Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

The title of my message is, [Lord, I Want to Know You].

When I think of one of my best friends, I can’t help but notice how polar opposite we are.

§ His dad was a pastor and my dad was a machinist.

§ He was private schooled and I was public schooled

§ He excelled at basketball and I almost made one basket

§ He drives faster and I drive slower

§ He likes one type of music and like another.

§ He listens more and I talk more.

§ And the list of differences go on and on

However, he is the only person outside of Bekah who knows more about me than anyone else.

Our sense of humor is similar, our passion for the Lord is similar, and our hunger for God’s presence is similar.

We have been friends since we were in elementary school

Friendship is a treasured commodity.

Something I have wondered and never been able to find the answer is:

§ (when is the line crossed between acquaintance and friendship?)

§ (When does a friendship move into a best friend?)

I have not found anyone to answer this question because I suppose there is not a step-by-step guide to create friends, it just happens.

Friendships develop when people get to know each other.

The bible provides various examples of friendship.

But as with any friendship there were vast {differences} and {some similarities}:

§ Moses and Aaron,

o {Moses stuttered}

o and {Aaron was an eloquent speaker},

§ but they had a mutual desire to see God’s people free.

§ David and Jonathan,

o {David was a future king}, and

o {Jonathon was the son of the current king}

§ but they both cared about the state of Israel’s future.

§ Elijah and Elisha,

o {Elijah was an elderly prophet},

o while {Elisha was a young prophet},

§ they were both called by God to be His mouthpiece

· Naomi and Ruth,

o {Naomi was an elderly mother-in-law},

o {Ruth was her young daughter-in-law},

§ they were both widows who struggled for survival in the midst of a drought.

As with any great friendship, their mutual respect and admiration overshadowed their differences that enabled them to be an example for generations to come.

However, the friendship I want us to see is the friendship of two men who could not be more different.

§ One was very young,

o while the {other’s age could not be numbered}.

§ One had an earthly mother and father

o The other had an earthly mother and an eternal father

§ {One leaned on the other for constant} support, wisdom, and guidance.

These two friends were unequal on nearly every front; nevertheless, they provide an example of the great love of God.

These two friends are Jesus and John the Apostle.

Even though Jesus had twelve disciples, He had an inner circle, He had a few close friends that He allowed to know Him more than the others.

These three in the inner circle were {Peter}, {James}, and {John.}

I have often wondered (why Jesus selected these three over the other nine?)

I am certain based on scripture there was some jealously from the other disciples.

(Why did Peter, James and John get to do what they got to do?)

I would say this had as much to do with Peter, James, and John as it did

Tonight, we will look specifically at John and discover that he had an insatiable desire to know the Lord.

He was not content with knowing ABOUT Jesus, He wanted to know JESUS on a personal level.

Of the four gospels, John is the only one who mentions our text.

He explained Jesus’ view of His followers, we are not servants; we are His friends.

(How then do we build our friendship with Jesus?)

There should be a cry from the depths of our heart,

§ Lord I want to know you!

§ I want to know you on a personal level,

§ I want to move from acquaintance to friend.

Let’s look at John’s friendship with Jesus, [Their Close Friendship], and [Their Continued Friendship].

Let’s begin

1.

Their Close Friendship

When we read the Gospel according to John, it is important to note that he never identifies himself by name.

He remains anonymous until chapter twenty-five when he explains his role in the narrative.

First, John was a follower of John the Baptist.

But John the Baptist’s role was to prepare the world for Jesus.

So when Jesus came from a distance, John the Baptist pointed and introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Two of the disciples, one of them being John the Apostle, leave John the Baptist and they began to follow Jesus.

After a while, Jesus turns around and asks, (“What do you want?”)

By this point they had followed him for some time and it was nearing the end of the day, the tenth hour, which is 4:00 pm.

Embarrassed they asked, um, (where do you live?)

It reminds me of when I was a child and I would ask my friend, can I come to your house in between church, and come back to church with yall this evening?

Jesus invited them to see and the rest was history.

John was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus.

At some point after Jesus called all twelve disciples, John was set apart from the others.

As I mentioned in my introduction, this could have had more to do with John than it did with Jesus.

 If someone

§ {prays more},

§ {studies more},

§ {fasts more},

§ {worships more},

§ and {seeks more},

it is natural that they will be closer to the Lord than the person who only thinks about God on Sundays.

There is no partiality when it comes to Jesus, He is no respecter of persons, so John must have lived with an attitude, [Lord I want to know you], and Jesus answered this request.

As John’s friendship with Jesus unfolds during His three and a half years of ministry on earth, there are three instances where we see John’s closeness with Jesus.

One yearafter John followed Jesus, the disciples were in Galilee when a nobleman named Jairusbegged Jesus to come heal his daughter.

As they are en route, his daughter dies.

Jesus declares that she is only sleeping.

Everyone ridicules Jesus, so when Jesus arrives at the home of the Jairus, he excuses everyone except those who are closest to Him, both Mark 5:37 and Luke 8:51 tell us that John was included in the close group who were there for this resurrection.

One year later, Jesus took John, along with Peter and James to a mountain.

When they got to the top and they were alone, something supernatural happened that gave John a glimpse of Jesus in all His glory.

Imagine being John, having been one of the first to follow Jesus, but this point they were close friends.

John had a desire to know Jesus, and he saw Jesus transfigured.

Literally, the face of Jesus began to shine with the glory of God and He looked like a heavenly figure, very different from the Jesus they had known thus far.

(How do we know that Jesus and John were close?)

Jesus instructed them to keep this a secret.

He did this because He knew He could trust them, they had a close friendship.

One year later, in Jesus’ final days on earth, we read of the famous prayer Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane where He submitted to the will of the Father.