Why Did John Write This Letter?

Here's a question we don't have to guess the answer(s) to! John explicitly states his reasons for writing this letter within the letter. All you have to do is skim through the letter and underline any phrases that have to do with writing or not writing. The phrases will be something like: these things we write, I am not writing, I am writing, I am writing to you, etc. The NASB, NIV, RSV, and NLT all have similar wording. If you use The Message, you'll get a few fewer reasons than from the other versions because of the way Eugene Peterson translated some of the phrases, but what you do get will adequately answer the question: Why did John write this letter?

Once you've underlined all the "writing" references, list what each tells you about why John wrote this letter.

Read through your list a few times and think about the reasons he stated. What connections do you see between these reasons? How are they related to one another?

If you had to write one sentence stating John's purpose for writing this letter, what would you write?

Timeline of John's Ministry

Let's draw a timeline that will give us a better idea of when John lived.
Through the middle of a sheet of paper, draw a horizontal line, at least 8" long.
Mark off 1/2" segments, or longer if your line is longer than 8".
Label your first line on the left 25 AD. Continue labeling from left to right, in five-year intervals, going from 25 AD to 100 AD.
The times given below are approximate and may differ from other sources, but they'll give you a good feel for what was happening during John's lifetime.
Mark and label these events in John's life under your line.

• 28-30 AD John is one of Jesus' disciples.
• 30-70 AD John the Apostle is one of the leaders of the Jerusalem church.
• 70-95 AD John flees to Ephesus and serves as a leader (elder) in the Ephesian church.
• 85-90 AD John writes the Gospel of John.
• 90-94 AD John writes 1,2, and 3 John.
• 95-96 AD John is exiled to the island of Patmos, where he writes Revelation.
• 96-100 AD John returns to Ephesus until his death.

Mark and label these events that took place during John's lifetime over your line.

• 35 AD Paul converted.
• 44 AD James (John's brother) martyred.
• 60s AD Peter and Paul martyred.
• 66-70 AD Jewish revolt against Rome
• 70 AD The Romans destroy Jerusalem. Christians and Jews are killed, captured, or flee.
• 81-96 AD Domitian is Emperor of Rome.
• 95-96 AD Christians persecuted by Domitian
• 96 AD Domitian dies.

After drawing your timeline, answer these questions:

• After Jesus' death, where did John live and minister?
• Why do you think John moved from Jerusalem to Ephesus?
• What did he do in Ephesus?
• Why did John spend time on Patmos?
• What did he do while on Patmos?
• What made it possible for him to leave Patmos?
• Where did John spend the last years of his life?
• His life ended during the reign of Emperor Trajan, who persecuted Christians even more than Emperor Domitian. It his said that Trajan "bathed the empire red in the blood of Christians." So, we don't know whether John died peacefully or violently, but we do know that he lived to be quite old and was the last of Christ's first disciples to die.

If you'd like to learn more about some of the places where John lived, here are some websites:

You probably have a better map in a study Bible, but if not, you can find Jerusalem, Ephesus, and Patmos at this site: http://www.biblestudy.org/maps/pauls-first-journey-map.html.

Here's one man's visit to the ruins of Ephesus and what he learned, as told in his blog: http://www.markroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/ancientephesus.htm.

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Patmos, check out this site: http://www.greeka.com/dodecanese/patmos/patmos-history.htm.

Here are two sites about Jerusalem. The first gives general information about its history, and the second will tell you more about what Jerusalem was like during the first century, the time when John lived there.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/jerusalem.aspx

http://www.bible-history.com/jerusalem/firstcenturyjerusalem_overview.html

We've looked at who wrote 1 John, to whom it was written, when John lived, and where John lived. In our next blog, we'll look at why John wrote this first of his epistles.

Learning More About the Apostle John--part 2

So far, you've probably noticed that John is passionate for the faith and loves to be close to Jesus. And you've probably noticed that Jesus includes John in the inner circle of disciples, giving him additional responsibilities. Let's see what else we can learn from the Bible about the apostle John.

It is thought that John is the disciple who instead of referring to himself by name would refer to himself in a third person way--"another disciple," "that disciple," "the other disciple," "the disciple whom He loved (He meaning Jesus)," and "the disciple whom Jesus loved." When I was younger I used to think that maybe John might have been an arrogant sort who thought that Jesus loved him more than He loved the other disciples. However, when I read these passages now, it seems to me that he was trying to fade into the background and not draw attention to himself. He wanted people to focus their attention on Christ, not on him. It was his way of showing humility. As you read some of the passages below, this terminology will be used. Assume that they are referring to John.

Read John 13:23-26. With whom does John have a close relationship?
Read John 18:15-16. What would this indicate about John and/or his family?
Read John 19:25-27. With whom does Jesus entrust the care of His mother? What does this tell us about John?

Read John 20:2-10. What do we learn about John?
Read John 21:1-7. Who is the first to recognize Jesus? What does this tell us about John?
Read Acts 1:12-14. This scene takes place after Jesus' ascension, when He returned to heaven. What do we learn about John?

Read Acts 3:1-11, 4:8-13, 17-20, 8:14-15. Where is John, and what is he doing? What do we learn about John?
Read Acts 12:1-2. What happened to John's brother?

Read Galatians 2:1 and 7-10. Where do Paul, Barnabas, and Titus go? Who recognized that those three had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, the Gentiles? What are these three men called? In the NASB version, they are called "pillars." What do pillars do? So, what do you think the relationship of these three men to the church in Jerusalem is? What do we learn about John?

Read Revelation 1:1-2, 9-11, 19; 22:8. What is given to John? Who gave it to him? Where is John at this time? Why is he there? What words does he use to describe the conditions around him at this time? What is John told to do? What do we learn about John and his relationship with God from these verses?

Think about what we've learned about John from the Bible in this blog and the last. What words would you use to describe his character? How would you describe his relationship with the Lord?
What do you see the Lord calling John to do with his life?

The next time you read through 1 John, think about the man who wrote it. Do you see these character traits displayed in this letter?

Learning More about the Apostle John--part 1

So, what kind of a guy was John? Let's find out by reading some Bible passages that mention his name. If you wanted to do this on your own, you could look up John's name is an exhaustive concordance and read all the scripture passages listed with his name in them.

Read Mark 1:16-20 and Matthew 4:18-22.
What was John's occupation? With whom did he work? What was his relationship with those with whom he worked? What evidence is there that his family wasn't poor? What was his brother's name? What was his father's name? What was his response when Jesus invited him to follow?

Read Luke 5:9-10.
With whom were he and his brother business partners?

Read Matthew 10:2, Luke 6:14, and Acts 1:13.
What do you notice about John's name?

Read Mark 5:35-42, Mark 9:2, Mark 13:3, and Mark 14:32-33.
What could you say about John's position within the group of disciples?

Read Mark 3:17, 9:38, and Luke 9:49-56.
What do these passages reveal about John's personality?
Would you characterize him as meek and mild?

Read Matthew 20:20-28.
What does John request?
What does he learn from this experience?

Read Luke 22:1-13.
What does Jesus ask John to do?
With whom does he do it?

We'll look at more scriptures about John in the next blog, but from those you read today, what personality traits would you attribute to John? As you read through 1 John, do you see any evidence of these traits?

First Impressions Revisited

When studying a book inductively, we always ask questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Those questions help us to observe exactly what the text says. Since 1 John is a letter, there's one question that we're more likely to start with than any of the others. What do you think that is? Well, when you see a letter in your mailbox, what's the first of those question words that pops into your head?

I always wonder--who sent it? Unless you're the only one who gets letters in your mailbox, you'll probably also wonder--for whom was it sent? In other words, you want to know who the author is and who the recipient(s) is or are. So, let's begin our study of 1 John by seeing what the text tells us about the author and the recipients.

The Author
What did this person personally hear and see and handle?
What did this person personally do with what was heard, seen, and handled?
Was this person alone or in a group when he or they heard, saw, and handled?

The Recipient(s)
Who bore witness and proclaimed to them the good news of eternal life?
By what names does the author address the recipient(s)?
Is or are the recipient(s) believers or nonbelievers?
What might lead you to believe that this letter is to more than one person?

So, who do you think the author of this letter was? It sounds as if this person was one of Jesus' disciples, and as an apostle helped to spread the good news outside of Jerusalem. Since this book is traditionally called 1 John, we attribute it to the apostle John, even though he nowhere gives his name. However, if you read the gospel of John, also attributed to the apostle John, you'll notice a lot of similar language and themes. 1 John seems to be a good follow-up for John.

So, who do you think the recipients of this letter were? The writer addresses them as little children, young men, and fathers, indicating that the letter is for more than one person. They all seem to be believers because he tells them that they know what he is writing them. He tells them that they know the truth. He tells them that they have received an anointing from the Holy One.

What was the relationship between the writer and the recipients?
Notice how he calls them beloved or my friends, depending on your translation. Evidently, they knew each other, and he had a genuine love for them. He's concerned about them. Notice how he warns them about those who are trying to deceive them. He speaks about those things that he knows that they know. They seem to have a teacher/student type of relationship or an apostle/disciple type of relationship.

Why did the author write this letter?
He mentions false prophets and teachers. He talks about lies and deception. He speaks about some people who were among them, but who left them. What might that mean? We'll talk about this later.

Lord, thank you for this letter from John to believers. As we read it, ponder it, and study it, help us to understand what was going on then. Enable us to see how Your message to these people through John might speak to us today. Amen.

Our First Impressions -- 1 John

Let's begin our study in the table of contents in your Bible.
In which testament do you find 1 John?
What book comes before it? after it?
What is the same about these three books?

They're all letters, written by the apostles to new churches and believers to encourage and grow them in their faith. All the books from Romans through Jude are letters, or epistles. "Epistle" is a Greek word meaning "message" or "letter."

Before this section of epistles in the New Testament, we have the book of Acts. It gives us the history of the beginnings of the Christian church. After the epistles, we have Revelation, the only prophetic book in the New Testament. Of course, the New Testament begins with the four gospels. presenting the good news of Christ and His salvation.

Gospels + Acts + Epistles + Revelation = New Testament

So, why does it matter that 1 John is a letter?
It helps us study it in an appropriate way. How do you read a letter? Do you read one section today and the next a week from now and the last in two weeks, or do you read it all in one sitting? Probably the latter.

Therefore, we will begin by reading 1 John all at once. Hopefully you'll find time to read it more than once and in more than one translation. I would recommend that your first reading be in a translation that uses modern English and idioms, such as the TEV (Today's English Version), NLT (New Living Translation), or The Message. Then read it in the NIV (New International Version), NASB (New American Standard Bible), KJV (King James Version), RSV (Revised Standard Version), or one of the other versions. If you have time, read it in several versions.

To read 1 John in Eugene H. Peterson's The Message, go to http://biblegateway.com/versions/Message-MSG-Bible. Scroll down the Bible book list to 1 John near the bottom. Click on its chapters to read. To read 1 John in other versions, see
http://bible.logos.com. Type 1 John into the white space under Bible.Logos.com. You can change translations by clicking on the abbreviations on the right of the blue band.

When possible, read 1 John aloud or have someone read it aloud to you. Remember that letters in that day were more often heard than read.

As you read, observe the text by asking these questions:
Who wrote the letter? What do we learn about that person or persons?
Who received the letter? What do we learn about this person or persons?
What is the relationship between the writer and the recipient(s)? Do they know each other? If so, what has been their relationship in the past?
Why do you think the writer wrote the letter?

Remember that we aren't looking for detailed answers to these questions--just your first impressions.

Welcome to Our First John Study

Welcome!

From now until mid-March, I'll be exploring the book of 1 John, using the inductive method of Bible study. That means that we'll do a lot of observing to see what's said and the context in which it's said. That way we'll be better able to interpret what it meant to the people to whom it was written, what it means for us, and how we can apply what it teaches to our lives.

This isn't going to be a comprehensive study--just an exploration. However, it should teach you some techniques for studying this book or any book of the Bible or library on your own.

Since I don't have a set curriculum as I start this journey through 1 John, we can explore those things that most strike you as you read this book. Let me know what those things are through your comments. If you've never made comments on a blog, you can learn how to do that and other blogger things by using the Blogger Help feature on the Home Page of this site.

I look forward to our time together.
God bless you!