Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2024: Themes in the Gospel of John

Mark Finley

HopeLives365

04 Witnesses of Christ as the Messiah

Welcome back to another lesson in the Gospel of John.

Remember, the theme is these things were written that you can believe.

Now, what are some of the evidences of Christ as Messiah in the Gospel of John?

Well, the miracles that he worked, of course, the feeding of the 5, 000, the opening the eyes of the man that was blind, the healing of the individual by the pool of Bethesda.

Then also his teaching shows he's divine.

But today we're gonna look at witnesses, people that actually testified to his divinity in the Gospel of John.

So let's pray as we jump into our lesson.

Father in heaven, as we study about these mighty witnesses today, I pray that you would be with us.

Lord, help us to see in these witnesses, our own witness that you indeed are the Messiah of the world in Christ's name.

If you look at the memory text, John chapter 3, verse 3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless 1 is Born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Born again, men and women, men and women who Christ touched and changed, testify of his grace and glory.

You know, if you were called into a court of law and you were on the witness stand for some crime you did not commit.

And there was a parade of witnesses that walked in and said, wait a minute, that man could not have committed that crime because I was with him that night in a different city.

I can testify of the fact that he was not even in that city.

I saw him in church at another location, a complete different city than the 1.

0, yes, and I was at the church as well, another person says.

And he participated in the scripture reading.

And somebody else says, yeah, and I was in church, and I ate with him after the church at the fellowship meal.

Witness after witness comes, and the judge looks and says, case dismissed.

The overwhelming evidences of the witnesses impacted the jury and the jury came back and said this man is innocent because of the witnesses.

The testimony of witnesses makes a powerful difference.

So let's look at some of the witnesses of Jesus divinity.

We begin with the testimony of John the Baptist.

When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you?

He confessed, this is John confesses, and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.

Then they said to him, who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us?

He said, I am the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.

Now he's quoting a text here and he's quoting from the book of Isaiah.

So we're going to go back to Isaiah chapter 40 as John is quoting this.

There was a messianic expectation that the Messiah would come and that there would be a forerunner to the Messiah.

And Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 1 to 5, puts it this way.

Comfort you, comfort you, my people, says God.

Speak to Jerusalem, cry out, the warfare is ended, her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received the Lord's hand, double for all her sins.

Now notice, the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low, the crooked places shall be made straight, the rough places smooth, the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

See, they believe that before the Messiah came, there would be 1, the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness.

He says, that's who I am, the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness.

The note under John 1, verse 19 to 23 in Sunday's lesson says, the religious leaders sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was.

With messianic expectations high in Judea, it was important for John the Baptist to clarify his relationship to those expectations.

He was not the light, but he was sent from God to bear witness to the light and to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.

And then last comment, you know, it says in Isaiah 40, every mountain shall be exalted and, you know, I'll make straight the highway for the Lord and smooth out the valleys and so forth.

Last paragraph, in the days of rutted and rock filled roads, servants were sometimes sent ahead of the king to level the surfaces of the roadways and to take out sharp turns so as to smooth the way for the king.

So in the fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus, John came in order to prepare the hearts of the people for Jesus.

Then Wednesday, then we come now to Monday's lesson.

John continues further confirming that he is preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah.

Listen to the proclamation he makes in verses 29 to 37, starting there with verse 29.

John says, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

What do you think the fishermen and the farmers and the merchants thought when they saw it, heard John say, pointing out his finger, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

What do you think the religious leaders thought?

What do you think the Pharisees and Sadducees thought?

Lambs had been sacrificed for thousands of years, for millenniums.

From the time Adam and Eve fell in Genesis to the establishment of the sanctuary system, all through the Old Testament history, lambs have been sacrificed.

And Many recognize that the sacrificial lamb represented the coming of the Messiah.

So John testifies, this 1 is the 1 who's pure.

This 1 will face the temptations of Satan head on.

This 1, the spotless, sinless son of God will hang on a cross bearing the sins and guilt of all humanity.

And he will die for our sins, condemned for sins which he had not committed, bearing the guilt and shame and condemnation of sin.

The note says, the Hebrew nation, Monday's lesson, was looking for a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome.

The goal of the gospel of John was to change their understanding of the Messiah.

1 basic goal of John is to change the understanding for the Jewish leadership and Jewish nation of the Messiah.

So they could recognize in Jesus the fulfillment of prophecies regarding the coming king.

The Messiah would not be an earthly ruler.

He came to fulfill the Old Testament promises concerning himself, which include his self-sacrifice and behalf of the world, and to renew the relationship between God and his people.

This is whom I said after me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.

John in humility pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah.

You know, there are some churches where the elders are jealous of the pastor.

There are some churches where people not elected to eldership, maybe their deacons are jealous of the elders.

There are some places where pastors are jealous of other pastors because they have bigger churches, or some people maybe want to be in the conference office or etc.

But John humbly knew his place, stood in that place.

The highest position that you could ever have is to be in the place that God has assigned you to be in.

The highest position you could ever have is to be humbly at the foot of the cross, sharing in self-sacrificial love, the exact role that God has led you to.

So verse 31, I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel.

John bore witness, no notice, John's a witness, saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remained upon him.

I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him.

And I have seen and testify that this is the son of God.

InVerse 4th Quarter 2024: The Gospel of John

Justin Kim

Israel Ramos

Joe Reeves

Jonathan Walter

Hope Channel

04 The City of Sychar

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

My name is Justin Kim, And whether it's by radio, whether it's by podcast or video or streaming or satellite TV, we're so glad that you decided to join us here on Inverse.

We have Israel and we have Jonathan and we have Joe.

We are studying the book of John, the gospel of John, the fourth gospel in the New Testament.

And so far in the 2 episodes, they've been very, very profound.

And we were just saying off camera that we are experiencing this in live, vivo, real time, in the verse.

And we want you guys to join us in that experience as well.

You can download the Bible study guides there.

You can also go to the Apple and Android platforms and look at Sabbath School and look at the Inverse Bible Study Guides there.

And also, if you wanna look at the past 2 episodes, you can go to hopetv.org slash inverse and look at the last 8 years worth of 32 seasons of Bible studies, but also look at the last 2 weekends, a week, weeks, weeks, episodes on the Gospel of John as well.

All right, we're gonna go to John chapter 3, so you can open your Bibles.

This is the secret interview episode with the dude named Nicodemus.

So let's have prayer in Israel, if you can pray for us.

Our Father in heaven, thank you for today.

Thank you for the privilege that we have to say your word.

As we look at John chapter 3, 1 of the most famous passages in the Bible, we pray that it would continue to impact our lives today and always.

Be with us now, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

And then John, John, if you can read verse 1 onwards there for us.

John 3, verse 1, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no 1 can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless 1 is born again, He cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he's old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, most assuredly, I say to you, unless 1 is born of water and the Spirit, He cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said to him, "'How can these things be?' And Jesus answered and said to him, "'Are you the teacher of Israel "'and do not know these things?

"'Most assuredly, I say to you, "'we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, "'and you do not receive our witness.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No 1 has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, eternal life.

This is the night interview with Nicodemus.

So much going on here, I don't know where to get started.

What are things that you've seen from chapter 1 and chapter 2, episodes 1 and episodes 2, that we see that lead in to chapter 3?

Is there anything, any themes, parallels, lines that you see there?

You guys are looking at me like you guys want to say something.

Yeah, no, I mean, I just spoke, but anyways, It's a good question.

The first thing I noticed is that, yeah, congratulations.

Here, Nicodemus is speaking to Jesus and he's saying, you know, this is the beginning of, well, some time has passed because obviously Jesus' ministry has grown from chapter 2 to chapter 3 and he's more known now.

He's doing things that are not common And he's saying, we are recognizing, he's saying, you're a teacher, you've come from God because no 1 can do this unless God is with him.

So here we see the introduction of John that talks about the word was with God, the word was God.

This truth that Jesus is God, or was at least connected to God, is slowly making its waves through Israel.

People are realizing this man is different, something special about him.

And then of course, in chapter 2, we see that Jesus is performing miracles or the miracle of water, turning water into wine.

And the deeper truths that we kind of extracted from that were that, you know, Jesus is, he provides in our shame, in our fear, in our situations that we are struggling with.

And here Jesus is introducing also to us, redemptive themes as well in this conversation.

So That's kind of a quick answer to your brilliant question.

John 1, 11 says, he came into his own and his own received him not.

And you begin to see this right away in the stories and it's here.

His own is his people who had received the law and the prophets, the Jews, and this Nicodemus was a big deal.

He's a ruler of the Jews And in verse 10, when it calls him the teacher of Israel, that's a correct translation.

In the Greek, it actually uses that definite article.

Not just a teacher in Israel, but the teacher in Israel.

Like if Jesus wanted any endorsements to move forward his PR, public relations, this would be the man he wants his endorsements from.

Now in chapter 2, at the end of the miracle at the wedding, It said his disciples believed.

There's no verse in here that says that Nicodemus believed.

He's uncommitted, and he's analyzing, and he's undecided.

Later he will decide, but right here he's undecided.

And so we begin to see the tension between Jesus and his people right away.

Also by the fact that he came at night because he didn't want to be caught during the day.

Christian Martin

Living Hope SDA Church

A Prophetic Movement: Not Just Another Church

You know, the book of Revelation is a book for every nation, tribe, tongue, and language.

Everyone here today, it's a book that must be understood.

It has to be by the generation that is anticipating seeing Jesus come in the clouds of heaven.

You know, in fact, the word nation translated from the Greek word ethnos is found in the book of Revelation 23 times.

And that's because the book of Revelation has a message that is relevant to every nation and tribe.

And the book of Revelation is really a revelation of a person, Jesus Christ, the central figure of the book.

It's a revelation from him and about him.

And today, Jesus speaks to us of a prophetic movement.

As we prepare to open the Word of God, I invite you to bow your heads with me as we acknowledge him together.

Father in Heaven, we just want to pray that as we open your Holy, Holy, Holy Word, that the Holy Spirit would communicate to our hearts and the language of heaven as the Holy Spirit speaks every language, convicting every heart, and we pray Lord that you would come and reveal your love, your purpose, your commission to each 1 of us here today.

I invite you to come with me to the book of Revelation.

It's the last book in the Bible, Revelation chapter 10.

And here we are introduced to what John describes as a mighty angel, a mighty angel.

Now, a good Bible student, which I know many are here today, a good Bible student doesn't merely read the text, but they also ask questions.

You wanna be able to get to the heart of the text and its meaning.

And so upon reading about a mighty angel we we can begin asking questions.

You know, in the Greek New Testament manuscripts, the word translated angel is, somebody know here?

And that word means messenger, messenger.

And so let's take a look at the characteristics of the mighty messenger or mighty angel that is introduced to us here in verse 1.

Evidently, he's a key character in this passage.

And the Bible says, and I saw still another angel coming down from heaven clothed with a what everyone?

A cloud and a rainbow was on his head and his face was like the?

Wow, what a graphic description of this mighty messenger.

And so does the rest of Scripture use these same descriptive words to depict a heavenly being?

There's, there's, there's, it speaks of clouds.

And in Acts chapter 1 verse 9, in Acts chapter 1 verse 9, we read the following.

Well, in Acts chapter 1 verse 9, the Bible tells us, and now when he, Jesus, had spoken these things, while they watched, he, Jesus, was taken up, and a what?

And a cloud received him out of their sight.

Interesting, It also speaks, our passage in Revelation chapter 10, verse 1, it also speaks of a rainbow.

Now, in Ezekiel chapter 1, verse 28, who is described as having a rainbow over his head?

He, speaking of Christ, had in his right hand 7 stars.

Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun, shining in His strength.

And it's speaking of how He stands, He stands.

I did not include Ezekiel chapter 1, verse 28 on the screen.

The reference is correct, but not the actual lettering.

So I'm going to turn to Ezekiel chapter 1 and we're going to read verse 28.

Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went because there the Spirit went.

And the wheels were lifted together with them, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in its wheel.

In verse 28, Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day.

So was the appearance of the brightness all around it.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

It is Jesus who has a rainbow over his head.

And in Revelation chapter 1 verse 16, whose face shines like the sun?

Revelation 1 16, He had in His right hand 7 stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, listen, and His countenance was like the sun, shining in its strength.

So it is Jesus whose face shines like the sun.

And finally, the passage also spoke of feet on fire.

And in Revelation 1, verse 15, the Bible tells us that in Revelation 1, verse 15, If we can advance here with our clicker.

Revelation chapter 1 verse 15, there we go.

His feet was like fine brass, as in a burning furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters.

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