BibleProject New Testament Series - Lesson 8

BP150-08 - John (Part 2)

The gospel according to John. In the first video we saw that John wrote this book to make the claim that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the human embodiment of God's Word and glorious presence, who has come to reveal who God truly is. Then we explored how John designed the first half of the book to demonstrate this claim. Jesus performed miraculous signs and made huge claims about Himself that He is the reality to which Israel's entire history points. And this all generates controversy, however, and the Jewish leaders confront Jesus for all these claims. And it culminated with Jesus laying down his life for his friend Lazarus by going near Jerusalem to raise him from the dead. Jesus sealed his fate. And so once the plot to murder Jesus is set in motion, we come into the book's second half. The first part focuses entirely on Jesus's final night and last words to the disciples as he tries to prepare them for his coming death. Jesus performs the shocking act at dinner. He takes on the role of a common servant by kneeling down to wash their dirty feet, something that in their culture a superior rabbi would never do for his disciples. And Jesus says it's a symbol of his entire life purpose to reveal the true nature of God as a being of self-giving love. And it's also a symbol of what Jesus is about to do in becoming a servant and giving up his life to die for the sins of the world. And so this act leads to his great command, to his disciples, that they are to follow him by loving one another as he has loved them. Acts of loving generosity are to be the hallmark of Jesus followers. This is what will show the world who Jesus is and therefore who God is. Now, from here. Jesus goes into a long flowing speech that's concluded with a prayer, and you'll find the whole thing is unified by a few repeated themes. Jesus keeps saying that he's going away, which makes the disciples sad. But Jesus says it's for the best because it means that He will send the Spirit also known as the Advocate, as a human. Jesus can only be in one place at a time, but the Spirit can be Jesus's divine personal presence in any place, at any time. And the Spirit will do a number of things, Jesus says. So remember, for John, the unique deity of the one God consists of that loving, unified relationship between the Father and the Son. Jesus says the Spirit is that loving, personal presence that will come to live in his people and draw them into the love between the father and the son. And so Jesus says, His disciples are the ones who abide or remain in that divine love, the way that branches are connected to a vine. He's describing here how the personal love of God can permeate a person's life healing, transforming and making them new. And there's more. The Spirit will also empower Jesus followers to carry on his mission in the world, to, first of all, fulfill the great command to love others through radical acts of service. But also, Jesus says, the mission is to bear witness to the truth, to expose and name the selfish, sinful ways that we as humans treat each other, and to declare that in Jesus God has saved the world through Him because He loves that He's opened up a new way to become human again. And so finally, Jesus predicts that there will be opposition, just as the Jewish leaders rejected him. So his followers will be persecuted. But he tells them not to be afraid because he has already conquered or gained victory over the world. Now, what does Jesus mean by victory here? He doesn't say, but it leads us into the final section of the book where John shows us what victory looks like. Jesus style. The Jewish leaders send soldiers to Jesus and His disciples to arrest him. And when the soldiers ask which one Jesus is, He declares, I am, and they fall backward. Now, this is brilliant on John's part. These words are the culmination of two sets of seven instances where Jesus has used that very phrase, and it all highlights one of John's core claims about Jesus. The words I am were in Greek ago, and meaning they're the Greek translation of the Hebrew Personal Covenant, name of God that was revealed to Moses back in Exodus chapter three. It was also repeated many times, and I say it and John has strategically placed seven moments in his story where Jesus says, I am followed by some astounding claim. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world, the gate for the sheep, the good Shepherd, the resurrection, the way, the truth and the life, the true vine. And John's also designed seven other stories that have key moments where Jesus says simply, I am echoing this divine name. And so here, this occurrence as Jesus is arrested, it's the ironic climax of all of them, because Jesus reveals his divine name and power and victory precisely at the moment that He gives up his life after. This Jesus is put on trial for his exalted claims to be the Son of God and the King of Israel. First before the high priest and then before the Roman governor pilot who has to take seriously anyone who's charged with claiming to be the King of Israel. And Jesus tells Pilot that my kingdom is not from this world, meaning that he is a king and that his kingdom is for this world. But it's radically different value system, its redefinition of power and greatness. None of this is derived from this world. Rather, they are defined by God's character that Jesus has revealed through his upside down kingdom, which is epitomized by the cross. It's the place where the world's true king conquers sin and evil by letting it conquer him. And Jesus gains victory over the world through an act of self-giving love. After this Jesus, His body is placed in a tomb that is then sealed. And on the first day of the week, Mary. And then later the other disciples discover that the tomb is strangely open and then empty. And then, Mary, all of a sudden, she meets Jesus. He's alive from the dead now. The resurrection of Jesus connects back to another pattern of Seven's and John's gospel. So all the way back at the wedding party in Qana, when Jesus turned the water into wine, John told us that that was Jesus's first sign. And he also identified the second sign, the healing of the sick boy in chapter four. But after this, John just lets you keep count. And if you have, you'll have notice that the sixth sign was the raising of Lazarus from the tomb, which Jesus performed at the cost of his own life. And so that and all of the signs, they point forward to this seventh and greatest sign at the culmination of the story, Jesus's own resurrection from the dead. It vindicates Jesus's claim to be the son of God, the author of all life whose love has conquered death itself. After the empty tomb, Jesus then meets up with all the disciples, and He commissions them by sending the Spirit as He promised, so that his mission from the Father can now be carried on through them. After this, the book concludes with an epilog that explores the ongoing mission of Jesus disciples in the world. So a number of them are fishing and they're not catching anything. And so Jesus appears to them on the shore. They don't recognize him, though, and he tells them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. And when they obey him, they catch a huge amount of fish. And it's only then that they recognize him as Jesus. Now John's offering here a picture of discipleship to Jesus. His followers will be most effective in the world when their focus is not on their work as such, but on simply listening for Jesus voice and obeying him when he speaks. That's when they will truly see him at work in their lives. After this, Jesus talks with Peter and then commissions him as a unique leader in the Jesus movement, indicating that he too will give up his life one day. But in contrast to Peter, the last moments of the story focus on the author of this gospel, The disciple whom Jesus loved. And unlike Peter, his job was not to lead the Jesus movement, but rather to spend his long life bearing witness to Jesus so that others might believe in him. And that's actually what he's done right here by authoring this amazing story about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. And that's what the Gospel of John is all about.