João 20

João 20:31

Moule comments - God, in the incarnation, bestowed upon the one who is on an equality with him an earthly name which … has come to be, in fact, the highest of names, because service and self-giving are themselves the highest of divine attributes. Because of the incarnation, the human name, “Jesus,” is acclaimed as the highest name; and the Man Jesus thus comes to be acclaimed as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 4:3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. 2 Thessalonians 1:12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. Comment: Name (onoma) of our Lord Jesus Christ = the sovereign authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 6:1 All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Comment: Clearly to speak against the Name of God is to speak against God Himself, further emphasizing that the divine Name speaks of all that God is. The corollary is that believers (all of us are in a sense bondservants of a higher Master, our Lord Jesus Christ) should walk in a manner worthy of the high calling with which we have been called, that the Name of the Lord might be glorified (Eph 4:1-note, Mt 5:16-note) 2 Timothy 2:19-note Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness." Comment: In other words, if we say we belong to Jesus (names the name of the Lord = to say we believe in Him), we should have fruit in keeping with repentance (so to speak)! No believer abstains from wickedness perfectly, but the general direction of our life is not toward wickedness but toward godliness! If it is not, then we need to pause and ponder Paul's admonition in 2Cor 13:5-note! Hebrews 1:4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 2:12 saying, "I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE." Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. James 2:7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? James 5:10 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 1 Peter 4:14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. 1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. 1 John 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 3 John 1:7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. George Brooks - The reason Gaius was encouraged to continue his hospitality was because those whom he was helping were missionaries. They went forth for the sake of the Name (onoma). This means that these missionaries went out on the authority and command of Jesus. 15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name. Revelation 2:3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. 13 'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 17 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' Revelation 3:1 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 4 'But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 8 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. Revelation 6:8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. Revelation 8:11 The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. Revelation 9:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. Revelation 11:13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 18 "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth." Revelation 13:1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Revelation 15:2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 4 "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED." Revelation 16:9 Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. Revelation 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." 8 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. Revelation 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Revelation 21:12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Revelation 22:4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE Sermon Notes on Introduction to John and John 20:31 by Bruce Hurt INTRODUCTION: The Gospel of John is SUBLIME! The word "SUBLIME" is an adjective which describes something as lofty, grand, exalted in thought or expression. SUBLIME speaks of that which tends to inspire awe because of its beauty, grandeur or transcendent excellence. In a word, beloved, the Gospel of John is SUBLIME! May God grant that our study of John's Gospel inspire increasing reverence and awe as we gaze on the beauty, grandeur and transcendent excellence of Jesus in John's Gospel. Amen So today we begin a journey exploring the Gospel of John, one of the simplest Greek texts in the New Testament and yet one of the most profound, sublime, deep works in all of the Bible. In fact while the Gospel of John is simple enough for a child to understand, it is so deep a scholar could not master it were he to spend his entire life in it!. (APPLICATION POINT) So what's the application of this truth? If John is that profound, then before we open John's Gospel we need to approach it with humble, trembling hearts and beseech God to "Open (our) eyes, that (we) may behold wonderful things from Thy law” (Ps 119:18). Stated another way, we need to pray for a keen sense of observation, the first step in inductive Bible study, asking our Teacher the Holy Spirit to remove the blinders from our eyes so that we might see not just with physical sight but with spiritual insight into the deep Truth in John's Gospel. In fact, can I suggest that every time we open our Bible, we need to ask the Author to open our heart. Has anyone ever handed out a "Gospel tract" to someone in the past, encouraging them to read and praying that God would use it to save them? I would submit that no finer gospel tract has ever been penned than John’s inspired account of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. QUESTION 1: So here is my first question -- What is the single most important question ever asked? Here's a clue -- the question came from the lips of Jesus in Matthew 16:15 and was addressed to His disciples -- "Who do you say that I am?" So even as we begin this study of John how would YOU answer the question Who is Jesus? Would you give the answer that Peter gave in Matthew 16:16 Peter responded answering "You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the Living God." In verse 17 Jesus declared "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven." When we confess Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, we are blessed a word which means spiritually prosperous independent of our external circumstances. And how did Peter know Jesus was the Messiah, the Anointed One for whom the Jews of the first century were looking? Was it because Peter was so wise? No, it is because God opened the eyes of his heart to see and understand spiritual truth (cf John 6:44). So if you are here today and Jesus ask you "Who do you say that I am?" and you are not sure how you would answer, then join us over the coming weeks as John reveals His true identity and the Spirit opens your eyes so that you come to KNOW Him as LORD. And if you already KNOW Jesus as Lord, John's Gospel will strengthen your faith and help you GROW to know Him more intimately than you ever thought possible. Recall from the CHARTS (if you decide to start out with the charts) that while the 3 Synoptic Gospels (Mt, Mk, Luke, syn-optic ~ "see together") focus more on what Jesus taught and did, John's Gospel focuses more on Who Jesus is. ILLUSTRATION - The Gospel of John will radically impact our understanding of Who Jesus is and our intimacy with Jesus will grow greater the more time we spend in it. The impact of our time in the Gospel of John hopefully will be "something like Lucy’s experience with the lion Aslan (the Christ symbol in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia) as she again gazed into his large, wise face. “Welcome, child,” he said. “Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.” “That is because you are older, little one,” answered he. “Not because you are?” “I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” (from R Kent Hughes John: That You May Believe) PURPOSE: Whenever you study a book of the Bible, you want to understand the writer's purpose for writing. In some books this is difficult to discern but not in the Gospel of John. So let's see if we can understand his purpose by reading John 20:30-31 - "Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." Notice first that John does not call them miracles but signs. They are of course miracles but John preferred the word signs. Why? Think about what a sign does -- it points to something larger or more important than itself! In this case John's signs clearly point to Someone larger and greater and more important! Signs are like a finger of God which are valuable not so much for what they are as to Whom they point! While John acknowledges that he witnessed many signs in Jn 20:30, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he was guided to select only seven signs to supernaturally point the reader of his Gospel to the Messiah, the Son of God. Notice that John uses the verb believe twice which underscores the two fold purpose for writing this Gospel - (First) He intends for the signs to convince us to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. (Second) He wants us to believe in Jesus so that we might have life, real life, vital, exciting, compelling, fulfilling, satisfying life as God intended it now and throughout eternity -- the life that He described in John 10:10 declaring "I came to give life and give it abundantly." Abundant life brings us a new purpose, new values, new relationships, new loves, and a new sense of destiny! Most of you have already believed that Jesus is the Messiah and you have entered into eternal life. But the question is are you experiencing abundant life? John says one of the purposes of this book is that "believing you may have life in His Name." As we study through John together we should more and more enter into that abundant life Jesus desires for us to experience. It is notable that John used the verb believe some 98 times -- more than all the uses in the Synoptic Gospels combined. So clearly believe is a KEY WORD that functions like a key to unlock truths in John's Gospel. In Jn 20:31 John emphasized that those who believe in Jesus will receive life in His Name. The word Name is pregnant with meaning and speaks of all that Jesus is. It speaks of His essence, His character. We need to also ask what does it mean to believe? Suffice it to say that Biblical belief is more than mere intellectual acceptance of the truth about Jesus.. Listen to W E Vine's classic three part definition of Biblical, saving belief - (1) A firm conviction which produces full acknowledgment of God's revealed Truth (this would correspond to intellectual assent, but it does not stop there), (2) A personal surrender to the Truth and (3) A conduct inspired by and consistent with that surrender. --- In short, if you really believe in Jesus, that belief will change the way you behave. In short creed determines conduct! But we'll speak more about that in weeks to come. Notice also that John is not writing that we would believe Jesus is a good moral man, a good teacher or a prophet, terms that skeptics often use to describe Jesus. They say things like "Jesus was a moral man and a good teacher but He was not the Son of God. In fact He Himself never even claimed to be God." As we will discuss in a moment, in the Gospel of John Jesus did not leave this issue in doubt -- yes, He was a good teacher, and yes He was a prophet, but John says that the seven signs He performed were to point (like any good sign does) to one conclusion - that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ, the Son of God, the one Who perfectly fulfilled over 300 OT Scriptures that had predicted God's coming to earth to live as a Man so that He might die as a sinless sacrifice to redeem men from the penalty and power of sin. QUESTION 2: So here is my second question and I take this from Josh McDowell's classic work More Than a Carpenter in which he is asks the question every person should be able to answer correctly. Is Jesus "Lord, Liar or Lunatic?" (As an aside when we post this sermon transcript on the Antioch website, we will give you a link to an online version of this simple but well done apologetic resource that can be read in less than 3 hours and equip you to be able to share your faith without fear). As we will discuss in a moment Jesus claimed to be God and did not leave any other option open. He either LIED about it, was OUT OF HIS MIND or He is LORD. And I believe He is Lord of all! John's Gospel will clearly show that Jesus is God in the flesh, the eternal Word come to earth, born to die as God’s sacrifice for human sin. Using seven signs John will prove that Jesus is "the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God" and that if you believe in Him you may have life in His Name." We will discuss the seven signs as we work our way through this Gospel. But today let's address the frequent statement by skeptics that Jesus Himself never claimed to be God. What does John's Gospel say?. Let's look at several instances where Jesus clearly claimed to be God. Specifically, let's look at His claim to be "I Am" which is known affectionately in Greek as the "Ego Eimi" (Spell it out for them). Ego of course is "I" and eimi is the simple verb meaning "to be" and is the usual word for existence. Eimi is in the present tense and so what Jesus is saying is "I continually exist." In fact the idea is that when Jesus used this description He was saying in essence "I am eternally self-existent!" And so for example in John 8:58 (addressing a group of Jews who had supposedly "believed" in Him earlier in John 8:30), He declared "Truly, truly (Amen, Amen), I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am (ego eimi) He (where "He" is not in the Greek but added by the translators. More literally He said "I Am")." And guess what response He solicited from this group of Jews? John records in Jn 8:59 "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple." Why did this group of Jews who had professed belief in Jesus some 28 verses earlier now seek to stone Him to death? To answer that question let's turn to Exodus 3 which is Moses' famous "Burning Bush encounter" where God is giving him instructions to go and rescue His chosen people Israel from bondage in Egypt, to which Moses responds in Exodus 3:13 "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His Name?' What shall I say to them?" to which "God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you." In the Greek translation (known as the Septuagint) of God's Name "I Am who I Am" find the phrase "EGO EIMI." So when Jesus declared He was "EGO EIMI" the Jews clearly understood that He was saying that He was God and thus they sought to stone Him for blasphemy because they did not believe Him to be God. We see Jesus make a similar claim in John 8:24 declaring to the Jews "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM (again the translators add "He" but it is not in the Greek text), you will die in your sins." So what is Jesus' claiming? That He is God and He is clearly implying that belief in Him will mean that a person does not have to die in their sins! Who do you say that Jesus is? Do you believe in His Name, "Ego Eimi." If you do, you will never see the Second Death described by John at the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20:11-15. In fact, the moment you believe in the Name of Jesus the great "I Am" you will immediately enter into ETERNAL LIFE… NOW! Eternal life does not begin with death. It begins when you believe! And remember Jesus' promise of LIFE does not just describe the "quantity" of life (eternal), but He also offers us a new "quality" of life. Today. Right now. Not just in eternity future! The godless world is striving desperately to achieve a better quality of life. Jesus is saying in essence cease striving and know that I am God (Ps 46:10) and I will give you the BEST quality of life! In fact in John 10:10 Jesus even trumps Himself declaring I will give you life and give it abundantly. Folks, a better offer has never been made to anyone. So as we journey through this Gospel let us seek to lay hold of that abundant life which is ours in His Name. In fact abundant life will be found no where else other than the Name of Jesus. So if you are trying to accumulate wealth, prestige or power thinking it will fulfill your desire for abundant life, you need to spend time in John's Gospel to let the Spirit renew your mind. And let us go and tell others about Jesus offer of the "BEST QUALITY OF LIFE" remembering that as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, we are simply called to boldly, confidently tell them about Jesus the Messiah and leave the results to God. John describes the two reactions we can expect in John 1:11-13 writing that "Jesus came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name (notice that believe explains "receive" so here receive Jesus is to believe in Jesus), who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, BUT OF GOD." As we learned last week "Salvation belongs to the Lord." (Psalm 3:8) Paul says that when offer the Good News about Jesus we are to leave the results to God and I don't know about you but that takes the pressure off me thinking I have to have a perfect presentation or they will never believe. Paul counters that natural way of thinking reminding us that the "Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." (Ro 1:16). Who's power? God's! We boldly speak out the Name of Jesus but it is God Who saves them in Jesus' Name. You may be here today and are saying "I wish I could have lived in the first century and seen Jesus and His miraculous signs. Then I would be able to believe." It is not necessary to “see” Jesus Christ in order to believe. Yes, it was a blessing for the early Christians to see their Lord and know that He was alive; but that is not what saved them. They were saved, not by seeing, but by believing. If you have never made the decision to truly believe in Christ – today is your day of salvation. Today is the acceptable day. John would say to you “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 Believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved (Acts 16:31)! Next week we will begin looking at John chapter 1, verses 1-5. Let me encourage you this week to be like Mary not overwhelmed by busyness like Martha and chose the one thing that is really necessary and sit at the feet of Jesus listening to His words in the Gospel of John, asking His Spirit to open the eyes of your heart to the deep truths about Him even in just the first 5 verses of John's Gospel. I would also encourage you to treasure these words in your heart that the Spirit might be able to use them in your life in times of need. CHARTS RELATED TO JOHN'S GOSPEL This first chart gives us an excellent depiction (almost like a graph) of the upswing in Jesus' popularity in the first 6 chapters and then the declining popularity of Jesus beginning in John 7 and culminated in the Cross. Note "PREPARATION" - could summarize with Jn 1:29 - "Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world." On the right side we see that paschal SACRIFICE depicted. This chart also shows the three (and possibly 4) Passovers - Jn 5:1 is simply called "the feast" so we cannot be sure. Notes on preceding chart for possible comments: The chart shows how John breaks up into public ministry (3 years) in John 1-12 and Jesus' private ministry (Jn 13-21). It allows you to summarize the 7 miracles in His public ministry (at bottom of chart) and the KEY WORDS (could explain what a key word does - how they function as a key to unlock John's gospel which is especially brought out by the 98 occurrences of believe (more that all uses in the Synoptics combined). Clearly John's Gospel emphasis is on believe and this is reiterated his purpose statement in Jn 20:31. The Great Pause - John 12:36b has been called “The Great Pause.” How is this a turning point in the gospel? Jn 12:37 and “his own” of Jn 13:1. Then refer to Chart, and note the various outlines that have a turning point at 12:36b. COMPARISON OF GENERAL EMPHASIS OF TEACHING ON JESUS SYNOPTIC GOSPELS MATTHEW-MARK-LUKE GOSPEL OF JOHN Focus more on WHAT Jesus taught and did Focuses more on WHO Jesus is SHOW US JESUS OUTWARDLY SHOWS US JESUS INWARDLY EMPHASIZE JESUS' HUMANITY EMPHASIZES JESUS' DIVINITY Focus mainly on our Lord's public discourses Focus more on His private conversations, His verbal conflicts with Jews, His closer teachings with inner disciples More Factual More Doctrinal. Begin with a human genealogy and fulfillment of Jewish prophecy Begins with a Divine revelation and eternal existence Note John's paucity of miracles compared with the other Gospels. John's purposes is not to show His miracles but to show us His deity (Jn 20:31). This chart could supplement the one above for a quick review to those who have never seen this material. There is more material than you would probably want to show (too much and you lose people) but I think the sections in yellow are useful. COMPARISON OF SYNOPTIC GOSPELS WITH THE GOSPEL OF JOHN SYNOPTIC GOSPELS GOSPEL OF JOHN Portrait of Christ God-MAN His HUMANITY GOD-man His DEITY Perspective Historical Spiritual Beginning Begin with a human genealogy and fulfillment of Jewish prophecy Begins with a Divine revelation and eternal existence Unique Material Matthew = 42%, Mark = 7%, Luke = 59% 92% Unique Seven "I Am" Statements Discourse More Public Focus is on Jesus & the crowds More Private Focus is on Jesus & individuals Teaching Emphasis More on ethical, practical WHAT Jesus Taught More on Person of Christ WHO Jesus is Main Geographic Focus of Ministry Mainly in North around Galilee Mainly around Jerusalem at time of Feasts Feasts Only 1 Passover recorded Records 3 Passovers Key Word Mt = fulfilled Mk = immediately Luke = Son of man Believe Key Verse Mt 21:5: Behold your King Mk 10:45: To serve Lk 19:10 - To Seek & to save Jn 20:31 Christ Portrayed As Mt - King Mk - Servant Lk - Son of Man Son of God Notes for possible comments on preceding chart… Portrait of Christ - The synoptics emphasize Jesus' humanity and John His divinity. Just as a coin has two sides, both valid, so Jesus Christ has two natures, both valid. Jesus is fully God and fully Man. Unique Material - John's Gospel was the last Gospel, written about 85-90BC some 30 years after the synoptics. This would explain why most of John's material is unique. He would have been familiar with the other 3 Gospels and see no need to replicate their material. For example, John does not mentions Jesus' baptism, His transfiguration, His teaching in parables or His agony in Gethsemane. Instead of the agony John gives us 4 chapters of intimate conversation by Jesus with His disciples that last night (13-16) followed by His intimate prayer to His father. Feasts - The fact that John records 3 Passovers (some say 4 - John 5:1 simply says "a feast") is the main evidence for the common belief that Jesus' ministry covered three years. Spiritual Gospel - "This echoes Clement of Alexandria’s second-century characterization of the distinctive witness of the fourth gospel. His full statement runs as follows: ‘John, last of all, conscious that the outward facts had been set forth in the Gospels, was urged by his disciples, and, divinely moved by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel.’ In Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, VI, XIV. 7." (Milne, Bruce - The Message of John - Bible Speaks Today) The first three Gospels focus more on what Jesus taught and did; John focused more on who Jesus is. John shows us who Jesus is by allowing Jesus to speak for Himself in seven dramatic I Am statements, which were not included in the first three gospels. John is a Gospel written for a specific purpose: that we might believe. GOSPEL GLIMPSES OF JESUS CHRIST MATTHEW MARK LUKE JOHN Christ Portrayed As Prophesied King Obedient Servant Perfect Man Son of God Original Audience Jews Romans Greeks All Men Key Word "Fulfilled" "Immediately" "Son of Man" "Believe" Key Verse Mt 21:5 Mk 10:45 Lk 19:10 Jn 20:31 Outstanding Feature Sermons Miracles Parables Allegories Miracles 20 18 20 8 Tone Prophetic Practical Historical Spiritual Percent Spoken By Christ 60% 42% 50% 50% Old Testament Quotes 53 36 25 20 Old Testament Allusions 76 27 42 105 Unique Material 42% 59% 7% 92% Main Emphasis About Jesus Synoptic Gospels (see together) His Humanity His Deity