Experience Jesus (Introduction Of 1st John) Series

But that never happened! They only continued to preach Jesus Christ even more! In fact, John saw all of his fellow disciples killed over the years. And never once did he bat an eye. Never once did he back down from what he had been professing.

Why did John do that? Because John saw with his own eyes the miracles that Jesus performed were real! And that changed John’s life! And so John put up with persecution and those who opposed him.

And what happens as John is writing these three letters, is John is the only apostle still alive. And at the time that John is writing these letters, he’s an old man. And so John becomes this elder, this grandfather figure of the church at the end of the first century.

So let me give you a timeline that will help you understand even greater the letters of John. You will recall that Jerusalem was the center of the church. But in 70 AD Jerusalem is completely destroyed. And so the focus of the church moves from Jerusalem North - to an area that we recognize as Turkey - to a city by the name of Ephesus.

And so John moves there and begins to oversee the churches that are up in that region. And so now we have this shift.

(SHOW MAP OF EPHESUS)

As you can see, Ephesus is here on the west coast and it’s believed that John would be writing to the Christians all throughout the region of Asia Minor. And if you’re familiar with John’s writings, when he comes to write Revelation, John is going to write letters to the 7 churches in Asia minor. Again, it’s because he is the overseer of these churches.

In fact, turn in your Bibles to the books of 2nd and 3rd John and notice John starts off these letters: with just a simple phrase: THE ELDER. And that phrase has two meanings.

1. Elder means - simply one who is old. We respect those who are older because of their wisdom and the same was true in John’s time. So it’s interesting that John refers to himself as “the old guy”.

But there is also a second meaning to the word Elder

2. Elder means - overseer. Pastor. One who cares after others. In the modern church we have Elders who do just this, don’t we?

So let me give you a timeline of John’s writings. Because These three letters aren’t the only letters he has written. So John moves to Ephesus in the mid to late 70’s AD. And he writes his gospel of John. In the late 80s to early 90’s John writes these letters: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. And about 95, John writes the book of Revelation. John was probably in his mid 70’s or early 80’s himself at the time he writes these three letters.

…and just like that I’ve told you who John is writing to (He is writing to churches scattered all through Asia Minor)…what year these letters were written (1st, 2nd and 3rd John were written between 85-90 AD)…and I’ve told you about the man who wrote these letters. (John was the last Apostle alive. He was a follower of Jesus Christ part of the inner circle and is now an old man)