John 15:1-27 On Jesus’ last night before his death, he walked from the upper room in Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane. In his teaching, we see some of the essential truths he longed to communicate to his disciples before he was taken from them. He tells his disciples that he is the vine and his followers are branches. He is the source of life, so the only way we can thrive is to remain connec...

John 14:15-31 Jesus has been modeling and speaking about love throughout the gospel of John, and especially in his upper room discourse in John 13-14. He wants to leave his disciples with a clear understanding of what it looks like to love God and others. If you were to point to one thing in your life which shows your love for God, what would it be? In John 14 Jesus highlights obedience as evidenc...

John 13:31-14:14 What would you show as evidence that you are a follower of Jesus? If someone wanted to convict you as a Christian, what would they bring to a judge? According to Jesus in John 13, the proof we are Christians is the way we love people. Our calling is not to occasionally love others, but to follow in Jesus’ footsteps by loving continually as an overflow of the love he has shown us. ...

John 13:1-30 In John 13 we are told that Jesus “now showed them the full extent of his love.” Jesus showed his love through service. He postured himself as the lowest person in a household by washing the disciples’ feet. He humbled himself by becoming a servant to show love. He stooped down to bless others. If we are to follow in the way of Jesus this is the same mindset we need to adopt. In the t...

John 12:20-50 Jesus’ path to glory is very different from the strategy of the world. Our world tells us to pursue comfort, ease, happiness, and self-fulfillment, while Jesus models a path towards death and sacrifice. As we seek to follow Jesus, we will have to come to terms with whether we are willing to embrace his way of life. Jesus says that “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and die...

John 11:55-12:19 In John 12, the last week of Jesus’ life on earth comes into focus. As Jesus heads toward his death, opposition only intensifies. The first source of opposition in John 12 is that of the Pharisees. They have been trying to stop Jesus throughout his ministry, but now commit to doing so at any cost—even a willingness to kill him and Lazarus. They would do anything to keep Jesus from...

John 11:1-54 “If only….” That hanging phrase causes so much angst. Especially in the case of Martha, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” We may feel in our own lives that there have been many “if only” moments where God did not step in, which caused uncertainty in our lives. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. Four days of sorrow...

John 10:22-42 Who is Jesus? The first question Jesus addresses concerning his identity in John 10:22-42 is whether he is the Christ/Messiah. He answers that he is and has proven this through his actions, specifically his miracles. He then continues with his identity as the good shepherd. The focus of the shepherd image in John 10:22-42 is that what he gives his sheep can never be taken from them. ...

John 10:1-21 When you think of God what comes to mind? You may think of him as Father, Savior, Triune, or any of the other aspects of his character, but one of the most common images for God in the Bible is that of a shepherd. John 10 helps to develop exactly what it means for Jesus to be our shepherd. When Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, he is inserting himself into the slot which God take...

John 9:1-41 How can there be an all-loving, all-good, all-powerful God; yet such evil and suffering in the world? This is one of the most asked questions from skeptics to Christians. Jesus gives us one particular reason in John 9. The disciples, who had been with Jesus for a while, asked Jesus why a particular man was born blind. The disciples assumed the blind man was either blind because of his ...

John 8:31-59 When a baby is born everyone tries to decipher whether the child looks more like the mom or the dad. This practice is an understanding that kids look like their parents. This is not meant to be true only of physical features, but in Jesus’ conversation in John 8, it is meant to be true in the way we live. Jesus lays out two ways in which we are to reflect his life in the way we live. ...

John 8:31-59 When a baby is born everyone tries to decipher whether the child looks more like the mom or the dad. This practice is an understanding that kids look like their parents. This is not meant to be true only of physical features, but in Jesus’ conversation in John 8, it is meant to be true in the way we live. Jesus lays out two ways in which we are to reflect his life in the way we live. ...

John 8:21-30 Do you have confidence that you have eternal life? If you do, are you walking in a way that reflects and tastes that life now? Or does your life sometimes feel like a slow death? Three times in the ten verses of John 8:21-30 Jesus uses the phrase "die in your sin(s)." Jesus confronts the Pharisees to make clear what is at stake. Either people will die in their sins and have their wick...

John 8:1-20 In John 8, we see two powerful ways Jesus wants to transform our lives. In the middle of a teaching session, an adulteress woman was thrown at Jesus. The religious leaders quoted the Mosaic Law and told Jesus she deserved death. Jesus agreed with them, but said only a perfect person, and thus a true judge, could enact this judgment. The religious leaders slowly slunk away, and Jesus ev...

John 7:31-53 Have you ever wanted something to happen but it did not? Or maybe you tried to do something, but only much later did it actually occur? In John 7, we are reminded that God’s timing is often very different from ours. Jesus had made his way into Jerusalem during the Feast, despite it being the hub of hostility against him. He faithfully preached concerning his identity as the Messiah an...

John 7:1-30 When do you feel like you most clearly hear from God? What do you do to understand what is God’s will versus your own desires? Are you willing to surrender your wants in order to accomplish what God is asking of you? Jesus conducted ministry in northern Israel (Galilee) when his brothers told him to go to Judea to perform miracles for the people to see. Rather than simply listening to ...

John 6:43-71 “Many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” This is one of the saddest verses in the Bible. Jesus proclaimed himself to be the bread of life, and, in doing so, he needed to be consumed. This “hard teaching” caused many to walk away. Jesus continued in John 6 with his lengthy dialogue regarding himself as the bread of life. He proclaimed himself as the only one who ...

John 6:22-42 What does it take for you to feel satisfied? How much money do you have to have in your bank account, how much sleep do you need, and how much quality time do you need with friends and family to feel content? As Jesus talks with the crowds, he wants them to understand the only source of satisfaction─—it is nothing this world can offer, it is only him. After having been fed by Jesus, t...

John 6:1-21 Jesus is greater than we can comprehend. He is savior, king, creator, sustainer, miracle worker, and so much more. The crowds followed Jesus because "they saw the signs he had performed." They thought of him as a miracle worker who could solve their problems. Then when they were fed by him, they saw him as someone like Moses, who could feed the nation. This added revelation made them w...

John 5:24-47 If you only had time to communicate the most important thing about life to someone, what is the central truth you would want to teach them? In John’s gospel he records more conversations of Jesus than the other Gospel writers. From these we can deduce some of the essential things John felt we needed to understand about Jesus, and by extension, the most important things we need to teac...