John & 1,2,3 John | Lecture 1 : BC301-John-20260803

We've lost about 15 minutes, but then we'll try to do what we can. Uh, can something be done to prevent the feedback? There's an audio feedback coming. Okay. So, it should be all right, right? So, there's no Yeah, thank you for uh being so patient online. Uh, and those of you who are here, uh, we thank you and we also thank the person at the back who made all this happen. Okay. So, uh we are going to be starting off with the gospel of John and then later we will be looking at the three letters that he wrote. Um the things that we uh observe about book of John and the three letters is that this is a man who focuses on love. He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loves. You know that's the way he looked at himself. And so later when he writes his letter also first John especially he talks in detail about the whole idea of love from God's eyes. Uh how should we conduct ourselves? Uh what is God's love mean for us and all of that. So this is a special gospel and you know a special set of letters that we will be looking at. Uh this man was truly touched by Jesus. His life changed because of Jesus. It impacted the way he looked at life. It impacted his ministry. And uh so when he sits down to write this gospel and the letters, the Holy Spirit has inspired him to put down things over here which can really be a great blessing to us, you know. So um we we are our our hope is that the Lord will help us to dig out those truths and be able to apply those things in our own lives and in our own situations. So uh today we will mainly just look at an introduction to this gospel uh you know and then um maybe next class onwards we will go go into chapter one and start looking at the verses one by one. So today is more just an introduction uh to this gospel and uh regarding um assignments you guys are now in the third year so you already are familiar with the system. Uh I generally just go for objective type questions. So you would have 50 in the midterm and then there would be 50 in the final. So there's nothing complicated regarding that. Um any other details? Um request to the students here, please stay awake and alert. Do not sleep. Uh as for those of you who are online, uh we're glad to have you and uh we pray that you know you'll be attentive and you'll be able to participate in the class. So, anyone has any questions at all, you can always just um type in the chat. I'll keep an eye over there so that you know I'll not miss out on any questions. So, Gospel of John. Uh when exactly was this um gospel written? Uh as you know, we have four gospels. We have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And um when exactly were these four gospels written? Um Jesus if you know you know historically they say that around maybe 30 to 33 AD is when he would have ascended back into heaven. He finishes his earthly ministry and he ascends back into heaven around uh 30 to 33 AD. And um it's generally believed that around maybe 30 35 years after that Mark would have written this you know his his gospel first. So among the four gospels the general belief is that it's the gospel of Mark which was written first and what is significant about the gospel of Mark is that he writes before the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. You know Jesus prophesies and says that not one stone will be left on top of another. The entire temple will be uh you know broken and uh so that prophecy comes true in 70 AD. And Mark in fact writes his gospel before the temple destruction takes place. Sukish did you show your hand? You didn't. If you wave your hands around in that way, I'll assume that you have a question. Yeah. So um now the other three gospels were written after the temple was destroyed. It was no longer standing. So after 70. So Mark they generally say was you know he wrote his gospel around 64 AD before the destruction happens in 70 AD. Luke writes shortly of maybe a few years after the destruction of the temple. So early in the early years after the temple destruction in the early '7s is when Luke would have written his gospel and then sometime later on in the 70s is when Matthew would have written his gospel. So these three were written you know in that time span between 64 AD to let us say the late '7s. John on the other hand writes about 10 years after Matthew finishes his gospel. So John they say was probably you know gospel of John was probably written 85 to 90 AD. So which means you know that that particular century is almost getting over at that time that is when John finally in 85 to 90 AD in that time period he writes his gospel. So why why did the Holy Spirit inspire four different persons to write about the life of Jesus, the miracles that he did, the things which he said? Why did four people need to write you know and they repeat themselves? You have many common uh stories, common sayings in all the four. So why did the Holy Spirit inspire these four different persons to rewrite almost the same details? But when we when we study this gospel talking about uh you know the life and work and ministry of Jesus and the things which he said but each of them so one right even before the Jerusalem temple is destroyed of the miracles that Jesus has done the way that he can save people the way that he can you know transform people's lives >> we we lost you pastor >> written his gospel around 64 AD And then when Luke writes um writes specifically to the Gentiles and that is why in his opening line in the you know in in the first chapter of Luke he he says writing to you theophilus. So he's writing to some some some aristocratile community and he wants to inform him about all the things which has said and done. So Luke writes specifically to a gentile audience. And so that is why when um Luke is writing the genealogy of Jesus, he starts all the way from Adam because uh Luke wants to show Theophilus and all the Gentiles. See right from the time of people from Adam itself. And then later few years later Matthew writes his gospel he's not really writing to the Gentiles. He's focusing mainly on the Jewish community. So when he's writing the genealogy, he doesn't bother in tracing the genealogy all the way from Adam. He starts off with Abraham because Abraham was considered the father, you know, uh the spiritual father of these Israelites. And so when Matthew is writing his gospel, he starts off by with the genealogy from Abraham onwards. He shows how it comes all the way up to David because it's in David's time that the Lord, you know, makes a covenant with David and says, "A future king will come from your lineage who will sit on the throne forever and ever." And obviously, it was not talking about Solomon. It was not talking about a human descendant. It was talking about how you know Jesus when he comes as the son of David, he will be on that throne forever and ever. So that is why he in his lineage when he's you know writing out the lineage Matthew writes up to David he takes a pause over there and then he again shows us from David onwards uh how the lineage runs. So all these three people Mark, Luke and Matthew uh God uses them to present Jesus in slightly different ways. Uh Mark is just trying to show how Jesus has come to change people's life to do miracles to save them. On the other hand, when Luke is writing to his gentile audience, he wants to show that no matter which community you are from, you're all from Adam, you know. So, all communities, not just the Jewish people, all communities can be saved by this one man, perfect man, Jesus. Okay? So, he's presenting Jesus as the perfect man who has come to save. Matthew on the other hand when he's writing specifically to the Jewish people he wants to prove to them that this Jesus is the one that the old testament prophesied about. So in the old testament it talks about the king who will be se seated on the throne forever. It talks about the messiah who will come and deliver his people to pointing towards this particular person Jesus. So uh between 64 to you know late '70s AD people became familiar with who Jesus was and the ministry that he did and then about 10 15 years later John writes his gospel. So by that time people already have a general idea of what Jesus has spoken, the miracles he has done, the different ways that he has ministered the all those details have already been you know gained from the um other earlier three uh gospels. So now now John he is facing a new situation. They are like almost at the end of the century. This is around 85 to 90 AD and at that time there are new situations which have come into the early church. There's a lot of persecution going on. All the Jewish people who you know who placed their trust in Jesus and became followers of Jesus they are being thrown out of the synagogues. The Jews are so anging a lot of persecution. What about the Gentiles who come to the Lord? they are no longer uh you know in the ceremonies devoted to your emperor Caesar. So uh the the the gentile people are facing persecution. The Jewish believers are also facing persecution and people are wondering is it worth it? What we are facing, what we are going through, is it worth it? So John is writing and saying Jesus has been revealed as the son of God. He's not just a good man who came and preached. He's not just someone who came and did miracles. He is divine. He is God. So he's the only way through which you can go to heaven. So therefore no matter what persecution you're going through it is worth it to hold on to this Jesus. So in his gospel he's trying to show these people how important Jesus is for their future without show aspects of his divinity. Okay. So in that way John's gospel is different from the other three. The other three are mean basically telling you what Jesus said and did. But he John is trying to show us that Jesus is divine. He's the son of God and it is in him that we have a hope. In him we have a future. Without him we cannot even have a life. So we will be covering different aspects of this truth which John is bringing out when we are doing our study of the gospel of John. Um so in the other three gospels the emphasis is more on you know Jesus mainly went around Galilee that's basically where he did 90% of his ministry you know his miracles and his preaching it all happened mainly in Galilee so those three gospels they focus on all the things that he did in the gal John on the other hand for it because you see over there that is where the uh and all the the the levitical top people they are all in Jerusalem And Jesus is going over there again and again to show them that I am the Messiah. Are you willing to accept me? So John focuses more on the Jerusalem trips and the things which happened during those Jerusalem trips because he's showing how some people this about you know what focusing on some other things which he believes the churches on those things. And so if you go to your John chapter 20 verse 31, that is where you will find the main purpose. What is the primary aim in writing this particular gospel. So if someone could go to John 20:31 and read it out then you know clearly over there John says this is the reason why you know I was inspired to write this gospel. So John these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God and that by you may have life in his name. >> Yeah. So he say he the Messiah, the one who was you know prophesied who will come and save the people and he is the son of God and if you believe it what will happen then you will have life in his name. Otherwise of this book is to point to Jesus as the divine son of God. So even as we go through the we're very sorry online people that this is happening again next time onward you will see to it that these techniques are fixed and there will be no issues next time onwards. So just bear with us this first session 18 verses they are basically the the first entire gospel they kind of introduce to us all that will be discussed later on in that entire gospel. Okay. So the first section is the first 18 verses chapter 1:es 1-18. And then uh John writes about the public ministry which Jesus did. You know Jesus went and met certain people. He performed miracles in certain specific places. There are certain things which he said to the people in those places. So those details about his public ministry will form the next main section. So chapter 1 verse 19 onwards all the way up to the end of your chapter 12 that will be chapter 12:50. So from 119 up to 1250 is your second main section in the gospel of John where Jesus public ministry 13- 17 in these chapters his interaction is just with the disciples. He's talking about some very important things which he needs to tell them so that you know they'll get ready for their ministry for us as well you know because we want to serve the Lord are very important for us because in these it is just Jesus private ministry to the disciples all the interactions which happen in 13 to 17 chapters it's mainly just Jesus and the disciples and important things are told to people uh The reason I'm g public ministry and the last one and resurrection account of this author the one who called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. Um I mean they in the beginning there was a lot of debate you know in the earlier centuries about who exactly was this disciple because nowhere in the entire gospel John doesn't write he says I John am writing this gospel that is not mentioned anywhere his name uh you know is not mentioned as the writer he only refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved and he uses that term five times um if anyone is interested John 13:23 and then in uh 19:26 and then in 20:2 and then in chapter 21 two times uh verse 7 and verse 20. So on these five occasions the author the man who was writing this gospel refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Um and then you know in the last two verses of this entire gospel verses 24 and 25 in the last chapter chapter 21 the very last two verses it's like somebody else has written those verses and that person is writing and saying this is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. [clears throat] So these are probably the know some of the main important leaders of the church and so they're like kind of you know signing off on the gospel and they're saying right so we know what he's putting down over here is the truth. So they kind of affirm at the end you know in the last two verses saying this is the disciple who has testified to these things and we know that his testimony is true. So there was a lot of debate about exactly who is this disciple, who is the author, the writer and um we see in most of the you know all the four gospels that Jesus was especially close to three disciples. If I were to ask you their names would you know their names? Three disciples that who were closest to Jesus Peter John >> all my students are wide awake. Yes. So when this person who was writing over here says you know that he's the disciple whom Jesus loves. It could be Peter, it could be James or it could be John. Why do we say it is not Peter? Simply because you know if you go to your John chapter 13 you know where you have all the disciples sitting at the Lord's supper. Uh and then at that time uh it says over there in your John 13 23-2 it says one of them the disciple whom Jesus loved was reclining next to him. Simon Peter the disciple said ask him which one he means. So obviously Peter is a separate person and the disciple whom Jesus loved is a separate person. So Peter cannot be the disciple whom Jesus loved. What about James? Why do we see that James you know could be the cannot be this particular author? Because uh we get to know in acts 12:es 1 and 2 that right you know around the beginning of the church era itself James gets killed by Herod. So in your acts 12 1-2 we are told that Herod arrested and killed James the brother of John. So and John on the other hand has been written around the end of that century 85 to 90 AD. So obviously James also is not the author and that is basically why most people will say that John is the one who has written this particular gospel. Now where where did he write it? You know most probably he would have written it from Ephesus because Ephesus was like the headquarters of the church at that time. It started off with Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the main headquarters you know where you had the main leaders like James um uh and yeah James and John and Peter and all you know they were the main leaders in the Jerusalem church and then the church began to go severe persecution because of all the Jewish people over there and so then missionary operations were no longer possible from Jerusalem and that is when Ephesus became like the headquarters that is where missionaries would get trained and they would get sent out to know all to to Asia Minor and to all the places. So John would have been basically the one of the main leaders in Ephesus, you know, running the entire ministry work from there. So they basically say that probably John would have written this gospel and his letters from Ephesus. That would have been his main headquarters. To whom was this gospel written? It was written to both the Jews and the Gentiles because both of the both the communities were suffering. Both the communities were undergoing persecution and uh also John he emphasizes so much about the divinity of Jesus because some should he become divine for a temporary period of time all those wrong ideas were coming in we will be looking at those things later you know when we looking at the letters of John so there were some wrong teachings coming in so he would have written the gospel to also clear up any doubts people have regarding those matters so these are the main reasons why he you know um he writes to both the Jewish people and the gentile people. Um one interesting thing about uh the book of John one of the earliest hand uh actually a handwritten copy from 150 AD. So which means uh just around you know maybe about 50 60 years after John would have written the actual you know the original writing someone made a hand copy you know by copying it by hand and that hand copy from that time is available even today in one of the museums. Uh so it's John chapter 18 and that handwritten copy which was written just about maybe 50 60 years copied for 50 60 years after John wrote the original that is still there in one of the museums. So we have proof that whatever is there you know in John it's all very very accurate. No no no no mistakes happened when people were you know passing it on from generation to generation. accuracy was maintained in passing down all of these gospels to us. So um in the little time that we have left, let's look at some of the unique features which we see in this gospel. We don't see these features in the other three gospels. So what are some of the unique features that we find in the gospel and specific miracles? He does not use the word miracles in his letter uh in his gospel. He calls them signs. He says you know he he writes this the first sign which Jesus performed. So he doesn't say this is the first miracle which Jesus did. He says this the sign which Jesus performed. And so he takes seven specific signs to prove that Jesus is you know divine to to bring out different aspects of his divinity. So why did he, you know, refer to Jesus miracles as signs? Because they are like sign boards. You know, when we're going down the road, we see sign boards, right? Uh maybe you'll have an arrow pointing in one particular way and say, you know, towards Hebal, it will say. So you based on that sign board, you know that okay, it's pointing in that direction and if you go in that direction, then you will come to Hebal. So in that way, these are seven miracles. They are like signs with arrows pointing and saying look look at this miracle. This miracle is proof that this man Jesus he is divine. He is God. He has done something which no human being can do. So this miracle is a clear sign. It's a clear proof that this Jesus is divine. Okay. So in that way he takes seven specific signs in his gospel. He includes them over there to prove that Jesus is God, that he is divine. And the interesting thing is six of those signs are not mentioned in the other three gospels. You know the other three gospels contain so many miracles, so many things which Jesus did. But seven of the six of the ones which John mentions, they are not even mentioned in the other three gospels. There's only one which runs in all four, which is the feeding of the 5,000. So the feeding of the 5,000 is here even in uh John. But then the other six main signs, the other six main miracles which prove John, he uses the I am statements. You know there are se seven times where Jesus says I am so and so. So these seven I am statements are describing different aspects of Jesus divinity. So Jesus says you know I am the bread. So I am divine but I am divine in this way. I am a bread that you can feed on and if you feed on me you will have life. So there are seven I am statements which Jesus makes which describe to us different aspects of his divine being. Okay. So we will be looking at that as well. We will look at the seven signs. We will also look at the seven I am statements which Jesus makes. And also there are some interesting uh encounters that Jesus has with specific people. We don't find this in the other three gospels. In the other three gospels they'll just write to you where Jesus went, what he said, whom he helped all that. But here there are conversations which he has with specific people and those conversations are described in detail. For instance, we all we are all very familiar with John 3, right? Who is the person that he talks to in John 3? The name of that man. Yes. Ah it's so nice to have students who are awake. Okay. So so Nicodemus is one person with whom you know he has a conversation. Uh another important conversation the Samaritan woman he has a long conversation with her and then um that um that uh Mary Mary Martha and Lazarus he he speaks to them about you know how he's the resurrection. So there are some main encounters that he has with people and if you look at those encounters it always has some spiritual implications. Nicodemus he became a follower of Jesus after that conversation. The Samaritan lady she goes back as a missionary into her town and lot of people get saved because of her. So whenever these encounters with Jesus happen there are interesting things which happen to those people who had those encounters. So we would be talking about those details as well even as we are covering our gospel of John. And this is one gospel where you have a lot of important teaching about the Holy Spirit. You'll not find that in the other gospels but here in this um John's gospel we see a lot of very helpful teaching about the Holy Spirit. So yes even that we will be covering in our sessions. Another interesting thing is there's a term which John uses about Jesus death and resurrection which we don't find in the other gospels. They talk about crucifixion. Uh they talk about the you know Jesus being you know dying. But here John he uses the word glorification. He doesn't just see it as Jesus dying. He doesn't he doesn't just see it as Jesus coming and you know fulfilling a a role which needed to be you know completed. He talks about this very humiliating death as a glorification. He talks about Jesus being glorified. So we see that you know especially maybe in a couple of verses if we can look at um John 12:23 know Jesus says the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Jesus doesn't doesn't just say you know it's time for me to die. He says my death is a glorification. I am going to be going to see things here which we we do not see in the other three gospels. There's a lot of truth which is being packed into these chapters. Okay. So um with the help of thing which be beneficial to us to our spiritual walk to our future. Okay. So uh let's just quickly close with a word of prayer. Um yeah Lord uh we kind of looked at an introduction to this gospel and we see that there are many interesting things which are contained in this gospel which can actually help us in our future. So we commit our sessions into your hands. Lord, we need you to come and speak to us and minister to us while we are having our future sessions because otherwise Lord, we'll just walk away with information and maybe we can write a textbook on it but it'll not be of any use to anyone. But Lord, if you can come and talk to us personally, then Lord, something will change in the way we see things. people will be impacted and our ministries will be transformed and Lord then you can actually reward us for what we have accomplished on this earth. So Lord we commit all of our future sessions into your hands. We need you to come and do something in our classes. Lord thank you oh Lord for today's class in spite of the internet problems we were able to conduct the class. So we are grateful for that. Thank you Lord in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So see you all on Friday. Friday is when we will have our next session.