Introduction Study # 1
August 7, 2022
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: The beginning of an understanding of John's Gospel exists in its title: The Gospel of The "Yahweh is Gracious" thesis.
Introduction: This morning we are entering into an "interim" period for this church. None of us knows how long this interim period is going to be. Therefore, I am going to follow a pattern that I began years ago when I decided that any "pulpit ministry" that I would have would be committed, first of all, to the study of one, or more, of the four Gospel accounts of the Person Of Jesus. In the past I have set out to proclaim the content of Matthew (for seven years in Butte, Nebraska), Mark (for five years in Harlingen, Texas), and Luke (for seven years in Lincolnton, North Carolina). I did not finish any of these studies because I ran out of time before I ran out of content, nor do I have any expectation whatsoever that I will be able to finish the studies of the Gospel of John during this interim period.
As I begin this study of the Gospel of John, I want to attempt to establish the purpose for this Gospel in comparison with the other three records of Jesus' teachings and actions. Much is lost in our attempts to understand God's words of revelation to us when we do not understand why God has had His words recorded in writing and preserved for centuries in the midst of extreme opposition.
Therefore, it is my goal this morning to begin to address the more critical issues involved in God's production of this Gospel through the fingers, pens, and brains of John, a son of Zebedee and brother of the James who was martyred by the actions of the Herod who was a "king" in Judea during the decade of the forties.
For our first consideration of the necessary background of this Gospel, we are going to look into why it is called "The Gospel of John".
- I. Our First Consideration Is The Enormous Theological Upheaval That Occurred In The First Century In Israel.
- A. This theological upheaval was, and continues to this day, a matter of Life and Death and Heaven and Hell (it is not something we can ignore without severe consequences).
- B. This theological upheaval was generated by the coming of Jesus into this world.
- 1. In the first chapter of Luke's Gospel we are told of an assignment, given to Zacharias, of a "name" for the one who was to precede the coming of Jesus.
- a. This "assignment of the name" was "... you will give him the name John ..." (Luke 1:13).
- 1) The one who gave him this "assignment" was Gabriel, but it was God's choice of this name.
- a) When Zacharias balked at the angel's announcement, Gabriel did two things... .
- i. He told Zacharias who he was (1:19).
- ii. He told Zacharias that he would not be able to speak until "the day when these things take place" (1:20).
- b) Zacharias could not speak from that moment until the controversy regarding the name for the baby was settled (1:59-64).
- 2) This record makes it impossible to sidestep the fact that the name "John" was critical.
- b. Thus, we would be remiss if we did not ask the obvious question: Why does God insist upon this name?
- 2. The answer is in the meaning of the name.
- a. The name means "Yahweh is gracious".
- 1. The proper name, "Yahweh", is the name by which the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was to be differentiated from the gods of the nations.
- 2. That He is, by the name "John", described as "gracious" signifies a "shifting" of the focus of the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to this characteristic of "Graciousness".
- b. This was not a "theological surprise" in terms of the name; all Israel knew that Yahweh was characterized as "gracious".
- c. But, the assent to this truth was buried under an avalanche of extremely "judicial" experiences so that what was "depended upon" by the people of God was not a "theology of Grace", but, rather a "theology of Justice", so that "Holy, Holy, Holy" became a fixation upon the "Justice" of God and the dominant "mantra" of the nation of Israel.
- 1. The "shift" from "Justice" to "Grace" did not mean that God ceased to be "Holy, Holy, Holy", nor that He suddenly became "Gracious".
- 2. This "shift" simply accommodated the limitations of the brains/minds of humanity which include the inability to keep "competing" concepts equally "in mind" as the dominant thought that guides men in their thinking.
- 3. The answer is also in the message of this John as he preceded Jesus.
- a. In Mark 1:4 we are told that when Mark cast about for a summary phrase to "sum up" the entirety of John's preaching, he settled upon "a baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins".
- 1) This was not a message that "men must be baptized with water" in order to be forgiven.
- a) "Baptism" in the first century was not about a human performance issue.
- b) "Baptism" in the first century was a declaration of a person's embrace of the doctrine(s) of the one doing the baptizing.
- c) Mark 11:30-32 declares that the issue of "John's baptism" was a matter of believing his message.
- i. Thus, if you believed the doctrines of the baptizer, you submitted to his baptism.
- ii. If you did not believe the doctrines, you refused to be baptized by the teacher of those doctrines.
- 2. The message was "if you will repent, God will forgive your sins".
- b. Thus, John's message was that "repentance would bring a person to forgiveness by God".
- 4. Thus, there was an enormous theological upheaval generated in Judea and Galilee by this message.
- a. The reason for this upheaval was that "forgiveness by God" was not granted by God on the basis of "repentance" in the theology of Israel.
- 1) In the theology of Israel, "forgiveness" was only given to those who earned it by actions of sacrifices, compensation, and suffering the penalties of the sins committed.
- 2) This "theology" had no place for "forgiveness" on the basis of "repentance".
- a) That this was true is clearly revealed by Jesus' first teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum when the people said that Jesus' "message" had never been taught to them by their instructors (it was a "new teaching" (Mark 1:27).
- b) That this was true is also clearly revealed by the declaration of the name, John.
- i. "Forgiveness" on the basis of "repentance" is a doctrine of "Grace" and it flies in the face of "Justice".
- ii. Since the whole Law was turned by the teachers of Israel into a method for obtaining acceptance by God, "forgiveness on the basis of repentance" was, indeed, a "new teaching" and the authority of Jesus over demons made it inescapable.
- b. This upheaval existed because The Church spread its doctrines of Grace throughout the lands of Judea and Galilee and the Jews' hatred of that doctrine created violent and murderous opposition.
- B. It is no accident that the author of the Gospel of John was the author of the last books of The Church's canon of Scripture.
- 1. This is a "from Grace" (introduced by John the Baptizer) "to Grace" reality (persisted in and concluded by John the only one of the Twelve who died a natural death after a long life of promoting a "Yahweh is Gracious" theology).
- 2. Thus, a part of the background of the Gospel of John is this massive theological upheaval.
- II. John's Expectation Regarding His "Gospel".
- A. That people would not only understand what "repentance" is, but would also link it tightly to "Grace".
- B. That people would actively seek a legitimate definition of "Grace" that would sharply differentiate it from the "performance" theology of Judaism.
