Today’s passage: John 10:22-30

Helpful thoughts:

• The Feast of Dedication took place in December.  The “Dedication” commemorated was the rededication of the Temple in 164 A.D. after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes.
• The Jews wanted Jesus to declare Himself as the Christ/Messiah because they wanted Him punished!  They got what they wanted in the end (See verse 31).
• The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice and believe…and follow their Shepherd!
  • Both of these statements are true:
    • Once a Christian is saved, he/she cannot lose their salvation (“No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”)
    • Once a Christian is saved, they must follow Jesus (“They hear my voice…and they follow me.”)
      • James 2:14-26
      • The Bible does not teach a person to pray a prayer for salvation and then live a sinful life and expect eternal life (“Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!”)
      • The Bible does teach that lost sinners are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  And then those saved sinners become new creations who will be progressively transformed into Christ-likeness (Ephesians 2:8-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Philippians 1:6)

Questions to consider:

1. What did these people want to do (Of their own will) to the Son of God?  Why didn’t they believe?  What is the answer Jesus gives in this text?
2. Why isn’t anyone able to snatch you out of Christ’s (And the Father’s!) hands?  Who decided you would be in God’s hands?  Who “gave” you to Christ?  Who gave you eternal life?  Where does all the credit go?  Why do we have every reason to rest at ease knowing our eternity is secure?
3. When would any professing Christ NOT have reason to rest at ease concerning their eternity?  If a professing Christian is struggling with assurance of their salvation, how could you use this passage to give them good counsel? (Answer this last question BOTH for the person who is living in sin and for the person who is following Jesus.)

Today’s passage: John 10:7-21

Helpful thoughts:

• Because His hearers struggled to understand what was said in verses 1-6, Jesus elaborated in verses 7-21.
• There are two “I am” statements in this passage:
  • I am the door
    • Jesus is the only way into the “sheepfold.”
      • And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. – Acts 4:12
  • I am the good shepherd
    • Christ’s people “hear the voice” of their shepherd and they follow Him.
    • A hired hand would never die for someone else’s sheep.  Christ died for His own people.
• Christ makes two further promises in these verses:
  • After He willingly laid down His life, He would rise from the dead!
  • There would be “sheep” who follow Him who were not of that fold.
    • This is referring to the inclusion of the Gentile people into the church.

Questions to consider:

1. Is there more than one way to be saved?  Are there other doors that lead to the kingdom of God?  Is following Jesus optional?
2. What was the result of Jesus’ teaching in this passage?  How do verses 19-21 illustrate what Jesus just taught?  Who heard the voice of their Shepherd?
3. What awaits those who remain in the possession of the “thief” or under the watch-care of a hired hand (Verses 10 & 12)?  What awaits those who enter the sheepfold by the Door (Verses 9-10)?  What reason do we have to give the Lord thanks, praise and worship?

Today’s passage: John 10:1-6

Helpful thoughts:

• A robber of sheep has to use cunning and force because the shepherd’s sheep only know and follow their shepherd’s voice.
• The shepherd knows his sheep and calls them by name.  They hear his voice and they follow him.  They run away from anyone else.
• Stay tuned for Christ’s explanation in tomorrow’s passage!

Questions to consider:

1. Given what we read in chapter 9, who might be the thieves and robbers to whom Jesus was immediately referring?  What kind of cunning and force were the Jewish religious leaders employing to get people to submit to their leadership?
2. Does the shepherd drive the sheep from behind like cattle or lead out front with his voice?  How might this illustration apply to pastoral ministry?  Are pastors cowboys or shepherds?
3. How many sheep does the shepherd bring out and lead (Verse 4)?

Today’s passage: John 9:18-41

Helpful thoughts:

• Today, we will complete the narrative of the healing of the man born blind.
  • Because he was healed on the Sabbath, the spiritually blind religious leaders refused to believe Jesus was of/from God.
  • In chapter 8, Jesus claimed to BE God (8:48).
• The fear of man is a powerful thing. These parents should have been rejoicing and praising God.  Instead, they were devising ways to get around the angry questioning of their religious leaders.
• The Pharisees believed they already “saw” and were therefore unwilling to see the Light.  They did not WANT to believe in Jesus.  Therefore, they:
  • Forbade their people from believing in Jesus
  • Threatened expulsion from the synagogues
  • Interrogated with intimidation and mockery
  • Publicly humiliated people who challenged them
    • All in the name of following Moses.

Questions to consider:

1. What would the Pharisees and other religious leaders have had to admit if they were going to believe in Jesus?  What was so precious to them that they would have “lost” in order to gain Christ?  What similar thing is true of all sinners in need of repentance?  Why is it so hard to truly believe in the simple gospel message and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
2. What is the sad irony of the Pharisees’ claim to be followers of Moses?  Were they following Moses?  If they were, what would they have done with Jesus? (John 5:46, Luke 16:31)
3. What did the formerly blind man do once Jesus told him He was the Christ (Verse 38)?  Of what response and of what kind of life is Jesus worthy?

Today’s passage: John 9:1-17

Helpful thoughts:

• After Jesus clearly declared His Divine identity and was rejected by man, God had a divinely arranged appointment ready for Him to give further evidence and to communicate an important truth.
• Again, it was not against the Law to make a little mud or to heal a man on the Sabbath.  It was against the additional rules the religious leaders had devised.
• In this passage, there is one man who was born blind but now could see and there are several men who continued in their blindness (Spiritual blindness).
  • The light of the world was right in front of them!  They were in the daylight, yet they continued to walk in darkness.

Questions to consider:

1. Why was this man born blind?  What purpose did it serve?  How can this help us to view the suffering of others differently?  How could this help us to view our own suffering differently?  We certainly can suffer because of our own sinful choices (Not all suffering is innocent), but what will our perspective be in eternity, looking back at any suffering we endured for the glory of God?
2. What did the man born physically blind need to gain his sight?  What does a sinner born spiritually blind need to gain his/her sight?  (Colossians 1:13, Acts 26:16-18)
3. What did the blindness of the Jewish religious leaders cause them to say concerning Jesus?  How did it cause them to tamper with and elevate in importance their additions to the Law of God?  How might spiritual blindness cause people in a pluralistic naturalistic age (Our own) to respond to the message of the gospel?  Why doesn’t this change our message?

Today’s passage: John 8:48-59

Helpful thoughts:

• Please read verse 47 for context.  What the Jews said to Jesus was in response to what He had said of them.
  • Jesus’ version = “You are not of God.”
  • Jews’ response = “You are a Samaritan and have a demon.”
• What the Jews said to Jesus was incredibly offensive (That’s an understatement).  He did not respond in kind (1 Peter 2:23).
• In saying, “Before Abraham was, I am” Jesus was making a clear declaration of His deity.  He was claiming to be God.
  • The Jews absolutely understood this.  There was a clear reason why they picked up stones to execute Him.

Questions to consider:

1. Why was the response of the Jews in verse 48 so egregious?  What might have been the equivalent hateful statement in our culture today?  How did the response of the Jews reveal the nature of their hearts and the lack of actual content for their argument?
2. How was Jesus’ response and the conversation that followed so instructive?  What did He respond with?  Did He act in kind (Was He nasty back to them)?  Did He stop speaking the truth? (1 Peter 3:15)
3. Who is Jesus (Exodus 3:14)?  What then is the only right response in light of this truth (John 3:18)?

Today’s passage: John 8:39-47

Helpful thoughts:

• At the end of verse 38, Jesus referred to the people’s “father.”  The people were being like their “father” in their sinful disobedience (Like father, like son).  This, as we would expect, sparked controversy.
• No one will ever be right with God because of their physical heritage.  Even if the very blood of Abraham is in you (Or seven generations of Christians) you are born in sin and must be born again “from above” to be a child of God (John 3:3).
• We hear and respond to what our nature demands.  Our character and conduct are inherited and also willfully chosen.  But, when we become “of God” we can hear and respond according to our new nature (Ephesians 2:8-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Questions to consider:

1. What did the people say to counter Jesus when He acknowledged their sinful behavior?  Did they debate the accuracy of His observation or did they seek to demean and humiliate Him?  Why did they believe He didn’t have any room to talk?
2. Why does Satan lie (Verse 44)?  Where does that come from?  Why do we sin?  How does humbly acknowledging our condition lead to freedom and victory (1 John 1:8-9)?
3. How can this passage help us to understand the bigger picture of what happens when a person is saved?  What will happen in the life of a Christian after their conversion?  Will they stay the same?  How have you changed and how are you continuing to grow?

Today’s passage: John 8:31-38

Helpful thoughts:

• A disciple of Jesus Christ is a person who continues to sit under His teaching, believes what He has said, and grows in obedience.  This is what it means to abide in His word.
• You cannot liberate people from something they don’t want to leave behind.
  • Jesus came to save people from their sin.  The people overwhelmingly chose (And continue to choose) their sin over Jesus.
• It is a greater blessing from God to have victory over your sin than it is for God to heal you from sickness, bless you with money, give you success in your career, etc.

Questions to consider:

1. At the root level, why do people reject Jesus?  What do they love more?  What don’t they want to give up?  Is your presentation the reason people wouldn’t believe and repent?  In what way can this encourage you to keep sharing the truth?
2. What has Jesus given you the freedom to do?  Do you have to sin?  Are you bound to do what is wrong?  What are you free to do?  How is that different than the way you were before you were saved and liberated?
3. What sin struggle could you take to the Lord in prayer, seek His Word and strive to grow in?  What might happen in the lives of Christians as victory over these sin issues becomes increasingly more important to us than any other area of our lives we may fret over (Matthew 6:33)?

Today’s passage: John 8:12-30

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus does not judge “according to the flesh” or according to the world’s sinful standards.  Jesus will always rightly discern all things.  He is the very essence and the standard of righteousness.
  • He did not come into the world to condemn but to save (John 3:17).  But the day is coming, the Father has given judgment to the Son (John 5:22).
• The Pharisees wanted to use the law concerning witnesses against Jesus.  In the courts, one witness was not enough to confirm what happened.  However, if only one witness sees an event, it doesn’t make it untrue.
  • The Pharisees were not right to reject Jesus on a legal technicality, though in truth Jesus had much more than Himself as a witness.
• There are consequences to unbelief.
  • Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
  • When Jesus told them they couldn’t come where He was going, they assumed He was about to commit the sin of suicide (Calling good, “evil.”  Calling evil, “good.”).

Questions to consider:

1. What does the light reveal?  Are you a sinner who needed saving by God’s grace through the blood of Christ?  Do you desire to walk in the light and pursue purity and righteousness before the eyes of God?  What are the results to the answers for these questions?
2. What was Jesus record of righteous living in his earthly life (Verse 29)?  He didn’t just not sin, what was He always doing?  How can this help us to learn how to put off sin and put on righteousness?