Intro to the Gospel According to John

Well, good morning. It's good to see you all. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in the Gospel according to John.

Let's see.

I am not perfect, and I cannot plead my perfection before God, but must plead the perfection of Christ.

What a good reminder this morning as we sang a song called, It Was Finished Upon That Cross.

Today we're going to have an introduction to the Gospel according to John.

It's been some time since I have preached, and I'm very grateful to be back at it today.

So this marks the beginning of a verse-by-verse exposition of this Gospel.

So the verse-by-verse part of that will begin next week.

And I just want to say a brief word about verse-by-verse exposition.

Well, the idea of an exposition or to exposit a text means that you bring out the completion of it.

You're not neglecting any part of that text.

And we find as a general habit that verse-by-verse exposition is an important task to take up.

That's not to say that it's more holy than any other kind of preaching, but it's just a good habit.

Sometimes the word exposition and the word exegesis is used interchangeably, and this just shouldn't be the case.

I was speaking to a pastor earlier this week who kept saying he was going to exegete something,

and I think what he meant was exposit it.

But if you're expositing it, you're also exegeting it to be clear.

So exegesis, that word comes from the Greek, and it simply means to come from the source, to come out of the source.

And it's put in opposition to eisegesis, which means to read things into the source.

And so any good preaching, faithful preaching, God-exalting preaching is going to be exegesis.

It's going to come out of the text.

But not all preaching can be exposition because not all preaching can lay out the entirety of a given matter.

So like when we preach topically, it's very difficult.

I think it can be done, but it's very difficult to exposit a topic because that's to say you'd have to say everything there is to say about that topic.

That's difficult to do.

Sometimes topical preaching is the most difficult because you have to figure out what not to say versus what should be said.

So for those reasons, we like verse by verse.

It's a wonderful thing to have a text just laid before you and to say,

okay, this is what God intends for his people to hear on this day.

That said, an introduction really can't be an exposition.

I can't give you an entirety of John's gospel this morning.

We're going to do that across some time, but it should be exegetical.

It should still derive from the source the information.

So we're not going to rush our study of this gospel.

It's looking like, as I'm working through an outline, it's going to be something like 70 or so sermons.

So we'll spend the next year, year and a half in this text.

It surely shouldn't be the only Bible that you're getting.

You need to be reading the Bible more broadly, but I really, really hope that us drilling down, expositing this text will serve you.

And because we're about to set ourselves on this journey, we need to do some introductory work.

It's helpful for us to kind of prerequisite the study of John's gospel.

So today we're going to consider the book's authorship, its context, its purpose, and its major themes.

And my hope for today is that you get excited about the time our church will spend together in this portion of God's word.

So first, let's talk about the authorship.

Now you have already heard me say that this book is titled The Gospel According to John.

Your Bible likely has that exact title or some variation of it.

However, the book never names John as its author.

That said, and while there is some minor disagreement about its authorship,

the widely accepted understanding is that the apostle John wrote it.

I don't really think we need to have any arguments about it,

but I do want to give you some evidences that John did in fact write this gospel account.

The testimony of the early church bears witness to what I just don't mind stating as a fact.

John wrote this gospel.

Irenaeus was the first person to name John as its author in his work against heresies written in the 2nd century.

Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John.

So just a generation of discipleship removed.

Also, Theophilus of Antioch, who lived at the same time, wrote,

quote, quote,

The holy writings teach us, and all the inspired men,

one of whom, John, says,

in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, end quote.

I could go on.

There's lots of early church evidence that they consider John its author,

but I will spare you more historical names that I likely can't pronounce and further quotations.

The point is, the early church understood this book to be authored by John,

so we have them as a strong external testimony.

We also have some internal testimony, though not definitive,

that gives strong evidence of John's authorship.

So let me show you four.

I told you to take out your Bibles to John.

You may appreciate flipping around to some of these and seeing them.

I'm going to move fairly quickly through these,

because this is not the ultimate point of this morning.

Firstly, though, the author was a Jew,

and we get this evidence because he was familiar with Jewish traditions

and opinions about a number of matters,

including the Messiah.

We see this in chapter 1, verse 21,

chapter 6, verse 14 through 15,

chapter 7, verse 26 through 27, etc.

The importance of religious training,

the relationship of suffering to personal sin,

avoiding ceremonial defilement,

wedding and burial customs,

the need to be purified before celebrating Passover,

and more.

There's a lot of evidence that he was very familiar with Jewish traditions

and opinions about a bunch of different matters.

Secondly, we can derive from the text that the author was a Palestinian Jew.

His knowledge of local places could only be known

by someone who had lived in Palestine.

He gives specific distances from one place to another as an example.

They didn't have maps to reference or some device to look it up on.

He would have had to travel those distances.

A simple example is he distinguished between

the Bethany beyond the Jordan,

in chapter 1, verse 28,

and the Bethany on the outskirts of Jerusalem,

chapter 11, and verse 1.

So his familiarity with the geography

speaks to the fact that he was a Palestinian Jew,

lived in that region.

Thirdly, the author was an eyewitness.

He includes specific details

that aren't essential to the stories that he tells,

which are not found in the other three gospel accounts.

So he's not pulling these details from someplace else.

He must have himself witnessed these things.

Details like the name of Judas Iscariot's father,

you can see in chapter 6 and verse 71,

as well as other details.

And then fourthly, the author is not mentioned.

Let me explain.

The other three gospel accounts mention the apostle John.

John was one of the three apostles

who were closest to Jesus,

often called his inner circle.

It was John, his brother James, and Peter

that were, for example,

invited to witness Jesus' transfiguration.

The other three gospels mention him by name.

This one does not.

The gospel before us does mention

the apostle whom Jesus loved.

Chapter 13, verse 23.

Chapter 19, verse 26.

Chapter 21, and verse 20.

Which strongly implies that John is referring to himself.

And what a wonderful way to refer to yourself.

So John was a Jewish, a Palestinian Jew,

an eyewitness,

and he's not mentioned in the text.

All of this evidence, taken together,

gives us plenty to be confident in this book's authorship.

But I encourage you to shut down anybody

who wants to argue with you otherwise.

It is the gospel according to John.

Second, and very briefly,

John's context.

This book was written in the last part of the first century,

most likely between 80 and 90 A.D.

Once again, there's some controversy about this dating.

Typically meant to erode confidence in this gospel,

and I would be really glad to speak with you further

about the dating if you'd like to hear it.

I think most people don't,

so I'm not going to at this moment.

But there's some really good reason to believe

that it was written between 80 and 90 A.D.

Church tradition holds that John was in Ephesus

at the time of its writing.

Text doesn't give us any clue to that,

but the church tradition says

that that's where he was located

in the later years of his life.

Third, what was the purpose

for the writing of John's gospel account?

Now, we, of course, believe

that the scripture is inspired.

So John is being led to write this

by the Spirit of God who dwelt within him,

but he's got something in mind

as he sits down to write this particular gospel account.

John is unique among the gospels.

The other three are often called the synoptics

or the synoptic gospels.

This word comes from a Greek word

which means to see together,

and often we just think of that word

as meaning similar.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke

all have distinct emphases and themes,

but they follow the same general outline of events

and have similar content,

structure, and perspective.

So in that way, they kind of sit together,

and John sits a little oddly, uniquely,

off to itself.

More than 90% of John's gospel

is not found in the synoptics.

John speaks of Christ's preexistence

and creative power,

chapter 1, verse 1 through 3.

Jesus' early ministry in Judea and Samaria,

chapters 2 and 3.

His dialogue with Nicodemus,

chapter 3, verse 1 through 21.

His bread of life teaching,

chapter 6, verse 22 through 71.

His discourse about being the good shepherd,

chapter 10, verse 1 through 39.

The washing of the disciples' feet,

chapter 13, verse 1 through 15.

The upper room discourse

and the high priestly prayer,

chapters 13 through 17, and more.

We find all of this in John

and not in the synoptic gospels.

It explores the tragedy

of the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

And then John, with great clarity,

lets us know exactly why he wrote it.

And I just love that he does this for our sake.

John, chapter 20, verse 30 and 31.

John 20:30

He writes this,

Now Jesus did many other signs

in the presence of the disciples

which are not written in this book.

But these are written

so that you may believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and that by believing,

you may have life in his name.

So there it is.

The purpose of the writing

of this gospel account.

Now it could be argued, of course,

that this is the purpose of the writing

of the entirety of the Bible.

But John doesn't leave us guessing at all

why he is penning this letter.

John's focus is on proclamation,

not on instruction.

He desires for his readers

to behold Christ,

to see Christ,

to understand his person

and his work,

that by believing in him,

we might have life.

Calvin said this gospel

is the key to understanding

the person and work

of Jesus Christ.

Christ.

Now we are going to return

to chapter 20, verse 31,

time and time again

as we study this book.

Written so that you may believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

the one, the Messiah,

the one who has come

to redeem his people,

to deliver them from sin and death

and to give him life.

The Son of God,

that by believing you may have

life in his name.

The purpose is abundantly clear.

But we shouldn't,

and won't,

neglect the major themes

that serve the purpose

of John's gospel account.

You may hear that

and you may think,

well, I've already believed

in the person and work

of Jesus Christ, right?

I've already been granted

this life that John speaks about.

Do I have any need

to read this

and to hear it preached

over so much time?

I will say to you,

yes, yes,

you most certainly do.

There are undergirding themes

that are going to be

of great help to us

in thinking about our salvation.

So, fourth,

let's consider five major themes

of the book of John.

First major theme

is the deity of Christ.

The opening words

in the beginning

was the word.

John chapter 1 and verse 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

Echoes Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

and verse 1,

declaring Christ

as the eternal God.

Next week,

we're going to celebrate Easter,

and we're not going to stop

just to talk about the resurrection.

We're going to get right

into the very beginning

of John chapter 1, right?

John 1 · chapter mention

The resurrection affirms

everything that Jesus said

about himself,

namely,

most importantly,

his deity.

In the beginning

was the word,

and the word was

with God,

and the word

was God.

Jesus is explicitly

called God

in the Gospel of John.

He calls himself this.

John chapter 10,

John 10:30

verse 30,

is an example.

I and the Father

are one.

We see it in chapter 8,

verse 58,

and chapter 20,

verse 28.

Jesus makes

seven I am statements

that reveal

his divine nature.

Jesus calls himself

the bread of life.

I am the bread of life.

Chapter 6,

verse 35,

and verse 48,

and verse 51.

Jesus says,

I am the light

of the world.

Chapter 8,

and verse 12.

He says,

I am the door.

Chapter 10,

verse 7,

and verse 9.

He says,

I am the good shepherd.

Chapter 10,

verse 11,

and verse 14.

He says,

I am the resurrection

and the life.

Chapter 11,

verse 25.

He says,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life.

Chapter 14,

verse 6.

And he says,

I am the vine.

Chapter 15,

verse 1 through 5.

He's got a lot to say,

right?

And this is why

this is not exposition

because I want to develop

all of those thoughts

and we will

when we get to those

verses.

So it sets out for us

a major theme

of the deity

of Christ.

Second major theme,

the sovereign work

of God

in salvation.

The sovereign work

of God

in salvation.

We cannot

save

ourselves.

It must be known

that your sin

makes you

utterly incapable

of saving

yourself.

Right?

You have

nothing to plead

before God

except for

the saving work

of God

on your

behalf.

So John makes

a case for

monergistic

salvation.

God coming

and saving

a people.

Let me show you

a couple examples.

John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

and verse 13.

John says that

men,

people who believe

in Christ

are born not of blood

nor of the will

of the flesh

nor of the will

of man

but of God.

People who belong

to God

are born

of God.

John chapter 6

John 6:37

verse 37.

No one can come

to me

unless the Father

who sent me

draws him.

Draws him.

And this

word draws

is used

in extra-biblical

language

to talk about

the drawing

of water

out of the well.

Water is brought

forcefully

up out of a well.

Chapter 10

verse 26

through 29

says,

But you do not believe

because you are not

among my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice

and I know them

and they follow me.

I give them

eternal life

and they will never perish

and no one will snatch

them out of my hand.

My Father who has given

them to me

is greater than all

and no one is able

to snatch them

out of the Father's.

hand.

Praise God

that God saves

because we would not

save ourselves.

We find ourselves

this morning

in Christ

because of God's

sovereign work

on our behalf.

John chapter 15

John 15 · chapter mention

and verse 16.

There Jesus says,

You did not

choose me

but I chose you

and appointed you

that you should go

and bear fruit

and that your fruit

should abide.

We sing a

song called

My Lord.

And so I get

one of my

and every time

we sing it

I just expect

somebody to come up

to me upset

about that song

and so I get

one of my

ribbon markers

and I put it

in John chapter 15

John 15:16

verse 16

and to date

nobody's been upset

at me about that

song.

I think that's

a wonderful thing.

It's a profession

of what Jesus

says is true

in John chapter 15

John 15 · chapter mention

and verse 16

and all of this

is taught

so that God's

people will be

comforted.

God is the one

who saves.

I'm so grateful

this morning

that it is not

my supposed

perfection

that I plead

before God

because my

supposed perfection

is not

perfection.

I've shown myself

to be imperfect

as my eyes

opened this morning.

I need to plead

a true perfection.

A righteousness

that doesn't come

from me.

An alien righteousness

as Luther called it.

The righteousness

that belongs

to Christ.

He also

under this theme

of the sovereign

work of God

and salvation

argues for the

necessity

of regeneration.

That we need

to be changed

not in degree

but in kind.

We need to be

changed from one

type to another

type.

We see the record

of a conversation

between Jesus

and a man

named Nicodemus

in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

There we read

this man came

to Jesus by night

and said to him

Rabbi we know

that you are a

teacher come from

God for no one

can do these

signs that you do

unless God

is with him.

Jesus answered him

truly truly I say

to you unless

one is born again

he cannot see

the kingdom

of God.

Nicodemus said

to him

how can a man

be born when

he is old?

Can he enter

a second time

into his mother's

womb and be

born?

He is basically

saying what

are you talking

about to be

born again?

Jesus answered

truly truly I say

to you unless

one is born

of water

and the spirit

he cannot enter

the kingdom of

God.

That which is

born of the

flesh is flesh

and that which

is born of the

spirit is spirit.

So we are born

once that natural

way that biological

way and we must

be born again

that supernatural

way of the

spirit to be

accepted into

the kingdom of

God.

So that first

major theme again

is the deity of

Christ, the

second the

sovereign work

of God in

salvation.

Thirdly the

glory of Christ

revealed in

signs or you

could replace

that word with

miracles.

John's gospel

records seven

miracles that

demonstrate Christ's

divine power.

John chapter

two Jesus

turns water

into wine.

In John

chapter four in

a declaration of

Christ's authority

over life he

heals the

official's son.

In John

chapter five in

declaring a

sovereignty over

the Sabbath he

heals the

lame man.

John chapter six

Jesus feeds the

five thousand.

John chapter six

also the walking

on water.

John chapter nine

he heals a

blind man and

he declares his

power over death

in chapter 11 by

raising Lazarus

from the dead.

So we see the

glory of Christ

and these miracles

recorded for us.

fourthly the

major theme that's

developed is the

cross and the

lamb of God.

John alone

records John the

Baptist's

declaration

quote behold

the lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the

world.

John chapter one

and verse

twenty nine.

John makes it

clear that the

cross is not a

plan gone wrong

but the preordained

mission of

Christ.

Jesus says in

John 10 and

verse 18

no one takes my

life from me

but I lay it

down of my own

accord.

I have authority

to lay it down

and I have

authority to take

it up again.

This charge I have

received from my

father.

See also John

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12 and

verse 27.

Further John's

gospel emphasizes

the Passover

connection.

That Passover

meal just before

God's people were

delivered from

Egypt.

The Exodus

account that

they huddled in

their homes at

night and they

killed a lamb

and they spread

its blood over

their doorposts

so that the

angel of death

would pass over

their homes.

Jesus is the

fulfillment of

that type.

He's the true

Passover lamb.

His blood

takes away

the death

that is owed

us.

John chapter 19

John 19 · chapter mention

and verse 36.

So we see this

developing major

theme of the

cross and the

lamb of God.

And the fifth

major theme that

we see is the

triune God

at work.

John's gospel

gives profound

insight into the

trinity.

We see the

father sending

the son.

John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

and verse 16.

For God so

loved the world

that he gave

his only son.

The Lord

believes in him

should not perish

but have eternal

life.

We see the

son accomplishing

the work of

three quarters of

that song and

Alex led us in

the rest of it.

There in John

John 19:30

chapter 19

verse 30

Jesus says

it is

finished

and he bowed

his head

and he gave

up his spirit.

He accomplished

the redemptive

work on behalf

of the people

that the father

sent him

for.

And we see

the spirit

applying that

salvation.

John chapter

John 14:16

14

verse 16

and 17

Jesus says

and I will

ask the father

and he will

give you another

helper to be

with you forever

even the spirit

of truth

whom the world

cannot receive

because it

neither sees him

nor knows him.

You know him

for he dwells

with you

and will be

in you.

The father

the son

and the spirit

doing this

great work

on behalf

of his people.

Additionally

the high priestly

prayer

John chapter 17

John 17 · chapter mention

shows

trinitarian unity

in the

work

of redemption.

So those are

the five major

themes that are

serving that

great purpose

that we believe

that Jesus

is the Christ

the son of God

that we would

believe in him

have the salvation

of our souls

and life

forevermore

the deity

of Christ

the sovereign

work of God

and salvation

the glory

of Christ

revealed

in miracles

the cross

and the lamb

of God

and the

triune God

at work.

So

I think we've

hinted around

that it a bit

but why

is the study

of John

a timely

study

for our church?

People ask

that question

sometimes.

Are your elders

decided together

we're going to

preach through

the gospel

of John

at a bunch

of Bible

book names

on a board?

We stop

and we think

we consider

together

what might be

good for us

to spend time

studying together

and

there's

four reasons

that I want

to share

with you.

I hope

there are

more.

I hope

there are

other ways

that our

study of

this

is helpful

to you

but four

reasons

that I

could think

of

that this

would be

good for

us to

study

together

and then

we'll

close our

time

together.

Number

one

it is

always

always

good

to know

more

of Christ

and we

know him

by beholding

him in

the word.

You will

not ever

get bored

studying the

scripture.

Read it

and read it

and read it

by the power

of the spirit

he's going to

continue to

unfold for

you in

these pages

is our

Lord and

Savior

Jesus

Christ.

In an

age where

people

form Christ

they imagine

a Christ

to suit

their own

desires

we need

to be

laser

focused

on who

Jesus

really

is.

As he's

revealed in

the text

as he's

revealed

himself

we need

the actual

Jesus

clear in

our minds

to help

us discern

the false.

Christ

we will

never

fail

if we

hold up

to one

another

in

scripture

Christ

it's

always

good

to

know

more

of

Jesus

second

reason

I think

it's

helpful

for us

to study

John

to

nudge

at a

growth

in

reverence

the high

view of

Christ

in

John

should

lead

us

to a

high

view

of

gathered

worship

of

this

Christ

Sundays

beloved

are

serious

days

and I

don't

mean

that they

are

an

unjoyful

day

Sunday

should

be

full

of

joy

but I

do

mean

that

they

are

weighty

days

we

are

invited

to

come

together

as an

outpost

of

God's

people

to sing

praises

to his

name

to open

up his

word

and to

learn

from it

to speak

truth

to one

another

and I

think that if we

give serious

consideration to

who we

gather to

worship

we may

find ourselves

approaching

this day

more

importantly

now at

the fear of

indicting anybody

this morning

I'm not going to

give you

examples

but if you

want some

come ask me

I'll be

happy to

share with

you

some ways

I think

we could

grow

in our

reverence

as a

church

thirdly

I think

a study

of

John's

gospel

will be

good

it'll

serve

our

church

to

remind

us

of

God's

sovereignty

and

anchor

our

souls

for

difficult

days

once again

I think

this is a

thing we

need to be

reminded of

constantly

we need to

see God

held up

at the

center

of the

story

of the

Bible

and

therefore

at the

center

of ours

controlling

the

minutia

of every

single

moment

day

because

we're

going to

experience

difficult

days

and we

need to

remember

who is

ultimately

in control

of all

things

fourthly

good for us

to study

John's

gospel

account

to spur

on

bold

gospel

proclamation

God is

saving

a people

for his

praise

and he's

using

his

people

to

accomplish

that

work

we

gather

together

as a

church

in order

that we

might be

sent

in order

that we

might

go

and in

our

going

we're

meant

to go

gather

people

back

together

for the

praise

of

Christ

we're

going to

note

Jesus

saying

things

in this

gospel

account

like

in

John

John 12:49

chapter

12

verse

49

I

have

not

spoken

on

my

own

authority

but the

father

who sent

me

has

himself

given

me

a

commandment

what

to

say

and

what

to

speak

we

see

Jesus

just

going

in

his

going

about

right

he's

saying

the

things

that

the

father

tells

him

to

say

in

other

places

we'll

see

him

doing

the

things

that

the

father

tells

him

to

do

and

then

he

says

this

in

John

John 20:21

chapter

20

verse

21

peace

be

with

you

as

the

father

has

sent

me

even

so

I

am

sending

you

right

that

we

would

just

go

about

in

our

going

right

believing

in

the

sovereign

God

that

saves

his

people

and

we

would

make

bold

gospel

proclamation

as we

do

we'll

talk a lot

about

that

in this

coming

year

beloved

the

Lord

is

blessing

our

church

with

children

I

am

so

so

grateful

for

this

we

had

two

born

just

this

past

week

and

they

and

their

families

are

in

our

prayers

if

I'm

correct

I

think

I

am

we

still

have

nine

women

currently

pregnant

right

now

130

children

85

of those

children

are

four

and

under

and

all

of

those

numbers

are

plus

or

minus

but

I

think

I'm

pretty

accurate

they're

precious

!

souls

!

we

are

grateful

for

each

and

every

one

of

them

if

you

are

a

parent

the

evangelizing

and

discipling

of

your

children

is

front

line

work

and

we

do

that

together

like

we

partner

in

that

effort

together

with

these

kids

but

let

us

not

forget

our

broader

command

to

go

we

have

neighbors

and

co-workers

and

classmates

that

need

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ

praise

God

for

our

biological

growth

don't

hear

me

for

a

minute

downplaying

biological

growth

we are

so

happy

for

it

but

let

us

also

not

lose

sight

of

the

wonderful

potential

of

conversion

growth

we want

to see

dead

people

come

to

life

and

be

part

of

our

church

I

hope

that

our

time

together

this

morning

this

brief

bit

of

moment

we've

had

has

given

you

some

bearing

for

our

intentions

and

pray

for

me

as

I

prepare

these

sermons

other

men

will

also

come

and

preach

from

this

book

as

well

pray

that

we

might

rightly

behold

Christ

and

grow

into

his

likeness

in

ever

increasing

ways

together

let's

pray

to

that

end