PM Home Bible Study Group; January 11, 2012
Introduction to the Gospel of John
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
INTRODUCTION
The Rylands Library Papyrus P52 (the St John’s fragment) is generally recognized as the earliest extant record of a canonical New Testament text. It is dated between 117 and 138 A. D.
This side (the recto) contains a portion of John 18:31-33 —
the Jews, “For us it is not permitted to kill
anyone,” so that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he sp-
oke signifying what kind of death he was going to
die. Entered therefore again into the Praeto-
rium Pilate and summoned Jesus
and said to him, “Thou art king of the
Jews?”
The opposite side (the verso) contains a portion of John 18:37-38 —
a King I am. For this I have been born
and (for this) I have come into the world so that I would
testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth
hears of me my voice. ” Said to him
Pilate, “What is truth?” and this
having said, again he went out unto the Jews
and said to them, “I find not one
fault in him. “
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There are four Gospels in the New Testament—stories of the life and ministry of our Lord. Three of them are called ‘synoptic’ Gospels because they take a “common view” of the story of Jesus (from synopsis—“a viewing together”). They tell many of the same stories and often in the same general sequence of events. These three are Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Gospel of John, however, is different from the synoptics. The stories that it tells of the Lord Jesus are certainly not in conflict with the others. Rather, they are supplemental and supportive of them. And yet, John’s Gospel is so different from the others that it is considered distinct from them. Speaking generally, Matthew presents Jesus as King of the Jews (written primarily to the Jews); Mark presents Him as the Suffering Servant (written primarily to the Romans); and Luke presents Him as the Son of Man (written primarily to the Greeks). But John presents Him—very powerfully—as the Son of God (written for all who might believe).
The writer of this Gospel keeps himself anonymous. But there are many clues to his identity. He was someone who said that he was a reliable eyewitness to the crucifixion (19:35)—and, in fact, to the things he wrote about in this Gospel—as a disciple (21:24). He does not mention his name, but refers to himself humbly as the disciple “whom Jesus loved”—who was present at the Lord’s supper (13:23), at the cross (20:26-27), with Peter an investigator of the tomb after Jesus’ resurrection (20:2-10), and at breakfast with Jesus after His resurrection (21:20-21). He seems to be frequently associated with Peter—asking Jesus questions at Peter’s request (13:23-25), or speaking to Peter about the Lord’s identity while in a fishing boat with him (21:7), or being asked about of the Lord by Peter (21:20-21). He was apparently himself a fisherman (21:3). The disciple who best fits this description is John. The second-century church father Irenaus wrote that “John the disciple of the Lord, who leaned back on his breast, published the Gospel while he was resident at Ephesus in Asia” (Against Heresies, 3. 1. 2. ). Irenaus’ contemporary, Clement of Alexandria, wrote that after the first three Gospels had been written, “John, last of all, conscious that the bodily facts had been set forth in those Gospels, was urged on by his disciples and, divinely moved by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel” (quoted in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 6. 14. 7. ).
John, then, was the disciple “whom Jesus loved”—who had the privilege of leaning against our Lord’s breast during the last supper. He could literally hear the heartbeat of our Savior. And that truly represents what this marvelous Gospel shares with us—the very heartbeat of our Savior! We’re not left to wonder what the Gospel of John is about. John himself tells us in 20:30-31; “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. ”
* * * * * * * * * *
Some remarkable features of this wonderful book are that, in it Jesus is called by seven identifying names:
1. “Son of God” (1:34).
2. “Son of Man” (1:51).
3. “The Christ”—i. e. , The Messiah (4:25).
4. “Savior” (4:42).
5. “Teacher” (13:13-14).
6. “Master” (15:20)
7. “Lord” (20:28).
His identity is highlighted by seven distinct miracles:
1. Turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana (2:1-11).
2. The healing of a nobleman’s sick son, also in Cana (4:46-54).
3. The healing of the infirmed man at the pool in Bethesda (5:1-9).
4. The feeding of the 5,000 on the mountain by the Sea of Galilee (6:1-14).
5. Walking on the Sea of Galilee (6:15-21).
6. Raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44).
7. The miraculous catch of fish after His resurrection (21:1-14).
His identity is also highlighted by seven bold, self-identifying “I AM” statements:
1. “I am the bread of life” (6:35).
2. “I am the light of the world” (8:12).
3. “I am the door of the sheep” (10:7).
4. “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14).
5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25).
6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6).
7. “I am the true vine” (15:1).
He expresses the seven-fold uniqueness of His relationship with the Father, as:
1. The one whom the Father has sent (5:37; 6:27; 8:16, 18; 16:28).
2. The one who does the work of the Father (5:17, 36).
3. The one who speaks from the Father (6:45; 8:28; 15:15).
4. The one who is ‘one’ with the Father (10:30).
5. The one who reveals the Father (14:7, 9, 11).
6. The one who glorifies the Father (14:13; 15:8).
7The one who returns to the Father (14:28; 16:28; 17:11).
This Gospel can be outlined as follows:
I. HIS INCARNATION (1:1-18).
II. HIS PRESENTATION (1:19-4:54).
A. The Testimony of John the Baptist (1:19-34).
B. The Testimony of the First Followers (1:35-51).
C. The Sign at The Wedding (2:1-12).
D. The One Who Cleansed His Father’s House (2:13-25).
E. The Night-time Conversation with Nicodemus (3:1-21).
F. John the Baptist Exalts The Christ (3:22-36).
G. The Messiah Revealed at Samaria (4:1-42).
F. The Healing at Galilee (4:43-54).
III. HIS OPPOSITION (5:1-12:50).
A. Troubled Waters at Bethesda (5:1-18).
B. The Messiah Presents His Credentials (5:19-47).
C. Misunderstanding His Miracles (6:1-40).
D. Those Who Turned-Away And Those Who Remained (6:41-71).
E. The Talk of The Feast (7:1-52).
F. Jesus Bears Witness of Himself (8:1-30).
G. The Testimony Becomes All-Too Clear (8:31-59).
H. That Troublesome Blind Man (9:1-41).
I. The Good Shepherd (10:1-42).
J. Lazarus Raised (11:1-44).
K. The Plot for Jesus’ Death (11:45-12:11).
L. The Hour Has Come (12:12-36).
M. The Vision of Isaiah (12:37-50).
IV. HIS INSTRUCTION (13:1-16:33).
A. A New Commandment (13:1-35).
B. Going Away (13:36-14:31).
C. Fruitful Abiding (15:1-17).
D. Provisions For a Hostile World (15:18-16:15).
E. Sorrow Turned to Joy (16:16-33).
V. HIS INTERCESSION (17:1-26).
VI. HIS SACRIFICE (18:1-19:42).
A. Into The Hands of Sinners (18:1-25).
B. The Trial of Pilate (18:26-19:16).
C. The Crucified Son of God (19:17-42).
VII. HIS RESURRECTION (20:1-21:25).
A. The Testimony of The Empty Tomb (20:1-18).
B. “That You May Believe” (20:19-31).
C. Breakfast by The Sea (21:1-25).
John 1:1-18
THE WORD BECAME FLESH
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. )
“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” That was the question that Jesus put to His disciples in Matthew 16:13. The disciples answered by telling Him what others said about Him—that He was John the Baptist raised from the dead, or that He was Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. But then, Jesus asked the question that each one of us must answer personally: “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). Peter, as we are told, gave the answer that was approved by the Father: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).
That’s what this initial section of the Gospel of John seeks to set before us. This very same Jesus—the subject of this book—is none other than the Son of God in human flesh. John’s purpose in writing it was “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). Everything else that this book says about Him assumes the truth of what is said in the first 18 verses. If what it says about Him there is not true, then this book is a horrible blasphemy; but if it is true, then we can say ‘amen’, to the words of Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69).
In these initial words of the Gospel, we’re shown . . .
I. HIS PRE-EXISTANCE AS THE WORD OF GOD (vv. 1-3).
A. The Gospel of John begins very much as the first book of the Bible begins—by taking us to the very beginning. But as Genesis begins by telling us of God’s work (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. “), John begins by telling us of God’s nature—”In the beginning was the Word . . . ” (v. 1). The word that John used is logos—a word that’s translated “Word”. It’s meaning is much deeper, however, than simply “word”. It means something more along the lines of “rational expression”.
B. But note how careful John is to describe this “Word” that was in the beginning. The Word is presented to us as a Person. This person is in a state of independent subsistence with God “. . . and the Word was with God”; and yet, He is of the same essence with God in such a way that John could say, “. . . and the Word was God”. He was not created; but as John says, “He was in the beginning with God” (v. 2). What a marvelous picture this is of the triune nature of the Godhead—three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who are the same in substance and yet distinct in individual subsistence!
C. Even though this Word was not Himself created, He was involved in the work of created. We’re told that, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (v. 3)—further emphasizing that this “Word” was, indeed, God. In Colossians 1:15-18, the apostle Paul writes of Him that, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. ” Some see Him as the Speaker of the words found in Proverbs 8:22-31—personified as Wisdom:
“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:22-31).
As someone once said of our Lord Jesus, “He died upon a cross of wood, yet made the hill on which it stood. ”
IIHIS MINISTRY AS THE LIGHT OF MEN (vv. 4-13).
A. Because this Word is fully God, we’re told, “In Him was life . . ” (v. 4). Later on, Jesus would say, “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). All life springs from Him who is before all things. And He (that is, the Father) has granted that this principle of eternally existing life also be in His Son. What’s more, we’re told, “. . . and the life was the light of men” (v. 4). Darkness is the ignorance that comes from an alienation from God through sin; and is presented as a figure of spiritual death. Fallen mankind loves this darkness because of the evil of their deeds (3:19). But Jesus came to deliver people from this darkness; so that whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness (8:12). “I have come as a light into the world,” He said, “that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness” (12:46).
B. What a wonderful thing it is that, into this world of spiritual darkness brought about by sin and death, a light has shined. And no matter how dark this world of sin may be, the light that Jesus brings is brighter. As John affirms, “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (v. 5)—or, as it is better translated—”did not overcome it”.
C. Mankind was not left to wander in the darkness to find this light. God provided a witness. As John goes on to say, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John” (v. 6). Notice that John the Gospel writer doesn’t mention himself in his Gospel; so he doesn’t have to designate this John as “John the Baptist”—as the other Gospel writers do. “This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (vv. 7-8). Elsewhere, Jesus calls John “the burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35). A lamp isn’t “light”—it simply a light forth so that others may see it. Jesus Himself is the light; “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (v. 9).
D. Not all welcomed this light. As John says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (vv. 10-11). Though He made the world, the world did not receive Him as its Creator. And though He was the King of the Jews, the Jews rejected Him. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right [or “authority”] to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (vv. 12-13).
III. HIS INCARNATION AS THE WORD MADE FLESH (vv. 14-17).
A. Now; someone who might have read John’s Gospel for the first time might have wondered how it could be that this eternal Word who was Light could come to the people of this world in such a way as to be known and declared by them. Philosophers throughout the centuries—even from ancient times—have argued that if God existed, He is so transcendent that He cannot reveal Himself to human beings in such a way as to be known. But John boldly gives us the answer: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (v. 14). As Paul writes in Philippians 2:5-8, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ” As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
B. The story of how this happened is both mysterious and wonderful. In Luke 1:35, the angel told Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. ” The Son of God—the eternal Word—condescended to be conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, and to grow from the substance of her own body; so that, without ever ceasing to be fully God, Jesus was also fully human. Because the Word became flesh, witness could be borne of Him. “John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. ’” (v. 15).
C. What a difference His coming has made in this world of the darkness of sin and death! God gave His holy commandments that show us His high standards; but because we have failed to keep them, we are condemned as sinners by them. But in grace, God sent His Son to deliver us from the condemnation of sin by paying the penalty of sin for us our behalf. God even gives us the grace that we need to receive the grace He gives through His Son Jesus Christ: “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (vv. 15-17).
IV. HIS UNIQUENESS AS THE REVEALER OF THE FATHER (v. 18).
A. Because this Word was both with God and was Himself God—and has so graciously taken full humanity upon Himself as to be ‘the Word made flesh’—He is able to bear witness to us of God the Father. As John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (v. 18). To “declare” the Father means to “explain” Him.
B. Before He went to the cross for us, Jesus told His disciples, “‘If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. ‘ Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. ‘ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works'” (John 14:7-10). In Luke’s Gospel, we’re told that Jesus said, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Luke 10:22). Truly, we fallen human beings would never have come to know the Father except through the Son.
* * * * * * * * * *
This, then, is the Jesus that John writes about! How important it is that we know who He truly is! All that John wrote in his Gospel is intended to convince us of the truth of what is said in these first few verses—so that we would believe on Jesus as the Son of God, and have life in His name.