I have structured the series with each lesson focusing on the particular Name or description of Jesus in that particular passage (e.g. Word, Light of the Word, Way, Truth, & Life, etc) It really should be interesting, and I am pleased with how well the outline has turned out.
We will be studying this Book for almost a year, about 11 months. May God teach us and reveal Himself more to us through this study. Amen.
21-Oct: When God broke His 400 year silence between the Old and New Testaments, He sent us the Living WORD. John starts his Gospel, not with the earthly birth of Christ like Matthew or Luke, but by pointing us back to Genesis, "In the beginning...". He tells us that Christ is the CREATOR. He is God in essence (the Word was God) but also distinct from the Father in person (the Word was with God). Using "life" and "light" like in Creation, John tells us that in Christ is not only physical life, but also spiritual; and that not only does He shine in physical darkness but He sheds light on the darkness of sin.
However, despite John the Baptist's testimony and witness, the world did not recognize nor believe. Though, to those who do believe, we are given the right to become part of His family! How astounding that Jesus the Creator God became man and allowed us to see His Glory and provided us a way to have eternal life! Jesus is the Final WORD.
25-Oct: Since John focused on giving evidence for Christ as God, it's neat what Chuck Swindoll said, that it's almost as if we need to take our shoes off when reading this Gospel because it is like standing on Holy Ground in the presence of God.
28-Oct: Christ's glory is full of grace and truth in contrast to the Law which only reveals our unrighteousness and need for a Savior, but through Christ we have grace and the full truth that the Savior is Jesus. It is clear that John the Baptist was humble and continually pointed to the Messiah, even when his authority to teach and baptize were challenged. John the Baptist clearly testified that Jesus is the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" and that He is the "Son of God". [NOTE: This is what "greatness" looks like, for in Matt 11:11, Jesus had said that of those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist.] So, John the Author presented his case for Christ as God in vs 1:14 and called John the Baptist as his first witness in vs 6-8, 15-34. John the Baptist is a credible witness because he is of the priestly line, his father Zacharias was a priest, they all heard of the events surrounding his birth (Zacharias not being able to talk, the prophecies about John, his miraculous conception, living as a Nazirite, etc)
4-Nov: John the Baptist pointed even his own disciples, one of whom was Andrew, to follow Jesus. Andrew in turn brings his brother Simon declaring Jesus to be the Messiah. When Jesus gave Simon the new name Peter, it showed that He saw what Simon Peter was able to become, a "ROCK" and leader in the Church. Jesus then called Philip to follow Him, who in turn called Nathanael by declaring Him to be the One who fulfills the Law and Prophets (i.e. OT Scripture). Though Nathanael was skeptical at first, he came to believe Jesus as the Son of God and King. And Jesus promises that he will see even greater things to come.
9-Nov: We had good discussions in class. As application for the lesson, the passage illustrates how we sometimes don't know a person's background or the seeds that have already been sown in their lives. We are just called to be witnesses and invite them to "come and see" for themselves. Those witnessing and being witnessed to can consist of a variety of personality types - emotional, analytical, skeptical, etc. Also, just as Jesus gave Simon a new name to represent what he would eventually be called to do, we can ask ourselves what new name we might be called? What are we being prepared for and stretched to do?
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