Gospel of John (Gilliam) - Course Study Guide (Print)

We will look at three things today. First, look at the purpose of the book, second, look briefly at the author of the book and, third, look at some of the main characteristics of the gospel of John. Looking at the book as a whole will help us as we study the book in more detail in the lessons to come over the next few weeks.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

LESSON 1: Introduction – the Gospel of Belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
LESSON 2: Prologue to the Gospel of John (John 1:1-18) . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
LESSON 3: Jesus Begins His Personal Ministry (John 1:19-51) . . . . . . . 13
LESSON 4: Activities of Jesus (John 2) .......................... 18
LESSON 5: The New Birth and the Witness of John (John 3) . . . . . . . . . 24
LESSON 6: A Samaritan Woman and a Jewish Nobleman (John 4) . . . . 31
LESSON 7: Jesus Heals a Lame Man (John 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
LESSON 8: 5,000 Fed and Discourse on Bread of Life (John 6) . . . . . . . 42
LESSON 9: Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
LESSON 10: Conflict with Pharisees and Jews (John 8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
LESSON 11: A Blind Man Healed and More Controversy (John 9) . . . . . . 61
LESSON 12: The Shepherd and His Sheep (John 10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
LESSON 13: Resurrection and Life (John 11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
LESSON 14: The Contrast of Belief and Unbelief (John 12) . . . . . . . . . . . 77
LESSON 15: Jesus Shows Himself to His Disciples (John 13) . . . . . . . . . . 82
LESSON 16: The Discourse at the Table (John 14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
LESSON 17: Abiding in Jesus (John 15) ........................... 93
LESSON 18: The Holy Spirit and Coming Joy (John 16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
LESSON 19: Listening in to Deity – Jesus’ Prayer (John 17) . . . . . . . . . . . 102
LESSON 20: The Beginning of the End (John 18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
LESSON 21: The End of the Beginning (John 19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
LESSON 22: The Historical Resurrection of Jesus (John 20) . . . . . . . . . . . 117
LESSON 23: Appearance of Jesus and Peter Restored (John 21) . . . . . . . . 122
LESSON 24: Review and Summary .............................. 128

INTRODUCTION

The gospel of John has been called the most beautiful book in the entire world. The vocabulary of the gospel of John is simple, and its miracles and lessons from Jesus have delighted people all over the world, both young and old in many different languages and in many different cultures. Yet in some ways it is a very profound book. This book has been described as being compared to a pond in which a child can wade and in which an elephant can swim. When people begin to study the gospel of John, they see that on the surface it seems very simple. It is easy to understand. The language is simple indeed. People that have studied the Greek language always begin their study with the gospel of John or the epistles of John because that language is the most simple in the original language. Those who have tried to learn any foreign languages have found the same experience, that we can read in the gospel of John before we can read perhaps in Luke or in the writings of Paul. Beneath the surface there is a depth there, a profoundness that the most thorough
scholars find a constant challenge to their best efforts. Nevertheless, we would say, “Come on in, the water is fine.”