John’s gospel, read Merrill C Tenney, John: The Gospel of Belief, pp 25-53; and William H end rik s en, Exposition of the Gospel According to John, pp 64-66 15 The reasons for beginning divisions at these points will be seen later 16 In most instances in the gospels, the w o r d Jews, in context of opposition to Jesus, refers to the Jewish rulers 17 Some Bible students prefer to regard 13:31-38 as part of this rst discourse The content is not affected either way 18 It is di cult to say where the second discourse ends and the third begins because of the constantly recurring subjects that Jesus spoke about in this informal conversation with His disciples Actually all three farewell discourses could be called one discourse, because they are so intimately related 19 John makes only the brief mention of Jesus’ entering the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples (18:1) This is one of Jesus’s own claims to deity Only God Himself can rightfully claim deity Since Jesus is God, He could make such a claim Part THE SEQUEL The Church, Christ’s Body Broadly speaking, the group of people that is the main object of attention in the New Testament is the church The gospels present Christ as the Foundation and Head of the church The book of Acts records the beginning and early history of the church The epistles o er instructions for the church, and the book of Revelation prophesies end times and describes the eternal reign of the church with Christ The above capsule sketch shows how important Acts is in the full canon of the New Testament Acts 9Acts: The Beginnings of the Christian Church Acts is the church’s standard textbook on the rst three decades of its history and its ageless global task of evangelization The book is clearly the sequel to the gospels; its story of the church is the wonderful continuation of the unique and fantastic story of Christ’s earthly life Beyond this, Acts provides the key for the fuller understanding of the epistles, which follow Acts in the New Testament canon and interpret the gospel that Christ lived and preached I PREPARATION FOR STUDY Re ect on the core of the gospels’ history: Jesus came from heaven and then returned to heaven, accomplishing His Father’s will while He was here on earth That was His ... the group of people that is the main object of attention in the New Testament is the church The gospels present Christ as the Foundation and Head of the church The book of Acts records the beginning... early history of the church The epistles o er instructions for the church, and the book of Revelation prophesies end times and describes the eternal reign of the church with Christ The above capsule... important Acts is in the full canon of the New Testament Acts 9Acts: The Beginnings of the Christian Church Acts is the church’s standard textbook on the rst three decades of its history and its