The Gospel of John

JOHN

I. The Person of Jesus--Christology
A. Messiah -- King
1. Reflected by the titles “the Christ” of the “King of Israel”



2. As in the synoptics, Jesus’ Messianic kingship is on the spiritual, not political, level.


B. The Son of Man
1. As in the synoptics, the phrase “Son of Man” is and expression used only by Jesus of himself.

2. In the Synoptics, the Son of Man sayings are in 3 groups:
a. the Son of Man ministering on earth
b. Son of Man in humiliation and death
c. the return of the Son of Man as judge
3. In John, there are references from the first 2 groups, but not the third.


C. The Son of God
1. Jn. 20:31

2. John sets forth Jesus as the only, unique Son of God (3:16, 18)

3. As the Son, Jesus claims to have been sent by the Father


4. His mission is to mediate life to men by revealing the Father to them and by making atonement for their sins.


5. As the Son of God, Jesus is presented as sharing the deity of the Father.
a. 1:18

b. 5:21

c. He also has the power to execute judgement

d. Jn. 10:30 “I and the Father are one”

e. This same consciousness is expressed in the “I AM” sayings


f. This consciousness of deity comes to full in the confession of Thomas after the resurrection, “My Lord and my God.”
g. The Jews twice accuse Jesus of blasphemy




h. Thus, the deity of Jesus is clearly taught. However,




i. The mystery of the Trinity

6. As the Son, Jesus also is presented as being thoroughly human.



II. The work of Jesus--Soteriology
A. The theme of salvation is expressed in analogies in John, not forensic terms.


B. The death of Jesus is central to salvation
1. The preoccupation with the “hour”


2. This death is seen to be a substitutionary sacrifice. (1:29)




3. This death is not accidental (10:18)


C. For John, belief in the Father and the Son is the condition for experiencing eternal life and salvation. This involves not onl acceptance of a dogma, but a life commitment to Jesus and discipline. This would obviously include a belief in his sacrificial death and resurrection.
D. However, although there are numerous passages which stress the necessity of belief, there are about 21 passages in John which support the idea of predestination.
1. Jn. 5:21

2. 6:37

3. 6:44

4. 17:2,6,9,12,24

5. 15:16

6. Hence, in John, the tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility is maintained. This tension is seen throughout the N.T.

E. Although the word ‘repentence’ is not used, the idea is present since for John, the basic sin is unbelief.



F. Salvation in John has both a negative and a positive component.
1. Negatively:


2. Positively:


III. The Holy Spirit
A. Ch. 14-16 where there are 5 unique sayings about the Paraclete


B. “Paraclete” seems to mean essentially an advocate in a court of law.


C. Dual function


D. The nature of the Paraclete
1. Separate personality

2. Analogous to Jesus

3. However, the Spirit is not Jesus



E. The mission of the Spirit to the disciples
1. The Spirit is to permanently indwell believers (14:16, 17)
2. Through the indwelling of the Spirit, believers will have power (14:12)


3. The Spirit will glorify Jesus.



4. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. (14:17; 16:13)