Sunday Class Notes

3-11-12 Study Notes

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2:13-14 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [14] In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.

  • Money changing was a common practice in the temple area because a certain special coinage was accepted by the priests for offering, and because of this, people who were coming from all over the area exchanged their coinage for this pure silver (more highly refined) coinage.
  • By the word “temple” here we understand that this area to be the “outer court”, otherwise known as “the court of the Gentiles.”
  • Some say that the reason for the exchange of coinage was because the priests wouldn’t accept coinage with Cesar’s image on it (because it would have been a pagan or idol image), but this is refuted aptly by Morris who says that the coinage they did accept had pagan markings on it as well.  The money exchangers would sometimes charge up to 12% commission on the exchange.
  • It is perfectly fine to have this convenience of money exchange and the selling of animals for sacrifice.  After all, it would be most difficult for travelers coming from foreign lands to bring their spotless animal to the temple.  But this is not what Jesus is objecting to.  He is not focused on what they are doing as much as where they are doing it.

2:15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.

  • It says that He made a “whip of cords”, which would have taken some premeditation on His part.  It could have taken at least an hour to make something like this.
  • Also He didn’t actually whip anyone – at least it is not recorded in the text that He whipped anyone.  Sproul notes, quite astutely, that, “the purpose of the whip was to drive the animals out of the temple complex” not to actually whip the people who were in the temple.  MacArthur agrees and adds, “Jesus was neither cruel to the animals (those who object to His mild use of force on them have never herded animals), nor overly harsh with the men.”
  • There has been a significant scholarly debate about the timing of when Jesus did this temple cleansing.  All of the synoptic gospels tell the story of Jesus cleaning the temple around the Passover time just before He was crucified.  Here John seems to very clearly indicate (by use of chronological language) that this temple cleansing occurred shortly after His ministry began.  Because of this, Morris, MacArthur, Sproul and others lay out a solid argument for there having been two times where Jesus cleansed the temple.
  • The differences between the record of this second cleansing and the one mentioned here in John are significant.  Beyond the significant difference of when the incidents are mentioned time-wise (the synopitics place this during the passion week, John places it at the beginning of Christ’s ministry), there are other particulars that don’t fit together to form only one event.

2:16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

  • Here we see specifically the text that indicates that is the location or the selling that is the issue and not the selling itself.  Jesus is not declaring Himself to be against the sacrificial system here, nor is He railing against capitalism as some have supposed.  Jesus is bringing honor to God by reminding these men that God’s temple is a holy place.
  • I wonder if we treat our bodies, which are the temple of the living God, with as much zeal and respect…

2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

  • Sproul notes that, “Seeing Jesus cleanse the temple, His disciples connected His zeal to the zeal David had expressed.”  Jesus had this in common with His forefather, and David’s zeal and expression of love for God was a foreshadowing of Christ’s greater zeal.
  • David might not have had in mind the coming Messiah in Ps. 69, but the same Spirit who inspired David to write what he did also caused the disciples to see what they did in this Psalm, and that it was a foreshadowing of the greater zeal by a greater Son of David.
  • Not only was David’s zeal a pre-figuring of the zeal of Christ, but MacArthur notes that Christ’s zeal here was a pre-figuring of the zeal with which He will return at His second advent (Zech. 14:20-21).

2:18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

  • They didn’t arrest Him, but simply demanded to see a miracle or sign of some kind to show that He was a legitimate prophet.  But, as MacArthur notes as well, the cleansing of the temple should have been sign enough!

2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

  • The response He gives is indeed a sign, though it is not the one they expected, nor did they understand what He meant.  For the sign He mentioned was the ultimate sign, the sign of the resurrection. The sign that would indicate that He was the Christ and had all authority in heaven and on earth to carry out His will and plan for mankind.

2:20-21 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

  • At this point in time the Temple building wasn’t even done.
  • The temple that stood in Jesus’ day was the one built after the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity.
  • About 20 years before Jesus was born, Herod had begun a massive renovation project that was finally completed only a few years before the Romans destroyed it in 70 A.D.

2:21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

John doesn’t leave us hanging, but explains to us what Christ had meant.  Certainly at the time of these words John could not have known what Jesus was talking about.  But now having several years past since these events, John is able to shed greater perspective on what Jesus was meaning.

2:22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

  • Jesus says elsewhere that when He would leave, He would cause them to remember “all things” so that they would be able to tell others accurately about Him (John 16:13).

2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

  • He stayed in Jerusalem for the whole of the Feast and that He was also starting to manifest many signs among the people.

2:24-25 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people [25] and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

  • He knew the depravity of men and that no one needed to prove that to anyone – it seemed as though it was common knowledge that men were/are sinful creatures.  But there’s also a subtle contrast here with the nature of man and the nature of the Son of Man.  No one needed to bear witness about what mankind was like, but bearing witness about Jesus is a theme throughout the book of John.

How do we teach this to our children?  If you were to tell your children on the way home today that you learned about how Jesus was and is the Word of God, what would you say?

EXAMPLE:  Today we learned about how Jesus drove all of the animals and moneychangers out of the Temple in Jerusalem.  He did this because He loved the temple and He loved the worship of God.  When we come to church, we need to be mindful of the fact that we’re entering into a holy place; a place that is special and consecrated (set apart for a special task) for the worship of God.  When we don’t take that seriously, its like us saying that we don’t take God seriously, and don’t care to worship Him in a serious way.  Jesus wasn’t like that though, He loved and revered God and wanted to make sure that others did as well.


3-4-12 Study Notes

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2:1-2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. [2] Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

  • This is said to be the final day in the series of the first seven days since Jesus started His ministry.  The “third day” is a reference to the third day since the call of Nathanael and indicates to us that the wedding was taking place on the 7th day of this series of first days of Jesus’ ministry.
  • The wedding was likely on a Wednesday because that was the day normally required by Jewish law/tradition for the weddings of a virgin.

2:3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

  • To run out of wine was more than just an inconvenience, it was a major embarrassment. As John MacArthur points out, in this culture and at this time in history it was the groom and his family who were responsible for the cost and setup of the wedding celebration, which could last as long as a week.  It would have caused great angst to run out of wine, and reflected poorly on the groom and his family on a day that was supposed to be dedicated to joy.
  • But there was more than just embarrassment at stake here.  For Morris and MacArthur both point to the fact that “it was possible to take legal action in certain circumstances against a man who had failed to provide the appropriate wedding gift.
  • The wedding feast is a picture the great wedding feast we’ll have when the bride of Christ (the church) is presented to her groom (Christ).  On that day there will be no lack of anything, for we will have abundant joy in Christ.  Wine, as we see later, is a symbol of joy in the Bible, and Christ providing them abundant wine is a foreshadowing of the joy He provides His church during their time on earth, and then later at the consummation of His kingdom (Amos 9:13-15).
  • I don’t know exactly what Jesus had in mind here, but His compassion is certainly what shines through in the act itself.  I’m reminded of why He came, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

2:4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

  • It should also be noted that the title “woman” here seems irreverent, but is, in fact, a title of respect.  Boice likens it to “lady.”  MacArthur says the title is equivalent to “ma’am.”
  • What MacArthur sees in this statement is significant, it “signaled a major change in their relationship.”  He said the phrase “was a polite, but not intimate, form of address.”  MacArthur sums up the scene well: “The statement, coupled with Jesus’ addressing Mary as “Woman” instead of “Mother”, politely but firmly informed her that what they had in common in their relationship was no longer to be what it had been while He was growing up in Nazareth.  His public ministry had begun, and earthly relationships would not determine His actions. Mary was to relate to Him no longer as her son, but as her Messiah, the Son of God, and her Savoir.”
  • When He says “My hour”, He is referring to His death and glorification (He uses this throughout the gospels).  I think that MacArthur is correct in saying that, “this supports the possibility that Mary was knowingly asking Jesus to reveal Himself at that time.”
  • Jesus answers not the words of a man, but what is in their heart.  So here Jesus seems to be addressing Mary on the basis of the timeline of His ministry, where she had addressed Him on the matter of the wine, therefore it is logical to conclude that He read her to mean something in her heart that was not in her words.

2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

  • Boice points out that maybe Mary saw Jesus come to the wedding with disciples – at least 5 of them at this point I think.  As I mention above, she might have been thinking ‘This could be it! This could be His time where He is revealed as the Son of God!’
  • Whatever Mary was thinking, she obviously knew that it would be up to God.  So she simply instructed the servants to obey whatever Christ told them to do.  As R.C. Sproul says, “no one ever received better instructions from anybody in al of history than these servants received from the mother of Christ when she told them to follow Jesus’ orders.”

2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

  • These stone water jars were huge, and were used to wash the hands of the guests as a way to purify themselves before the feast.  MacArthur notes that, “they believed that, unlike earthenware pots, they did not become unclean.”  Sproul notes, they used them “for the simple reason that the water contained in these pots would not become contaminated with bits of dirt (unlike the earthenware pots).”
  • This would have been about 180 gallons of fine wine!  That was more than enough.  So it is with the joy (which is what wine symbolizes, Ps. 104:14,15) with which Christ supplies our needs.  He gives us abundant joy and promises never to leave us hungry.  He doesn’t just give our needs though, so often He overflows our cup!

2:7-8 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. [8] And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.

  • These servants are obedient to exactly what Jesus says, and their obedience marks both Jesus’ personal authority, as well as Mary’s authority as a person involved/tasked with helping with the wedding.
  • The master of the feast would have been like the best man or the emcee.

[9] When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom [10] and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

  • Why did people serve the best first?  Because people would have been too drunk to enjoy the new wine!  But Christ has the best last – I think this is a picture for the fact that heaven will be better than earth, and that it is better and sweeter (more joyful) to be last rather than first.
  • What is interesting to me is how many different things we see metaphorically developing here.  Morris says that “this particular miracle signifies that there is a transforming power associated with Jesus.  He changes the water of Judaism into the wine of Christianity, the water of Christlessness into the wine of the richness and the fullness of eternal life in Christ, the water of the law into the wine of the gospel.”

2:11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

  • Here we see plainly what the goal of the miracle was.  It was to manifest the glory of Jesus – miracles were done for people to believe in Jesus.  This miracle had the result of the disciples believing in Jesus, which leads me to wonder if they were not yet convinced to this point – in fact, sometimes I wonder how long it really takes them to be convinced!  He does so many miracles and yet we see their faith falter.

2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

  • Just imagining the internal family dynamic right now in Jesus’ family blows my mind.  What are the brothers thinking?  What is Mary thinking at this point?  It’s a new day for these men and women, for Jesus has begun His earthly ministry, and from this point forward millions of lives will be changed forever.

 

How do we teach this to our children?  If you were to tell your children on the way home today that you learned about how Jesus was and is the Word of God, what would you say?

EXAMPLE:  Today we learned about how Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding in Galilee.  Jesus provided so much wine, and it was so good, that the wedding guests were overjoyed.  The wine that Jesus made done by a miracle, and it can symbolize the miracle that He does in our hearts at salvation.  Jesus transforms our hearts from bland (and even dirty) water, into rich, delicious wine.  What is wine?  Wine is a rich, strong juice made from grapes that some adults enjoy.  Wine was a staple of most meals during Jesus’ time.  In the Bible, wine symbolizes joy.  So when Jesus provided the wedding guests with so much wine that they had tons left over, it was a picture of how much joy Jesus provides us when we trust upon Him for salvation.    

 

2-26-12 Study Notes

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1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

  • Note the divine imperative here.  He doesn’t ask, He tells Philip to “follow me.”  This reminds me of the efficacious work of the Spirit when He calls us to follow Christ – He lifts the blinds on the windows of our heart and causes us to see Christ for who He is.

1:44-45 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

  • Again we see that Philip and the other disciples are convinced (at least very nearly convinced) that they have found the Messiah.  This connoted both an understanding of the law and the prophets, and an attitude of expectation at Jesus’ arrival.
  • Nathanael is said to be the same person as Bartholomew.  Bartholomew was a surname and Nathanael was a given name.

1:46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

  • Nazareth was not a very important town, but it doesn’t seem that Nathanael’s opinion was necessarily universal.  As Morris says, “It is not a famous city, but we have no reason for thinking it was infamous. We should probably understand Nathanael’s words as the utterance of a man who could not conceive of the Messiah as coming from such an insignificant place.”

1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

  • This is the first of two statements where Jesus seems to show a sort of super-human intellect.  But it is more than intellect of a “super-human” kind.  It is obviously knowledge that only the Divine Being could know.
  • The fact that Jesus used the term “Israelite” is interesting because its not the word used most in this gospel – usually the word “Jew” is used, but Jesus is using the covenant name of the nation and the one closely identified with Jacob – significant because Jacob is the character that best ties in this whole final passage.
  • When Jesus says there is no “guile” or “deceit” in Nathanael, it harkens our minds back to Jacob who was himself a deceiver.  Jesus is basically saying, ‘here is an Israelite in whom there is no Israel!’  He is praising Nathanael for being a straight-forward type of guy.

1:48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

  • This says something of the divine knowledge of Jesus during His time here on earth.  There is an ongoing argument among scholars as to how much Christ knew or could have known in his humanity.  Some ask the question: if he was fully human, how could his human mind have known what The Deity knows?  The question is worth asking, though we may never know the answer.  It is certainly obvious from the Scriptures that Jesus knew a lot – though it is my opinion from reading the Bible throughout the years that He didn’t use His full omnipotence while on earth.  For example, while on earth He said that only the Father knew the date of His second coming.  It is this kind of statement that leads me to think that He laid aside some of His divine omniscience.

1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

  • Note the way that Nathanael ties the two concepts of the “Son of God” and the “King of Israel” together.  I like this because it signifies both His deity and His humanity.  It also signifies His authority and kingship.
  • Keep in mind that Nathanael had just been identified as an “Israelite”, and now Nathanael is identifying Jesus as the “King of Israel” – he is submitting to His authority.
  • And by the reaction we read here, he seemed to understand right away that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.

1:50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

  • In this verse we’re given a hint from Jesus that the best is yet to come.  This is a fitting statement for the beginning of what would end up being the most exciting and world-altering three years ever lived by a man on earth.  Jesus’ ministry here on earth was a shower of one miracle after another.  Teaching after teaching by Christ flowed forth the divine wisdom with a profundity that forever changed the course of history for humanity.

1:51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

  • This is a clear reference to Jacob’s ladder – which is amazing to see the fulfillment of this from thousands of years prior (Gen. 28:10-17).  According to Jonathan Edwards, the passage serves as an analogy to what Christ fulfilled in bringing to us in Salvation and the Covenant of Grace.
  • The sleep that Jacob takes symbolizes death (spiritual death), and the rock he lays his head upon symbolizes Christ. The ladder is God’s Salvation and the Covenant of Grace, which was ushered in with Christ.  The ladder is the only way to heaven, though men desire to make their own ladders of self-righteousness, which only lead to destruction.  The rungs of the ladder are the ordinances and promises of God – they are strong enough to keep us and hold us as we climb upwards toward heaven.  The ladder, of course, leads to heaven.  It takes us to God who is far above the earthly sin and trouble of this life.
  • As Christians it is our mission each to day to climb the ladder.  Edwards says, “don’t rest is what you’ve attained.”  He also points out that there is great happiness – ultimate happiness – awaiting us at the top of the ladder, and that every man desires to reach that happiness.  Our souls all desire to be happy in God.
  • Lastly, let’s examine this title, “Son of Man.”  As Morris reminds us, “In the gospels it is used by Jesus as His favorite self-designation, occurring in this way over 80 times.
  • The term is derived from Daniel 7:13-14.  So why did Jesus like this title?  Leon Morris gives us four reasons:
  1. “Because it was a rare term and one without nationalistic associations. It would lead to no political complications.”
  2. “Because it had overtones of divinity”
  3. “Because of its societary implications.  The Son of Man implies the redeemed people of God.”
  4. “It had undertones of humanity. He took upon Him our weakness.”
  • Morris concludes, “It was a way of eluding to, and yet veiling his Messiahship, for His concept of the Messiah differed markedly from that commonly held.”

 

How do we teach this to our children?  If you were to tell your children on the way home today that you learned about how Jesus was and is the Word of God, what would you say?

EXAMPLE:  Today we learned about how the first disciples were called.  We also learned about the name that Jesus liked to use for himself (the Son of Man).  The title ‘Son of Man’ indicates that Jesus is divine, and that He’s also human.  The Jews who were listening to Jesus teach would not have thought much about this title (for older children: it was a title disassociated with any preconceived political or society notions) so they wouldn’t have had any incorrect thoughts about who Jesus was or who He was describing Himself to be.  We also learned about how Jacob from the Old Testament saw a ladder reaching all the way to heaven.  On the ladder there were angels going up and down – almost like a stairway.  Jesus said to His disciples that they would see angels walking up and down “on” the Son of Man – on Him!  What Jesus meant by this was that He was the great ladder (or stairway) that connected heaven and earth.  Our only way to get to heaven is by Jesus and His salvation.   

 

 

2-19-12 Study Notes

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1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

  • The “Lamb of God” designation harkens back to the Old Testament sacrificial system in which a lamb was used as a sin offering for the people (Lev. 5:5-7).  Jesus has come to make propitiation for our sins – He will be our sacrifice.  I also like the passage with Abraham and Isaac where Abraham was going up to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac as a good parallel (Gen. 22:7-8). Mt. Moriah is said to be the location of present day Jerusalem and many have speculated on the possibility of Abraham’s sacrificial site in Gen. 22 as the same place where Christ died.  What an amazing thing to meditate on!
  • In the second part of the passage we see a potential interpretive difficulty in that we read the Jesus is going to take “away the sin of the world.”  This passage isn’t teaching Universalism.  When John says that the Lamb will take “away the sin of the world” he is saying that Christ is humanity’s only savior and that He will not discriminate based on Jew or Gentile.  Every tribe and nation will hear the world of the Lord before the great and awesome day of His second coming.
  • But how can we know that John is talking about the “world” in this way and not teaching universalism?  We learn this through the simple principle of interpretation called the Analogy of Faith.  The Analogy of Faith (analogia fidei) teaches us that all scripture must be interpreted by scripture (NOTE: the term can also have broader theological implications, but here we mean only the most basic of interpretive principles). One principle of this hermeneutic is that we interpret the less clear portions of scripture by the ones that are more clear in order to decipher the proper meaning and rule out incorrect inferences.

1:30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’

  • Even though John the Baptist was born before Jesus, he makes the point that Jesus still existed before he did.

1:31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

  • Two important points are being made here by John.  First, even though there were cousins, John didn’t know that Jesus was going to be the Messiah.  Second, God had specifically sent John to go and baptize in order that people’s hearts would be made ready (as we’ve already spoken about earlier), but also so that Jesus would be revealed as the Messiah.

1:32-33 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. [33] I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

  • It’s significant that God confirmed the ministry of Jesus with a sign and even more significant that He confirmed the ministry with the outpouring of His Spirit upon Jesus.  He did the same thing for the disciples in Acts 2:1-6.  Note how in Acts 2:5-6 we learn that “men from every nation under heaven” were dwelling in Jerusalem and how the disciples had begun to speak in tongues (that is, in the native languages of these different men) in order to declare Christ to them.  This fits perfectly with what was mentioned earlier, that Christ came to save the world.
  • This verse is rich with symbolism.  The dove (Matt. 3:16) is a symbol of peace and reminds us of the peace that Christ brought into the world.  Peace between God and mankind – reconciliation.

1:34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

  • John ends the passage by summing up the identity of Jesus: the Son of God.  We see this same designation throughout the New Testament, and it’s the designation that affirms His deity and His role as Messiah.

1:35-37 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36] and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [37] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

  • This is the transferring of his disciples to Jesus.  MacArthur notes that it may not be a formal or official transference at this point in time, but it’s the beginning of John pointing them toward Jesus.  

1:38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

  • Note the early designation of Jesus as “Rabbi.”  The disciples immediately took Him for a teacher of the law.

1:39-41 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. [40] One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. [41] He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

  • In verse 38 they call Him “teacher” but here, as they talk amongst themselves and spread the word about Jesus, they are starting to say in very definite terms, that He is the long awaited Messiah, the Savior they have been waiting for.

1:42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

  • Over the course of most of human history, the name of a person has held varying significance.  In the Biblical era, the name of a person held a great deal of meaning, and when God encountered men in the Old Testament He often changed their names to reflect the new kind of life they were going to have as one of His children.  I think specifically of Abram having his name changed to Abraham.  It’s significant that Christ would often refer to Peter using the old name “Simon” when he had need of rebuke or correction (or when the author was simply identifying a more basic component of Peter’s life – like describing who his mother in law was, or whose home they were staying in etc.).  When Peter acted correctly, Jesus would often refer to him by his new nickname – Peter the “rock.”
  • MacArthur makes the point that “Peter was exactly like most Christians – both carnal and spiritual.  He succumbed to the habits of the flesh sometimes; he functioned in the Spirit other times.”

 

How do we teach this to our children?  If you were to tell your children on the way home today that you learned about how Jesus was and is the Word of God, what would you say?

EXAMPLE:  This morning we learned about how the Bible calls Jesus the ‘Lamb of God’ because Jesus was God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.  In the Old Testament, a lamb was used as an offering to God to atone for sin.  To “atone” is to make right with someone (in this case God).  When the people of the Old Testament offered up their sacrificial lamb, it had to be a perfect lamb with no blemishes.  That’s why the Bible calls Jesus the Lamb of God, because Jesus lived a perfect life.  He never sinned.  What was the sacrifice that Jesus made? He died on the cross for our sins.  When He did that, He atoned for our sins, which means we were made right with God.  But not everyone was made right with God…who is give this gift?  Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and confess (verbally speaking what you believe in your heart) Him as Lord (leader) of their lives. 

 

2-12-12 Study Notes

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1:19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

  • The men would have come from the Sanhedrim, which was the high council of the Jews at the time.  This council was composed of both Pharisees and Sadducees, and was in charge of the religious affairs of the Jewish people, along with other things (cf. Barnes Notes), though I’m not sure exactly what else fell under their purview.  It seems likely that they would have been a sort of representative voice for the Jewish people to the Roman occupiers.

1:20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

  • His correct answer here assumes that they asked the question, or at least meant to ask the question as to whether or not he was the Christ.
  • Barnes says that this is the true mark of a gospel minister, “all Christians, and especially all Christian ministers, however much they may be honoured and blessed, should be willing to lay all their honours at the feet of Jesus; to keep themselves back and to hold up before the world only the Son of God. To do this is one eminent mark of the true spirit of a minister of the gospel.”

1:21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

  • Note the two different people they mention here.  They mention Elijah (Malachi 4:2-5), then they mention “the Prophet”, this is the prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.”  The Jews thought of this prophet as someone who would arise prior to the Christ, but they were wrong.  The Christ (Jesus) and the Prophet spoken of this in passage are actually one in the same.
  • Calvin notes that, “But in this passage John has a different object in view, which is, to show that he has no special message, as was usually the case with the prophets, but that he was merely appointed to be the herald of Christ.”
  • So there is a sort of comparison between an expected Prophet and John the Baptist here.  John denies that he is the prophet saying “no”, but Christ later will say that he is the greatest of the prophets (Matt 11:9) and fulfilled the role of Elijah as well (Matt. 11:14; Mark 9:13).  He is a combination of the two, so to speak, though he has no specific prophetic message.  As Calvin states, “The distinction lies in this, that the voice crying, that a way may be prepared for the Lord, is not a prophet, but merely a subordinate minister, so to speak; and his doctrine is only a sort of preparation for listening to another Teacher. In this way John, though he is more excellent than all the prophets, still is not a prophet.”
  • So it is appropriate to say that Christ Himself was perhaps the ultimate prophet that Moses was speaking of.  In fact, Peter makes this very clear in Acts 3:19-22 when he says, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.”

1:22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

  • Note how they demand that he must give some kind of account.  They really seem pushy.  It is obviously a test of John that God is allowing to bring Himself glory.  We will all face this moment, when people see the way our lives are changed as a result of Christ’s work in us.  The question will inevitably come, but what we say on behalf of Christ is a matter of obedience.  Will we give honor and glory to Him?  Or will we shrug off the compliment and puff ourselves up?  What our response is to this question shows how gospel-focused our lives really are.

1:23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

  • This phrase is referring to John’s mission to prepare the hearts of those men and women who would be soon hearing the message of the Christ.  He is making their hearts and paths (so to speak) straight.  He is baptizing them in a baptism of repentance in preparation for the gospel message.
  • This was not the same kind of baptism that we receive today.  When we are baptized today we do so as an outward signification and identification with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Those who had been baptized in the baptism of John were not identifying with the coming Christ, but rather showing an outward desire for repentance.

1:24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) [25] They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

  • The reason this was such a poignant questions was because it was unusual to baptize Jews the way John was baptizing them.  It was customary to baptize proselytes (converting gentiles), but it was not customary to baptize Jewish people who by their natural descent from Abraham would not have been considered so unclean as a pagan gentile.
  • Baptism, then as now, was a sign of cleansing and repentance and John was here adding something to the normal religious rites and order, and this (combined with his popularity) were worthy of attention from the highest officials.

1:26-28 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, [27] even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” [28] These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

  • It is significant to note that the sandal of a man was a very dirty and disgusting piece of clothing.  Slaves weren’t even required to unleash the sandal off their master’s feet, because that was considered below a slave and ill treatment.  Such was the humility of John. How unlike the typical young pastor in popular evangelical circles!  Instead of grabbing for the brass ring, he got down on his face and counted himself unworthy to even touch the dirty sandal of the man coming after him.

How do we teach this to our children?  If you were to tell your children on the way home today that you learned about how Jesus was and is the Word of God, what would you say?

EXAMPLE:  This morning we learned more about the mission of John the Baptist.   John was a man who was sent from God to prepare the hearts of the people of Israel for the coming of their Messiah.  Who was the Messiah (savior) they were looking for?  (JESUS).  Right! Jesus.  And John’s job was to help all of the people of Israel repent of their sins and prepare their hearts to hear what Jesus was going to say.  Do you know what it means to “repent?”  Well, to repent means to “turn” from your sin and your wrong actions and ask God to forgive you.  That’s what John the Baptist was sent by God to do!  Just like the people of Israel were supposed to repent of their sins and ask for forgiveness, we do the same, by asking Jesus to forgive us of our sins.  Only Jesus can forgive us of our sins, because only Jesus died and paid the penalty for our sins.

2-5-12 Study Notes

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1:15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)

  • Christ was above him and that he wasn’t the Christ.  He wants to combat any misunderstanding of his own ministry, which is by nature subservient to the ministry of Christ.
  • John the Baptist is saying is that even though his ministry was a priori, it was not superior, but rather inferior to Christ’s.

1:16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

  • We know that all good things come from God (James 1:17).
  • Morris notes that the word “fullness” indicates, “Christ is the source of all our blessings. There is a hint at the infinite extent of his resources.”
  • “Fullness” is not in the active tense to it means really to fill one time.  Morris says that the Evangelist probably “prefers to concentrate on our becoming participators in the fullness when we first received Christ.”
  • The phrase “grace upon grace” is literally translated “grace instead of grace” and is continuous in the sense that John is likely meaning “that as one piece of divine grace (so to speak) recedes it is replaced by another. God’s grace to his peoples is continuous” (Morris).
  • I can personally identify with this in the area of Christ’s forgiveness (Matt.18:21-22).
  • But we must not regard forgiveness as the sum total of what it means when Scripture says “fullness.” For the truth is that “fullness” paints a much deeper, richer meaning.  It is the fact that we are receiving in Him a life that is “more abundant”, more “conformed to the image of Christ”, indeed as are receiving from Christ every good thing that makes this life worth living at all, and what helps prepare us (sanctify us) for the life to follow.

1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

  • Here we see another elusion to Moses, and here we get the full weight of Christ’s superiority.  For the way of the law is not superior to the grace bought us by Christ.
  • Furthermore, not being under the law, we are not bound to the legalistic standards of the law.  This doesn’t mean we have a license to sin (Rom. 6:1-2), but it means that when we do, we can run to the cross of Christ and know that there is full forgiveness there.

1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

  • Jesus has united us with God, and reconciled us to God through His atoning work on Calvary. This is the climax of John’s prologue.
  • John is reminding us again exactly who we’re talking about here – the eternal God – this is the Being who made us and created all living things. The fact that we as humans have never seen God emphasizes the barrier to knowing Him (Exodus 33:20).
  • Calvin helps us understand, “When he says that none has seen God, it is not to be understood of the outward seeing of the physical eye. He means generally that, since God dwells in inaccessible light, He cannot be known except in Christ, His lively image.”
  • So when John concludes by telling us that Christ is going to make this God known, it is worthy of us wondering in awe and thankful reverence at the mercy and grace He has poured out upon us.  It also points out once again His goodness.
  • But more than that, Christ has helped make God known to us because He put flesh and blood to God.  He came and showed us what it was like to be a perfect human being, and what it was that God wanted for us.  I’m reminded of Joel Olsteen’s book ‘Your Best Life Now.’  Olsteen is perhaps the truest type of antichrist that we can point to in modern terms, but there is a lesson to be learned from his heresy.  What we want is a good life.  What Jesus wanted for us was the same.  The problem is that we had different ways of defining what this means.  Christ showed us the true definition, Olsteen shows us Satan’s false one.  Jesus, by revealing the nature and character of God, showed us more clearly what kind of life a fulfilled human being ought to live.  Jesus lived the most fulfilled human life of all time, and yet he was neither rich, nor comfortable, nor educated, nor powerful (in the way that we desire power).  He showed us that true fulfillment in life is to be found in eating of the Bread of Life, and in “doing the will of the Father.”
  • We must beware of false christs who whisper lies of material wealth, corporate or political power couched in biblical terms.  These are the antichrists and the spirit of this age, and they will not fulfill us.  Taking part in these false blessings is like feasting in an open grave.

How do we teach this to our children?  If you were to tell your children on the way home today that you learned about how Jesus was and is the Word of God, what would you say?

EXAMPLE:  Today we learned about how Jesus gives us all that is necessary to be happy in this life.  We talked about how often we get distracted with things like sports, games, books and so on that promise fulfillment and happiness but always end up disappointing us.  The reason we can’t find happiness in all these things is because they are just temporary.  Basketball and football games end, and the players get old and can’t play anymore. Books get read and get old and fade away.  Games get boring.  TV shows and movies become outdated, boring, and even silly.  But Jesus and His Word (the Bible) are eternal.  What does eternal mean?  It means to never get old.  To last forever.  Not only does Jesus last forever, but His promises last forever, and He has promised that if we trust Him as Lord, and surrender our wills to Him, we will live forever in happiness and joy with Him in heaven.  It doesn’t mean that life here on earth will be easy, but it does mean that He will always be here to give us joy through difficult times, and encourage our heart when we are sad.  His promises never get old or fade away because Jesus never fades away (“He is the same yesterday, today and forever”).  That is why we find happiness and fulfillment in Jesus.

Study Notes 1-29-12: John 1:14

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1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

  • John makes it crystal clear that the Word (Jesus) became a man.  This is the most concise statement we have in the Bible on the doctrine known as the “Incarnation.”
  • Morris and others talk about how John was seeking to dispel the Docetists who thought that Christ could not possibly have taken on a human body.
  • The fact that he “dwelt among us” tells us that He had to live here with us, twas part of His plan. The author of Hebrews tells us, “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb. 2:14-18).
  • The “glory” that John is referring to almost always is thought to be an oblique reference to the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-8). But it can also be tied back to the word for “dwelt” which is “tabernacled” and would have denoted in the Jewish mind that time in which the glory of God would dwell inside the tabernacle during their father’s wanderings in the desert (Exodus 40:34).
  • This glory that was dwelling among the people during the times of Moses had a special name.  When it directly referred to the refulgence and splendor of God it was called the Shekinah glory.  Shekinah means “dwelling” and was used as a way to say that God was dwelling with His people.
  • There are parallels between Moses and Jesus. Moses was certainly a type (or foreshadowing) of Christ.
  • Why did Christ have to dwell among us?  He had to dwell among us because He had to live a perfect and sinless life.  He had to be a perfect and spotless sacrifice.  He also had to be human because it was the sins of humanity that were being atoned for.  However, no one human man could be a perfect sacrifice, only God could take on the task, yet only a man could pay the price for what a man had done.  So that is why Christ had to be both fully God and fully man.
  • Why did He have to have a human body and be born of a virgin and the Holy Spirit?  Well, even though He was fully human, He would not have the inherited sins of the flesh.  That is an important distinction to make because this is the reason for the Virgin Birth.  When Christ was born, He was like Adam in the garden: a perfect, sinless human being.  And that is why we call Him “the Second Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45-47).
  • Theologian Wayne Grudem makes the point that Christ would not have inherited a fallen nature either from Mary or Joseph.  He was obviously not fleshly son of Joseph (so to speak), but the real mystery lies in why He didn’t inherit any sin from Mary.  Grudem explains, “The Roman Catholic Church answers this question by saying that Mary herself was free from sin, but Scripture nowhere teaches this, and it would not really solve the problem anyway (for why then did Mary not inherit sin from her mother?). A better solution is the say that the work of the Holy Spirit in Mary must have prevented not only the transmission of sin from Joseph (for Jesus had no human father) but also, in a miraculous way, the transmission of sin from Mary: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you…therefore the child to be born will be called holy’ (Luke 1:35)”
  • Doctrinally, two of the most important things we can look at with regard to Christ’s humanity are the atonement and justification.  We need to be fully justified (legally right with God) for our sins otherwise we could never stand before a holy and righteous God.  This can’t take place rightly without a perfect atoning sacrifice.  Church Father St. Anselm of Canterbury explains, “And this debt was so great that, while it was man alone who owed it, none but God was able to pay it. So he who paid had to be both God and man…so that man, who in his own nature owed the debt but could not pay, might be able to do so in the person of God.”
  • Theologian R.C. Sproul puts it this way, “Christ’s redeeming work includes not only His death, but His life. His life of perfect obedience becomes the sole ground of our justification. It is His perfect righteousness, gained via His perfect obedience, that is imputed to all who put their trust in Him. Therefore, Christ’s work of active obedience is absolutely essential to the justification of anyone. Without Christ’s active obedience to the covenant of works, there is no reason for imputation, there is no ground for justification.”

How do we teach this to our children?
EXAMPLE:  We learned today that God’s Son Jesus came to live with men and had a body just like you and I do.  He felt pain, and happiness and got bruises on his knees just like you and I do.  Why do you think Jesus had to be born and become a human/man? (so He could die for our sins – God can’t die, and yet only a God-man could pay for the sins of so many people) It is a good thing for us that God came down to earth to become a man, because this way He knows our feelings, our pain, and what it is like to live here on the earth.  Jesus is with God in heaven and because He knows our pain and difficulties, He talks to God the Father for us.  He asks God to help us in our difficult times.  This is very reassuring!  It shows how much Jesus loves His children – and we are His heavenly children because God has adopted us into His family.

1-22-12 Study Notes

~ parrispayden ~ Leave a comment
1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

  • This is John the Baptist
  • This witness was appointed, not for the sake of Christ, but “for our sake” (Calvin)
  • The authority of his teaching is noted as coming from God.


1:7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

  • Here’s the mission statement of John the Baptist.
  • His role is subordinate to that of Christ.


1:8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

  • Clarification about the nature and role of exactly who John was.


1:9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

  • John will quickly go from talking in the future tense, to talking in the past tense.


1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

  • The same “word” from verse one, is the equivalent as the “light” from the past few verses.


1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

  • In the near east, and especially in Palestine and among the Jewish people, hospitality was a virtue.  It was a hallmark of their holy community.  But, as we well know, the horrific truth was even worse than a mere lack of hospitality.
  • God is not a Universalist, for we know that not all men come to salvation; not all men are saved.  But rather that He does not discriminate.  In Acts 10:34-35 Peter explains that, “truly I understand that God shows no partiality.”
  • This isn’t “replacement theology” it was His plan all along to expand His kingdom to all men. (Is. 42:6; 49:6, Jer. 31:31-34, to name a few).
  • God is not reacting to what men did; salvation of the Gentiles is not “plan b.”  For God says of all men (not just Israelites) who believe in Him that He had predestined them from the foundation of the world (1Peter 1:20, Romans 8:29-30, Ephesians 1:5,11 to name a few).


1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

  • Despite what we learn about in verse 11, He still offered up this promise of salvation.
  • He didn’t just come and offer salvation, He did much more by extending the ultimate when He says, ‘if you believe in me, and receive me, then I will ADOPT you into my family.’
  • You see, we all think we want justice, but what we really need is mercy.  Why? Because we are all guilty of the nails and thorns that pierced Christ.  We are all murderers, adulterers, slanderers, thieves, and idolaters etc. Yet God, in His rich mercy, has saved us from His Justice and wrath – the wrath we deserve.


1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

  • “How in the world am I going to be adopted by God?”  In John 3:6 Jesus was having with Nicodemus and explained, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
  • When someone is “born again” it is the Spirit of God who is doing the work.
  • In the adoption process, who initiates the process?  The parents.
  • When we realize our sin and our offense against God, and then see that He is offering us a place in His family, the Spirit helps us realize how wonderful this is, and enables us to make that choice to come with our new adopted Father.
  • Can we have confidence in His love and His care for us?  YES!  I personally love to imagine the heart of God and His mind saying, “Despite your sin PJ, I’m going to save you.  And PJ, I want you to be a part of my family too and to live with me forever in my kingdom!”  The promises and consequences of this reality are significant, and will continue to be unraveled in the chapters to follow.
  • I think one of the great verses that reminds us of God’s initiative in salvation, as well as his great love for us is 1 John 4:19 which says, “we love because He first loved us.”

 

How do we teach this to our children?
EXAMPLE:  Today we learned about how John the Baptist came before Jesus and was telling everyone who would listen to him about Jesus and how He was coming soon.  He told people to repent of their sins and prepare to listen to what Jesus had to say.  But not everyone wanted to listen or confess their sin.  We also learned about how everyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God and receives Him into their lives gets to become children of God forever.  We learned that we become God’s children when God softens our hearts to believe in Jesus and repent of our sins, and that we can’t do those things unless God works in our heart first to prepare us to receive Him – just as John the Baptist prepared the people of Israel for what Jesus had to say.  Some people listened to John, and others didn’t. We are also supposed to listen to what Jesus says in His Word, the Bible. Unfortunately just as people did not want to listen to John the Baptist, people today still don’t want to listen to what God has to say in the Bible about His Son Jesus.  Why do you think people do this? (People do this because they love to sin more than they love God.)  What happens to people who don’t listen and obey what God has to say about His Son Jesus?  (The punishment for sin is death, and being separated from God forever after we die.)  We need to listen to what God has said in the Bible, confess to God that we sin and are sinners, believe that Jesus came to die for our sins and has forgiven them.  Jesus is the only way to heaven and is the Son of God.  Doing these things makes our hearts right, pleases God, and gives us the right to be with Him forever in heaven.

1-14-12 Study Notes

~ parrispayden ~ Leave a comment
John Chapter 1

Matthew Henry says that, “the scope and design of this chapter is to confirm our faith in Christ as the eternal Son of God, and the true Messiah and Savior of the world, that we may be brought to receive him, and rely upon him, as our prophet, priest, and king, and to give up ourselves to be rules and taught, and saved by him.”  I couldn’t have put it any better than this. Henry’s words drip with humility and a desire to be a bondservant of Christ.  He wants to be completely “ruled” by Christ, and have every part of his life conformed to that great image we are told the Spirit is working within us to complete upon our glorification.
The introduction of this chapter does not include a proper genealogy like Matthew and Luke, but includes what I might term a divine genealogy.
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  • “In the beginning” harkens back to that very familiar verse that opens up the redemptive narrative of Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
  • In writing this book, the apostle John sought to prove the deity of Jesus.  He gives us the reason for writing the book in chapter 20 verse 31 where he says, “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.”
  • This narrative is unlike any of the other synoptic gospels in several ways.  For the most part, John focuses on the things that Jesus said even more than the things that He did.  There are, however, 7 prominent “signs” that Christ did that John uses throughout the book to help support his thesis, which is that Jesus is God.
  • Then we get this phrase “the word was with God, and the word was God.”  This is a highly Trinitarian statement.  That is to say, this verse is asserting that the Word was with God and was God.  So we say that the Godhead is three in substance and one in essence.  As Matthew Henry puts it, “in respect of essence and substance; for the Word was God: a distinct person or substance, for he was with God; and yet the same in substance, for he was God (Heb. 1:3).”
  • More than we realize, it is vital to understand and contemplate the nature of the trinity.  For the trinity is God, and God is desirous of us to know Him more intimately, and how can we truly know and love someone unless we know something of who they are?  Spurgeon said, “Plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in His immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul, so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.”


1:2 He was in the beginning with God.

  • Verse two reemphasizes what was said in verse one, only this time we note that instead of saying “the word”, John says “he” so that we understand that by “the word” John had been previously referring to a person, not just an idea or part of God’s personality.


1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

  • Often we don’t think of Jesus, of the second member of the trinity, as creating anything.  John is saying here that Jesus was the verbal manifestation of God’s command for all things to come into being.  When those words were uttered in the void of space and time, that was God speaking through Jesus everything into creation.
  • To prove this point, John is careful to select certain miracles that Christ did that showed His authority over nature.  For example, in John 11 Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  How did He do it?  He spoke!  “Lazarus, come out.”  Notice He spoke in the imperative.  He gave a command.  “let there be light” and “come out” are commands.
  • Paul reiterates that we have our life in Christ and that all things were created by and through him in Colossians 1:16, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Romans 11:36 also says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
  • So Christ was there at the beginning, and made all things.  Calvin notes that it is fitting that John chose to start his gospel this way, “The design is, to show it to have been necessary that the restoration of mankind should be accomplished by the Son of God, since by his power all things were created, since he alone breathes into all the creatures life and energy, so that they remain in their condition.”  He continues, “…life is now restored to the dead through the kindness of him who was the source and cause of life, when the nature of man was still uncorrupted.”
  • Boice really does us a service here because he lays out how, in his time, John’s readers would have hear this and connected with it in different, yet equally powerful ways.  For example, the Greeks had a long tradition of studying this concept of the “Logos.”  Their ancient philosopher Heraclitus (hair-a-clee-tus) greatly influenced Plato’s thinking on the word and its meaning.  For Heraclitus, the logos because nothing less than the mind of God controlling this world and all men.
  • Boice explains: “Plato, we are told, once turned to that little group of philosophers and students that had gathered around him during the Greek Golden Age in Athens and said to his followers ‘It may be that some day there will come forth from God a Word, a Logos, who will reveal all mysteries and make everything plain.’ Now John is saying, ‘Yes, Plato, and the Logos had come; now God is revealed to us perfectly.’”
  • The Hebrews thought differently about this word logos. Boice says, “the idea of ‘word’ would also have meant more to a Jewish mind than it does to us today. To the Jew a word was something concrete, something much closer to what we would call an event or a deed.  A word spoken was a deed done.”  We see this in Old Testament Scripture – Isaiah 55:11 says, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”


1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

  • Leon Morris notes that   has a wonderful quote about this verse, he says: “If Christ is not true and natural God, born of the Father in eternity and Creator of all creatures, we are doomed…we must have a Savior who is true God and Lord over sin, death, devil, and hell.  If we permit the devil to topple this stronghold for us, so that we disbelieve His divinity, then His suffering, death, and resurrection profit us nothing.”
  • I absolutely love how Luther brings it back to the cross and the gospel.  If Christ wasn’t the source of all life and all good and true knowledge (light), then we would be hopelessly lost.  Matthew Henry has the same idea when he says, “When we worship Christ, we worship him whom all creatures depend. This shows how well qualified he was for the work of our redemption and salvation.”
  • The word “life” is easier to understand, because we are familiar with it, and the apostle makes plain what he is asserting.  He simply says, that “in Him was life.”  So in a way, this is easy to understand. But there is perhaps more here than meets the eye. Christ is not only the Creator of all things, but He is the Sustainer of all things (all men).  This is a beautiful truth that we find in other passages of Scripture (Acts 17:28; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:3).
  • Calvin says this (“light”) expresses how God is differentiating human beings from the animals.  He says, “It informs us that the life which was bestowed on men was not of an ordinary description, but was united to the light of understanding. He separates man from the rank of other creatures; because we perceive more readily the power of God by feeling it in us than by beholding it at a distance.”


1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

  • This is perhaps the most beautiful summary to the first five verses one could hope for.  The light is Jesus Christ and His gospel and His kingdom.  The darkness is all mankind in our sinfulness.
  • We learn from John just two chapters later that humans actually love the darkness of our sin.  It says in John 3:19-21:
    • “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
  • This highlights the doctrine of man’s total depravity like no other.  Not only do we shy away from the light when it’s shined, but we also LOVE the darkness.  We are comfortable in the darkness.  We are used to it.  We don’t want our deeds exposed – its says, “lest his words should be exposed.”
  • We also know about the principles, scientifically, of light and darkness.  Where light exists it always wins.
How do we teach this to our children?  If you were to tell your children on the way home today that you learned about how Jesus was and is the Word of God, what would you say?
EXAMPLE:  Today we learned about how Jesus and God are one person.  We also learned how Jesus, just by speaking, created the world.  Everything you see in the world was created by Jesus.  Also, the Bible tells us that everything that Jesus made He made for Himself.  That means that Jesus made things that give Him joy and bring Him honor (glory).  Does it give you joy to make things?  Like what kind of things?  How (what kinds of things) can we (do to) honor Jesus?

God’s Love Letter to the World – An Introduction to John

~ parrispayden ~ 1 Comment

“God’s love letter to the world” – Martin Luther

Personal Preface
There are a few things that make the Gospel of John so unique among the other gospels.  First, it has a different style than the other gospels.  It is less concerned about the narrative than the message itself of who Jesus is.  Second, it is missing many of the things that a the other gospels have, namely the birth of Jesus, no ascension, no institution of the last super, no account of His baptism, and, as James Montgomery Boice points out, there are no parables.  But John also has many things that the other gospels do not have.  Namely, he gives a detailed account of his early ministry, of Nicodemus, of the Samaritan Woman, and of the discourses during the last super.
One of the reasons I’m so excited about teaching and studying the book of John has to do with the fact that its changed my own life in great ways.  I recall with great clarity the days I spent pouring through this book as a young man working my way through college.  I read through it a few times, once came during my work as a valet car parking attendant at the Wyndham Hotel in downtown Toledo.  I had the second shift during several consecutive days of work, and my job was primarily to sit in the security booth at the car lot a few blocks away from the hotel.  This was a very tedious, and often unwanted job at the valet station.  During this particular week, I studiously read the book of John through very carefully, and at that time I discovered many of the truths I’ll be relating now (below).  Although my understanding of these truths was merely in its infancy, this was the beginning of a love affair with this gospel that has continued until this day.
Another reason this book is so thrilling to study, is the realization of how impactful it’s been on the lives of so many Christians.  Boice points out that, “It has probably been the means by which more persons have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord than any other single portion of Scripture.”  Martin Luther, the great 16th century reformer, preached many a message from its pages, and called the book “God’s love letter to the world.”  Augustine said that the “the Gospel of John is deep enough for an elephant to swim and shallow enough for a child not to drown.”
As I have started to study the introduction to John, I have noted the richness of the first chapter.  This book is unlike any other gospel, or any other book of the New Testament for that matter.  I’m looking forward to exploring both what the Spirit has to teach me through the study, and what others learn from my teaching of it to them.

Introduction
There are so many wonderful doctrines embedded within the richness of this gospel.  It is food for the mature, and milk for the new Christian as well.  The whole book can probably be best seen as a study in Christology.  Christology is, as you might have guessed, the study of the person and work of Christ Jesus.  And that is exactly what we have here.  We see here a work so magnificent, that those hoping to teach what lies within its pages have both a sweet, yet daunting task before them.
My own reflections on these verses will be aimed with humility and focus at getting to the truth presented by the text.  My prayer is that I add nothing to the writer’s design, and help learners clearly understand the mysteries and joys of the gospel.
John spent most of his focus not on miracles or parables (in fact no parables are recorded herin), but on the key teachings of Christ.  John MacArthur aptly summarizes what is “missing” when he lists a number of items you won’t find.  “John contains no narrative parables, no eschatological discourses, no accounts of Jesus exorcising demons, or healing lepers, no list of the twelve apostles, and no formal institution of the Lord’s Super. John also does not record Jesus’ birth, baptism, transfiguration, temptation, agony in Gethsemane, or ascension.”
There are, however, many many things, which John includes which are not found in any of the synoptic gospels.  MacArthur notes that over 90% of John’s material is not found in the other gospels.  John, who wrote this gospel well after the other three had been written (probably 80-90AD), was perhaps filling in the gaps.  As a whole the gospels complement each other, and as DA Carson says, They “represent an interlocking tradition, that is…they mutually reinforce or explain each other.”
Author Pink says, “In this book we are shown that the one who was heralded by the angels to the Bethlehem shepherds, who walked this earth for thirty-three years, who was crucified at Calvary, who rose in triumph from the grace, and who forty days later departed from these scenes, was none other than the Lord of Glory. The evidence for this is overwhelming, the proofs almost without number, and the effect of contemplating them must be to bow our hearts in worship before ‘the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13)”
Authorship
It seems like the authorship has been debated, settled, re-debated and so on.  There are two main proofs, one external, one internal, that seem to be worth mentioning here.  The external proof is that the early church fathers – notably Irenaeus, said that John wrote this gospel.  This is important because Irenaeus was the disciple of Polycarp and Polycarp was one of John’s disciples.  He would have known with certainty who his mentor was studying.  The internal evidence is that this gospel was written by John is probably best laid out in a logical fashion by John MacArthur who is citing B.F. Westcott who laid out the evidence in several points:

  1. The author was a Jew
  2. The author was a Palestinian Jew
  3. The author was an eyewitness
  4. The author was an apostle
  5. The author was the apostle John – as Morris says, “its is not easy to think of a reason why any early Christian, other than John himself, should have completely omitted all mention of such a prominent Apostle”

For the skeptitics…
Some have said that the gospel was written by a 2nd century Gnostic.  We now can totally through that out the window.  John MacArthur explains:

The earliest extant portion of any New Testament book is a tiny fragment (P52) containing a few verses from John 18 and dating from about AD 130 (or earlier). (Another early fragment, known as the Egerton Papyrus 2, also quotes portions of John’s gospel. Scholars date is no later than the middle of the second century.) Nineteenth-century critics confidently dated the gospel of John in the second half of the second century. The discovery of P52 early in the twenthieth-century sounded the death knell for that view. The fragment was found in a remote region of Egypt.  Allowing time for John’s gospel to have circulated that far pushes its date of writing back into the first century.

There are also archaeological reasons for believing the book was written in the first century.  Boice notes that “the late Near Eastern archaeologist William F. Albrght, are willing to date the book in the AD 60’s, this is, within thirty or forty of Christ’s death and resurrection.”
There have been two key discoveries that have been unearthed in the last hundred or so years that also give us reason to believe in the historical trustworthiness of this gospel.  Boice explains:

“In John 5:2 where John mentions a poll called Bethesda that, he says, had five porches. For years no one had ever even heard of this pool.  What is more, since John’s dscription made it sound like a pentagon, and since there had never been ay pentagon-shaped pools in antiquity, the existence of this pool was thought by many New Testament scholars to be doubtful.  Now, however, approximately fifty to seventy-five fee below the present level of the city of Jerusalem, archaeologists have uncovered a large rectangular pool surrounded by four covered colonnades and having an additional colonnade crossing it in the middle somewhat like a bridge.  In other words, there was a pool with five porches, as John said.  The second archaeological discovery involved the probably identification of Aenon near Salim, which John mentions in 3:23, as having “plenty of water” in the Jordan valley.  It was obviously the place where John the Baptist found adequate water for his baptizing.”

Occasion – Why was this written?
I believe that this is simply laid out by John himself when he states, “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
His mission was evangelistic.  He was writing these things to show you that Jesus was the Son of God.  To prove the deity of Jesus Christ – that is why John spends so much time up front laying out the divine genealogy!
The second reason that we see in verse 31 above is that in Chris was have “life in his name.”  I see this in two ways.  First, eternal life, and secondly a more fulfilled life here on earth.  Christ said in John 10:10 that, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”