EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

We just finished The Revelation of Jesus to his apostle John. This is the last book (besides Matthew) of our New Testament study. This was a great way to end this semester I throughly enjoyed it. We studied primarily the view of Amillenialism, which is one way of interpreting the book.

One thing I learned about worship while studying is that our worship cannot match how much God is worthy for worship. This phrase is repeated that God is “worthy” of glory and honor and blessing. He is not just worthy of our best worship, he is worthy of much more than we can possibly give to him in worship.

Another things that I learned was that “the whore” who is the city of Babylon is a representation of impure communities, ungodly nation. In contrast “the bride” who is the new Jerusalem is a representation of the elect – the church and saints. Therefore when I used to read chapter 21-22 I thought the new Jerusalem was a symbolic picture of heaven. This is a symbolic picture of after the resurrection but it is of the saints resurrected and with the Lamb – this is not a description of a place. Beauty described of the city will be our glory as resurrected in Christ.

Revelation confirms and reveals what this current age will look like. What should we expect between Jesus’ ascension and his return. What should we expect? Well, one thing we should expect is that the devil will use antichristian governments, religion and philosophy to attack the church. But we can also expect that he will not be successful ultimately. Sometimes he will kill many believers and seemingly stamp out the church, but it will be figuratively resurrected again. Jesus has supreme power and has ” bound” Satan, but allows him certain freedoms to attack the church. This cycle of bound but loosed continues until the return of Christ when Satan is fully bound cast into the lake of fire. Why is Satan not fully bound now? God wants to save more people from the earth, the gospel is being victorious now. God is seeking the lost sheep at the expense of the “found” sheep, the saints who will be slaughtered. This is not unfair for the saints because the we cannot follow in a different ministry than Jesus had and this was to be slaughtered for our salvation. God leaves the 99 to seek out the 1 lost one – scandalous!

So this was the first time I actually read Revelation all the way through. It was a little challenging, since it was the first time Ive actually studied it, but it was worth it, and I actually understand it a little better now!

John wrote to the seven churches of Asia minor. These churches were experiencing persecution for their faith, some more intensely than others. John writes to each church individually, then gives them the message as a whole. He received this revelation on during a time of persecution he experienced, and he is writing to encourage them in their difficult time. I didnt know much about Revelation before, but when I read it through the first time, not knowing anything about Apocalyptic literature or the background behind the book, I must say it did bring about confusion and, trying to interpret it by myself would bring fear. This is not at all the reaction it was intended to bring. John wrote to encourage the believers in the midst of their suffering to endure. He wanted them to see the HOPE they had in Christ, and how they had NOTHING to fear!

I liked this book especially because it has so much I could learn about the character of Jesus. To see him for who he is was at times frightening, and at other times really encouraging. He always has a message of hope for believers. This made me appreciate my salvation a little bit more, which, I hope, is something I will keep looking back to and learning from.

I have to say this has not been an easy book for me to study!  Revelation gives believers some really good news but unfortunately it also gives those who deny the name of Jesus some really bad news.    I have been wrestling with this because a lot of the people I love don’t love Jesus.  This is always a tricky thing for me but this picture of what is coming for those who chose not to follow Jesus is not making it easier.

The thing is though in this book and in life God gives opportunity after opportunity for people to turn back to him and yet people chose to curse him.  God sends warning after warning and invitations to turn to him.

The problem we face today is that most of us are not bowing down and worshiping Buddha or Allah or a piece of wood but we do have our own internal measuring stick of what we think is good and bad and how we fit on the spectrum.   That is the problem with being a good person.  Jesus never came to save good people and I have a sneaking suspicion that half the people in heaven are probably annoying, down right sinful people.  The only thing they have going for them is that they place their trust and faith in Jesus.

So the problem with judgement is that we think we don’t deserve it and we put God in the evil box when we start talk about him judging evil.

• But what would you do if someone raped your child?  Would you want the person punished?
• What about if someone murdered thousands of innocent people?

See we want a nice God who goes around holding peoples hands and loving everyone yet we get upset at the thought of a God who is willing to judge those who have killed his followers and refuse to believe that he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lord.  Sometimes justice is not “nice” but God is just and good.

For those doubters out there I guess it is true that right now we don’t fully know what will happen but I am willing to put my money on God in this one.  I am not really a big believer in turn or burn evangelism but there are some realities I think.

I hate to break to those of you who think all roads lead to heaven but I am pretty sure this one is a slippery slope too.

So what to do beleivers?  Sit back and gloat that we are on the winning team or get out there and invite others to come join the marriage supper of the Lamb?

I am not even going to touch the whole business with beasts, whores or what happens when.  Really that is not the point.

THE POINT IS: Jesus is the King and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  There is hope if you are willing to look to him!

I was really excited about this book- but I have to say, it’s not what I expected at all! I LOVED it! The Revelations from Jesus were not the typical visions we see in the rest of the Bible- yet they all hold the same message! It is not anything we haven’t read in the rest of the Bible, but this book gives you a new perspective and ignites your imagination.

One main thing I learned from this book was just how GOOD God is! Granted, I will not understand to what extent until we are dwelling together in the new heaven and earth, but this was just a little more enlightening to His goodness. I saw that He was patient and merciful until the end. He gave warnings, ways out, and beckoned the people to turn to Him so they would not get His wrath. Those that ended up receiving His wrath were those that acknowledged Him yet cursed His name and would not repent. It was sad to see the gruesome pictures of what will happen to those who do not believe, but that gave me that much more of a desire to share the gospel with everyone!

Sometimes I look at my life, in its “less than glamourous” moments and I think to myself “why is my life so boring, hard, normal, routine etc.” Then at times I think of some of the lives of the “heroes” of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 and I think “man, how cool were their lives, and why isn’t my life like that at all.” Anyone relate? Interesting though if you actually read Hebrews 11 and think about what is said about the lives of these people the type of sentiment shared above quickly goes away and you begin to see that their lives were much like our own. Hebrews 11 exists to give us a glimpse of what real faith looks like. Its often not even close to what we would like to make it. In reality, the lives of the great saints of old were filled with routine, hardship, suffering, insecurity, fear and normal every day stuff that we experience all the time. For example, Noah builds a boat for 100 years before it rains! wow. I guarantee there were some routinely boring days somewhere along the way. He probably had a day or two where he got up and thought “ok God, is this boat thing really you? ” Abraham, at the direction of God, begins a long term camping trip into a land he’s never seen, to a destination he knows nothing about…alrighty then, try telling that to the parents…”where are you headed tom” asks the parental unit. “well Im not sure, but Im never coming back.” ok, sure. Hebrews 11 pretty much strikes a death blow to the health and wealth prosperity teaching movement…especially when you consider some of the niceties that the faithful received towards the end of the chapter…imprisonments, torment, persecution etc…stuff that tends to get left out of the typical “benefits of faith” teachings I’ve heard in the past.

So, what can we learn from Hebrews 11? I think we can learn foremost that our lives, although at times filled with difficulty, hardship, and routine, are not that far removed from the lives of the great saints. Faith is an every day thing, and that means that it persists even when the lights and glitter of those wonderful high points of our christian experience seem like distant memories. We can endure, pressing onward, as our forerunners did, realizing that there is more to this than we can see, more than we can grasp now, and if we’re asking these questions at all we’re probably on the right track, a track that leads to glory, a glory we’ll share with the risen Christ and the saints of old.

The author of John calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20,24). (In my opinion I think the author of the book of John was in fact John the apostle)

Why does John use this term to refer to himself? Is it arrogant of him to say this? What does it imply?

I don’t think John was arrogant in his use of this statement. It would be arrogant for John to call himself “the disciple who loved Jesus.” But for him to refer to himself as loved by Jesus shows his confidence and identity in the love of Jesus for him. What was it about Jesus that convinced John that he loved him, so much so that it was how John viewed himself? Was it Jesus’ compassion? The time he spent with him?

Jesus defines the greatest love as “greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Most important to John was the love that Jesus showed for him by laying his life down willingly as a sacrifice. John was at the cross when Jesus died (John 19:26). John followed Jesus from the time that he was arrested to his death on the cross. John testified that Jesus knew all these things would happen before hand (John 18:4). He knew that he was to be arrested and tortuously killed. At every point in his arrest, trial, beating, flogging, mocking, and crucifixion Jesus had the power to end the suffering. But Jesus endured it all and at no point changed his mind about how much he loved John. John truly was the disciple whom Jesus loved.

Are you “the disciple whom Jesus loved?”

The Gospel of John has always been one of my favourite books and this time was no exception.

Jesus does crazy stuff that turns the world upside down.  He appeals to my Kiwi sense of adventure and slight desire for danger in my life.

John approaches his gospel in a different way from all the others and has an agenda in mind all the way through.  This is written towards the end of his life and he is living in Ephesus so chances are he was writing to the church in Ephesus with all it’s quirks and history of pagan worship.  He is setting out to show his readers that Jesus really was God and really was a man.

In many ways this message is equally important to us now.  People right Jesus off as a good teacher or a nice guy but the reality is if that is all he is it doesn’t mean much.  However if he truly is God then that makes a huge difference.

Jesus makes several statements about himself:

• I am the light of the world
• I am the gate
• I am the good shepherd
• I am bread of life
• I am the resurrection and the life
• I am the way, the truth and the life
• I am the true vine

In my opinion you would have to try pretty hard to say that Jesus wasn’t God.  He uses Old Testament quote after quote to show the Jews exactly who he was.  Is it any wonder they wanted him dead?

So Jesus is God but he was also a human at the same time.  The Ephesians had a bit of a problem with this because they looked at the world and wondered how anyone who was God would want to dirty his hands and come down into this mess.  Jesus on the other hand because he made this world is ready to get in here and sort things out.  I think this shows the value that he places on physical things.  Jesus was willing to take on a human body.  (He made it and said it was good)  He was willing to die the death necessary to restore humanity to God.

So after reading this book I have no doubt that Jesus is God and that loved us enough to come down here and sort out our mess and get us right with him.   He was willing to live in a human body and this shows us so much about God.  He didn’t pray us out of our mess, he lived and died to get us out of it.

If Christians want to be a witness to this world maybe it is time for us to start living it out.

Are you willing to do the dirty jobs?  Are you willing to live out Christianity in a way that people will look at you and say I want to know your God?

I look at this Jesus and I want to know him!

I AM.

Jesus is I AM.

I’ve learned through this book, that even though my walk with Christ may go through highs and lows, Christ NEVER changes. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the gate. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the bread of life. He is the light of the world. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the true vine. He is I Am.

He is: Jesus, Lord, God, Man, Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, indescribable, uncontainable, Light, Truth, Life, Creator, Father, Christ, Fullness, Awesome, Mighty, Compassionate, Love, Loving, Glory, Purification, New Covenant, Selfless, All-Knowing, Good, Freedom, Powerful, Living Water, God, Forgiver, Strong, Healer, Humble, Servant, Always, Faithful, Unifier, Glorious, Resurrection, Eternal Life, the Way, Joy, Peace, Patient, Sanctifier, Protector, Comforter. He is my King.

Wow. I really enjoyed the gospel of John. It was nice already having done Mark, and then going into another gospel again, to get more out of it. I didnt realize before how different the gospels are from each other! All that to say, I REALLY enjoyed John, and I still want to go back and study about it more!!!

Here we have another book written yet again to the Ephesian church. John writes to them so that they will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing they will find life (John 20:31). John focuses on Jesus throughout the book to prove to them that Jesus is the Messiah. He also combats Gnostic false teaching that the Ephesian church is mixing in with their Christianity as well. John shows them through Jesus’ life, his own testimony, and the testimony of others who knew Jesus, that Jesus was the Messiah. John follows the journey of the people with Jesus who struggled to understand that Jesus was showing them he was the Messiah. These people struggled with unbelief and their image of who they thought Jesus was (or should be) just as the Ephesian church is struggling in their view of who Jesus was. John clarifies their muddled understanding with a clear view of who Jesus Christ was. John proves with mind boggling evidence that shocked the Jews, amazed the disciples, and angered the Pharisees that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.

The gospel of John revealed to me a little more of the real Jesus who I thought I knew. I was awed by his incredible humility, serving, and love. It impressed me how Jesus loved his enemies, just as much as he loved his friends. A specific example is when Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Judas is there as well and Jesus washes his feet, right before he goes out to betray him. Jesus knew what was going to happen, yet he shows love for Judas who hated him and was going to get him arrested. It is clearer to me now how much Jesus’ love was an action. He showed he loved people through his actions.  This inspired me to do the same, to imitate his amazing example.

I feel like this blog barely scratches the surface of the amazing riches I learned from the gospel of John! I feel like I barely dug into the richness myself, and I am looking forward to studying it more (in all my free time haha!)

I think it would be fair to say that without the gift of hospitality the gospel may have never gone forth with such power in the 1st century.  But how do we see hospitality now?  We can easily reduce hospitality to a cup of tea with friends or having someone from church over for dinner.

Hospitality  in the first century church was a whole different story.  If a travelling teacher came through a town (often unknown to the church) then the church members had a responsibility to give them accommodation, provide for their needs and even send them on with a letter of recommendation to friends in the next place they went to.    Soon a stranger became a friend.

John writes to Gaius in 3rd John commending him on his faithfulness to the truth and for showing hospitality to friends who had passed through.  He contrasts this with Diotrephes who was not willing to extend hospitality to strangers and was even kicking people out of the church for wanting to do so.    John encourages Gaius that by helping these travelling teachers out he is becoming a co-worker with them in seeing the gospel spread.

So how can we show hospitality to strangers today and what does this mean for missions? 

We can become partners with missionaries around the world – no just giving money and thinking our job is done but praying for them and showing them that we love and care about how they are doing.   As someone who has been a missionary for several years those notes and words of encouragement can really be a blessing. 

 Not all can go but all can be co-workers in seeing the gospel message preached.

As I was thinking about this book I was thinking about how we tend not to let strangers into our lives so easily.  I was thinking how we could make this hospitality more practical. 

Did you know the USA has over 500,000 children in foster care.  As believers are we willing to get involved in the lives of these children and showing them what a loving home and parents can look like?

When I was hungry, you fed me;

When I was homeless, you gave me room;

When I was shivering, you gave me clothes;

Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me – you did it to me – Jesus

John was a very old man at the writing of these two letters: 2 John and 3 John. He was probably almost 80 years old and living outside of Palestine – in present day Turkey. He was also probably the last surviving apostle, most or all of the others were martyrs. I’m going to talk about 2 John because I focused on this book for my studies.

John wrote to a church in the area to warn them of false teachers who were traveling through the empire. These teachers were gnostics, who believed that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh. They thought that Jesus and Christ were two separate beings. Jesus was a human man of piety and wisdom and that Christ was a divine spirit. Christ came upon Jesus when he was baptized by John the Baptizer and left Jesus again before he suffered on the cross. John warns the believers that believing this teaching will forfeit their full reward.

Specifically John wants the church to not provide hospitality to these “deceivers” when they roll into town. It was common etiquette to extend hospitality to strangers in Greek culture. The host would provide food and shelter and may even send the guest off with a gift when they left. The reputation of the entire community would be at risk if strangers were not taken in. Hotels were not anything like what we have today: they were dirty and dangerous places where one might be robbed or even murdered. Many New Testament writers (Paul and the author of Hebrews) instruct believers to extend hospitality to strangers.

Why the does John tell the believers to not give hospitality to false teachers? Doesn’t Jesus instruct his followers to love their enemies?

In verse 11, John explains that welcoming a false teacher and supporting them is participating in their false teaching. John is concerned for other believers that these false teachers will reach if they receive support from the church. Their teaching was destroying the faith of other believers – how then is supporting the false teachers a loving act to their brothers and sisters who would be deceived?

3 John 8 “Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become co-workers with the truth.” When we support someone then it is as if we are the ones working on whatever they are working on. This can be a wonderful truth when we support noble work or an ugly truth when we support those doing ignoble endeavors.

The biggest message I got out of 3 John is: walk in the Truth through hospitality and love. As Christians, our actions need to match our words. If people cannot see the Truth lived out in our lives, they will not really know, understand, or accept the Truth. We can show them Christ’s love through hospitality and support- whether welcoming brothers and sisters with open arms, opening our home to them, supporting them through prayers, or supporting them financially. How to love, support, and be hospitable will change with every person- but I pray that you look for ways to live out the Truth in your own life.