Most Important Notes from NBST 797 {4,573 words}
I. Lesson 1 - The Gospel of John (Introduction)
A. Origen said that the gospels are the firstfruits of all writings and that the Gospel of John is the firstfruits of all the gospels.
B. John's purpose for writing was John 20:31 ("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."). Jesus is the Greek for the Hebrew Joshua (he shall save). Christ is Hebrew for Messiah, the anointed one. Christ Jesus because Christ is His office. Lord is His title, and Jesus is His name. The Son of God is His eternal name. John used the Greek word "eis" which means to believe into, not just believing that... Belief is the process, and faith is the product.
C. There are eight key words in the Gospel of John.
(1). Believe is the key word, and it occurs 98 times in the Gospel.
(2). life - eternal and everlasting life both came from the same Greek word.
(3). sign - 7+1 signs/miracles in John.
(4). I am - 7+1 in John => points to the deity of Christ (Exodus 3:13-14). LORD comes from the Hebrew verb to be - the self-existing One.
(5). truth - John is the only one to say, "Verily, verily," meaning this is true, absolutely true.
(6). know - but John avoids knowledge.
(7). to witness (the word for martyr) - John was the youngest disciple, wrote later in life, lived the longest, and was the only one not martyred. He was the one who was willing to be associated with Jesus at the cross. He was willing to be martyred, so God let him die naturally. Eusebius referred to two men named John, but Iraeneus, who knew John the Apostle, said that he wrote it.
(8). Father - God was not called the Father in the Old Testament, but Jesus called Him Father.
D. John's writing style was that he wrote climactily. He was a finisher. He was the last writer of the New Testament, the writer of the last Gospel, III John was the last Book canonized, and we know more about Jesus from him than from anyone else. From John 1:1 to John 20:28, John builds. In John 20:25, Thomas said that he would not believe, but then he believed. That is what John was trying to do. John also wrote selectively. He left out a lot of things. He included the things that were necessary for believing. He wrote extended narrative. He wrote more indepth. He featured people, people that no one else talked about. John was also reportial. He would have been a good reporter, and he wrote about the Jerusalem or Judean ministry.
E. Jesus was about 33-1/2 when He died, based on Luke 3:23 and the four Passovers in John 2:13, John 5:1, John 6:4, and John 11:54-55. John was a Jew, and he was interested in chronology. Only John gave the detailed information to know how long Jesus ministered.
F. When John was old, people were making a cult of John the Baptist, so his secondary purpose was to set people straight about John the Baptist. He also wanted to put down Gnosticism. They were caught up on knowledge, and that is probably why he did not write about knowledge. He wrote about knowing but not about knowledge. John also wrote to make sure that people would know that he would die, too, based on John 21:21-22.
II. Lesson 2 - The Gospel of John (Chapter 1:1-18)
A. The first twelve chapters are the sign chapters. John begins with seven days just like Genesis. The two Books begin similarly. He was identifying himself with the Old Testament. In beginning in the original did not say "the," so it meant eternity past. John is the only one to call Jesus the Word. First, he was among the Gnostics, so the word was a philosophical term and he was an old man that got carried away. Second, some say that he was caught up on his Hebrew background. Third, the "Word of the Lord" often came to people in the Old Testament. God communicated through His Word, and John captured that symbolism. Words communicate, express oneself, and convey meaning of the speaker. Jesus' names tell us who He was and about Him. The "I-Thou" relationship where God and the Word were looking at each other. In the very beginning, they were together and face-to-face. Chapter 1 is Christ, the Word of God.
B. Ten things about the Word.
1. "In the beginning" is a reference to eternity.
2. The personality of the Word is seen.
3. The Word had active comms with God.
4. The Word was separate from God. two senses of consciousness.
5. The Word has deity.
6. The Word and the Father are separate but one.
7. The Word expresses God (John 1:18). If you want to see God, look at Jesus.
8. The incarnate Word was the pre-incarnate Word (John 1:14) - preexisting and eternality.
9. The Word lived in a tent/flesh among men (John 1:14) - tabernacle.
10. The Word is the Son of the Father (John 1:14)
C. Jesus was the Creator (John 1:3). All things were generated by Him.
D. John the author never referred to himself by name. When he spoke of John, it was always John the Baptist. He came to be the light to the Light and the witness to the Witness. John 3:7 makes it clear that people are supposed to believe. They are not automatically saved.
E. Throughout his gospel, John uses "the Jews" to express the opposition, and he means the Pharisees, the scribes, and all of Judaism that rejected Jesus. In John 1:12, Jesus was given the authority to receive all that believe into ("eis") Him.
F. The context of John 1:12 says that John 1:13 refers to believers. The early church thought that John 1:13 referred to Jesus. The greatest verse in the Bible, according to Dr. Towns, is John 1:14 because it has the greatest truth ("The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.").
1. Flesh can be epidermis.
2. Flesh can be physical body.
3. Flesh can be the old sinful nature.
4. Flesh can mean lust.
5. Flesh can refer to the entire person.
G. Moses could have meant the lawgiver, their authority, or the five Books of the Pentateuch. In John 1:17, it probably meant a combination of all three.
H. The Word communicates the Father to people.
III. Lesson 3 - The Gospel of John (Chapter 1:19-51)
A. Jesus' first day (John 1:19-28) - John the Baptist was interrogated. All priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests. He was asked seven questions because the Jews were trying to discredit him. In John 1:21-23, they were accusing him of being self-called, rather than called by God. The Pharisees were a political and religious sect of the Jews. They were very committed to the oral interpretation of the Law, but not to the Law, and Pharisee meant to separate. They accused him of being self-sent, but they were actually the self-sent ones. Betharba (KJV) and Bethany (NIV) were the same place.
B. Jesus' second day (John 1:29-34) - John was the only author to say the Lamb of God. That phrase occurred one time in the first twenty-six Books of the New Testament, and twenty-six times in the last Book of the Bible (note 1 in 26 and 26 in 1). John did not give the details of Jesus' baptism. The Holy Spirit came on Jesus gently, like a dove. In John 1:32-34, John the Apostle might have been doing the talking because they were both there.
C. Jesus' third day (John 1:35-42) - Andrew was one of the first two disciples. The first six were John (the youngest disciple, maybe 17-19 years old, he was a hot head), Andrew (the first called disciple, probably about 21), James (quiet disciple, older than John), Peter (bold leader, older than Andrew), Philip (the analytical disciple), and Nathaniel (the sincere disciple). In John 1:42, "brought" came from the Greek word, "ago," and it meant to lead. Peter was not overly anxious at first to find Jesus. John became so humble over time that he never even mentioned his own name. John 1:38 were the first recorded words by Jesus in this Book. The tenth hour was Roman time, and it meant about 4:00pm. They talked about the Messiah, the anointed One. Jesus was the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. John and Andrew were convinced after that night that they had found the Messiah. Jesus changed Simon's name to Cephas, meaning rock. Peter was not like a rock, but in time, he became like one.
D. Jesus' fourth day (John 1:43-51) - Philip and Nathaniel were called on this day. Philip was from Bethsaida (house of the fish). The poor people lived there, and when people there did well, they moved across the lake to Capernaum, which was for the richer people. John, James, Peter, and Andrew also came from Bethsaida. Twenty mile away was Cana, and that was where Nathaniel was from. John, James, Peter, and Andrew were buddies. Nazareth was like a city of garbage, which prompted Nathaniel to say what he said in John 1:46. In John 1:47, Jesus acknowledged Nathaniel's sincerity. For the Israelite, under the fig tree was a place to be alone and meditate. The fig tree was also a symbol for and a place of peace for Israel. Nathaniel might have been doing his devotion because he was a very godly man.
E. NOTE: The omniscience of Jesus is in every chapter of this gospel (John 1:47).
F. John 1:51 => the first "Verily, Verily."
IV. Lesson 4 - The Gospel of John (Chapter 2:1-25)
A. Jesus' fifth day - Not discussed
B. Jesus' sixth day - Not discussed
C. Jesus' seventh day (John 2:1) - The wedding in Cana was on the third day, which was day seven. John never called Mary by name. Matthew and Luke, who were concerned with geneaology and virgin birth, did, but John who adopted Mary figuratively with Jesus on the cross never did. It was probably out of respect. Chapter 2 is Christ, the Creator.
D. Mary was very concerned about the amount of food and drink, so the marriage was probably for a relative. Also, the amount of provisions ran out because seven extra people showed up (Jesus and His first six disciples). Poor families would have had just a meal, whereas richer families could have put out a full spread and even kept the guests for a few days. This family was probably poor because they ran out of wine. Was Mary putting Jesus into the position of having to perform the wrong first miracle? The answer is no.
E. Reasons for this first miracle - Creating wine from water paralleled the Creation in Genesis. Wine was a symbol for joy, and Jesus wanted to convey the joy and good news of His ministry. Jesus wanted to teach the people embryonically, and He wanted to begin with the family unit. He began His ministry with the poor, whom He loves. Finally, creating wine showed the emptiness of the Old Testament and the richness of the New Testament.
F. John 2:4 is something of a problematic verse because of three phrases (That verse says, "'Dear woman, why do you involve me?'" Jesus replied. 'My time has not yet come.'"). Calling his mother "woman" was a term of independence, not a term of disrespect. He called her woman from the cross. He also was not showing disrespect in the other two phrases. The final phrase may have been that the governor of the feast should be asking Him about the wine. He could have been waiting until all of the wine was totally gone. In John, "my hour" was an expression of messianic expectation. The six stone jars, in John 2:6, might have represented six as the number of man. His miracle was qualitative and quantitative.
G. His first miracle might have been to put His stamp of approval on marriage. God did that with Adam and Eve. God's division of labor - man cannot do what God can do, and God will not do what He has given man to do. The men that helped Jesus had to draw the water out. In John 2:9, they obeyed and drew out water. When they obeyed the Lord by drawing out the water, then Jesus performed the miracle and turned the water into wine.
H. Dr. Towns does not think that the wine was intoxicating because yeast or leaven for wine stood for sin in the Old Testament, plus Jesus would not have created something that could make man drunk. According to him, the real miracle was that He speeded up the water into grape juice photosynthesis process. Jesus could not have served intoxicating wine at the Last Supper because the leaven would have made Him unclean.
I. In John 2:12, "after this" was probably about five months. If He was born in December, then He would have been baptised in December. Seven days after that, He was at the wedding. Then, at Easter (Passover), He headed for Jerusalem.
J. Jesus called God His Father, and that was a new revelation.
K. In John 2:18, John wrote about "signs" whereas Matthew, Mark, and Luke talked about miracles and wonders. John 2:24-25 showed Jesus' omniscience. Jesus knew those that were trying to trick Him, and He knew those that had a good heart.
V. Lesson 5 - The Gospel of John (Chapter 3:1-36)
A. In John 3:13-14, the Son of Man died. In John 3:16, He was the begotten Son. In John 3:19, Son of God is a term of deity. The eight key words in John are believe, life, signs, I am, truth (verily, verily), know, witness, and Father. Chapter 3 is Christ, the Savior of the world. This is the one-thousandth chapter in the Bible.
B. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, and it was during the Passover season. It was a camp meeting setting. He may have come at night (1) for fear of detection (probably not, because Jesus was not yet controversial), (2) to avoid the crowds of the day (maybe), or (3) because scholars interviewed each other at night, when it was cooler and more convenient (probably). He was sincere because he thought that Jesus' miracles were from God. The Jews, later on, thought that His miracles were from the devil. When Jesus said "born again," was He saying "born again" or "born from above?" The Greek word is "anothen," which means from above or from a higher place. That word can also mean anew or over again. See John 1:12-13.
C. What is the water birth in John 3:5? It is not water baptism (baptismal regeneration), a symbol of pardon, the Holy Spirit (an example of Jewish poetry and repetition), the baptism of John the Baptist, the Law, or the Schofield Bible teaching. The Schofield Bible teaching means the water of the Word. The water becomes the Word and that is the instrument of regeneration. The Spirit is the agent of regeneration. John 3:3-6 demonstrates Hebrew parallelism. In John 3:6, flesh means total person, and the Spirit is the Holy Spirit. The water birth in John 3:5 matches John 3:6 and is probably referring to the water sack of the first natural birth.
D. John 3:8 is talking about either the Holy Spirit or about nature's wind. John 3:12 says earthly things and is probably referring to earthly birth.
E. In John 3:13 and following, was Jesus speaking or was it the Apostle John? Who actually said John 3:16? Dr. Towns thinks it was John. First, John 3:13 becomes third person. Second, Jesus never referred to Himself as the only begotten Son. Only John did that. Third, in John 3:16-18, whosoever believes in "him." If John was writing John 3:18 for himself, then the word "already" is consistent with the fact that Jesus had already died and judged sin.
F. Jesus is eternally being generated (eternal generation). Begotten is past tense of begat.
G. In John 3:25, John the Baptist was baptizing half-breeds, and this was a discrimination issue. John 3:26 was said by a trouble maker. In John 3:30, John the Baptist put himself down to put Jesus up.
H. John 3:32 (He testified) and John 3:34-36 (He speaks the Words of God and he was loved of the Father) show Jesus' deity.
I. Unbelief is little faith, weak faith, faithless, doubt, and unbelief (John 3:36).
VI. Lesson 6 - The Gospel of John (Chapter 4:1-54)
A. Jesus baptized more than John the Baptist. His baptism was different than John's baptism. John's was looking forward to the Christ, and Jesus' baptism was looking back to His baptism. In this chapter, His concern for the world is seen, showing that His concern did not begin towards the end of His ministry. Very early in His ministry, He talked about being born again. He knew all things about people, so He knew how to handle them. This chapter would have been in April or May because it was right after Passover.
B. In John 4:4, Jesus had to go through Samaria. He was now living in Capernaum. The Jews would travel from Jerusalem to Jericho, across to the east side of the Jordan, and north to the Sea of Galilee. That route would have bypassed Samaria. The way was a little longer, but it was flat and easier. He had to go through Samaria because of divine imperative. The Lord led Him to go to Samaria, and He had to travel west of the Jordan through hilly terrain. He had walked about seven miles and the time was about noon (John 4:6 => the sixth hour).
C. The Samaritan woman came to the well in the middle of the day, whereas the women would normally come early and late in the day. Nicodemus and the woman were contrasts in nature. They were nearly opposites. Jesus was blunt with Nicodemus but more gentile with the woman.
D. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gave (1) living water, (2) His life for His sheep, (3) an example, (4) another Comforter, (5) His peace, (6) God's Word, and (7) His glory to His own.
E. The water in the well was percolated. It was not artesian water that automatically went into the well, but she might have thought that He would convert it into one. The well was manmade.
F. John 4:12 is actually saying that Jesus is not greater than Jacob. In John 4:14, never thirst means never "ever" thirst. In John 4:9, there was social tension between Jews and Samaritans. In John 4:12, there was heritage tension with Jacob because both sects accepted him. There was also religious tension. Jesus confronted her with her sins in John 4:17-18. He got her lost so that He could get her saved. The woman utilized an upward spiral to recognizing who He was. In John 4:35-38, Jesus used an example of farming for His preaching. In John 4:39, many people believed because of the woman. In John 4:42, when they heard Him, then they believed because of Him.
G. In John 4:43-54, He healed a sick boy of a certain royal official, who was a Gentile. The Jews seek a sign (or miracle), and the Gentiles were seeking wisdom. The Gentile official was willing to believe Jesus without a miracle (John 4:49-50), but the Jews had to have miracles. John 4:54 said that this was His second miracle, but it was not really His second miracle. It was His second miracle coming out of Judea into Galilee. It was the second miracle in the Gospel of John.
VII. Lesson 7 - The Gospel of John (Chapter 5:1-47)
A. There was a feast of the Jews, and He had to go "uphill" to Jerusalem. This feast is believed to have been His second Passover because John 6:4 speaks of a Jewish feast. The first was in John 2:13 (Christ cleansed the Temple, talked to Nicodemus, and ministered for a while in Samaria), John 5:1 (John skipped about fifty weeks because he was writing selectively so that people might believe), John 6:4 (John skipped another fifty-plus weeks), and John 11:55.
B. The pool at Bethesda was a long rectangle split in half by a porch that went from one side to the other. Then there would have been four porches against the four sides. This pool was at the Sheep Gate. It was where the dirty sheep were washed before being sold, and it would have been very filthy. The pool was also deep with one small stairway down into it. The people at the pool were waiting for the movement of the waters. Tradition said that the pool would have normally had about three hundred people, but during Passover, as many as three thousand could have been there.
C. Did someone really get healed at this pool? First, it may have only been a tradition and maybe no one ever got healed. Such healing would not have been of God. He does not just do first come, first serve, and He would not use an angel. Second, maybe one person got healed one time, but no one else. Third, maybe one person got healed per year. But Dr. Towns favors the first belief because God would not have worked in the other ways. In John 5:5, there was one man in particular that was there. Jesus had gone to that pool for one man. The thirty-eight years for the man could have symbolized Israel in the wilderness for thirty-eight and a half years.
D. Why did Jesus ask His question of the man in John 5:6? Jesus probably selected that man because, out of everyone there, he was the only one at the pool with no help. In John 5:6, "learned" came from the Greek word "ginosko," which meant "to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of." "Ginosko" showed Jesus' omniscience. The man gave five excuses, but Jesus told him to do the impossible. First, do the impossible because Christians do the impossible without the Lord. Second, everyone in the crowd would have known what was happening. Third, Jesus was telling him to live above the Law (carrying one's bed on the Sabbath). The Pharisees would later bring up this healing against Him because He had healed him on the Sabbath.
E. Jesus' first year was His year of hiding. His second year was of popularity and opposition. In the third year, opposition and hiding. In John 5:11, the man did not even know who had healed him. After healing the man, Jesus slipped away into the crowd. The healed man went to the Temple probably because his impurity would have prohibited him from going to the Temple in the past.
F. Jesus made three claims that showed His deity. He resusitates, regenerates, and resurrects by His Word (John 5:24-26). He has all judgment in Him (John 5:27-28), and He also has claim over the resurrection (John 5:29-30). In John 5:35, John the Baptist was already dead. In John 3:23, he was still alive.
G. Four witnesses attested to His deity (John the Baptist, the work of His Father, His miracles, and the Scriptures (Moses).
VIII. Lesson 8 - The Gospel of John (Chapter 6:1-71)
A. The Sea of Galilee is long and narrow, fifteen miles by seven miles. Capernaum is located in the northwest quadrant, and Tiberias is in the southwest quadrant.
B. The Feast of the Jews is near, so it has been a full year since the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-15 (John wrote selectively). This was the year of Jesus' popularity. The people followed him down to Tiberias and walk down the land by the Jordan to Jerusalem for the Passover.
C. Feeding the five thousand involved the most people and was recorded in all four gospels. This was probably the most popular miracle.
D. The Feast of the Jews left the people hungry, but the feast of Jesus filled them. He did not feed the five thousand because they were hungry. They were supposed to fast to get closer to the Lord, and those people could have survived. He was trying to show the contrast between the two feasts and the simplicity of being filled by God.
E. Jesus asked Philip because he was the logistic leader of the second quadrant of disciples. He had been raised in the area, he was the leader (always listed fifth among the disciples) of the second group for logistical issues (such as, food, crowd control, and so forth), the Lord was testing him (looking for faith but got facts (John 6:7)), and he was analytical.
F. Andrew was always bringing people to Jesus. Of all the grains, barley had the least amount of protein (John 6:9). Andrew did not have much faith, either.
G. Important Spiritual Observations: God ordered the people. Jesus gave thanks. There was the division of labor (Jesus increased the food, the disciples distributed it). God uses the usable, even a few barley loaves and a couple of fish. No one leaves the Lord hungry. What was the miracle? Did Jesus or the disciples just keep breaking the bread over and over? Dr. Towns believed that Jesus broke the bread and put it into the baskets. Then, the baskets never ran out. Gathering up the fragments was an ancient Oriental custom intended to feed the servants. The biblical principle is to give to others first, and then there will be enough left over for the giver. The people had a very shallow response to this miracle. The passage does not say that they believed on Him as Lord.
H. In John 6:16-21, they were headed from Tiberias towards Capernaum, so they were going in the wrong direction. The distance from shore and the storm would have kept them from seeing land, so Jesus had to be walking on the water. In John 6:22-24, the crowd went to Capernaum looking for Him. In John 6:28-33, they were looking for another miracle. They were not interested in believing.
I. The Bread of God is eternal life (John 6:33), satisfying life (John 6:35), resurrection life (John 6:39), indwelling life (John 6:50-53). In John 6:41-42, the Jews grumbled against Him and said that they knew Him as Joseph's and Mary's Son. In John 6:60-71, many of His many disciples went back. John 6:66-67 shows His remnant that did not go away. Iscariot meant men of Cariot. Judas was probably the most promising and trustworthy of the bunch (outwardly) because he was trusted with the money.
Tom of Bethany "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
NBST 797 - The Gospel of John (Lessons 9-16)
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