6. John’s emphasis on “believing”, or faith is in
order to attain “life”, abundant life.
31 but these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that believing you may have
life in His name.. John 20:31 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)
7. John’s Gospel: “Believe” 98 times,
“Life” 36 times. Christ portrayed
as the Son of God
Other keywords: “love” and “unity”
[1]
8. Only 7 miracles called signs used to endorse
key themes.
Memorable events[2] only in John:
◦ wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-11)
◦ woman at the well (4:1-42)
◦ raising of Lazarus (11:1-12:11)
John’s interpretation of Jesus is deeper than
synoptic gospels
9. The seven miracles recorded in John are:
Turning water into wine at Cana (ch 2)
Healing nobleman's son at the point of death
(ch 4)
Healing man at sheep-gate pool (ch 5)
Walking on water (ch 4)
Feeding five thousand (ch 6)
Healing man born blind (ch 8)
Raising Lazarus (ch 11)
10. Bread of life - ch 6
Light of the world – ch 8
Good shepherd – ch 10
Gate – ch 10
Resurrection and the life – ch 11
Way the truth and the life - ch14
Vine – ch 15
11. The stories and signs with the “I ams”
project various aspects of key themes:
Believe
Life
What is required to truly experience
“life to the full”?
12. Context: feeding of
the 5000 (ch 6),
talking of “Living
Bread”.
“Living Water” (ch 4)
to Samaritan Woman
Faith that multiplies –
in both cases
Ever satisfying life -
“Those who eat/
drink will never
hunger/ thirst”
13. Christ gives sight to
blind man (ch 8), warns
of worse illness –
spiritual blindness.
“light of life” - spiritual
light, our spiritual life
Faith should result in
freedom from sin.
Christ exhorts both the
blind man and
adulteress (same
chapter) to “sin no
more”.
14. The adulteress who was
forgiven (ch 8):
Obeyed Jesus’ command
to “sin no more”.
History records, she
even started a church
titled after the
“forgiving” Saviour.
Was responsible to
internationalize
Damascus
Enabled Thomas to have
safe passage to India. [1]
15. Good Shepherd
(ch 10): Sacrificial
life and death, to
be emulated by
disciples
The sheep must
have a faith that
obeys by hearing
the shepherd’s
voice.
16. In Chapter 5, Jesus
heals a paralytic near
the sheep gate - gate
where sheep enter for
sacrifice never to
return.
Same gate where the ill
are cast off from
society, most of whom
never return.
Same gate where Christ
gave the paralytic new
life.[3]
17. Promise of “abundant
life” or “life to the full”
to those who believe in
Christ alone as “gate”.
(ch 10)
He invites all to believe
only in Him and receive
abundant life
18. Jesus asks Martha and
bystanders to believe,
to “see God’s glory”
(ch 11) - Faith in death
and distress.
He emphasizes the
criticality of the
Spiritual life which
never dies.
In ch 3 he talks to
Nicodemus of being
“born again” into this
spiritual life.
19. Faith should result in
Christlike love. (ch 13)
– greatest
commandment.
Christ says (ch 14) that
those who believe in
His absolute divinity
can do greater works
than Him in His name.
They have an
empowered life.
Walking on water (ch 6)
also illustrates this
power.
20. “Apart from Christ, we
can do nothing” (Ch
15) - Dependent Faith.
Fruitful life, obtained
by being connected to
vine.
Christ’s first miracle in
Cana (ch 2) also shows
that he can turn
ordinary water into
luscious wine.
21. I am Miracles/ Incidents Belief / Faith
Criteria
Life Impact Refs.
Bread of Life Feeding 5000,
Woman at well
Faith that
multiplies
Ever satisfying
life
Ch 4,6
Light of the
world
Blind man,
adulteress
Faith resulting
in freedom
from Sin
Light of life Ch 8
Good
Shepherd
Calvary Faith that
obeys
Sacrificial Life Ch
10,20
Gate Healing paralytic Faith in Christ
alone
Life to the Full/
abundant life
Ch 5,10
Resurrection
and Life
Raising Lazarus,
healing nobleman’s
son from death,
Nicodemus
Faith in
distress and
death
Spiritual Life
which never
dies
Ch
3,4,11
Way, Truth,
Life
Walking on water Faith in
Christ as God
Empowered Life Ch 6,14
Vine Water into wine Dependent
Faith
Fruitful Life Ch 2,15
22. In the table above the life impact is often offered
without truly explaining the faith criteria. What
aspects of belief criteria are often overlooked?
Share what aspects of belief criteria you
personally want to improve.
What steps will you take to achieve that belief
criteria?
In Jn 17 Jesus prays that all his disciples have
unity, which will alone impact the world. Where
does the church stand with respect to this? How
specifically can we stand in the gap?
This theme is beautifully illustrated in the feeding of the 5000 (ch 6) sign and explained later in the context of “Living Bread”.
In ch 4, we also see the mention of the “Living Water” in the Samaritan Woman story.
The kind of faith seen is a faith that multiplies –bread and fish in the case of the little boy, and the woman who brings the neighbourhood who in turn believe.
These stories talk of the ever satisfying life that will result. “Those who eat/ drink will never hunger/ thirst”
This theme is brought to us in ch 8 in the context of the blind man to whom Christ gives sight and also talks of the worse illness – spiritual blindness.
Christ talks about “light of life” - the spiritual light which is the spiritual life in us.
The faith talked about is faith that results in freedom from sin. Christ tells both the blind man and woman caught in adultery (same chapter) to “sin no more”.
The adulteress Lybia who was forgiven, obeyed Jesus’ command to “sin no more”.
Her father, high ranking Roman Government General was transferred to Syria.
Lybia started “The Church of the Forgiving Saviour”
Was responsible to internationalize Damascus
This enabled Thomas to have safe passage to India via this route when all other routes were blocked. [1]
To those who lived by the rules of that society The Sheep Gate was the place where the creatures to be sacrificed were herded in. The place of no return for the sacrificial lambs and sheep. The Sheep Gate was also the place where those people who society didn't want, were abandoned to. They put the incurable, the paralysed and the lame at the pool near the Sheep Gate - right on the edge of the city, where only the country folk herding livestock passed by, out of sight of the respectable citizens at the heart of the city going about their daily business unhindered. The Sheep Gate was the place of no return for the abandoned people of Jerusalem. And here comes Jesus, turning things over for close inspection, turning things round in his revolution of boundless love, telling the people of Jerusalem: 'I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. [...] I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.' The sheep being taken to the temple altar and the paralysed people at the pool had this fundamental thing in common: they were victims of a sacrificial regime. For the respectable people of that society to stay respectable they had to find a way to deal with their transgressions, atone for their sins. The way they found was to make sacrifices of animals on the altar to a God who would accept their payment and forgive them. For the respectable people of that society to keep their society respectable they had to purge it of all that made it impure in their eyes, to send to the edge all that upset their equilibrium. The way they found was to relocate the sick, the lost and the lame to the pool by the Sheep Gate, those shameful people removed well away from the heart of things. They had to be sacrificed for the well-being of all. So the Sheep Gate of Jerusalem came to represent the victimisation of people and animals in a society which functioned with sacrifice at its centre. And so, modelling himself as the gate for the sheep, Jesus came to challenge and overturn the need for sacrifice - and in its place to offer salvation, and the freedom for victims to come and go 'and find pasture', and live abundant lives.
http://www.johndavies.org/sermons/nm_11_05_15.html
The good shepherds in the times of Jesus were those who actually played the role of gate by sitting/ sleeping at the entrance to the open pen, preventing wolves and wild animals from coming.
Question: "What did Jesus mean when He said 'I am the way and the truth and the life' (John 14:6)?"Answer:“I am the way and the truth and the life” is one of the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. On the last night before His betrayal and death, Jesus was preparing His disciples for the days ahead. For over three years, these men had been following Jesus and learning from His teaching and example. They had placed their hopes in Him as the Messiah, the promised deliverer, yet they still didn't understand how He was going to accomplish that deliverance. After the Last Supper, Jesus began speaking about His departure, which led to questions from His disciples.InJohn 13:33, Jesus said, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.” This prompted Peter to ask where He was going (v. 36). Peter and the others did not understand that Jesus was speaking of His death and ascension to Heaven. Jesus' response was “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter was still misunderstanding and declared that he would follow Jesus anywhere and even lay His life down if necessary. As Jesus patiently continued to teach His disciples, He began speaking more plainly about heaven, describing the place He was going to prepare for them (John 14:2-3). Then Jesus said “You know the way to the place where I am going” (v. 4). Speaking for the others, Thomas said they did not know where He was going, so how could they know how to follow Him there? It was to this question that Jesus uttered one of the seven famous “I am” statements.
Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/way-truth-life.html#ixzz3c4E0iG2E
In Ch 15 John talks about believing that “apart from Christ, we can do nothing”. Complete dependance on God. Dependant Faith.
Only that way we can have a fruitful life, by depending on the vine, and being connected to him as branches.
Christ’s first miracle in Cana of Galilee (ch 2) also shows that he can turn ordinary water into luscious wine.