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Greetings all- thanks for joining us on this
journey through the Gospel of John. Each week, I'll send you a passage of
scripture along with a short commentary and a couple of questions. After you
study and reflect on the passage, 'reply to all' with answers, thoughts, or
additional questions to pose to the group. Feel free to continue the email
conversation throughout the week.
I understand that everyone will be out of town and unable to participate
from time to time. No problem at all, participate as you can.
FInally, invite others to join our community bible study. Anyone can join us anytime. We are starting with 9 of us, but have room for plenty more. All it takes to get signed up is to simply email me with a name and email address.
After the introduction, I will include our first 2 lessons for those of you
who did not receive the initial email.
Feedback is welcome. Here we go:
John
The Gospel of the Son of
God
Introduction
From the time of the Church
Fathers the fourth Gospel has been ascribed to John, the beloved disciple.
Both John and his brother James were Galilean fisherman, and members of a
prosperous family. (We know this because we read in Mark 1:20 their father
Zebedee employed servants.) John's Gospel was written after the Synoptic
Gospels, but no later than AD 85 or 90.
Weekly e-vos from the Gospel of John.
Week 1
Knowing the Unknowable
John 1:1-18
Read it online here:
Commentary
I don’t know anybody famous. Ever been
around someone who “drops names”? I’m not one of those people.
Most of the time when people brag about
famous people they know - they don’t really know them. In my mind - if
you can’t pick up the phone and call them AND they know who you are -
you don’t know them.
I guess I’d like to know someone famous
but if that is going to happen - it’s going to have to be through a
friend or something. I’ve got no connections.
And even though the popular theory on the
planet right now is that any one of us is only 7 degrees from Kevin
Bacon, you gotta figure any “famous encounters” will be brief and highly
over-hyped and not exactly lead to a long-term relationship.
“Hey, Matt Hasselbeck, I just bought
season tickets in the 300 level for next season. Wanna go fishing this
weekend?”
That’s what strikes me so odd about
John’s words here in this chapter - God became flesh and made the
unknowable knowable.
For years, humanity has wondered - is
there a God?
If there is - how can we know him?
It’s Jesus.
You meet Jesus,
you see Jesus,
you encounter Jesus -
that’s meeting, seeing, encountering God.
Weekly e-vos from the Gospel of John.
Week 2
Want an inside track on knowing the
Creator of the Universe? Look to Jesus.
There had to be some let down - I mean -
a Jewish carpenter? He looked a lot like every other Jewish male
probably. But there he was (is).
As we start the Gospel of John - that’s
the premise of the whole book. This Jesus - he’s God. All of the stories
and the miracles that John tells us about - it’s for the purpose to
prove to us that Jesus is like no other.
This is going to be great ride.
Weekly
e-vos from the Gospel of John.
Week 2
I Can’t
Untie His Thongs
John
1:19-28
Read it
online here:
It’s a rare
person who can handle fame and attention with humility and grace.
I’m not talking about the fake humility. You know, things like:
“Oh, I’m just
happy to be a part of the team.”
“You know,
I’m just fortunate.”
We’ve all
heard those interviews from athletes, actors, and rock stars.
We’ve also heard the
opposite - I’m all
that and a bag of chips.
I really can
only think of one contemporary interview that exhibits true
humility. I've never seen it, but have heard the story many times.
Eric Clapton was asked how it felt to be the world’s best guitarist.
Clapton reportedly said “I don’t know. You’d have to ask Phil Keaggy.”
I see that as
Clapton’s version of John’s words here - I’m not worthy to untie his
thongs. As someone who spends the majority of my time working
with teenagers, I feel it is important for me to point out here that
in John’s day thongs meant sandals. So he is basically saying that
I’m not worthy to untie his shoes, to wash his feet…a servant’s job.
The point is
this - in a situation where John was being praised for his words and
his leadership - he understood his role. He wasn’t the real deal,
Jesus was. He wasn’t the point of the preaching or preparing the way
- Jesus was. The point of his life wasn’t his own fame but Jesus’.
The crowd
back in 30 AD was looking for a pop hero, another charismatic leader
to lead them. The crowd then and today is always quick to make a
hero famous only to abandon when their pleasure isn’t met. American
Idol is only following in the footsteps of a centuries old tradition
- find ‘em, make ‘em famous, use ‘em, then discard ‘em.
To this
mentality, John points them to the truth of the person of Jesus.
John says - I’m just a voice in the desert - get ready for the
coming of the Lord.
As John’s words hit my heart tonight, I confess there have been more times than I care to admit that I’ve forgotten the point of my existence is to prepare the way of the Lord.
It’s not
about being cool or having all the answers - it’s about being a
voice in the desert.
That's what I say..... What say you?
Until next
week, peace friends.
-Justin Ross- 
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