Thursday Night Fellowship
November 17, 2005
Introduction to the Gospel of John Study
Order
Fellowship and Food
Games – Pew Beach Volleyball
Songs – You are My King, We Fall Down
Lesson
Prayer
Introductory Questions
What is Jesus' last name?
What is one of the first stories you can remember from the gospels?
What is your favorite gospel? Why?
What comes to your mind when you hear the word gospel?
Why do we have four different gospels?
Different authors
Different perspectives
Different Audiences
Different Times
Different Purposes
Authors
All of them are actually anonymous – we know who wrote them by whom the early church fathers attributed them
Matthew – Jewish tax collector, probably wealthy, key – he's Jewish, one of the twelve
Mark – not one of the twelve, a later disciple, possibly a Gentile, assisted Paul and Peter in the early church
Luke – also writer of Acts, a doctor by profession, attention to detail, a Gentile who was a God-fearer, not one of the twelve
John – the disciple whom Jesus loved, one of the twelve, Jewish, older when he wrote the gospel of John
Perspectives
M – King
M – Servant
L – Human
J – Deity
Audiences
M – Jews, Jewish Christians, or unbelieving Jews
M – Romans, Gentiles
L – Theophilus – historical account
J – Church, Jewish Christians, Gnostics, the world in general
How many audiences are there?
At least three.
The immediate audience – the people Jesus spoke to originally (i.e. The disciples, pharisees, etc.)
The secondary audience – the people to whom the gospel was originally addressed to (i.e. Jews, Romans, Gentiles, circa AD 50-80)
The tertiary audience – all people throughout time, you and I
Different Times
Mark – AD 50's
Matthew – AD 60's
Luke – AD 60's
John – AD 80-90's
Different Purpose
M – Jesus is the King, the promised Messiah
M – Jesus is the Messiah (savior) of the world, not just the Jews
L – Luke records a detailed account for his patron Theophilus (see Luke 1:1-4)
J – John 20:31 - “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” See John 1:12 as well.
What does the word gospel mean?
Literally “good news”
a proclamation about a coming King
The four gospels as we call them are actually a type of genre. We have genres today for literature and music. Name some genres of literature and music.
The gospels therefore are not biographies as we have today. They don't tell the “whole” story. In fact they don't even necessarily tell it from beginning to end. The gospels don't tell us everything Jesus did and said. See John 21:24-25 (what admiration). I want to be like that.
The gospels are written for a specific purpose to portray a certain aspect of Jesus, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, the disciples, the Jews, and the Gentiles. This isn't to say that the gospels aren't historically reliable, it's just that the culture in that day did not value empiricism like we do today. So we must remember as we study John what the purpose is, and relate every event to that purpose: that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing in him we have eternal life.
Addendum:
Theme Verse
Matthew – 16:16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ,the Son of the living God."
Mark – 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Luke – 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
John – 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
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