Bible

Back here in the Bible room again today, we continue our reading in the Gospel of John with Session 5, the summaries of chapters 10 and 11.

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John

Session 5

Chapter 10. Good

Jesus says the shepherd enters the sheepfold through the door:

• The thief and the robber find some other way to enter;
• The sheep know the shepherd’s voice, he calls them by name;
• And they will follow him as he leads them in and out;
• But they will not follow a stranger, they will run from him;
• Those listening to Jesus do not understand what he meant;
• Then Jesus continues, saying: I am the door for the sheep;
• Anyone who enters by Me will be saved;
• The thief comes to steal, and to kill and to destroy;
• But I have come that they may have abundant life;
• Jesus says He is the good shepherd;
• The good shepherd gives His life for His sheep;
• Jesus says the hired man will run from the wolf;
• Because the hired man does not care about the sheep;
• And the wolf will catch and scatter the sheep;
• Jesus says He is the good shepherd and is known by His own;
• He knows the Father, and the Father knows Him;
• Jesus lays down His life for the sheep;
• He says He has other sheep that are not of this fold;
• They will also know His voice and all will be one flock;
• And He will be the shepherd of all of them;
• Jesus says His Father loves Him, and He will die for the sheep;
• And after that He will come back to life;
• He is laying down His life, no one is taking His life from Him;
• The Father has given Him power to die and then rise again;
• After hearing Jesus say all these things, the Jews are divided;
• Many of them are sure that Jesus has a demon, and He is mad;
• Others say a demon cannot make the blind to see;
• Winter comes in Jerusalem, time for the Feast of Dedication;
• In the temple, Jesus is surrounded again by the Jews;
• They ask Him how long He will keep them in suspense;
• Will He say plainly whether He is the Christ or not?
• Jesus says He has told them, yet they do not believe;
• All the works He has done have been done by His Father;
• And they bear witness of who He is;
• These people refuse to believe because they are not His sheep;
• He has said His sheep know His voice and follow Him;
• And He will give them eternal life, never to perish;
• No one will ever take them from His Father’s hand;
• Jesus says He and His Father are one;
• At this, the Jews again decide to throw stones at Him;
• Jesus asks them for the reason they would stone Him;
• Which of the good works He performed caused them to do this;
• They say they will not stone Him for any of the good works;
• They will stone Him for blasphemy: making Himself God;
• Jesus says it is written in their law: You are gods;
• Would they dare accuse the prophets of blasphemy?
• And yet, they say the One whom God has sanctified
• Is guilty of blasphemy for saying He is the Son of God;
• Jesus tells them they can believe the good works He does,
• Even when they do not believe the Father is in Him;
• They attempt to take hold of Jesus but He escapes from them;
• Jesus crosses the Jordon to where John was first baptizing;
• A crowd gathers to Him saying John never performed signs;
• But everything he said about Jesus was true;
• So, many believe in Jesus there.

Chapter 11. Alive

Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Mary and Martha, is sick:

• This Mary is the one who anointed Jesus with fragrant oil;
• And then wiped His feet with her hair;
• The sisters send word to Jesus that their brother is sick;
• When Jesus hears this news, He says Lazarus will not die;
• As this sickness has come in order to glorify the Son of God;
• Jesus loves Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus;
• After two more days, He tells the disciples He wants to leave;
• He intends to go back into Judea again;
• The disciples remind Him those Jews wanted to stone Him;
• Jesus says if they travel in the daylight they won’t stumble;
• Whereas traveling at night might cause them to stumble;
• He says Lazarus sleeps, and He will go to wake him up;
• The disciples say if he sleeps, he will get well;
• They thought Jesus was saying Lazarus was sleeping;
• Jesus clarifies to them: Lazarus is dead;
• He says He will use this to help them believe in Him;
• So, now they will go to Lazarus;
• Thomas, called Didymus, says they will also go with Him;
• And they plan to die with Jesus;
• When He gets there, Lazarus has been dead four days;
• Bethany is but two miles from Jerusalem;
• And many Jews had come out to comfort Martha and Mary;
• Hearing Jesus is coming, Martha goes to meet Him;
• But Mary remains at home;
• Martha tells Jesus: If He had been here Lazarus would be alive;
• But she trusts Jesus, and God will do whatever He asks of Him;
• Jesus assures her Lazarus will rise again;
• She says she knows he will rise again in the resurrection;
• Jesus answers her: I am the resurrection;
• All who believe in Him, though they die, will live again;
• And whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never die;
• He asks Martha if she believes this; She answers:
• Yes, she believes Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
• Martha then goes to her house to get Mary;
• She tells Mary that Jesus, the Teacher, wants to see her;
• Jesus is still outside the town on the road;
• So, Mary goes out to meet Him, and some Jews follow her;
• She falls at His feet, weeping, and the Jews also weep;
• She says if He had been there her brother would not have died;
• Jesus weeps;
• See how much Jesus loves Lazarus, the Jews say:
• He gave sight to the blind, He could save Lazarus from dying;
• Groaning in His spirit, Jesus approaches the tomb;
• The tomb is a cave with a stone placed over the entrance;
• Martha reminds Jesus that Lazarus has been dead four days;
• She says there will be a stench at the tomb;
• Jesus had told them if they believe they would see God’s glory;
• Then He tells them to move the stone away from the tomb;
• He lifts His eyes, giving thanks to God for hearing Him;
• He is saying this so the people will believe He is sent by God;
• In a loud voice Jesus says: Lazarus, come forth!
• Lazarus, who had died, steps out alive, in grave clothes;
• Then many of the Jews with Mary believe in Jesus;
• But some of them run to tell the Pharisees what Jesus has done;
• They call a council: What can they do with this Man;
• He does good works and will get everyone believing in Him;
• If that happens the Romans will come and take their authority;
• Caiaphas, a high priest, unwittingly delivers a prophecy:
• He says one would die for the people to save the nation;
• That Jesus would die to save their nation and all His people;
• From that day on, the Jews plot to kill Jesus;
• So, He would no longer walk openly among them;
• But go into the country to Ephraim to stay with His disciples;
• As Passover approaches, many Jews go to Jerusalem;
• There, they talk among themselves whether Jesus will attend;
• The Pharisees issue an order that Jesus is to be arrested on sight.

End of Session 5 of the book of John.