John 17:1-26. It has also been called the Great High Priestly Prayer. He prays for himself, his immediate disciples (the eleven) and the church. He even prays for people in the world. The church is called to live in unity.
Bible Study series: John 16:25-33. “I have spoken these things to you so that in me you may have peace.”
Bible Study series: John 16:16-24. “In a little while you will not see me, and again in a little while and you will see me”
Bible Study series: John 16:4b-15. “But if I go, I will send him to you.”
Bible Study series: John 16:1-4a. “I have spoken these things to you so that you may not fall away.” We have been forewarned.
Bible Study series: John 15:26-27. “The advocate,” “the helper,” “the go-between,” “he who comes alongside” will glorify Jesus, and no one else.
Bible Study series: John 15:11-25. Strong contrast in these verses. Be friends with Christ, and the world will hate you. Some Christians are persecuted and even executed around the globe because of their friendship with the resurrected Jesus.
Bible Study series: John 15:1-10. This is an extended metaphor about staying connected to Christ. Our life source is in him.
Bible Study series: John 14:15-31. This chapter is great. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” “The one loving me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” “I leave my peace to you. I give you my peace. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled nor afraid.” You get the idea.
Bible Study series: John 14:1-14. This is a rich section of Scripture:. Samples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.” “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” You get the idea.
Bible Study series: John 13:36-38. Peter’s boast was deflated. But Jesus was right.
Bible Study series: John 13:31-35. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for each other.”
Bible Study series: John 13:21-30. This was part of God’s plan to get his Son on the cross.
Bible Study series: John 13:1-20. Now begins the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus sets the right attitude. Be a servant.
Bible Study series: John 12:44-50. Jesus loves the world, and now his word (message) judges them. It will also judge them on the last day.
Bible Study series: John 12:37-43 Many did not believe, but some rulers did, but they did not confess in public because they were afraid of the Pharisees and kicked out of the synagogue.
Bible Study series: John 12:20-36. Jesus proclaimed his death on the cross, and when he is lifted up, he will draw all men (even Gentiles) to himself, including those Greeks who sought an audience with him.
Bible Study series: John 12:12-19.It was a triumphal entry on his way to death, which he had already predicted.
Bible Study series: John 12:9-11. Many Jews believed in Jesus now because of the resurrection of Lazarus. The establishment had to eliminate him.
Bible Study series: John 12:1-8. She was moved to be in Jesus’s presence. And she was preparing him for burial.
Bible Study series: John 11:45-57. Jesus left Jerusalem for a while.
Bible Study series: John 11:38-44. This is the culmination of the story.
Bible Study series. John 11:28-37. Jesus was preparing to raise Lazarus from the dead. Would his two sisters believe it?
Bible Study series: John 11:17-27. Jesus teaches before he performs his miracle. Are we listening? Or do we only love the miracles?
Bible Study series: John 11:1-16. Why did Jesus delay when Lazarus was sick? Then he died. Is it too late now?
Bible Study series: John 10:40-42. He went to the region beyond the Jordan River (eastward). And many people believed in him because of the signs.
Bible Study series: John 10:31-39. Jews (the establishment) wanted to stone him for his proclamation that he close to his Father.
Bible Study series: John 10:22-30. This is a clear text that supports the Son’s deity.
Bible Study series: John 10:7-21. Will we submit to him like sheep and follow him?
Bible Study series: John 10:1-6. Those who will become his sheep are listening and will walk through the door.
Bible Study series: John 9:35-41. Jesus uses the opening the blind eye to teach about spiritual blindness.
Bible Study series: John 9:13-34. The ex-blind man got the better of them. I once was blind, but now I see!
Bible Study series: John 9:1-12. This was a great sign.
Bible study series: John 8:48-59. Jesus proclaims his deity, by the Father’s permission, who glorifies his Son.
Bible Study series: John 8:37-47. Jesus did not hold back.
Bible Study series: John 8:31-36. Jesus and his gospel is the truth. Know them and you will be free.
Bible Study series: John 8:21-30. He knew who sent him and spoke what he heard his Father say. Then the Son speaks it to the world.
Bible Study series: John 8:12-20. Jesus = the Light = the Truth
Bible Study series: John 8:1-11 Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Bible Study series: John 7:45-52. They did not arrest him, as noted in another post. The officers were so amazed at his teaching that they did not bring him in.
Bible Study series: John 7:40-44. Who was Jesus, anyway? The people took their best guesses based on traditions and their interpretations of Scripture
Bible Study series. John 7:37-39. The rivers flow out of your innermost being and refers to the Spirit. Learn to live in the Spirit.
Bible Study series: John 7:32-36. Then Jesus said he is about to go to the one who sent him. The Jewish establishment was puzzled by his statement.
Bible Study series: John 7:25-31. He puzzled the people of Jerusalem. Some wanted to seize him; others believed him him.
Bible Study series: John 7:14-24. Jesus honored the festivals, but he mainly used them as teaching occasions because of the crowds.
Bible Study series: John 7:10-13. Jesus followed his Father’s timing.
Bible Study series: John 7:1-9. Jesus told his brothers no about going to the feast in Jerusalem. Then he went just a little later. How do we explain this?
Bible Study series: John 6:60-71. Where else could the twelve disciples go? They would never cease following Jesus. They believed and knew that he was the Holy One of God.
Bible Study series: John 6:25-59. Jesus’s words offended the shallow followers. But his true followers remained with him.
Bible Study series: John 6:16-24. This is a nature miracle, done by the will of the Father.
Bible Study series: John 6:1-15. Jesus will draw many lessons from this miracle, later in this chapter
Bible Study Series: John 5:31-47. Whose testimony about Jesus is secure and valid?
Bible Study series: John 5:19-30. Jesus does nothing on his own. He does what he sees the Father doing. This is a submissive Son in a close relationship with his Father.
Bible Study series: John 5:1-18. Jesus healed one man at the pool where other sick people gathered. Then there was a Sabbath dispute. Jesus also made himself equal to God. Many truths embedded in this one section.
Bible Study series: John 4:43-54. The official had a deep faith in the Messiah. As the Messiah, he could heal his son.
Bible Study Series: John 4:1-42. This is the most remarkable dialogue in all of Scripture. Lots to learn here.
Bible Study Series: John 3:31-36. The Father sent the Son. We must place our full faith in him.
Bible Study Series: John 3:22-30. No competition. John had the right perspective and attitude.
Bible Study Series: John 3:16-21. The most famous verse in the Bible is broken down for you, bit by bit.
Bible Study Series: John 3:1-15. This may be the most important section in all of the Bible, for it leads you from darkness into light, from emptiness to the fullness of the Spirit. A rich post.
Bible Study Series: John 2:23-25, Jesus kept the required festivals. John also tells us that Jesus did not entrust himself to people for one simple reason.
Bible Study Series: John 2:13-22. It was a bold statement. He is going after the Jerusalem and temple establishment.
Bible Study Series: John 2:1-12. There is a spiritual significance to this miracle.
Bible Study Series: John 1:43-51. Jesus calls two more disciples. They responded with yes. But they also had some questions.
Bible Study Series: John 1:35-42. Andrew brought his brother Peter to Jesus. How do we witness to our family and lead them to Jesus?
Bible Study Series: John 1:29-34. Jesus is anointed to serve. The ultimate service is to take away the sin of the world. He is the lamb of God.
Bible Study Series: John 1:19-28, John knew his role, his place, in the plan of God. What about you?
Bible Study series: John 1:14-18. This doctrine is the profoundest of them all. Yet it is more than a doctrine. It is God’s finest and ultimate outreach to us humans. It provides us with a saving relationship and an intimate friendship with him.
Bible Study series: John 1:9-13. Has the light shone on you, or do you still walk in darkness?
Bible Study series: John 1:6-8. We learn about John the Baptist from the point of view of the Fourth Gospel.
Bible Study series: John 1:1-5. John opens his Gospel with deep truths, which were already alluded to in the epistles throughout the NT. What do these truths mean to our lives?
How are the chronological differences to be reconciled?
Are the four Gospel writers all that clumsy, or do they employ the story teller’s art to narrate the story of these disciples from the writers’ own point of view?
The context says that “things” means “works.” Here are commentaries and my take on this issue.
It’s about God’s love and favor, not yours for him. Great for a series of sermons or Bible studies or your personal edification.
Jesus appears again, this time on the shore of the Lake of Galilee. He miraculously provides them with a catch of 153 large fish. He asks Peter three questions about his love and commitment. He predicts by what manner of death Peter would glorify God. He tells Peter not to get distracted by the beloved disciple’s future. The post-script says that the beloved disciple wrote the Gospel, and his testimony is true. Not even the world itself would have room for all the books containing all the things Jesus said and did.
The author of this Gospel made sure he used eyewitness testimony; indeed he was an eyewitness!
Jesus is raised from the dead. Mary Magdalene visits the empty tomb. She reports back to Peter, who visits the tomb, but the beloved disciple gets there first. They depart and Mary returns. She sees two angels in the tomb; then Jesus appears to her outside it. She clutches him, and he tells her to stop because he will not leave permanently at that moment. He commissions her to tell the other disciples. He appears to them and shows them his hands (wrists) and side. He exhales and says for them to receive the Spirit. He appears to Thomas. John lays out the purpose of the book.
The chief priests and temple officers shout for him to be crucified. They back Pilate into a corner, saying that they have no king but Caesar. He reluctantly orders his crucifixion. The soldiers divide his garments. He hands his mother over to the disciple whom he loved. Jesus dies when he gives up his spirit. His side is pierced. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus work together to bury him.
Jesus is arrested in a garden and brought before the emeritus high priest Annas. Then he is led to the serving high priest Caiaphas. Next, Pilate questions him, finds no basis for an accusation against him, and intends to release him because of a Jewish custom. The Jewish establishment and their allies shout for the insurrectionist Barabbas to be released, instead.
This is Jesus’s long and profound prayer of consecration before going to the cross. He prays for himself, his immediate disciples (the eleven) and the church. He even prays for people in the world. The church is called to live in unity.
Jesus tell his disciples that persecution is coming. He teaches on the ministry of the Spirit. The disciples’ sorrow will turn to joy. In the world they will have trouble, but they can take courage, because he has overcome the world.
In this chapter, Jesus says he is the true vine, the Father is the vinedresser, and the branches must dwell or live in the vine. The world hated him, and it will hate his disciples.
Jesus is still in the middle of his farewell discourse. He says he is the way, the truth, and the life. He promises the Paraclete or Holy Spirit. He says the ruler of this world has no hold or claim on him. His disciples will do “greater things” than he did. What does this mean?
Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. He predicts Judas’s betrayal. Jesus gives them a new commandment: to love one another. He also predicts Peter’s three denials. Verse 31 begins the Farewell Discourse(s) all the way to 17:26. The chronology between John and the Synoptics and Passover and the crucifixion is also discussed here. They can be harmonized.
Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany. A plot is hatched to kill Lazarus. Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly. Some Greeks seek Jesus. The Son of Man must be lifted up. The unbelief of the people is stated. Jesus came to save the world, not judge it.
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and declares that he himself is the resurrection and the life. The chief priests and Pharisees plot to arrest and kill Jesus. It is the Passover season.
Who were the “gods” and “sons of the Most High” in Psalm 82:6? Whom does Jesus say they were in John 10:34-36? Many commentators offer their opinion, and they are unanimous about who they were not. Now what about–who they were?
Jesus says he is the gate or door to the sheep pen. He says he is the Good Shepherd. He proclaims that he and the Father are one. The Father is in him and he in the Father. The religious establishment pick up stones to execute him prematurely. He replies to their mob mentality with Scripture. Ps. 82 is discussed in detail here in vv. 34-36. He withdraws.
Jesus heals a man born blind, on the Sabbath. The Pharisees and Jerusalem religious establishment investigate. The former blind man’s parents are called in. The former blind man gets the better of the establishment. They throw him out. Jesus teaches about true seeing and spiritual blindness.
Jesus forgives a woman caught in adultery, saying to her accusers: Let the one without sin be the first to throw the stone at her. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Knowing the truth will set you free. The Jerusalem establishment’s father is actually the devil. Jesus makes this startling pronouncement: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Jesus told his brothers that he was not (currently) going to this feast of Tabernacles, yet he went a little while later. Then he taught in public in the temple. Jesus challenged the rulers to judge with a righteous judgment and stop being lawbreakers who were seeking to kill him for (allegedly) breaking the law. They sent officers to arrest Jesus. The people’s opinion about him were divided. The officers returned and said his teaching was unprecedented, so they could not arrest him! Nicodemus steps forward and defends Jesus.
In this chapter, Jesus feeds the five thousand. He walks on water. Then he teaches that he is the bread of heaven. Finally, he reveals that his words are Spirit and life, which is the interpretive key to the symbols abounding in this chapter.
John 6 and Jesus’ teaching about his body and blood and bread and manna from heaven is very symbolic. How should we interpret it, as it relates to the Eucharist or the Lord’s Table or Communion?
Jesus heals an unnamed man at the pool of Bethesda, in Jerusalem, on the Sabbath. The Jerusalem establishment go on offense against him. Jesus proclaims the authority of the Son, but only as it is built on the Father’s support and commission. Then Jesus speaks of the best supporting witness and testimony.
Jesus returns from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north. First, however, he passes through Samaria and has a dialogue with a woman. He also heals a royal official’s son, by long distance.
Jesus dialogues with Nicodemus and says, “You must be born again.” Nicodemus does not understand. Then John, the author of the Gospel, says the most famous verse of all. John the Baptist says Jesus must increase, but John must decrease. Jesus comes from above and is over all.
In this chapter, Jesus turns the water into wine. He clears out an area of the temple during the Passover. He remained in Jerusalem and worked signs (miracles); many believe in him but he did not entrust himself to humankind, for he knew what was in people.
In this chapter, we learn that the Word was God. The Word became flesh. John the Baptist testifies about Jesus and who John himself is not. John proclaims that Jesus is the lamb of God and sees the Spirit coming down like a dove. Two disciples follow Jesus, Andrew and an unnamed one. Andrew calls his brother Simon, and Jesus nicknames him Cephas / Peter. Jesus calls Philip in Galilee, and Philip invites Nathanael.
Many interpreters believe that John 14:2-3 teaches the Second Coming or rapture before the Second Coming, but 14:23 decisively argues against this interpretation.
Here is a list of the principal works referenced or used at this site. More will be added as time goes on, so please check back.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 