John Chapter 1-3

HG meeting of Jan 18

1. Review of John 1:1-18 John’s claim
Christ (The promised one) had come: He was God in flesh.
He gives life. He is full of grace.
He is the light. He shows the truth.
Those who believe in Him have the right to become children of God.
To non-Christians: Do you believe?
To Christians: these give the real meaning of salvation, the base of Christian’s theology.

2. John 1:19-34 Christ, the “promised one”:
Who made the promise, and when?
Genesis 3:15, Genesis 21:3, Genesis 28:12-15(1:51), Isaiah 40:3 (1:23), Malachi 3:1, Malachi 4:5

3. John 1:35-51 Jesus Calls Disciples
What is the Lamb of God?
How are you going to follow Jesus?
Will you introduce Jesus to your neighbors?

4. John 2:1-11 Jesus Changes Water to Wine
What does this story tell us? Does it relate to life?

HG meeting of Jan 25

5. John 2:12-22 Jesus Clears the Temple
How is the temple related with Jesus’ body?
What is wrong with trading in temple’s courts?

6. John 2:23-25 Jesus knows man
What does it mean “to believe in Jesus”?

7. John 3:1-21 Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
Who was Nicodemus?
Why did he come to Jesus at night?
Can “Be Saved” be this simple?

8. John 3:22-36 John the Baptist and Jesus
How can the new life grow?

John Chapter 1

Notes for HG meeting on Jan. 11Gospel John

Chapter 1 Verses 1 - 18
Reading the bible is not just to understand what is written – the phrases and the sentences, but to get the message.
To get the message, we must read each section/chapter within the contexts. The context includes:
1. Author: author is part of the message
2. Culture Context: the history (time), people and the geography of that time.
3. Writing Context: the section before and after, the book before and after, the other books written by the same author and/or same time period.

Author – Apostle John:
In the Gospels he and his brother, St. James (the Greater), are identified as sons of Zebedee; Jesus called them Boanerges or Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17). The two brothers, together with Peter, were the three apostles closest to Jesus; they witnessed the Transfiguration and accompanied Jesus to Gethsemane. John has been thought to have been the disciple "whom Jesus loved." Jesus, in his dying moments, committed Mary to John's care (John 19:26-27).
Despite the persecution that he faced through the many years of his service and witness (that resulted in the martyrdom of nearly all, if not every one of the other apostles - see What Happened To The Apostles?), John managed to live to old age because (apart from caring for Mary who was likely not more than age 50 at the time of The Crucifixion) he had yet more writing to do. While banished to the island of Patmos, after having already written the Gospel of John (of which Mary would have been a very good source of information), he was given to write the Book of Revelation.

Culture Context: when was this book written?
Writing Context:
The bible context
One of the 4 gospels: between the Old Testament and the rests of the New Testament.
Old Testament: Who is God? What was His plan? How should they (we) live?
New Testament: Who is Jesus? What has he done? How should we live?
Because Gospel John, like the other Gospels, it addresses more on the first 2 questions, but even more that way.

Other Books:
John I, II, III: Deal with the problem about the gap between how we should live and how we are living.
Revelation: to be a winner

Translations:
Matthew 16:25
“Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding your self, your true self” MSG
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” NIV

Mark 8:35 (Luke 17:33,)
“Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live!” Living Bible
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” NIV

John 12:25
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” NIV

In the book:
This part: proclaim, and the rest: testimony.

1 – 2: John 10:30 "I and the Father are one."
4: John 14:6: Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Life and light:
John8:12: 12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
1 John: 1:5-6: 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
1 john 2:9-11: 9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him[c] to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
5: John 9:40-41: 40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" 41Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
John 10:31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
6: Baptist John testified that Jesus was the promised one.
14: Jesus was God in flesh
18: Jesus was God’s image