Radical Relationship - Gospel of John

In the culmination of this year's class, we are looking at the Upper Room Discourse, ch 13-17. Split into two classes, this is the second part. Best not to be explained, but listened to. If you haven't already, listen to Part 1 first. This will be our last post for this session. We hope you have experienced God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in a new way. Check back next fall for a new session of classes. And please don't hesitate to reach out through email if you have any questions!

As we approach the very intimate Upper Room Discourse between Jesus and his disciples (Chapters 13-17), we look at a few interactions Jesus has with the people and the pharisees in the chapters leading up to it. We watch as Jesus does not condemn, though he has every right; and yet, the pharisees condemn Him and pick up stones (multiple times) to kill him. Jesus explains that he is the Light of the World, and then he heels a man born blind. This is a small departure from John's structure up to this point. Usually, Jesus will perform a miracle, then explain a characteristic about Himself (and therefore the Father). But here, he explains first, then performs a miracle.The pinnacle of the story for John is chapter 11, speaking primarily of the structure of his story. Focusing in on the Jesus's conversation with Martha. Take a listen!The next two weeks, we will focus on the Upper Room Discourse (ch. 13-17) where Jesus explains how much he cares for his disciples. Get ready for that!

After feeding of the five-thousand, Jesus walks on the water and speaks to the people saying "I am the bread of life". Jesus begins to get opposition from the religious leaders and his own followers. The conversations you'll see from ch. 6 on are no longer between Jesus and individuals around him (Samaritan woman, Nicodemus, etc) but will start to be primarily with the Jewish religious leaders. And we need to start asking ourselves, why? Why did John compose his narrative like this? Why is he saying it here, and why in this way? What does it contribute to the story? How does this explain/reveal the Father and how does this help us grow in trusting Him?

When Jesus visits the healing pool, John shows us Jesus's third miracle, or as John likes to call them, signs. John calls miracles signs because they point to something. So as we look at this miracle, we have to ask ourselves, "What is this pointing to?" In the narrative, we look at three key interactions. First, we examine the interaction between Jesus and the paralyzed man, both before and after his healing. Second, we examine the healed man's interaction with the Jewish leaders. And finally, we examine the interaction Jesus has with the jewish leaders. During this exchange, we learn about the roles the Father and the Son have in judgement.

We skip past all of ch. 3 and move right into Jesus's conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Again, we are trying to see how Jesus explains the Father to us. In this conversation, we see how Jesus takes no part in many prejudices that were part of the culture of the day, as well as our current culture. He moves past race, past gender, past morality, and past religious prejudices. What this tells us is that there is no prejudice in the Father, Son and Spirit. We also see how God seeks us. Listen and find out. :)

As we work our way through the Gospel of John, we look at the second half of Ch. 2 where Jesus clears the temple courts. When Jesus turns over the tables, we need to remember who Jesus is and what he knows about the people that He's talking to. Is this just a story of God being justifiably angry? Maybe, but why is He angry? Why is God angry when we do something wrong? We explore this and other concepts in this class.

In the first six weeks of this class (Part 1), we focused primarily on John’s Prologue (1:1-18). As was mentioned in one of the earlier classes, the Prologue was like a pair of glasses that John is asking you to view the narrative through. So as we move forward in the next eight weeks or so (Part 2), we will walk through the Gospel of John and read it with the ‘glasses’ that John has given us. In this first class of Part 2, we look at John 1 - 2:11. In chapter one, after the prologue, John introduces us to Jesus through how other’s see him. John the Baptist calls him the Lamb of God, Simon calls him the Messiah, and Nathaniel calls him the Son of God, the King of Israel. In chapter 2:1-11, we examine Jesus’s miracle of changing water to wine at the wedding in Cana. We observe many aspects of the event that the text points out to us. And in turn, we see, how Jesus shows the Father to us.Note: The last few minutes of the class are missing, and the recording stops abruptly. This last portion of the class was very brief and does not affect the overall message of this week’s class. Our apologies.

In this week’s class, our last of the session, we take a quick look at Jesus on the cross, and explore the Father-Son relationship within the being of God, and the implications of this relationship while Christ is on the cross. Among many other things, we also discuss some final thoughts on justice, punishment and love, and how they are all connected in the hands of a God that love us dearly.The class will continue in 2016. We will move forward from John’s prologue into the rest of the book. Thank you for listening, and please feel free to use the email on this blog if you have any questions regarding the class. :) 7:04

In this week’s class, we continue to look at John’s prologue. After we recap the previous class’s examination of glory, we examine the challenging translation of verses 12-13 from the Greek. We see how much is gained by the translation of one word. And finally, we read and discuss some unspoken sermons by George MacDonald.

In this week’s class, we discover what John says about glory. We look at the Westminster Catechism’s definition of God and see what they may have missed. And we end with seeing how glory and relationship are connected.

In this week’s class, we examine John 1:14. We discuss why John uses the word “Word” to describe the son of God before he became flesh. We also learn the importance of and meaning behind the words “flesh” and “became”. This is the incarnation of Christ.

In this week's class, we explore why John 17 is so important. The fact that John stops narrating when we get to ch 17, is a huge deal. No editorial comments in jesus’ prayer. None before, during, or after. The big deal is that John is trying to clue us in to something. It's a departure from his normal method of editorial comments for the entire book, up to this point. So why would he do that? Listen and find out.

In this first week of the 2015 season, we examine the author and structure of the Gospel of John. The structure of a narrative takes into account two main characteristics: selection and arrangement. Selection refers to what the narrator chooses to include in the narrative. Arrangement refers to how it appears in the story, and where it appears.And why does John do this? Just like any piece of literature, he has a goal for arranging it how he does. Listen to coming weeks to get a glimpse of what his goal is.