GETTING TO KNOW JESUS SERIES
Jesus: Divine Communication
Memory Verse: (Psalm 33:6 NIV) “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth”
Scripture: John 1:1-2, 6:25-69
(John 1:1-2 NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. {2} He was with God in the beginning.
(John 6:25-69 NIV) When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" {26} Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. {27} Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." {28} Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" {29} Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." {30} So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? {31} Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" {32} Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. {33} For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." {34} "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." {35} Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. {36} But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. {37} All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. {38} For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. {39} And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. {40} For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." {41} At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." {42} They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?" {43} "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. {44} "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. {45} It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. {46} No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. {47} I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. {48} I am the bread of life. {49} Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. {50} But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. {51} I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." {52} Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" {53} Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. {54} Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. {55} For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. {56} Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. {57} Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. {58} This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." {59} He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. {60} On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" {61} Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? {62} What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! {63} The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. {64} Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. {65} He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." {66} From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. {67} "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. {68} Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. {69} We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
INTRODUCTION:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Bible Literacy: Crisis in America
• A Gallup survey shows that fewer than half of Americans can name the
first book of the Bible (Genesis), only one-third know who delivered the
Sermon on the Mount (many named Billy Graham, not Jesus), and one quarter
do not know what is celebrated on Easter.
• A 1997 Barna Research poll showed 12 percent of Christians think
Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. Eighty percent of born-again Christians
believe it is the Bible that says "God helps them that help themselves."
In conjunction with the October release of the animated feature, “The Ten
Commandments”, Kelton Research questioned 1000 Americans on their
knowledge of the biblical Ten Commandments.
Even though 80 percent could name the ingredients of a Big Mac
(McDonald’s), only 6 in 10 could name the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not
kill.”
(Phil 3:10 NIV) I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Marshall McLuhan “The greatest obstacle to communication is the illusion that it has been achieved.”
(Prov 4:7 KJV)…with all thy getting get understanding.
I. The Man who Introduced Jesus.
(John 13:23 NIV) One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.
(John 19:26 NIV) When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son,"
(John 20:2 NIV) So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
(John 21:7 NIV) Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.
(John 21:20 NIV) Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?")
(John 21:24 NIV) This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31 NIV)
1. “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51);
(John 6:35 NIV) Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
(John 6:41 NIV) At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
(John 6:48 NIV) I am the bread of life.
(John 6:51 NIV) I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
2. “I am the light of the world” (8:12, 9:5);
(John 8:12 NIV) When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
(John 9:5 NIV) While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
3. “I am the door for the sheep” (10:7, 9);
(John 10:7 NIV) Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.
(John 10:9 NIV) I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
4. “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14);
(John 10:11 NIV) "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
(John 10:14 NIV) "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--
5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25);
(John 11:25 NIV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
6. “I am the way, the truth, the life” (14:6),
(John 14:6 NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
7. “I am the true vine” (15:1, 5).
(John 15:1 NIV) "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
(John 15:5 NIV) "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
(Exo 3:14 NIV) God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
Seven Miracles or Signs Pointing To Jesus’ Divine Nature in the Book of John
1. changing water into wine (John 2:1-11),
2. healing a man’s son (John 4:46-54),
3. healing a lame man (John 5:1-9),
4. multiplying bread and fish (6:1-14),
5. walking on water (John 6:15-21),
6. healing a blind man (John 9:1-7),
7. The raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44).
The Book of the Seven Signs
II. The Methodology
“It is beyond the power of man to speak as John does in his prologue.”
John Calvin “Rather should we be satisfied with this heavenly oracle, knowing that it says much more than our minds can take in.”
III. The Message
(John 1:1-2 NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. {2} He was with God in the beginning.
John Calvin “Speech of God.”
“most compact and pulsating theological statement in all of Scripture.”-A bible Commentary
(Gen 1:1 NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Col 1:15-16 NIV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. {16} For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
(John 1:14 NIV) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(Psa 33:6 NIV) By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
(John 14:6 NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:9-10 NIV) Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? {10} Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
(Gen 1:26 NIV) Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Hebrew is Elohim, a plural form.
“Word was the embodiment of the divine, the personification of Deity, the incarnation of God.”
IV. The Implication of the Word is God
(Psa 62:11 NIV) One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong,
(John 14:24 NIV) He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
(Rev 1:8 NIV) "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
(John 6:63 NIV) The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
(John 6:67 NIV) "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
(JOHN 6:68-69 NIV) Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. {69} We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
(John 3:16 NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
