The Gospel of John - Outline Part 14 - Doubting Disciples

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John 6:1-21 – Doubting Disciples

EXPLANATION

After poking the Pharisaical hornets nest in Jerusalem, Jesus traveled back to Galilee, to the other side of the Sea of Tiberias.  He went up to a mountain, and a large crowd followed Him.  The time for the Passover had come once again, and the people who were with Jesus had nothing to eat.  So, Jesus took the opportunity to both test His disciples and to perform another miracle.  He asked His disciples how they were going to feed the crowd, so as to gauge their answer and see how strong their faith was.  Thinking purely in human terms, Philip and Andrew spoke up and gave reasons for why they could not possibly feed the crowd.

However, Jesus, taking the available food, which amounted to five barley loaves and two fish, gave thanks for it and then distributed it to all the people who were there; the number was 5,000 men, plus women and children presumably.  Not only was everyone satisfied, but there were twelve baskets full of bread left over.  Upon seeing this miraculous display of power, the people said that Jesus was the Prophet spoken of by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15.  Jesus knew they were prepared at that point to attempt to make Him king by force.  Yet, He knew that it was not time for that, and in fact that was not the object of His ministry during this first incarnation on earth.  So, He drew away from the people before they could enact their plan.

Later that evening, the disciples began to row across the sea in a boat.  Jesus went out to them, walking upon the water.  Having never seen anything like this before, the men were afraid.  Jesus reassured them, and they took Him into the boat.

APPLICATION

The thing that stands out in this passage is the weak faith of the disciples.  Although they had already been eye witnesses to multiple supernatural displays of Jesus’s power, they still tended to think in human terms.  When confronted with an impossible feeding situation on the mountain side, they defaulted to their natural understanding that there was no way to feed the people.  When seeing someone out walking on the surface of a lake, they immediately jumped to the conclusion that what was going on was a product of the forces of darkness.  John records that the disciples were frightened.  They would have had no reason to be afraid unless they thought that Jesus was an apparition or some other type of nefarious being.

In both circumstances, the men’s impulse was to lean on what they knew from before their time with Jesus rather than what they had learned from their time with Him.  We face the same struggle today.  Even after walking with the Lord for a period of time, we are often still filled with doubts and fears.  The message of the gospels is one of reassurance and comfort.  As Christians, we have nothing to fear, because we are in the hands of One who loves us and has all power to protect us.

The Gospel of John - Outline Part 13 - Doing It by the Book

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John 5:30-47 – Doing It by the Book

EXPLANATION

Jesus continues His sermon from the previous passage.  However, this time, rather than leaving His rebuke general, He aims it straight at the hearts of the unbelieving Jews.

He begins by highlighting His own just nature.  This nature results in just judgment.  And, the reason is because He does not seek His own will, but rather the will of the Father.  The point is that one who seeks their own will is suspected of bias.  But one who seeks on behalf of the will of another is impartial with regard to the execution of their responsibilities as judge.

This alone bears witness of who Jesus is.  Yet, it is not the sole witness.  There is another witness, who is greater than even the greatest of all human witnesses.  He is John the Baptist.  Also, it is the works that Jesus did that bear witness to His identity.  Even this is not the extent of the witnesses who come forward on behalf of Jesus.  God the Father Himself weighs in on behalf of His Son.  Yet, this is not through visible form or audible voice.  It is through the Scriptures.  The very Scriptures that the Jews claimed to revere spoke of and revealed the Christ, who is Jesus, to them.  The Jews blindly searched the Scriptures, trying to find within their pages salvation, when the source of salvation that the Scriptures spoke of was standing right in front of their faces.

Jesus was not done rebuking the Jews for their faithlessness.  He went on to ridicule them.  He said they would believe an ordinary human being who came to them in his own name.  But Jesus came from the Father and the Jews refused to believe in Him.  This was reprehensible.  And, it is one of the great ironies of Scripture that Jesus had no need to accuse the Jews of unbelief before the Father.  The very one to whom the Jews turned to establish their own works based righteousness, Moses himself, in the Law, accused them.  He wrote of Jesus, the Messiah who was to come.  And, because the Jews refused to accept his written testimony, they stood accused by him.

APPLICATION

Jesus makes a powerful case in this passage for the sufficiency of Scripture.  He was incarnated in an era of great tendencies to fall away from the Scriptures as the sole source of truth.  The Jews relied on their oral law to supplement the Law of Moses contained in the Torah.  They viewed righteous living as obeying the Scriptures plus their traditions.

This was the same crime the Roman Catholic church was and is guilty of, and the issue for which the reformers fought and died.  And it is the same issue plaguing the church today.  People look to experiences, demagogues, or even science to supplement the truth of Scripture.  The issue is not that any of those things are inherently wrong.  The problem is that they must be secondary in priority to the biblical record.  Experiences are fine, but only if they authenticate what has already been revealed in the Bible.  Demagogues are only as good as their alignment with the Bible.  Science is only valuable to the extent that it confirms what has already been recorded in the Bible.  We must not lose sight of this.

The Gospel of John - Outline Part 12 - Like Father Like Son

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John 5:19-29 – Like Father Like Son

EXPLANATION

These 11 verses contain an explosive confirmation of the shared divine nature of God the Father and God the Son, Jesus.  It is a continuation of the previous section.  Jesus was still conversing with the Jewish religious leaders.  They were already ready to kill Him because of His allusion that God was His Father.  But, in contrast to chapter 4, when He backed away from conflict, Jesus now doubles down on the truth.  And in so doing He gives a discourse on the relationship between Father and Son that is comprehensive in scope.

Jesus began by establishing the unity of purpose between Himself and His Father.  He said that the Son can only do what He sees His Father doing.  But, this is much more than a parallel human father/son relationship.  Because in this case, God the Father reveals all His purposes to God the Son.  This means that the Son sees everything the Father is doing.  Therefore, the Son does all that the Father does, with no exceptions.  Not content to leave this as a general concept, Jesus then proceeded to give some examples.  The Father, for the purpose of demonstrating His glory, has given to the Son the power to raise the dead and judge the wicked.  The reason is so that the Son may receive all the honor and accolades due to the Father.  If someone chooses to dishonor the Son that person is also guilty of dishonoring the Father.

Furthermore, those who hear and believe the word of the Son will be granted eternal life and will be spared the righteous judgment that the Son is responsible to administer.  This eternal life has as its source the Father and the Son.  Because, and this is a critically important concept, the life of which Jesus is speaking is in the Father Himself.  Life is in His essence.  Apart from the Father there is no true life.  And, the Father has given the Son this same life.  This is why those who believe in the Son receive the life in themselves.  Conversely, those who reject the Son are never granted the life, and so proceed into the judgment of which they have been warned.

APPLICATION

This is a crucial doctrine that many heretics throughout church history have misunderstood.  A cursory glance at this doctrine could perhaps lead one to the conclusion that it does not teach that Jesus is deity.  Perhaps God could simply have endowed Jesus with the prerogatives and qualities described here.  However, such conclusions are logical fallacies, and the reason why is found in verse 23.  God is deity.  No mortal creature is capable of receiving the glory due to God.  God’s very nature demands that He be worthy of glory and exaltation that far exceeds what any creation can possibly be worthy of.  If Jesus was merely a created human being there would have been no way possible for Him to be worthy of the same honor due to the Father.  Likewise, only God Himself is capable of administering the just judgment spoken of in verses 21, 27, and 29. 

There is only one inescapable conclusion from all of this regarding the relationship between Father and Son.  That is, they are one in every way.  This includes their capacity for judgment.  The judgment of a righteous and holy God is a thing to be feared.  To fall into the hands of an angry God, a God who is a consuming fire, is a terrible thing.  In fact, there is no fate worse in all of reality than to face the fury of an omnipotent God.  This should fill sinners with terror.  And, we who have been graciously spared this wrath should be bold in highlighting what they face, for their own sake.

The Gospel of John - Outline Part 11 - Swimming with the Current

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John 5:1-18 – Swimming with the Current

EXPLANATION

Jesus returned to Jerusalem again.  At the pool of Bethesda, He observed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years.  Taking the opportunity to perform another miracle, Jesus healed the man and instructed him to take up his bed and walk.  Soon after, the formerly handicapped man was accosted by the religious leaders, who accused him of violating Sabbath law by carrying his bed.  It should be noted that this was not truly Sabbath law.  It was a Pharisaical oral tradition, which had been given a weight of authority equal to the Law of Moses.  These traditions were the basis for the religious ritualism which was plaguing Jewish society in the 1^st century.

The man who had been healed attempted to deflect blame for his infraction onto Jesus by pointing out that He was the One who had told him to pick up his bed.  However, at this point he did not know Jesus’s name, and so the trail for the Pharisees went cold.

Later, Jesus met the man again, this time in the temple.  Knowing that the man had caved to pressure from the Pharisees, Jesus admonished him to stop sinning, lest he face punishment worse than his former crippled state.  Unfortunately, this man seemed to be more afraid of the Pharisees than of Jesus.  He immediately went and gave the leaders Jesus’s name.  With this vital piece of information, they in turn confronted Jesus over His work of healing on the Sabbath.  Jesus calmly responded that His Father, by implication God, was always working regardless of the day.  Therefore, Jesus Himself was always working as well.  This caused the Pharisees to pursue Him with death on their minds all the more fiercely, because they rightly interpreted that He was calling Himself God.

APPLICATION

The invalid man at the pool of Bethesda is an unfortunate example of giving in to peer pressure.  As soon as he was confronted by the Jews, he began to look for a scapegoat to absorb the accusation he was facing.  Then, when he had Jesus’s name to give them, he ignored the warning he had been given and seems to have happily handed the name over to the Pharisees.  This in turn seriously hampered Jesus’s ministry because of the increase in opposition from the Jews.

As Christians, we are guaranteed to face heavy opposition from the world, which is dominated at this time by the power of Satan.  If we give in to this pressure and stay silent about the gospel or if we sacrifice our testimony and defame the reputation of Christ by acting like the world, then we are guilty of the same crime as this Jewish man from 2,000 years ago.  Does it even need to be said to avoid such behavior?

The Gospel of John - Outline Part 10 - Finishing Strong

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John 4:43-54 – Finishing Strong

EXPLANATION

Continuing on His journey, Jesus reached Galilee.  He received a warm welcome in Cana, where He had performed the previous miracle of turning water into wine.  And, He was given another opportunity to demonstrate His power.  An official came to Jesus and asked Him to heal the man’s son, who was sick to the point of death.  Somewhat bluntly, Jesus chided the man for his requirement of seeing miracles before evidencing genuine belief.  Undeterred, the man pressed Jesus for healing, a request He finally consented to.  He told the official to go on home, and his son would live.

Sure enough, the man’s servants met him on the way home.  They confirmed that the child had been healed at the exact time when Jesus said he would live.  Because of this demonstration of miraculous power, the text says the man believed, and all his household.

APPLICATION

The official from Cana seems to begin in a bad light in this passage.  We are given a glimpse into his motivation by Jesus’s rebuke of his materialistic request for healing.  Yet, Jesus compassionately heals the man’s son anyhow.  And it is at this point that something interesting happens in the text.  John records for us in verse 53 that the man and his household believed.  This is curious, because we were already told, back in verse 50, that the man believed.  There seems to be a special significance in this second expression of belief.  This is corroborated by the additional detail that John gives of the man’s household believing along with him.  I think this second round of belief was genuine saving faith.  The man came to Jesus looking for a quick miraculous fix.  But he left and received eternal life because God quickened his heart to believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  There is no grammatical evidence to support this hypothesis, because the exact same Greek word is used in both verses.  However, I think the context demands a different interpretive conclusion between verse 50 and 53.

Why is this relevant?  I think it has huge significance.  Quite often, in evangelism, exhortation, confrontation, or instruction we do not immediately receive the results we would like to see.  People reject the gospel, they dismiss our words of rebuke, they are offended that we have brought up a sensitive topic, or they go to sleep during a lesson or sermon.  Yet, this example from John 4 tells us not to give up on people.  It instructs the instructors to never lose faith, to always be ready and willing to observe the power of God at work in a human heart, even when that power is not displayed on the time table we think it should have been displayed on.

The Gospel of John - Outline Part 9 - The Focus of the Christ

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John 4:27-42 – The Focus of the Christ

EXPLANATION

Immediately following the events of the previous section, we now find the disciples returning with food.  Although the men were astonished that Jesus was speaking with a woman, because culturally women were of low importance, they had already learned by this point not to engage in too much questioning of Jesus’s methods and decisions.  So, they kept quiet about that issue and instead urged Him to eat.  At this point I have to speculate that it must have been somewhat maddening to be a disciple of Jesus.  He was constantly turning mundane situations of life into object lessons and sermons that were often cryptic in nature.

That is just what happened here.  Instead of responding normally to the disciples’ recommendation of eating, Jesus launched into an illustration that captured the essence of His dedication to accomplishing the Father’s will.  Jesus said He already had food to eat that the disciples did not know about.  He was not speaking of physical food, but rather spiritual.  Jesus was making the point that just as bread or meat was essential to physical life, so the successful pursuit of God’s will was essential to Jesus’s spirit.  This is fascinating because it is very much a counterpart to what He had already taught the Samaritan woman.  In her case He used water as an illustration.  Here it is food.

Not content to leave it at that, Jesus went on to chide the disciples for their human tendency to hold some of their effort back.  He criticized them, with yet another illustration, this time of a harvest of crops, for putting off till tomorrow the work that can be done for God today.  Jesus taught that the spiritual harvest of souls to be added to the kingdom of God is ready now, immediately, not tomorrow or four months from now.

Jesus and His disciples stayed in Sychar, the Samaritan town, for several more days.  While they were there, Jesus applied His point about the harvest being ready by showing the disciples how there were many who lived in Sychar who were ready for salvation.

APPLICATION

Urgency.  Immediacy.  These are not comfortable words for an apathetic Christian culture that is fixated upon creature comforts and felt needs.  Our corporate worship services are typically designed as entertainment vehicles.  Even for solid Bible believing churches, who are not interested in appealing to cultural tastes or trends, the model is usually that of a few performing for the many.  In such an environment, it is sometimes difficult to get people to move out of their pew or chair and get into ministry.  Jesus’s teaching here in Sychar is completely opposed to that idea.  Jesus, by the model of His very life, shows us a pattern of behavior that is completely, zealously, focused on the accomplishment of the will of God.  Jesus expects us to follow His lead now, just as He did His disciples then.

The Gospel of John - Outline Part 8 - The Master Teacher

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John 4:1-26 – The Master Teacher

EXPLANATION

Chapter 4 opens with an account of Jesus’s travels through Samaria on His way from Judea to Galilee.  His reason for taking this journey is in itself worthy of consideration.  Jesus knew that the Pharisees were becoming uncomfortable with His popularity.  He knew very well that His ministry threatened their power and authority.  1^st century Judaism was predicated upon tradition and legalism.  Jesus spared no expense in exposing such practices as the false doctrine they were.  So, He knew that it was only a matter of time before things between the Jewish religious establishment and Himself came to an explosive political head.  And, here is the point.  Christ knew that it was not yet time for that confrontation.  He knew that His hour to be “lifted up” on the cross was still in the future.  And, the Lord Jesus was so committed to the will of His Father, that He was quite prepared to jettison any plans He may have had in favor of the accomplishment of His Father’s will.  And so, we find Him traveling to Samaria.

Upon reaching Sychar, Jesus decided to take a break and rest.  Undoubtedly, His human nature experienced weariness just as we do.  So, while His disciples went into the town to purchase food, Jesus rested at Jacob’s well.  And it was here that He had another profound conversation, this time with a Samaritan woman.  Again, just as with Nicodemus, Jesus saw right through to the heart of His conversation partner.  He knew very well what the woman’s real need was; salvation.  So, Jesus went right to the crux of the matter and broached the issue of eternal life.  However, the manner in which He did it was pure teaching genius.  Seemingly on the spur of the moment, Jesus took the elements that were present in the environment, namely water and a well, and He used them as a masterwork of metaphorical illustration.

This gives us the famous biblical image of living water.  That is, just as normal water gives life to a physical body, so the living water that Jesus revealed here gives life to the spirit of a person.  The Samaritan woman was just as confused as Nicodemus was over new birth.  So, she attempted to sidestep the issue.  But, Jesus was having none of that.  He saw through her attempts at misdirection and He pressed her until she had no choice but to acknowledge His authority and truthfulness.

APPLICATION

This passage stands as perhaps one of the greatest lessons ever taught.  It is loaded with doctrinal truth, that could easily be focused on as points of application.  Yet, it is also a brilliant model of how to teach biblical truth to others.  Thus, because all Christians are called, in some sense, to be teachers of the Bible, Jesus’s example serves as a blueprint of how to do it and do it well.