Z—Zebedee's Son

Journey through the Gospel of John with rookie bloggers seeking to honor their good friend, Tina Downey.

In the final post about this gospel, we will consider its author: Zebedee's son, John.

The final chapter opens with seven disciples hanging out together. As usual, though John is clearly present, he avoids naming himself.

Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 

John and his brother James are "the sons of Zebedee," they had been fishing partners with Simon Peter prior to their interactions with Jesus.

None of the other gospels explicitly state who they are authored by. And John seems to follow this practice in his gospel. He simply refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved."  John doesn't seem to do this to make himself out to be more important than others, but to emphasize that love was Jesus' primary mode of interaction. In fact, John seems more focused on emphasizing the disciple Peter than promoting himself.

One example of this is in this chapter, where John relates how Peter is reinstated to a place of ministry, being told three times by Jesus, "feed my sheep." After relating Jesus' prophecy about Peter's faithfulness to the point of death, John clarifies what Jesus said about his own future. Apparently, he was writing to discredit rumors that he wouldn't die.

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them...When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" —John 21:20-23

Here John clarifies that he is the one who writes the gospel, emphasizing that he is an eye-witness.

This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. —John 21:24

John seems to stress the authenticity of his testimony because it undergirds his purpose in recording the facts about Jesus' ministry.

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.—John 20:30-31  

By believing you may have life in his name.

N—Never without Hope

Journey through the Gospel of John with rookie bloggers seeking to honor their good friend, Tina.

Chapter 11 narrates the last—and perhaps most dramatic—sign that John records: the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

Once again, Jesus' unique interactions with the individuals in the story are of particular interest. The people highlighted here are the family at Bethany:
"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus."

Martha
Martha is known principally from the story told in Luke 10. There she complains about her sister, who isn't helping with the work of hosting Jesus and his companions.  We see her "distracted by all the preparations."  And often sympathize with the loving rebuke she receives from our Lord.  "Martha, Martha...you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed..."

But in John 11, this sister is portrayed more positively. Martha's propensity for activity is seen in how she rushes to meet Jesus.  She is the one to whom the Lord reveals what he is going to do, "Your brother will rise again." She is the one, to whom Jesus pronounces:   "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."   And she is among the seven witnesses in this gospel who testify to Jesus' divinity, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." 

Mary

There is a  marked difference in the way Jesus deals with her sister.

In this story, expressive Mary looks a lot like Martha. Both sisters greet Jesus in the same way, saying: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."  But Mary's grief is more pronounced, Mary is weeping and "falls at his feet."  Jesus responds to her in kind, and is moved in His spirit, He weeps. His emotional response is so strong that the crowd comments on how much He loved Lazarus. But there is a real sense that it is Mary and the mourners that He is responding to.

Both of these grieving sisters feel that their situation has moved beyond hope because of their limited expectations.  They both felt that it was too late for Him to help. To practical Martha, Jesus sought to expand her understanding of His power. With sensitive Mary, Jesus empathizes and weeps. 

Lazarus
Jesus' beloved friend seems the most hopeless of all.  Bound in grave clothes and entombed for four days, what could seem more pointless? Martha, practical Martha, tries to dissuade Jesus from having the stone moved away from the cave where Lazarus had been lain.

"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone...Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."  Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.  —John 11:39-45

Imagine the shock and the joy of this family!  They had put their hope in the idea that Jesus would act to restore Lazarus before he died. They were now just beginning to understand that they could trust in the person of Jesus and all that HE IS. They were just beginning to glimpse that He Himself was "the resurrection and the life."


Us
Jesus is ready to meet us right where we are at. He sees the challenges in our lives and knows our need. We are NEVER without hope when we hold on to Jesus. We just might see Him work in ways that are outside of the box of our expectations.

Have you seen Jesus work in surprising ways?

I—"I AM"

Journey through the Gospel of John from A to Z with rookie bloggers who are seeking to honor their good friend, Tina.

We now come to Chapter 6 in our Journey through John—a chapter full of activity and discourse, hope and disappointment, enthusiasm and abandonment

Two more signs open this chapter: the feeding of the 5,000, and Jesus walking on water and overtaking his disciples in their boat.

These are two incredible signs!  Surprisingly, they do not lead to faith.  When the crowd approaches Jesus, they ask him to perform another sign and remind him that Moses gave their forefathers manna.  Perhaps they are hinting at a desire to be fed again—maybe they wanted something more than ordinary bread, or to be fed regularly, or on a larger scale.

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. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life..."I tell you the truth, it is not Moses ...but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world"...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....I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.  Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  (John 6:26 ff.)

This is the first of seven I AM declarations in the gospel of John.  Each of these statements assert the divinity of Jesus by echoing the name that Jehovah gave to Moses, "I Am."  But they go further; each reveals something of Christ and our relationship to Him.

Here again, Jesus presents Himself as the Lifegiver, the source of eternal life.  Here again, we are called to belief.

The crowd swings from wanting to make Jesus king when their bellies are full to abandoning Him when their appetites aren't catered to.

 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.  
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."  John 6:66-69

What about you?  Will you follow after the words of eternal life?

H—Healing

Journey through John from A to Z with rookie bloggers who are seeking to honor their good friend, Tina.

After recording Jesus' encounters with Nicodemus and with the woman at the well, John relates two healings with very different results.

First, Jesus meets an official who is concerned about his dying son.  Desperate, the father begs Jesus to come and heal his son.  Jesus challenges the father to believe, and then tells him his son has been healed.  When the father returns home, he learns that his son had been healed, from a distance, just when Jesus had pronounced him well.  His faith is reinforced by this grace, and he and his whole household believe. John clarifies that this was Jesus' second sign, a miracle intended to point to Jesus as Messiah.

Next, Jesus heals a lame man who had been sitting beside the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, hoping for a cure. Surprisingly, not even the invalid that is healed expresses faith in Jesus; instead he seems resentful toward Jesus, who cautions him to stop sinning. This is the third sign in the gospel, but the cure occurs on the Sabbath and leads to persecution from the Jewish rulers rather than to faith.  

Here Jesus explains that He works on the Sabbath because His Father works on the Sabbath.  He also makes clear that He is able to heal because He gives life and that ultimately He gives eternal life that conquers the grave.

"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 
... "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does... For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.  ..."I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life...I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live...For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 
.... For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.  (John 5:17-36)

Every one of us chooses how we will respond to the life-giving power of Jesus.  And the two possible choices will lead to very different results.