Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September
20, 2009
The Upcoming Baptism
Baptism for babies, how old, how long a believer, concerns about water
Introduction
The Gospel of John was written by an uneducated Jewish fisherman who had
become one of the apostles Jesus Christ.
He never refers to himself
by name in this gospel. When you see the
name “John”, it will be talking about John the Baptist. John only refers to himself as “the disciple
whom Jesus loved”.
Why did John write his gospel?
1. He’s going
to clear a few things up.
It’s been a good 20-30 years since the other gospels were written. He’s
going to fill in some of the blanks left by the other gospels.
2. He’s going
to correct the Gnostic heresies.
Today, the heresy of Gnosticism has once again raised its ugly head. Whether
it’s in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code
or a university classroom, people are hearing about the “secret” (and
incorrect) writings of the Gnostics.
3. He wants
people to believe.
John wants his readers to understand just who Jesus is and believe in Him.
This is a great book to recommend to your friends who are looking for God.
:35-42 Andrew and
Peter
:35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.
:35 the next day
– John the apostle has been building a chronology through the first chapter.
Day One: after Jesus had been baptized, the religious
leaders had come to John the Baptist to ask him about who he was (John
1:19-28).
Day Two: The following day, Jesus is walking by
John the Baptist, and John points Jesus out (John 1:29-34) as the Lamb of God. Show Video Clip
Day Three: We
are now dealing with the day after John the Baptist has pointed Jesus out.
:36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of
God!"
:36 the Lamb
of God – We saw last week the significance of this title. John understood
that Jesus was going to fulfill the prophetic picture of the Passover Lamb, a
lamb whose blood would pay for and remove our sins. Once again John points to
Jesus.
:37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
disciples – mathetes
– a learner, pupil, disciple; from the Greek word meaning “to learn”.
Lesson
Keep pointing to Jesus
As you keep growing in the Lord,
you ought to be getting to the point where you are having an influence on the
lives of others around you.
You may even want to get to the
point where you decide to follow in the footsteps of the early church by taking
a couple of younger believers under your wing, and help them to grow in the
Lord.
It can be a pretty “heady” thing to
have others who look up to you and come to you to learn and perhaps even
receive advice.
The temptation is to keep yourself
in that place in their lives where you are always the older, wiser person. The temptation is to have others become
dependent upon you for direction.
Typically in a cult, you are told
that you need to be sure to keep listening to what the head honcho says or else
you will fall away from the truth.
John gives us a different example.
He felt his job was to point people
to Jesus.
If that meant that his church got
smaller, he didn’t care, as long as people were coming to and following Jesus.
:38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What
do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when
translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"
:38 seeing them – theaomai
– to behold, look upon, view attentively; not used of an indifferent
spectator, but of one who looks at a thing with interest and for a purpose
Rabbi – rhabbi
– my great one, my honorable sir; a title used by the Jews to address their
teachers
Notice that John is explaining a
common Jewish term. Some of his readers
are not Jewish.
where are You staying – They are telling Jesus that they want to
stay with Him.
:39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He
was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
:39 tenth hour
– Scholars are divided as to what time this was since there are two different
ways of keeping track of time used in the Bible. Its either 10am or 4pm.
The Jews started their clocks at sunrise (6am), making this 4pm
Romans started their clocks at midnight, that would make this 10am.
You could make a case for John using both time clocks in his writing
(John 4:6 is Jewish time; John 19:14 is Roman time)
:39 Come and see
–
Lesson
Jesus invites seekers
Did you know that not everyone who comes to our church is a Christian?
We have people who have been coming for a year or more who still haven’t
yet taken that step.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Either believe in Me now or go away”
Instead, He lets them follow after Him, to find out more.
Be patient if
people aren’t willing to commit instantly to the Lord.
If they are still open to learning more about the Lord, great!
:40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother.
:40 Andrew
– Andreas – “manly”; He
is said to have been crucified at Patrae in Archaia.
Who was the other disciple? Most likely John the apostle.
The best candidate is John the
apostle, the writer of the gospel.
Remember he likes to stay anonymous.
Andrew, Peter, James, and John were
all from the same place, they all were of the same profession.
How does this fit with the other
gospels that make is sound like Jesus first met these disciples up north on the
Sea of Galilee? How does it fit with
Jesus telling Simon at Caesarea Philippi that his name was “Peter”?
(Mark 1:16-20 NKJV) And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He
saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were
fishermen. {17} Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you
become fishers of men." {18} They immediately left their nets and followed
Him. {19} When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of
Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.
{20} And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the
boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.
When Jesus calls these men to
follow Him when they are in Galilee, He has already met them. They had met earlier at the Jordan. What we are seeing is a preliminary meeting.
Andrew isn't as well known as some of the other disciples.
He was just known as Simon's brother.
But he has a unique distinction; he brought his brother, Simon Peter, to
the Lord.
Lesson
Small is okay
Sometimes we can think that only people with large ministries are the ones
that matter.
Illustration
As a young man of 17, Dwight found himself placed in a Sunday School class,
led by a man named Edward
Kimball. Kimball tells us in his own words what happened on Saturday
morning, April 21, 1855:
“I decided to speak to Dwight about Christ and about his
soul. I started down
town to Holton’s shoe store. When I was nearly there I began to wonder whether
I ought to go just then during business hours. And I thought maybe my mission
might embarrass the boy,
that when I went away the other clerks might ask who I was, and when they
learned might taunt Dwight and ask if I was trying to make a good boy out of
him. While I was pondering over it all I passed the store without noticing it. Then,
when I found I had gone by the door I determined to make a dash for it and have
it over at once.” He found Dwight in the back part wrapping up shoes in paper and stacking
them on shelves. “I went up to him and put my hand on his shoulder, and as I
leaned over I placed my foot upon a shoe box.” Looking down into Dwight’s eyes
he made what he thought afterwards a very weak plea. Neither could ever recall
the exact words, but “Kimball asked him to come to Christ, who loved him and
who wanted his love and should have it.” There were tears in Kimball’s eyes. “It
seemed,” Kimball recorded, “that the young man was just ready for the light
that broke upon him, for there, at once, in the back of that shoe store in
Boston, Dwight L. Moody
gave himself and his life to Christ.” Kimball slipped from the store a few
minutes after he had entered.
from pg 27 of
Moody Biography, John Pollock
Mr. Moody would go on to become one of the great evangelists of the 19th
century, leading thousands to Christ both in Britain and in America. While
working in England he would have crowds of people numbering from 2,000 up to
16,000. Back in America, he would speak
to crowds of up to 20,000 people. Moody
Bible Institute, Moody Memorial Church came from his ministry.
And so, A Sunday School teacher, a
Mr. Kimball, in 1855, led a Boston shoe clerk to give his life to Christ.
The clerk, Dwight L. Moody, became
an evangelist. He brought thousands to Christ in his lifetime. In England in
1879, Moody awakened evangelistic zeal in the heart of Fredrick B. Meyer,
pastor of a small church.
F. B. Meyer, preaching to an American
college campus, brought to Christ a student named J. Wilbur Chapman.
Chapman, engaged in YMCA work,
employed a former baseball player, Billy Sunday, to do evangelistic work.
Billy Sunday held a revival in
Charlotte, N.C. A group of local men were so enthusiastic afterward that they
planned another evangelistic campaign, bringing Mordecai Hamm to town to
preach.
During Hamm’s revival, a young man
named Billy Graham heard the gospel and yielded his life to Christ.
Do you think Mr. Kimball’s “small” ministry was important?
:41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have
found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).
:41 found
his own brother – The first thing
Andrew does is to tell his brother.
:41 Messiah
– mashiyach – anointed, anointed one
Israelite leaders were initiated into their position by “anointing” them, pouring
oil over their head.
The term became used to describe a great leader who would arise and save
Israel.
The ritual to ordain a Levitical priest included pouring oil upon them
(Ex. 29:7).
Saul, was initiated as the first king of Israel when Samuel poured oil
upon his head (1Sam. 10:1).
When David had the opportunity to defend himself by killing Saul, he
refused, because he still considered Saul to be God’s “anointed” (1Sam. 24:6).
(1
Sam 24:6 NKJV) And he said to his men,
"The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand
against him, seeing he is the anointed
of the LORD."
The word David uses for “anointed” in the Hebrew is
“Mashiyach”, “Messiah”.
David was also anointed with oil in order to be king:
(1
Sam 16:13 NKJV) Then Samuel took the
horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of
the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to
Ramah.
We see that oil was a picture of the Holy Spirit being on
a person.
The term is most often used to describe the Israelite kings, but would
eventually become a term used to describe a special leader, one who would come
and save Israel.
(Dan
9:25 NKJV) "Know therefore and
understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build
Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome
times.
:41 Christ
–This is not Jesus’ last name. This is simply the Greek word used to translate
“Messiah”.
:42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said,
"You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which
is translated, A Stone).
:42 Simon
– Shim‘own – “heard”
:42 Cephas
– Kephas – “stone”. The name “Peter” comes from the
Greek word for stone, petros. “Cephas” and “Peter” are different forms of
the same concept, a “stone”. You
could have called Peter “Rocky”.
The funny thing in the Greek text is that the phrase “which is
translated, A Stone”, the word for “stone” is petros.
Lesson
God sees your potential
(Mat
16:15-18 NKJV) He said to them,
"But who do you say that I am?" {16} Simon Peter answered and said,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." {17} Jesus answered
and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. {18} "And I
also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church,
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
:43-51 Philip and
Nathanael
:43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip
and said to him, "Follow Me."
:43 the following
day – John the apostle now takes us to the day after Andrew and
Peter have met Jesus.
:43 to Galilee
–
Jesus was from the Galilee
area, the northern part of Israel.
He was most likely down in the southern area of Judea to worship God at the
Temple. Three times
a year people would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship God.
It’s while Jesus is down south in Judea that He is baptized, pointed out by John, and begins
to call these disciples. So far all these men are also from the Galilee area.
Jesus is now ready to head north. Show video map of Bethany to Galilee.
:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
:44 Philip – Philippos – “lover of horses”
Bethsaida
– Bethsaida – “house of fish”
Bethsaida was a
fishing village originally on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. Today, shoreline
has changed, and the ruins of Bethsaida are about a mile inland.
Peter is from Bethsaida, but he also has a house in Capernaum, the city
that will become the “headquarters” for Jesus and His disciples.
:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom
Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote; Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph."
Nathanael – Nathanael
– “gift of God”
:45 Philip found Nathanael –
Lesson
Who have you found?
Do you get the sense that when these guys met Jesus, they were so excited
that they couldn't wait to bring a friend to meet Jesus for themselves?
:46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of
Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
:46 Nazareth
– We know of this city as the place where Jesus grew up.
Show video map
from Bethsaida to Nazareth
The northern area of Galilee was thought of as the “frontier” in the days of Jesus. When the
Jews returned from Babylon in 500BC and began to rebuild their nation, they
focused primarily in the south, starting in Jerusalem. In the days of Jesus,
the northern area had only been inhabited for about 100 years. The center of
all culture and religion was in Jerusalem. Jerusalem would send out itinerant
preachers to teach the poor frontier
settlers about Judaism. To think that a preacher would come from the north and
have anything worthwhile to say was beyond belief.
Note: Nathanael was also from
Galilee. He was from the city of Cana (John 21:2), only 3.5 miles away. (see map) Maybe they were
high school rivals…
:46 Can anything
good –
Lesson
Don’t miss the treasure
If we’re not careful, we can miss some of the incredible, special things
around us.
Illustration
Illustration
Washington, DC Metro
Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six
Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people
went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He
slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his
schedule.
4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the
money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then
looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along
hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and
the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was
repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced
their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and
listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their
normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one
applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the
world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin
worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in
Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. It was an experiment organized by the Washington Post
as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
Is it possible that we might from time to time not expect to see anything
special, but it could be happening right next to us?
Nathanael couldn’t dream that anything special could come from a town only
3 miles from his.
I wonder if some of you who have been considering Jesus really understand
the treasure that we are talking about?
I wonder how much we really understand all that God has done for us,
just how much God has displayed His love for us?
:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold,
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"
:47 deceit
– dolos – craft, deceit, guile
Jesus is calling Nathanael a man of integrity.
:48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered
and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig
tree, I saw you."
:48 How do you
know me?
Jesus tells Nathanael two more things:
He tells him that He knew that Philip had called him.
He tells him about sitting under a fig tree.
Apparently these two little things blew Nathanael away. He was amazed that
Jesus knew these two things.
Jesus is giving him a peek at the fact that He’s different. He’s a bit
beyond human.
Lesson
He knows you
I think one of the reasons people like to be “name droppers” is because it
is a pretty cool thing when an important person knows who you are.
A long time ago it was one of my biggest dreams to get to the place where Chuck Smith knew who I
was. I have to confess that I used to do things to get him to notice me like
writing him letters or standing in line after the service. I remember once
Chuck was talking about some kooky guy in Kansas who claimed to have found the
Ark of the Covenant. When my wife’s family was having a family reunion in
Kansas, we took the time do go to the library and look up the guy, make
photocopies, and take it all back to Chuck. To tell you the truth, I’m not
really sure Chuck knows who I am. Over the years I’ve realized that Chuck is
just a guy who has a lot of people vying for his attention. I have a hard time
remembering the names of the people in our small church. I can’t imagine what
Chuck must face. I hope I’ve grown up enough to be okay with the fact that I
don’t think Chuck knows who I am.
But I have had a couple of times in my life when I became aware of the fact
that God knew who I
was.
As a teenager, I was at a dinner and prayer meeting with Melodyland with my
girlfriend. I didn’t know a thing about the Holy Spirit. After dinner there was
a prayer time where we all stood in a circle, and this guy went around praying for people. He was
also telling them things about themselves. When he came to me, he began to tell
me specific things about my life. I have to confess I can’t remember what he
said, except I remember being blown away that this stranger knew about me. Actually,
God knew about me.
A few years ago I was in my office. At the time I was struggling with a
difficult thing going on in the church. Laurie told me I had a phone message, and it was
some guy named Chris in Florida that I’ve never met. He said he had been
praying and that my name came to his mind, and that God wanted him to be
praying for me. He didn’t ask me for anything. He didn’t try to sell me
something. He just told me that God wanted him to be praying for me. I can’t
tell you how much that hit me to think that God cared enough about me to put my
name on some stranger’s heart. It’s one thing when a loved one calls to
encourage you, but from a total stranger, wow.
It’s possible that you have people whose attention you would really like to
get. But I have something better for you. Those other people may never know who
you are. But God does. He knows all about you. That’s not just some made up
preacher talk. It’s real.
:49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of
God! You are the King of Israel!"
:49 the Son of God
– The Greek text uses the definite
article.
Jesus is not just by nature “a son
of God”, one of many.
He is not just one son of God among
many.
He is THE one and only Son of God.
This speaks of His deity. It is the first confession of Jesus' deity
chronologically.
:50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you
under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than
these."
:51 And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you
shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the
Son of Man."
:51 the angels of
God – Jesus is referring to a dream that Jacob had when he was fleeing from his
brother Esau.
(Gen
28:12 NKJV) Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and
its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and
descending on it.
Jesus is identifying Himself as the ladder.
He is the way to heaven.
Note that He is not only the Son of God, but the Son of Man.
He's at both ends of the ladder.
In doing this, Jesus is also giving Nathanael two truths:
1. Heaven will be opened
Up to this time, it had been shut because of men's sin.
The way into the Holy of Holies wouldn't be made until the blood was
shed on the cross.
2. The bridge into heaven will
be Jesus
Jesus has made it possible for there to be communication and movement
from earth to heaven.
(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
:46 Come and
see
Did you notice how that phrase was used?
Jesus used it. Philip said the
same thing. Philip didn’t know all the
answers to all the questions that Nathanael has, but he invites him to come and
find out for himself.
Lesson
It’s not about answers, it’s about Jesus
We feel like we’re inadequate to tell people about Jesus because we’re
afraid they’re going to ask us something we won’t have the answer for.
It’s okay to not have all the answers.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that answers are unimportant.
But if you don’t know the answer, you can always find out the answer later.
What’s important is just to get them to Jesus. “Come and see”
It’s easy when you’re witnessing to get sidetracked by lots of secondary issues:
TV evangelists
Churches that
have hurt people
All the hypocrites
that have ever lived.
Where did Cain
get his wife?
All those “discrepancies”
in the Bible
We’re not supposed to make them believe in the church, but Jesus.
Salvation doesn’t come when intellectual curiosity is satisfied, though you
will find satisfaction in Him.
We need to take them to see Jesus.
Lesson
How do I “bring them to Jesus”?
Some suggestions:
1. Tell them
what Jesus is doing in your life.
2. Pray with
them.
Let them listen in as you talk with the Savior about them.
3. Read the
gospel of John with them.
It was written so they would believe in Jesus. John
has already told us seven things about Jesus:
He is the Word (:1), the Light (:7), the Son of God (:18), the Lamb
(:29), the Messiah (:41), the King (:49), and the Son of Man (:51).
4. Share the gospel
message with them:
Our
need: Our sin
separates us from God.
Jesus
died for us: God has paid the
price for our sins.
Receive
God’s gift of eternal life, to make it your own.
5. Bring them
to a place where they’ll hear the gospel.
Like church.