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John--Behold the Lamb of God

CONNIE: Are Christians supposed to be fishermen, or are they supposed to be shepherds? Or wait—are we supposed to be sheep? Join us today as we consider Jesus’ instructions in the book of John.
Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. Connie as we look at the book of John today, we’re looking at a Gospel that tells the story of Jesus quite differently from the other three Gospels. It focuses more on Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem and Judea than on the events farther north in the province of Galilee.

CONNIE: And I suppose it’s natural to expect that the teachings John focuses on might be different because of the different circumstances.

LONNIE: Well that’s right. Much of the teaching we find in John’s Gospel comes near the end of Jesus’ earthly life—when He is preparing the disciples for life after His ascension. And because the teaching often takes place around the temple in Jerusalem, rather than the lake in Galilee, the images Jesus uses are also different.

CONNIE: Well, I remember that when Jesus first called Peter and Andrew and James and John up by the Sea of Galilee, He told them He would make them into “fishers of men.” Is that different in John?

LONNIE: We’ll be looking at that question in a little more depth in my sermon today, but in brief, the answer is yes—John focuses more on sheep and shepherding—reminding us that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and that He is also the Good Shepherd.

CONNIE: So, maybe there’s no simple answer to the question of whether Christians are to be sheep, shepherds, or fishermen.

LONNIE: I think we all need to have a little of each in our repertoire—don’t you?

CONNIE: Probably so—the fisherman to gather people into the kingdom net, the shepherd, to feed and tend the flock, and we all need to be self-sacrificing like Jesus the Lamb of God as well.

LONNIE: Very true. And now as we begin our study of the Gospel of John, we’ve invited Professor John Jones of La Sierra University to share with us. He spoke with Ken Wade.

CONNIE: Let’s listen.

KEN: Dr. John Jones, welcome to our broadcast today.

JOHN: Hi, it’s good to be with you Ken.

KEN: We welcome you from the campus of La Sierra University where you teach in the school of religion New Testament Department and appreciate your taking some time to talk with us about one of our favorite gospels, the gospel of John. Tell me a little bit; what is unique, what’s especially interesting about this gospel?

JOHN: There is so much, but I suppose the first thing that comes to mind is the greatly exalted picture we get of Jesus isn’t it?

KEN: Yeah.

JOHN: After all, we here see the veil lifted on eternity past and the fact that Jesus is acknowledged at the end of the gospel explicitly as being God Himself.

KEN: Thomas’s confession, “My Lord and My God.” Amazing thing. Now what do you mean by “the veil is lifted on eternity past”?

JOHN: In the beginning was the word and participated in the creation. The other gospels rightly start with the human side but here’s John starting with the divine.

KEN: It’s almost like John has had more time to think about it isn’t it? By the time he writes his gospel.

JOHN: That’s true. There’s good evidence that this is the last of the four biblical gospels written, and by that time the church had ripened, I think, into a fuller understanding.

KEN: I can almost picture John at a very ripe old age, sitting back and thinking, “Well, now what did all this mean? You know, I’ve had such a life. I started out as a fisherman and I was going to stay by the Sea of Galilee all my life and look what’s happened to me.” What’s the meaning of all of this? And then writing it out in his gospel.

JOHN: That’s exactly what’s going on and he’s wrestling with faith and how faith gets started there.

KEN: You know, another thing I notice in particular is how he uses the metaphor of sheep and shepherding a lot whereas the other gospels tend to refer more to fish and fishing.

JOHN: Yes, again John probably represents a time when the church’s life had turned the corner away from a sheer focus on evangelism to nurturing and taking good care of their people.

KEN: Teaching and feeding, the last story in the book--of course in John ten Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd--but then in the last chapter you have this story with Peter where He goes over and over, “Feed my sheep, feed my lambs.”

JOHN: John must have had one eye on the current situation in his own church in his day when he needed that three times.

KEN: Now, another thing that comes up a lot is the issue of faith. How do people come to faith because in the beginning of the book in chapter one verse twelve we’re told that as many as believed, to them He gave the privilege of being children of God. At the end he says, “I’ve written this so that you would believe.” What is the source, the root of belief, of faith?

JOHN: Ultimately for John it’s the witness of the spirit in our lives. The miracles are a vehicle, but they are not themselves the sole complete ground of faith. Faith sees through the signs and John has his reason for calling miracles signs in order to bring out the theological significance behind the miracles.

KEN: Okay, so John doesn’t have as many miracles in it as the other gospels, does it?

JOHN: That’s right. He has carefully selected what appears to be seven if, we count correctly, and strung them together as typical cases in point. Each one having its own lesson, but John wants in each case to show us how faith moves beyond the sensational to the words and interpretation that Jesus gives His miracles.

KEN: So as Jesus works a miracle; for instance the first one at the wedding of Cana at Galilee, the disciples saw this and they believed because of that. I think there is a progression beyond that isn’t there?

JOHN: There is. That probably means that they began to believe and they had a lot more growing to do didn’t they?

KEN: Yeah. Now, how did Jesus respond to people? In John, does He come across always as tender, meek and mild?

JOHN: We usually think of Him that way in the book of John, don’t we? But there are some pretty harsh moments where He comes off as judgmental. We just need to remember that there’s a difference in that culture and ours. John’s use of the word, the “Jews” doesn’t justify anti-Semitism on our part at all. After all, all of them were Jews, weren’t they?

KEN: Yeah.

JOHN: John is simply using that expression as a kind of a symbol or cipher for the religious or political believers of the day.

KEN: So Jesus has some rough moments with these people. Of course as we know, leading up to His crucifixion. As you look at the entire flow of the book of John we’ve got maybe another thirty seconds or so here, how would you sum up what John would like us to take away from reading his book?

JOHN: He’d like us to see the first half of the book as the book of signs, but the second half from chapters twelve or thirteen onward as the book of glory. To show us how the glory is hidden even in the earthly Jesus. That’s part of the paradox of the kingdom for John.

KEN: Okay.

JOHN: Signs contain glory but you need the eyes of spiritual insight to really see it don’t you?

KEN: To really see the uplifted Christ, you mention from twelve on and he says, in chapter twelve, isn’t that where he says, “If I be lifted up will draw all men to myself?”

JOHN: What a funny strange paradox of being lifted up on the cross and that one moment at the same time, the greatest humiliation and the greatest exaltation.

KEN: Oh, well there’s a lot of contrasts in the book of John aren’t there? A wonderful message. Well, thank you Dr. John Jones. I really appreciate your insights and I hope our listeners will just want to run out and read the gospel of John.

JOHN: We couldn’t ask for anything better.

KEN: Thanks again.

JOHN: Thank you.

LONNIE: The Gospel of John brings us a very exalted view of Jesus. It’s the Gospel that helps us understand that Jesus has always been our Savior—that He has been in existence for all eternity.

CONNIE: And we just heard the King’s Heralds singing “Let Us Exalt His Name,” a song composed by one of our Voice of Prophecy musicians from a few years ago, Jim Teel

LONNIE: We’ll be focusing on the book of John throughout our program today, and we want to encourage you to focus on it as well, so why not call our toll-free number and request a pocket edition of the Gospel of John.

CONNIE: That toll-free number is 1-800-872-0055, and you can use it any time of day. Be sure to ask for the NIV Gospel of John when you call.

LONNIE: You can also write to us of course, and we’ll give the address a bit later. Or contact us via the Internet by visiting our web page at www.VOP.com or writing to gospel@VOP.com.
When you stop by our web page, please take a moment to click on the “Free Bible Guides” tab. That’s where you’ll find access to our online Bible school and the Discover Bible Course. We don’t mind telling you that one of the main reasons we’re on the radio is to encourage people to study their Bibles on their own.

CONNIE: That’s why you hear us talk about the Discover Bible Course so often. You can enroll in this free course either by calling us, writing us, or by visiting our web page, so we hope you’ll do that real soon if you haven’t already.
LONNIE: You’ll find the lessons interesting, easy to do, and very informative. So check it out today at www.VOP.com.

CONNIE: And right now let’s listen to Lonnie’s message for today, “Behold the Lamb of God.”

Behold the Lamb of God

As we look at the Gospel of John today, I invite you to think back to the time when it was written. And think about the man who wrote it.

We’re never told within the Gospel who the author is. But there are little hints and clues. Like in the opening story, when two disciples of John the Baptist hear John say “Behold the Lamb of God,” and just that quickly decide to follow Him. One of the disciples’ name is given—it’s Andrew, brother of Simon Peter. But the other one remains anonymous. We know from the other Gospels that Andrew and Simon had two brothers for Partners: James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

There are other clues as well. Throughout the Gospel, there’s one anonymous character, called the disciple whom Jesus loved. He’s very close to Jesus, and we know from the other Gospels that this would need to be Peter, James, or John. And it seems that the author uses this term to refer to himself.

But perhaps the strongest clue comes at the end of the Gospel, when there’s a discussion about whether Jesus promised to return to earth before the death of this particularly beloved disciple. The way the Gospel closes helps to clinch the argument in favor the disciple John as the author, because we know from other sources that John lived longer than any of the other disciples. So it would be natural for that question to be of particular concern to John, and for him to include that discussion at the end of his story of Jesus.

So, we can picture the author, as a very old man, sitting down one day, thinking back over his life, and trying to decide, Just what is it that I ought to tell the world about Jesus? Just what did it really mean to me to spend most of my life as His disciple?

Picture him—thinking back to that day—maybe nearly 70 years earlier—when he and his friend Andrew had first followed Jesus. Why did I follow Jesus in the first place? he asks himself. And what has it all meant?

And so he sits down to write it out—to provide future generations with an understanding of Jesus that will win souls to the Savior.

While the other three Gospels introduce us to Jesus largely through what He did—healing people, teaching in parables, preaching to large crowds—John chooses to focus more on individual conversations of Jesus, smaller events I suppose you could say.

There’s the brief interaction with His first disciples in chapter 1, another quick vignette as He responds to His mother at the wedding in Cana in chapter 2. Then there’s the wonderful chapter 3, where Jesus has an extended conversation with Nicodemus—the crucial story that helps us to understand Jesus’ mission and sacrifice. It includes that most precious of verses, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Chapter 4 shares Jesus’ extended dialog with the woman at the well, and chapters 5-12 also contain fairly long discourses—mainly between Jesus and some of His opponents. Chapters 13-16 are devoted to Jesus’ teaching of His disciples just before His crucifixion, then chapter 17 records the Son of God’s long “phone call” home to His heavenly Father. And chapters 20 and 21 record Jesus’ intimate interaction with His disciples after His resurrection.

John has chosen to introduce us to Jesus largely through His interaction with individuals and small groups. And it’s at the end of His Gospel that it all comes together in one very touching conversation with Simon Peter. The purpose of Jesus’ life, His whole mission, may be summed up in this simple conversation, recorded in John 21:15-17.

You probably already know the story. It comes after Jesus’ death and resurrection. After Peter’s boasting that he would never forsake Jesus—and then his triple denial that he is a disciple. Jesus sits quietly on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, beside His dear fishermen friends, and He looks at Peter and asks the question that will make all the difference in the world: “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” (John 21:15, NKJV). Three times Jesus asks the question of Simon Peter: “Do you love Me?”

Peter had denied His Lord three times, and now Jesus gives him the chance to declare his love three times. The story demonstrates the amazing compassion of our Savior, don’t you think? He doesn’t come after Peter and say “Well, what about it, tough guy—you didn’t really come through on your promise to stick with me, did you? What went wrong out there, anyhow?”

No, Jesus simply comes back to Peter and invites him to consider and reaffirm his love, once for each of the denials. And that’s a real encouragement to me. Because I fail the Lord too, just as Peter did. I fail to speak up in Jesus’ defense. I fail to stand true to Him. But thank God, He comes to me each time and asks that question, “Do you love me?” and He gives me the chance to come back to Him and say “Yes, Lord, you know I love You, and I’m going to let the world see that in the way I live.”

But now I’d like you to notice what Jesus said to Peter after Peter had declared His love—each of the three times:
“ ‘Feed My lambs’ ” (John 21:15, NKJV).
“ ‘Tend My sheep ” (John 21:16, NKJV).
“ ‘Feed My sheep’ ” (John 21:17, NKJV).
There’s a very important message here for the big, burly fisherman Peter.

Because, you see, after the terrible events in Jerusalem, when Peter had declared his undying devotion to Jesus, only to end up denying Him; and after the crucifixion, even after the resurrection and the first appearances of Jesus in Jerusalem—after all that, Peter didn’t know what to do with Himself. Even after Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission found at the end of Matthew:

“ ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’ ” (Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV).

Even after that, Peter didn’t seem to know what to do next—how to apply all the things Jesus had taught him. And so he went back to fishing—the life he had known before he met Jesus.

So, in the story we find in John 21, Jesus finds Peter and the others down by the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus provides a miraculous catch of fish for them. Jesus even went so far as to prepare breakfast for His friends. And then He dropped the bombshell. “Peter,” he says—in effect—“You know what? You’re not a fisherman anymore. You’re a shepherd now!”

Remember, when Jesus called Peter and his brother by Galilee, He said “ ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’ ” (Mark 1:17, NKJV).

Peter has learned to be a fisher of men—he’s learned how to gather people into the Gospel net. But now Jesus says, if you really love Me, there’s something else you need to learn to do. You need to learn to love and care for My sheep—the people who have been gathered in.

You see, there’s a big difference between what a fisherman does with his catch and what a shepherd does with his flock.

In John 10, Jesus referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd—the One who cares about His flock and lays down His life for them—the One whom the sheep know and trust and follow. He’s not the “good fisherman,” casting a net and dragging His catch to their death. He’s the caring, compassionate shepherd.

And that’s the new role Jesus has for Peter at the end of John’s Gospel.

Because, you see, John’s Gospel is all about a loving Savior. One who loves a man like John—who was originally known as one of the two “sons of thunder”! Jesus is a Savior who wraps His arms of love around His little lambs, who provides for their needs—who anoints their heads with oil.

It’s through the individual interaction with people that Jesus has changed men like John from rough-and-ready to gentle and caring. John tells us little about what Jesus said or did on the cross, but he’s the only one who tell us about Jesus and His mother on that day—how Jesus spoke to him—John—and committed the care and keeping of His mother to him. Jesus was being the Good Shepherd, even as He drew His dying breaths.

And Peter, the rough and ready fisherman, needs to learn to be like his Savior.

Just as John has been softened, subdued, and taught to love through his association with the Savior.

As John sits back—at the end of a long and exciting life as a follower of Jesus—and considers what it all meant, he harks back to that first day when he met Jesus.

Jesus was introduced to him as the Lamb of God.

And now John knows Him not as just the Lamb of God, but as the Shepherd as well.

And John wants to draw us into the fold—into the loving, caring, warmth and protection of the fold—the place where Jesus keeps His flock. The place where Jesus will give His all for us.

He invites you in. He invites me in. And then He invites us to go out and bring in our own flock, by inviting others to come to Jesus as well.

He says to you and me, Behold the Lamb of God—the One who gave His life that we might have eternal life. He invites us—become one of the flock—come under the tender care of the Lamb who is also the Shepherd. Be one of His little lambs.

And then, let Him teach you how to become a shepherd, too—gathering others into His fold.