Introduction to the Gospel of John

GOSPEL OF JOHN 

INTRODUCTION 

• Purpose: 

• Each Gospel has its own purpose and written to particular people: 

• Matthew was written to the Jews and has Jesus as the Messiah, King, and Redeemer 

• Mark was written to those in Rome and portrays Jesus as a man of action; the mighty conqueror and virile ruler 

• Luke was written from a Greek perspective for the thinking man and pictured as a great healer and merciful 

• Uses lots of Greek writing techniques 
• Writes in perfect Greek 
• Most modern readers do not understand these things 
• Brings out medical terms and wonders 

• Written for two purposes: 

• Historical – probably the most chronological 
• Spiritual – Jesus is perfect, divine man 
• Written to Most Excellent Theophilus 

• Even though Theophilus means “lover of God” these books were almost certainly written to a real person. The “Most Excellent” title insinuates one of high stature – perhaps a government official 

  

• Written so that Theophilus could be sure of his faith 

• Dr. Luke does heavy research in order to get the facts correct 

• Dr. Luke has the second largest chunk of the New Testament, after Paul 

• Date:  

• As with the other Gospels, there is much debate about when Dr. Luke wrote his Gospel 

• Late date scholars will put it around 70 AD 
• Conservative scholars – and I am in this category – will put the date at much earlier 

• One piece of evidence for this, which we will discuss below, is Paul’s inclusion of a quote from Luke’s Gospel in 1st Timothy, and his designation of it as Scripture. We will discuss this in greater detail, in a few moments. 

• Who was Dr. Luke? 

• Wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts 
• Dr. Luke was the only Gentile writer of the Bible 

• How do we know Luke was a Gentile? 

• Colossians 4:11 lists Jewish Christians that worked with Paul 

• Colossians 4:14 lists Gentile Christians that worked with Paul 

• Luke was listed with the Gentiles 

• How did Luke come to conversion? 

• Luke accompanied Paul upon his second missionary journey, after Galatia.  

• The famous “we” passages of Acts 

• Paul and Silas were in Troas, in Galatia, because the Holy Spirit intervened 

• There is evidence that Paul got sick because of his eyes 

• Normally he uses a secretary to dictate his letters, like in Romans 

• In Galatians 4:13, Paul talks about an illness being the reason he preached to them, originally 

• In 4:15, still talking about this illness, he mentions that they would have torn out their eyes for him 

• In Galatians 6:11, he talks about how large the letters are that he is using because he is writing in his own hand 

• Because of all this, it is theorized that Paul had ongoing eye issues after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. These issues flared up during the second missionary journey and Paul went to Troas to seek medical attention. It is here he met Dr. Luke 

• Anyone who spent time with Paul, especially one-on-one time like a Dr. and patient, was in danger of being converted! 

•  After they left Troas, Dr. Luke went with them. 

• Being a physician, Dr. Luke was highly educated. His writing is second only to Paul’s when it comes to Greek structure, vocabulary and rhetoric 

• The Gospel of Luke: 

• The word "joy" is mentioned more frequently in Luke (and similarly in John) than in the two other Gospels. This stresses that the gospel is good or joyful news. It is especially beautiful to see that the gospel begins and ends with this joy (Luke 1:14; Luke 24:52) 

• In 1 Timothy 5:18 Paul refers to Luke 10:7, where he writes: "The laborer is worthy of his reward."  

• This reference is very remarkable for two reasons.  

• Firstly it shows that Luke's Gospel was already known at the time of writing the First Epistle to Timothy.  

• Secondly it proofs that the Gospel of Luke was immediately respected by the Christians as a canonical book, belonging to the Holy Scriptures.  

• The introductory words of the Apostle Paul "for the scripture says" put both references from Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7 upon one level, the level of the inspired Word of God.  

• The fact that a reference of Luke's Gospel is considered as belonging to the Holy Scriptures shows that the Holy Spirit inspires the combination of the individual scriptures as well as the writers at the time of writing. 

• More than any other evangelist Luke mentions the care of the Lord Jesus for special groups of people and individuals: 

• the Despised Ones  

• the Samaritans  

• Women and Children (Luke mentions over 10 women who are not mentioned anywhere else). 

• The universality of Christ's service is most apparent in the key verse in Luke 19:10 : "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." The words savior, salvation and to save are mentioned especially frequently with Luke. 

• Luke continually uses the phrase: The Son of Man 

• the true and perfect man who lived as the only just among the unjust and who suffered death for them - on the cross.  

• In his genealogy of the Lord Jesus Luke goes back to Adam, the first man (this genealogy being Mary's).  

• In no other Gospel do we find the Lord Jesus in prayer and speaking about prayer as often as in this Gospel  

• In this way, his perfect dependence upon his God and Father is expressed.  

• OUTLINE: 

I.  Introduction: Birth, Childhood and Preparation of the Son of Man 

Chapter  Chapter	1  2	Birth of John the Baptist and Announcement of Jesus' Birth  Birth and Occurrences of Jesus' Childhood
Chapter	3:1 - 4:13	Baptism, Genealogy and Temptation of Jesus

II.  First Main Part: Jesus' Service in Galilee 

Chapter	4:14	At Nazareth and Capernaum
Chapter	5	Peter's Haul; Healing of a Lame Man and Calling of Levi
Chapter	6	The Problem with the Sabbath; Calling and Teaching of the Twelve Apostles
Chapter	7	The Centurion at Capernaum ; the Young Man at Nain; John, the Baptist; the Woman who was a Great Sinner
Chapter	8	The Fourfold Ground; Jesus in the Tempest; Healing of the Demon-Possessed Man; the Daughter of Jairus; the Woman with the Issue of Blood
Chapter	9:	Sending of the Twelve Apostles; Jesus' Glorification and Announcement of Sufferings

III.  Second Main Part: Jesus' Journey to Jerusalem 

Chapter  Chapter	9:51 - 62  10	Imitation of Christ  Sending Out of the Seventy Disciples; the Good Samaritan; Mary and Martha
Chapter  Chapter	11  12	Prayer; Jesus' Rejection; Six Woes over the Pharisees and the Scribes  The Heavenly Part: Persecution, a Treasure in Heaven, Hope and Faithfulness
Chapter  Chapter  Chapter	13  14  15	Teachings on the Kingdom of God  Grace and Following the Lord Jesus  The Lost Sheep, the Lost Piece of Silver and the Prodigal Son
Chapter  Chapter	16  17	The Unjust Steward; the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus  Forgiveness and Faith; the Ten Lepers; The Coming of Christ
Chapter  Chapter	18  19:1 - 27	The Unjust Judge; the Pharisee and the Tax Gatherer; the Rich Young Man; the Blind Man near Jericho  Zacchaeus; the Ten Pounds

IV.  Third Main Part: Completion of Jesus' Service 

Chapter  Chapter	19:28 - 48  20	Entering Jerusalem and Cleansing of the Temple  Clash with the People's Leaders
Chapter	21	Speech on the Times of the End
Chapter	22	Passover; Lord's Supper; Gethsemane ; Capture and Denial of Peter
Chapter	23	Condemnation, Crucifixion, Death and Burial of Jesus

V.  Close: Resurrection and Ascension of the Son of Man 

Chapter

24:1 - 53

Resurrection; the Disciples going to Emmaus; Jesus, the Eleven Apostles, and His Ascension