Believed

John 8:29-30 – The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

John 16:32 – “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

John 4:34 – “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

John 1:7 – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

John 20:31 – But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Application:

• ·         Jesus knew the disciples would fail; however, His church is not built on people’s strength but on God’s ability to use people even after they have failed.
• ·         John often mentions that Jesus depended on the Father and did the work the Father sent Him to do.
• ·         People were not to believe “in” John the Baptist but “through” him.
• ·         This whole Gospel of John is written to show the truth of Jesus’ Messiahship and to present Him as the Son of God, so that the readers may believe in Him.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Lifted Up

John 8:25-28,58 – “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me…“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

John 12:32 – And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Mark 8:31 – He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Application:

• ·         When Jesus is lifted up from the earth refers here first of all to His crucifixion, but He most likely refers also to His resurrection and ascension into heaven to reign at God’s right hand.
• ·         The Son of Man is pictured as a heavenly figure who in the end times is entrusted by God with authority, glory and sovereign power.
• ·         Jesus did not say “I was” but “I am”, expressing the eternity of His being and His oneness with the Father.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

I Am

John 8:20-24,58 – He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come. Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?” But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”… “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

John 17:14 – I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

John 12:31 – Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

John 1:7 – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

John 6:35 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Exodus 3:14 – God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Application:

• ·         “The world” is the world that is hostile to God and God’s people. “Not of the world” means they do not have the mindset of the world, i.e., hostility to God, for they have been “born of the Spirit” and are “children of God”.
• ·         Jesus was certainly in the world, but He was not of the world.
• ·         People were not to believe “in” John the Baptist but “through” him.
• ·         Jesus did not say “I was” but “I am”, expressing the eternity of His being and His oneness with the Father.
• ·         “I AM WHO I AM” was the name by which God wished to be known and worshiped in Israel—the name that expressed His character as the dependable and faithful God who desires the full trust of His people.
• ·         Jesus applied the phrase to Himself; in so doing He claimed to be God and risked being stoned for blasphemy.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

If You Knew Me

John 8:13-19 – The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

John 4:34 – “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

John 16:3 – They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.

John 1:1,18 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John 14:11 – Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

Application:

• ·         John often mentions that Jesus depended on the Father and did the work the Father sent Him to do.
• ·         Jesus stresses that the Father is known through the Son and that to know the one is to know the other.
• ·         Not to know Christ is to be ignorant of the Father.
• ·         Jesus was God in the fullest sense.
• ·         Since no human being can see God as He really is, those who saw God saw Him in a form He took upon Himself temporarily for the occasion.
• ·         Faith includes believing that Jesus is one with the Father.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Light Of Life

John 8:11-12 – “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 5:14 – Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

John 6:35 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 1:4 – In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Proverbs 4:18 – The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

Matthew 5:14 – “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Romans 13:11-12,14 – And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light…Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

Ephesians 5:8-10,12 – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord…It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 – You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

Application:

• ·         Jesus did not condone what the woman had done.
• ·         The eternal consequences of sin are more serious than any physical ailment.
• ·         As Jesus’ followers reflect the light that comes from Him, they too are “the light of the world”.
• ·         Jesus is the bread of life
• ·         Life is Christ’s gift, and He, in fact, is “the life”.
• ·         The godly have all the guidance and protection they need and are able to lead others to righteousness.
• ·         Although Jesus Himself fulfilled the mission of the Lord’s servant to be “a light for the Gentiles”, He expected His followers to carry on the work.
• ·         Every day brings us closer to the second advent of Christ.
• ·         Early Christians regarded the death and resurrection of Christ as the crucial events of history that began the last days.
• ·         Paul exhorts believers to display outwardly what has already taken place inwardly—including practicing all the virtues associated with Christ.
• ·         Light is productive, and those who live in God’s light produce the fruit of moral and ethical character, while those who live in darkness do not.
• ·         Christians should not dwell on the evils that their lives are exposing in others.
• ·         Christians do not simply live in the light; they are characterized by light.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Mount Of Olives

John 7:53-8:10 – Then they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

Zechariah 14:4 – On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.

Application:

• ·         The Romans did not allow the Jews to carry out death sentences, so if Jesus had said to stone her He could have been in conflict with the Romans. If He had said not to stone her He could have been accused of being unsupportive of the law.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

A Prophet Does Not Come Out Of Galilee

John 7:43-52 – Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

John 9:16 – Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

Matthew 2:22-23 – But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Application:

• ·         Some of the Pharisees started from their entrenched position and ruled out the possibility of Jesus being from God. Others started from the fact of the “signs” and ruled out the possibility of His being a sinner.
• ·         The Pharisees overlooked the right of God to raise up prophets from wherever He chooses.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV