Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000065S
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00:01 - Today, we're gonna tackle the last in our series
00:02 on the four gospels and we're about to move 00:05 into some really profound territory. 00:07 So go get a Bible and buckle up 00:09 because it's time to get started. 00:12 [gentle music] 00:33 We've been looking at the ancient records 00:35 of the life and teachings of Jesus, 00:36 which are of course, the four gospel accounts that you find 00:39 at the beginning of the New Testament, 00:40 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 00:43 And today, we're gonna wrap up that brief study 00:46 by looking at the fourth gospel, 00:48 the gospel according to John. 00:50 And it's a record that is substantially different 00:53 from the other three. 00:54 In fact, scholars refer to Matthew, Mark, and Luke 00:57 as the synoptic gospels. 00:59 A word that literally means to see together 01:02 because while each of those books obviously 01:05 has its own emphasis, its own flavor, 01:08 they basically follow the same outline 01:10 and cover a lot of the same ground. 01:13 But then when you get to John, 01:14 things are suddenly different. 01:16 It's got a completely different feel, 01:18 a completely different structure. 01:21 Where the other three gospels begin 01:22 with some kind of life event like a birth or a baptism, 01:26 John begins his account by stretching all the way back 01:29 to the origin of the universe itself, 01:32 using language clearly designed to remind you 01:35 of the book of Genesis. 01:37 Now, I'm sure you're probably familiar with it, 01:39 but let me read just a few verses to show you what I mean. 01:41 This is talking about Jesus and it uses the expression, 01:46 the word to describe him. 01:48 It says, "In the beginning was the Word 01:51 and the Word was with God, and the word was God. 01:54 He was in the beginning with God. 01:56 All things were made through Him and without Him, 01:59 nothing was made that was made. 02:01 In Him was life and the life was the light of men. 02:04 And the light shines in the darkness 02:06 and the darkness did not comprehend it." 02:09 As we looked at the other gospels, 02:11 we saw that the ancient Christians compared each of them 02:14 to the four faces of the Cherubim. 02:16 The lion, the ox, the man and the eagle 02:18 because of the way the style and the central themes 02:22 of each of the books fit so neatly with those symbols, 02:26 Matthew emphasized Jesus as the lion 02:28 of the tribe of Judah or the son of David. 02:31 Mark was underlining Jesus as a patient servant like an ox. 02:35 Luke who was writing for Gentiles, 02:38 takes us through a study of Jesus as the Son of man. 02:42 And each of those three gospels tended to stress 02:45 horizontal relationships. 02:47 Showing us how Jesus related to us, his fellow human beings. 02:51 But now when we get to John, 02:53 we see a distinctly vertical relationship that opens up 02:56 a line between heaven and earth. 02:58 Now we're looking at at Jesus, the son of God, 03:01 and what John does right out of the gate 03:03 is underline the deity of Christ. 03:06 This is not just a great teacher or a kind man 03:09 or a wise philosopher. 03:11 This is the creator himself in human flesh. 03:15 And it seems that back in the first century, 03:18 during the time when the Christian Church was brand new 03:20 and spreading like wildfire, 03:22 there were already people challenging the notion 03:24 that Jesus was God in human flesh. 03:27 And that challenge still persists to this day. 03:30 I sometimes still hear critics suggesting that the deity 03:34 of Christ was some kind of fourth century invention 03:37 that made its way into the church after Constantine 03:41 in the Council of Nicaea but it's simply not true. 03:46 The critics of Jesus' deity stretch back 03:48 a couple of centuries before Nicaea. 03:50 And if the idea was invented later in the fourth century, 03:53 you've got to wonder what those early critics 03:56 were arguing against if the church 03:58 wasn't already teaching Christ's divinity. 04:02 The biggest problem emerged in a group 04:04 we now know as the Naztecs. 04:06 These were people largely influenced 04:08 by the major centers of learning in North Africa. 04:11 People who managed to synthesize the teachings 04:14 of pagan mystery schools with the teachings of the Bible. 04:18 In reality, that was happening long before the birth 04:21 of the Christian Church because some Jewish scholars 04:24 living in Alexandria tried to demonstrate that their beliefs 04:29 were somehow compatible with the teachings 04:31 of Greek philosophers. 04:32 And this created a bit of a problem 04:34 because the Hebrew scriptures emphasized 04:37 a good and material creation made by a supreme God. 04:42 The Greeks, as we've studied in the past 04:44 couldn't accept that because they believe 04:47 that the material physical world is some kind of mistake. 04:50 It couldn't possibly be the work of a supreme God 04:54 and some lesser deity must have made it. 04:58 Now Naztecs Christians followed in their footsteps 05:00 and subscribed to that kind of Greek cosmology. 05:04 And that led to all sorts of confusing questions 05:07 about who Jesus was supposed to be. 05:09 As far as the Naztecs were concerned, 05:11 he couldn't possibly be God, 05:14 not if he was a real human being. 05:16 Because a physical existence would be so far beneath God, 05:20 he would never do it. 05:22 So instead, some of them insisted that Jesus 05:25 was simply a man who had special privileges or abilities, 05:29 but he was still just a man. 05:32 Or the other story that some of them came up with 05:35 was to say that Jesus only appeared to be human, 05:38 that it was just an illusion designed 05:40 to help us relate to him. 05:43 Now, if you read the writings 05:45 of an early church father named Irenaeus, 05:47 a man who was born not too long after John the Apostle died, 05:51 you discover that much of the early church believed 05:53 that John wrote his gospel to counteract 05:57 early photonastic heretics. 05:59 Because their ideas were starting to worm their way 06:02 into the church by the end of the first century. 06:05 In particular, there was a troublesome teacher 06:07 named Cerinthus who insisted, like the Naztecs did later, 06:11 that a supreme God could have never made the physical world. 06:15 So Jesus, he said, was just a human being. 06:17 The literal biological son of Joseph and Mary. 06:20 What made Jesus special, Cerinthus taught, 06:23 was the fact that the Holy Spirit descended 06:26 on him at his baptism. 06:27 But then he said the Spirit left again 06:29 the moment Jesus was crucified. 06:31 So I guess you could say that Cerinthus 06:33 was teaching that during his ministry 06:35 and only during his ministry, 06:37 Jesus was some kind of a supercharged human being, 06:40 but still just a human being. 06:43 So here's what we have from Irenaeus 06:45 is he explains why the gospel of John was written. 06:49 This comes from an early apologetic work 06:51 known as "Against Heresies" and this is what he writes. 06:55 He says, "John, the disciple of the Lord 06:58 preaches this faith." 06:59 So he's talking about the Orthodox Christian faith here. 07:03 And seeks, by the proclamation of the gospel, 07:06 to remove that error, 07:07 which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men. 07:10 And a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans." 07:15 You'll find those people mentioned 07:16 over in the Book of Revelation. 07:18 "Who are an offset of that knowledge, 07:21 falsely so called." 07:23 So let me push the pause button for just a moment 07:25 and explain that. 07:27 The word Naztec is derived from the Greek word, gnosis 07:30 the word for knowledge. 07:31 And the Naztecs believed that they were members 07:33 of an intellectual elite that had special knowledge 07:36 about the nature of the universe. 07:39 Let's continue. 07:40 "Who are an offset of that knowledge falsely so called. 07:44 That he might confound them and persuade them 07:46 that there is but one God who made all things by His word 07:49 and not as they allege that the Creator was one 07:52 but the father of the Lord another 07:54 and that the son of the creator was forsooth, one, 07:57 but the Christ from above another." 08:00 You see, the Naztecs believed that the supreme God 08:03 is so far removed from our imperfect material universe 08:06 that there must have been lesser deities, 08:09 emanations from the supreme God 08:11 who did a bad, bad job of creating this world. 08:16 But what John does with his gospel is confront that idea 08:18 right out of the gate. 08:20 Jesus the man is not only the son of God, 08:22 but is the creator. 08:24 "All things were made through him and without him, 08:26 nothing was made that was made." 08:29 All right, we do have to take a really quick break right now 08:32 and you'll probably want to take advantage of the resources 08:35 that the Voice of Prophecy is about to offer you. 08:38 But then we'll come right back and unpack 08:40 this somewhat mind-blowing gospel. 08:46 - [Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues. 08:51 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 08:54 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation and come away 08:58 scratching your head, you are not alone. 09:01 Our free focus on prophecy guides are designed to help you 09:04 unlock the mysteries of the Bible and deepen 09:07 your understanding of God's plan for you and our world. 09:10 Study online or request them by mail 09:12 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 09:16 - I think the incarnation of Christ might be one 09:18 of the hardest concepts 09:20 that human beings have to grapple with 09:22 when they first approach the teachings of Christianity. 09:25 How in the world can somebody be fully God and fully man 09:30 at the very same time? 09:32 How can the creator of heaven and earth possibly condescend 09:35 to become one of us? 09:37 It's a subject that frankly stretches the very limits 09:40 of our thinking. 09:41 And because it seems so foreign, 09:44 a lot of people give up and they adopt 09:46 some kind of alternate theory. 09:48 Perhaps Jesus was just another ascended master 09:51 or some kind of special teacher or prophet who belongs 09:55 in a lineup with the other great religious leaders. 09:58 The list of alternatives we've come up with 10:00 is nearly endless, and you might be able to sustain 10:03 some of those theories in the first three gospels 10:07 if you read them selectively. 10:10 But the gospel of John 10:11 doesn't really give you any wiggle room. 10:14 It begins with a full on assault against the people 10:17 who believe that Jesus was only human. 10:20 And maybe one of the trickier things we find 10:22 in John's opening salvo is this concept of Jesus 10:26 as the word. 10:28 It's an English translation of the Greek word logos, 10:31 which you still find appended 10:33 to a lot of academic English words like biology or geology. 10:39 That ology at the end of those words 10:41 is the Greek word logos. 10:43 It's also the root for the English word logic, 10:46 which is the study of rational principles. 10:49 And to the Greeks, 10:51 the logos was the underlying logic of the universe, 10:55 the universal principle that causes everything 10:58 and holds everything together. 11:01 So for example, 11:02 there was a notable Greek thinker named Heraclitus 11:05 who lived about 500 years before Christ. 11:09 And he taught that the universe was made of fire. 11:12 Why? 11:13 Well, because the universe is always changing 11:15 just like the flames of a campfire. 11:17 But underneath that constant change, 11:19 we find never-changing principles in a universal law 11:23 that holds the universe together. 11:25 That universal law, Heraclitus said, is the logos. 11:29 A divine wisdom that directs the course of nature. 11:33 The stoics who came along a couple hundred years after that 11:37 thought something similar. 11:38 The universe is made of fire and someday, 11:40 it's going to end in a huge apocalyptic disaster. 11:44 Everything's just going to burn up. 11:47 But in the meantime, the divine logos, 11:49 the principle behind the fire organizes 11:52 the physical world around us, 11:54 taking on the forms of the things you see. 11:57 All of us, the stoics thought, 11:58 are just sparks that leap from the divine fire. 12:01 And eventually one day, we will leave our physical bodies 12:04 and go back to the fire. 12:06 It was kind of a version of pantheism, 12:09 which teaches that God is in everything 12:11 and everything is God. 12:13 But what these Greek thinkers never ever did was to say 12:17 that the logos became a man, 12:20 that this divine power behind the universe 12:22 became a specific human being 12:24 at a specific moment in human history. 12:27 So that is exactly where John part's company 12:31 with the Greek philosophers. 12:32 Jesus is the logos. 12:35 The divine wisdom that created the universe and provides 12:38 the gift of life and he was born as a real human being. 12:44 It's a thought that demands so much from our intellect 12:47 that's it's hard to believe that somebody 12:49 was just making that up in order to write a good story. 12:52 Greek mythology had half-human deities like Hercules, 12:56 but they would never put the infinite God in a human body. 13:00 Other religions had great prophets 13:02 who were guided by God or by the gods, 13:05 but they didn't dare suggest that these prophets 13:08 were God himself. 13:10 Pagan kings from Egypt to Babylon were said to be members 13:13 of the pantheon with divine attributes, 13:16 but they were never the supreme creator of the universe. 13:20 So with Jesus, a man who never occupied a worldly throne, 13:24 we suddenly have this surprising claim that he is fully God 13:28 and fully man at the very same time. 13:31 This humble son of a carpenter is God in human flesh. 13:35 This is precisely where the people who love to say 13:38 that Jesus is nothing but a fictitious rehash 13:41 of ancient mythology run into trouble. 13:45 I've heard people say that Jesus is nothing 13:47 but a retelling of the sun God, Apollo. 13:49 And I've seen other people suggest that the story of Jesus 13:52 as we find it in the Bible is nothing but a rehash 13:56 of the story of the Egyptian god, Horus. 13:59 And I suppose at first blush, 14:01 it almost looks like these people have a point. 14:04 After the rise of Constantine, 14:06 when the Roman states started to blend with the church, 14:09 all kinds of pagan myths and ideas started to make their way 14:12 into the Christian Church. 14:14 So yes, it's easy to find ancient pagan icons 14:19 on display in churches in Europe. 14:22 Because there was a deliberate merging of the church 14:24 with the pagan Roman empire and there was a degree 14:28 of cross-pollination. 14:30 For example, you'll often see halos over the heads 14:33 of important Christian characters 14:35 in order to emphasize their sanctity, 14:38 and that was an idea that was borrowed from the pagans 14:42 who occasionally put sunbursts over the heads 14:45 of some of their gods. 14:46 If you go to a more traditional church, 14:49 one that uses old liturgies and orders of service, 14:53 you will find elements in the worship service that date 14:56 all the way back to the earliest centuries of the faith. 14:59 Some of those were borrowed from Jewish synagogues, 15:03 but others were borrowed from ancient Greek mystery schools 15:06 who loved good purification rituals. 15:10 But for the most part, 15:11 most of the pagan artifacts 15:13 we find in Christian imagery are harmless. 15:16 They don't really matter. 15:18 Now, personally, 15:20 I do think there are a few things we might wanna run past 15:22 the Bible to see if we're doing things literally 15:25 by the book, but that would be another topic 15:27 for another day. 15:29 There's just little doubt that particularly 15:31 after the fourth century, 15:33 there was a bit of tradition blending that did take place. 15:37 And that makes rich fodder for people who want to say 15:40 that Jesus was nothing but an extension of pagan mythology. 15:45 Yet, when you read the opening verses of John's gospel, 15:49 it becomes immediately obvious 15:52 that this can't possibly be true. 15:54 The Jesus in these opening verses is not presented 15:57 as being somehow parallel with Greek mythology. 16:00 Instead, John places him in stark contrast 16:03 to the gods of Mount Olympus. 16:05 This man that John describes as a physical incarnation 16:10 of the creator of the universe. 16:12 And from that point forward, 16:14 John sets out to prove this by tracking the life of Jesus 16:17 in a way that produces this big sense of urgency. 16:21 There's this never ending clock that ticks away 16:24 in the background of the story in John. 16:27 At least seven times, 16:29 John directly mentions the approaching hour of Jesus' death. 16:33 We get a glimpse of what God looks like by following Jesus, 16:37 but it happens under the pressing shadow 16:40 of something horrible. 16:41 Our selfish natures and our hatred for God 16:44 are shortly gonna put Jesus to death 16:46 in the most shameful way imaginable. 16:50 This story is God expressing his profound love for us, 16:54 but at the same time, it reveals our profound wickedness 16:58 because we want it to murder the creator. 17:03 I often hear people talk about the Bible 17:04 as if it's a simple fairytale that doesn't have much 17:07 to offer 21st century thinkers. 17:10 But I know for sure that people who suggest such things 17:13 have never honestly wrestled with the gospel of John 17:16 because I'll tell you, there's nothing simple about it. 17:20 It explores the deepest and most important questions 17:23 ever asked from human origins and consciousness 17:26 and the meaning of life and the problem of evil. 17:30 It's not the kind of book you can read in a single setting 17:32 and hope to understand completely. 17:34 In fact, the concepts are so lofty 17:38 that the ancient description of John's gospel 17:40 as an eagle makes really good sense. 17:43 His is a book that will carry you far above the surface 17:47 of the earth and give you a glimpse of this world 17:50 as you've never seen it before. 17:52 And at the same time, it gives you a peek behind the curtain 17:55 of the universe so you can catch a glimpse of God himself. 18:01 In fact, there's a dramatic scene you find in John's gospel 18:03 over in chapter eight, that underlines this. 18:06 And it's a scene 18:07 that isn't found in the other three gospels. 18:09 Jesus is discussing his mission 18:11 with the religious authorities 18:13 who were having trouble accepting that he had any kind 18:15 of spiritual validity. 18:17 And at one point, he tells them, 18:20 much to the chagrin, that they cannot claim 18:22 to be descendants of Abraham unless they relate to God 18:26 the way that Abraham did. 18:28 And that's through faith. 18:29 And then Jesus tells them that instead of having God 18:32 for a father, they have the devil for a father. 18:36 Let me read just a bit of this. 18:37 This is John 8:42. 18:39 It says, "Jesus said to them, 'If God were your father, 18:43 you would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God. 18:46 Nor have I come of myself, but he sent me, 18:49 why do you not understand my speech? 18:51 Because you are not able to listen to my word. 18:54 You are of your father, the devil 18:56 and the desires of your father you want to do. 18:59 He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand 19:02 in the truth because there is no truth in him. 19:05 When he speaks a lie, 19:06 he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar 19:09 and the father of it. 19:10 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me." 19:15 Pretty heavy stuff. 19:17 And now it's time to take another break. 19:19 So don't you go away. 19:21 I'll be right back with the rest of the story. 19:26 - [Announcer] Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 19:28 we're committed to creating top quality programming 19:30 for the whole family. 19:32 Like our audio adventure series, Discovery Mountain. 19:35 Discovery Mountain is a bible-based program 19:37 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 19:40 Your family will enjoy the faith building stories 19:43 from this small mountain summer camp pen town 19:45 with 24 seasonal episodes every year 19:47 and fresh content every week. 19:50 There's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 19:56 - Okay, just before the break, 19:58 we were in John chapter eight where Jesus tells 20:00 the religious authorities that the devil is the real father. 20:05 And of course, his critics return the favor by suggesting 20:08 that Jesus is an unclean Samaritan possessed by a demon. 20:12 Let's pick it up now in verse 49. 20:15 "Jesus answered, 'I do not have a demon. 20:18 But I honor my father and you dishonor me. 20:20 And I do not seek my own glory. 20:22 There is one who seeks and judges. 20:25 Most assuredly I say to you, 20:27 if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death.'" 20:31 Now, don't forget the gospel of John opens 20:33 with Jesus as creator and the source of all life. 20:36 So this is really a declaration of his deity. 20:39 He's telling these people that he possesses 20:41 the very gift of life. 20:43 Now, listen to their response. 20:46 "Then the Jews said to him, 20:47 'Now we know that you have a demon. 20:50 Abraham is dead and the prophets. 20:53 And you say, if anyone keeps my word, 20:54 he shall never taste death. 20:56 Are you greater than our father Abraham who is dead 20:59 and the prophets are dead? 21:00 Who do you make yourself out to be?'" 21:03 And that right there is the whole point of John's gospel. 21:09 Who do you think you are? 21:11 Who is this great moral teacher 21:13 who heals the sick and raises the dead? 21:16 Who is this man who claims that he has seen God the Father, 21:19 that he is one with God the Father, 21:22 and he can show us the character of God perfectly? 21:26 Let's continue. In verse 54, it says, "Jesus answered, 21:29 'If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. 21:32 It is my father who honors me of whom you say 21:34 that he is your father. 21:36 Yet you have not known him, but I know him. 21:39 And if I say I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you, 21:42 but I do know him and keep his word. 21:45 Your father Abraham, rejoice to see my day. 21:48 And he saw it and was glad.'" 21:52 Now don't miss what Jesus just said. 21:54 The nation of Israel claimed Abraham as their father, 21:56 as the one who established a covenant with God. 21:59 And now Jesus suddenly says that Abraham knew him. 22:03 And that's absolutely true. 22:05 In fact, in the 18th chapter of Genesis, 22:07 we see God himself paying Abraham a personal visit. 22:12 And when you sort through all the evidence 22:13 in both the Old and New Testaments, 22:15 it becomes pretty much obvious that it was Christ himself 22:19 who paid Abraham that visit. 22:21 And of course, these religious leaders knew that God 22:25 had spoken to Abraham, 22:26 and so this was really another claim to divinity. 22:30 Let's wrap it up now starting in verse 57. 22:33 "Then the Jew said to him, 'You are not yet 50 years old. 22:37 And have you seen Abraham?" 22:39 Jesus said to them, 22:40 'Most assuredly I say to you before Abraham was, I am.' 22:45 Then they took up stones to throw at him, 22:47 but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple 22:49 going through the midst of them and so passed by." 22:53 So why did they suddenly try to stone Jesus? 22:56 It's because they thought he was guilty of blasphemy. 23:00 Blasphemy was the act of claiming to be God 23:03 or having attributes that belonged to God alone, 23:05 which is why Jesus also ran into trouble when he claimed 23:09 to have the power to forgive sin. 23:11 That was only the prerogative of God. 23:15 And just in case somebody might have missed what Jesus 23:17 was saying, he said, "Before Abraham was, I am." 23:23 That's the literal meaning of the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, 23:28 the four letter name of God. 23:30 And it's the name that God gave Moses when Moses asked, 23:33 who was speaking to him from the burning bush, the I am. 23:38 The I am is the self existent God, 23:41 the one who goes back to the far, far reaches of eternity, 23:44 the one who has no beginning or end. 23:48 Jesus just declared 23:50 that he was not only friends with Abraham 23:52 but he was the God who led the children of Israel 23:55 out of Egypt. 23:57 Part of me thinks that this might be the reason 24:00 that John doesn't provide us with a genealogy. 24:03 Matthew was demonstrating Jesus' legal right 24:06 to the throne of David. 24:07 Luke was demonstrating his ancestry 24:10 all the way back to Adam, 24:11 but John is focused on showing us God 24:15 who doesn't have the beginning. 24:17 Seven times, Jesus says "I am" in the gospel of John, 24:21 which is not a coincidence because seven 24:24 is the biblical number of completeness and perfection. 24:28 It's the number the Bible uses to point us to God. 24:31 And on one occasion in chapter 18, 24:34 when Jesus otters the words, "I am," 24:37 the crowd that came to arrest him 24:39 suddenly fell to the ground. 24:41 Now here's the story the way John tells it. 24:43 "Jesus therefore, knowing all things 24:45 that would come upon him 24:47 went forward and said to them, 'Whom are you seeking?' 24:50 They answered him, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' 24:52 Jesus said to them, 'I am he.'" 24:55 Now, the word he is applied. 24:57 It's not actually there in the original Greek. 24:59 The original just says "I am." 25:02 It continues. 25:03 "And Judas who betrayed him also stood with them. 25:07 Now, when he said to them, 'I am he,' 25:09 they drew back and fell to the ground." 25:12 Okay, time for one last break before we wrap things up. 25:15 So sit tight because I'm coming back right after this. 25:22 - [Announcer] Life can throw a lot at us. 25:25 Sometimes, we don't have all the answers, 25:28 but that's where the Bible comes in. 25:30 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 25:33 Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 25:35 we've created the Discover Bible guides to be your guide 25:38 to the Bible. 25:39 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 25:41 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 25:44 and they're absolutely free. 25:46 So jump online now or give us a call 25:49 and start your journey of discovery. 25:52 - To be honest, we could probably spend an entire year 25:55 in the gospel of John, exploring the various ways 25:58 that this favored disciple underlines the deity of Christ. 26:01 Jesus tells Nathaniel that he saw him sitting 26:04 under a fig tree without actually being there, 26:06 and then shortly after that, 26:08 he identifies himself as the ladder in Jacob's dream. 26:12 Then in chapter two, Jesus turns water into wine, 26:15 and then he cleanses the temple, 26:16 which he calls my father's house. 26:19 He tells Nicodemus that he has the power to recreate them, 26:23 which is where Christians get that expression born again, 26:26 and then Jesus heals a lame man by just speaking to him 26:31 the way the creator spoke the universe into existence. 26:35 John shows us a Jesus who can forgive sins. 26:38 He claims to be one with the Father, 26:40 and he raises his good friend Lazarus from the dead. 26:44 "Most assuredly Jesus said, 'I say to you, 26:47 the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear 26:50 the voice of the Son of God and those who here will live. 26:54 For as the Father has life in himself. 26:56 So he has granted the Son to have life in himself 26:59 and has given him authority to execute judgment also 27:03 because he is the son of man.'" 27:05 In chapter five, Jesus says, "You've all read Moses. 27:08 Well, you should know that Moses was writing about me." 27:11 There's just no escaping this. 27:13 John believed Jesus is God. 27:16 Of course, there are critics who think the deity 27:18 of Christ was some kind of later invention, 27:20 something the church dreamed up at the Council of Nicaea. 27:24 But the only way you can believe that 27:26 is to ignore the gospel of John. 27:28 Because there's just no mistaking in it. 27:30 This is not describing a good man or a wise teacher. 27:33 It's describing God in human flesh, 27:37 which means that you and I don't have to seek a path to God 27:40 because he already found a path to us. 27:43 It was impossible for human beings to restore 27:45 their broken connection to God because our hearts 27:47 were so damaged when we stepped away from him. 27:50 We just didn't have the tools we needed 27:52 to make our way back. 27:53 So instead, God became one of us. 27:56 A real flesh and blood human being who is also fully God, 27:59 and he bridged the gap between God and humanity 28:02 so successfully that it changes everything. 28:05 That's why you should be reading John's account for yourself 28:08 and you better get comfy because I promise you, 28:10 if you're honest with the text, 28:12 you're gonna find an awful lot to think about. 28:14 [gentle music] |
Revised 2023-02-01