Study Through the Book of John

The Book of John There are four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and of the four, it is generally accepted that the book of John was written last. Some unique things stand out about this book. For example, there is no genealogy included for Jesus, no mention of Jesus’ teaching in parables, and not a word about the transfiguration (especially interesting when you consider that John was among the few actually there). Equally of note are things included in John’s account and not in the others. John writes about Jesus’ first miracle, dedicates a whole chapter to the healing of the man born blind including the reaction of the Pharisees, and we would not know about the resurrection of Lazarus if it were not for the book of John. The book is divided into 21 chapters and scholars date its writing somewhere between AD 85-95. Whereas the first three Gospels center around Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, John focuses much more so on what Jesus said and did in Jerusalem. He presents Jesus as the Son of God in His own words and records long discourses of Jesus about Himself. Beginning in chapter 12, the final 10 chapters of the book of John deal with the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, crucifixion, and post resurrection. Almost half the book is devoted to this time frame. In reading John, we are getting a first-hand account from someone who actually heard Jesus’ voice audibly on a daily basis for three years…Jesus’ inflection, His pauses, His laugh, His expressions. We are presented with a remarkable opportunity to experience what John felt most important for us to know about his Friend, his Savior, his Jesus. The Apostle John Longstanding tradition holds that John the Apostle was the writer of the book of John. Because of this, we're going to start our study by looking at what the Bible says about John and the facts we can use to put together a profile of this close friend of Jesus. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive study of John, but just enough to give us a foundation to build upon. John's family life: 1. Matthew 4:21 tells us the names of John's father and brother. Write their names here. 2. In looking first at Matthew 27:56 and then Mark 15:40, we seem to have been given John's mother's name. What is it? * It has been speculated because of John 19:25 that she was Mary's (the mother of Jesus) sister, making John a first cousin to Jesus, but it is only conjecture. John's professional life: 3. From the verse in question 1, what is John's vocation at the time he is called to follow Jesus? 4. What are the brothers doing when Jesus sees them on the boat? * One of the most important skills of fishermen was making and mending nets. Made of linen, a common fabric used in the ancient Near East, these nets had to be carefully cleaned and dried each day or they would quickly rot and wear out. The majority of a fisherman's life probably was spent mending nets (Luke 5:2). Net weights, small pieces of stone with holes drilled in them, were fastened to the bottom of the nets. This too took time. Fishermen also had to be skilled, of course, in the use of the nets in fishing for various types of fish. (www.followtherabbi.com) 5. Read Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. List some facts about John, other than those we've mentioned above, that can be seen from these passages.