The Gospel According to John –Review (Part IV)
January 22, 2006


Today’s message is the fourth and last part of my review of the gospel according to John. As I have been doing, I’m going to start out with a review of the review. I’m going to summarize what I’ve said in my review of John’s gospel during the last several weeks and then continue where I left off last week. (By the way, we call this book The Gospel According to John or John’s Gospel. Do any of you know what the word gospel means? ---- Here’s what it means: According to my dictionary, the word gospel comes from the Old English word godspell. But the word gospel is actually used to translate the Greek word evangelion, from which we get our English word evangelism. Evangelion means good news or good message. So when Jesus talked about the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, he was talking about the good news of the kingdom of heaven. And when we talk about the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are talking about the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we speak of the gospel according to John, we are speaking of the good news according to John. It is good news, isn’t it?)

As always, remember that the purpose of John’s writing is so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, we may have life in his name (John 20:30, 31).

Also, as always, I encourage you to read your Bibles every day. Don’t neglect the word of God that gives you life.

[Prayer]

Up to this point in my review, I’ve talked about who Jesus is – that he is eternal, without beginning of days or end of life, that all things were created through him and by him and for him, all of the universe, including us, that he is life and the source of all life – and that, although he was in very nature God, he emptied himself and took on the form of a man. He sacrificed himself for us as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

I’ve also talked about the fact that salvation is only through Jesus. There is no other power or authority or means by which we may be saved. Jesus is both our judge and our savior. Salvation is only through faith in Jesus. There is no other way to salvation. People may want to believe there is another way, but there is no other way but through Jesus and through faith in him.

I also talked about the fact that Jesus came not to do his own will, but the will of God the Father who sent him. Jesus, who was God who came in the flesh, did not consider his life to be his own. Jesus is our example. We must not consider our lives to be our own either. We were bought and paid for by Jesus when he let himself be tortured to death for our sin. (You are not your own; you were bought at a price –1 Cor. 6:19, 20.)

Also, I talked about the fact that we are fighting a spiritual war with the unseen (and, many times, unsuspected) forces of evil, the devil and his angels, so we must be self-controlled and alert. But the war we are fighting is a war that we will ultimately win. We may lose a few skirmishes, but, since Jesus went to the cross and was raised from the dead, we will ultimately win the war.

Last week I talked about Jesus’s raising Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11. When Martha wanted Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus from the dead, she said, “I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.” Jesus answered by saying, “Your brother will live again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Here’s how Jesus answered Martha. He said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

This is the central teaching of this passage –and the central teaching of John’s gospel as well: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead to show that he had the authority to make this statement. Jesus is the resurrection and Jesus is the life!  There is no other resurrection. There is no other life.

Last week I also talked about Jesus’s washing the disciples’ feet in John chapter 13. After he had washed the disciples’ feet he said to them, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. … Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” We will be blessed if we follow Jesus’s example too. Jesus gave his disciples this command: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” He said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I also talked about the fact, in chapter 14, that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life and that no one –NO ONE –comes to God the Father except through him –NO ONE!

And in chapter 15, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. If we remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit. Otherwise, we will be like the branches that are cut off and dry up, and then, are thrown into the fire and burned up. But if we remain in Jesus we will bear much fruit. The fruit is what God is looking for in our lives. It’s the fruit of the Spirit. The most important fruit is that we love one another. Jesus’s command is for us to love one another as he has loved us.

And now I’m going to continue from where I left off last week. In John chapter 16, Jesus is talking about the work of the Holy Spirit. I’m going to read from verses 5 through 11. The Counselor is the Holy Spirit.

5 “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. (John 16:5-11 – NIV)

“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” Part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make it known that there is sin, there is righteousness and that there is judgment. The Holy Spirit testifies that there is right and there is wrong, and that God holds people accountable for their actions and he will judge them!

The work of the Holy Spirit is also to guide us into all truth: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” Jesus also said back in chapter 14, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) The Holy Spirit reminded the disciples of everything Jesus had taught them. They, in turn, taught others and made disciples of them. They also wrote down what Jesus had taught them so that we can read it today and become disciples. It was the Holy Spirit who guided them. When we read the word of God, it is also the Holy Spirit who gives us understanding. And it is the Holy Spirit who later, when we need to know, reminds us of what the word of God says about the particular situation we happen to be in, just as he reminded the disciples.

Also, the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring glory to Jesus by revealing who he is –taking what is his and making it known to us. We ought to always bring glory to Jesus, too, by revealing who he is to all those around us: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” These things are the work of the Holy Spirit.

Now let’s go on to chapter 17. The entire chapter is Jesus’s prayer, first for himself, then for his disciples and then for all who would become disciples through their message –all those who believe in Jesus through the word of the disciples. I’m going to read the whole chapter. It’s just 26 verses long:

Jesus Prays for Himself
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name– the name you gave me– so that they may be one as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:1-26 – NIV)

Jesus started his prayer by asking for God to be glorified: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” Jesus wanted to be glorified (by being crucified and raised from the dead, incidentally) so that God the Father would be glorified. God wants nothing more than his glory to be revealed to all his creation. The goal of all our prayer should be for God’s glory to be revealed. Let me say it again: The goal of all our prayer should be for God’s glory to be revealed. It doesn’t matter whether we are praying for some small blessing or for the mountain to move, the goal should be for God’s glory to be revealed.

And incidentally, God looks at us as the church more than he looks at our individual relationships with him. He has given different gifts to different people so that we need one another. He has designed things so that none of us can stand alone. Our culture is one of individualism; but that’s not God’s culture! God looks at us as one body, the church. In Jesus’s prayer he said (verses 22 and 23), “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” God wants us to be one with him, one with Jesus and one with each other.

Here’s my personal experience: I pray every day to be the way God wants me to be –to have the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self control – and lots of other things like that too. I think God wants us to pray for these things, and I suppose he hears our prayers. But, if he is answering my prayers and changing me (and I think he is), it is happening mighty slowly. On the other hand, when I have asked other people to pray for me, the results have been very noticeable and spectacular. It is absolutely essential that we share our struggles with each other and pray for each other.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about the fact that we are in a spiritual battle with the devil and his angels. The apostle Peter says that we must humble ourselves and resist the devil and he will flee from us. When Peter said this, he was talking to the church –to all of us together –not to individuals. We must humble ourselves and resist the devil together, not just individually.  Then he will flee from us. So much of the time –maybe 98 percent of the time –when we struggle with something, maybe with some sin, we try to overcome on our own. (Oh yes, we pray and say that we are asking God’s help, so it’s not on our own, but we don’t ask anyone else to pray for us!) We need to humble ourselves and share our struggles with one another and pray for each other. That’s what God wants us to do. He wants us to be one, just as he and Jesus are one.

Now here’s another thing Jesus prayed for his disciples. (And remember, God always answered Jesus’s prayers. Martha knew that too: “I know that God will give you anything you ask.”) This is what Jesus prayed. This is from chapter 17, verse 11: “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name– the name you gave me– so that they may be one as we are one.” God always answered Jesus’s prayers.

And Jesus also prayed, not just for his immediate disciples, but for all who would believe in him through their message. Here’s what he prayed:

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23 –NIV)

That’s Jesus’s prayer for us –that we may have complete unity so that the world may know that God sent Jesus and that he has loved us just as he loves Jesus! Jesus has given us the glory that God had given him. I believe that when Jesus is talking about the glory God has given him, he’s talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. But he’s also talking about our “gift” to suffer for him as he has suffered for us. “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12) When Jesus prayed for the disciples in verses 14 through 16, he said, “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” The purpose of these things is for the world to know that God sent Jesus and that we belong to him.

Finally, in verse 26, Jesus prayed for all those who would believe in him through the message of the disciples. That’s us.  (Actually, rather than praying, he stated what he would do for us.) This is what he said: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (Do you think Jesus keeps his word?)

Now let’s go on. Chapters 18, 19 and 20 are about Jesus’s arrest, crucifixion and resurrection. This is the main reason Jesus came: “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.” (Mark 10:45) Jesus came to give his life for us. In the words of the hymn writer Frances R. Havergal: “I gave my life for thee; My precious blood I shed, That thou might’st ransomed be, and quickened from the dead.” (#284 –Worship in Song) Jesus gave his life for us. He gave his life for the church!

In chapter 18, Jesus was arrested. During the whole process, he was in complete control. Judas had brought a detachment of soldiers and some officials of the chief priests to where he Jesus would be. And actually the detachment of soldiers was a Roman cohort, 300 to 600 armed and trained men. Jesus asked them, “Who is it you want?” They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” When Jesus said, “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground. Do you think Jesus was in control of the situation? I think so! He also told them to arrest him, but to let the disciples go. They obeyed him. Jesus was had everything completely under control.

In chapter 18, John also tells us about Peter’s denial of Jesus. Peter had told Jesus that he would never deny him, and so did all the other disciples. But Jesus told Peter that that very night, Peter would deny that he knew Jesus three times, and that’s just what he did.

Chapter 18 also tells about the high priest’s and Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor’s, questioning Jesus. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. He had complete authority to crucify Jesus or to set him free. And he was, in fact, afraid to crucify Jesus. But he feared the political pressure brought by the Jewish leaders more than he feared God. They told him that Jesus was claiming to be a king and that if he didn’t crucify Jesus, he would be an enemy of Caesar, the Roman emperor. In chapter 19, Pilate gave in and turned Jesus over to be crucified. Jesus was beaten and scourged. According to Isaiah the prophet, “his appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.” Jesus was crucified dead and was buried, just as God had foretold through Isaiah and other Old Testament prophets. He suffered and died in our place. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. And according to a song Jerry King wrote for our Christmas program several years ago, nothing will ever be the same! Jesus defeated sin and death and nothing will ever be the same!

Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had driven seven demons, was the first to see Jesus alive. Jesus told her to go tell the disciples. Some of them had trouble believing that Jesus had actually risen from the dead. But when they saw Jesus, they were overjoyed. (That’s what John says, but I don’t think it comes anyway near describing how they must have felt.)

Thomas, doubting Thomas, didn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead until a week later when he finally saw Jesus. Thomas had said that he wouldn’t believe unless he was able put his fingers and his hand into Jesus’s wounds. That’s exactly what Jesus challenged him to do. Thomas said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus gave a special blessing to all of us who have not seen him and yet have believed in him.

In chapter 21, John tells about how Jesus fed the disciples breakfast. He had told them to go wait for him in Galilee. Many of them were commercial fishermen and when Peter said, “Let’s go fishing,” they went fishing. They fished all night and caught nothing. In the morning, John says, Jesus stood on the shore and called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” (And the way he worded the question shows that he knew they hadn’t caught any fish. It’s more like, “You don’t have any fish, do you?”) They were about a hundred yards from shore, so they didn’t recognize Jesus. They told him, “No.” He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then they realized it was Jesus. When they got to shore, Jesus had a fire going for them with some fish cooking on it. He told them to bring some of their fish too, and he invited them to breakfast.

How would you like Jesus to invite you to breakfast? Would you be nervous like you might be if you were invited to eat breakfast with the president of the United States and some of the White House staff along with two or three other people? Would you be worried that you might say the wrong thing or sound very nervous or look foolish somehow? (I would.) How about if you had said something very negative about the President that had been published all over the world? Well Jesus knows all about us. He knows us intimately. He knows what’s in our hearts and minds.  He himself has been tempted in every way just as we have been. “For this reason” says the writer of Hebrews, “he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”  Jesus loves us and died for us; so there’s nothing to be nervous about. The rest of chapter 21 is about how Jesus reinstated Peter.

At the end of chapter 21, John says, “Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”  The end.

Now, “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy– to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!  Amen.”

[Prayer]

[#284 –Worship in Song]