January 17, 2016           John 13:10 – 26

Download discussion questions:  John 13_10-26 Example and Betrayal

After Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and returned to the table He asked a simple question, “Do you know what I have done to you?”  Our group agreed that He probably did not expect an answer.  The men around Him were still recovering from the socially awkward scene they had been a part of. Continue reading →

January 17, 2016           John 13:10 – 26

Download discussion questions:  John 13_10-26 Example and Betrayal

Jesus explains to His disciples the example He has given them in washing their feet.  Then He shocks them even further as He describes His imminent betrayal.  Download the passage and come ready to share your observations about the text in our time together on Sunday morning.

January 10, 2016  John 12:49 – 13:11

Download discussion questions:  John 12_49-13_11 Washing Feet

In this familiar passage about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, John records the process in great detail.  He describes Jesus getting up from the table and each step of the necessary preparations (John 13:4-5) until He returned to His place at the table (v. 12).  Why did the writer include such minutiae?  As one member of our discussion group commented, “You can see it.”  As we have seen repeatedly, John is a great storyteller under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Continue reading →

January 10, 2016      John 12:49 – 13:11

Download discussion questions:  John 12_49-13_11 Washing Feet

This week we will look at a familiar passage, Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.  One risk we have anytime we study such a well-known story is that we can focus so much on what we already know that we might miss new insights that the Holy Spirit wants to illuminate for us.  The goal is not to make things up but to study diligently.  Remember one of my favorite quotations from an eighteenth-century German theologian, Johann, Albrecht Bengel:  “Read nothing into the Scriptures, but draw everything from them, and suffer nothing to remain hidden that is really in them.”

Download the passage and read through it several times in preparation for this week’s discussion.

January 3, 2016    John 12:35 – 50

Download discussion questions: John 12_35-50 Seeing & Believing

“Seeing is believing” according to the familiar saying.  In this passage Jesus has a lot to say about both.  John records Jesus’ repeated mention of light and darkness at the beginning of the section (v. 35-36) and again later in His teaching (v. 46).  In addition to the explicit references to light and darkness, Jesus also mentions seeing (v. 45), and John quotes the prophet Isaiah about blindness and sight (v. 40, quoting Isaiah 6:10).  Belief is the other idea stressed in this passage as Jesus exhorts His hearers to believe as a result of seeing the light (v. 36).  He returns to the theme of belief later (v. 44), again in the context as a response to light that He brought into the world (v. 46).  John also adds his comments from Isaiah about belief in the form of the question, “Who has believed?” (v. 38, quoting Isaiah 53:1).  A reasonable question from this passage would be:  What is the relationship between the two themes? Continue reading →