October 2, 2011                                                                                                                The Gospel of John

Part #3                                                                                                                                             John 1:35-42

Passages & Notes

John 1:35-42

v.37    “…they followed Jesus.” The disciples of Jesus’ day had the unique opportunity to follow Jesus, in a direct and literal way. In other words, they could actually and physically follow him. We often think that this would be easier than following today. We would know exactly where Jesus wanted us to go and the path would be more clearly marked out. At times in this life we want to take the brains and heart out of following him because its challenging. We face some decisions where the “right way” is just not so black and white. We want the certainty and security of knowing we’ve made the correct decision. We are impatient about the lesson to be gained from the decision process, or we want to avoid the character-building part free choice completely.

v.38    “What do you want?” Jesus poses an interesting question for a man who wants to gain followers. There are no persuasive or pleading words that will win them to his cause here. It’s almost as if he is prepared to push them away or send them back to John the Baptist. Why wouldn’t he be more welcoming, more accepting to potential new disciples? As we will see at other times throughout the gospels, one of Jesus’ teaching methods his laser-guided, motive-probing questions. It may be that he asks these difficult questions so that we may understand our own hearts better. If today Jesus were to ask you, ‘what do you want?’, what would be your response to him?

“where are you staying?” These two student followers avoid answering Jesus’ question by firing a question right back at him. Many of us have dodged Jesus’ piercing questions of followship because if we were to answer his question truthfully, our own words might surprise or even shame us.

v.39    “Come, he replied, and you will see.” Jesus also refuses to give a simple, direct answer. He could have told them the town and street. Rather, he invites them to “come”. He is illustrating the timeless truth that the process of following is equal to or even more valuable to the soul than the right destination. Of course, going to the wrong place spiritually is a tragedy. Most people know where to go though, they are just unwilling to “come” and “follow” Jesus to get there. They would rather find their own way. Jesus invites these men to follow and promises that they will “see” the answer. Many people want a “show and tell” ministry from God where he does things for them and convinces them of all his benefits. Jesus’ ministry model is quite different, it is a “follow and see” concept. Jesus calls us to come and follow, then we will experience him and see what this Christian thing is all about. It requires direct participation, rather than intellectual observation or just plain entertainment.

“So they went” and “spent the day with him.”  When was the last time you “spent the day” with Jesus? How does our most important relationship reflect itself in our life? I remember falling in love with my wife in 2006 and how it was possible to burn long-hours together just talking and enjoying each other’s company. Spending a whole day together was easy. How might we treasure Jesus with a large block of time each week or each month?

v.41    “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him…” Andrew’s “first thing” was to find someone he cared about and “tell him” about Jesus.

In the greater Christian community, there has been an ongoing discussion lately about missions and missional strategies for churches. Many churches follow an attractional ministry model. They consistently host programs, shows, concerts, classes, and events to draw the public into their church. It is their primary method of reaching people in their city who don’t know God. In contrast to this, we see Andrew deliberately going (probably back to his town and his home) and retrieving his brother without delay. This concept of leaving the comfort of your schedule, your typical daily patterns and intentionally going out into the lives of others is often coined as missional.

v.42    “And he brought him to Jesus.” To what extent do we share this priority and intent in our lives with friends and family? Bringing someone to Jesus means bringing them into the Bible, not our opinions, personal wisdom or life experience. The scriptures are the only way for someone to get to know who God is in Jesus.

Point #1

People begin following Jesus as a result of the testimony of trusted friends, neighbors, teachers, and co-workers.

This is basic, its not rocket science, but it’s great to see John the Baptist exemplify it for us. He points beyond himself, to Jesus. He’s not looking for popularity. We often want to be accepted and liked by our neighbors. On the other end of the spectrum, some of us tend to act more boldly than lovingly and tend to be harsh truth tellers in peoples’ lives.

Again we must look to Jesus’ complete example. John 1:17 tells us that he ushered in grace (favor, lovingkindness, undeserved blessing) and truth (scriptures, honesty about someone’s spiritual position) to the world and so should we with our friends.

Point #2

Jesus begins his ministry by (1) welcoming people into a home and (2) spending time with them.

Often our default mode of evangelism is “inviting someone to church.” Of course this isn’t a bad thing, but Jesus does not do this to begin his ministry, he doesn’t hand out invites or flyers welcoming people to hear him teach at the synagogue. Jesus wanted to invite these men into the place where his spiritual life would be most clearly seen and lovingly expressed.

I had a conversation recently with a guy from another church. Being new to the area, I asked him, how do you and your church meet new people and share the gospel? His 2-part answer was that (1) their church would set up a big carnival once a year and pass out flyers in the neighborhood and (2) they took over the operations of local a non-profit that helps kids with after school tutoring. That’s how they “meet” new people. My heart broke because inside I knew that these methods were “good and moral” but would rarely introduce someone to Jesus through scripture. As the Bellingham Church, we want to be a people who follow Jesus’ example of ministry.

Point #3

Does Jesus know you are following him?

See 1st John 2:6. Would Jesus at that time know you were following Him? Examine your spiritual life. Eliminate all of the good intentions and favorable thoughts you have about your relationship with God. Apply your lifestyle today into the time of Jesus. What would Jesus see?

Is your relationship with Jesus like someone you run into every couple weeks at an event, a party, a wedding? It continues based on coincidence or circumstance? How intentional is your most important relationship?

Ideas and Suggestions for a Jesus-following week:

Invite someone into your home this week and make a plan to spend time with them.

October 2, 2011                                                                                                                The Gospel of John

Part #2                                                                                                                                             John 1:15-34

Introduction & Context

The hopes and dreams of the Jews began to awaken and stir when John the Baptist began his ministry near Bethany across the Jordan. Until this time, the Jews had experienced about 400 years of spiritual silence, since the last prophets had spoken. The Jews were looking for a (1) suffering servant or a (2) royal king (Son of David)

John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin and was born about 6 months before Jesus. He began preaching a radical message of repentance.

John 1:15-18

v.15    John the Baptist claiming exactly what the Apostle John also wrote above, Jesus is eternal or pre-existent Christ. Another way to think about this is that the God of the Bible is a God who works beyond history and within history.

We did not create the God of Christianity people create gods in other religions. Rather we are enabled to find him when looking because God made Jesus known to us. First, God reveals himself to us and then we are able to find him.

v.17    “while Moses set up the moral and social structures which guided the nation of Israel, the law could not save anyone from the penalty of their sins, which is death.

v.18    We talk about the (1) person and (2) work of Jesus Christ, one of his “works” was to reveal God the Father

v.19    These “Jews” were possibly the Jewish temple police, a kind of fact finding arm of the religious leaders

Religious questions from people are often not sincere. These men were just curious how he may pose a threat or how they could use their authority to pin him down to accuse him with the law.

Malachi 3:1 & 4:5-6 = parallel to = Matthew 11:12-14, 17:10-13

v.21    Jews looking for Elijah’s actual return in person, Elijah as recorded in the OT had not actually died, but had been taken up to heaven directly, so they thought he could return in the same way

See:  Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6 and it parallel in Matthew 11:12-14, 17:10-13

We don’t know or recognize Jesus, not because he is hard to find, but because we are looking for something else, something we want, rather than what God is revealing to us. He is there, but we simply don’t recognize him.

We have an expectation of God we want him to fill, such as “are you the one who will make happy?”

v.21    A prophet was expected to come like Moses

See:  Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19 and Acts 3:22

v.23    Isaiah is the most frequently quoted OT writer in the NT

v.24    “Why then do you baptize…” There were ceremonial cleansing for Jews and baptisms for foreigners, non-Jews who were converting to Judaism, but here are hundreds of Jews repenting. This is totally radical and unorthodox.

v.27    “The thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie”

John chooses not to answer all of their irrelevant questions, but rather humble himself.

v.29    “Look, the Lamb of God” – The one you have been waiting for all these years…

“who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus is ushering in a new, superior and overarching covenant with mankind – It begins with Jesus’ arrival on earth. In other words, there is a God who works beyond history and within history

v.31    The reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel

We have a responsibility to reveal God to others, just like it was done for us, people sense their thirst for God, but it must be taught and revealed

Just like Jesus reveals the Father to us, John the Baptist revealed Jesus to us.

Reflection and Application:

Point #1 – It’s not about me!

John the Baptist humbled himself, we ought to humble ourselves as well. John kept saying “I am NOT the Christ,” he confessed it freely. He rejects the idol of acceptance and popularity.

For many people the only story they hear and live in is the story of their own. Life’s decisions, goals, and ambitions are all about me. We feel like we are the star, the center-stage of everything. This can lead us to (1) refuse to serve others sacrificially or (2) cause us to feel fully independent and actually refuse to be served by other Christians.

Point #2 – It’s all about Jesus!

John the Baptist points beyond himself to Jesus. We also have that responsibility to reveal Jesus to our neighbors. John correctly stated that the reason the whole show is about Jesus and not us is because he is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Take a look at these related scriptures:

• Revelation 5:5 & 5:12 – What does the Bible say about the Lion and the Lamb here?
• Exodus 12:1-5 – What connection do you see between the Old Testament and Jesus here?
• Exodus 29:38-46
• Genesis 22:8

Part #1                                                                                                                                               John 1:1-14

Introduction & Context

John was the longest surviving apostle and one of the last students who had been trained directly by Jesus himself. He had seen many or most of his spiritual brothers pass away naturally or be executed for their faith. John wrote this gospel as a testimony to Jesus’ divine nature and to his spiritual work.  The writing are inspired by the Holy Spirit and stem from the things that John personally heard, saw, and experienced in Jesus’ earthly ministry.

John wrote this gospel in the midst of two particular worldviews. The dominant worldview of John’s day was Greek, shaped a lot by the prominent philosophers. In the Greek language, the original written language of the New Testament, ‘logos’ was a word that meant “speech, explanation, principle, or reason”. In addition, he himself, along with many of Jesus’ first disciples were Jewish. Both worldviews accepted the “logos” concept. So, in order to connect as many people to Jesus as possible, he opens up his writing with these two audiences in mind.

It is also good to note that this gospel is John’s testimony, not a vision or prophetic dream like his writing for the book of Revelation. So John wrote this testimony and account of the God-man Jesus to further the gospel truth in a very mixed and confusing world.

Bible Claim #1 – Jesus is the Word – (John 1:14)

“the Word [‘logos’] became flesh and dwelled among us …”

Regardless of whether we are looking through the Greek worldview or the Jewish worldview, John is contending for the gospel in his writing here. John wanted to be certain that people understood the differences between the Bible’s concept of God and those that had existed in the past. One of the main distinctions he make with this verse is that Jesus, the God-man, is both personal and knowable.

Recently, one of the landlords we met here in Bellingham directly told me he was agnostic. He confidently sensed a greater power, a force that he “sees evidence of everyday”. He was actually indignant and expressed a frustration that more people “didn’t see it.” Yet, this power he spoke of is utterly unknowable. A man cannot have a relationship with an impersonal “force”. That’s like asking gravity to go on a date with you. Sure, you can co-exist, but there isn’t going to be a lot of romance involved. In fact, this man was not an agnostic at all, but a deist.

Bible Claim #2 – Jesus is Eternal – (John 1:1,2)

“In the beginning was the Word…” and “He was with God in the beginning.”

Up to a certain point, Greeks and Jews alike would agree with John’s writing here. They too believed that a supernatural “logos” had been in existence for forever, long before humankind. It is when John claims that Jesus is the “logos” that he rejects their beliefs. John writes that Jesus had no beginning and was pre-existent.

Bible Claim #3 – Jesus had a Relationship with God – (John 1:1)

“…and the Word was with God.”

Jesus the Word was his own person, we understand that if you are “with” someone, the two of you maybe together, but you are not one person. I don’t describe my day yesterday saying “I was in the park with myself” or “I went to the movies with myself yesterday”. God the Father and God the Son are distinct from one another.

Bible Claim #4 – Jesus was God – (John 1:2)

“… and the Word was God.”

Other world prophets, teachers, moralists, and leaders don’t themselves claim to be God. They may claim to be Godly or claim to be “sent by God” – but few are so bold as to say they are God.

Muhammad, Gandhi and the Dalai Lama don’t claim to be God, yet the Bible here is claiming that Jesus the Word was and is God. In some Greek beliefs, the Logos was viewed as an intelligence that represented God, but in essence wasn’t actually God himself. The apostle John spoke directly against this notion.

If the Bible did not claim that Jesus was God, then Christians would face a grave problem. Jesus’ death would not have been worthy enough to forgive the world’s sins.

Bible Claim #5 – Jesus is the Creator – (John 1:3)

To distinguish between a creator and the creation is as relevant today as it was during the time of the famous Greek philosophers. One reason John may have written this is to cement the fact that Jesus is separate and distinct from creation. He is the creator, rather than a part of the creation. When we allow these two elements to bleed together then our worldview shifts from monotheism (there is one God and the creation) to pantheism (the creation is god). This is the fallacy that Paul spoke of in Romans 1:24-25. In order to protect the church in Rome, he begged the Christians there not to worship created things, insisting that only the Creator was worthy of our hearts. If we magnify created things too much with our affection and time, we are more prone to idolatry of the heart.

Jesus coordinated with God to create the universe. They worked together perfectly and harmoniously. This speaks to the Trinitarian example of cooperation and team work. See also 1^st Corinthians 8:6 and Colossians 1:16.

As Creator, verse 4 also tells us that Jesus is the source of (1) life (physical existence) and (2) light (spiritual understanding).

Because Jesus was fully God and fully flesh, he is both powerful enough to save and was fully human when he perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament Law. If Jesus had been anything less than fully God and fully man, then his work on the cross would have been insufficient.

Hebrews 1:1-3

Questions for Reflection:

(1) We have seen in this passage that Jesus the Son, along with God the Father coordinated together to create the universe. What does this holy example show us about team work when we think about working together with other Christians?

(2) Jesus volunteered to leave riches, comfort and perfect unity with God the Father to enter human history and dwell among us. How do we view the city of Bellingham? Do we see it as a beautiful place to live, enjoy, and even consume? Is it a city of refuge and hiding for us? Jesus volunteered to leave heaven and come to earth to heal, rescue, and restore. Again, how do we view our city in light of Jesus’ example?

Bellingham CoC Camping Weekend - August, 2010

Our camping trip for 2010 was a HUGE success!  The group area we reserved at Rasar State Park worked EXTREMELY well for us, and everybody was able to have a real blast.  Next year will be even better!

Bellingham Church of Christ - October 2010

Come and join us!  We meet at 11am on Sundays at the historic Bellingham Hardware Building in downtown Bellingham.

• 215 W. Holly St. Unit B30 | Bellingham, WA 98225
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Learn more about us and our beliefs on our “About Us” page.