1,2,3 John and Jude| May 19,2019

I’m here to remind you that your first job is to be a detective! …uncover the original situation for the NT . What is the occasion for writing this letter?

Read I Peter 1:3-12 1. A Call to Holy Living (1:13-2:10) 2. Being God’s People for the sake of the pagan world (2:11- 3:7) 3. The Theological Context for Suffering (4:12-5:11)

It doesn’t take to figure this one out!

Just read chapter 2!!!!! 1. Grow in Godliness (1:3-11) 2. Peter’s Testimony about (1:12-21) 3. Those low down, dirty, no good, rotten false teachers (…and that’s putting it nicely!) (2:1-22) 4. Correcting the False Teaching (3:1-18)

▪ John was the son of , probably the younger son b/c he is mentioned after his brother James. ▪ Some scholars speculate that he was Jesus’s first cousin on Mary’s side. ▪ His parents were well-to-do – his father was a fisherman and had “hired servants” ▪ Jesus nicknamed he and his brothers “Boanerges” = “sons of thunder” ▪ “….they were high-spirited, impetuous Galileans, whose zeal was undisciplined and sometimes misdirected.” (See Luke 9:49, 54) ▪ Three important occasions when he is mentioned with Peter and his brother James at the exclusion of the other disciples: ▪ The raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37) ▪ The Transfiguration (Mark 9:2) ▪ Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33) ▪ Peter and John make the preparations for the final Passover meal. ▪ In the fourth , John is never mentioned by name. It is understood that he is “the whom Jesus loved.” “The beloved disciple” ▪ …who lay close to the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper (John 13:23) ▪ …who was entrusted with the care of his mother at the cross (19:26-27) ▪ …who ran with Peter to the tomb on Easter morning and was the first to see the undisturbed grave-clothes (20:2,8) ▪ …who was present with the resurrected Jesus appeared to seven of the disciples by the Sea of ▪ In Acts, John and Peter together bore the brunt of early Jewish hostility towards the church (Acts 4:13; 5:22, 40) ▪ He continues on in the church in Jerusalem for an unknown time. ▪ He writes Revelation from exile on the Island of Patmos, which would make it seem as though he had ended up in Ephesus. 1. Jerusalem 2. Ephesus 4 3. Philippi 3 9 4. Rome 10 5. Corinth 6. Antioch 7. Malta 5 Patmos 2 13 8. Tarsus 8 6 9. Thessalonica 7 10. Galatia 11. Cyprus 11 12. Patmos 13. Colossae 14. Alexandria 1 14

▪ Written by “the elder” to a Christian community that he’s obviously familiar with but does not give us any clear indicators in the letter ▪ This letter does not have traditional components of a letter (salutation, final greeting etc.). This probably means that the churches were under his direct supervision. ▪ John has a unique writing style in all of his writings that sets him apart from the other authors Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (2:18-19; see also 2:26; 3:7; 4:1) ▪ The Incarnation ▪ Love for the brothers and sisters, especially those in need ▪ The relationship between sin and being God’s children Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (4:1-6) See also: 1:1-4; 2:20-25 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us… (4:7-21) See also: 2:7-11; 3:11-24 ▪ Read together 3:1-10 ▪ “Who are the true children of God?” See also: 1:5-22; 2:28-3:10; 5:13-21 His special vocabulary tells the whole story: To remain/continue/abide (24x) in the truth (9x) means to believe in (9x) or confess (5x) the Son (22x), to whom the Father (14x) and Spirit (8x) bear witness (12x); it means further to be born of God (IO.Y), so as to walk (5x) in the light (6x), to hear (14x) and to know (46x) God, to keep (7x) the commandment (14x) to love (46x) the brothers and sisters (15x)… …and thus to have life (13x), which is from the beginning (8x), and finally to overcome (6x) the world. All of this is in contrast to the lie (7x), deceit (Ax), denying Christ (3x), having a false spirit (Ax), thus being antichrist (4x), walking in darkness (6x), hating (5x) one’s brothers and sisters but loving the world (23x), thus being in sin (27x), which leads to death (6x).

(From How to Read the Book by Book)

▪Author?

What’s the deal here? ▪Recipient?

▪What words are repeated?

▪What’s the Occasion?

▪ Author?

I need an explanation. ▪ Recipient?

▪ Main Characters?

▪ What words are repeated?

▪ What’s the occasion? Archibald M. Hunter: 3 John is all about “the Elder, who wrote it; , who received it; Diotrephes, who provoked it; and Demetrius, who carried it”

▪ Author: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James…” = a modest way of saying he’s Jesus’s brother ▪ Recipients: unknown but probably a congregation of Jewish background Christians in Palestine who were familiar with both the Old Testament and Jewish apocalyptic literature ▪ What’s the occasion? (I’ll give you ONE guess!) “The Sin and Doom of Godless Men (Jude 3-16)

Monday: Read all four Tuesday: 1 John Wednesday: 2,3 John & Jude Thursday: Read all four Friday: Read all four