John

This gospel, unlike the other gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), is not a synoptic gospel. The tone and focus are different. 

This chapter opens with setting Jesus as eternally existent as the Word, Creator, and God. At the beginning of the universe’s history, Jesus was there. Jesus gave life to everything that has life and created everything that is. Jesus brought light to everyone.

The chapter moves on from this description to the introduction of John the Baptist (not the same John for which this gospel is named). John was the precursor to Jesus, a prophet making the way for Jesus’ work. John, the writer of the gospel, makes it clear that John was not the light, just a witness to it. 

Jesus is further described as coming into the very world He created but not being recognized but instead rejected. However, those that did believe and accept Him, He gave them the right to become children of God, reborn in God. Jesus was full of unfailing love (for us) and faithfulness. John the Baptist tried to share this with those that came to him to listen. 

As John the Baptist’s reputation grew, the Jewish leaders sent people to find out who he was. John plainly told them that he was not the Messiah. They asked if John was Elijah or the Prophet that is foretold in the Old Testament. He said he was not. John said that he was the one prophesied of by Isaiah who would prepare the way for the Lord’s coming. They questioned John’s right to baptize. Instead of defending his right to baptize, he shared that he only baptized with water but noted that in the crowd right now was someone far greater.  

The next day, John specifically sees Jesus and points Him out as the One he was talking about and notes that He is the Lamb of God and Messiah. He shares why he thinks Jesus is Messiah based on the sign that God told him would happen with the Messiah. 

The next day, John again sees Jesus and points him out as the Lamb of God.  Two of John’s disciples began following Jesus as a result, becoming Jesus’ disciples.  One of these men was Andrew, brother of Simon Peter.  Later, Jesus saw Philip and invited him to follow.  Philip invited Nathanael.  Jesus demonstrates His knowledge of them before they knew Him and noted that they would see heaven open up and noted that He was the path between Heaven and earth.    

Principles: Do not oversell yourself.  Jesus is the creator and knew us before we knew Him.  You don’t need to defend the actions that God has told you to complete.

This chapter takes place after some of the disciples start following Jesus but before Jesus’ ministry starts. Jesus, His mother, and His disciples were invited to a wedding. At one point, Mary, Jesus’ mother, notes to Jesus that they had run out of wine which would have been an embarrassment to the host. Jesus responded that it was not their problem to deal with and said that his time had not yet come (to do ministry). Seemingly without listening to what Jesus said, Mary told the servants to “do whatever He tells you.” Jesus had the servants fill six large stone jars (holding 20-30 gallons each) with water. Then he had the servants take a sample to the the master of ceremonies. When the master of ceremonies tasted what was now wine, he was amazed because it was much better than what they started with at the ceremony and he shared how good it was with the bridegroom. He noted that normally, the better wine was served first when people had not had as much to drink but here the best had been saved for last. Only the servants and Jesus and His disciples knew the source of the wine. Jesus’ disciples believed in Him as a result. 

As it was now Passover time, Jesus goes to Jerusalem. When He reached the temple, he saw people buying and selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices. Jesus made a whip of some ropes and used it to chase them out of the temple. He told them to stop making His Father’s house into a marketplace.  The disciples remembered a prophecy about Messiah from scripture that noted He would have a passion for God’s house. The Jewish leaders demanded to know what right Jesus had to chase them away and demanded a miraculous sign to prove it. Jesus gave them the option of seeing the sign of “destroying this temple” and He would raise it in three days. This was a prophecy that He did fulfill as He was speaking of His body, not the temple building in which they stood. Of course, the Jewish leaders thought Jesus was talking about the temple building and were incredulous.  However, the disciples remembered Jesus saying this after His resurrection. 

The final portion of the chapter leads into the next chapter.  It talks about how many people began to believe in Jesus because of the miracles He did at the Passover.  They trusted Jesus but Jesus didn’t trust them because He knew people too well.   

Principles: Honor your father and mother. Faith and relationship with God should not be about monetary profit and should not be a device for that.  

Continuing from the last chapter, Jesus meets with one of the Jewish leaders named Nicodemus. He met with Jesus at night and told Him that they realized that He was from God based on the evidence of the miracles He had performed. Jesus moved beyond the platitudes to the crux of the message to people: you must be born again to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus didn’t understand as he was thinking that Jesus was referring to a natural process. Jesus walks him through a number of spiritual principles comparing them to natural things. Jesus also compared His own upcoming death to something Moses did for the purposes of restoration of the Israelites during the Exodus.   Jesus notes that He was sent into the world to save it, not to judge it.   Those that believe in Him will not be judged.  Those that do not believe in him will be judged for not believing in Him. 

The next section, John the Baptist’s disciples ask him about Jesus baptizing people.  John correctly points to Jesus as the Messiah again and notes that he (John) must become less and less while Jesus will become greater and greater.  He outlines aspects of Jesus and confirms Him as Messiah.   

Principles:  Understanding things from a spiritual perspective is more important than understanding from a natural perspective.  Use natural aspects to understand spiritual aspects.  Don’t hold on to position and power.  Use them to glorify God and His plan.    

In this chapter, Jesus and the disciples head to Galilee. In doing so, they go through Samaria and into the village of Sychar. Samaritans were looked down up by the Jews because they were Jews who had intermarried with other people groups (Assyrians, particularly) after the Assyrian captivity of the Northern kingdom of Israel.  

When Jesus and the disciples reached Sychar, Jesus rested near a well while the disciples went into the village to buy food. A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus asked her for a drink which would have been out of custom because 1) Jews looked down on Samaritans and 2) a man was talking to a woman (which was out of the ordinary without a familial or personal connection). The Samaritan woman asked why Jesus would ask her for a drink given these customs. Jesus replied that if she knew what God had for her, she would ask Him for a drink and He would give her living water. She was a bit incredulous that he would say that without the things to draw water. She also tried to draw Jesus into an argument by going back to old arguments between the Jews and Samaritans. Jesus wasn’t drawn into the argument but returned to the idea of living water and told her that if she had that water she would never be thirsty again. When she heard about not being thirsty again, she was, very practically, interested so she wouldn’t have to keep drawing water from the well and asked for it. Jesus then returned to the custom of men talking to men and asked her to go get her husband. She replied that she didn’t have a husband (which Jesus knew). Jesus confirmed that He knew this and told her about her life showing He knew her story. The woman recognized that He was not an ordinary man, thinking He was a prophet. She again tried to rope Jesus into an argument between the Jews and Samaritans. Jesus moved beyond the argument to talk about worshipping God in freedom. The woman then noted that she knew that Messiah was coming and that He would explain everything when He came. Jesus openly stated to her that He was the Messiah. The woman left her water jug at the well and ran back into the village telling everyone about Jesus and what He had said and asking if He really could be the Messiah.  

About this time, the disciples returned and saw Jesus talking to the woman which surprised them due to the break in custom. However, they were afraid to question Him about it. Instead, they urged Jesus to eat something. Jesus replied that He had a kind of food that they didn’t know anything about. They asked if someone had brought Him food while they were gone. Jesus explained that He was nourished by doing the will of God. This answered not only the food question but the question about the customs He had seemingly broken. Jesus then talked about reaping and harvesting as a metaphor for ministry to people. 

Then the woman came back to the well with people from the village and they believed in Jesus as a result. They urged Him to stay and so He stayed for two days teaching them and many believed for themselves, recognizing Jesus as the Savior of the World.

After two days, Jesus and the disciples continued on to Galilee. Jesus had previously noted that a prophet is not without honor except in his own country. However, the Galileans had seen Jesus do miracles in Jerusalem at Passover. As a result, they welcomed Him. 

As Jesus traveled through Galilee, a governmental official met Him asking Him to come and heal his sick son who was about to die. Jesus challenged the man saying he was just looking for a miraculous sign.  However, the man pleaded for Jesus to come and heal his son before he died.  Jesus responded that the man should go back home because he would live.  The man believed what Jesus said and headed back home.  On the way, however, the man was met by some of his servants who shared that his son was healed.  When he asked when this happened, they told him the time and he realized it was at the same time Jesus told him that his son would live.  Because of this the man and his entire household believed in Jesus.    

Principles:  Rise above distractions to what God wants you to do.  Your work for God is not the only work for God.  Others will do the part God has for them.  

Jesus returns to Jerusalem for a Jewish holy day. As he is there, he comes upon the pool of Bethesda by which many sick people congregated because people would get healed when the water bubbled up in the pool.  Jesus saw one of the men lying there that had been sick for 38 years.  Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed.  The man replied that he couldn’t because he was never fast enough to get into the water when it stirred and he didn’t have anyone to put him in there.  Jesus told him to stand up, pick up his mat that he was laying on, and walk.  The man did and was healed immediately.  However, this miracle happened on the Sabbath and the Jewish leaders said the man had broken the law because he carried his mat.  The man said, Jesus told him to but the man didn’t know who Jesus was and Jesus had left.  Jesus later found him in the temple and told him that now that he was well he needed to stop sinning or something worse than his being sick would happen.  Then the man told the Jewish leaders who it was that healed him.  The Jewish leaders began to harass Jesus for break Sabbath rules of working on the Sabbath. 

Jesus shared a defense of himself by noting that He only did what He saw the Father do.  This was treated as blasphemy because Jesus, by calling God His Father, was making Himself equal to God.  Jesus walked through a number of logical discussions supporting His authority that rested in the authority that was given to Him by God.  He gave human examples that supported Him as well such as John the Baptist and Moses, whom they claimed to believe.  However, Jesus pointed out that they really didn’t believe in either of them.  He noted that it would be Moses that would accuse them before the Father.  

Principles:  We have a choice to believe in God and His power.  Our excuses don’t put us in relationship with God.  Jesus was “accredited” by God and man.

This chapter starts with Jesus and the disciples going across the Sea of Galilee. As they arrive, Jesus tests Phillip, one of the twelve disciples, about feeding the large crowd that had followed Him by asking Phillip where they could buy bread to feed the people that had followed. Phillip said that it would take months to earn enough money to buy the bread needed to feed them. Andrew chipped in that there was a boy with five loaves and two fish but wasn’t sure how that was any good with the large number of people that they had. Jesus told them to have everyone sit down. Jesus took the loaves and fish and gave thanks to God for them. Then He had them passed out to the people. There was enough for everyone to have as much as they wanted and they still collected twelve baskets full of leftovers. There were about 5,000 men (not counting women and children) in the group. When the people realized what Jesus had done, Jesus could tell that they wanted to make Him their king (like the kings of Israel). So, Jesus slipped away so that they could not. 

When Jesus didn’t come back, the disciples realized that He wasn’t coming back and decided that they should go back across the Sea of Galilee because it was getting dark. The sea was getting rough due to weather. They had rowed three to four miles out into the Sea when they saw Jesus walking on the water towards them. They were terrified at the sight but Jesus called out to them to not be afraid. Once they heard Him they were anxious to get Him in the boat. As soon as they let Him in the boat, they were immediately at their destination! 

The next day, the crowd from the other side of the Sea of Galilee came looking for Jesus when they realized that the disciples had taken the boat and left. Jesus was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. They asked Jesus when He had arrived on the other side of the Sea. However, Jesus cut to the quick on what they really wanted. He told them that they wanted to be with Him because He had fed them, not because they understood the miracle. Jesus told them not to follow Him for perishable things like food. Instead, seek eternal life that Jesus could give them because He had God’s approval to do what He did. Then the people said they wanted to do God’s work too. Jesus replied that the only thing God wanted them to do was believe in the one God sent (Jesus). Instead of doing just that, the people asked Jesus for a(nother) miraculous to believe in Him. They referred to the manna that their ancestors were given in the wilderness by Moses. Jesus corrected them saying that it wasn’t Moses that gave them the manna but God. Jesus then noted that they were being offered something better than manna from God: the true Bread of God that brings Life. The people asked Jesus to give them that bread every day. Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life” and explained how He came from heaven sent from God. However, the people began to murmur that they knew Jesus’ father and mother and how could He possibly be sent from heaven. Jesus responded to the murmuring telling them to stop complaining about what He had said because no one could come to Him without being drawn by God the Father. He talked about eternal life through eating the bread of life. He compared His flesh to bread and noted that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life. 

Many people and many of Jesus’ disciples (not the inner twelve; others) had a hard time understanding these statements and stopped following Him.  Jesus was aware of the disciples complaining about the statements He had made and noted the spiritual aspects of what He had said.  As many of the disciples deserted Him, Jesus asked the twelve if they too were going to leave.  Peter asked Jesus, “to whom would we go?  You have the words that give eternal life.  We believe, and we know You are the Holy One of God.”  Jesus responded that He had chosen the twelve of them but that one of them was a devil because He knew that Judas Iscariot would betray Him.    

Principles: God makes a way when there is no way.  Jesus spoke using metaphors and examples in daily life to help people understand without giving away the whole picture to those that did not understand. Jesus, the Word of God, is the Bread of Life. We gain eternal life through Him. We are called by the Father to Him.   

Jesus is traveling around Galilee teaching and ministering. He was staying out of Judea to keep from stirring up trouble from those who wanted to kill Him. It came time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters. His brothers (Mary and Joseph’s other children) pressured Jesus to go to Judea to show people His miracles. They were thinking that He needed to become famous and go through natural methods for doing things. Jesus replied to them that it was not His time to go to Jerusalem but that they could go anytime.  

Later though, Jesus did go to Jerusalem secretly to the festival at first staying out of the public eye. Midway through the festival, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. The people were surprised at His knowledge without the formal training of the religious leaders.  The people also were unsure of who He really was. Some said a prophet, some the Messiah, and some said He was demon possessed. However, Jesus continued to point them back to God noting that the religious leaders were out to kill Him because He was in opposition.  

At the height of the festival, Jesus shouted to the crowds for those who were thirsty to come to Him and then referred to scripture noting that “rivers of living water will flow from His heart” which was prophecy about Him. When the crowd heard this, they recognized that Jesus was either the prophesied Prophet or the Messiah but were confused because they didn’t know where He was really from presuming that He came from Galilee and knowing that Messiah was supposed to come from the city of David (Bethlehem) and be from his lineage. 

The Jewish leaders sent the Temple guard to arrest Jesus but when they got their, the guards were so stunned at Jesus’ teaching that they didn’t arrest Him. When the guards came back to the Jewish leaders they were mad and asked if the guards were “led astray” too. They noted that the people were led astray because they were uneducated about the law. In the midst of the discussion about arresting (and convicting Jesus), Nicodemus, one of the religious leaders (who had privately met with Jesus), pointed out that they were convicting Jesus without even a hearing.  The rest of the religious leaders mocked him for his statement since Jesus was was supposedly from Galilee.  

Principles: God’s plans are not always through natural methods. Know the facts of the situation.  

This chapter starts with a section that some manuscripts found of the New Testament did not contain. Basically the story of the woman caught in adultery was not in some manuscripts found. However, the point of the story makes it good to include.  

Jesus shares that He is the light of the world and that people who follow Him won’t have to walk in darkness. The religious leaders argued back that Jesus was saying these things by Himself with no support, which made them invalid. Jesus points out that He’s not saying them alone but speaking what His Father has told Him to say, making two witnesses to the things that He is saying. By the Jewish law, this makes the witness valid. However, Jesus points out multiple times that they don’t know who He is or who His Father is and because of who their father is (the devil), they only believe lies.  

Jesus notes that He will be going away and that they won’t be able to find Him when He does. They think He’s talking about committing suicide. He specifically mentions going to the cross but they don’t understand. He specifically states that He is God when He says “I Am” which is an old testament reference for the name of God . Jesus then moves on to His connection with Abraham and the people’s supposed connection to Abraham.  He points out that Abraham is not their real father when they are not following God.  Instead Satan is their real father when they don’t love God.  He notes that the religious leaders are trying to kill Him because their father is the devil and not God.  The religious leaders accuse Him of being demon-possessed but they are actually the ones influenced by Satan.  Jesus again points out that He is God by saying that He was before Abraham and Abraham looked forward to His coming.  He said that before Abraham was, I am, which pointed to His claim as being God.  The people picked up stones to kill Him but He had disappeared.  

Principles: Accusing others of sin and ignoring your own is wrong. Molding the story to fit your purposes without examining all the facts (where was the man caught in adultery?) is wrong.  Just because the crowd accuses someone of lying doesn’t mean they are lying.  

As Jesus is going someplace, He and His disciples saw a blind man begging. Because he was bling, begging was about the only thing he could do for support. The disciples asked Jesus if the man was born blind because of his sins or because of his parent’s sins. Jesus said neither was the case. Instead, Jesus said, it was sot that the power of God could be seen in the man. Jesus then noted that the work assigned to us by God must be done quickly because night was coming when work would not be able to be done. But, Jesus said, He was the light of the world while He was there. 

Jesus then spit in the dirt and made mud. He then used the mud to cover the man’s eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The man did that and came back seeing. 

As people who knew of the man heard that he could see now, they questioned how it happened. He told them that Jesus had spread mud on his eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam and then he could see. Since this happened on the sabbath, the people took him to the Pharisees who questioned him and his parents. The Pharisees denigrated Jesus for working on the sabbath. They demanded to know what the man thought of Jesus. The man said He must be a prophet. When they questioned the man’s parents, the parents confirmed he was their son and that he had been born blind but would not comment on how he could see or who had done it because they were afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue (which was being threatened to anyone who called Jesus the Messiah). The Pharisees again questioned the man while telling him that Jesus was a sinner. The man replied he didn’t know whether Jesus was a sinner or not but he (the man) was once blind and now he could see. The Pharisees kept pestering the man for how Jesus healed him which seemed to agitate the man to the point of him being a bit aggravated. He asked them if they didn’t hear him the first time or if they wanted to become Jesus’ disciples, too. This infuriated the Pharisees and they claimed they were disciples of Moses noting they didn’t even know where Jesus came from. The main responded that it was strange that they didn’t know since Jesus had healed him. Then he logically defended Jesus based on the power of God used to heal him. The Pharisees called the man a total sinner and threw him out of the synagogue. 

Jesus heard what happened to the man and found him. Jesus asked him if he believed in the Son of Man (a name Jesus used to refer to Himself). The man didn’t know who the Son of Man was, saying he wanted to believe in Him. Jesus said it was Him. The man said, “Yes, Lord, I believe!” He then worshipped Jesus. Jesus said he came to the world to render judgment, giving sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind. Some Pharisees who were nearby heard this statement and asked if Jesus was saying they were blind. Jesus said they wouldn’t be guilty if they were just blind. Instead they were guilty because they said they could see.  

Principles: Bad things in this life happen so that God’s glory and power can be displayed.  Logic and facts support truth.  Bias will attempt to distort facts and truth.  Having shortcomings is not a sin unless you attempt to say they are not there.  

This chapter largely focuses on the aspects of Jesus being the Good Shepherd.  Jesus makes comparisons to the characteristics of a shepherd that takes care of sheep and His being the Messiah.  He notes that good shepherds lay down their lives to protect their sheep and that the sheep that are theirs know their voice.  Just the same way, Jesus is getting ready to lay down His life through death on the cross for His sheep.  Those that are His sheep know that He really is the Messiah.  Those true sheep see through the bias of the religious leaders and those that are not Jesus’ people to the signs that establish Jesus as God and Messiah.  When the people against Jesus again try to stone Jesus for His claims of being God, He provides them additional rationale to support His claims.  Those that see the logic and the signs and believe support Him.  Those that don’t try to stone Him but He walks away and goes to preach where John the Baptist was ministering beyond the Jordan River.  Those who believed Jesus followed Him there.  

Principles:  We can believe in Jesus because of the proof that He gave us.  The facts and the truth establish that Jesus was the Messiah and our Good Shepherd.  We know His voice when we are His sheep.  

This chapter is largely the story of Lazarus, a friend of Jesus who died and was raised from the dead by Jesus. Jesus received word that Lazarus was sick. He said that this sickness would not end in death and stayed several more days where He was. Finally, Jesus told the disciples that they would go back to Judea where people had tried to kill Him recently. The disciples pointed this out but Jesus reminded them that He was bringing light to these people in darkness and also they were going to see Lazarus, who Jesus said had “fallen asleep.” Jesus was talking figuratively and the disciples thought He was talking literally. When they said it was good that Lazarus was sleeping because it would help him recover, Jesus told them plainly that Lazarus was dead. Jesus said that He was glad He wasn’t there when Lazarus was just sick because it would give them a chance to see God’s power at work and for them to really believe in Jesus. 

When Jesus and the disciples arrived in Bethany, outside of Jerusalem, where Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha lived, He was told that Lazarus had been dead for four days. Four days in the Jewish custom meant that you were beyond the chance of coming back to life. The belief is that the soul remains near the body for three days hoping to return to it. So, Jesus had waited beyond this belief to come and raise Lazarus from the dead. Martha came out to meet Jesus. Martha said that if Jesus had only been there, Lazarus would have been healed. But she noted that even now she knew God would give Jesus whatever He asked. Jesus responded that Lazarus would rise again. Some translations show a play on words more clearly here. Martha responded that she knew he would rise when everyone else rises in the resurrection. Jesus replies, “I AM the resurrection and the life.” Martha responds that she has always believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Then Martha went and got Mary, her sister who had stayed with the mourners. When they returned to Jesus, Mary, too, said that if Jesus would have been there, Lazarus would not have died. Jesus asked where they had put Lazarus and they took Him to Lazarus.  Jesus told them to remove the stone covering Lazarus’ tomb.  Martha protested saying it would smell because his body was decomposing.  Jesus reminded her that she would see God’s glory if she believed.  Then Jesus prayed aloud so that the people watching would know that it was God’s power on display.  He called to Lazarus to come out of the tomb and he walked out.  Jesus told them to unwrap him and let him go.  

A number of people believed because of what they saw.  However, some also reported what happened to the Jewish leaders who were trying to arrest and kill Jesus.  The leaders were plotting to kill Jesus because they He was upsetting the balance of power they had.  The high priest said that Jesus would be killed so that all the people didn’t have to die at the hands of the Romans.  

Principles:  In our trials and troubles, Jesus it the Resurrection and Life.  When bad things happen, it is chance for God to be glorified.  

This chapter starts by talking about Jesus going back to Bethany to Lazarus’ home shortly after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had prepared a meal in Jesus’ honor. During the meal, Mary, Lazarus’ sister, took an expensive jar of perfume used in burial preparation and anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. Judas Iscariot complained that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor, not because he cared about the poor but because he managed the money for Jesus and often stole from it. Jesus told him to leave her alone because she was anointing Him for His burial. He said that you would always have the poor with you.  

People heard that Jesus had come to Bethany and came to see him and Lazarus who had been raised from the dead. The religious leaders decided to kill Lazarus with Jesus because so many people had become followers of Jesus after He raised Lazarus from the dead.  

The day after that, Jesus entered Jerusalem in preparation for the Passover. People heard that He was coming and greeted Him as a King entering Jerusalem by laying palm fronds on the ground in front of Him as He was riding a young colt. This fulfilled prophecy. The Pharisees, on seeing how the people reacted to Jesus, were hopeless because they saw the people following Jesus.  

Jesus predicted His pending death and God spoke audibly in His support so the people could hear but some people believed it was only thunder. 

John points out the unbelief of many people that was prophesied by Isaiah.   Some believed in Jesus but wouldn’t admit it publicly because the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue.  

Jesus tells the crowds that trusting in Him is trusting in God who sent Him.  

Principles: The motives of people are not always easily understood (Judas objecting to the use of the perfume). Those who praise you on Palm Sunday will crucify you on Easter.  Organized religion can often be against what God is doing.  

This chapter is set at what is known as the last supper. Jesus and His disciples are eating the Passover meal together. Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him. Jesus initiates what, for many churches, is a sacrament/regular practice: washing of feet. Jesus steps into the role of a servant with His disciples and washes their feet. He explains that those who are clean need only wash their feet after Peter wants his whole body to be washed. Jesus gave the example of being a servant to His disciples. 

Jesus goes on to say that one of the disciples would betray Him. John, at Peter’s urging, asks Jesus who it is. Jesus doesn’t openly say but says it is one who He gives bread that He’s dipped in the bowl. We don’t know how long it took for this to happen but Jesus, at some point, gave Judas the bread He dipped in the bowl. Then Jesus told Judas to go do what he was going to do. The rest of the disciples thought it was something that Judas was going to do as their money handler. 

Jesus then tells the disciples that it is time for Him to enter into His glory. The disciples didn’t specifically know what this meant. Jesus gives them a command to love one another.    However, the disciples wanted to understand where He was going.  He told them they couldn’t go with Him right now but they would follow Him later.  Peter said he was ready to die for Jesus.  Jesus told Peter that he would deny that he even knew Him before the rooster crowed the next morning.   

Principles:  Love and service to others should be clear characteristics of Jesus in us.  God’s purpose is not always clear to us but it is clear to Him.  We are not as great as our Master.

This chapter, which is still set at the last supper celebrating the Passover with Jesus and the disciples, starts out by talking about Jesus as being the Way to the Father. Jesus lets the disciples know that He is going to prepare a place for them (and all people that will follow Jesus). He tells the disciples that they know the way to get there. However, the disciples say they don’t know the way to get where Jesus is going because they don’t know where He is going. Jesus responds that He is the Way, the Truth, and the life and that no one can go to the Father except through Him. He was saying that He is going to His Father and that He is the way to get to His Father.  Philip then asked Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus responds questioning them about His being with them so long and they still didn’t know who God is by how Jesus acted and what He said. Jesus again points out that He has been doing the things that God the Father has been telling Him to do and saying the things He’s been telling Jesus to say. Jesus notes that they should believe that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him. . .or at least believe because of the work that they have observed Jesus do. Jesus also tells them that anyone who believes in Jesus will do the same works that Jesus has done and even greater works because of what Jesus is about to do.   

Jesus then tells the disciples to obey His commandments. He also tells them that He will ask His Father to send them another Advocate, the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells them that they know Him because He has already been living with them and that later, He will live in them. Jesus has been telling them that He’s going away and that they can’t follow Him. However, He reassures them that in the Holy Spirit, they will not be left alone like orphans. He also says that, when He’s raised to life again, they will know that He is in the Father, that they are in Him, and that He is in them. Jesus said that those who obey Him are the ones that love Him. Because they love Him, the Father will love them and Jesus will also love them and reveal Himself to them. At this point one of the disciples asks Jesus why He is only going to reveal Himself to them and not to the whole world.  Jesus responds by again noting those that love Him do what He says.  He also says that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will teach them everything and remind them of everything Jesus has told them.  Jesus, knowing what is coming in the next several days and beyond, tells them He’s leaving them with a gift:  peace of mind and heart.  He tells them not to be troubled.   

Principles: There is only one way to the Father: through Jesus Christ. There is NO other way. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross at God’s direction, we have the power of God working in and through us. We think in natural ways and systems but God thinks much higher.  The Holy Spirit teaches us and shows us things that we cannot understand on our own.  

Jesus compares service to God and relationship with God to being a grapevine. He notes that a vinedresser cuts off vines that don’t produce fruit. God does the same with those that don’t produce fruit. He also said that God prunes those that are producing fruit so that they produce more. He tells the disciples to remain in Him so that they are not severed from the True Vine and lose the ability to produce fruit. We are the branches in the True Vine when we stay connected to Jesus.  

Jesus tells the disciples to remain in His love.  He has loved the disciples as God the Father has loved Him.  He forewarns about His pending death noting that there is no greater love than a person laying his life down for His friends. 

He also warns the disciples that the world is going to hate them because they have rejected Him.  He tells them that the world is guilty because He came and proved their rejection of God through His message and miracles. 

Jesus again gives the promise of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.   

Principles:  A relationship with God is like a vinedresser’s relationship with a grapevine.  Stay in relationship with Jesus to remain connected and produce fruit.  The world is going to reject you when you stand for the truth of Jesus.   

Jesus is telling the disciples of what is coming.  He starts by telling them that there will be trouble and that He will go away from them for a little which will cause them grief but then He will be back which will cause them great joy.  He says He will go back to the Father and will send the Holy Spirit to them who will guide them into all truth.  The chapter ends with Jesus telling them that they will have troubles on this earth.  However, he tells them to take heart because He has overcome the world.  

Principles:  The Holy Spirit provides the truth of God to us.  Jesus has overcome the world and the troubles that we face.

Jesus prays over the disciples confirming them to the Father.  He tells God the Father that He is ready to fulfill His purpose for being on the earth.  He prays that they will experience the same love and unity that He has with the Father.  He prays that the Father will make them holy through the truth of His Word.  Jesus prays not only for His disciples but for all of us that will come to follow Him.  Jesus confirms that He has shared the Father with them and as a result, God’s love for Jesus will be in them as well.  

Principles: This is, to me, a somewhat melancholy prayer. Jesus knows all that He has invested in them and He knows what lies ahead of Him (the cross). Jesus’ love for us is abundant.  

In this chapter, Jesus and the disciples have gone to the Mount of Olives/Gethsemane. Other accounts share that Jesus was praying. However, this account jumps straight to Judas coming with the temple guards and Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus. Jesus knew what was coming and addressed them directly asking them who they were looking for. When they said Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus responded, “I Am He.” (In the original language this could also be translated as “I Am (the name of God) is here.”)  The power in His words caused the men to stumble or move backwards. He asked the people again who they were looking for and they said again, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus repeated “I Am He/I Am is with you.” He also asked that the others be let go. Peter drew a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. Jesus stopped Peter from further actions saying that this was what God had planned. Other accounts tell that Jesus healed Malchus’ ear. 

Jesus is then taken to Annas’ house, father-in-law to the high priest. Then they went on to Caiaphas’, the high priest. Peter and another disciple were able to come into the courtyard of the high priest because the other disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest.  People in the courtyard began asking Peter if he was one of Jesus’ disciples. Peter denied it to three people. After the third denial, a rooster crowd, fulfilling what Jesus had told Peter previously.  

Annas questioned Jesus about His teachings. Jesus responded that He had taught publicly and that he should ask the people who listened.  Jesus was struck by one of the temple guards saying He should not speak to the high priest the way He did.  Jesus responded that if He did anything wrong, the guard must prove it.  If not, then he shouldn’t be beating Him.  Then Annas sent Jesus to Caiaphas who questioned Jesus into the early hours of the morning.  Then Jesus was sent to Pilate, the Roman governor. 

Pilate questioned Jesus but didn’t find anything wrong with Him and tried to have Jesus released.  However, the Jews were not willing to accept Jesus being released.    

Principles:  God knows all that is coming, good and bad.  God’s plans are prepared for us to endure and accomplish His purpose through them.  Sometimes, we are accused and convicted with no proof.  Let God manage your reputation.   

Jesus is flogged by Pilate’s men with a lead-tipped whip. As part of their mockery, Pilate’s soldiers wove together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They also put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they mocked Him by saying, “Hail! King of the Jews!” They slapped Jesus across the face.

Pilate then brought Jesus back out to the Jews saying he didn’t find Jesus guilty. But the Jews said Jesus must die because He said He was the Son of God. This frightened Pilate even more than anything, thinking he might be messing with a deity. Pilate took Jesus again and questioned Him but Jesus didn’t respond until Pilate said, “don’t you realize I have the power to release you or crucify you?” Jesus corrected him and said that Pilate didn’t have any power over Him that was not given to him from God. 

Pilate again tried to release Jesus but the Jewish leaders demanded that He be crucified. They manipulated Pilate by saying that if he released Jesus, he was no friend of Caesar because, they said, Jesus declared himself a king and was a rebel against Caesar. 

Pilate tried to give Jesus back to them without killing him but finally relented and had Jesus crucified.

Jesus was led, carrying His cross, to the Place of the Skull (Golgotha in Hebrew) where people were crucified. He was nailed to a cross and put up between two criminals also being crucified. They put a sign in multiple languages that said “King of the Jews.” The Jewish leaders complained at that wanting it to say, “He said He was the King of the Jews” but Pilate was not willing to change it. 

After Jesus was crucified, the soldiers gambled for his clothes, which fulfilled prophecy. 

Mary, Jesus’ mother, and several other women were at the cross. John, one of the disciples that wrote the book and that Jesus was close to, was also there. Jesus told him to take care of His mother and from that day forward, John did. 

Jesus said that He was thirsty.  A sponge with sour wine was held up to Jesus’ lips.  After Jesus tasted the wine, He declared that it was finished and then He released His spirit and died. 

Since it was the day of preparation for the Sabbath and a holy day (Passover), the Jewish leaders were anxious to remove the people crucified from sight.  They requested that Pilate move things along by having the bones of the those crucified broken so they would die faster.  They did that for the two other men being crucified but Jesus was already dead.  Instead, they pierced His side with a spear which caused blood and water to flow out of Him.  This also fulfilled prophecy that no bones would be broken. 

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus received permission from Pilate to take Jesus’ body down and bury Him.  Both were disciples of Jesus secretly due to fear of the Jewish leaders.  Jesus was placed in a tomb that had not been used in a garden near Golgotha because it was the day of preparation for the Sabbath.   

Principles: Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecy that predicted the Messiah. God’s plan is not derailed or enhanced despite the efforts of men but He works through people.  

This chapter is an account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. It starts with Mary Magdalene going to the tomb, finding it open and empty. She ran to the disciples saying that they (the religious leaders or someone doing something nefarious) had taken Jesus’ body. Peter and John ran to the tomb (John, the writer of the book pointing out that he beat Peter to the tomb ;-D). They went inside and found the linens in which Jesus was wrapped for His burial laying there with the face cloth folded separately. For John’s part, he now believed that Jesus was raised from the dead based on what he saw.  

Mary went back to the tomb and is crying. She, too, looks into the tomb but she sees two angels in there. They ask her why she is crying. She says have taken away her Lord and she doesn’t know where they have put Him. Before they can respond, she turns and sees someone else, thinking He is a gardener. He, too, asks her why she is crying and who she is looking for. Mary responds asking Him to tell her where He has put Jesus, not realizing it is Jesus Himself. Then Jesus says her name, “Mary!” In an instant, Mary realizes that is Jesus and her grief is turned to joy. A more extended article on this section is prepared here. 

Next, the chapter talks about Jesus appearing to the disciples. First He appears to the disciples when Thomas was not with them. Jesus gives them the Holy Spirit. Thomas, who wasn’t with them for Jesus’ appearance to the disciples, said he wouldn’t believe that Jesus was alive unless he saw with his own eyes and felt with his own hands Jesus’ wounds.  Jesus appears to the disciples again with Thomas present and invites him to touch His wounds and believe.  Thomas does and believes.  

Principles: Even when we don’t understand His plan, He does. Jesus understands our emotions and weaknesses. Jesus is the Messiah.  

This last chapter of John wraps up the story that John has shared about Jesus on the earth. After Jesus had been raised and appeared to the disciples, Peter decided he wanted to go fishing and the other disciples decided to go with him. The fished all night but didn’t catch anything. 

In the morning, there was a Man on the shore (that they couldn’t tell who it was) that yelled out to them asking if they had caught anything, to which they replied “no.” As if calling back to their first meeting, Jesus tells them to throw their net out on the right-hand side of the boat. When they did, their nets were so heavy with fish that they couldn’t haul it in. John, the writer of the book, realizing the significance, said that it was the Lord. When Peter heard that, he put his tunic on and headed to shore as they were about a hundred yards to shore. The rest of the disciples stayed and brought in the fish from their catch. When they all got to shore, they found Jesus cooking breakfast (fish and some bread) but He asked them to bring some of the fish that they had caught. Since Peter had already come ashore, he went back to help the other bring in the catch.  

As if to clean up the guilt Peter felt from denying Him before His crucifixion, Jesus asks if Peter loves Him three times. In English the word Jesus uses for love in each case just shows up as “love.” However, in the Greek, Jesus uses two different words that are types of love: agape ( Strong’s G25) in the first two instances and phileo ( Strong’s G5368). Agape is the type of Love that God the Father has for His Son Jesus. Phileo is more love of a friend or brother. In each question from Jesus, though, Peter starts his response by saying, “Yes” to the question. However, Peter responds by saying Phileo to Jesus’ agape. In the final request, Jesus uses phileo for love as if Jesus is meeting Peter where he is. Agape is a much fuller aspect of love that is the basis of Christianity. Peter needed to grow into that. 

As a follow-up to this conversation, Jesus lets Peter know that at the end of his life, others would control his death (he would be martyred) but it would glorify God. Jesus told Peter to follow Him even in this time. Again, this cements Peter to Jesus because Peter had previously told Jesus he would follow Him even to death (but then denied Jesus before His crucifixion). Now that Peter’s understanding was a bit more open, Jesus was letting Peter know to follow Him even to death, just as he (Peter) had said.  Peter did try to obfuscate a bit by asking what would happen to John, the writer of the book.  Jesus brought him right back to the most important concept:  no matter what happens to others, follow Jesus.  

John wraps up the gospel noting that it is accurate but that there was so much more that happened, so much so that it couldn’t be contained in books.  

Principles: When Jesus calls out to us, nothing else is as important. God’s love for us is all-encompassing.  God calls us to His plan for our lives, irrespective of others.