SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/24/2015
8:32 AM
My Worship Time Focus: 1st
Introduction to John
I thought that since I have different commentaries that I
would look at them to write several introductions to the Gospel of John. As many know the Gospel of John is written
differently than Matthew, Mark, and Luke which are commonly called the synoptic
gospels as they have similar things in them.
John’s focus is on Jesus Christ being God in the flesh, not that you
cannot get that from the others, but John seems to focus in on this much
more. A long time ago I heard a
statement that I have never heard before, and that is that perhaps John wrote
his gospel writings after his experience in writing the book of Revelation, a
book we just finished looking at. I have
also heard that his three letters found at the end of the NT were written after
his experience writing Revelation. Jesus
stated that the Holy Spirit would cause those who write about His life would
cause them to recall things about His life that they could write down and even
though many believe that the Gospel of John was written sometime around 90 AD,
the Holy Spirit surely could cause John to recall the things that He wanted him
to pen.
Warren Wiersbe says that the key verse in the Gospel of
John is John 20:31 “but these have been written so that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in
His name.” I suppose that many people
may think that John 3:16 would be the key verse in the Gospel of John, but I
have to agree with what Dr. Wiersbe writes that John 20:31 is the key verse in
his Gospel. I am not saying that we will
be totally following the outline from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary, but I
certainly will be looking at what he has to say as I write my Spiritual Diaries
on the Gospel of John. He says that the
key theme of the book is “Jesus is the Christ; believe and live!” I mentioned what his thoughts were on the key
verse being John 20:31, and now I want to give the three main divisions that he
has in his outline. The first main point
is entitled “Opportunity” and it goes from chapter 1:15 to chapter 6:71. In this first section we see that Jesus
presents Himself to: A. His disciples from 1:19-2:12, and then B. The Jews from
2:13-3:36, next C. The Samaritans in 4:1- 54, followed by D. The Jewish Leaders
in 5:1-47, and finally E. The multitudes in 6:1-71.
The second division is
entitled “Opposition” beginning in chapter seven and going through chapter
twelve. He writes in this section “There
is conflict with Jewish leaders over:” A. Moses from 7:1-8:11, B. Abraham
8:12-59, C. Who Messiah is 9:1-10:42, D. His miraculous power 11:1-12:26, E.
They would not believe on Him 12:37-50.
Next we look at the final
main point “Outcome” which covers chapters 13-21 and this includes A. The faith
of the disciples 13-17, B. The unbelief of the Jews 18-19, and C. The victory
of Christ chapters 20-21.
So here we have Warren Wiersbe’s outline on the book of
John, and as I said I surely will be looking at his commentary and the one from
John MacArthur and also listen to messages from MacArthur’s preaching to help
me to better understand the Gospel of John and to convey what I learn in my
Spiritual Diaries which will be posted on the internet on my blogs.
A good question to ask as we look further in on this
first introduction is a question that King Solomon asked found in 1Kings 8:27a “"But
will God indeed dwell on the earth?” Now
as we have studied throughout the OT we found that the glory of God did indeed
dwell in the tabernacle as found in Exodus 40:34 and later on in the temple
that Solomon was dedicating in first Kings chapter eight, however in our study
of Ezekiel we saw that His glory departed from the temple because of the
disobedience of the Jews as found in Ezekiel 9:3; 10:4, 18; and 11:22-23. There is not mention of His glory returning
to the temple that was built after the Jews went back to their land after being
in Babylon for 70 years, but we do know that the Lord Jesus Christ did enter
that temple on many different occasions.
Dr. Wiersbe answers this question: “Then a marvelous thing happened: the glory of God came to His people again, in
the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. The
writers of the four Gospels have given us ‘snapshots’ of or Lord’s life on
earth, for no complete biography could ever be written (John 21:25). Matthew wrote with his fellow Jews in mind
and emphasized that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled the Old Testament
prophecies. Mark wrote for the busy
Romans. Whereas Matthew emphasized the
King, Mark presented the Servant, ministering to needy people. Luke wrote his Gospel for the Greeks and
introduced them to the sympathetic Son of man.
“But it was given to John, the beloved disciple, to write
a book for both Jews and Gentiles, presenting Jesus as the Son of God. We know that John had Gentiles in mind as
well as Jews, because he often ‘interpreted’ Jewish words or customs for his
readers….His emphasis to the Jews was that Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
and the Ladder from heaven to earth (John 1:5 1; and see Gen. 28). He is the New Temple (John 2:19-21), and He
gives a new birth (John 3:4 and following).
He is the serpent lifted up (John 3:14) and the Bread of God that came
down from heaven (John 6:35 and following).”
As we look at the three other gospel writings we see many
different events that Jesus was a part of, but John explains the meanings of
these events, for instance in all four gospels we see the feeding of the 5000,
but only in the Gospel of John do we read of the sermon that followed in the Synagogue
at Cameraman.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes “But there is one major theme that
runs throughout John’s Gospel: Jesus
Christ is the Son of God, and if you commit yourself to Him, He will give you
eternal life (John 20:31).”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Not only for today, but everyday that I study
to write my Spiritual Diary on the Gospel of John I want to bring honor and
glory to the Lord as I am lead by His Spirit to do this.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Jordan” (Joshua 22:10).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who was the baby which
Pharaoh’s daughter found floating in the river?” (Too easy)
Answer in our next SD.
11/24/2015 9:30 AM
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