DBG - November 6 - John 1-3

John’s Gospel was written much later than the other three and has a very different approach to its subject.  He presents Christ as the Son of God, and the book is written for believers. I like to describe this book as an insider’s look at Christ.  It is more intimate than the other Gospels, and contains deeper teachings that were meant for those outside of the faith.  John may go deep, but he writes using simple language.  He adds much to the history of Christ’s early ministry and the Passion Week, with almost half of the book devoted to those final days. 

A few quick facts about John:

·       The author is John the Apostle

·       This book was written around A.D. 90.

·       The key verse is 3:3 – “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

·       A brief outline (from John Phillips):

o   Prologue - 1:1-18

o   The Signs of the Son of God - 1:19-12:50

o   The Secrets of the Son of God – Chapters 13-17

o   The Sorrows of the Son of God – Chapters 18-20

o   Epilogue – Chapter 21

In this chapter, Christ begins His ministry and calls His first disciples. 

vs. 1-3 – If we were to lay out the contents of Scripture chronologically, these verses would be before Genesis 1:1.  Christ is the Word in that He is the image and expression of God revealed to us.  His story does not begin in Bethlehem; it truly has no beginning.  In these opening verses, John establishes the deity of Christ.

vs. 4-9 – Christ is seen here as the Light.  That light is life in Creation and salvation.  It shines into this world, but sinful men refuse to embrace it.  John the Baptist heralded the arrival of the Light, but was not the light itself. 

vs. 10-14 – Christ did not just shine light into this world; He personally came into the world.  Still, His own people, the Jews, rejected Him as their Messiah and God.  But those who did embrace Him in faith were granted the right to enter God’s family. 

vs. 15-18 – John the Baptist testified of Christ.  Through Him were revealed grace and truth to mankind.  I believe that verse 18 teaches that any time mankind sees God in the Bible, they are seeing Christ.

vs. 19-34 – This parallels Matthew 3:1-12, Mark 1:1-8, and Luke 1:19-34.  John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ to come.  He clearly stated that he was not the Messiah, but that he was heralding His arrival.  He knew he was the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3-5.  John’s ministry did not last very long.  He had been preaching for maybe six months when he pointed to Christ as the Lamb of God.  He witnessed the sign of the Spirit descending on Christ as a dove at His baptism, confirming to John that Christ was the Messiah.

vs. 35-51 – John writes about some of the earliest events of Christ’s ministry that the other Gospels do not record.  Here He begins calling disciples to follow Him.  The first are Andrew (“manly”) and an unidentified disciple.  It is possible this is John (“Jehovah’s gift”), who does not typically identify himself in his account.  The next is Simon (“hearing”) Peter, who is also called Peter (“a rock”).  Christ calls him Cephas, which is Aramaic for “stone.”  The next is Philip (“lover of horses”), who then goes and tells his friend Nathanael (“Gift of God”).  Nathanael’s bias and disbelief disappear when Christ displays His omniscience in telling him He saw Nathanael under a fig tree.  The limbs of a fig tree would reach to the ground and provide a hidden place beneath them that would prevent people from seeing you from the outside.  I think this may have been Nathanael’s secret place of prayer.

In this chapter Christ performs His first miracles

vs. 1-12 – Christ performs His first miracle at Cana (“place of reeds”), a village near Capernaum. Mary is related to one of the families and is present.  A typical wedding celebration lasted for seven days, throughout which the groom’s family provided food and drinks.  It would be shameful for the family to run out of supplies during the celebration.  Mary presses for Christ to intervene.  His response in verse 4 is not as harsh as it may appear in English.  There were six waterpots that were used in the ceremonial washings before eating.  A firkin is maybe 9 or 10 gallons, so we could have between 100 and 180 total gallons of water in them.  Christ commands the servants to draw from these pots and serve it to the head of the feast.  When he tastes it, it is no longer water but wine.  He is amazed at the quality of the wine he tasted. Moses had turned water into blood (Exodus 4:9), which we may say illustrates the death penalty of the Law for our sins.  Christ turns water into wine, which may indicate the joy and salvation He brings.

vs. 13-17 – This is the first of three Passovers that Christ attends during His earthly ministry.  He begins this visit by cleansing the Temple.  This is not the same event that the other Gospels record during the Passion Week.  Christ does this twice, once at the beginning of His ministry and again at its end.  The people he drove out were selling animals for sacrifices or exchanging foreign currency for the Tyrian shekels used in the Temple.  The disciples are reminded of Psalm 69:9. 

vs. 18-25 – The people are puzzled by Christ’s actions and ask if it is a sign.  Christ responds that the sign that will prove He is the Messiah is His death and resurrection after three days.  He compares His body to a temple, which the people misinterpret as being the Second Temple in Jerusalem.  Herod the Great had begun vast projects to expand and beautify the Temple Mount, and work was ongoing at that time.  Many believed on Him through events at the Passover.  If Christ were attempting to ride a wave of popularity in setting up His Kingdom, this would have been a good time.  He was on a different course, which three years later would lead Him back to Jerusalem at the Passover to be crucified.

In this chapter Christ explains the Gospel to Nicodemus.

vs. 1-21 – The setting for the meeting between Christ and Nicodemus (“victory of the people”) is the Passover from John 2.  This high-ranking Pharisee meets privately with Christ, not wanting to let his peers know what he was doing.  He is trying to understand how Christ could be the Messiah.  Christ turns the conversation into a Gospel presentation.  To be part of God’s heavenly kingdom required a second birth.  This is not a natural birth (“born of water” in vs. 5), but a spiritual one.  He presses that salvation is through faith in the Messiah, who would be “lifted up” on a cross.  Faith is the key.  We must embrace the light of Christ and not the darkness of Christ.

vs. 22 – After the Passover, Christ continues to preach around Judea.  Many believe on Him and are baptized.

vs. 23-36 - John the Baptist was at Aenon (“spring”) near Salim (“peace”), a site believed to be about fifty miles north of Jerusalem.  John’s popularity is decreasing as Christ’s is increasing.  I think a sign of the frustration this caused some of his followers is seen in the argument over purifications.  John is asked about Christ.  His response shows his knowledge of his role as the forerunner and the depth of his character.  Just as a wedding is all about the bride and groom, so that time was all about Christ and His followers, which would become the church.  John was willing to humble himself so Christ could be exalted.  Christ is simply superior in the origin of His ministry and in His Heavenly message.  Salvation did not depend on John; it depended on Christ.  Our eternal destinies hinge on whether or not we put our faith in Christ. 

One of my favorite features of the early chapters of John is that Christ is actively reaching out to people.  He calls disciples to follow Him immediately after beginning His ministry.  He meets with Nicodemus.  This theme will continue into the next two chapters with the Samaritan woman in Chapter 4 and a lame man in Chapter 5.  Christ personally sought after the lost.  He still does.

“Believe and Be Saved” by Isaac Watts

Not to condemn the sons of men,
Did Christ, the Son of God, appear;
No weapons in His hands are seen,
No flaming sword nor thunder there.

Such was the pity of our God,
He loved the race of man so well,
He sent His Son to bear our load
Of sins, and save our souls from hell.

Sinners, believe the Savior’s word,
Trust in His mighty name and live;
A thousand joys His lips afford,
His hands a thousand blessings give.

But vengeance and damnation lies
On rebels who refuse the grace;
Who God’s eternal Son despise,
The hottest hell shall be their place.