Christian Quest
Lesson 5
The Beginning of Jesus' Ministry According to John

Reading:
John chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
(Some groups may wish to spread this over more than one study.)

Synopsis

John chapter 1:
Matthew and Luke introduced Jesus from the time of his virginal conception, to his birth, to his baptism, with reference to his genealogical Jewish royal heritage. Matthew traces him from Abraham, the father of Israel. Luke traces him from Adam, the father of humanity in the Scriptures. Except for the story in Luke about the angels appearing to the shepherds when Jesus was born, their emphasis was on Jesus the heir to the throne, king of the Jews, the son of David. The apostle John introduces him as the Son of God, from His beginning with God before creation.

A correlation between the first words in the book of John compared to the first words in the book of Genesis is interesting. The book of Genesis begins with: "In the beginning". The book of John begins with: "In the beginning". According to Genesis, creation came into being by God's word, or in saying: "God said, 'Let there be . . . ." John tells us that the Word was with God in the beginning, and that all things came into being though Him.

In the beginning the Word already was. The Word was in God's presence, and what God was, the Word was. He was with God at the beginning, and through him all things came to be; without him no created thing came into being.--John 1:1-3, Revised English Bible-Oxford edition

Genesis says the beginning of creation was of light:

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.--Gen.1:3

John tells us:

In [the Word] was life, and that life was the light of men.--John 1:4

The apostle John's discussion about John the Baptist is brief, not even mentioning Jesus' baptism. Rather than the events, John's Gospel brings emphasis to the purpose of John the Baptist as being Jesus' forerunner:

He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.--John 1:6-8

Of Jesus' birth, John simply says that "the Word became flesh". And of the four Gospels, it is only in John's account that John the Baptist points to Jesus as being "the Lamb of God".

John moves swiftly in the first chapter to Jesus' ministry. By verse 35 Jesus is already calling disciples.

Chapter 2:
Jesus' first miracle according to John is performed in changing water to wine at a wedding in Cana, which reinforced the faith of his new disciples. He journey's to Jerusalem for the Passover feast where he drove the merchants out of the temple. People in Jerusalem began to believe in him because of the wonders he was performing.

Chapter 3 - the story of Nicodemus:
Nicodemus, a Pharisee and "ruler of the Jews", comes secretly to meet Jesus in the middle of the night. From his words, he and evidently some of the other Pharisees were also thinking Jesus was a teacher from God. Perhaps they wondered if he was the promised Messiah, whom the Jews were expecting to deliver Israel and restore the kingdom of David. Perhaps that is why Jesus explained to Nicodemus that his kingdom was not earthly, but was spiritual, the kingdom of God. Therefore, one must have a spirit birth, born of the water and spirit, to see spiritual things, for flesh cannot enter the spiritual kingdom. (Compare 1 Corinthians 15:35-54)

Note: The word "wind" in verse 8 is translated from the same Greek word as the word "spirit" elsewhere (pneuma). Some translations say "wind blows" in verse 8 and some translations render it "spirit breathes". The word correctly means either spirit or wind.

As disciples began to follow Jesus, they went out also baptizing like John the Baptist. No longer was John the only baptizer. In fact, from the first verses in Chapter 4, Jesus' followers were baptizing more disciples than John.

Chapter 4 - Jesus' ministry grows as he breaks from Jewish ethnic and patriarchal traditions
Here is the account of Jesus witnessing about salvation to a Samaritan woman. This was double jeopardy in his day--a Jew talking to a Samaritan, also a woman. The Samaritans, although descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had been considered foreigners by the Jews in the first century. They were of the stock of the ten tribes that seceded from Judea after King Solomon died. They had mingled to some extent with other nationalities after the split. They established a separate capital, Samaria, with a temple for worship apart from Jerusalem. They were regarded with contempt by Judeans and not even allowed to worship in the temple in Jerusalem. Samaria lay between Galilee on the north and Judea to the south, so many Jews in Galilee would travel around Samaria when they journeyed to Jerusalem for the Jewish festivals. But Jesus journeyed through Samaria, and even witnessed to Samaritans and gained followers from among them. In this, Jesus was making striking departures from the long-held cultural ethnic and gender restrictions of the Jewish tradition. While the Galileans were accepting of his maverick liberalism, mainly because of the miracles they had seen him perform in Jerusalem, things were nevertheless beginning to heat up against him among the staunch religious and political elements in Judea.

Optional research:

• Since Nazareth is not mentioned in prophecy about the Messiah, what do some scholars think is significant about Jesus having been raised there?

Review questions:

• What are some of the similarities between the opening verses in John's Gospel and the opening verses in Genesis?
• Who were the first disciples of Jesus?
• Where was the first miracle performed? What other miracle was later performed there?
• What did Jesus say that caused the Samaritan woman at the well to ask if he was a prophet?
• What is the most interesting thing you learned from this study?

Optional discussion: What is significant about Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus? What similarities are seen with Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15: 35-54?