(1) That You May Believe (John 20:29-31, 21:24-25)
Dr. W. Jamie Kim
I. Get to Know the Author
A. It is John, the son of Zebedee and Salmone, a younger brother of James (Mk.1:20-21)
B. He most likely was the youngest of the apostles when he called and lived to the greatest age, and is the only one who is supposed to have died a peaceful death
C. He enjoyed a special relationship and favor with the Savior (inner circle). Some believe that his mother, Salome was our Lord’s sister, and John was his nephew. That’s why Jesus committed his mother to the care of John on the cross (John 19:27). Furthermore, he calls himself as “that disciple whom Jesus loved (John 19:26) and he is the one who was reclining next to Jesus at the Last Meal (John 13:23-24)
D. He became a leader at the Jerusalem Church
E. He later went to Asia Minor and stayed chiefly at Ephesus
F. He was sent to a small island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea during the Domitian persecu- tion where he wrote the Book of Revelation
G. Later he returned to Ephesus and died there peacefully
II. Get to Know His Message
A. It’s about L__________
i. The Gospel begins with and ends with life (1:4; 20:31)
ii. The word life occurs more than 35 times and the verb to live or to have life more than 15 times (5:40; 10:10; 10:28; 14:6)
iii. God is the Giver of life
iv. It refers to eternal life
v. We enter into it by believing in Jesus. This means that we must become con- vinced that Jesus is really and truly the Son of God and believe that what He says is true without question
B. It’s about L__________
i. It appears 21 times
ii. Jesus is the light of men (1:5; 8:12; 9:5)
iii. The light Jesus brings is the light which puts chaos to flight (1:5; Gen. 1:3)
iv. The light that Jesus brings is a _______________ light (3:19-20)
v. The light that Jesus brings is a _______________ light (12:36; 12:46 )
The Purpose
A. To show that Jesus was the Messiah (Savior)
B. To show from the words of Jesus Himself what the Messiah was
C. To help people believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believ- ing we may have life in His name (20:31)