The gospel of John

1. Son of Zebedee and brother of James Mk 3:17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

Why the sons of thunder? The were devoted to Christ with a great passion – quick to protect Christ, wanted to avenge him on the Samaritians, wanted to know who would be the greatest.

2. John who were arrested and threatened - Acts 4:13-21

3. It was to John that Jesus gave the care of his mother- John 19:25-27

 4. It was John, who ran with Peter to see the empty tomb - John 20:1-10

5. John was the last of the apostles to die

6. It was Peter, James and John who were Jesus’ closest companions

7. The were fishermen with their father, who knew Peter and were of the first called that dropped everything and followed.

8. John recognized himself as the one that Jesus loved – I John 21: ²⁰Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

9. John would receive the last book of the bible, the great Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Mathew – Jews

Mark – Romans

Luke – Gentiles

John – for all men – unbelievers

Mathew - King

Mark – Servant

Luke – Son of man

John – Son of God

It is important to understand the who and the view, in order to understand the different writing styles.

We need to know the purpose of each book as well.

The purpose of the book and who it was written to.

^{John 20v31}But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Time period – 85 – 90 A.D.

Time frame – 7 years

Lesson 1 chapter 1 v 1 – 5
The deity and pre-incarnation work

V 1 In the beginning – This is eternity past. Dateless beginning. 

This declares the pre-existance of Christ as part of the triune Godhead. They are 3 in 1. He was not created.

In this beginning was the word – This tells us the part that was played by this party of the Godhead.

He is the word (logos) – reveals his part in the Diety. 

1. A thought or concept

2. The expression and utterance of that thought.

Summary: John says he was there in the dateless past. He says in him is the knowledge, the wisdom, the will of God for creation. He is the expression and revelation of that wisdom and will to us.

Question: How does God relate and express himself and his will toward man? How can we know? We look to Jesus.

This was a great declaration – He was writing to all men – Jew and Gentile

Jew – word was not just a sound – active and expressive.

Greeks – saw nature in order as the expression of a divine being – word was this wisdom and power of reason. He introduces to both the nature of the Messiah.

He is the revelation of all that God is. 

He is the express image – Heb 1:¹God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  ²Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

 

³Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

 ⁴Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

He is the expression of what God wants us to be – The Ideal man without sin.

He is the way to know God and establish a relationship with him.

New perspective: John 14:⁶Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The word was with God – He has always been coexisting with God, face to face, in a close relationship of unity. John 17: ⁵And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. ¹¹And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

He always knew of a perfect and ideal relationship with God – that tells us 1. only through him can we know how to get close to God. 2. The love he had for us –

^{Mt. 27:46}And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

The word was God – He does not say he was the God, he says he was God. This means his is the same as his nature, and character. He is a distinct person from God the father, but is as much divine as all other parts of the trinity.

He is of the very substance of God.

V2 all this is to be known from the beginning – eternity past –I John1: ¹That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;  ²(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

 ³That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.  ⁴And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Summary of first two verses:

1. Understand who John is, who he is writing to, and what perspective of Christ he is writing about.

2. Jesus is eternal – The beginning and the end – First and the last.

3. He reveals who God is, what his will is, what he wants us to be, and what God wants to say to us.

4. He shows us how to have a proper relationship with God in a close manner

5. He is divine – part of God.

6. His great love for us, to be separated from God because of our sins.

7. Through him, one day we will take part in this image and nature of him and of God.

^{I John 3:2}Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.