Manna Ministry

The Gospel of John

The Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke

-John is much different, having a different purpose in mind…also, his was the last gospel that was written…so he had the benefit most likely, of reading what the others had to record prior to his own record.

-John’s Gospel stresses the deity of Jesus. He was offering things Jesus said, writing to display who Jesus is, not just what Jesus did, the works of Jesus. The Words of Jesus more than the Works of Jesus. The actual purpose of the Gospel is found in John 20:30-31: 

“And many other sign truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in the book. But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name.”

-John wrote as the Holy Spirit inspired him, but many times it was in terms of a Heptadic structure, or in 7’s. There were 7 miracles, 7 “I Am” statements, 7 times He asks for the listener to ASK the Father in His Name. (These are just a few in the Gospel, the Book of Revelation is FILLED with 7’s: 7 churches, 7 lamp stands, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls, 7 stars, and there have to be more!)

-John was probably written in 90-100AD, near the end of his life. He was from Galilee, near Capernaum, which is in northern Israel. John was a fisherman along with his father Zebedee, and older brother James. These two were known as the ‘sons of thunder.’ In Mark 1:16-20, we see the choosing of Peter, Andrew, James and John on the shores of Galilee. Zebedee was left with the hired servants, to tend to the nets and boats loaded with fish. Their mother was Salome, one of the women who supported and followed Jesus as He traveled along the Way. Matthew 20:20-28, records her humbly asking Jesus to consider positions on His right and left in Heaven. Mark 15:40-41, she was one of the women looking at a distance. She and other women purchased spices for the body of Jesus, but were greeted with an open grave and in fear ran away. Mark 16:1,

-John came from a somewhat prosperous family business: having fishing boats and a crew of ‘hired servants’ would denote a higher level of opportunity. With his mother Salome following Jesus as well as he and his brother James, it was now a period of connecting the dots of what he learned as a young man going to synagogue, learning Torah and listening to the rabbis, but now he’s able to listen and learn from the Great Shepherd!

Peter, James and John would become the ‘inner circle’ for Jesus…He would take the 3 of them with Him to observe some of His greatest miracles. Because of these experiences in being an eye-witness to the miraculous…provided the much needed depth of knowledge that the Holy Spirit would pull from as He would use John to write his Gospel, Epistles and Revelation. We will see John’s progression from fisherman to follower; from disciple to Apostle; from a student to a Pastor; from being just a boy from Galilee to a prophet of God for the ages.

In the beginning…words matter.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Well, John has just said that…the Word was before the creation. The Word is God. -The greek word for “word” is logos: masculine noun…’spoken/utterance’

Psalms 33:6 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”

-Greek word here for “word” is debar: masculine noun…’by the word, speech’

Psalms 33:9 “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood still.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing which I sent it.”

Hebrews 11:3 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

-Greek word here for “word” is rhema: neuter noun ‘that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken/word’

• We can’t see sound. We feel it’s effects. The ‘breath of our mouths’. See the results. Understand it’s meaning/purpose. John 18:5-6 (I AM HE)
• If God spoke creation into being, what are we speaking into being everyday?
• Are our words important? 
• Words of fear or faith; lack or abundance; doubt or peace; anger or love
• What if we spoke His Words into our lives, would His Word bring any changes?
• How can we change our speech? By changing our hearts and washing our minds.

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34 Luke 6:45 Matthew 15:1-20