Dr. William F. Luck, Sr.

How to use John’s Gospel as a Manual of Christian Apologetics

This PowerPoint presentation is intended as a supplement to and application of

my commentary on John’s Gospel.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible.

Copyright 2003-2005 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.

WWW.NETBIBLE.COM

All rights reserved.

Foreword: There are, in this slide presentation, hidden slides. They follow slides that have covered portions that are revealed by animation. This has been done so that anyone seeking to print out the presentation as a PDF will be able to see what the covered portions are. The slides with covered portions may then be discarded.

Where did the Gospels come from and what was the order of writing?

The fact that each gospel writer did their own translating from the Aramaic of Q into the Greek of the Gospels, accounts for minor differences between them in �wording and grammar.

The sayings of Jesus were copied and used by all the Gospel writers. When the contents of the Logia was used up by the Gospel writers, it was destroyed.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke present similar events in similar ways, while John includes events the others omitted. Because of this, they are called the “synoptics.”

Jesus spoke in Aramaic to the crowds & His disciples; He spoke in

Aramaic & Perhaps in some Greek to the Sadducees & � Herodians; He spoke in Aramaic & perhaps in some � Hebrew to the Pharisees; and He probably quoted � largely from the Greek Bible (LXX). But His � basic spoken language was Aramaic, � which the Gospel writers translated� into Greek.

Introductory Comments to John’s Gospel

Author: John, the disciple of Christ. The author was Jew (1:38; 4:9; 7:37); and eyewitness (1:14; 1:29; 1:35-36). He is never called by name when referred to (1:40; 13:23; 21:20, 24), whereas all the other 3 Gospel writers refer to John by name. The writer speaks of John the Baptizer as “John.” The author as a disciple (21:24). Called “the disciple Jesus loved” (13:23)

The first external source was Ireneus (c. AD. 130-202). Eusebius (c. 260-339), the second Church historian, cites John as the writer.

Recipients: None are specifically mentioned, but the word “world” is used 78 times. This suggests that the world is the intended audience.

Key Verse: 3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Key terms: Father (121 times); love (57 times); world (78 times); Son (42 times); believe (98 times); life (52 times).

Theme: Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah, Who, when accepted as such, gives eternal life in His name. (20:31)

Date of writing: Between 70 and 100 AD.

Geographical Setting

https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/introduction-to-john/

Key locations mentioned:

​

Galilee

Judea

Samaria

Bethany

Bethsaida

Nazareth

Cana

Aenon/Salim

Sea of Galilee

Capernaum

Jerusalem

Sychar

Jordan River

. Bethany

Rulers and their lands in the Gospel of John

https://www.goodnews.ie/palestiemap.shtml

Thus, he says that the 8 signs found in the Gospel are the proofs of that claim. This implies that the non-sign sections of the book are subordinate to the sign sections. However, subordination implies that they contribute to the signs. Examination shows the discourses and dialogues relate to the signs much as an attorney’s explanations relate to the pieces of evidence that he places on the record. As at trial, some explanations come before the evidence is placed on the record, some come after it is, and some come both before and after. Actually, there seem to be only 7 dialogues for the 8 signs, with 2 signs sharing a dialogue.

It is my contention that a further examination of the book reveals that each sign and each dialogue speaks to a different audience, presenting different, relevant aspects of the deity of Christ. The following presentation attempts to show what types of people should be presented with each of the signs/dialogues.

John’s Stated Intention

At the end of John’s Gospel, he specifically states that he wrote it to establish the truth claim that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

When a lawyer presents his case in court, he begins with an opening statement. It tells the jury what he intends to prove to them. He then sets out each piece of evidence, explaining how it fits his case. And finally, he urges the jury to act on it. John is doing the same thing. His prologue is his opening statement. He tells us what he’s going to prove to us. Then he presents 8 different pieces of evidence, explaining their meaning and importance as he moves through them. Finally, in the epilogue, he urges his reader to act upon what he now knows.

https://abrowninglaw.blogspot.com/2015/10/7-things-lawyers-cant-tell-jurors.html

Why does John present his readers with 8 different miracles—pieces of evidence? Because, like a good attorney, he knows that different jurors (hearers/readers) react positively to different kinds of evidences. The evidence that convinces one juror may have less effect on another. A good attorney “reads” his jury. He watches their reaction and can tell when one piece of evidence makes an impact on one or more of them.

As we study John’s Gospel, note the different audiences that are addressed by the different miracles and explanatory passages. At the end I’ll provide a chart to help you with this. Our goal is to enable you to use John’s Gospel as a manual of defending the deity of Christ, one that will be used by the Spirit to produce life in Christ to the one who believes that evidence.

Caution

Some of the signs (#2, 3, 6) are miracles of physical healing. In seeking to discern a proper audience for presenting Jesus as the Divine miracle Worker, care must be taken not to imply to the hearer/viewer that Jesus will heal them or someone with whom they are concerned. The apologetical focus should be upon Jesus’ Divine ability (i.e., power that only God has) and the ensured “life in His Name” available for those who believe in Him by faith.

In our courts the defense attorney tells the jury what their just and right decision will do for his client. John goes beyond that and tells the jury what their acceptance of the evidence will do for them, because his client has already been exonerated and set free. Surprisingly enough, in this case, the ones “at risk” are the jurors themselves, not the One who is the subject of the trial.

What is at risk for the audience that hears the evidence, i.e., the jury: their very eternal lives.

In the next slide you will see how John develops the primary goal of the evidence: that by believing the evidence, a juror, his hearer, might that Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah.

https://earlcarterlaw.com/2015/08/what-is-a-hung-jury/

Dr. Merrill Tenney’s Understanding of How the Miracles in John’s Gospel Exhibit the Powers of Christ’s Divinity

This is an excellent analysis of the subject.

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

I would also suggest that we could actually consider two complimentary outlines of the Gospel. The first is of the signs and discourses, the second is of the impact they have on the person who, believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, has “life in His name.”

Prologue: 1:1-51 The Bi-focal Thesis: Jesus is god incarnate, the messiah of Israel

1:1-18 The statement of the thesis, the explanation of how Jesus knew His own

1:19-51 Jesus is the Messiah

Messiah & Son of God Outline

Body: 8 Signs/Dialogues to Prove the Thesis:

Signs of His Public Ministry

Epilogue: 20:30-21:25 Practical encouragement to testify to the thesis and supporting signs

20:30-31 Attestation of the truth of the thesis (“that you might know that Jesus is the Christ”)

21:1-14 The “Epi-sign” Jesus knows where the fish are

21:15-23 The explanation of the sign

21:24-25 Attestation of the truth of the thesis

2:1-2:22 Sign One: Water to Wine—Ability to change the nature of matter—the kind of thing a thing is

2:23-3:36 Dialogue to Sign One (Is Jesus the promised Messiah?)

4:1-45 Dialogue to Sign Two (Jesus is the Christ)

4:46-54 Sign Two: Nobleman’s son’s life extended—Ability to work despite space limitations--life extended

5:1-15 Sign Three: Lame Man Enabled to Walk—Ability to reverse chronic disability

5:16-47 Dialogue to Sign Three (Jesus is the Son of God/the Predicted One—He gives ongoing life (everlasting)

6:1-15 Sign Four: 5,000 Fed from 5 Loaves--Ability to multiply matter--Physical need supplied

6:16-24 Sign Five: Walking on Water—Power over natural regularity--Emotional need supplied

6:25-71 Dialogue to Signs Four and Five (“Son of Man” – Messianic Title)

7:1-8:59 Dialogue to Sign Six—Part One (Is he the Christ?)

9:1-34 Sign Six: Man Born Blind Given Sight—Power over long term genetic dysfunction

9:35-10:40 Dialogue to Sign Six—Part Two: (“If you are the Christ, tell us”)

11:1-37 Dialogue to Sign Seven (“I believe that you are the Christ)

11:38-12:50 Sign Seven: Raising of Lazarus (life extended)—Power over death & decay (Son of David)|life extended

13:1-17:26 Discourse/dialogue to Sign Eight (know…Jesus the Messiah)

18:1-20:29 Sign Eight: As Predicted, Christ Raises Himself from the Dead--Knowledge of the future

By believing and understanding the import of these signs, John’s Gospel will enable you to become your own Gospel-defense lawyer, i.e., enabling you to use these signs to be a part of the Spirit’s bringing the hearer of your evangelistic effort to the point of belief and salvation.

From what has been said, you might imagine that God’s design for the Gospel of John would be only as an apologetic, i.e., intended only for those who have no faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah. But John’s reference (20:31) to his Gospel as speaking to “life in His name,” presents us with an additional value to the book: for those who believe in Jesus as the Messiah, there are lessons to be learned about our lives of service to the King. With this in mind, I offer the following secondary outline** of the Gospel.

**My intent is to keep the Messiah & Son of God outline from becoming too detailed.

Prologue: John 1:1-51 The thesis: Jesus is God-like-us, our Leader and Master

1:1-18 All that God is the Logos is [Since Jesus is the Logos, Jesus is God by nature]

1:19-51 Jesus, God in the flesh, is the Messiah.

“Life in His Name” Outline

Body: 8 Signs-Dialogues To Prove His ability to meet our needs:

2:1-3:36 Sign One/Dialogue: New Birth

—Eternal life available upon belief

Epilogue: 20:30-21:25 Practical Encouragement to Focus Upon Our Own Life Responsibilities

4:1-5:47 Sign Two/Dialogue: Living Water

—Eternally sustained life available upon belief

5:1-5:47 Sign Three/Dialogue: Sonship & Sabbath (opposition of human religion)

—Effects of sin disempowered; obeying empowered

6:1-71 Signs Four & Five/Dialogue: Bread of Life

—Mission success provided for/ensured

7:1-10:42 Sign Six/Dialogue: Light of the World (opposition of human religion)

—Human opposition disempowered; the mind enlightened

11:1-12:55 Sign Seven/Dialogues: Resurrection and the Life

—Death disempowered

13:1-20:29 Sign Eight/Discourse/Dialogue: Predicted Death and Resurrection

—Provision for the future promised/ensured

With that introduction, let us look at the Gospel in detail.

The Function of the Prologue of John’s Gospel

In this work seeking to prove the deity and Messiahship of Christ,

the Prologue presents us with “that which is to be proven”:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

​

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

​

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 

​

⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 

Sign One: the Changing of Water to Wine (John 2):

While attending a marriage feast, the wine ran out.

Jesus creates wine from water. His disciples believe in Him.

https://www.magnific.com/premium-ai-image/miracle-jesus-christ-turning-water-into-wine-transformative-event-cana-demonstrating-christs-divinity-his-ability-bring-joy-abundance-through-divine-intervention_199545644.htm

Location of Cana

Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” … Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” … the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

As believers we should be looking for those to whom this question is relevant:

Has the wine run out in your life? Are you asking, “Is this all there is to life?”

Jesus can change your watered-down life

into the best sparkling life-wine anyone has ever tasted.

To such people we can say:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can bring happiness that exceeds all your expectations. And He will do it by changing your “nature” from lost to saved eternally.

Though this sign was not done with the purpose of impressing the wedding guests, there is a message to them in the result of the miracle. The people were thirsty and expecting to come up short. Jesus can meet such needs.

Sign One: the Changing of Water to Wine (Cont’d):

Dialogue One: the meeting with Nicodemus (John 3):

To them we should say:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can bring you to a quality of existence that cannot be exceeded.

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” … “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

As believers, look for people to whom the follow questions are relevant:

Is there an explanation for questions about spiritual life? Is it possible to cut through unsatisfying religious opinions and get to the truth?

Can I share in the life of the Eternal One?

The Son of the Eternal One promises to change your nature from eternally perishing to eternally divine. You need only to accept the fact that you are perishing and trust in the unperishable One.

He was punished/crucified in your place.

Nicodemus was seeking for answers. He realized that the signs that Jesus was doing must imply Divine authorization and empowerment. But since that was so, what about the questionable teachings of Jesus: that he was the Messiah and the Son of God?

After this, Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing.  John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming to him and being baptized.

…

he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”

…

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.”

Additional narrative: John’s comments about Jesus’ baptizing (3:22-36)

This dialogue between John the Baptist and his followers arising from questions about baptism support the point that the First Sign relates to salvation/regeneration.

The following two slides represent the lives of those who do not have eternal life and what happens to a person when they accept Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God as their Savior and Lord.

The De-Evolution of Man (Genesis 3-6)

The Marring of the Image of God and Its Effects

Creation in the Image of God

Stage One: Rebellion Against God; Acceptance of Satanic Advice

Adam’s sin of eating the forbidden fruit

Produced: Shame/dirty conscience; fear (of judgment), self-justification, discord of

physical pains/trauma, work frustration, alienation from God.

Stage Two: Lack of honoring and faith toward God

Cain’s sin of bringing his sacrifice to God without faith

Stage Three: Lack of self-control; hatred toward fellow man

Cain’s sin of disregarding God’s warning ending in fratricide

Produced: anger, depression, shamelessness (especially toward God)

Produced: addiction; self-pity; fear of alienation & mistreatment by fellow man

Stage Four: Practice of Sexual Immorality

Sons of God and Daughters of Men—unnatural sexual union

Produced: Impurity of passion

The Life of Those Who Have Not Been Born Again

The Restoration of Man’s Relationship with God and Man

Stage One:�A clean Heart�Clean conscience

​

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3:5

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes**, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

Ezek. 36:25-27

This has been happening throughout history, perhaps with Adam & Eve, but clearly with Abel. It is based on the work of Christ millennia later. But remember that this restoration is only one aspect of what is needed.

This would be true

in all periods of history.

This regeneration comes as a result of man’s faith in God’s grace.

**Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.”

The Life of Those Who Have Been Born Again

Summary; to Whom are this sign and its dialogue directed?

The audience of this, Jesus’ first public sign, was Jesus’ disciples, who needed additional evidence to bolster their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. However, we should not fail to consider as an audience, the group of people (the servers and wedding guests) who had come to a point in the celebration where they were about to be disappointed when the wine ran out. The servers would have spread the word about what had happened. We could word their anticipated feelings of the guests as: “Is this all there is?” As such, they typify people in our world who, having been taught that we are only a collection of molecules that arose from nothing by chance, have survived by being stronger than others, find themselves asking “What is the meaning of life.” Jesus comes to them bringing gladness and quality of life. Simply put, if He can change the quality of matter, He can give meaning to existence. He can change a person’s life from meaningless to meaningful. He can change the “blah” of life to the best existence possible. In the Upper Room, Jesus identified Himself as the “True Vine.” (“I ams” in John are related to the signs.)

The audience of the dialogue was Nicodemus, who was seeking greater meaning in life than what he was experiencing in rabbinic Judaism. Seeing the miracles, he knew that Jesus offered something more to his understanding of what there was to life. Jesus spoke to him about how He could change the quality of his life from mere existence to the kind of life that was required to be a citizen in God’s heavenly kingdom. Jesus offered “eternal life”—being “born again.” Eternal here is used in a qualitative sense … the life of the Eternal One. (John 15:1)

Thus, this sign is for those who desire meaningful life.

More detailed consideration of the First Sign

When we look at the sign and its explanation as a whole, here is how the evidence is developed. The viewer may consider this at his or her leisure.

More detailed consideration of the First Sign

When we look at the sign and its explanation as a whole, here is how the evidence is developed. The viewer may consider this at his or her leisure.

To the believer who has life in His name, this sign reminds them that when they put their faith in Christ, they became a new creation. To use the teaching of God to Ezekiel (36:25-27): God cleansed them of their “constitutional dirt” (the sinful condition they are born in), gave them a heart transplant (the removal of their insensitive heart and replacement of it with a heart sensitive to God’s Word to us), God’s providing of them with new human power to obey Him, and God’s giving of His indwelling Spirit to provide His power to obey.

When we look at the sign and its explanation as a whole, here is how the evidence is developed. The viewer may consider this at his or her leisure.

More detailed consideration of the First Sign

Sign Two: the healing of the nobleman’s son (John 4):

A man comes to Jesus seeking healing for his dying son.

Jesus sustains the boy’s life.

Sign Two: the healing of the nobleman’s son (John 4):

And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. … The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”

Without even being there physically, Jesus can cure any illness, no matter how seemingly hopeless.

To those interested we may say:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who not only can save life without even being there, but Who can also provide everlasting spiritual life. The latter is more important than the former. God doesn’t always heal the body, but He always heals the soul for endless, glorious life after death.

Believers may use the following questions:

How can we face seemingly life-ending illnesses? Who has an answer?

Dialogue Two: the Samaritan Woman at the Well (Part 1) (John 4:1-43)

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. …  The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”  Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” .... So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

The woman went to the well at a time when no one else was present because she didn’t want to face the “public.” Are you worried about what people think of you? Do you feel you need to hide from others? When the woman at the well finished talking to Jesus she was confident enough to face the town’s people that she feared. She wasn’t worried about her social life anymore.

For them:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can give you a sense of value to God and make you bold enough to want to speak to the very people who have criticized you in the past and tell them how God has changed you.

To the seeker, believers should ask:

Do you lack confidence in yourself because you feel shame?

Do you or someone you know feel as if your past life decisions have rendered you “untouchable?”

Do you feel as if you need to spend the rest of your life avoiding people?

The Location of Jacob’s Well in Samaria Near Sychar

Jesus answered her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” … “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

Dialogue Two: the Samaritan Woman at the Well (Part 2) (John 4:10,13-14)

More directly in its relation to the 2^nd Sign, Jesus here teaches that normal, human thirst is not what He had in mind providing. The water He provides doesn’t work just for a little while and then you need to have it renewed, but the kind He provides extends endlessly. It is everlasting water. Just as He sustained/extended the life of the nobleman’s son, He extends life of those who believe in His name through eternity.

Thus, an audience of this dialogue is those who seek life everlasting.

To them: Let me introduce you to Someone Who offers life everlasting.

Summary; to Whom are this sign and its dialogue directed?

The audience of the second sign was the father of a terminally ill son. He cried out to the miracle worker to sustain the life of the boy. And, without even being physically where the boy was to heal him, Jesus was able to extend his life. If He can extend life, He can extend it endlessly. Put another way, the quality of life, i.e., eternal, can be extended eternally (quantity). Also in the Upper Room, Jesus spoke of Himself as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

The accompanying dialogue is that between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. His message to her is that He can give her water that is of such a nature that mere H²O cannot satisfy. Of course, Jesus was referring to heavenly sustenance, which, when imbibed will not need to be renewed. His knowledge of her past history (without having previously met her) gave her confidence that He was the predicted Messiah. It also gave her confidence to share her knowledge of him with those she had been avoiding because of her checkered reputation. If the Messiah accepted her, then why worry about what others think.

Thus, this sign is for those who hope for someone who can sustain life endlessly, especially people who have a bad self-image in this life. It also gives confidence that true worship is a matter of the heart.

To the one who has life in Christ’s name, this sign teaches that those who drink of Him will never need another such source of water again, for He will sustain His own. They will never truly die. Further, that He and His Father accept worship from all places.

Review of the Second Sign

When we look at the sign and its explanation as a whole, here is how the evidence is developed. The viewer may consider this at his or her leisure.

Review of the Second Sign

When we look at the sign and its explanation as a whole, here is how the evidence is developed. The viewer may consider this at his or her leisure.

Footnote regarding the audiences of Signs 1 & 2

It is worth noting the difference between the audiences of Signs 1 & 2. The dialogue associated with Sign 1 is Nicodemus, a member of the high council of the Jews. As such, he is a prominent individual. This is quite a contrast to the Samaritan woman (Sign 2), who was an outcast in her own society, a society that itself was looked down upon by the Jews. In a way, this informs us that these signs do not discriminate in regard to their audiences. God is just as interested in reaching the lowly as He is the exalted, indeed perhaps more so (cf. Matt. 11:25).

Sign Three: the healing of the man long lame (John 5):

Jesus healed a man who had been disabled for many years.

Location of the Sheep Gate & the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem in the Days of John’s Gospel

Sign Three: the healing of the man long lame (John 5):

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

If there are such, they should be told:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can take care of the longest standing problem you have in your life. He cares about you.

Believers should listen to those around them to see if relevant questions are:

Do you have chronic problems that worry you? Are you locked in the past? Do you feel that your past actions or your present addictions have shackled you so that you are unable to accomplish anything else in life? If Jesus can do this with a man’s body, don’t you think He can make you effective in your life today?

Here is man who had give up hope of an effective life. He felt abandoned, as if no one else cared about him.

Let me introduce you to the One Who can make your life meaningful.

Dialogue Three: Jesus speaks to the Pharisees (John 5:18-47 )

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Do you think that you can ignore the sign and still be in the right? You’d better think twice about rejecting Someone Who can make the lame walk. He can also make the walking go lame … or worse.

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. … This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because … he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

… Jesus said to them: whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. … And [the Father] has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

The Pharisees knew of the fact that the sign had occurred. But it didn’t harmonize with their narrative. Thus, they rejected both the healing and the healed.

Review of the Third Sign

Review of the Third Sign

To Whom are this sign and its dialogue directed?

The audience of this sign was the lame man, a man who was trapped in his debilitating situation in life. For him, life was not only meaningless, it was also physically and mentally painful in an unending condition. This is the situation of people in life that are caught up in all sorts of addictions. Jesus can end those and make life productive.

The dialogue is directed to the religious leaders who (unlike Nicodemus) were satisfied with their condition, unaware of how it was rejecting true power to live a life that they should have desired. This tells us that some people are so set in their ways that they can’t even desire a better life. Not all miracles produce faith. But they provide an opportunity for faith. Simply put, some people are not God’s sheep.

This miracle is for people who long for a “normal” and productive life but feel powerless to achieve it. Jesus provides power … power intended to be put to work obeying the One Who empowers. What is required is hearing the voice of God Who calls us to belief in Jesus.

Interestingly, this man lay at the “Sheep Gate.” In John 10:7, Jesus spoke of Himself as the “Door of the sheep.” Jesus enables a person to exit the sheepfold as well as to find safety within it. Sheep, of course know the Shepherd’s voice.

The lesson of this sign for believers is that in their service for their Messiah, they will meet opposition, often from the very people who should themselves be Christ’s disciples.

​

Another lesson is that aside from Christ’s empowerment, even those who have life in His name can do nothing. They dare not think that just because they once walked, they are able now to walk without Him. This will be taught again even more directly in the next two signs.

Sign Four: the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1-15)

Jesus asked His disciples to feed a huge crowd. Having never functioned as caterers, they felt completely unable to comply. Jesus fed the crowd.

The Feeding of the 5,000

Sign Four: the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1-15)

Are you worried about where you next meal will come from?

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can meet your basic needs,

Someone who made those things you need. But, more importantly, One Who can meet your spiritual needs.

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” … Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

The disciples were not caterers. This was not their area of expertise. Jesus was expecting them to “stretch.” We must have confidence that the One Who died for us cares enough about us to see to our daily provision. Cast your care upon Him. He will also help you succeed in areas of service which are out of your comfort zone. As for unbelievers:

Do you find yourself in a situation in life that you never expected and find you are unable to provide for yourself and for you loved ones the necessities of life?

In this instance, John presents another sign before he gives a dialogue.

This would be like an attorney placing two pieces of evidence on the record before he gives an explanation of them both.

This sign teaches those who have life in His name, that they, like the disciples in the account, will often find themselves unable to accomplish the work that God puts before them. God works through our inadequacies to teach us that He is the One who will bring about “success” in our lives of service.

Sign Five: walking on water/safe arrival (John 6:16-21)

Jesus allows the disciples to venture out on the Sea of Galilee in the face of an impending storm. They are unable to make headway. Jesus comes and they find they are where they intended to go.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/jesus-christ-walking-on-water-julius-sergius-klever.html?product=greeting-card

Successful Arrival at Capernaum

Sign Five: walking on water/safe arrival (John 6:16-21)

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

The disciples were seasoned fisherman, but here they were at extremes both physically and emotionally. There is little in life more troubling than failing in your area of expertise, or of bumping into something supernatural in everyday life. They were unable to reach their destination. Jesus came walking on water. They certainly didn’t expect a person walking on water. But Jesus not only calmed their fears, He also delivered them to their destination.

Do you know people to whom you should ask a question like this:

Does the thought of the supernatural scare you?

Others may be troubled in achieving the goals they have set for themselves in life?

For them a follow up would be.

Let me Introduce you to Someone supernatural who cares about you.

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can help you achieve goals

that are worth making.

Dialogue Four: the response to the crowd (John 6:22-71) {serves both signs 4 & 5?}

Are you looking for a free lunch—an easy life? Physical food and drink lasts only for a little while. Jesus can provide that. But what is more important, He can provide strength from Himself that will nourish you both in this life and the next. Isn’t that what you really need? Get your priorities straight.

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can take your mind off yourself and interest you in food for your soul. Jesus is the Provider, and He can help you get your priorities straight in life.

When they [the crowd] found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

… Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

These people had been impressed by getting free food. They thought it would be wonderful to have a national leader who would supply them with endless material provisions. They did not come seeking food for their souls. When they wondered what kind of work they should do to merit more free food, Jesus told them that the food that endures for eternal life comes only by belief in Him and that was a work of God.

Notice that these signs are paired because they both have to do with achieving goals. In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus enabled His disciples to succeed where they failed to perform in an area of their lack of expertise (providing food). In the walking on water, He enables them to succeed where they were failing to perform in an area that WAS their expertise (boating).

The message is: Jesus provides success in life when only He can. “Life in His Name” means supernatural provision. He resolves frustration (as with not being able to supply food) and peace (as with feeling overwhelmed with life’s trials—as in the boat in a storm).

It is possible that the miracle of walking on water had its dialogue embedded in the sign narrative. If so, it was only one sentence: “It is I, do not be afraid.” It is also possible that the dialogue that Jesus gave to the crowd that followed Him over land to where the ship docked is meant to work with both signs. If the latter (i.e., to the crowd), then in His saying: “I should lose nothing of all that He has given me,” He was obliquely referring to what He had accomplished by walking to His disciples over the water in the storm, namely to save them.

Review of the Fourth and Fifth Signs

Review of the Fourth and Fifth Signs

To Whom are these signs and their dialogue directed?

The audience of the feeding of the 5,000 was, on the one hand, the needy crowd, and on the other, the disciples who felt totally inadequate to the task. To the former, the message was that God can meet physical needs. Many people in this world could profit from knowing that. To the latter, the message was the Jesus can supply success where He calls us to serve. The audience of the walking on water was the disciples who now felt inadequate to perform adequately though in a situation where they were trained and accomplished. The miracle, actually, was in enabling them to achieve their goal. These miracles show Jesus to be the One Who provides success in life’s work. Jesus presents Himself as the “Good Shepherd.” (John 10:7) The shepherd oversees the feeding and care of the sheep.

The audience of the dialogue was the crowd who had been fed and wanted more. Jesus offered them instead, Himself, the “Bread of Life.” (John 6:41) Jesus can straighten out our priorities.

The audience of Christ walking on water was His own disciples. His disciples were stressed out because they were in serious trouble while going about boating, an activity that was essential in their vocation of fisherman. Broadening this group, we would say that this miracle fits anyone who is facing failure at the vocation of their expertise.

This sign teaches those who have life in His name, that they, like the disciples in the account, will often find themselves unable to accomplish the work that God puts before them, even in contexts where it is thought to be their area of expertise. God sometimes allows our inadequacies to teach us that He is the One who will bring about “success” in our lives of service.

Sign Six: the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1-11)

Jesus finds a man born blind and gives him sight.

Sign Six: the healing of the man born blind (John 9)

That person needs to hear:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can give you a new sense of worth

that will last into eternity whether or not you are healed of your handicap.

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Perhaps you know someone to ask:

Were you born with a handicap? Has that subjectively lessened your sense of worth and objectively limited your ability to compete with others?

This man had done nothing to put him in the situation in which he found himself. He could have blamed his parents or God. Sometimes God allows such circumstances for a greater good.

Do you know such people as those Pharisees? Perhaps they need to be asked:

Do you think you’re intelligent, perhaps more spiritual insight than others?

Those folk need to be introduced to Jesus with such a question as:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can give you a more realistic. perspective on yourself … because He does know it all.

Dialogue Six: Jesus is the Light of the World (John 7 & 8, 10):

So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.

The Pharisees thought they were better than the healed man. Their haughtiness blinded them to reality.

Review of the Sixth Sign

Sixth Sign Development

To Whom are this sign and its dialogue directed?

The audience of this sign is those people who believe that a congenital condition that they have excludes them from meaningful life. Christ can make such folk’s lives meaningful.

The audience of the dialogue is all men…since all are born spiritually blind. It is a blindness that cannot be overcome by religion. Jesus opens a person’s spiritual eyes to see reality as it really is.

This sign teaches those who have life in His name, that when they live out their new life, they will likely be challenged. “Outsiders” will doubt that they have been touched by Christ’s spiritually healing hand. They must leave the “convincing” or condemnation to their Lord.

Believers who have chronic physical problems may be encouraged by such testimonies as that of Joni Eareckson Tada (https://joniandfriends.org).

Sign Seven: the raising of Lazarus (John 11)

Jesus’ friend died before He arrived on the scene. He raised him from the dead.

https://www.groupbiblestudy.com/post/lazarus-raised-from-the-dead

Location of Bethany and Jerusalem

Sign Seven: the raising of Lazarus (John 11)

Almost all of us know someone to ask:

Do you have regrets about how things have worked out for you or a loved one?

They need to know the One who controls all events while loving all:

Introduce them to Someone who can remove those regrets and enable them to face the future.

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” … When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Jesus’ miracle was done before a mixed group of people who were grieving about the loss of a man named Lazarus. This miracle shows that not all will be convinced by even the most stunning miracle. Indeed, after the miracle, some sought to kill the Miracle Worker and the beneficiary.

Do you know someone like the sisters? If so, you could say to them:

Are you bitter, feeling that God has let you down—that He doesn’t care?

Dialogue 7: Jesus speaks to Mary and Martha (John 11)

Such people desperately need to hear:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who can help you to understand how it all fits into the bigger picture.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

In this short dialogue we see that even those who do believe in Jesus, perhaps because of seeing prior signs, did not understand what Jesus could do. Surely, for both Mary and Martha, this miracle expanded their belief in what Jesus could do. They saw more of what it meant for Him to be the Son of God.

We should remember that “apologetics” can also have a positive effect upon the faithful as well as upon the unbelievers. Those with feelings of depression should take hold of the omnipotent Christ.

Seventh Sign Development

Seventh Sign Development

To Whom are this sign and its dialogue directed?

The audience of the seventh sign the family of Lazarus, most notably his sisters who had no hope and expressly held some anger against Jesus for not being there in their hour of need.

The accompanying dialogue is that between Jesus and the sisters. He encourages them with the revelation of Himself as the give of life, even to the physically dead.

Thus, this sign is for those who grieve over the death of a loved one, and, more broadly speaking those who face death.

This sign reaffirms the second. Christ sustains the life of those who have it in His name. It also encourages believers to reach out to the grieving. This life appears to most humans to end with the grave. Funeral services are often the place for the one who has life in His name to share their faith in everlasting life. To the grieving ones, this is a comfort. To the lost it is grounds for hope of they too believe in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Sign Eight: the Resurrection of Jesus (John 18-20)

Jesus died, but three days later He rose from the dead as He predicted.

https://www.magnific.com/free-photos-vectors/jesus-resurrection-victory

Jerusalem in the Times of Jesus

Sign Eight: the Resurrection of Jesus (John 18-20)

There is but one person who can foretell the future:

Let me introduce you to Someone Who knows it.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. … After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” … Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ … I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. … First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. … [Pilate] said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. … the soldiers had crucified Jesus … [Jesus] said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. … Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. … But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. … Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic. “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). … On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Almost all people could profitably be asked:

Are you worried about your future? If Jesus can predict His own death and Resurrection, you can trust Him to know your future.

To Whom are this sign and its dialogue directed?

This final and greatest sign-miracle convinced even the abandoning disciples of that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. They may have intellectually believed it before this, but this sign so convinced them that almost all of them were willing to die for that belief.

The dialogue, which came before the sign, reveals that Jesus know the future and intends to make His truths known to the world through His disciples. Given that Jesus reveals that God’s Spirit will reveal these truths in their entirely to them. It is reasonable to conclude that what they knew would be written down and that with the death of the last of them, no further truth should be expected.

This sign should give confidence to those who have life in Jesus’ name that they, like the disciples, have the indwelling Spirit of God, and that the Bibles they have are the complete Word of God. God predicted it and God knows the future.

Jesus speaks of His disciples bearing fruit (15:1-17)

Jesus predicts coming of the spirit to enable them to witness of Jesus (15:18-27)

Jesus predicts persecution of his disciples (16:1-4a)

Jesus predicts His going away (15:28-31)

Jesus predicts the Holy Spirit will teach them truth (16:4b-15)

Jesus predicts going away and coming back (16:16-24)

Jesus predicts His disciple scattering away from Him (16:25-33)

Jesus prays for His disciples reception of the truth and its transmission to others (17:1-26)

Jesus predicts His own death (John 12:27-43)

Jesus predicts the end of those who believe and don’t believe (John 12:44-50)

Jesus predicts that someone will betray Him (13:1-30)

Jesus predicts he is going to leave them and where he is going they can’t come along. (13:31-35)

Jesus predicts Peter’s denial (13:36-38)

Jesus predicts that He will go away. His disciples will do great works (14:1-14)

Jesus predicts the coming of the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth (14:15-31)

Prophecies involved in the Narrative section relative to the 8^th Sign

Part 2 of the Explanation of the 8^th Sign: Predictive statements made by Jesus

Fulfillment of Jesus’ betrayal (and resulting arrest) (John 18:1-14)

Fulfillment of prediction Peter’s betrayal {to Jewish authorities} (John 18:15-18)

Jewish trial (John 18:19-24) a fulfillment of the predictive narrative about the plot to kill Jesus

Fulfillment of prediction of Peter’s betrayal (John 18: 25-27)

Gentile trial (John 18:28-40) a fulfillment of the prediction that Jesus would be “lifted up” (Roman execution)

Fulfillment of prediction of his own death and burial (John 19:1-42)

Fulfillment of Resurrection (John 20:1-10)

Fulfillment of prediction of return to disciples (John 20:11-28)

Fulfillment of Predictions

Chart of Prophecy and Fulfillment the Explanation of the 8^th Miracle

Dialogue 8: The Upper Room Discourse to His Disciples—John 12-17

Let me introduce you to Someone Who knows the future. You can trust your life to Him.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” … And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. … “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. … But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. … If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. … I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. … “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. … When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. … [Jesus prayer:] “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Acts 2:2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

Are you worried about the future and what it holds for you?

Do you fear the unknown?

Review of the Eighth Sign

Review of the Eighth Sign

To Whom are this sign and its dialogue directed?

The audience of both the miracle and the dialogue is the disciples. Unbeknownst to them, they were about to experience a tragic event which Jesus had predicted. However, clearly they were fearful (cf. John 11:16). Heightening this fear was the word of Jesus that He would be betrayed and die. But Jesus also predicted that He would rise again.

Most people are concerned with their future, especially if they are faced with probably adversity. The message of this miracle is that you can trust your future to the man who knows it and produce the most unlikely results.

This sign teaches those who have life in His name, that God knows the future…their future. Thus, they have but to trust in Him, especially in times of uncertainty.

Epilogue: If you have believed that Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah and have been given new life…

what should you do with it?

Obey Him! Serve other disciples by helping them to know what Christ, the Son of God commanded them.

https://www.facebook.com/unitedmethodistchurch/posts/in-john-21-after-his-resurrection-jesus-asks-peter-three-timesdo-you-love-meand-/1111572524349731/

Further, don’t worry about what God has called other disciples to do. Jesus told Peter to mind his own business when he asked about what God wanted John to do.

Now, let’s see what kind of life Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God offers to those who believe in Him…

https://biblepic.com/john/21-21.htm

Summaries

If you have believed in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God,

what does John’s Gospel teach has happened to you?

What Kind of Life Does Jesus Offer

to Those Who Believe on His Name?

Sign One: Quality of life: Eternal

Sign Two: Quantity of Life: Everlasting

Sign Three: Unshackled from sin’s control

Sign Four: Physical needs supplied

Sign Five: Emotional needs supplied

Sign Six: Intellectual needs supplied

Sign Seven: Grieving needs supplied

Sign Eight: Questions about the future answered

Summary: The Mission of Testimony About Who Jesus Is, seen in the 8 Miracle/Signs

Christ’s Divine Powers

Christ’s Divine Powers

Sometimes you will hear people say that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God. Well, in John’s Gospel Jesus refers to Himself as the God of the Old Testament. He did that by using a number of “I Am” statements about Himself which parallel names of Yahweh in the Old Testament.

The next slide gives you a chart of those names and parallels. Notice that those “I Am” names also relate to the sign miracles Jesus performed in the Gospel.

https://followingmessiah.org/2019/01/14/whats-gods-name/

This chart offers suggestion that Jesus’ claims about who He is (the “I-am” statements), align with His miracles and those align with certain Old Testament names of God. Since the associations are not always transparent, I have added a column offering some help.

This chart offers suggestion that Jesus’ claims about who He is (the “I-am” statements), align with His miracles and those align with certain Old Testament names of God. Since the associations are not always transparent, I have added a column offering some help.

Who Needs Which Sign-Miracle in John’s Gospel?

Who Needs Which Sign-Miracle in John’s Gospel?

I would add, however, that if you are unsure of the specific condition of your audience, it is best to focus their attention on the Resurrection-sign. This is because it so clearly focuses upon Jesus as the Christ and Son of God. Your audience needs to come to a commitment of these truths in order to obtain salvation.

A Final Word

While each miracle relates to different audiences, it is still noteworthy that there is a progression of “impressiveness.”

Clearly, nothing is more impressive than God honoring His Son by Resurrecting Him from the dead.

John’s Contribution to

the Determination of the Canon

One of the oft missed values of the explanation of the 8^th Sign: Canonicity

The 8^th Sign teaches us that Jesus is an authority on God’s intentions and awareness of the future. In the Upper Room, Jesus predicts that the Holy Spirit will lead the 11 disciples into “all the truth” (especially about what Jesus said). Jesus also predicted that the Word they received from God would be passed along to new disciples. When those 11 passed away, no one was left to validate a book as God’s truth. So what were the books they authorized?

Did you ever wonder what books should comprise the Bible?

Let me introduce you to the books that Jesus’ authorized disciples affirmed.

 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Cor. 13:8-12) Note that the gifts that “pass away” are revelatory gifts. They pass away because they are incomplete. When they are complete, their revelatory function is unnecessary. Since the 11 disciples know the truth, only they can pass judgment. When the last of them, John, dies, the canon must be complete.

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you. … But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you. (14:16-17, 26)

… when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. (16:13-15)

In the Upper Room,

Jesus predicted that the Spirit would enable His disciples to know all the truth.

https://fity.club/lists/suggestions/12-Disciples-Of-Jesus-Names/

When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me, and you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:26)

Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart. (John 17:17-19)

Jesus also addressed the matter of the Eleven passing the truth along to future generations.

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/05-theholyspirit/24446080

These two predictions function as authorizations of the Eleven to be those who would know what future generations of disciples must know about the truth of God’s Revelation as the nations are discipled.

What they see to be passed along as the “whole truth” constitutes the canon of the New Testament.

This means that any book which claims to be God’s revelation to the Church must give evidence to have been authorized by the Eleven.

What Books Did the 11 Disciples Validate?

What Books Did the 11 Disciples Validate?

Within those accepted books of the New Testament, it is possible to discern which books were understood by Jesus and the Eleven as Old Testament Scripture. The next slide shows the New Testament use of the Old Testament.

Genesis Matt. 19:4 Lamentations

Exodus Matt. 22:32 Ezekiel Mark 9:49

Leviticus Matt. 15:4 Daniel Matt. 24:15

Numbers Matt. 5:33 Hosea Luke 23:30

Deuteronomy Matt. 5:31 Joel

Joshua Mark 12:30 Amos

Judges Obadiah

Ruth Jonah

1 & 2 Samuel Matt. 12:3-4 Micah Luke 12:53

1 &2 Kings Nahum

1 & 2 Chronicles Habakkuk

Ezra Zephaniah

Nehemiah Haggai

Esther Zachariah Matt. 26:31

Job Malachi Matt. 11:10

Psalms Matt. 27:46

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah Luke 4:18-19

Jeremiah Mark 8:18

Jesus quoted as Scripture, 17 books of the Old Testament

These clearly should be accepted as parts of His Bible.

Genesis Matt. 19:4 Lamentations [in Jer.]

Exodus Matt. 22:32 Ezekiel Mark 9:49

Leviticus Matt. 15:4 Daniel Matt. 24:15

Numbers Matt. 5:33 Hosea Luke 23:30

Deuteronomy Matt. 5:31 Joel Acts 2:17-21

Joshua Mark 12:30 Amos Acts 7:42-43

Judges [See Heb. 11] Obadiah

Ruth [See Matt. 1:5] Jonah Matt 12:40

1 & 2 Samuel Rom. 11:2;15:9 Micah Luke 12:53

1 &2 Kings Rom. 11:4; Luke 9:54 Nahum

1 & 2 Chronicles Rev. 21:7; Mark 6:34 Habakkuk Rom 1:17

Ezra 1 Co 3:19 Zephaniah

Nehemiah Haggai Heb. 12:26

Esther Zachariah Matt. 26:31

Job 1 Co 3:19 Malachi Matt. 11:10

Psalms Matt. 27:46

Proverbs Heb 12:5-6

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah Luke 4:18-19

Jeremiah Mark 8:18

New Testament References to the Old Testament

Only 7 OT Books are not cited in the NT (as Scripture) but those books were well established as the Bible of the Jews in the days of Jesus.

For a more detailed account the reliability of John’s Gospel and the rest of the Biblical books,

please consider my PowerPoint presentation on

Biblical Reliability.

It is my hope that this short study will encourage you to listen to the lost people in your personal “world” and introduce them to Jesus, the Christ and Son of God. Give them a miracle that fits their need, a miracle that, when believed, will bring eternal life in His Name.

I also hope that this study will encourage you to take advantage of the different aspects of what God has done for your life in Christ Jesus.

Rev. Dr. William F. Luck, Sr.

Who am I? In my seminary days at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I was blessed with some of the finest apologetics teachers in the world: Dr. John W. Montgomery, Dr. Norman L. Geisler, (the early) Dr. Clark Pinnock, and Paul Little. I got my “teacher’s training being a guest lecturer with Probe Ministries of Dallas Texas in universities around the US and Canada, speaking on apologetical subjects. After that, I was an Associate Professor of Bible and Theology at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, with apologetics being my specialty. Subsequent to that, I was the senior litigation paralegal with the Law firm of McAndrews, Held, & Malloy of Chicago. In the latter position, I observed one of the best litigators in America, George McAndrews, as he skillfully worked the jury, seeing the effect of particular pieces of evidence touch individual jurors. All of these things contributed to this presentation.

I studied John’s Gospel at several schools. I had it at Moody, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and McCormick Theological Seminary. Unexpectedly, it was at the latter that I learned perhaps the most important thing about studying it. Though the professor there didn’t believe that John wrote it or that the miracles in it really occurred, he taught us that we should let the author speak for himself, discerning his purpose in writing and following his logic as it progressed. He cautioned us against using the Gospel simply to do word studies, or to find in it phrases, verses, or paragraphs to proof test in some project. Instead, he urged us to read it as a unified literary work. Applying that approach, I began to see it’s apologetical value, not simply in presenting the Resurrection of Christ as the BIG apologetical miracle that fits everybody, but as offering multiple miracles that will meet the needs and interests of particular types of people or audiences.

About the Author of this Presentation.

“The Rev. William F. Luck, Sr. is a former Professor of Bible and Theology at the Moody Bible Institute. He earned a MA in Philosophy of Religion at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He earned an MDiv (and post-graduate work in historical theology) at McCormick Theological Seminary. After working for several years with Probe Ministries of Dallas, lecturing on major university campuses around the country, He was invited to teach at Moody where, for over a decade, he taught Bible and theology, including apologetics, Biblical ethics, Church history and the history of Christian thought. He resigned to become President of LodeStar Ministries, Intl. of Wheaton where he edited the LodeStar Review.

Rev. Luck was for a time the Pastor of the Itasca Evangelical Free Church and for many years an adult Sunday School teacher at the Wheaton Bible and Wheaton Evangelical Free Churches. He has been an officer of the Evangelical Theological Society and President of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. He has published numerous articles and reviews in Moody Monthly, Christianity Today, the Southern Presbyterian Journal, the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and others. In 1987 he published Divorce and Remarriage; Recovering the Biblical View (Harper & Row). He is presently retired.”

About the author of this presentation

https://bible.org/users/william-luck