Read for This Week’s Study John 1:1–5, Gen. 1:1, John 1:9–13, John 3:16–21, John 9:35–41, Matt. 7:21–23, John 17:1–5 . Memory Text: Week one dealt with the end of the book of John, which explained why he wrote his Gospel. This week’s lesson returns to the beginning of the Gospel, where John sets forth the direction that he, inspired by the Holy Spirit, intends to take the reader. In the first words and paragraphs of their writing, New Testament writers often present the themes that they intend t...
Oct 12, 2024•5 min•Season 6Ep. 2180
Read Ellen G. White, “The Crisis in Galilee,” pp. 383–394; “ ‘Lazarus, Come Forth,’ ” pp. 524–536; and “Priestly Plottings,” pp. 537–542, in The Desire of Ages. “The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testa...
Oct 11, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2179
Read John 9:17–34 . What questions did the leaders ask, and how did the blind man respond? This long section of John 9 is the only portion of John where Jesus is not the main actor on the stage, though He is certainly the subject of discussion. Just as the question of sin started the story ( John 9:2 ), the Pharisees think Jesus is a sinner because He healed on the Sabbath ( John 9:16, 24 ), and they will slander the healed man as “born in utter sin” ( John 9:34, ESV ). A curious reversal occurs...
Oct 10, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2178
Read John 9:17–34 . What questions did the leaders ask, and how did the blind man respond? This long section of John 9 is the only portion of John where Jesus is not the main actor on the stage, though He is certainly the subject of discussion. Just as the question of sin started the story ( John 9:2 ), the Pharisees think Jesus is a sinner because He healed on the Sabbath ( John 9:16, 24 ), and they will slander the healed man as “born in utter sin” ( John 9:34, ESV ). A curious reversal occurs...
Oct 09, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 2177
Read John 9:1–16 . What did the disciples think was the cause of this man’s blindness, and how did Jesus correct their false beliefs? The disciples made a connection between sickness and sin. A number of Old Testament passages point in that direction (compare with Exod. 20:5, 2 Kings 5:15–27, 2 Kings 15:5, and 2 Chron. 26:16–21 ), but the story of Job should have led to caution about whether such a connection always occurred. Jesus sets the matter straight, not denying any connection between sin...
Oct 08, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2176
Read John 6:14, 15, 26–36 . How did the people respond to His miracle, and how did Jesus use this to try to teach them who He was? The Judeans were expecting an earthly messiah who would deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire. Two of the most difficult things encountered in war are feeding the troops and caring for the wounded and dead. By His miracles, Jesus showed that He could do both. But that’s not why Jesus had come, and that wasn’t the purpose of His miracle. Instead, the ac...
Oct 07, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2175
n John 6:4, 5 , the apostle goes out of his way to state that the timing of the feeding of the 5,000 was near the Passover. The Passover was a commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The Passover lamb took the place of the death of the firstborn. This sacrifice symbolized the death of Jesus in our behalf. On the cross, the punishment that we deserved because of our sins fell on Jesus instead. Christ, our Passover, was indeed slain for us ( 1 Cor. 5:7 ). “He bore the guilt of trans...
Oct 06, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2174
Read for This Week’s Study John 6:1–15, Isa. 53:4–6, 1 Cor. 5:7, John 6:26–36, John 9:1–41, 1 Cor. 1:26–29, John 11 . Memory Text: The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son, one with the Father, underived and uncreated. Jesus is the One who created all that was made ( John 1:1–3 ). Thus, Jesus has always existed; there never was a time when He didn’t exist. Though Jesus came to this world and took upon Himself our humanity, He always kept His divinity. And at specific times, Jesus ...
Oct 05, 2024•7 min•Season 6Ep. 2173
Further Thought: “Jesus had given him [the disabled man] no assurance of divine help. The man might have stopped to doubt, and lost his one chance of healing. But he believed Christ’s word, and in acting upon it he received strength. “Through the same faith we may receive spiritual healing. By sin we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are palsied. Of ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life than was the impotent man capable of walking. . . . Let these desponding, str...
Oct 04, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2172
Jesus’ Claims The miracle by the Pool of Bethesda provided an excellent opportunity for John to emphasize who Jesus is. John takes nine verses to describe the miracle and about 40 verses (see below) to describe the One who performed the miracle. Read John 5:16–18. Why was Jesus persecuted for His action on the Sabbath? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ John 5:18 can be disturbing because it seems to say that Jesus wa...
Oct 03, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2171
Signs, wonders, and miracles, in and of themselves, don’t prove that something is of God. But, on the other hand, when they are of God, it’s a dangerous thing to reject them. Read John 5:10–16. What lessons can we take away from the amazing hardness of the religious leaders’ hearts in regard to Jesus and the miracle He had just performed? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ When Jesus revealed Himself to the man who ha...
Oct 02, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 2170
The next sign John records took place at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–9). It was believed that an angel caused movement in the water and that the first sick person to enter the water would be healed. As a result, the porches of the pool were crowded with those hoping to be cured at the next occurrence. Jesus went to Jerusalem, and as He passed by the pool, He saw the waiting throng. What a sight it must have been, too! All these people, some surely quite ill, waiting and waiting by the water f...
Oct 01, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2169
All through His earthly ministry, Jesus performed miracles that helped people believe in Him. John recorded these miracles so that others would believe in Jesus, as well. Read John 4:46–54. Why does the evangelist make a connection back to the miracle at the wedding feast? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ In giving an account of the second sign that Jesus did ...
Sep 30, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2168
Read John 2:1–11. What sign did Jesus do at Cana, and how did this help His disciples in coming to believe in Him? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Seeing Jesus perform the miracle of changing the water into wine provided evidence in favor of the disciples’ decision to follow Jesus. How could it not have been a powerful sign pointing to Him as being someone fr...
Sep 29, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2167
Read for This Week’s Study: John 2:1–11; John 4:46–54; John 5:1–16; Mark 3:22, 23; Matt. 12:9–14; John 5:16–47. Memory Text: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30, 31, NKJV). Why did John write his Gospel? Did he wish to emphasize Jesus’ miracles or some specific teachings of Jesus?...
Sep 28, 2024•5 min•Season 6Ep. 2166
Sitting in a shop in Tehran, Iran, the Persian rug depicted an ancient forest. Beautifully done, it re-created a scene in Switzerland: mountains, a waterfall, a turquoise lake, forested hillsides, and an expansive blue sky dotted with clouds. Anyone in that shop could have spent their time noting the details: the number of knots per square inch, the fabric of the carpet, the types of dye used—all the minutiae that resulted in the rug. Or the person could have focused, instead, on the arresting t...
Sep 28, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2165
Read Ellen G. White, “ ‘The Lord Is Risen,’ ” pp. 779–787; “Go Teach All Nations,” pp. 818–828, in The Desire of Ages . “To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity. ‘I am come,’ He said, ‘that they might have life, and that they might hav...
Sep 27, 2024•9 min•Season 6Ep. 2165
Read Mark 16:14–20 . What did Jesus say to His disciples when He appeared to them, and what do these words mean to us today? The first words of Jesus to His disciples are recorded only in indirect discourse in Mark 16:14 . He rebukes them for their unbelief and hardheartedness. This question of unbelief is not simply a modern problem. As we already have seen, the original disciples of Jesus struggled with belief ( Matt. 28:17, John 20:24–29 ), and they were with Jesus in the flesh and saw, again...
Sep 26, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 2164
Read Mark 16:9–20 . What do these verses add to the Resurrection story? Almost all of Mark 16:9–20 has parallels to other passages in the New Testament—Mary Magdalene at the tomb seeing Jesus ( Matt. 28:1, 9, 10; John 20:11–18 ; compare with Luke 8:2 ); two disciples see Him in the countryside ( Luke 24:13–35 ); the 11 disciples are commissioned ( Matt. 28:16–20, Luke 24:36–49, John 20:19–23 ). The first person to see Jesus alive was Mary Magdalene ( John 20:11–18 ). Other women saw Him, as well...
Sep 25, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2163
“The women who had stood by the cross of Christ waited and watched for the hours of the Sabbath to pass. On the first day of the week, very early, they made their way to the tomb, taking with them precious spices to anoint the Saviour’s body. They did not think about His rising from the dead. The sun of their hope had set, and night had settled down on their hearts. As they walked, they recounted Christ's works of mercy and His words of comfort. But they remembered not His words, ‘I will see you...
Sep 24, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2162
Read Mark 16:1–8 and 1 Corinthians 15:1–8 . What do these passages have in common? The story of the resurrection appears in each of the Gospels. Each Gospel writer presents the story from a different perspective, but they all contain the core concepts that appear also in 1 Corinthians 15:1–8 . Four ideas appear again and again—died, buried, risen, seen. In Mark, “died” and “buried” are in chapter 15. The “risen” and “seen” appear in chapter 16, but with a twist. Mark 16:7 speaks of a meeting in ...
Sep 23, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2161
Read Mark 15:42–16:6 . What happens here, and why is this story so relevant to the resurrection narrative? All the Gospel writers agree that Jesus died on the day that they identify as the “preparation” ( Matt 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14, 31, 42 ). Most commentators understand this as a reference to sunset Thursday through sunset Friday. Jesus died late on Friday afternoon and was then quickly buried before sunset. During the Sabbath, the Lord rested in the grave, and all of Jesus’...
Sep 22, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2160
Read for This Week’s Study Mark 15:42–47, Mark 16, Col. 2:10–12, 1 Cor. 15:1–8, Dan. 9:24–27, John 20:11–18 . Memory Text: The crucifixion of Jesus destroyed the hopes and faith of His disciples. It was a dark weekend for them as they not only grappled with their Master’s death but feared for their own lives, as well ( John 20:19 ). In Mark 16 , the final chapter in this Gospel, we will look at what followed His death. First, we will look at the timing of Jesus’ resurrection and why the women ca...
Sep 21, 2024•7 min•Season 6Ep. 2159
Read Ellen G. White, “In Pilate’s Judgment Hall,” pp. 723–740; “Calvary,” pp. 741–757; “ ‘It Is Finished,’ ” pp. 758–764, in The Desire of Ages . “Pilate longed to deliver Jesus. But he saw that he could not do this, and yet retain his own position and honor. Rather than lose his worldly power, he chose to sacrifice an innocent life. How many, to escape loss or suffering, in like manner sacrifice principle. Conscience and duty point one way, and self-interest points another. The current sets str...
Sep 20, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2158
Read Mark 15:42–47 . What is the significance of Joseph of Arimathea’s intervention, especially since all of Jesus’ disciples were nowhere to be seen? After all that drama, the more “mundane” things happen next. For starters, dead people always have to be buried. But several factors in what follows are quite touching spiritually, and others are extremely important historically. In this passage, Joseph of Arimathea appears for the first and last time in the Gospel of Mark. He was a respected memb...
Sep 19, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2157
Read Mark 15:33–41 . What are Jesus’ only words on the cross in Mark? What does Christ’s death ultimately mean for us all? The Gospel of Mark presents the cross as a very dark place, both physically and spiritually. A supernatural darkness descended on Calvary from about noon on that Friday until about 3 p.m. “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour” ( Mark 15:33, ESV ). The words of Jesus on the cross are called the “cry of dereliction” as H...
Sep 18, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2156
Read Mark 15:21–38 . What terrible and painful irony appears in these passages? At this point in the Passion Narrative, Jesus is a silent victim, controlled by people who are bent on His death. Throughout the Gospel, up to His arrest, He was the master of activities. Now He is acted upon. Though He was a robust itinerant preacher, the beating He had received and the lack of food and sleep wore Him down to where a stranger had to bear His cross. At the cross His garments were removed and became t...
Sep 17, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2155
Read Mark 15:15–20 . What did the soldiers do to Jesus, and what is its significance? The Romans utilized a severe form of beating to prepare prisoners for execution. The victim was stripped of his clothes, tied to a pole, and then lashed with leather whips to which pieces of bone, glass, stones, and nails were tied. After Jesus was whipped, the soldiers tasked with His execution continued His humiliation by clothing Him in a purple robe, placing a crown of thorns on His head, and mocking Him as...
Sep 16, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2154
Read Mark 15:1–15 . What kind of ironic situations occur here? Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea from A.D. 26–A.D. 36. He was not a kind leader, and a number of his actions caused consternation among the inhabitants of the land (compare with Luke 13:1 ). The Jewish trial of Jesus resulted in a death sentence for blasphemy. But under Roman rule, the Jews could not execute people in most cases, and so, they brought Jesus to Pilate for condemnation. The charge against Jesus before Pilate is ...
Sep 15, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2153
Read for This Week’s Study Mark 15, Luke 13:1, Ps. 22:18, John 20:24–29, John 1:1–3, Dan. 9:24–27 . Memory Text: Mark 15 is the heart of the Passion Narrative. It presents the trial of Jesus, His condemnation, the mockery by the soldiers, His crucifixion, and then His death and burial. The events in this chapter are presented in stark, crisp detail, likely because the author let the facts speak for themselves. Throughout this chapter, irony plays an important role. Because of this, it is helpful...
Sep 14, 2024•7 min•Season 6Ep. 2152
