Note: This is a study from the book 12 Ordinary Men by John McArthur an excellent book. There is also a fill in the blank outline from Adult Bible Fellowships of First Baptist Church Orion that I have posted in the series. This is not original but worth posting for study.
Twelve Ordinary Men
Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. - John 13:23
Insert here a chart listing the 12 Disciples comparing Matthew 10:2-4 Mark 3:16-19 Luke 6:14-16 Acts 1:13
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated (ἀγράμματος grammatos ag-ram-mat-os) and untrained (διώτης idiōtēs id-ee-o’-tace) men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. :27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
I. Some general observations about John:
a. One of the most familiar_ disciples to us because he wrote such a large portion of the New
Testament. What five books did he write? John (Gospel), 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation
b. He was the younger brother of James and shared his temperament. His personality and
character mirrored that of his elder brother.
This is in contrast to Peter and Andrew. Peter was boisterous and somewhat overbearing where Andrews stood behind the scenes.
c. In light of this it is remarkable that John is often called the “apostle of love.” But love was a quality
he learned from Christ, not something that came naturally to him.
This is what I learned most about studying through the disciples that is what characteristics that we see them have before they met and how Jesus molded them. Not always trying to rid them but develop them. In this you see why Jesus would chose them, not for what they were but for what they could become.
"It is clear from the Gospel accounts that John was capable of behaving in the most sectarian, narrow-minded, unbending, reckless, and impetuous fashion. He was volatile. He was brash. He was aggressive. He was passionate, zealous, and personally ambitious just like his brother James."
The Black and White writing of John. John used the word truth 45 times in his writings.
In his Gospel he set:
Light against darkness
Life against death
Kingdome of God against the kingdom of the devil
Children of God against the children of Satan
Judgment of righteous against the judgment of the wicked
Receiving of Christ against the rejecting of Christ
Fruit against fruitlessness
Obedience against Disobedience
Love against hatred
Resurrection of life against resurrection of damnation
Epistles
Walk in the light or dwell in the darkness
Born of God we do not sin, we cannot sin
Either of God or of the world
Love if we are born of God or don’t love and born not of God
Be separate from all that is false
2 John 1:9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
Balance - The Pendulum
II. He learned the balance of love and truth.
a. John’s love of truth is evident in all his writings. He uses the Greek word for truth twenty-five
times in his Gospel and twenty more times in his epistles.
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
b. But when he was younger, his zeal for truth was lacking in love and compassion for people.
The incident in Mark 9 where John forbade a man to cast out demons in Jesus name is a good
illustration of this (note the context).
Mark 9 begins with Jesus telling the disciples that some there would not taste death until they see the kingdom in its present power. After this Jesus take Peter, James and John in the mountain for what we call the transfiguration. After this event Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone. Why? Because of their heart they were not ready. Some things are better left unsaid.
People say things as they are giving God the credit yet when they put their name in it they are more giving attention to themselves.
Next we see the disciples arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Why? Because they had been some places that others had not. Maybe it was a casual conversation yet the door was open.
Then John talks about forbidding those who were not with them from casting out demons. Who were these people? They were those who were probably followers of John the Baptist or other disciples of Jesus.
Mark 9:35-37 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." 36 Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (7) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
c. The truly godly person must possess both virtues in equal proportions (Eph. 4:13). As a
mature apostle, John learned the lesson well. His second epistle offers vivid proof of this.
Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ; 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
III. He learned the balance of ambition and humility.
a. It’s not inherently wrong to aspire to have influence or to desire success. But it is wrong to
have selfish motives, as John apparently did. And it is especially wrong to be ambitious without
also being humble.
b. In Mark 10:35-37 (one chapter after the incident where John rebuked the man casting out demons)
we find Mark’s description of how James and John asked for favor of greatness in the kingdom.
c. What had Jesus just reminded them of in verse 31?
Mark 10:31 "But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
d. Jesus was referring to His words in Mark 9:35:
"If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."
e. Coming as it did on the heels of these admonitions from Jesus about humility, the brothers’
request shows amazing audacity.
f. John did eventually learn the balance between ambition and humility. In fact, humility is one of the
great virtues that comes through in his writing (never uses his name in his gospel (most, probably would have been tempted to at least mention or hint at their name), the only gospel to include the foot-washing incident, gentle admonitions and terms of endearment in his epistles and Revelation).
IV. He learned the balance of suffering and glory.
a. John had a natural thirst for glory and a natural aversion for suffering. It is normal to
desire God’s blessing on your future, and only a madman enjoys suffering.
b. But if we desire to participate in heavenly glory, we must also be willing to partake of
earthly sufferings.
Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death,
Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (25) "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
The teachings of Christ in the crucifixion and of His apostles in their writings make this condition abundantly clear.
c. John experienced his share of suffering: the loss of his brother as the first martyr, the loss of all the
rest of his fellow apostles as they were martyred one by one, his exile to a prison colony on the island
of Patmos, where he lived out most of his years as an elderly man in a cave.
d. What is the relationship between these three lessons and how can we apply this to our lives?
Learning Balance
love and truth
ambition and humility
suffering and glory
John used truth 45 times in his writings, love 80 times and witness 70 times. There is something to this.
John died, by most accounts, around A.D. 98, during the reign of Emperor Trajan. Jerome says in his commentary on Galatians that the aged apostle John was so frail in his final days at Ephesus that he had to be carried into the church. One phrase was constantly on his lips: “My little children, love one another.” Asked why he always said this, he replied, “It is the Lord’s command, and if this alone be done, it is enough.”
Thus the fishermen of Galilee – Peter, Andrew, James, and John – became fishers of men on a tremendous scale,
gathering souls into the church. In a sense, they are still casting their nets into the sea of the world by their testimony in
the Gospels and their epistles. They are still bringing multitudes of people to Christ. Although they were common men,
theirs was an uncommon calling.
