The Gospel
of John – Portrait of Christ
Class 1
COURSE OF STUDY
We will survey the Gospel of John in 8 to 10 class meetings. So, we will cover roughly 3 chapters at each class meeting. To prepare, you may want to read three chapters between class meetings and pay close attention to either a good study Bible like the New Reformational Study Bible or a good commentary on John like William Hendriksen or R.V.G. Tasker.
I would very much like to encourage you to discuss, ask questions, and share your insights. This really helps everyone!
INTRODUCTIONS:
Gregory the Great said that the Gospel of John could be summed up like this: “that an infant can paddle in it and an elephant can swim in it.”
Clement of Alexander said that this is the “spiritual Gospel.” There is more teaching regarding the Holy Spirit than any other Gospel. For example, Jesus is seen telling Nicodemus about the work of the Spirit in regeneration. And, we find the same emphasis in John 4:24 with regard to the spiritual nature of true worship.
AUTHOR:
- The external testimony – The witness of the early Church fathers supports the idea that the author is John the son of Zebedee - Clement of Rome (c. 95-97), Polycarp (c. 110-150), Ireneus (c. A.D. 130-202), Papias (c. 130-40), and the universal testimony of the early church fathers.
- The internal testimony - Gospel
was almost certainly a Jew. He displays an intimate knowledge of Jewish
customs, festivals, and beliefs. [1] The Gospel that refers to one of the
apostles with the expression the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (
DATE-Gospel has been held to have been written toward the end of his life, around a.d. 90. The discovery of the John Rylands papyrus (labeled P52), a manuscript fragment dated to about a.d. 125, containing a few lines from John 18) certainly supports this conclusion.
PURPOSE: John 20:30-31 Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
· 1. Unlike the synoptic which reveal Jesus inductively (from the ground up), John reveals Jesus deductively (from heaven down)
· 2. Jesus is also revealed as the "Logos," "Messiah,
"Son of God," "God," and "Man" fighting the
incipient gnostic views of the Ebionites (that Jesus was only a
man upon whom the Spirit visited and then left thus
affirming no pre-existence), and fighting Docitism
(emphasizing Jesus' deity over his humanity)
CHARACTER
· New Geneva Study Bible: The teachings of Jesus recorded in John tend to be lengthy discussions of a single topic, in contrast to the pithy, proverb-like sayings usually found in the other three Gospels. The teaching material is often embedded in conversations, as Jesus interacts with individual people or groups in discussion. There are almost no parables in this Gospel.
·
Jesus’ interaction with those who did not
receive Him although they were “His own” (
·
The Gospel of John makes use of sharp contrasts: light and darkness (1:4–9),
love and hatred (
· Life Application Note: Of the eight miracles recorded, six are unique (among the Gospels) to John, as is the “Upper Room Discourse” (John 14-17). Over 90 percent of John is unique to his Gospel—John does not contain a genealogy or any record of Jesus’ birth, childhood, temptation, transfiguration, appointment of the disciples, nor any account of Jesus’ parables, ascension, or Great Commission.
STRUCTURE
I. Prologue (1:1–18)
II. Public
Ministry (
III. The Passion Week (chs. 13–19)
IV. The Resurrection (ch. 20)
V. Epilogue (ch. 21)
The Prologue
The
Word and Deity (verses 1-2)
·
In the
beginning – Identical with Genesis 1:1…John is taking us back further than any
other Gospel writer. Matthew goes back
to Abraham; Mark begins with John the Baptist, Luke begins with the reign of
Herod.
· The WORD -“Word” (Greek logos) Tenny writes, “The term LOGOS, which occurs four times, includes more ~than its English “word.” A word is an idea expressed trough a combination of sounds or of letters. Without the idea or concept behind it, the medium would be meaningless. KXBZ might represent a radio station; but as a combination of letters or sounds, if it could be pronounced, it has no meaning whatsoever because no concept is attached to it. Just so the term LOGOS implies the intelligence behind the idea, the idea itself, and the transmissible expression of it. The term was used technically in the Greek philosophy of this period, particularly by the Stoics, to denote the controlling Reason of the universe, the all-pervasive Mind which ruled and gave meaning to all things. LOGOS was one of the purest and most general concepts of that ultimate Intelligence, Reason, or Will that is called God.”
·
Those familiar with the Old Testament would
remember that God created all things.
Those who knew Greek philosophy would know that the ultimate truth
behind creation points to the Creator.
Here is the eternal existence of the WORD (Jesus)
The Word and Creation (Verse 3)
· All things were made by him – Christ is the subject of creation and not the object of creation – Aorist tense points to the fact of creation not to the method. The Son is the agent of creation: Col 1:16; Heb 1:2.
· The entire world owes its existence to the LOGOS
The Word and Life (Verses 4-5)
- In him was life .Life is not from Him, or through Him, or by Him, but life is in Him. The life (Gr zōē spoken of is not life in a physical sense but rather in a spiritual sense. John uses life fifty-four times in his gospel and first epistle to refer to the spiritual realm.[5] Another affirmation of deity see John 5:26
- John moves us back to Genesis 1:3-4
where God created light and separated it from the darkness. In Genesis God created life (Genesis
- Robert Deffinbaugh writes, “John draws a
parallel to the original creation at which “the Word” was present
and active. Almost without recognizing it, we are transported in time from
the original creation (John 1:3) to the appearance of our Lord in human
history at the incarnation (verses 4-5ff.). When the “Word” came
into the world, the world was in a state of chaos, spiritually speaking.
When the “Word” appeared, He was the “light” that
illuminated the darkness, revealing the righteousness of God and exposing
man’s sin. This had the effect of separating the “light” from the “darkness.”
- Verse
5 - Darkness did not comprehend it – katalambano
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did
not comprehend it. (NASV)
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has
not understood it (NIV).
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did
not overcome it (NRS).
The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has
never quenched it (
- Either
translation is acceptable. Greek
can mean to understand or to squelch
he verb used here (Gr katalambanō) means to “grasp,
comprehend, put out, seize with hostile intent” (W. Wilbur Gingrich, Shorter
Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 111). This implies hostility between
the Light and the darkness with the darkness unable to put out the Light.
[6]
- Tenny
writes, “The continual resistance of the light to darkness and the
inability of the darkness to triumph in spirit of the utmost that hatred
and unbelief can do is the chief theme of JOHN.” See 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Philippians
2:14-16
Comparison Between John and Jesus
(Verses 6-8)
·
First, He was not the logos, but rather a human individual. Second, he was sent
from God. John was commissioned by God; he was not God Himself. Third, John
was a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all men through him might
believe. John’s purpose was to give testimony concerning Christ that would
lead persons to a saving faith in the Light. Fourth, John was not that
Light. [7] See Matthew 3:11
The Light and Lost Sinners
(Verses 9-13)
·
That was the true Light Jesus is the
Light – He is the very one that
· Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Christ is the one who gives to every man the light of reason and conscience. [8]
·
Verse 10 - did not recognize its Maker
(cf. Isa. 1:2-3). The failure to recognize (egnoô “know”) Him was
not because God’s nature was somehow “hidden” in people, as some suggest.
Rather, it is because of human ignorance and blindness, caused by sin John
·
· There are two actions delineated in verse 12: the action of man and the action of God. Man’s action is to receive and to believe. To receive means to accept for one’s self, and to believe means to place one’s trust in. Both of these concepts are a part of salvation. God’s action is to them gave he power to become the sons of God. The word power (Gr exousia) means the right or authority to become the sons of God.
· 13. The spiritual birth spoken of in the previous verse is not of blood. It is not on the basis of lineage or Jewish heritage. It is nor of the will of the flesh or a carnal desire. It is not of the will of man or human in its origin. It is of God. This birth is supernatural.[9]
The Word and Incarnation (Verses 14-18)
- This is a climax of all that John has been saying about the WORD. Robert Deffinbaugh writes, “We have been told that “the Word” is a person who is eternal, who is in fact a member of the Godhead. He was there at creation; indeed, He was the Creator. He is distinct from, yet intimately in fellowship with, God the Father. He is the source of light and life. He is the One to whom John the Baptist bore witness, foretelling His appearance. He is the One whom His own people rejected, but those who receive Him become children of God. Those who do become God’s children do so not out of human volition or effort; they are divinely “conceived.” We have not yet been told who this person is.
- 14. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The verb translated “dwelt” (Gr skēnoō) means to tabernacle or live in a tent. The author testifies that we beheld his glory.[10] The apostles saw his glory…
- Christ took upon himself a true human nature…Something that Greek philosophy, especially Platonisms or Neo-Platonism would have been aghast to hear…Something that went against Greek mythology that the gods “disguised themselves as human.” Jesus became a human being.
- The only begotten. This phrase translates a single Greek word and explicitly points to the eternal generation of the Son [11]
- Full
of grace and truth. These words correspond to Old Testament terms
describing God’s covenant mercy that are often translated “mercy and
truth” (Gen. 24:27; Ps. 25:10; Prov. 16:6; cf. Ex. 34:6; Ps. 26:3)[12]
- The Testimony of John the Baptist – though John was born before Jesus, Jesus existed in eternity past.
- Verse 16 – Affirmation that salvation is
a gift – BKC - The Word made flesh is the source of grace (charin),
which is the sum total of all the spiritual favors God gives to people.
The words we… all refer to Christians and include John the author.
Because of the fullness of His grace… one blessing after another (charin
anti charitos, lit., and “grace in place of grace”) comes
to
Christians as waves continue to come to the shore. The Christian life is the constant reception of one evidence of God’s grace replacing another. - Verse
17 – Life Application Note -
Law and grace are both aspects of God’s nature that he uses in dealing
with us. Moses emphasized God’s law and justice, while Jesus Christ came
to highlight God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness. Moses could only be the
giver of the law, while Christ came to fulfill the law (Matthew
Verse 18 - God is a Spirit and cannot be seen by
man…See I Tim 6;16…Jesus has declared (lit., exegeted; Gr exēgeomai)
or revealed God to man.