John Lesson 1

Introduction

A very pleasant good day to you, and welcome to our study together as we let the Bible speak. The Gospel of John stands unique among the four accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. It is sometimes referred to as the universal gospel because it is that description of the life of Jesus Christ that is effective no matter who the person might be or where he might live or what period of time in which he might live. The books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are often called the synoptic gospels. That is because they can be seen together. That’s what the word synoptic literally mean. And when you take the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you can see a chronological description of the life of Christ, even beginning with his birth, and going until his death and his resurrection and ascension.

But the Gospel of John does not begin with the birth of Jesus Christ. It is not seen as a book that tells us so much about really a chronological view of his earthly ministry. The Gospel of John is unique because it tells us about the doctrinal approach that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He begins right in the middle of this subject. When it says in the opening three verses, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. You see, right in the opening words, therefore, the the claim is made that Jesus Christ is God, that he is deity.

And that is the claim that is presented throughout the book, over and over again, from various points of view, the proof that he is the Christ, the Son of God, is given, that we might believe, and that believing we might have life through his name. It is written somewhat from a different point of view of the other three accounts of the life of Christ. The book of Matthew is sometimes described as a book that is written particularly from the Jewish point of view. Over and over the description is made that it might be fulfilled that was spoken by the prophet. And then some Old Testament verse is quoted. And of course, the Jew was very concerned about the fulfillment of the Scripture. The Gospel according to Mark is sometimes said to have been written for the Roman point of view.

For nineteen different miracles are described in the Gospel according to Mark. What he did was important to the Roman. And very frequently the words straightway and immediately are found in the book of Mark. Whereas the Gospel according to Luke has been written from a point of view to convince the Greek. The man perhaps a little bit more culturally refined and philosophical, Luke being a physician or a doctor, wrote it from a point of view that would appeal to that kind of mind, an educated type of man. And actually, the book of Luke tells us about the chronological life of Jesus Christ and traces his heritage all the way back to Adam. Whereas the book of Matthew traces his heritage all the way back only to Abraham.

1. The Purpose: That You Might Believe

But when we come to the Gospel of John, we’re not so much concerned about his physical lineage, whether to Abraham or to Adam. But we’re concerned in the Gospel of John about his deity, about the fact that he is from God, that he is God. In fact, as we close the book of John, when you look to John chapter 20, in verses 30 and thirty one, we have a synopsis, you may say, of this grand uh approach to the life of Christ. We get the purpose of the book stated in these words. John twenty and verse thirty, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name.

You may analyze those two verses and say first of all that the gospel of John is a selective gospel. Well the scripture says there were other signs or works, there were other miracles that Jesus did that are not even recorded in this book. As we said, the gospel according to Mark records some nineteen different miracles. But in the study of the Gospel of John, there are seven distinct signs that are ascribed for us. And there’s a difference in every one of them, the nature of each one. But there is a purpose that these are selected. And we’re told next that these are selected for a reason. And we can call this an apologetic gospel. And the word apology here does not mean to make pardon for, but rather it is to say that here is a defense.

To make an apology is to make a defense. And so the Gospel of John has picked these certain signs for the defense of the fact that ye might believe. And then you may say that the Gospel of John is an interpretive gospel. It interprets for us from these signs that Jesus is the Christ. It is furthermore a definitive gospel, for it defines that he is the Christ, the Son of God. And then finally, it is an effective gospel, because it is stated that believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, ye might have life through his name. What a grand purpose, therefore. To tell us that the Gospel of John is unique, that it is an important study for us. When we look at the Gospel of John, we first of all understand that it was a book written by one who personally knew our Lord.

2. Written by One Who Personally Knew Our Lord

I believe that John was inspired of God, and whether he knew him personally or not, what he said, his son. But certainly here is one who is an eye witness. For John, one of the three disciples who were the closest of companions with Jesus, James and John and Peter. Or often we put it the other way around, Peter, James, and John. But very close companions of the Lord. John is not mentioned by name, that is by his first name in this book, but there are several different references where he simply is described as the disciple whom Jesus loved. The disciple whom Jesus loved. He was a close companion, a friend of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh, and certainly a friend of our Lord in the spirit, for he was a disciple and apostle.

3. Is Jesus Really What He Claimed to Be?

John wrote not only this gospel, but he is also the writer of four other books of the New Testament. The books called First, Second, and Third John. And then the book of Revelation, the last that appears in our collected New Testament. So the writer of the Gospel of John was one who was familiar with Jesus the Christ. And he can write, as one by inspiration, who knows that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But the question that really is before us as we study through the book of John, is Jesus really what he claimed to be? What do you think about Jesus? It is quite popular among some today who think themselves intellectual to admit that Jesus lived on the face of this earth.

That’s easily proven. And they would admit that he was a good man, and some who say, Well, really, the word to the left are certainly a good moral standard for us to live by. But these same people who want to be benevolent toward Jesus as a person will then deny that he is the Son of God. I want to challenge you that as you study through the gospel of John with us, that you cannot say that Jesus was a good man and deny that he’s the Son of God. The reason is simple. A good man would not be a liar. But Jesus Christ claimed to be more than just a good man. He claimed to be more than just a prophet. Jesus Christ claimed to be the Son of God.

Not only in the opening words which we’ve already read in John chapter one verses one through three, do we find this claim that he’s with God, that he was God. But just look at a few of the other claims as we quickly survey through the gospel according to John. In chapter four, there’s an instant where Jesus is with a woman, the Samaritan woman at the well, and he talks to her about living water. This woman does not at first comprehend what Jesus is talking about when he told her that if she would have simply asked of him that he could give her water of which she would never thirst again. But this ensued a conversation with her, and she desiring that kind of water, Jesus said, Go call your husband.

She replied, Well, I have no husband. Jesus then said, You’ve spoken well. You’ve had five husbands, and the man that you now live with is not your husband. To that the woman responded, I perceive you must be a prophet. She understood that here was a man who knew things about her, but she had never told him. How could he know such? And then they began to talk about true worship. And the woman made the point in John 4 and verse 25, I know that the Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he has come, he will tell us all things. Now the word Messiah is the Hebrew word that is translated Christ in the Greek. Messiah and Christ are parallel words, one in the Hebrew, one in the Greek translation.

And she said, I know the Messiah comes. And this the Christ, and he’ll tell us all things. Now listen to Jesus when he responded to her in John 4 26, he said, I that speak unto thee, am He. Now there are Jews today who believe, they say, in God, but they deny that the Messiah has come. They deny Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Our Muslim friends, for example, also say they believe in God or Allah. But likewise they say Jesus is simply a prophet of God. That he is not the Christ. He is not the promised Messiah. He is not the Son of God, divine deity. But Jesus said very pointedly, I am he. I’m the promised Messiah. That wasn’t just the only time that Jesus made that claim.

But again in John chapter 5, at a time when Jesus healed a man who had been lame for some thirty-eight years, laid at the pool of Bethesda, and Jesus came and after some conversation with him, told him, Wise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and he took up his bed and walked. But it happened on the Sabbath day. Now the Jewish rulers did not believe in Jesus, and in fact they were angry that he was drawing so much attention to himself, and they would like to find some cause by which they could reject him. But unable to criticize him for the good work that he had just done in healing this lame man. The only charge they can make was, he did this on the Sabbath day.

He worked on the Sabbath day. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 5 17, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. They understood what he said. For the next verse says, The Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. They understood that he claimed that God was his father, that he was equal with God, that he was deity. There was more than one occasion where the Jews wanted to kill Jesus.

And in John chapter 8, where Jesus had made the statement that had they simply followed him or kept his sayings, he said you would never see death. And they replied, Why? Why, that’s ridiculous, in our own words.

And the prophets. And are you saying if a man would keep your saying, he’ll never taste of death? Are you greater than Abraham? To that Jesus replied, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. And the Jews then said, Well, you’re not yet fifty years old. And you say that Abraham has seen your day. Hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, John 8 58, Verily, verily I said to you, before Abraham was, I am. And that expression, I am, is identically, in the same form in the Greek, as appears in the Septuagint version of Exodus chapter 3 and verse 14. At the time when Moses, where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and Moses asked who it was, and the Lord said, I am that I am.

The Jews understood what Jesus was saying here. And in John 8 59, they took up stones to cast at him. Again, they would have killed him. Listen again to the claim of Jesus in John chapter 10. In John chapter 10, Jesus said, I and my Father are one. Now they had just said, Look, if you’re the Christ, tell us plainly, and we’ll believe. Jesus said, I’ve told you many times. And then he repeats it, I and my father are one. They took up stones again to stone him. I said to you that the Jews of the first century understood what some people today do not understand about the claim of Jesus. There are those, our Jehovah’s Witnesses, friends, for example, who deny that Jesus is eternal, that Jesus is God.

They believe that Jesus was first created an angel who became a God. But that’s not what Jesus claimed. There are Jews today who deny that Jesus is the Son of God. They say he was just a good man, or the Muslims who say he was just a good prophet. But those of the first century understood the claim of Jesus, and they took up stones to stone him because they understood it was blasphemous what he was saying, if he’s not the Son of God. Jesus, when they took up stones, said, Uh, For what good work are you stoning me? And they said, For a good work we do not stone thee, but for blasphemy, that’s John 10, verse 33. And because thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

Do you believe the claim of Jesus? It is a significant claim. And as we study through the Gospel of John, either it is a book to be believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, or else it is a book that is full of lies, and Jesus Christ is an imposter, and he could not be a good man. But finally, look at the claim. In John chapter 14, verses 7 through 9. Where Jesus said to Philip, If ye had known me, you should have known my Father also. From henceforth ye know him and have seen him. Philip said, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus said, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?

4. Signs That Ye Might Believe

He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. How says thou then show us the Father? If you’ve seen me, you know the Father. Christ came from the Father and hath declared God unto us. We’re going to pause for just a moment. We hope you’ll stay with us as we continue our analysis of the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John not only sets Jesus Christ apart from all other men, because of his claims that he is the Son of God, but it also gives us some proofs that he is everything that he claimed to be. As we already observed from John chapter 20, verses 30 through 31, there are signs that are selected that are given in the Gospel of John that ye might believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God.

As we go through this study of the Gospel of John, we’ll be studying these a little bit more in detail. But let us just sort of quickly survey the different signs that are revealed in this book that are selected, at least in this book, and show you that there is a difference between each one. There are no repeat kind of miracles. There’s not some stage set where he always performs the same kind of miracle that might have itself been a stage, uh staged event, but rather these were signs that no man could do except God be with him. For example, in John chapter 2, verses 1 through 11 is the first miracle that Jesus did, recorded in Cana of Galilee, at a wedding feast, where there were six pots of water that Jesus turned into wine.

And the governor of the feast didn’t, in fact, marvel because it was the best wine. And he said, usually that is what is given first, and the worst is given last. But Jesus had power over quality. The second miracle that is recorded in John is in chapter four. And there in verses forty-six through fifty-four is a time where Jesus healed a son of a nobleman who lived in Capernaum, some some twenty miles away from Canaan, and that would be a whole day’s journey. But when the man asked for Jesus to come to the bedside of his son, Jesus said, Go thy way, thy son liveth. And as the man turned to go back, his servants met him the next day and told him that at the very same hour of the day at about which Jesus made this statement, the son got well.

Jesus had power over distance. But then the third miracle that is recorded in the Gospel of John is in chapter five, the time where the man that had laid at the pool of Bethesda, a man who had been ill for some thirty eight years, the afflicted man. Jesus said, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. Immediately the man was healed. It didn’t take a matter of several days or weeks or months, but immediately he took up his bed and walked. Jesus had power over time. In John chapter six is recorded the miracle where the multitude was hungered, and Jesus took five loaves and two fishes. A lad’s lunch, really just small lads’ lunch, and he fed this multitude of five thousand men, plus women and children.

Twelve basketfuls were left over. He had power over quantity. Jesus then that next night, as the disciples began to roll back across the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus came out to them, something like about two to three miles distance, actually, came walking on the water. He had power over nature. In John chapter 9 is recorded where a man who was born blind, and Jesus made clay of stridle and anointed his eyes and told him to go wash and the pool of Siloam, and the men was able to see. Never before had a man born blind been able to see. But Jesus performed a miracle that no man could do except God be with him. Indeed, he had power over darkness. And in John chapter 11 is recorded the story of the raising of Lazarus from the grave.

5. Believe: The Difference Between the Lost and the Saved

A man who had been dead for some four days. Even his sister said, Behold, he stinketh. But Jesus said, Come forth. And Lazarus came forth. Jesus is the resurrection and life. He had power over death. He has power over life. These signs are written that ye might believe. And that believing you might have life through his name. Now those are two key words in the Gospel of John. The word believe and the word life. You see, the word believe is found some ninety-nine times in this gospel. Its verb form, his tule, is found ninety-nine different times, and and you may say that’s a key word to the book, isn’t it? It is found that often. Indeed it is. Probably the best known verse to to all students of the Bible is in John chapter 3 and verse 16, where it says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It’s sometimes referred to as the miniature gospel. That God so loved us that he gave his only begotten Son. By grace. Salvation is provided for all. But God does not force salvation on all.

But notice again the text in John 3.16 whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You know the dividing line between the lost and the saved. What’s the difference between the lost and the saved? God’s grace is for all. But the difference between those who are saved and those who are lost is believing. In fact, look in the same text in John chapter 3, verse 36. The last verse of John 3, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Those who believe in Christ have life. Those who reject him have the wrath of God upon them. What do you believe about Jesus Christ?

Have you come to him? Have you obeyed him? Now let me say another word about this, another thought about this word belief, and that is that that so often is misunderstood, and some carry a concept that the word in John 3 16 and other passages simply means a mental agreement only. And they’ve come up with a doctrine sometimes described as salvation by faith only. But that isn’t taught in the Gospel of John. Sometimes the word believe in John does mean mental agreement only, but more often it carries the idea of a comprehensive faith. That is a faith that will obey, that will respond to the commandments of the Lord. To illustrate the point, look at the Gospel of John chapter 12. In chapter 12, verses 42 and 43, the scripture there speaks about the rulers of the synagogue.

It said among the cheap people there’s also many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Is there anyone who would say these believers are saved? They had mental agreement that Jesus is the Son of God, but they were not willing to confess him. They were not willing to stand up for him, they were not willing to obey him. They are lost believers. And today, though you may acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, if you’re not willing to repent of your sins, as Luke 13 and 3 tells us. If you’re not willing to confess him before others, as Matthew 10, 32 and 3 tells us.

6. Jesus Christ Claimed to Be the One of Life

If you’re not willing to be immersed or baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, as Acts 2 and verse 38 teaches us to do. And even in this book, John 3, verse 5, to be born of water and the Spirit, if you’re not willing to obey, then you’re not a saved believer. If you had mental agreement only, you’re lost in your sin. For Jesus is the author of eternal life unto all them that obey him. Hebrews chapter 5, verses 8 and 9. We’ll talk about that more fully as we go through the Gospel of John. But in our concluding moments, let’s look at one more factor about the Gospel of John, and that is that Jesus Christ claimed to be the one of life.

Believing in him will give you life. There are seven I am’s in the Gospel of John that are thrilling when you look at them. Jesus claimed to be more than just a man. In fact, in John chapter 6 and verse 35, he said, I am the bread of life. You come to Jesus. If you believe in him, you’ll never hunger. You want fulfillment, you want purpose and meaning to life. You feel a hungering, there’s something more to life, come Jesus Christ. He is the bread of life. In John chapter 8 and verse 12, and also in chapter 9 and verse 5, he said, I am the light of the world. You want to have real understanding, wisdom, and knowledge? You want to know a purpose for life?

Jesus Christ turns the light on. He is the illuminator. He is the light of the world. In John chapter 10, verse 7 and verse 9. He said, I am the door of the sheep folk. There is security. The sheepfold is a place of protection where the sheep would go at nighttime. Jesus said, I’m the entrance into that place. I am the door of the sheepfolk. And then in that same allegory in John chapter 10 and verse 14, he said, I am the good shepherd. He not only is the entrance into the place of protection, but he is the one who watches over. He protects those who are his of his fold, of his flock. I am the good shepherd. In John chapter 11 and verse 25 to Martha at the grave of Lazarus, he said, I am the resurrection and the life.

Conclusion

If you want to have a hope of something more than this world, then come to Christ, for in him is resurrection. In him is life. In John 14 and verse 6, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man coming to the Father except by me. Now that may be narrow, but he’s the only way. If you want salvation, come to Christ. Finally, in John 15 and verse 1, he said, I am the true Bible. If you’re in Him, you’ll bear fruit. Don’t you want to know more about Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God? We hope you’ll continue studying with us. In our next lesson, we’ll study John chapter 1 as we learn about the Savior of the world. Until then, we bid the grace and peace of God be with you.