Category Archives: John

John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (The search for the real Jesus, Part 3)

Righteous judgment Jesus, when challenged for healing on the Sabbath, responded, (John 7:24 NAS)  “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” Really? “Appearances? It appeared very much that he healed on the Sabbath! But that’s a … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (The search for the real Jesus, Part 2)

Love for Samaritans and women Jesus passed through Samaria in chapter 4 with the evident purpose of bringing the gospel to the Samaritans. This is crazy. After all — * Samaritans were known to kill Jews who passed through their … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (The search for the real Jesus, Part 1)

So who is this Jesus? Well, let’s pick out a few characteristics we find in John. (It would be fun to work through the Synoptics as well, as there is so much more and different material in them, but this … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (Jesus, who doesn’t look like me)

So what does that tell us? It’s subtle, but it’s an important starting point. Jesus was a Jew. The gospel went to the Jews first. Therefore, Jesus was sent to the Jews. Jesus was circumcised, looked like Jew, and wore … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (the invisibility of Jesus’ Jewishness)

Well, we started this — months ago — with this question: Who is this “Son of Man”? The question is borrowed from — (John 12:34 NIV) The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 5 (The Women of John)

Another theme that subtly threads through the Gospel is the way Jesus treats women. Jesus went out of his way to elevate women. For example, in John 4, Jesus’ goal was to bring the gospel to the Samaritans. This was … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 4.3 (Why Heal on the Sabbath?)

The assembly Of course, the early church assembled, but not in any sense to replicate the old Temple worship. Wrong analogy. Rather, the early church assembled to anticipate the end of time. The agape — the love feast — anticipates … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 4.2 (Why Heal on the Sabbath?)

Jesus, the Temple Here’s another key passage that we often overlook — (John 2:19-21 ESV) 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 4.1 (Why Heal on the Sabbath?)

There’s another point in John that’s far from obvious unless you study the entire book at once. One of the major themes of the book is Jesus’ insistence on healing on the Sabbath. Really? Yep. In John 5, Jesus heals … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 3 (On a Mission from God)

Mission And so why does God change us? Just so we’ll be good company in heaven? No, at least in part, it’s about mission. Notice the emphasis in John on “send” and “sent” (62 occurrences in the ESV!) That has to … Continue reading

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