 Good morning and welcome to our New Testament survey class. So even before we could begin with our session, request one of us to please lead us in prayer. Niki, would you like to lead us in prayer? Yeah, Sid, please go ahead. Go ahead, Sid. Thank you, brother. Father, we come to the throne of grace. Lord, thank you for this day you have given us. Lord, as we are going to learn from the New Testament Lord, your living word Lord, about your life from the book of Luke, whatever we will be learning Lord, that it should be used in our future ministry Lord, what we are going to do Lord. Thank you for this our Lord. Thank you for all the teachers or the students what we will be learning Lord. This word is a living word and it has come to pass in the future. It will be also coming into the past Lord. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity Lord. We need your wisdom. We need your guidance Lord. We need your knowledge. Lord protect us and provide us Lord. Thank you for this day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Sid. Thank you for leading us in prayer. Well, today we are going to study on the gospel according to John, which is the fourth of the four New Testament gospels. And yes, let's turn to the gospel of John. And John is the only gospel that's not included under the synoptic gospels. So the first three gospels, they focus more on what Jesus thought and did. But John focuses more on who Jesus is. Jesus is. So what do we know about the author? Who is the author of this book? Open to the class. Let's keep this session interactive. So who's the author of this book of John? John himself, isn't it? John himself is the author of this book. So John was, we look into a little bit about his background. Who is John? John, James and John Way brothers. Okay. And they were the sons of Zebedee who was a successful fisherman. And he not only had, he seemed to be, he was financially stable. They had their own business. That is the fishing business. They had their own boat and possibly they also had a home to live in. And we also see the background of John was John was a Jew. And therefore he was familiar with all of the Jewish customs and fees because we see him narrating the feast and the customs in this book. We also see that John lived in Palestine and was very familiar with Jerusalem and its surroundings. And we also see the courage that James and John had and also the way they portrayed themselves. Jesus nicknamed John and his brother James as sons of thunder. When we went through the book, the gospel of Mark, we could see that Jesus giving them a name called sons of thunder. And when we study the gospel of John, we also see that John was a, it was a Galilean and he was a disciple of John the Baptist until John the Baptist told them to follow Jesus at his public ministry. And these Galileans, that is the James and John were later called to become the full-time disciples of Jesus. And John was one among the twelve apostles who were selected to be the apostles. And John's mother was Salome who was most likely the sister or the cousin sister of Mary because the mother of Jesus. So this would have made John to have a very close relationship with Jesus because they shared, they would have shared their childhood together. So that may be one of the reasons that John was much, he felt that he had a much better relationship with Jesus because throughout the book we see John addresses himself saying, I'm the beloved of Jesus or Jesus loves me. See, one thing we need to know is there was no partiality. Jesus loved everyone and even he loves each of us in a very unique and special way. So the same thing, but then John relates himself like how we studied who we are in Christ, we are the precious one, we are the beloved of Christ. So here we see how John addresses himself that he's the beloved, Jesus loves me or I'm the beloved of Jesus and he was, maybe he was, yes, he was one of the young disciples and he was always very close to him. That's what even we see on the last supper, like he says, he leaned on Jesus' heart. He was always very close to Jesus. So he feels it that way that he's the beloved of Jesus. So one of the reasons maybe he was relative or he shared his childhood with Jesus and as we also know John the Baptist was also the cousin of Jesus and Salome, the mother of John. We see that, you know, she was financially, because this family was financially stable and we go through the Gospel of Mark and look, we see that they also supported Jesus' ministry financially. They supported Jesus' ministry financially and as we are studying the background of John's family, we see that John and his family were most likely or relatively financially stable because they had their own business, they had their own house, they had their own boat and we also see that they were business partners or they knew each other well with Peter and Andrew. Peter and Andrew were also the fishermen and James and John was also the fishermen along with their father, Zebedee, so they all knew each other well. We also see that along with James and John was the disciple of John the Baptist. We also see Andrew, Peter's brother was also the disciple of John the Baptist. So we see that they have shared some of the interest, they following the Messiah, they wanting to know who the Messiah was, so that was already there within them and before they could recognize Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God and follow him. So we will also look into a little bit of the biblical history of John the Apostle. Well, John started a spiritual journey as a disciple with John the Baptist because they already had this urge within them like knowing the Messiah, the Messiah will come in this time depending on the prophecies that was released in the Old Testament and we see that John was related to Jesus and he was also nicknamed as sons of thunder. Now, why did Jesus give this name to James and John? Anyone from the class? So we all know about the Samaritans and the Jew, they were two community, they hated each other, they didn't like each other. So what happened was as they were on the ministry with Jesus when they were passing through the land of Samaria, they came across certain Samaritans, the sojourners and they, because of the hatred, they spoke harshly to Jesus and his disciples. So that's when James and John were a little hypered and they wanted to call down the fire upon them just like how Elijah did and we read that in Luke chapter 9 verse 51 to 56 that they wanted to call the fire upon them but then Jesus rebuked them and he said, you do not know what matter of spirit you are of. The Son of man did not come to destroy men's life but to save them, but to save them. So with this, he also teaches, teaching them to love your enemy, not to hate and pray for them those who persecute you, that is there in the Sermon on the Mount but then he's teaching them by example and because of the hyperness within them. So Jesus gives them a nickname, nicknames both of them as Son of Thunder but then he keeps them very close to them. So we see most of the incidents that happened when we read the four Gospels. We always see that certain, certain days Jesus always had James, John and Peter with him. So the scholars call these three as the inner circle. Jesus inner circle, the inner circle, the three of them with Jesus. That is James, John and Peter were the inner circle of Jesus. So we see the even penicenturians daughter was dead when they went to pray for and bring a back, a riser from death. Jesus had Peter, James and John and any other incidents you'll remember where Jesus had Peter, James and John, the inner circle. Was it at the Garden of Gethsemane, though he went with all his disciples, made them stay. Little further he took James, John and Peter and he asked them to sit there and pray for an hour and then he went a little further alone. Is there any other place that you recollect? Mount of Transfiguration. At the Mount of Transfiguration he had James, John and Peter. Any other place you remember? So these three were the Jesus inner circle. He shared a lot with them. One, what? As they were seeing how Jesus were ministering, they were also learning Jesus was preparing them for a greater ministry. So he and his brother, that is James and John, mother requested Jesus. She saw the relationship what they had with Jesus, always been there for the ministry, they left the business, they're following Jesus. So there was a day when Salome meets Jesus and she asked if James and John can be at your right and left hand of the Lord in his glory. And here Jesus looks at James' mother or John's mother and says you don't know what you're asking for. That is not in my hand, that is in my father's decision to do. Well with that we also see that John referred himself as the beloved Jesus whom Jesus loved. So he recognizes his identity in Jesus. So just like John, we also should recognize our identity in Jesus where we can say that we are the beloved of Christ. We are loved by Jesus. So this should be within us. And also one of the custom for the authors in those days was whenever they write the book they do not mention their name. It was a custom for the authors not to name themselves in a book but to refer to themselves in some other way. So we see that this pattern being followed in the Old Testament and also in the New Testament writers where they do not mention their name. But some of the other way they try to reveal themselves. And Jesus entrusted John with the most important thing in his life that was his mother. At which event or occasion did Jesus entrust his mother to John? Class? Can you all respond? At what occasion or what event did Jesus say, John, this is your mother? My mother by the cross. Yes, yes, Chai. Yes, you're right. Yes, at the cross. At the cross Jesus handed over his mother to John saying this is your mother. And we also see John was an eyewitness to most of the things that has been recorded. Most of the miracles that has been recorded. He was the eyewitness because he was always in the inner circle and he was with Jesus. And eventually John became a key leader along with Peter in establishing the church at Jerusalem. So he is listed as the second only to Peter. When we read through the Book of Acts, we see that John being a prominent leader along with Peter. And he and Peter seem to have ministered together often. And his brother James was the first of the twelve to be martyred. Again, we see that when we study the Book of Acts that James was the first of the twelve to be martyred. And yeah, when we read through John chapter 21 verse 20 to 23. John chapter 21 verse 20 to 23. Where in verse 22 Jesus said to him that if I will that he remain till I come. That is what is that to you. You follow me. Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. But yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die. But if I will that he remain till I come. So what is that to you. So when we read the scripture. So many, many of them took the scripture even then and even now they've taken the scripture. They believe in a rumor saying that, you know, John will not die and he will be alive until Christ returned. But then that's not true. John believed to have a normal death among all the twelve disciples. John believed to have a normal natural death. And John later the non biblical history and tradition when we see some of the scholars have referred that whichever gospel that John wrote, sorry, whichever book that John wrote. One is the Gospel of John, the three episodes and the three episodes. Yeah, the four gospel of John and the three episodes first, second and third John. It is the he has emphasized on love and all these three is emphasized more on love. But yes, the fourth book is the revelation, but that is the revelation that he received yesterday. As written, but the first gospel of John and the three episodes of John. He emphasizes more on the love of God, the love of the father and in the gospel alone in the gospel alone. Okay, that is in all four gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We see 50 references about love, but in the gospel of John alone, we see about 35 talks about love. So John is believed to have served as a key figure in the ministry and he has become the bishop of the church of Ephishes in the first century. John also bears the name of Jesus and he continued to do the ministry and as he continued to do the ministry. Yes, he also was persecuted. He faced a lot of persecution during the ministry time and John was exiled for his faith on the Isle of Patmos by the Roman Emperor. So it's there. John wrote the three episodes that bear his name and the book of Revelation. So where did John write the three letters that is John one, two and three, and then the book of Revelation at the Isle of Patmos during his exile. And John was later released from the exile to return to Ephishes, where he most likely died of a natural cause. So some of the scholars put a date when they refer a period of maybe 96 to 180 would have been the period when John died at Ephishes in a natural cause. And he was the last of the 12 disciples to die and perhaps the only one who had a natural cause of death. When was this book, the Gospel of John written? So the scholars say that this book was most scholars put a date to it as between 85 to 95 AD. And most of them feel that it was definitely written while John was in Ephishes, that is before exile to Patmos. And we also see the early church fathers believed it was written in John's old age probably at the same time 85 to 95 AD. And some say that after 20 years of this synoptic gospel, that is Matthew, Mark, Luke are the synoptic gospel. So after 20 years, John wrote the Gospel of John. And John is also the author of the five books, which we said already that is Gospel of John, the three epistles and the book of Revelation. And UCBS says that John lived in Ephishes after Paul founded the church there. For there he conducted a kind of home missionary ministry and the Gospel and the letters were part of that ministry. So before his exile to Patmos and yeah. So who did John write this Gospel to? Any idea? Who did John write this Gospel to? As we all know, Matthew wrote the Gospel to Jews, Mark wrote it to Romans, Luke wrote it to Greeks and John wrote the Gospel to whom? Ephishes? John's, sorry? Ephishes. Okay, okay, okay. Thanks, thanks, Ellie. Well, John addressed this Gospel to the world, to everyone, everyone. It was a universal Gospel. He wanted to know, he wanted to put it across that Jesus, I mean, God loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, which is the key verse of this book. I guess all of us know the scripture, John 3.16. Can I request one of us to please read? John 3.16. Yes. For God who loved the world that he gave his only and only son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Thank you. Yes. So in the Gospel of John, it shows that God the Father has a vision for the world. God the Father had a vision for the world. And what's that vision? That he loves the world. So he sends his only begotten son to save the world, to save each of us. So this was the vision of a father. We all just see the Gospel of John and Jesus had a ministry to the world. How do we know that Jesus had a ministry to the world? We see some of the scriptures here. Can I request each one to read these verses? I'll just put across John chapter 1 verse 10. Next person take John chapter 1 verse 9. Let me type the scriptures. John chapter 1 verse 10. John chapter 1 verse 9. And chapter 1 verse 29. John chapter 1 verse 29. Next person take John chapter 4 verse 42. 4, 42. Next person John chapter 6 verse 14. 6 verse 14. John chapter 6 verse 51. Yeah. John chapter 17 verse 18. And 7 of us take these 7 scriptures so that we can be ready. So we're ready with John chapter 1 verse 10. Please go ahead. He was in the world and the world was met through him and the world did not know him. Yes. Here we see that he's the creator of the world in the scripture. Can I request one of us to turn to John chapter 1 verse 9? John chapter 1 verses 9. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. Thank you. The true light that gives light to those who are coming into the world. So this shows that Jesus is the light of the world. Can I request one of us to read verse 29 from the same chapter, chapter 1? The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Thank you. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Can we see Jesus is the sin bearer? Jesus takes away the sins of the world. Can I request one of us to turn to chapter 4 verse 42? Then they said to the woman, now we believe, not because of what you said. For we ourselves have heard him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the saviour of the world. Amen. We know that this is indeed the Christ, the saviour of the world. So what do we see in the scripture? We see that Jesus is the saviour of the world. Can we turn to John chapter 6 verse 14? After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world. Man, so what do you see? This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. So we see here, Jesus was a prophet to the world. Jesus was a prophet to the world. Can we move to verse 51 from the same chapter 6? John chapter 6 verses 51, yes. John chapter 6 verses 51. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I give for life of the world is my flesh. Thank you. Thank you brother. So here we see that the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. So what we see here, Jesus gives life to the world. John chapter 17 verse 18. I am sending them into the world just as you sent me. Yes. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. So what we see here, Jesus sent his followers into the world. So what we see in the Gospel of John is, Jesus has a ministry to the world. So with this, we will move on to the very purpose of this book. The very purpose of this book is seen in John chapter 20 verse 30 to 31. Can I request one of us to read? John chapter 20 verses 30. John chapter 20 verses 30. Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 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. Amen. So what we see here, it is written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. So this is a major purpose of writing the book that is mentioned in this verse, John 20 verse 31, that we may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That is the main theme. That is the main intention that John is having here to portray Jesus, to reveal Jesus as the Son of God to the whole world. So it is very clear that John's primary intention in this vandalitical message, he desires that those who are reading this book should know that Jesus is the Son of God. And we see the second purpose here is to present in apologetic gospel to write against the Greek heresy that was spreading in those days. Gnosticism. So to deny that, he writes the gospel to the world. We also see that it is also clear that John's intent was to verify the deity of Jesus, the God nature in Him. So it should be noted that during the time in which John wrote, Gnosticism was very common and it was spreading. So to challenge this, he writes about the deity of Christ. So John's gospel would be an important denial for this heresy. We also see that John refers to the sign that he has recorded as being the only sample of what Jesus did on this earth. But the certain miracles that he selected truly and to demonstrate the Jesus power and His divinity, we need to see that there is not much reputative from the other three gospels. Though John wrote this gospel after 20 years or much later after the three gospels. So John would have had read those three gospels. But then he refused to repeat some of the things that have been repeated in the three gospels. That's why they three are combined as synoptic gospels and John's gospel is different. John's gospel contains no parables like how the synoptic gospels have. So what are the miracles that have been recorded? There are about eight miracles that are recorded out of which two are common or two are repeated in the other three synoptic gospels. So what is the first miracle? Can we turn to... Okay, because of time we will not read but I will give out the scriptures. You can make a note. John chapter 2 verse 6 to 11, we see turning water into wine. That was the first miracle that John has recorded of Jesus. So in this miracle we see Jesus demonstrated the authority over the elements by turning the water into wine. We see Jesus demonstrated the authority over the elements. And the second miracle that John records is in John chapter 4. Can we turn to John chapter 4 verse 46 to 54? Yes, 46 to 54. A noble man's son was healed. So in this miracle we see that Jesus is demonstrated to have the authority over the space and time. We all know the story, what happened, isn't it? The next miracle, the third miracle we see is in John chapter 5 verse 1 to 15. When we read what happened 1 to 15, a man has been healed, the pool of Bethesda. Healing of the paralytic man. So in this we see John demonstrating, Jesus has demonstrated that Jesus has the authority over the sickness and the disease. As Jesus said, rise, take up your bed. Verse 8, we see take up your bed and immediately the man was made well, took up his bed and walked immediately. So he had, Jesus demonstrated the authority over the sickness and disease because this man was in this condition for about 38 years. Waiting for a miracle that he will go reach the pool one day. So the fourth, we see the fourth miracle that has been recorded in the Gospel of John is in chapter 6 verse 1 to 14. What is that? Sid, let's turn to chapter 6 verse 1 to 14. So what was the miracle there? Ma'am, Jesus was feeding to the 5000 people. Yes, exactly, exactly. Feeding the 5000. By this miracle, Jesus demonstrated that he has the creative provision. He can create provision to people. In the same chapter, verse 15 to 21, there's another miracle that has been recorded. What is that? Jesus walks on the sea. Yes, thank you. Walking on the water. Jesus walking on the water. So we see that Jesus is demonstrated to have authority over the natural laws. Can we turn to John 9 verse 1 to 41? So what was the miracle that was recorded here? Ma'am, Jesus heals a blind man with his saliva. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Sid. So we see that healing of a man was born blind. He was born blind. Here we see Jesus demonstrated to have authority over both natural and spiritual blindness. So with that, we will also move on to John chapter 11 verse 1 to 44. What was the miracle in this passage, in this chapter? This is the seventh miracle that has been recorded. Yes. This is the reaction of Lazarus. Okay, Sid, we will give the opportunity for others also to say, Yes, as Sid already said, raising of Lazarus from the dead. What do we see? Jesus demonstrated to have authority over death. He has the authority over death. With that, we will move on to the eighth miracle. John chapter 21 verse 3 to 11. John 21. I'm not going very fast. Okay, there's much to cover in this Gospel. John chapter 21 verse 3 to 11. What do we see here? Which miracle do we see here? It's a miracle of the wonderful catch of it. Yes, calling forth a miracle, catch of a fish. That's right. See, this was the eighth miracle that has been recorded. So in this miracle, we see Jesus demonstrated to have authority over the animal world. We also see in this the humility of Jesus in verse 10. If you see, same chapter, chapter 21 verse 10, Jesus said to the disciples or to them, bring some of the fish which you have caught. He's giving the credit to them, though he called the fish. Okay, he called forth a miracle catch of a fish because they had boiled whole night. They could not find, but then your Jesus said, cast your net. But then still Jesus gives the credit to them. He says, bring some of the fish which you have just caught. The humility of Jesus has been highlighted here. He does not take credit for anything. So we just listed out all the eight miracles that has been recorded in the Gospel of John. The sixth was from this and only two was repeated from the other Gospels. So with this, we will continue. The Gospel of John is there's much more insight is there to learn. And it's so amazing to see how Jesus ministered to each of us. It's so wonderful to go through each chapter to know the authority, the power that Jesus carried within him and he ministered the world through that. So with that, as it comes up, maybe we can continue on the Gospel of John even in the next class. But do you all have any questions or would you like to share something? Or I thought I'll ask some questions. If you all do not have any questions, then I can ask a question. We can have a kind of quiz. Let me let me ask a few questions based on what we learned today. Let me project it. Okay, you need to just raise your hand if you know the answer for it. Okay. Anyone else who knows the answer for this question? Brother Lubiga. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Yes. Brother, yeah, you all both can go ahead. You all can type it in the chat or you can unmute an answer. Sid, you can say. Eight miracles. Eight miracles and how many were repeated from the other three synoptic Gospels? My eight miracles are recorded and two are repeated. Great. Thank you. Yeah, you're right. Where did John write the Gospel from? Anyone else? Yes. Go ahead, Brother Lubiga. You can unmute and answer brother. Brother Lubiga. We are not able to hear you. Your mic is mute. Okay. Brother, you can unmute and answer the question. Okay. I guess there's some problem with Brother Lubiga. Yeah. Zelle, you can unmute and answer for the benefit of a e-learning students. The answer is efficient. The answer is efficient. Yes. Let's check. Let's check what's the answer. Is it Rome, Ephesians, or Antioch of Syria? And your answer is right. Ephesians. Yes. Okay. This is the last question. How many parables were recorded in this Gospel? And raised. I'm just checking. Okay. Sid finished. Brother Lubiga finished his turn. Anyone else? Zelle also finished her turn. Anyone else? Zero. Good, John. Yes. Let's see what's the answer is. Is it seven, four, or none? The answer is zero. Thanks, John. Good. Good. That means all were attentive in the class. That's interesting. Okay. We will continue the Gospel of John. We are not completely finished. We're going to learn this lot of insights in this 21 chapters, which I would like to bring it and share it with each one so that we can study and journey together as we study the New Testament survey. Well, yes, as time's up, let's close the session with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you. We come into your presence. We thank you, Lord, that you have blessed each one of us this time, that we could study from your word. Thank you, Holy Spirit of God, that you are a comforter, but at the same time, you are a teacher. You are teaching each one of us from your word, the revelation, the insights of us, of the word to each of us. Thank you, Lord, that you have enabled us to understand your word and observe the truth so that the truth can set each one of us free. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Father, that just like how Jesus increased in the earthly life in wisdom, knowledge and understanding, same way, Lord. I pray that each of us will increase and grow in your wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Amen. Thank you, Lord. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much for joining in today's session. It is great. And one more thing, I would like to encourage each one of y'all to be online and also the e-learning students. Every Thursday and Friday, we are having mentoring art in the supernatural art, morning 8 to 9 a.m. Request each one of y'all to be part of this, because we have regular students from second year and third year join in, but very few from a first year join in. So request y'all to please be part of the mentoring and the supernatural art on Thursday and Friday, morning 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Indian time. Okay. Thank you. God bless. Have a blessed week.