John 8:12-30 (NIV)

Read by: Courtland Hopkins

Today’s passage invites us to imagine ourselves back at the Feast of Tabernacles. For Israel, this celebration remembered the 40 years they spent in the wilderness when Yahweh dwelt among them. Sound Familiar?    From the very beginning of John’s Gospel Jesus was introduced as the Word that became flesh and made his dwelling among u s. The things that Jesus says about himself in this passage are key to understanding the larger arch of John’s Gospel narrative.

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1. What did you notice in the passage? What surprised you? What questions came to mind?

2. While the Jewish people remember their wandering after Yahweh in the wilderness, Jesus says, “whoever follows ME will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.” What’s the significance of this parallel to Israel’s story?

3. The more Jesus claims authority, the more threatened the Jewish leaders seem to feel. Are there areas in your life where Jesus’ authority threatens your autonomy and control? Where in your life might the Spirit be calling you to lay autonomy or control today?

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John 8:1-11 (NIV)

So far in John’s gospel we’ve seen many signs--healings, miracles of food transformation and multiplication--events that reveal what it looks like when God’s space and human space overlap. Abundance and wholeness. In today’s passage, we see yet another picture of what God’s kingdom on earth looks like. Isaiah spoke of it as valleys being lifted up, and the mountains being made low.  It’s a level playing field, a place where both self-righteousness and self-hatred have no welcome. It’s a place where the singular standard of perfect justice exposes our sin, covers our shame, and calls us into humility and repentance.

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1. What word or phrase stood out to you in the passage?

2. Have you been ashamed, exposed by a situation you got caught up in--or felt a fear of exposure? Can you hear the words of Jesus for you today? What shame do you need to lay at his feet today? Where in your life do you need to experience his redemption?

3. The pharisees are trying to entrap Jesus. In an effort to catch Jesus defying the law they break it themselves by failing to bring the man who was also caught in the act of adultery. Then they pretend to be motivated by holiness, but it’s really just about destroying Jesus' reputation. Have you ever been caught in a situation where if your motives were exposed, you would be the one dropping the stone and walking away?

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John 7:37-52 (NIV)

Today on Daily Read, the people who have come to see Jesus find themselves divided over who they think Jesus is. Some say he’s a prophet, others  Messiah, and others just think he’s deceiving people. For those who lean towards thinking that he’s deceiving people, they do so because of what they think about where he’s from, and how they have been reading Scripture.

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1. What word or phrase stood out to you in the passage? Ask the Holy Spirit: why that word or phrase?

2. Many people across Israel felt contempt towards Galilee because of the influence of Gentiles and the empire over the past 150 years . . . is there a people group that you’re tempted to hold in contempt? How might this prejudice keep you from seeing where God might be at work?

3. The Pharisees say, “prophets do not come out of Galilee.” They are wrong. In fact, both Jonah and Hosea, two famous prophets came from Galilee. Their prejudice is causing them to conveniently leave out parts of Scripture. Have you ever done this? Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you about this.

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John 7:25-36 (NIV)  

Jesus is in the process of flipping the script, changing the paradigm, turning things upside down for the people of God. The way that many have understood important aspects of their faith, like the Sabbath law, has driven them into bonds of restriction and judgment, rather than releasing them to flourish with rest and order--so much so, that some are willing to break God’s commandment against murder in order to maintain the boundaries that have defined their belonging and identity. It is misunderstanding at best, hypocrisy and evil at worst. The discussion at the Feast of Tabernacles continues in this passage.

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1. What word or phrase stood out to you in this passage?

2. Many Jews assumed that the Messiah would appear mysteriously, that no one would know where he’s from. They’re skeptical of Jesus. He’s almost… too human for them. They could only handle one or the other- god or human, not both.

3. Having heard Jesus’ teaching and having seen his miracles, many in the crowd believed in him. What words and signs have you experienced from the Lord in your life? Sit quietly and ask him to remind you of the ways he has met you.

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John 7:14-24 (NIV)

Remember when Jesus healed the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda back in chapter 5? It happened on the Sabbath, and many Jewish leaders marked that moment as evidence of Jesus attempting to trick God’s people into disobeying the law. In today’s passage, the public debate about Jesus’ identity and vocation is coming into focus. Jewish leaders are looking for opportunities to prove that Jesus is a false prophet, a deceiver, and thus a threat to the people. Jesus’ words in this passage carry with them a challenge for teachers of the law and for who might follow him.  They did then and they do today.

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1. What word or phrase stood out to you in the passage?

2. One of the reasons people are suspicious of Jesus in this passage is his lack of formal religious education. In our culture, we tend to trust folks with big degrees, from certain universities. Are you able, or willing, to hear truth from someone with less education? Do you need to repent of thinking knowledge and truth are exclusive to those who have the right training?

3. Sometimes spiritual leaders use their platform in order to build their own reputation. Perhaps this kind of leadership has burned you…. Perhaps you are this kind of leader. . .  Other times we accuse leaders of pushing their own agendas because we don’t want to hear what God is saying through them.

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John 7:1-13 (NIV)

By this point in the gospel of John, Jesus is the talk of town. Some people love him, others hate him. After calling himself the bread of life (in chapter 6), many turned away and no longer followed him. But those who stuck with him seemed to understand, at least in part. They were beginning to grasp that the cost of following him was worth it.

So we come today to chapter 7. Jews from all over are heading up to Jerusalem for the 8-day celebration of the Festival of Tabernacles, commemorating God’s faithfulness during their time in the wilderness. 

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1. What word or phrase stood out to you in the passage?

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John 6:60-71 (NIV)

Jesus has shown himself to be the new prophet, surpassing Elijah, Elisha and Moses in power. He has declared himself to be the new manna--the ultimate bread from heaven, sent by God the Father to give eternal life to the whole world. And he has given a hard teaching to his followers -- that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to be united with him and to be counted in the future resurrection.

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1. Can you think of a time when you’ve been challenged by a hard teaching of Jesus? Have you ever wrestled to the point where you’ve considered no longer following Jesus?

2. As people were turning away from following Jesus because of this hard teaching, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do you want to leave too?" Peter answers, "To whom shall we go?" What about you? As we wrestle with what it means to follow Jesus in the midst of his hard teachings: loving our neighbors, caring for the poor, seeking first his kingdom… What alternatives do you entertain, and how do they really compare to Jesus?

3. Jesus says that no one can come to him unless the Father has enabled them. We can hear this as a harsh reality, or a tender recognition of the cost of following Jesus… In what ways might you need to ask for help from the LORD when it comes to following Jesus.

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John 6:41-69 (NIV)

Today’s passage begins in the middle of a conversation between Jesus and his followers. He has just given a puzzling speech, comparing himself to the manna sent from heaven--but elevated as a new manna: Manna that’s able not only to satisfy physical hunger, but spiritual hunger as well. To the woman at the well, he declared himself to be living water. Now he is “the bread of life.”

Sometimes people get tripped up on this passage because at first glance it’s kinda strange. But we can be pretty sure that Jesus isn’t calling his disciples to cannibalism. We have to keep in mind that as John writes this gospel he’s doing so with the benefit of hindsight, knowing that as this story progresses these very people will sit with Jesus at the last supper and eat his body, the bread, and drink his blood in the cup.

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1. What word or phrase stood out to you in this passage? What did you find encouraging, what did you find challenging?

2. John understood Jesus’ words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood in light of the Eucharist; the Lord’s supper itself is a sacred sign of participation with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Believing in the Son and binding ourselves to his death and resurrection are the menu options on this table. What might keep you from participating in Jesus death and Resurrection today?

3. The parallel between the grumbling in this story and the grumbling of the Israelites in the wilderness is unmistakable. We too tend towards disbelief and discontent. In what ways have you found yourself grumbling to God in your life? What would it look like for you to submit that to Jesus today? What would need to change?

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John 6:25-40 (NIV)

If you're a disciple of Jesus up to this point in the story, you’ve watched as he’s broken all your categories. He heals a royal official’s son, heals a paralytic, tells an outcast Samaritan that he’s the Christ, feeds thousands of people, and now he’s just walked on water. As a disciple you’d have been hoping for a new Moses, or a new David, so you’ve probably got some questions for Jesus.

As we continue into John chapter 6, we enter a long conversation between Jesus and his followers. Pay attention to the ways Jesus is reshaping their expectations and understanding of the LORD, his gifts, his purposes, and the coming king.

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1. What stood out to you in this passage? How might God’s Spirit be meeting you in this passage?

2. Jesus is asked about the “bread from heaven” that the LORD provided Israel in the wilderness. They wanted Jesus to call down bread from heaven,  but he tells them that he IS bread from heaven. Have you ever asked for something from Jesus, when what you needed was Jesus?

3. When Jesus talks here about eternal life, he isn’t just talking about time… in terms of it never-ending, but also a quality of life--a connection to the life of Christ that begins the moment we believe in him and carries all the way through to our never-ending bodily resurrected life. How does that reality change the way you might think about your life? What would it mean for you to have eternal life?

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John 6:16-24 (NIV)

The Jewish people were waiting and looking for Messiah, the anointed one of the LORD. And the Messiah they pictured was probably a political leader like King David, leading them in battle to take back Jerusalem, and a prophet like Moses who would lead the liberation from Roman occupation.

After Jesus miraculously feeds the thousands with just a few fish and loaves, John tells us that Jesus withdrew to a mountain by himself, to avoid being made king by force. In today’s passage the turbulent waters make clear that Jesus is anything but weak. The LORD held back the sea in the Exodus, and all throughout the Psalms we see raging and still streams…

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1. How did the disciples' understanding of Jesus expand in this passage? What stories from the Old testament come to mind as Jesus seems to have control over water?

2. When the disciples initially see Jesus, walking towards them on the water, in the middle of the storm, they are frightened, and apparently don’t recognize him. Are there storms in your life that make it difficult to recognize Jesus?

3. When the disciples let Jesus into the boat, they immediately reach their shore--their destination. Out of the storm, onto dry land.  In what areas of your life do you need to let Jesus into your boat? How can you place your trust in the one who can order chaos?

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