A Parenthetical Pause

Transcription

1 Lesson #103 A Parenthetical Pause John 20:30-31 Presented Live on April 14, 2019 I. Introduction and review A. Gospels are not biographies 1. Biographies seek to tell the complete story of the subject s life and certainly include every important event 2. The failure it include key events of a subject s life would result in a failure of that biography 3. Imagine a biography of Abraham Lincoln that did not tell its readers of both the writing of and then the delivery of the Gettysburg address 4. Gospels are quite different a. They are written at the instruction of the Holy Spirit b. Their purpose is established by the Holy Spirit c. And He directs the actual writing of the book 5. How does He do that? 6. Consider the three parts that God employs for Scriptural communication a. Revelation, Page 1 of 10

2 b. Inspiration and c. Illumination 7. Revelation a. That is when God show or tells the one He has chosen to write His holy Scripture what he should write and the purpose of it b. Maybe the best example of this process is when God pulls back the curtain so to speak, in the book of Revelation c. Consider Revelation 1:9-16 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11 saying, "Write in a 1 book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp twoedged sword; and His face was like the sun 1 shining in its strength. 8. Inspiration a. Has to do with the Holy Spirits insolvent in the actual writing of the Scripture Page 2 of 10

3 b. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for 2 training in righteousness; (1) Inspired qeo,pneustoj theopneustos Meaning: God-breathed, i.e. inspired by God (a) qeo,j theos Meaning: God, a god (b) pne,w pneo Meaning: to blow (2) Matthew 5:18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (3) 1 Timothy 5:18 For the Scripture says, YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING, and The laborer is worthy of his wages. c. 2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (1) Moved fe,rw phero {fer'-o} (a) Meaning: 1) to carry, of persons borne in a ship over the sea, of a gust of wind, to rush, of (b) the mind, to be moved inwardly, prompted Grammar: Tense - Present Voice - Passive Mood - Participle (2) Acts 27:15 and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along. (3) Acts 27:17 After they had hoisted it up, they used 1 supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the 2 sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along. 9. Illumination a. This process is not involved in the writing of Scripture Page 3 of 10

4 II. but in the reading and understanding of the Scripture b. John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. c. John 15:26 "When the 1a Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, d. John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.u8 B. A Parenthetical Pause by the Apostle John 20:30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; A. Therefore this word should always alert us to look backwards to determine the premises to which this word refers 1. Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John is about the death and burial of our Lord 2. Chapter 20 shares with us three appearances of Jesus after His resurrection 3. And then Chapter 21 begins by relating to us a fourth such appearance 4. The therefore refers a. First to the resurrection of our Lord b. Second to the indisputable evidence He gives to people such as Mary Magdalene c. And finally to those who believe without the ability to examine the physical evidence, that is (1) Who cannot see the risen Lord, (2) Who cannot hear and recognize His voice (3) Who cannot touch Him and even feel His wounds B. Many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples Page 4 of 10

5 1. What does the word signs mean? 2. shmei/on semeion {say-mi'-on} Meaning: 1) a sign, mark, token; a sign, prodigy, portent, i.e. an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature; of signs portending remarkable events soon to happen; of miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God's 3. How many of these signs did Jesus perform and John record in his gospel? a. Consider the following signs: (1) the healing of the governmental official s son (2) the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda (3) the feeding of the 5000 (4) giving sight to the man born blind (5) raising Lazarus from the dead b. Of these five signs which were preformed in view of the public as opposed to just in the presence of the disciples 4. There are some scholars who would argue that the signs referred to in verse 30, refers to appearances and proofs that Jesus offered to His disciples as to His literal and very real resurrection (and I would agree with them) 5. Were there numerous other appearances of the Lord not recorded in the Gospel of John? Consider a. The disciples on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24:15ff], b. He ate in the presence of the eleven [Luke 24:43] c. He opened their understanding, consider (1) Luke 24:44-45 Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, (2) Open dianoi,gw dianoigo {dee-an-oy'-go} Meaning: 1) to open by dividing or drawing Page 5 of 10

6 III. asunder, to open thoroughly (what had been closed) 1a) a male opening the womb (the closed matrix), i.e. the first-born 1b) of the eyes and the ears 1c) to open the mind of one, i.e. to cause to understand a thing 1c1) to open one's soul, i.e. to rouse in one the faculty of understanding or the desire of learning d. To Peter, e. To 500 believers at one time, f. To James, His brother, g. To Paul [see I Cor. 15:3-8], h. None of these were recorded in John s Gospel 6. The grammar of this text supports that conclusion 7. And if it were there other way, it would cause the statements made in John 21:25 redundant and repetitious 8. Therefore since there were so many proofs of Jesus resurrection, many of which I have not told you, now establishes the key point of John s parenthetical statement in verse 31 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. A. These the appearances and proofs of Jesus Christ s resurrection 1. Those that were recorded by John in his gospel were recorded for one central purpose to cause the reader to believe 2. Believe on or in what? 3. First that Jesus was the Messiah 4. Second that Jesus is the Son of God 5. Third that you can have the type of life that He promised in John 10:10 and other places 6. And Fourth that the key to this kind of life is His name B. Have been written gra,fw grapho {graf'-o} 1. Meaning: to write or to compose 2. Grammar: perfect tense, passive voice, and indicative mood a. Passive voice indicated that the action was directed Page 6 of 10

7 toward the written word b. And the perfect tense in Greek corresponds to the perfect tense in English, and describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated. That is the Scripture is irrevocable in its nature. C. Lets consider the word believe as it is used here in two different ways 1. Believe pisteu,w pisteuo {pist-yoo'-o} Grammar: Aorist Tense, Active Voice, Subjunctive Mood a. The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense b. The active voice represents the subject as the doer or performer of the action. c. The subjunctive mood is the mood of possibility and potentiality. The action described may or may not occur, depending upon circumstances. Conditional sentences of the third class ("ean" + the subjunctive) are all of this type, as well as many commands following conditional purpose clauses, such as those beginning with "hina." 2. Believing pisteu,w pisteuo {pist-yoo'-o} Grammar: Present Tense, Active Voice, Participle a. The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time. In most cases this corresponds directly with the English present tense. b. The Greek participle corresponds for the most part to the English participle, reflecting "-ing" or "-ed" being suffixed to the basic verb form. The participle can be used either like a verb or a noun, as in English, and thus is often termed a "verbal noun." Page 7 of 10

8 3. Remember the three phases of salvation a. Justification b. Sanctification c. Glorification 4. Although phases 1 and 3 occur in a very small moment of time 5. The second is extended throughout the subject s lifetime 6. The first use of this word speaks of the justification of the believer a. That is why it is in the aorist tense and the subjunctive mood b. It happens at a point in time with future ramifications c. And it is subjunctive because the subject may choose to believe or not to believe it is his choice 7. The use of the word to believe is as a present tense participle a. As the present moves toward the future, so does this act of believing b. And as a participle it pictures continuing action c. And is the perfect description of the sanctification process that is the second phase of salvation 8. However there are those who would have us believe that this passage says something quite different a. That our faith must be continuing for our salvation to be its result b. If our faith does not continue to the end of our lives, it was not saving faith in the first place c. Did you notice that John makes no distinction between saving faith and none saving faith d. In John s Gospel there is only faith 9. Can there be believers who stop believing and yet do not lose their salvation? a. Those Israelites who left Egypt in the exodus and yet refused to go into the Promised Land due to their unbelief [Num. 13 & 14], were they saved? b. They are the perfect example of this question, consider Page 8 of 10

9 (1) They put the blood on their doorposts on the first Passover (2) They went through the Red Sea they were there at Mount Horeb as God spoke to them (3) They ate manna and drank water from the rock c. But does it ever say that they were really believers? Consider (1) Exodus 14:31 When Israel saw the great 1 power which the LORD had 2 used against the Egyptians, the people 3 feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses. (2) Same grammatical construction as is found in Gen. 15:6 (a) Genesis 15:6 Then he believed in the LORD; (b) and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. Romans 4:1-3 What then shall we say that Abraham, 1 our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified 1 by works, he has something to boast about, but not 2 before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." (3) Hebrews 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were 1 drowned. (4) These Israelites didn t forfeit their salvation but they did forfeit the blessings of the Promised Land d. Finally consider what Paul had to say in the last book which he wrote: 2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. D. That believing you may have life 1. This does not just mean to be physically alive, but to have a Page 9 of 10

10 IV. vastly different existence from those who are merely surviving or existing 2. Instead this sanctified believing leads to the type of life that Jesus promised in John 10:10 a. The joy that Jesus promised b. The peace which He proclaimed to be ours c. The victory that He wants to be ours E. And the access to this life is the name of Jesus John in this purpose statement of His gospel ends where he began A. Jesus is the Messiah, the one sent into the world to save it B. Jesus is the Son of God, being a coequal member of the trinity C. That faith and faith alone secures and man or woman s eternity D. And that the blessings of life that God intends for His children only come from faithful, fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ & Believer s Bible Class, & Douglas W. Brady Page 10 of 10