that it's compelling let's look at John's personal history we actually know more about John than we do about most of Jesus others disciples John is referred to in the Gospels with his brother James as the sons of Zebedee John has also mentioned second implying that he was the younger of the two according to mark chapter one verses 14 through 21 the family fishing business was near Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee according to verse 20 the business was prosperous enough to employ others after Jesus death the business was still strong enough for them to go back - according to John chapter 21 verses 1 through 14 a comparison of mark chapter 15 verse 40 and Matthew chapter 27 verse 56 indicates that their mother's name was Salone and that she also followed Jesus at least some of the time at one time she asked Jesus to give her sons preferential treatment and his kingdom according to Matthew chapter 20 verse 21 going a step further a comparison of John chapter 19 verse 25 and Matthew chapter 27 verse 56 may indicate the Salone the mother of the sons of Zebedee was actually the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus this would have made John the cousin of Jesus if this was true it helps explain why Jesus speaking from the cross in John chapter 19 verses 25 through 27 asked John to take care of his mother in mark chapter 3 verse 17 James and John were called sons of thunder this seems to be a reference to their fire temperament as just one example Luke reported an occasion when Jesus had tried to find overnight lodging in a Samaritan City when the residents refused to allow Jesus and His disciples to stay James and John reacted with strong anger listen to Luke chapter 9 verses 54 to 56 when the disciples James and John saw this they asked Lord do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them but Jesus turned and rebuked them and they went to another village it seems that during his time with Jesus John's emotions were often close to the surface and only a moment from bursting for it it's striking that he ultimately became the New Testament writer that more than any other focused on the love of God and the love of God's people some critics have thought that the more compassionate nature of the fourth gospel contradicts the portrait of John and the other Gospels but two lines of thinking make it clear that there is no contradiction first the story of John is the story of a man changed by the love of God being loved by Jesus changed John into the apostle of love second when God changed the intense and emotional John he did not change him into an unemotional shell of a human being he changed John into an intensely emotional preacher of the gospel of love God redirected and used the core of his being but did not eradicate that core in the narrative of the Gospels John is a member of the inner circle of disciples along with Peter and James only they were with Jesus at critical events like his Transfiguration and his prayers in Gethsemane on the night of his arrest in the book of Acts Peter and John are the two leaders of the disciples and in Galatians chapter 2 verse 9 Paul called John one of the pillars at a church in Jerusalem in the early church Irenaeus and many other sources reported John's lengthy ministry in Ephesus after he left Jerusalem there's also a strong tradition that John was eventually exiled to the island of Patmos according to some sources he was later freed from his exile and returned to Ephesus dying there during the reign of Emperor Trajan near the end of the 1st century now that we have affirmed the traditional view that John wrote the fourth gospel and had become familiar with a little of John's personal history let's explore the occasion for the authorship of John's Gospel we'll explore the occasion of the authorship of John's Gospel in four ways first we'll consider the geographical location of both the audience and the writer second we'll look a little more closely at the identity of the original audience third will consider the date of authorship and fourth we'll think about the purpose of the gospel let's begin by looking at the location of John's gospel it's most likely that John wrote his gospel while he was in Ephesus and that he wrote it for an audience that lived outside Palestine perhaps in Asia Minor we can't know these things for certain but there are several factors that support these conclusions for instance John's comments about Palestinian Jewish customs points to an audience that lived outside of Palestine listen to what John wrote in John chapter four verse nine the Samaritan woman said to him you're a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman how can you ask me for a drink for Jews do not associate with Samaritans in this verse John included a comment to his readers about the hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans this hostility would have been well known to everyone in Palestine so John's comment indicates that his readers lived somewhere else the writings of the ancient church also suggest that the gospel was written primarily to people outside Palestine earlier we cited Eusebius who quoted Irenaeus saying that john wrote this gospel in ephesus in Asia Minor almost all of the ancient church agreed with his conclusion including Irenaeus Paulo Critias Clement of Alexandria and Justin Martyr moreover no ancient source ever suggests that any group other than the residents of Asia Minor were its intended recipients there's also a close connection between john's gospel and the book of Revelation John wrote the book of Revelation and his audience was definitely in Asia Minor all seven of the churches addressed in the letters in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 are in Asia Minor and the striking parallels between john and revelation create a strong presumption of a similar audience for example john's gospel is a powerful strand of teaching related to the conflict between converts to Christianity and the Jewish synagogues the book of Revelation also acknowledges this problem listen to what the Lord said to his church in Revelation chapter 2 verse 9 in chapter 3 verse 9 I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan who claim to be Jews though they are not but are liars I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you from a different perspective we know from Acts chapter 19 verses 1 through 7 the followers of John the Baptist continued in Ephesus at least until that time if the Apostle John wrote to an audience that included John the Baptist's followers this might explain the Gospels clear stressed that John the Baptist subordinated himself to Jesus although certainty in the matter is impossible it seems most likely that John was in Ephesus when he wrote his gospel and that it was shaped in part by the circumstances in Asia Minor now that we've suggested that the location where the gospel was written was most likely Ephesus let's consider more closely the character of that original audience to whom John wrote like all the Gospels there is a sense in which the Gospel of John was intended for the whole church throughout the ages it has infinite value for all of God's people but there are also parts of John's Gospel that seemed to have had a special relevance for the church in a particular place and time at least in parts of the gospel John appears to have had in mind members of the Jewish community who had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah but who had continued to worship in the synagogue or to have other significant contacts with the Jewish community in fact almost the entire central part of the gospel from chapter 5 through chapter 12 deals with the intense conflict between Jesus and the Jews this conflict is also highlighted by John's use of the phrase the Jews which John used more than 70 times but which appears less than 20 times in the other three Gospels combined in most instances John used his term to refer to the religious leaders who set themselves against Jesus by contrast when John spoke positively about the Old Testament people of God he typically used words like Israel or Israelite for instance in John chapter 1 verse 47 Jesus called Nathanael a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false John also used the Greek word Christ more often than any other gospel writer the term Christ translates both the Greek word Christos and the word mashiac both of which mean Anointed One the Christ was God's anointed Redeemer who was to rescue Israel from their sins and freedom from foreign rule the term Christ would have been especially important to Jewish Christians because the focus of the difference between the synagogue and the growing Christian Church was the belief that Jesus was the Christ the long-awaited Savior of God's people that had been prophesied in the Old Testament the Jewish Messiah only came to be designated by the term Messiah much later but the promise for a seed of the woman who would defeat evil Satan and his seed it is made in genesis 3:15 so from the beginning forward the seed of the woman it's later clarified that he's going to be also the seed of Abraham and then that's clarified that he'll be the seed of Judah and these promises to to the to the serpent that he's going to be judged and to Abraham that his descendants end that all the nations will be blessed and then to Judah that the ruler staff will never depart from his feet these promises are eventually woven together in the Balaam Oracle's and and from what God's program is at the beginning the Messiah is to defeat evil and ultimately reopen the way the Garden of Eden and caused the dry lands to be covered with the glory of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea the topics addressed by John and the way in which he addressed them shows that his primary readers were Jewish Christians that were struggling as followers of Jesus but like all Scripture the holy spirit also intended John's book to be used by the entire church throughout the ages and in fact in John chapter 1 verse 41 and chapter 4 verse 25 John even translated the Hebrew term Messiah for the Gentiles in his audience and of course history has proven that John's Gospel is of great value both to Jewish and Gentile believers now that we've looked at both the location and audience of the gospel let's consider the date of its composition in general we can say that John most likely wrote between AD 85 and 90 several factors make it likely that the gospel was not written before ad 85 first John is the only gospel that does not include predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple which took place in AD 70 this is probably because a significant period of time had passed since that cataclysmic event second the gospel reflects a time when the split between the church and the synagogue was most bitter after the fall of Jerusalem Judaism became more rigid defending itself against heresy the daily synagogue prayers were revised to include a curse on heretics such as those who believed that Jesus was the son of God and formal excommunication became more frequent this tension is prefigured in passages like John chapter 9 where John reported the excommunication of the blind man Jesus had healed listen to John's comment on the situation in John chapter 9 verse 22 the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue in this passage to be put out of the synagogue was to be excommunicated excluded from life of the Jewish community third it seems that the Gospel of John was written after the other three Gospels this view goes back at least to the fourth century historian Eusebius according to him John intended his gospel to supplement the others especially with information on Jesus ministry prior to the arrest of John the Baptist's listen to what Eusebius wrote in ecclesiastical history book 3 chapter 24 section 12 John accordingly and his gospel records the deeds of Christ which were performed before the Baptist was cast into prison but the other three evangelists mentioned the events which happened after that time anyone reading through the four Gospels is immediately struck by the fact that you have three Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke that look very similar to each other many the same stories same basic structure in terms of the Ministry of Jesus then you've got the fourth gospel the Gospel of John that is radically different John's Gospel appears to be written fairly late in the first century when the church was facing new challenges from the outside world from their Jewish opponents from their secular opponents as well and those challenges were certainly related in one and in one sense to the person of Jesus who he was the deity of Jesus was clearly under fire because John's gospel so strongly stresses that Jesus is in fact divine the synoptic gospel that's not a big issue because evidently it wasn't being challenged the other thing is there's false teaching arising in the church and so John's Gospel seems to address that issue of a false teaching the other thing the third thing is our Jewish opponents they're really clearly has been a clear break by that time between the Christians and the Jews a break we don't yet see really fully in the synoptic in the synoptic Gospels in Matthew Mark marking links all this leads to the conclusion that the ancient tradition of the church was probably correct and the gospel was written late in John's life probably after AD 85 if John the son of Zebedee is the author of this gospel then the latest possible date for John's Gospel is determined by his lifespan John was a young man when he began to follow Jesus probably around ad 30 even if John had been in his late teens at that time he would have been almost 80 years old by ad 90 living much longer than that would have been very doubtful that ad 85 or 90 is the latest possible date for John to have written the gospel agrees with the manuscript evidence the oldest manuscript containing any portion of the New Testament is designated papyrus 52 also called the Rylands papyrus this fragment contains a part of John chapter 18 papyrus 52 is dated between AD 100 and 150 assuming the small fragment was originally part of a complete gospel it indicates that the gospel was written early enough to have been distributed fairly widely by the early part of the second century other manuscripts of the gospel from later in the second century have also been found these manuscripts are all Egyptian in origin and represent different manuscript traditions it's doubtful that this geographical transport from Asia Minor to Egypt as well as the diversification of manuscript tradition could have taken place in less than 40 or 50 years so it seems reasonable to set the latest possible date for the writing of John's Gospel around 80 90 or 100 now that we've considered the location audience and date of John's Gospel let's focus on John's purpose for writing his Gospel all books of substantial size in the New Testament have complex purposes and John's Gospel is no different just as Jesus dealt with a substantial number of themes during his ministry John's record of Jesus ministry also addresses many subjects but it's still possible to describe these purposes in a unified manner in fact John himself summarized his purpose for us specifically he said that he wanted to confirm the belief that Jesus was both the Christ and the Son of God listen to what he wrote in John chapter 20 verses 30 and 31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name simply put John wrote so that his audience would believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God in order that they would receive the benefits that come with believing this Gospel message well John is pretty explicit as to the reason for the writing of the Gospels in John chapter 20 verse 31 he states that these things were written then we may know that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing we may have eternal life in him and also to fo say purpose that stated there first and foremost it has to do with his gospel being evangelistic in nature now obviously he is written so that his readers would exercise at some point in time as the Lord drew Veeam of faith in himself and then secondly it is apologetic art in nature he also wanted to convince his readers that Jesus indeed was the Incarnate God man so John is saying I'm writing this right gospel so that you may know the identity of Jesus Jesus is the Son of God and he explains who the Son of God is that he's the word who was with the father and became flesh that Jesus is the promised messiah and and this is not just some abstract information we assent to but he says I want you to have trusting reliance upon this so that you may have the life that the father is freely giving through him throughout his gospel the central focus of John's purpose was to promote belief in Jesus as both the Messiah and the son of God these are the two points on which Jewish Christians needed the most support in their conflicts with the synagogue they had come to believe in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God and they needed to persevere in this belief if they were to receive the blessings of salvation of course there is also a sense in which John's gospel is for all believers for example in chapters 13 through 17 John tried to nurture the faith of all believers by stressing that even though Jesus was no longer walking on the earth he was a present reality in the lives of his people through the Holy Spirit all of John's teaching was aimed at enriching the lives of all believers [Music] scholars have said that John's Gospel is a pool in which babes wade and elephants swim it's basic message is clear and simple Jesus is the Christ the Son of God but the details of this basic message continue to challenge interpreters who have studied the gospel for years the first Christians that read this gospel would have been deeply encouraged by it it would have taught them to persevere in their Christian faith despite their conflicts with their opponents and it would have challenged them to grow in their love and offer the Christ who was their only source for abundant life and John's Gospel provides these same encouragement sand challenges to modern Christians too now that we've studied the background of John's Gospel let's turn to the structure and content of the gospel scholars have described the structure of John's gospel in a variety of ways in this lesson we'll follow those that have suggested a connection between John's introductory summary of Jesus life and ministry and the content of John's book listen to these words from John chapter one verses 10 through 14 Jesus was in the world and though the world was made through him the world did not recognize him he came to that which was his own but his own did not receive him yet to all who received him to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God we have seen his glory the glory of the one and only who came from the father full of grace and truth this passage focuses on four main ideas Jesus came into the world he came and was rejected by his own people namely Israel those who received and believed in him became children of God and then those believers became witnesses for Jesus following those four main ideas will outline John's Gospel in this way first John opened his gospel with a brief introduction that described Jesus incarnation in chapter 1 verses 1 through 18 second John recorded Jesus public ministry in chapter 1 verse 19 through chapter 12 verse 50 where he showed that Jesus came to his own creation and was rejected by the human race he had come to save 3rd John included a description of Jesus private ministry to those who had received and believed him in chapter 13 verse 1 through chapter 20 verse 31 and forth in the conclusions of John's Gospel in chapter 21 verses 1 through 25 John highlighted the role of the Apostles and other disciples as witnesses to Jesus glory we'll look at each of these parts of the Gospel according to John beginning with its introduction in chapter 1 verses 1 through 18 john powerfully and beautifully summarized a whole gospel he taught that jesus is the word of god who created all things and is the source of all life but more than this jesus also came into the world as a true human being of flesh and blood and as God incarnate he revealed the father's glory to the world he had created John described this in John chapter 1 verses 4 & 5 by saying that Jesus is the light who came into a dark world he conquered that darkness by being the one full revelation of the grace of God and while the Bible sometimes talks about Jesus glory being veiled during his incarnation John highlighted the fact that Jesus incarnation actually made his glory known in important ways far from obscuring Jesus glory is incarnation as a human being actually revealed his glory John wrote in John chapter 1 verse 14 we have seen his glory the glory of the one and only who came from the father full of grace and truth following the introduction John recorded Jesus public ministry in John chapter 1 verse 19 through chapter 12 verse 50 in this section John focused on the fact that Jesus came to his own people the nation of Israel and that the people of Israel rejected Jesus as their Christ and Lord as we saw in John chapter 1 verse 11 John said that Jesus came to that which was his own but his own did not receive him although there are important exceptions to this summary this is generally how the nation of Israel responded to Jesus public ministry in the Gospel of John our survey of Jesus public ministry will divide into seven parts beginning with his preparation for ministry and continuing with events surrounding six different Jewish feasts let's look first at Jesus preparation for ministry in John chapter 1 verse 19 through chapter 2 verse 12 the section on Jesus preparation for ministry begins with the Ministry of John the Baptist in John chapter 1 verses 19 through 36 in this passage John stressed that John the Baptist was an important witness to the fact that Jesus was the son of God and that Jesus would be God's sacrificial lamb that would take away the sin of the world following this John reported the calling of Jesus first disciples in John chapter 1 verse 37 through 51 as with the account of John the Baptist the emphasis in this section is on Jesus identity his disciples refer to him as rabbi which means teacher in verse 38 Messiah which means Christ in verse 41 the one Moses wrote about which was a reference to the prophet Moses had foretold in verse 45 and the Son of God and it's parallel term the king of Israel in verse 49 finally in verse 51 Jesus identified himself as the son of man who had been sent to provide access to God's presence the last part of Jesus preparation for ministry was his first miracle which John recorded in John chapter 2 verses 1 through 12 this was the occasion when Jesus turned water into wine but the focus wasn't on the miracle itself listen to what John wrote in John chapter 2 verse 11 this the first of his miraculous signs Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee he thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in Him one of the main points John made was that this miracle was a sign that revealed Jesus glory and that caused his disciples to trust him the term signs is used in the book of Exodus in reference to the miracles that Moses performs I guess specifically the plagues and so signs are already or the term sign is already used to refer to miracles and I think that not only is is John doing this because he often compares Jesus to Moses which he does but also I think he's actually has the same interest as the author of the book of Exodus in showing that the miracles were given to show people something to give them you could say information that they were they were expected to act upon and specifically that God is saying something to people when people need to respond to that John is unique among the Gospels in consistently calling Jesus miracles say neon signs as it is usually translated the miracles were not intended to draw attention to themselves but to point beyond themselves to Jesus particularly they were intended to identify Jesus as both the Christ and the Son of God in line with the purpose of a book that John summarized in John chapter 20 verses 30 and 31 many people benefited from Jesus's miracles but actually those who had eyes that have been opened were able to see that to which they pointed namely the identity of Christ and therefore I think John uses a word that sort of speaks about the miracles not just as being great miraculous events but actually is pointing beyond themselves to the identity of Christ and of course John says that this is why it's written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you might have life in his name and the signs perform that part of that function the sign is something that Jesus does that points to his true identity and if you simply understand it on the material level of a wonder work that you've missed the point whether it's changing the water into wine whether it's feeding the crowd with bread miraculously whether it's healing the blind man throughout John John sees these are not just wonder works but these are things that if you see through them as God intends you see the true revelation of Jesus identity that he is the bread of life that he's the one who come who's come to give a sigh but he he brings the new wine of the of the coming age and we and we celebrate that the second section dealing with Jesus public ministry is oriented around a Passover celebration in Jerusalem will refer to this as the first Passover because it's the first one specifically named in John's Gospel this section extends from John chapter 2 verse 13 through chapter 4 verse 54 this section begins with John's account of Jesus cleansing the temple by driving out the merchants in John chapter 2 verses 13 through 25 and once again the focus was on Jesus identity listen to what the Jews asked Jesus in John chapter 2 verse 18 what miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this Jesus responded by foretelling his own death and resurrection which would be the greatest sign in all his ministry that he was the son of God in his comments after this report found in chapter 2 verses 21 through 25 John mentioned that Jesus also performed many other signs and that as a result many people believed in his name at least superficially next John reported Jesus amazing conversation with Nicodemus a member of the Jewish ruling council in chapter 3 verses 1 through 21 and again the emphasis was on Jesus identity this time has both Son of Man and the son of God and on the saving role he had been sent to perform in John chapter 3 verses 22 through 36 we find another account of John the Baptist in this one John insisted that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God and he said that Jesus had come to testify about God and salvation but that almost no one was receiving him in faith in John chapter 4 verses 1 through 42 John reported Jesus encounter with a Samaritan woman at the well in Samaria once again the emphasis was on Jesus identity as the Messiah also called the Christ the one who would come and explain all things to his people by insisting that salvation would come through the Jews and particularly through himself Jesus challenged her way of thinking and called her to find in him the life and reality of God that she had always wanted and many Samaritans responded to this teaching by trusting in Jesus finally in John chapter four verses 43 through 54 John reported Jesus second miraculous sign like the first sign this one also took place in Cana but this time jesus healed a child without even touching or seeing him and not surprisingly the emphasis in this story is on the fact that the miracle was intended to validate Jesus Authority and that had led to faith in those who witnessed it one important theme that runs throughout the section dealing with the first Passover is faith John reported in chapter 2 verse 11 that after the first sign the disciples believed in Jesus in chapter four verse 42 the Samaritans believed because of Jesus teaching and in chapter four verse 53 the family of the healed boy believed later in John chapter seven verse 50 and chapter 19 verse 39 we find reason to think that Nicodemus also became a believer in Jesus Jesus signs and profound teaching were powerful testimonies to his identity and the salvation he offered and many put their faith in him certainly one of the main themes and the Gospel of John is saving faith to believe is an emphasis throughout the gospel and its emphasis is placing in two areas one is that belief or becoming a child of God is a work of God himself and the other is is that is an action as it were taken on the part of the individual saving faith has understood certainly as a gift it's God's grace in our life that we believe but it is based upon something that we are doing and so there has to be an aspect of knowledge there must be an understanding that Christ has died on the cross for our sins there must also be a sense of assent that we agree with that but it goes far more than just knowing and agreeing there is a sense of trust and that is the crucial aspect of faith it's the empty of the individual reaching out and receiving all that God has done through his son Christ you know one of the most frustrating things about the world around us is the word faith is used so casually and so carelessly a lot of people who basically talk about faith as if they have faith in faith that's not the way Christians talk about faith there are all kinds of different faiths I'm sitting in a chair right now I've got pretty good confidence that it's going to hold me up I've got faith in this chair however I wouldn't have any faith in this chair to do anything other than to hold me up it serves no other purpose when we talk about the faith that saves it's a faith in Christ it is trusting and resting in that trust that Christ has done all that is needful for our salvation the faith that saves is a faith that is faith in Christ knowing that it's Christ to pay the penalty for our sin knowing that it is Christ who purchased our salvation knowing that it is Christ who has made full atonement for our sins knowing that in him we have full forgiveness of our sins the faith that saves is simply the confidence to rest and trust in Christ knowing that he has done this on our behalf that there is no more that is left to be done and that he keeps those who come to him by faith forever you know saving faith the faith that saves is a faith that is defined by the fact that in its solitary most essential meaning we trust Christ we would have nothing else we desire nothing else we know that Christ is sufficient for our salvation sadly not everyone responded to Jesus and faith in chapter 2 verses 12 through 20 Jesus drove out those who had been polluting the temple in chapter 2 verses 24 and 25 Jesus didn't entrust or commit himself to many people because he knew that they didn't have true faith and in chapter 3 verses 18 through 21 we read about the judgment that's coming against those who refuse to believe the third portion of Jesus public ministry is associated with an unnamed feast and is found in John chapter 5 verses 1 through 47 in verses 1 through 15 jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years but since it was the sabbath day jesus was accosted by the jews for violating the law against working on the sabbath John chapter five verses 16 through 47 records Jesus response where he claimed to be the giver of eternal life to all who believed in him the fourth section detailing Jesus public ministry tells of his observance of a second feast of Passover in John chapter 6 verses 1 through 71 the Passover was the feast where the Jews celebrated Israel's exodus from Egypt so it's not surprising that this section contains many references to the exodus in chapter 6 verses 1 through 15 Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish this act recalled God's provision of manna to the nation of Israel after they had been released from slavery in Egypt in John chapter 6 verses 16 through 24 Jesus walked on water showing even greater command over the water and then Moses had when he parted the Red Sea then in chapter 6 verses 25 through 71 after crossing the sea Jesus presented himself as true bread from heaven which far surpasses the manna that God provided in the days of the Exodus as the true bread Jesus fulfilled the Passover Feast as the provider of true life for all believers the fifth section of Jesus public ministry surrounds his observance of the Feast of Tabernacles in John chapter 7 verse 1 through chapter 10 verse 21 in John chapter 7 verses 1 through 52 John recorded how Jesus observed and fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles in John chapter 7 verses 1 through 52 Jesus fulfilled the intention of the feast of tabernacles the feast of tabernacles was a commemoration of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and of his provision of water in the wilderness it also celebrated God's continuing provision of rain for the harvest and it looked forward to the day of God's final deliverance of his people during the Feast the priests Illustrated God's gracious provision by pouring out water around the altar of the temple using this imagery of water Jesus boldly claimed that he was the one who could give them living water in John chapter 8 verses 12 through 59 Jesus addressed true sonship by calling himself the Son of God Jesus called himself the Son of God he even denied that unbelieving Jews were legitimate sons of Abraham in chapter 9 verses 1 through 41 jesus healed a man who had been blind since birth in response suspicious Pharisees carefully investigated what Jesus had done their unbelief prompted Jesus to claim that the Pharisees were actually the ones who were blind even though they claimed to see Angie zhis presented himself as the Good Shepherd in chapter 10 verses 1 through 21 in contrast to the Pharisees Jesus was the Good Shepherd because he was willing to lay down his life for his sheep the sixth section of Jesus public ministry records the events surrounding his observance of the feast of dedication in John chapter 10 verse 22 through chapter 11 verse 57 John chapter 10 verses 22 to 40 report that Jesus observed and fulfilled the feasts of dedication John chapter 10 verses 22 through 40 records that Jesus observed the feast of dedication this feast was not instituted in the Old Testament its observance began in 165 BC after the priestly family the Maccabees led a successful revolt against the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes Antiochus had taken the title Epiphanes because he believed himself to be a manifestation of God he massacred many in Jerusalem defiled the temple and ordered the worship of Zeus by the Jews so the feast of dedication celebrated the purifying of the temple by reconsecrated after it had been reclaimed by the Maccabees today the feast is best known by its Hebrew name Konica which means dedication this passage implicitly contrasts Jesus with Antiochus on the one hand Antiochus falsely claimed to be divine as he massacred God's people and defiled his temple on the other hand Jesus really is God's son who faithfully does the father's work including giving eternal life to his people in John chapter 10 verse 36 Jesus even claimed that he had been set apart or as some translations put it consecrated and sent into the world and this language recalled the consecration of the temple on the feast of dedication and of course Jesus had already compared the rebuilding of the temple to the resurrection of his body in John chapter 2 verses 19 through 21 these themes are carried into the story of the resurrection of Lazarus in John chapter 11 verses 1 through 57 which demonstrates Jesus divine power over death and the raising of Lazarus from the dead also foreshadows Jesus own resurrection at the end of the gospel when all the hopes of the feast of dedication are finally fulfilled the seventh section dealing with Jesus public ministry is centered around preparations for a third Passover in John chapter 12 verses 1 through 50 G's preparations for this third Passover that John mentioned set the stage for his ministry to his 12 disciples in John chapters 13 through 17 as well as his sacrifice as the Passover lamb in chapter 19 Jesus preparations began with him being anointed for burial in chapter 12 verses 1 through 11 in verses 12 through 19 John recorded Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem in John chapter 12 verses 20 through 50 Jesus announced publicly that it was time for him to be glorified through his death and resurrection Jesus called for those in his hearing to believe in him but even after performing miracles before them many Jews believed but many others did not the next major portion of John's Gospel deals with Jesus private ministry to those who had received and believed in him this section runs from John chapter 13 verse 1 through chapter 20 verse 31 this section of the gospel contains John's account of Jesus last supper with his disciples and his arrest crucifixion and resurrection it is a story of how Jesus revealed his glory to his special people John taught that Jesus intimately ministered to those who believed in him and voluntarily gave his life for them through these events Jesus displayed the glory of God in a way it had never been seen before this section of John's Gospel unpacked the thought John had expressed in John chapter 1 verses 11 and 12 where he wrote these words Jesus came to that which was his own but his own did not receive him yet to all who received him to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God in the first 12 chapters of John's Gospel Jesus ministered to the world but even his own did not receive him then beginning in chapter 13 Jesus concentrated on those who did receive him his disciples will look at this section of John's Gospel in two parts first will consider the events at the Last Supper second will look at the hour of Jesus greatest glory namely his death and resurrection let's start with events surrounding the Last Supper Jesus ministry to his disciples at the Last Supper is described in four distinct parts in the first part Jesus served them by washing their feet in John chapter 13 verses 1 through 30 Jesus symbolized his whole earthly ministry as he humbly washed his disciples feet this event dramatically portrayed both his incarnation and his saving sacrifice on the cross the creator of the universe bowed before his own people and served them by washing their weary dirty feet it was a surface that would reach its climax the next day on the cross when he would wash their weary dirty Souls with his cleansing blood after washing their feet Jesus announced that one of his disciples would betray him then after Satan entered Judas Judas left the room to accomplish the betrayal after serving his disciples by washing her feet Jesus comforted them in John chapter 13 verse 31 through chapter 14 verse 31 after Judas left Jesus began what is often called his farewell discourse in which he prepared his faithful disciples for the fact that he would soon be leaving them even though the Apostles are the audience to be sure there's some reason why that needed to be preserved for future generations of apostolic ministry in other words there can be transferable concepts for any person who wants to live as an apostle and an apprentice as one who's learning and one who understands that you're sent into the world if you have that vocational understanding of yourself and there's a lot of wonderful teachings in that Upper Room discourse I do think there are particular applications for leaders in that passage John I think those chapters can be read with great profit by men and women who are called places of leadership in the body of Christ but what what I what I normally say is that that that all-christian motif is really personified by Jesus in John 17 because he divides the prayer you know I praying for the Apostles and then he says but I pray not only for them but for those who will believe because of their testimony so this whole section in John 14 15 16 and 17 is this back and forth between the twelve and the ones who would serve in similar roles after the twelve were gone so I see it as a as a section for all believers Jesus began his farewell discourse by saying that the time had come for him to be glorified meaning that he was going to die rise from the dead and ascend to his father in heaven his disciples were going to have to live without his bodily presence walking talking and living among them he also predicted that Peter was about to deny him three times but Jesus knew that these difficult pieces of news troubled his disciples so he comforted them and reassured them that he would eventually bring them to the Father - and he told them that he wouldn't leave them alone he would send the Holy Spirit to minister to them in his place listen to Jesus promise in John chapter 14 verse 26 the counselor the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you jesus promised that his disciples would never be alone they would be put on trial and persecuted by the world that they would never need to defend Jesus name and themselves alone the Spirit of Truth would empower them to speak and to write infallibly and authoritative ly on Jesus behalf after comforting his disciples Jesus prepared them for his departure and for their future ministries in John chapter 15 verse 1 through chapter 16 verse 33 at the end of the previous section Jesus and His disciples left the place where they had been and Jesus began a new section of his discourse he began by describing himself as the True Vine in John chapter 15 verses 1 through 8 this metaphor appealed to Psalm 80 verse 8 and Isaiah chapter 5 verses 1 through 7 where the nation of Israel is pictured as a glorious fly because of Israel's failure in sin she was later called a corrupt wildvine in Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 21 but Jesus used this imagery to assure his disciples that he himself was reconstituting a true and faithful nation for Israel and that they were part of his grand plan listen to what Jesus said in John chapter 15 verses 1 through 5 I am The True Vine I am the vine you are the branches if a man remains in me and I in him he will bear much fruit by claiming to be the true vine Jesus was saying that in an important sense he himself was Israel Jesus represented Israel and He fulfilled Israel's destiny Israel had failed to establish God's kingdom on earth but Jesus was succeeding and his disciples were the branches of this vine they were a part of the people of God and the agents through whom God would carry out his plan for the ages but Jesus also knew that the world would hate his disciples because it already hated him so he assured them that he was opening the door of prayer to the Father for them they were his ambassadors his authoritative representatives on earth and because of this the father would heed their prayers as if Jesus himself had prayed them as he told them in John chapter 16 verses 23 and 24 I tell you the truth my father will give you whatever you ask in my name until now you have not asked for anything in my name ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete after preparing his disciples Jesus prayed for them in John chapter 17 verses 1 through 26 Jesus Prayer in John chapter 17 is often called his high priestly prayer because he interceded for his followers in priestly ways in particular Jesus prayed that the father would protect his disciples so that many others might come to faith through them he prayed that they and their own disciples would be protected from the forces of the world and that their unity would strengthen them and that their lives would glorify God Jesus knows that his time is short that is time for him as he says to go back to be with the father when they were 1 before the beginning of the world and in this time Jesus says that I've kept all that you have given me except one the son of perdition so that scripture may be fulfilled so Jesus is really praying to the Father about the disciples he said I worked with them for three three and a half years to sanctify them to bring them to this point but now I'm not going to be here with them so father please keep them continue this sanctification process because they're going to be facing great trials and and great persecutions and now how are they going to get through this so again it's a prayer to God to take care of his disciples in preparation for the work and the the trials the persecutions the the martyrdom is going to come before them and things are going to have to sacrifice to spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ after describing the last supper John reported Jesus death and resurrection in John chapter 18 verse 1 through chapter 20 verse 31 in John's Gospel Jesus death and resurrection and their associated events are often described as the hour of Jesus glory in the Old Testament the word glory often referred to the presence of God among his people throughout Israel's history God's glory accompanied Israel his glory was the cloud that led the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings in Exodus chapter 16 verse 10 it was in the tabernacle of God in Exodus chapter 40 verses 34 and 35 and God's glory dwelt in Solomon's Temple in first Kings chapter 8 verse 11 and corresponding to this in John's Gospel the word glory refers to Jesus as God incarnate that dwelled among his people but when Jesus referred to the hour of his glory he was usually referring to the particular point in his life in which his glory would be demonstrated to the world in the most profound way possible in other words he was referring to his death and resurrection we don't normally think of death as glorious but Jesus death and resurrection purchased reconciliation for God's people his voluntary self-sacrifice and resurrection brought salvation and life to everyone that believed in him and received him as Messiah they revealed God's love and power to us in ways we never would have realized otherwise they were tragic but they were beautiful and they brought God in measurable honor and praise in short they were the most glorious events ever to take place in human history out of Jesus death and resurrection divides into three main parts beginning with Jesus arrests and trials in chapter 18 verse 1 through chapter 19 verse 16 first we read of Jesus arrest in chapter 18 verses 1 through 11 after Judas betrayed Jesus into the hands of the authorities soldiers and officials from the chief priests and Pharisees came and arrested Jesus in chapter 18 verses 12 through 27 Jesus was brought to Caiaphas the high priest to be questioned during this time Peter denied Jesus three times just as Jesus had prophesied next Jesus was tried by the Roman governor Pilate in chapter 18 verse 28 your chapter 19 verse 16 Pilate concluded that Jesus was innocent but didn't release him for fear of the Jews but the true power behind Jesus arrest and trials was God himself neither Pilate nor Caiaphas was really in control everything happened according to God's plan as we read in John chapter 19 verses 10 and 11 Pilate said don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you jesus answered you would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above the second major portion of John's account of Jesus death and resurrection is the crucifixion in John chapter 19 verses 16 through 37 in his account of Jesus death John explained how to particular events of the crucifixion fulfilled several Old Testament expectations for the Messiah these details demonstrated that Jesus wasn't taken by surprise everything took place according to God's plan throughout his arrest trials and crucifixion Jesus quietly maintained unbowed dignity the Son of God laid down his life for his people and in so doing revealed the glory of God in a way it had never been revealed before how far would God go to deliver his people all the way to the cross the Bible says that Jesus went to the cross for the joy set before him the cross was the hardest thing anybody's ever done there's never been any greater suffering than what the Son of God experienced on the cross he not only died a brutally difficult physical death but he endured the imposition of our sin on him and the wrath of God on his shoulders so it was the hardest thing anybody's ever done but Jesus did it for the joy set before him now why would he do that he did it because he knew what it would result in it would produce a display of God's glory a display of his love his justice his wrath as holiness his compassion his mercy all beautifully converging on the cross in a way where we see him for who he is and were able to worship him for all of eternity as we gather around the Lamb who was slain his throne is where we worship so God has displayed his character and his glory and shown us who he is in the cross and we worship Him and he brings many sons to glory in this cross and so that's why he was able to do it joyfully because of what it ends up producing third the report of Jesus death and resurrection ends with the resurrection itself in John chapter 20 verses 1 through 31 according to John chapter 20 verses 1 through 9 Jesus tomb was a historical fact Mary Peter and John himself saw that Jesus was not there in chapter 20 verses 10 through 31 Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene the disciples and to Thomas these reports indicate that Jesus followers were somewhat skeptical and not easily fooled in particular Thomas had not been present the first time Jesus appeared to the disciples and Thomas was skeptical he wanted evidence he wasn't going to believe some crazy story of the resurrection and his confession in verse 28 is the climax of John's narrative where Thomas acknowledged Jesus with the words my Lord and my god it's quite striking that when Thomas hears from the other disciples who he knows personally who's been traveling with for all this time he knows these guys and they tell him they have seen Jesus risen he he just can't bring himself to accept that it's not as though strangers are telling him this and they all agree and he just can't bring himself to believe it and I think it I would suspect that it has to do with his inability to risk believing and being disappointed again I think he's afraid to be disappointed again you have the accounts of Thomas doubting and saying the famous word that unless I put my my fingers in in now marks and then Jesus aside I will not believe and and often you know Thomas is castigated is doubting Thomas because he wouldn't believe Jesus but I think that we should be slightly less harsh on Thomas and in the first instance John tells us that Thomas was not there with the twelve when Jesus came among them and revealed himself to them and and secondly that if we believe that the Tom that the disciples were selected to be eyewitnesses of Jesus's resurrection then there was a sense which Thomas had to see in order to believe and thirdly we should also say that when Jesus did stand among them and he revealed himself to Thomas Thomas makes the boldest and clearest profession of faith in the whole gospel he calls Jesus my Lord and my god and so John then actually goes on to explain at the end of John chapter 20 that Jesus said that you know because you've seen you believe but from now on less it'll be those who have not seen and yet believed and there is a sense which Thomas had to see in order to believe but there is a sense which you and I come to see not through seeing Jesus before us but actually trying to appreciate and understand all that they saw and trying to believe it for ourselves so I think we're a bit unfair on Thomas sometimes because he did have a unique role and because he is a great model of somebody who when he did see Jesus for who he is he expressed wonderful faith in him he actually the model for us as well but when we come to apprehend who Jesus is we too should fall down and worship Him as well the last portion of John's Gospel is the conclusion to his account of Jesus earthly life in ministry recorded in John chapter 21 verses 1 through 25 this conclusion picks up themes from the whole gospel and then directs readers toward the future like the preceding chapter it reports a resurrection appearance of Jesus in verses 1 through 14 but the stress of the narrative is not on the fact of the appearance in both verses 1 and 14 John spoke of this appearance as a revelation using the same word he used in chapter 2 verse 11 when he said that Jesus revealed his glory so rather than using disappearance as a simple proof of the resurrection John intended us to read this account as a completion of the revelation of Jesus and his glory that had begun in the first chapter of his gospel and continued throughout all its reports moreover the conclusion also confirms the authority of the Apostles and other disciples to bear witness to Jesus despite the fact that the preeminent Apostle Peter had denied Jesus three times in John chapter 21 verses 15 through 23 Jesus counteracted Peter's denials by forgiving Peter and by restoring him three separate times and in these restorations Jesus commissioned Peter the care for the flock of God Jesus himself was the good shepherd but now he appointed Peter to follow him in caring for the people of God each of the other Gospels ends with some form of the Great Commission Jesus command and his apostles and other disciples to build the church and the story of Peters restoration is John's way of looking to the future of the church Jesus had promised to be with his people always and he took this moment to make it clear that one way he would always be with his people was through other Shepherds like Peter as Peter himself later wrote in 1st Peter chapter 5 verses 1 & 2 to the elders among you I appeal as a fellow elder a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care most scholars believe that John's Gospel was written as the last apostles were dying John may even have been the very last apostle alive at this point so that made it important for God's people to hear that Jesus was still present through the Shepherd's of his flock ultimately it wasn't Peter or any other apostle who led the church it was Jesus as they followed him they served only as his ambassadors and helpers and Jesus promised to return for his people himself bodily and permanently to lead them in the future now that we've looked at both the background and the structure and content of John's Gospel we're ready to consider some major themes that John emphasized John listed several important themes in his purpose statement in John chapter 20 verses 30 and 31 where we read these words Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name in this part of our lesson will focus on four closely related themes drawn from John's purpose statement the act of believing Jesus identity as Christ his parallel identity as the Son of God and the blessing of life that he brings let's begin with John's emphasis on believing John used the Greek word Castillo meaning believed 106 times the other three Gospels all together use it only 34 times only about a third of John's total this difference in emphasis shows how important the idea of believing is to John's story in John's Gospel the concept of believing is closely related to other concepts signified by words like receive come to and know so to believe in Jesus is to receive him to come to him to know him in the sense of interpersonal experience this kind of believing receiving knowing and coming to Jesus often begins as a moment of personal decision to trust and follow Christ the same thing modern Christians often call inversion when conversion is genuine it causes us to participate in God's work and to receive his blessings in a variety of ways in this part of the Gospel John referred to conversion with terms like becoming children of God and obtaining eternal life listen to John's description of believing in John chapter 1 verse 12 to all who received him but those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God and we find similar language in John chapter 3 verse 36 where we read these words whoever believes in the son has eternal life but whoever rejects the son will not see life in passages like these believing is the sincere heartfelt act of personal reliance and commitment to Jesus that unites us with him it makes us part of God's work in history and it will reach its fullness only when Jesus was revealed in all of his glory now it's important to realize that John didn't always use the word believe in the same way in some passages John used the word believed to signify superficial faith what theologians have often called temporary or hypocritical faith for example listen to John's report in John chapter 2 verses 23 and 24 while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name but Jesus would not entrust himself to them for he knew all men Jesus didn't entrust himself to these people because their belief was only superficial it wasn't the sincere belief that theologians often call saving faith for the most part we can tell from the context where John spoke of believing that he usually had in mind true saving faith true trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord for John Jesus the object of our belief makes all the difference it's not the power of our belief that saves us but the power of the one in whom we believe now that we've looked at the theme of believing in Jesus let's turn to one of the main things John would have us believe about Jesus namely that he's the Christ the Messiah the fulfillment of God's ancient promises to his people Israel by calling Jesus Christ John clearly identified him as Israel's king after all in the first century the term Christ or Messiah had the functional equivalent of king of Israel this is who the Christ was but the fact that Jesus was Israel's King had many implications and John drew attention to several dates for instance John stressed that like the kings of Israel and Judah and the Old Testament Jesus embodied the people that he ruled Jesus became everything that Israel had failed to be and he thereby received all the blessings that Israel had previously failed to gain as Israel's King Jesus represented Israel in every capacity and served both as their substitute and was the conduit of God's blessing to them in John chapter 15 verses 1 through 8 john demonstrated this truth about jesus by reporting that jesus was the true vine and that his followers four branches in him listen to what jesus said in john chapter 15 verses 5 through 8 I am the vine you are the branches if a man remains in me and I and him he will bear much fruit this is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples throughout the Old Testament Israel had been pictured as the vine of God we find this imagery in places like Psalm 80 Jeremiah chapter 2 ezekiel chapter 17 and hosea chapter 10 moreover the royal family of David and even the future great Messiah were represented as the branch out of which the entire people of God would grow we see this in places like Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 so against this background when Jesus claimed to be the true vine and the only route to pleasing and glorifying God his disciples would have understood that Jesus was the true king of Israel who represented and embodied his people but what are the implications of this idea that as King Jesus is the true or real Israel for one thing it means that Jesus was fulfilling everything that Israel was called to be Israel had failed to be and to do what God had called her to be and do but where Israel failed because of sin Jesus perfectly succeeded he fulfilled his rales destiny in his own person Jesus summed up centuries of Old Testament history and revealed the reality of God's glorious presence as only he could reveal it and because of this the true people of Israel aren't identified by membership in the nation of Israel instead they are the people who are branches in the true vine believers in Christ who are united to him by faith our discussion of Jesus representative role as the Christ will focus on three waves Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament expectations for the Messiah that were particularly important to John's Gospel first Jesus fulfilled the temple second he fulfilled the expectations created by Israel's feasts and third he fulfilled God's law we'll look at each of these ideas beginning with the way that Jesus fulfilled the temple one of the reasons the temple was important in Scripture is that it was a place where God had promised to be present with his people in a special way of course we know that God is omnipresent is everywhere all the time but when we talk about his special presence we have in mind manifestations of his presence times when God concentrated his presence in particular locations often in the way that was visibly glorious God's presence in the tabernacle and the temple is significant because the tabernacle and the temple are the universe in miniature they are they are microcosms of what the world is and so God's presence there really represents his presence in the world the world is the temple that he made in which he would commune with his people and then when Adam rebelled God chose this one line of people that eventually becomes the nation of Israel and he takes up residence among them and where he dwells among them is in this this miniature replica of what the universe was and and his presence there is unique because that's where Israel goes to be in the presence of God to the tabernacle and later the temple and it's also something of a foretaste of what God is going to do in the whole world when God fills the tabernacle at its consecration when it's completed at the end of excess and later when he fills the temple when it's completed in first Kings 8 we're really getting a preview of what's going to happen in the universe when the glory of God is fully known the theme of God's special presence among his people is fulfilled in a number of stages in biblical history in the beginning the Garden of Eden was the sanctified place on earth where God's central special presence could be found it was to serve as a throne room on earth from which humanity was to sanctify the entire earth turning the whole world into God's holy kingdom later when God established Israel as his royal priesthood he associated his special presence first with the tabernacle and later with the temple the decorations and furnishings of the tabernacle and temple were modeled after the Garden of Eden and both the tabernacle and the temple served the same function as the Garden scripture confirms this connection by pointing out that the tabernacle and a temple were God's royal throne room on earth places where he dwelled gloriously in the midst of his people this fact is made clear in places like 1st chronicles chapter 28 verse 2 Psalm 11 verse 4 in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1 these were the most sacred areas on earth they were places where God's blessings could be readily obtained by his people and like the Garden of Eden they were the center of his kingdom from which his people were to sanctify the earth as his kingdom and according to John's Gospel a vital way to understand the importance of Jesus is to see that he fulfills the Old Testament theme of God's tabernacle and temple listen to what John wrote in John chapter 1 verse 14 Jesus became flesh and made his dwelling among us we have seen his glory the glory of the one and only who came from the father full of grace and truth when John spoke of Jesus dwelling among us he used the Greek verb skåne aho which is related to the noun skin a meaning tent or tabernacle in fact this same noun is used for God's sacred tabernacle in the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Old Testament by using this verb and associating it with the glory of God's presence John made it clear that Jesus was now providing the same access to God's special presence that had previously been available at the tabernacle and John made the same point about the temple in John chapter 2 verses 19 through 21 where we read this account jesus answered them destroy this temple that I will raise it again in three days the Jews replied it has taken 46 years to build this temple and you are going to raise it in three days but the temple he had spoken of was his body here John made it clear that Jesus was the fulfillment of the temple to John also made it clear that even after Jesus was no longer physically present on earth his followers would enjoy the special presence of God this is why in John chapter 4 verse 21 Jesus told the Samaritan woman that a day was quickly coming when neither the jerusalem temple nor the samaritan holy place would have special priority in the worship of god as jesus said in john chapter 4 verses 23 and 24 a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth Jesus words to the Samaritan woman should be a great encouragement to the modern church because we live in the very time Jesus was talking about in our day Jesus isn't physically present on earth according to Hebrews chapter 8 verse 2 and chapter 9 verses 11 and 12 he physically resides in God's tabernacle in heaven but he's present with us spiritually especially when we gather as his church we see this in places like Matthew chapter 18 verse 20 and first Peter chapter 2 verses 4 through 9 and because Jesus is present with us we are now the sacred temple of God's special presence on earth but even this wonderful fulfillment of a temple in Christ will be surpassed when Jesus returns in glory passages like Revelation chapter 21 verses 1 through 5 teach that when Christ comes back he'll transform the entire creation of the God's dwelling place at that time Christ and the father will always be present with us and the entire earth will be filled with the glory of God a second way that Jesus met Old Testament messianic expectations in John's Gospel was by fulfilling the significance of Israel's feasts as we mentioned earlier much of John's gospel can be outlined around several feasts that Jesus attended among these feasts were various celebrations of Passover Tabernacles and dedications not established these feasts to identify Israel as a royal priesthood and give them regular ways to enjoy the blessings of his special presence in a tabernacle and temple and in his gospel John made it clear that Jesus fulfilled the significance of these feasts the Passover Feast was one of Israel's three main annual feasts it celebrated Israel's exodus from Egypt in brief Jesus fulfilled this feast because he was like the Passover lamb was slain and eaten on Passover and whose blood was symbolic of Israel's deliverance from Egypt all four Gospel writers identified Jesus as the true Passover lamb but only John highlighted this fact by reporting the words of John the Baptist who said look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world in John chapter 1 verse 29 in John chapter 19 verse 33 John also reported that when Jesus died the soldiers did not break his legs fulfilling the requirement in Exodus chapter 12 verse 46 but the bones of lambs chosen for the Passover Feast shouldn't be broken in these and many other ways John showed that Jesus fulfilled the symbolism and meaning of Passover in John chapter 7 verses 2 & 37 John also reported Jesus celebration of another of Israel's free annual feast the Feast of Tabernacles one of the most important rituals of this feast involved pouring water in recollection of the way God provided water for Israel in the wilderness and the way God provided rain for Israel's crops year after year and in anticipation of the way God would pour out streams of blessings on his people in the last days and John drew a strong connection between this ceremony and Jesus by pointing out that Jesus is the conduit of all the blessings God will pour out at the climax of history specifically John reported that on the last day of a Feast of Tabernacles Jesus announced his power to dispense God's blessings listen to what Jesus told the crowds in John chapter 7 verse 37 if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink John reported that the streams of living water of God's blessing flow from Jesus asked blessings present blessing and future blessing all come through him in this way Jesus is the fulfillment of all the hopes for God's blessings that were pictured in the Feast of Tabernacles finally in John chapter 10 verses 22 through 39 Jesus celebrated the feast of dedication or Hanukkah the feast of dedication wasn't one of Israel's major feasts established in the Old Testament but it was significant to israel's life in the first century because it celebrated Israel's victory over its Greek oppressors and 165 BC as well as the rededication of the altar of a temple that took place after this victory in John chapter 10 verse 30 while Jesus was celebrating the feast of dedication he made the startling claim I and the father are one the Jews understood that he was claiming to be God and responded by trying to stone him then Jesus defended himself in John chapter 10 verse 36 by referring to himself as the one whom the fathers set apart when Jesus said that he was set apart he used the common greek term huggie onso which the scriptures used many times to refer to dedication and consecration and the ceremonies of the temple in this context pas gyatsu is nearly synonymous with the greek term egg Chaya the word translated dedication in the expression feast of dedication in these ways Jon closely associated Jesus with the celebration of the dedication or consecration of the template the feast celebrated the temple being set apart for the presence of God and in a similar way Jesus was set apart as the fulfillment of God's special presence on the earth in addition to showing that Jesus fulfilled the expectations for the temple and the feasts John also demonstrated that Jesus fulfilled God's law although Christians are often accustomed to thinking of God's law in negative terms as something that condemns us we also need to remember that the law was given to true believers as a guide toward God's blessings when you when you look at the law in the Bible it's clear that the people who read it didn't simply believe that they were reading a list of rules and regulations it was a life orientation and so they could read it knowing that if they kept the law they would be blessed in the keeping of it I think they're there there several reasons for that one is that the law is God's revelation the law tells us how God wants us to live and the psalmist in 40 verse 8 says I delight to do thy will O God so when we when we align ourselves with the will of God when we understand what the will of God is then we find great joy and blessing in in doing whatever it is that we're supposed to do our not doing what we're told not to do so that so the mere fact of its revelation is a sign of God's blessing a sign of God's favor but more than that I think it's a blessing because it's actually the law is actually an invitation for us to participate in what God wants to bring about on the earth the predominant use of law in the Old Testament is positive because God's law is a reflection of God's character and so the Psalms for instance speak of God's law has a light to our path and a lamp to our feet David Dennis and the Psalms describe it as sweeter than a honeycomb more precious than the gold and in keeping them his servant is warned and there's great reward in them fact the whole Psalms begin that way blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and then someone goes on to paint an image that the one who fears God and keeps his commands is like a tree planted by a stream that never ceases to bear fruit and so the law is a place of blessedness but it's only a place of blessedness for those for whom God has first granted forgiveness that forgiveness which comes through Christ but the law then is a guide to how to live life under Christ as a life of blessing and and so the one who loves Christ fulfills the law Paul says that Christ is there the goal and the purpose of the law so the law teaches us our sin but it also shows us what Jesus has done for us and then ultimately provides us a guide for living so that the whole law Jesus said is summed up in two commands love God heart soul mind strength and love neighbor as self so anyone who's known someone who loves God heart soul mind and strength knows the blessing of that kind of a person and anyone who's known somebody who loves neighbor as that person loves himself they knows her there's great blessing in that there's there's generosity there's mercy there's there's a provision there's blessedness in being around and even in the presence of those who are faithful to God's commands in the Old Testament God's law was portrayed as a special gift to his people psalm 119 and many other passages celebrated as Israel's guide to the blessings of God and in the New Testament James called the law of God the perfect law that gives freedom in James chapter 1 verse 25 and Paul called it Christ's law in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 21 and Jesus himself affirmed the laws importance and value in John chapter 10 verse 35 when he said the scripture cannot be broken here Jesus taught that the entire Old Testament including the law is God's perpetual and abiding word to his people even so John made it clear that the law wasn't an end in itself in an important sense it always pointed beyond itself to Jesus in John chapter 5 verses 46 and 47 Jesus told the unbelieving Jews if you believed Moses you would believe me for he wrote about me but since you did not believe what he wrote how are you going to believe what I say John emphasized this point throughout his gospel the Old Testament law pointed forward to Jesus so to reject Jesus was also to reject the law that for told him one way John stressed this was by applying to Jesus the titles characteristics and actions that Judaism had already given to the law for example Judaism had said you should feed a hungry enemy with the bread of the Torah and in John chapter 6 verse 35 Jesus is called the bread of life Judaism had claimed that the words of the Torah are life for the world and in John chapter 4 verse 11 Jesus is the giver of living water Judaism also spoke of the light of the law which was given to lighten everyman and John chapter 1 verse 9 calls Jesus the true light that gives light to every man me for just a few of many examples in John's Gospel that show that Jesus embodied God's law Jesus and his teachings continue to be the source of life and light for all who follow him [Music] John dearly wanted his readers to understand what it meant for Jesus to be the Christ he wanted them to take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus hasn't abandoned his church but is always present with us he wanted them to trust in Jesus so that they would receive God's blessings through him he wanted them to be obedient to the Word of God so that they would glorify the Lord as his kingdom of priests now that we've looked at the major themes of believing in Jesus and Jesus identity as the Christ we should consider his closely related identity as the Son of God Jesus identity as the Son of God is parallel to his identity as the Christ because they both refer to the fact that he is the king over God's kingdom on earth but it's worth discussing these terms separately because they each have different nuances in John's Gospel the term son of God refers to the divine messianic King on the one hand it refers to the concept of a divine son who came down from heaven to earth as in John chapter 10 verses 22 through 40 on the other hand it can be synonymous with king of Israel or Christ the human descendent of David who was the rightful king over Israel as we see in John chapter 1 verse 49 and chapter 11 verse 27 to get a better understanding of what it means for Jesus to be the son of God in the Gospel of John it helps to see how John stressed the great mystery that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human let's look first at the idea that Jesus is fully divine one way that John portrayed the divinity of the son was through the relationship between Jesus the Son and God the Father there are many passages that demonstrate that this relationship is qualitatively different from the relationships the father has with his merely human children such as believers listen to this exchange between Jesus and the Jews in John chapter 10 verses 30 through 33 jesus said I and the father are one again the Jews picked up stones to stone him but jesus said to them I have shown you many great miracles from the father for which of these do you stone me we are not stoning you for any of these replied the Jews but for blasphemy because you a mere man claimed to be God but Jews rightly understood that Jesus claim of unity in his relationship with God the Father was in fact a claim that Jesus actually was God moreover according to John chapter 14 verse 9 Jesus is the unique son of God who revealed the father as no one else could ever do although chapter 1 verse 18 does not use the word son the thought is exactly the same Jesus perfectly reveals his father to his people in fact according to Jesus in John chapter 14 verse 9 to see Jesus is to see the father and beyond these matters of Revelation Jesus also possesses full divine authority over things like life and death and ultimate judgment as we read in John chapter 5 verses 21 and 22 just as the father raises the dead and gives them life even so the son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it moreover the father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the son John made it clear that Jesus was God in the flesh he was God himself with unlimited authority to carry out God's work on the earth another way John portrayed the divinity or deity of the Sun was through Jesus description of himself as the I am in Exodus chapter 3 verse 14 God revealed his covenant name to Moses by saying I am Who I am this was the basis of the divine name that is often been represented in English simply as the Lord God's name was thought to be so holy that the Jews of Jesus day refused to pronounce it but Jesus applied it to himself in John's Gospel he's got I am statements that show up about 24 times in things Jesus says he's got more than any of the other Gospels in about half of what in the whole New Testament the significance in the first place is that it's a way of identifying Jesus with the God of the Old Testament so seven of these statements is just kind of a bear I am and on at least one of those occasions in Johnny 58 and 59 when he says it they pick up rocks to try to execute him for claiming to be the godly Old Testament the rest of the statements are I am connected with something like I am the bread I am the light I am the way the truth and life these are where you have Jesus claiming to be God but God related to human life so I think that we should read all of the statements together that John is is putting forward for us something Jesus has done to say this man existed in prior time because He is God when he makes the claim before Abraham was I am in John 8:58 it's not just claiming to have lived 2,000 years before it's claiming to be the God who interacted with Abraham and the God who is eternal in John chapter 8 verses 12 through 59 Jesus and the Jewish leaders were engaged in an explosive confrontation the controversy had to do with Jesus claim to sonship and his opponents claim to be sons of Abraham in verse 44 Jesus told them that their true father was the devil in return they challenged him by asking if he was greater than Abraham then Jesus ended the argument with these words in John chapter 8 verse 58 before Abraham was born I am Jesus didn't say I was as would have been natural if he simply meant that he was older than Abraham he said I am claiming to be not only older and greater than Abraham but to be the eternal God of Israel himself having considered Jesus divinity let's look at John's treatment of the fact that as the son of God Jesus was also fully human since the time of David the term son of God was used to refer to the human king who sat on David's throne as king over Israel we can see this in places like Psalm 2 verse 7 and second samuel chapter 7 verse 14 John chapter 7 verse 42 also shows the Jews expected the Christ to come from David's family and in John chapter 1 verse 49 the term son of God is used as a synonym for king of Israel several other passages in John's Gospel also identified Jesus as the king of the Jews such as chapter 12 verses 13 through 15 chapter 18 verses 33 through 40 and chapter 19 verses 1 through 21 in short when John identified Jesus as the Son of God part of what he meant was that Jesus was David's perfect human descendant that would rule over Israel forever the Gospel of John stresses that has the Son of God Jesus possesses both full divine kingship and full human kingship every hope that the Old Testament put in God's reign over the universe and every hope that the Old Testament established for the rule of the Davidic Messiah is fulfilled in the Kings so far we've looked at the major themes of believing in Jesus and Jesus identity as the Christ and the son of God so now we're ready to turn to the blessing of life that comes to those who believe in Christ John used the word life 36 times in his gospel the other three gospel writers used it a total of 16 times but it isn't just the sheer number of times that he used it that gives life its great importance in this gospel it's also the role life plays in the Gospel message in John chapter 17 verse 3 Jesus defined life in this way now this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent of course this knowledge is far more than mere intellectual awareness of God it includes a measure of rational cognition about God but more importantly it's a relationship with him a personal experience of his presence and involvement in our lives this fellowship with our Creator is one of the main goals of human existence according to John chapter 3 verse 16 this life can also be called eternal meaning that it will never end but John makes it clear that we don't have to die in order to obtain this eternal life in fact believers already possess eternal life as Jesus said in John chapter 5 verse 24 whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned he has crossed over from death to life life is already the gift of God to those who believe in Jesus you know the words that come together as eternal life come to us so easily because we encounter them so often in Scripture we know that one of the gifts of our salvation through Christ is eternal life but you know we are chronological creatures that's the way we think we think in terms of seconds and minutes and hours and days and months and years and so it's easy for us to think that eternal life is the life we know now just with a longer calendar a calendar that never ends that's not actually the biblical notion of eternal life the first meaning of eternal life in Scripture is that it is life in God it is God to his eternal that one of the contrasts between God and we who are his human creatures is that we're very temporal we feel time but God is timeless and by the atonement that Christ has achieved for us those who are in Christ enter into the eternal life of God and so eternal life means we are alive in Christ with God forever it's not just a calendar that never runs out of pages it's a state of existence which is grounded in God himself and in the fact that he has eternal but you know the second word there in that couple it's really important the word life because in the scripture there's a contrast between life and death and after the judgment there's a contrast between eternal life and the second death so eternal life also is an affirmation that in Christ those who sins are forgiven we know life with God and Christ forever we are forever in the presence of God we enter into a state of existence which is timeless eternal that is of all about the glory of God and the comfort and joy and exhilaration of being in God's presence and praising him forever the contrast to that is hell defined as a second death so what we're talking about how are the eternal life is not just length in eternity it's the richness of being with Christ and having fellowship with God rather than spending eternity in hell eternal life is a gift of deliverance from divine judgment and to never-ending joy and peace and it can only be obtained from God by believing in His Son Jesus and John's Gospel stresses at least two reasons for this first Jesus is the creator and the source of life as we learned in places like John chapter 1 verses 1 through 5 chapter 5 verse 26 chapter 11 verse 25 and chapter 14 verse 6 and therefore Jesus has the right to dispense life to those he wishes in fact Jesus made this point explicitly in John chapter 5 verse 21 the second reason that eternal life can only be obtained through Jesus is that only Jesus possesses the words of life that is the Gospel message that leads people into a saving knowledge of God Jesus explained this in places like John chapter 6 verse 63 in chapter 12 verses 49 and 50 and Peter confirmed it in John chapter 6 verse 68 Jesus is the one and only or as he is called in John chapter 1 verse 18 God the one and only no one else has ever revealed the heavenly father like Jesus has because no one else has ever come from the Father like Jesus has Jesus unique role as the revealer of God is grounded in his identity as God the one and only who came to show us the father and give us eternal life and so throughout John's Gospel Jesus is the giver of life to all who believe those who don't believe don't understand his words and they reject the life he offers but those who do believe receive eternal life right now and immeasurable blessings in the age to come in this lesson we've explored the background of the Gospel according to John in terms of its author and occasion of writing we've surveyed its structure and content and we've considered the major themes of believing Jesus identity as Christ and son of God and the blessing of life in his name John's Gospel shows us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God's promises of blessing Jesus is the Christ he can and will keep every glorious promise God has made because Jesus is the saving Son of God and those promises and that salvation include the wonderful gift of eternal life if we hold fast to these hopes as we read John's Gospel we'll be better prepared to understand it and to apply it to our lives and if we keep them in our hearts as we live we'll be better prepared to glorify God and to enjoy the eternal life he has given us through His Son Jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Thirdmill

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Keywords: seminary, Theology Matters, Bible, For the World, Study, Biblical Education, Richard Pratt, Education, Free, gospel, Theology, Ministry, Third Mill, Truth, Reformed, God, Mission, gospels, Scripture, Jesus, Lord, Salvation, Word, Teacher, Holy Spirit, New Testament, Third Millennium, John

Id: o9q_8_Bjc9k

Length: 123min 46sec (7426 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2017