Remain.Love.Become.

A Discipleship Journey through John’s Gospel

Pt. 1

Sunday September
12th, 19th, & 26th @at 9am
 Background on John’s Gospel
• Not a “Synoptic”
No parables and lots of
analogies.
Structure of John2
• Not primarily Chronological,
but is selective history of
The Prologue (1:1-18) Jesus is the Word,
Jesus (20:31)
the Light, and the Life - full of Grace and Truth.
Ancient biography introduced themes at beginning…
• Emphasizes Jesus’ Cornelius Nepos lived in the 1st century B.C. Is the
replacement of the Temple earliest.
and the Sacred Feasts of Plutarch in the 40’s-50’s AD, and Imperial biographies of
Judaism. Galba and Otho.

• Likely written in Ephesus by The Book of 7 Signs (1:19-12:50) He

John or is a collection of changes water to wine, prophetically
“Johannine” teachings on “cleanses” the Temple, heals the nobleman’s
Jesus (80-90AD).1
son, heals the lame, feeds the multitude, heals
the blind, raises Lazarus to life again - finally,
Jesus the Messiah is rejected by the Jewish
community (12:37-50).
It is interesting that John records several stories from the
Synoptics that he doesn’t actually tell. The assumption is
that his readers already have access to them. One notable
A LEAF OF JOHN’S GOSPEL IS account is John 1:42. John records a pre-conversion
THE EARLIEST NT MANUSCRIPT interaction between the disciples and Jesus.
IN EXISTENCE. SCHOLARS
REFER TO THIS FRAGMENT AS
PAPYRUS #52. IT CONTAINS The Book of His Glory: Jesus prepares
ABOUT 5 VERSES FROM JOHN
to suffer and prepares his disciples for his
departure (13:1-20). The New Covenant
people are “cleansed” and instructed, the
Messiah must suffer and be glorified, the
resurrected Jesus must reveal himself to his
disciples and they must witness his signs.

Epilogue (21)

1. Andreas Kostenberger, “John,” in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, vol. 2, ed. Clinton E. Arnold
(Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2002), 4-12.

2. Kostenberger, “John,” 22.
 This week we are going to The Marks of a Superficial Follower
examine John’s use of the term
“Remain” as it relates to
discipleship. THOSE WHO
F OL L OW J ESUS OUT
O F CURIOSITY
1. Disciples are Christ-followers,
• Jesus is an interesting
not Christ-admirers. religious figure - a compelling
rabbinic celebrity. These
Jn 6:56 The one who eats my people observe the good rabbi as he
“flesh” and drinks my “blood” teaches, heals, and transforms the lives of people
remains in me and I in him. around them. However, they never really translate
this curious observation to committed obedience to
the Master’s way.
The issue here is the existential
identification of the believer with Christ.3
That is, the believer is a “partaker” of T H O S E W H O F O L L OW
Jesus’ life giving sacrifice. His very J ES US WI T H FAL SE
existence and identity is tethered to Jesus’ E X P E C TAT I O N S
death and resurrection.
• Judas would be an example of this
Many in the crowd abandoned Jesus at this kind of follower. These followers
harsh and cryptic statement. In the tend to imagine a Jesus that doesn’t
really exist. He may be the political
column on the right, let’s examine some revolutionary, or the “rebel without a
ways that the crowd showed themselves cross.” In their minds, Jesus should
to be superficial followers of Jesus. embrace their political point of view,
their social cause, or their inclusivist theology. They
Notes:
remake Jesus in their image. But Jesus will not be
remade. He demands that we follow him on his own
terms.

THOSE WHO
F OL L OW J ES US W ITH
S E L F I S H IN T E RESTS
• This kind of follower becomes
addicted to Jesus’ provision or
miracles. They desire an endless
string of signs from the Galilean
wonder-worker. Whether it be the miracle hungry
crowd or the credential seeking clerics, these
followers only see Jesus as a one stop messianic shop.
In their view, Jesus only exists to placate and coddle
the immediate needs of the individual.

3. Kostenberger, “John,” 161.

 2. Disciples practice a long obedience in the same
direction.4

Jn 8:31 Then Jesus said to the Jews

who believed in him, “If you continue
(remain) in my teaching, then you
are truly my disciples; 32 and you
will know the truth and the truth
will set you free.”

Jesus said that the hallmark of true discipleship was a lifelong commitment to his instruction and his way. The end result of
this “remaining” in his teaching was freedom. Below we will explore barriers to remaining in Jesus’ teaching for the long haul.

The text says that the Jews “believed” on Jesus. Yet, Jesus appears to pick a fight with them. Apparently, Jesus was not
convinced that their belief was genuine or true.

Here are the key features of defective belief5

A FA I TH T HAT I S CH ARAC T ERI Z ED BY TO KEN AG R E E M E N T

• (8:32-36). This kind of faith does not set the heart free. Jesus stated instead that we
would “know the truth and the truth will make you free...Very truly I tell you, everyone who
commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave doesn’t have a permanent place in his father’s house;
the son has a place forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” Jesus is
distinguishing between the appearance of sonship and actual sonship.

A FA I TH IN O N E’S R E L I G I O U S PEDIGREE
•(8:37-45). Jesus challenges the faith they placed in their heritage. He states that he
knows Abraham is their father (biologically). But Abraham was not their father
spiritually. Jesus revealed that they were not children of God - but belonged to
another family - The devil. Harsh words! But Jesus defines defective faith as any
attempt to prop yourself up based on your religious ancestry. One is not made a
disciple by remaining in Jesus. Rather, remaining in Jesus’ teaching is evidence of genuine faith.

A FA I TH T HAT I S EAS I LY D I S C A R D E D WH E N CORRECTED

• (8:45-46, 47, 48-52). Jesus corrects these disciples by pointing out that they are still
slaves to sin, still members of the wrong family, failing to love him deeply, and failing
to believe (45-46). He stated, “because I tell you truth, you refuse to believe me.”

4. Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000).



5. Michael Wilkins, Following the Master: A Biblical Theology of Discipleship (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 228.
 3. Disciples are transformed by the Spirit

Jn 14:10“ Do you not believe that I am in

the Father and the Father is in me? The
words that I say to you I do not speak on
my own; but the Father who dwells (remains)
in me does his work...17 This is the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
You know him, because he abides (remains)
with you, and he will be in you.

At this point the Spirit of God had been with them, empowering
them for service and mission (Mt 10). But the disciples had not yet
received the baptism of the Spirit as an inward spiritual
transformation of the heart.

What will the Spirit do in the life of the Disciple?

D I S C I P L E S A R E BORN FROM AB OV E
• Jn. 3:5 - Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what
is born of the Spirit is spirit...8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the
sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with
everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

T H E D I S C I P L E S W I L L H AV E A N E W ADVO C AT E
• Jn 14:26 - “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
• The term paraclete means advocate - not counselor or comforter. It was used in a
legal or forensic sense in the first century.7

T H E S P I R I T W I L L CORROBORATE JESUS’ CLAIMS

• John 15:26 - “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the
Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.13 When the
Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his
own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to
come.”

7. Henry George Liddell, and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Rev. by Henry Stuart Jones
and Roderick McKenzie (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), 1313.
4. Disciples experience an organic connection with Jesus -
the True Vine.
Jn 15:4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as
the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless
it abides in the vine, neither can you unless
you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the
branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can
do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is
thrown away like a branch and withers; such
branches are gathered, thrown into the fire,
and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that
you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has
loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

What it means to be connected to Jesus?

I T IS CH O O S I N G TO ABI DE AND NOT TO AB AN DON

• (v.4). “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.”
The condition that Jesus lays out here is to actively remain in Christ, in order to
avoid being “burned” by the Vine Dresser (the Father).

I T IS CH O OS I NG A PRODUCTIVE LIFE RATHER THAN A

A POINTLESS LIFE
• (v.6). The alternative to productivity as a disciple is being consumed. The false
disciple who doesn’t really have the Spirit abiding in their heart will produce little to
nothing for Jesus.

I T IS CH O OS I NG TO R E M A I N IN HIS LOVE 8
• (v.9) Those who remain in Jesus’ love will demonstrate this through their obedience
to Jesus’ commands and instruction.

8. Michael Wilkins, Following the Master, 224-228. This outline for the class was inspired by Dr. Wilkins’ emphasis on
these three critical features of discipleship from John’s Gospel: remaining in Christ’s teaching, loving one another, and bearing fruit
for the Kingdom.
 Going Deeper
1. The image of the vine is used of Israel throughout the Old Testament. During the time of Jesus,
the Temple was adorned with a giant golden vine symbolizing this. Coins made during the first
Jewish revolt (A.D. 66-70) featured a vine and branches as a symbol of Jerusalem.

Read Psalm 80:14-19, Isaiah 5:1-7, (see also Jeremiah 2:21, Ezekiel 15, and Hosea 10:1-2).

According to these two passages, what did God do for Israel?

What did God expect from Israel?

How did Israel respond?

What kinds of things did God say He was going to do because of Israel’s unfaithfulness?

2. What does Jesus say about Himself in John 15:1?

The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) contains the same phrase of “true
vine” in Jeremiah 2:21that Jesus uses of Himself in John 15:1.

Read Psalm 80:14-19. Next, read Hosea 11:1 in light of Matthew 2:13-15.

In light of these passages and the information listed above, what is Jesus’ relationship to Israel
and God?

3. Read John 15:1-8.

If God’s people are now constituted in and around Jesus, what is Jesus’ message to His disciples
in these verses?

How do you see that people become part of God’s family in these verses? What is the
requirement for all who would follow Jesus and be God’s true people according to these verses?

What significance does this have for you in your life and the circumstances you find yourself in
right now? How can you remain in the teaching of the Messiah, the True Vine?