DISCOVERING JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF TRUTH TEACHER TRAINING SEPTEMBER 2, 2020 1. INTRODUCTION TO JOHN 2. PREPARING TO TEACH JOHN 3. POTENTIAL PREACHING SCHEDULE 4. SUGGESTED STRUCTURAL OUTLINES 5. STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING JOHN Introduction to John 1. John is the Gospel of Truth. John is the Gospel of Truth. Truth is mentioned 28 times in the book. There are long sections of theology and doctrine, and many of this is not mentioned in other Gospels. • Full of grace and truth. 1.14 • Spirit and Truth. 4.23 • Borne witness to the truth. 5.33 • Truth will set you free. 8.31 • Way the truth and the life. 14.6 • The Spirit of Truth 15.26 • I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. 17.8 • Bear witness to the truth 18.37 • He (John) is telling the truth Think of the doctrines that come from John. The Fabric of our faith is woven with theological threads taken from the Gospel of John. The foundation of our faith is built on stones quarried from the Gospel of John. John is the Gospel of Truth. 2. Truth is a Person John is the Gospel of Truth. But the way John presents this is not cold or academic. John is filled with remarkable interactions with people. The woman at the Well, Lazarus, the Story of Nicedemous, these are found only in John. It is John 4 that we find Jesus with the woman at the well. It is in John 10 that Jesus refers to Himself as the good Shepherd. Truth has a name and its Jesus. John is doctrine in the flesh. John is truth in person. In John, interaction with Jesus that is warm and wonderful is met with the bracing reality of his divinity and relationship with the Father. 2 John is Truth in Person. And this is where we get to our title: Discovering Jesus in the Gospel of Truth. To read John is to discover Truth. To read John is to Discover Jesus. To read John is to discover that Jesus is Truth. Transition: The Truth of Jesus is important to John for Two Reasons: 1.) John Wants us to Believe John 20:30,31 o “These things are written…” o John forces us to move from assent to conviction. o John’s call to belief is evangelistic and faith building. We see Jesus. Really. o Standing on the rubble of our beliefs is the sandal clad feet of Jesus. 2.) John was there. John 21:24,25 o Author § The Author of the book is the Apostle John. § He also wrote the epistles of John, and Revelation. § So, five books in total. o John was there… § Think about this. There is one God, that God had one Son, and in God’s providence His one Son and one closest friend, named John. § So, when the one friend, of the one Son, of the One God writes one Gospel…we listen. o True Testimony § There was a man named Irenaeus who lived about 150 years after Jesus. • “I could tell you the place where the blessed Polycarp sat to preach the Word of God. It is yet present to my mind with what gravity he everywhere came in and went out; what was the sanctity of his deportment, the majesty of his countenance; and what were his holy exhortations to the people. I seem to hear him now relate how he conversed with John and many others who had seen Jesus Christ, the words he had heard from their mouths.”1 Summary This is the Gospel of Truth and Jesus is Truth in Person. This is important to John because he was there, and he wants us to believe. So, two big truths to introduce John. Jesus was Real – He can’t be ignored. 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarp 3 Helps for Teaching John2 John 21:24,25 24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. In this simple verse John identifies himself, but then he tells us something remarkable. There is more. This is not all Jesus did. This is not all Jesus said. This makes the words in front of us remarkable for the reason that John is highly selective. He ate with Jesus, was Jesus closest confidant, knew more about Jesus than anyone and with all of that interaction – he chose a very select group of material to write about. So, here is the question that should haunt every teacher of any Gospel. The question is, why did the writer select this material? So, this may seem confusing, but it is not. When we interpret an epistle we may be asking, “Why did Paul, or Peter, or James say things this way?” When we are interpreting a Gospel, we are asking “Why did Jesus say or do that?” However, what we know about this episode is selective. It’s not sleight of hand or trickery – after all John tells us in the last verse that he is being selective. I can’t tell you everything, so I am telling you some things. You have been provided the Broadman Holman Commentary. Below is a survey of the book by Mac Curnson, and two outlines both by Andreas Kostenberger – one an outline of the book and the other a chronological outline of the life of Christ according to John. 4 DEITY3 If Matthew, Mark, and Luke take us into the Holy Place, John takes us beyond and into the Holy of Holies. In John’s Gospel Jesus is King (1:49), Servant (13:1-17), and Son of Man (4:7; 11:35). But He is preeminently the eternal Son of God who dwelt in the bosom of the Father and He came and He exegeted Him. Now here is a quick, short outline of John based on 16:28 where Jesus says: I came out from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father. I. “I Came forth from the Father” (Prologue) 1:1-18. II. “And am come into the world” (Ministry) 1:19-12:50 III. “Again, I leave the world” (Upper Room and Garden) 13-17 IV. “And go to the Father” (Arrest, Cross, Burial, Resurrection) 18-21 3 The following material is from Brunson, Mac. “Preparation for Preaching John” Mar. 5, 2013. Expository Preaching Workshop. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. http://swbts.edu/media/item/715/session-6-preparation-for-preaching-john. 5 OMISSIONS & ADDITIONS No genealogy appears in the Gospel like you find in Matthew and Luke. John is showing that Jesus as God had neither father nor mother, nor beginning or end. He has no birth account, nor is there a lineage because He is the eternal Word. All of this is what John is saying in those magnificent opening words of his gospel. There is no temptation account in John’s Gospel because God cannot be tempted. There are no parables there are these great dialogues that Jesus has with various people like Nicodemus and the woman at the well. There is no account of the transfiguration. You see to John it was not that His glory came busting through in that moment there on the mountaintop with Peter and James and John. To John the great wonder of it all was that he was able to conceal it behind human flesh for 33 year. Much of Jesus Galilean ministry is omitted whereas Matthew, Mark, and Luke carry so much of that ministry. John centers on the ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem and in Judea. He makes mention of three Passovers (2:13; 6:4; 12:1). John mentions the Feast of Tabernacles (7:2), and the Feast of Dedication (10:22). Now Matthew, Mark, and Luke only speak of one Passover prior to the Passion. In John you will note that he pays special attention to things that the others pay no attention to, like geography, or topography, and time references. There are a number of variations in the gospel of John but remember each of these writers, though writing under inspiration the Holy Spirit does not negate their personalities or 6 life experiences or who they are. They write from such different perspectives. Let me show you just a couple of these variations The story of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus. In Matthew, Mary poured the oil on His head (26:7). That makes sense in Matthews Gospel because he presents Jesus as King and a King’s head is where he is anointed. Now John tells the story differently and has Mary anoint Jesus’ feet (12:3). Well John is writing from the perspective that Jesus is God and where else would we be but at His feet in worship. John’s Gospel is the only one of the four Gospels where you have Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Now I might expect it in Mark or even Luke, but it comes in John’s Gospel as He shows how far God was willing to condescend to reach us and cleanse us from our sin. John is always in every way pointing to the deity of Jesus Christ. He does it by pointing out the seamless robe which speaks of the oneness of Jesus and God (19:23).