Transcript Document

THE
LIFE
&
WRITINGS
OF THE APOSTLE
JOHN
SECTION
II
THE
GOSPEL
We have progressed from the life
of the Apostle John to his writing,
starting with the Gospel of John.
Our journey took us from the Plan
and Purpose to Divine Revelation.
Our first revelation was of Jesus Son of God. Last week we studied
part 1, Faith Begins in the Disciples
with the primarily focus on John
the Baptist. Our textbook called it:
The testimony of the first preacher.
The key verse was John 1:29, ...
Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.
THE
REVELATION
of the
Son of
God
Part 2
Tonight our focus will be directed
to part 2 - Faith Begins in the
Disciples. Our textbook calls it:
The Testimony of the First
Disciples. There are two points in
the passages we should look for:
1. The variety of the disciples
2. The various methods the
disciples came to Jesus
The lesson application is that
followers of Jesus come in many
forms and ways.
Andrew
And
John
John 1:35-39
Again the next day
after John stood, and two of his
disciples; And looking upon Jesus as
he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of
God! And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. Then
Jesus turned, and saw them following,
and saith unto them, What seek ye?
They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to
say, being interpreted, Master,) where
dwellest thou? He saith unto them,
Come and see. They came and saw
where he dwelt, and abode with him
that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
(KJV)
John the Baptist unselfish desire
to glorify Christ bore fruit among
his own followers. Without any
command or prompting, two
disciples decided to follow Jesus.
One is identified as Andrew.
Silence regarding the name of
the other one points to the writer
of the John, who did not use his
name out of modesty. In Mark
1:16–20 it listed two pairs of
brothers (Simon and Andrew, James
and John) who were fishermen
and were called by Jesus.
On the day of the first testimony
that Jesus was the Lamb of God
by of John the Baptist, these two
disciples did not leave to follow
Jesus. They probably felt bad,
knowing that this involved their
departure from their old master.
Loyalty to a teacher was strong
and they had built a close
relationship. However, the “next
day” the calling became stronger
than the relationship. John the
Baptist’s mission was over and
he had taught them well.
Peter
One of the two
which heard John speak, and
followed him, was Andrew, Simon
Peter’s brother. He first findeth his
own brother Simon, and saith unto
him, We have found the Messias,
which is, being interpreted, the
Christ. And he brought him to
Jesus. And when Jesus beheld
him, he said, Thou art Simon the
son of Jona: thou shalt be called
Cephas, which is by
interpretation, A stone.
John 1:40-42
"Findeth" has the emphatic first
place in the sentence. It
emphasizes the action from the
human vantage point. "Brought"
has the place of emphasis also.
Andrew exhibited a beautiful
Christian trait in his desire to
share with his brother. “Jesus
'beheld' him" means He gave him
one penetrating glance. Jesus'
look pierced the very heart and
soul of the character of Simon.
"Simon" is another spelling of
Simeon, meaning "hearing."
The Jews did not use family
names, so the name of his father
was added to distinguish him.
Jona in many ancient texts is
translated as Iōannou. "John,"
the Greek form of the Hebrew
Yohanan, means "the Lord has
been gracious.” In the Hebrew
cultural, names had a great
significance. The name was to
conform to the character. "Thou
shalt be called Cephas;“ Jesus
called him that which he would
become.
When Jesus looked at Simon, He
knew both his character and his
destiny. Cephas is the Aramaic
for Petros; the rendering is Peter
in the Greek. As "Simon" he was
an unstable pebble. He would
become Peter, "a rock, a boulder.
The thought is that his name
indicates what God by His grace
would do through him. In the
process of time, Simon would be
transformed from a follower who
was inconsistent and unstable,
into a stable, solid rock.
Philip
John 1:43 The
day following
Jesus would go
forth into Galilee,
and findeth Philip,
and saith unto
him, Follow me.
There is not much known
about Philip’s background,
yet there is much to be said
about him. It was more about
what Philip did after he was
called to follow Jesus, than
how he responded to the call.
• First called to discipleship
• First to be called an
evangelist
• First to preach to the nonJewish audience
Jesus personally called Philip
with a command. This was
apparently not an accidental
meeting; it was possibly
arranged through the efforts
of Andrew and Peter. Both
Andrew and Philip have Greek
names. The call Jesus made
to Philip was a call to
discipleship. The word
“follow” is used the natural
sense, but contains a strong
spiritual connotation.
Nathanael
Now Philip was of
Bethsaida, the city of Andrew
and Peter. Philip findeth
Nathanael, and saith unto him,
We have found him, of whom
Moses in the law, and the
prophets, did write, Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said unto him,
Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth? Philip saith
unto him, Come and see.
John 1:44-46
Philip's testimony revealed
the depth of his spiritual
understanding. He realized
that Jesus was the longawaited Jewish Messiah."
Nathanael on the other hand
was a skeptic. Nazareth was
too small and insignificant to
be the birth-place of the
Messiah. The city was also
considered to be immoral.
Thus, Philip statement would
be considered absurd.
Understanding Nathanael's
concerns, Philip simply said
“come and see.” He was
telling Nathanael to come and
see for yourself. Philip’s
invitation was brief. It was
the one Jesus gave to Andrew
and John. Philip presented
the invitation, but Nathanael
would have to act upon it.
When he did, his Skepticism
vanished through knowledge
and experience in the Lord.
John 1:47-49 Jesus saw
Nathanael coming to him, and
saith of him, Behold an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile!
Nathanael saith unto him,
Whence knowest thou me? Jesus
answered and said unto him,
Before that Philip called thee,
when thou wast under the fig
tree, I saw thee. Nathanael
answered and saith unto him,
Rabbi, thou art the Son of God;
thou art the King of Israel.
Nathanael asked how Jesus
knew about him. Jesus seeing
Nathanael under the fig tree
was proof of His omniscience
which, is an attribute of God
alone. Things which were
private, intimate and very
personal were - by way of
divine revelation - conveyed
to Nathanael. The words of
Jesus were life changing. The
encounter led to Nathanael's
confession of faith.
In expressed faith, Nathanael
gives threefold utterance of
his revelation using 3 titles.
• FIRST - Rabbi - Master and
Teacher
• SECOND -Son of God - One
with inherited divine
power
• THIRD - King of Israel –
the Promised Messiah
Nathanael’s expression was a
confession of faith.
John 1:50-51 Jesus
answered
and said unto him, Because I
said unto thee, I saw thee
under the fig tree, believest
thou? thou shalt see greater
things than these. And he
saith unto him, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Hereafter ye
shall see heaven open, and
the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son
of man.
Jesus told Nathanael that
what he had heard from the
Lord would be only a
beginning of the evidence as
to His identity. Nathanael did
see a multitude of miracles.
He heard the truth of the
Gospel explained. He also was
a witness of the resurrection
and ascension. Finally, he
was one of the 120 who were
recipients of the Holy Spirit
on the Day of Pentecost.
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER
The lesson application is that, it
is good to invite people to come
to church and hear the Word of
God, but in some cases it may
be better to personally share
the Word of God with them.
Much depends upon the one’s
Spiritual gift. Direct, personal
encounters with Jesus may be
rare today, but it still can and
does happen.
Andrew and John was pointed
to Christ by John the Baptist.
Andrew brought Peter to Christ.
Jesus called Philip directly and
Philip told Nathanael about
Christ. God has various ways of
bringing His people to Himself.
All are vital to the Kingdom; He
is not tied to one particular
method. But, whatever means,
He is still calling disciples. As
Christians, we must be ready to
be used however He chooses.
READING ASSIGNMENTS
CONTINUE TO READ
Textbook Pages
116-122
 The Revelation of
the Son of God
Scripture
• John 1:19- 6:71