John
Jesus Gives Peace
In this passage we read about the resurrection peace that is available to us in Jesus Christ (vv. 19-23). The timing of this event is about 12 hours after the first witness saw Jesus who had risen from the grave. The scene is a private home in Jerusalem. In His resurrection body, He was able to enter …
Jesus Is Scourged
Pilate tried a new approach: sympathy. If Jesus was scourged (beaten with a whip, knotted and weighted with pieces of metal or bone) perhaps they would be satisfied. Certainly, the sight of Jesus, scourged and humiliated, would arouse some pity in their hearts. He ordered that Jesus be …
Jesus Forgives The Adulterous Women
The Jewish religious leaders tried to set a trap for Jesus by bringing a woman to Him caught in adultery (v. 3). “What do you say?” they asked (vv. 4-6). Roman law forbid stoning, but the law of Moses required it in the case of adultery (Deut. 22:24). However, the dishonest intent of the …
The Pruning Process
Viniculture was important to the Jewish way of life. When our Lord used this illustration, He was not introducing something new. In the Old Testament, Israel is called a vine, but it’s a vine that only produced wild grapes. Christ, by contrast, is the true vine (v. 1). The Father is the owner of …
The Burial of Jesus
Since the Jews were anxious to speed up the death process, the Roman soldiers were sent to break the legs of the crucified (vv. 31-32). A crucified person could live for many hours, sometimes even days, so long as they kept the use of their legs, which they could use to lift their chest allowing …
The Work of the Holy Spirit
At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus warned that persecution would strike the church and some Christians would fall away (vv. 1-4). Jesus did not want his disciples to stumble, but He knew that the events of the next 24 hours would shake their faith greatly. He spoke these things to them …
Jesus’ Claims To His Identity
We will find in this passage four claims made by Jesus regarding His identity. …
Jesus’ Prayer for Unity of Believers
The Lord has already prayed about security and sanctity; now the burden of His prayer is unity. In this passage He prays for the whole church down through the centuries, that they all may be unified (vv. 20-26). He is concerned that His people experience a spiritual unity that is like the oneness of …
The Testimony of the Healed Man
The Pharisees tried to pressure the healed man into withdrawing his testimony about Jesus. They wanted him to say that the miracle of his sight was only a miracle of God and that Christ was a sinner (v.24). He would not debate the character of Jesus Christ, because that was beyond his …
Confusion of The Body And Blood of Christ
The Jews assumed that by virtue of their national origin and their religious works they were assured a place in the Kingdom. They thought they could manipulate the Messiah into adapting to their conception of the Kingdom. Quite the opposite was true. Entrance into the Kingdom is not …