Intro to the Gospel of John
Bible Text: John | Preacher: Alan Conner | Series: 2012, John
Intro
I. THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE SYNOPTICS
A. Remarkably different from the Synoptics.
B. “Interlocking” gospels – they complement each other.
II. AUTHOR
A. External evidence for John being the author.
B. Internal evidence:
1) “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20).
2) Who is this “disciple whom Jesus loved”?
3) The peculiar term for “cooked fish” (opsarion) which was the form in which they sold their fish and it occurs 5 times in Gospel of John and not elsewhere in the NT. This strongly affirms that the author was a fisherman.
III. READERS
A. Familiarity with the OT.
B. The fundamental question the Fourth gospel addresses is not “Who is Jesus?” but “Who is the Messiah, who is Christ, who is the Son of God (Messianic term)?” This is a very Jewish issue.
IV. PURPOSE – Jn. 20:30-31
A. The purpose is to bring about initial faith in Christ and continuing faith in Christ among the Jews scattered throughout the roman empire and the Gentile proselytes. It is both evangelistic and designed to cultivate and grow faith as well.
B. In this gospel, John will tell his readers WHY one should become a Christian; HOW to become a Christian, and WHAT IT MEANS to be a Christian .
C. He is also writing to Jews to make the concept of a crucified Messiah understandable.
V. SPECIAL EMPHASIS
A. Personal faith and divine election.
B. How much misunderstanding there was at first.
C. Jesus is God’s replacement for the OT figures.
D. John’s teaching on the Holy Spirit in chs. 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14-16, 20.
E. Jesus is the Divine incarnate Son of God.
1) The seven “I am . . .” statements –
I am the bread of life, Jn 6:35, 48.
I am the light of the world, Jn 8:12
I am the door, Jn 10:7,9
I am the good shepherd, Jn 10:11,14.
I am the resurrection and the life, Jn 11:25
I am the way, and the truth, and the life, Jn 14:6
I am the true vine, Jn 15:1, 5.
2) The absolute “I AM” statements – Jn. 8:24, 28, 58; Ex. 3:14.
VI. DATE – from 55 BC to 95 BC.
VII. OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
1. The Prologue, Jn 1:1-18.
2. The beginnings of Jesus’ Ministry, Jn 1:19-51.
3. The Signs and Public Discourses of the Christ, Jn 2:1 – Jn 12:50.
a) Seven signs:
1- Water to wine, Jn 2:1-11.
2- Healing of the nobleman’s son, Jn 4:46-54.
3- Healing of the lame man, Jn 5:1-18.
4- Feeding the multitude, Jn 6:1-15.
5- Walking on water, Jn 6:16-21.
6- Healing the man born blind, Jn 9:1-42.
7- Raising of Lazarus, Jn 11:1-57.
b) Seven discourses:
1- The new birth, Jn 3:1-36.
2- The water of life, Jn 4:1-42.
3- The divine Son, Jn 5:19-47.
4- The bread of life, Jn 6:22-66.
5- The life-giving Spirit, Jn 7:1-52.
6- The Light of the world, Jn 8:12-59.
7- The Good Shepherd, Jn 10:1-42.
4. The Farewell Discourses and prayer, Jn 13:1 – Jn 17:26. (Private)
a) Two significant actions, Jn 13:1-30.
b) The disciples’ questions, Jn 13:31 – Jn 14:31.
c) The true Vine, Jn 15:1-16.
d) Persecution, Jn 15:17-25.
e) The work of the Holy Spirit, Jn 15:26 – 16:15.
f) Some difficulties solves, Jn 16:16-33.
g) The High Priestly prayer, Jn 17:1-26.
5. The Crucifixion and Resurrection, Jn 18:1 – 20:29.
a) The arrest, Jn 18:1-12.
b) The Jewish trial, Jn 18:13-27.
c) The Roman trial, Jn 18:28 – 19:16.
d) Jesus put to death, 19:17-42.
e) Jesus is alive, Jn 20:1-29.
6. The Purpose of the Gospel, Jn 20:30-31.
7. Epilogue, Jn 21:1-25. Final miracle of the catch of fish.
VIII. WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT TO GLEAN FROM JOHN’S GOSPEL
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