INTRODUCTION There are 400 Silent Years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. They are called silent years because God stops speaking through prophets after Malachi, but is still working behind the scenes to prepare the world for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This brings us to the New Testament when the silence is broken by the next prophet, John the Baptist, who exclaims in John 1:29b Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" This week we are going to learn the main principles that we need to keep in mind as we study the Gospels. There are 4 Gospels that each contain 4 distinct views of Jesus, but celebrate "1 good news". The good news is that He came to die for our sins and to set us free so that God the Father can have a close relationship with us through the Holy Spirit. THE 4 GOSPELS Fill in the key words to the 4 Gospels. MATTHEW Key Word: MARK Key Word:
LUKE Key Words: JOHN Key Words: *Pictures and Key Words from the Walk Thru the Bible Ministries Key Word Learning System LET S GET STARTED 93% of the content in the book of John is unique from the other 3 Gospels. How is John Different from the other Gospels? Let s start with what John does not have 1. No birth of Jesus 2. No baptism of Jesus 3. No temptation 4. No Last Supper 5. No Gethsemane 6. No ascension 7. No casting out demons 8. No parables (except the teaching of the vine and branches of John 15) 9. No Lord s Prayer 10. No Sermon on the Mount 11. No Transfiguration If the Holy Spirit, who is the author of the Bible, is leaving so much out, it must be because he has other important truths to teach us. In the book of John, we have a great focus on the fact that Jesus is God: 1:14; 8:24, 28, 58; 20:28. We also have Jesus mentioning the most I am sayings as He reveals various aspects of His identity. We also have the LIFE of Jesus Christ as a greater emphasis than the Kingdom of God. GOSPEL LIFE KINGDOM MATTHEW 7x 55x MARK 4x 20x LUKE 5x 46x JOHN 36x 5x
THE DISCIPLE WHO JESUS LOVED The author of the book, John, identifies himself as the disciple who Jesus loved. His greatest emphasis in the book is the life of Christ and how we have a close personal relationship with Jesus. We must fully understand that the Christian life is about understanding how much Jesus loves us. Keep in mind there were 12 disciples. 3 of the disciples (Peter, James and John) were closer to Jesus than the other nine (Matt. 17:1; Mark 5:37; 14:33; Luke 8:51). And yet Jesus seems to pour more into John s life than any other disciple. John is involved in events that show a close relationship with Jesus, such as: reclining at the table (John 13:23-28); Jesus statement to John when He was on the cross (John 19:26-27); John understood what the disciples did not understand at the empty tomb (John 20:2-8), and more. The theme of John s life is the life of Jesus. He emphasized the point that Jesus loves us and wants to have a close relationship with us. John is the one who wrote a book, 1 John, on the importance of having a close relationship with Jesus. He was also the pastor of the church of Ephesus and Paul s letter to the church includes the vital importance of Jesus love for us. Someone read the following passage from Ephesians 3:17-18: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. In the book of Revelation written by John, Jesus address this same church. Notice that the theme once again was love. Someone read the following passage, Revelation 2:3-5: You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first John is the disciple who is amazed by Jesus love for him. May we also be amazed that Jesus loves us it is the key revelation that will transform our lives. LET S GO DEEPER Just as we have to realize Jesus love for us, so we also need to know what it means to love one another. Let s look at a familiar passage in John that speaks about an important way we can love one another. Divide up into smaller groups of 2 to 3 people in each group, to study the following passage. Take about 40 minutes to discuss your observations and applications. Choose a spokesperson from your group to share the findings when you all meet back together. Included are the notes from the NIV Study Bible, Nelson Study Bible and the Bible Exposition Commentary.
LET S STUDY THE PASSAGE Someone read John 13:1-13. NOTES FROM THE NIV STUDY BIBLE NOTES FROM THE NELSON NIV STUDY BIBLE
SUMMARY NOTES FROM BIBLE EXPOSITION COMMENTARY FROM BE TRANSFORMED by Warren Wiersbe Finally, Jesus knew that the Father had given Him all things (John 13:3). This statement parallels John 3:35, and it also reminds us of Matthew 11:27. Even in His humiliation, our Lord had all things through His Father. He was poor and yet He was rich. Because Jesus knew who He was, where He came from, what He had, and where He was going, He was complete master of the situation. You and I as believers know that we have been born of God, that we are one day going to God, and that in Christ we have all things; therefore, we ought to be able to follow our Lord s example and serve others. Jesus was the Sovereign, yet He took the place of a servant. He had all things in His hands, yet He picked up a towel. He was Lord and Master, yet He served His followers. It has well been said that humility is not thinking meanly of yourself; it is simply not thinking of yourself at all. True humility grows out of our relationship with the Father. If our desire is to know and do the Father s will so that we might glorify His name, then we will experience the joy of following Christ s example and serving others. As Peter watched the Lord wash his friends feet, he became more and more disturbed and could not understand what He was doing. As you read the life of Christ in the Gospels, you cannot help but notice how Peter often spoke impulsively out of his ignorance and had to be corrected by Jesus. Peter opposed Jesus going to the cross (Matt. 16:21 23), and he tried to manage our Lord s affairs at the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1 8). He expressed the faith of the disciples (John 6:66 71) without realizing that one of the number was a traitor. The word translated wash in John 13:5 6, 8, 12, and 14 is nipto and means to to wash a part of the body. But the word translated washed in John 13:10 is louo and means to bathe all over. The distinction is important, for Jesus was trying to teach His disciples the importance of a holy walk. When the sinner trusts the Savior, he is bathed all over and his sins are washed away and forgiven (see 1 Cor. 6:9 11; Titus 3:3 7; and Rev. 1:5). And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more (Heb. 10:17). However, as the believer walks in this world, it is easy to become defiled. He does not need to be bathed all over again; he simply needs to have that defilement cleansed away. God promises to cleanse us when we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:9). But why is it so important that we keep our feet clean? Because if we are defiled, we cannot have close communion with our Lord. If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me (John 13:8). The word translated part is meros, and it carries the meaning here of participation, having a share in someone or something. When God bathes us all over in salvation, He brings about our union with Christ, and that is a settled relationship that cannot change. (The verb wash in John 13:10 is in the perfect tense. It is settled once and for all.) However, our communion with Christ depends on our keeping ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27). If we permit unconfessed sin in our lives, we hinder our walk with the Lord, and that is when we need to have our feet washed. When Jesus says we should wash one another s feet, it may very well mean we need to look out for one another lives in the body of Christ. We must lovingly look out for the sin we see in our brothers and sisters lives instead of gossiping or ignoring their short-comings. We must lovingly humble ourselves and help to remove the sin from their Christian walk, or feet. We have to look out for one another to ensure that our feet are clean, not literally, but spiritually. In the same way we need to be humble to allow others to point out our sin and not be like Peter, who resisted the loving approach of Jesus to wash his feet. Has God showed you a sin in someone else s life? Instead of telling another go directly to the person in love and wash their feet in a figurative sense. In addition, if someone confronts you about a shortcoming in your life, be humble to receive it. It could be the Holy Spirit trying to show you something that needs to change so that you can maintain a close relationship with Christ.
SHARING OUR FINDINGS Let s meet back together and share what we discovered in each of our smaller groups. (20 mins) LET S GET PERSONAL 1. What stood out to you the most in this passage? 2. What are you going to do differently as a result of it? Let pray for one another, that we will truly wash one another s feet as Jesus commanded us by keeping one another clean before God. TAKE HOME VERSE Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6