◄ John Devotional Commentary ►

John 1:1

"In the beginning..." is Deity's statement of fact. "In the beginning..."  are words pregnant with meaning that subordinate logic, philosophy, psychology, and science. "In the beginning..." is a concept that astounds both the religious thinker and confounds the pagan theorist. It impacts both the believer's mind and the atheist's imaginings but, "In the beginning, was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was read more...

John 1:2

The focus of John's Gospel from start to finish is the eternal Son of God Who was given by grace to be the perfect Son of Man. And the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting is found by grace through faith in Him alone.

John's Gospel was written so that we might believe that: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name." And so we read in the opening verses of John's Gospel: read more...

John 1:3

The foundational truth of Christ Jesus our Saviour, Who died to redeem mankind and reunite sinners with their Creator God, is that Christ Jesus is the Word made flesh. Christ Jesus is the Almighty Creator of all things, for we read that by Him were all things created. Everything in heaven and earth, whether visible or invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created through Him, all things were created for read more...

John 1:4

The living God is LIFE. The triune God has life within Himself. Jesus is one with the Father and He is the Source of life, the Fountain of life, the Sustainer of life, the Perfector of life. God spoke animal and plant life into being, but the Spirit of God also breathed 'the breath of lives' into the nostrils of Adam, and man became a living soul.

The triune God has life within Himself and Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, is one read more...

John 1:5

The Lord Jesus came into the world as the incarnate WORD of God, to reveal to the depraved mind of man, the truth of God's eternal love and His perfect holiness. He came into the world as LIFE; to breathe 'new life' into the lifeless spirit of man that lay dead in trespasses and sins, and with no hope in the world. He came into the world as the LIGHT of the world, to illumine the blackened soul of man who in his foolish pride, had sought to be as God.

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John 1:8

The Gospel of John proclaims with authority that Jesus Christ is the sovereign Word of God, the eternal Word of God, the creative Word of God, and the incarnate Word of God. John also announces that Christ is the Son of God, the Lamb of God: "Who takes away the sin of the world" He is the King of Israel, Son of Man, Saviour of the World, the Resurrection, and the Life. Jesus Christ is the fullness of God's wisdom and power, and the exact image of read more...

John 1:9

We who were born in trespasses and sins, were groping about in deep darkness before we trusted in Christ for salvation and became children of light in the Lord Jesus. Down through the centuries, there have been many that claim to be 'illumined ones' but they are all deceived for they choose to believe the lie of the devil,  for there is only One True Light Who gives light to all who comes into the world.

The Lord Jesus is that read more...

John 1:10

The opening verses of the good news in John's Gospel, tell of the most glorious visitation to earth of the incarnate Son of God. He is the Word made flesh Who came to earth as the perfect Son of Man. He is the eternal Creator of the world Who is co-equal with the Father, and the Bible introduces Him as Jesus, the Word made flesh, the One from Whom emanates eternal light and life.

He came to bring light to a darkened world. He read more...

John 1:11

There is much pathos in this verse, which is considered by many to be one of the saddest verses in Scriptures, for the God Who created the world and everything in it and chose the nation of Israel to be His special people, returned to the place that He created and to the people that He chose as His inheritance - but His own received Him not. And so He was despised and rejected by His own people; a man of sorrows Who was acquainted with grief.

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John 1:12

Many came to Jesus to accuse, ridicule and scorn Him, but the name of Jesus in the ear of the believer is the most beautiful of all names, for it is through our union with the Lord Jesus that we have been brought back into sweet communion with the living God, for there is no other name in heaven or on earth that has the power to seek and to save that which was lost.

Trusting in the name of Jesus is accepting Him as the incarnate Son of God, Who read more...

John 1:13

As members of the human race, we have to be born into the human family. To become literal, physical descendants of Adam (who was the first literal physical man), we have to have a literal physical birth into a literal physical world. Adam was made in the image and likeness of the immortal, invisible God and given some spiritual attributes of his eternal Creator. Man was made in the image and likeness of the invisible God with an intellect to think, a will to read more...

John 1:14

The apostle John was one who saw the glory of the Word made flesh. John was one who gazed on Him in wonder and worshipped at the feet of Jesus Christ, his Lord and his God.

John lived with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and touched Him. John spent over three years of his life with Jesus, listening intently to His gracious words, astonished by His amazing truth, watching Him attentively as He fulfilled the prophetic read more...

John 1:14

The apostle John lays out some important historical and doctrinal truths in the first section of his gospel. He does this so that we may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, we may have life in His name.

Having outlined the person of Christ, the incarnate Word of God Who would be rejected by His own people but accepted by all who would believe on His name, John gives increasing insight into the read more...

John 1:17

When John wrote this verse, he was not intimating that there was no grace under the Law of Moses, for every sacrifice spoke of the beautiful final Sacrifice Who was to be lifted up on the Cross. Nor was he implying there was an absence of truth, for God's truth endures throughout all generations.

But only through Christ is the fullness of grace and truth realised. His grace is offered freely and without cost to whosoever will, read more...

John 1:18

In the beginning there was nothing but God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit inhabiting eternity in a tri-unity of love. They were united in a blessed trinity of endless communion and sweetest fellowship.

The only begotten and eternal Son of God, Who forever rests in the bosom of the Father, became Jesus of Nazareth, the perfect Man, God incarnate. He was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. read more...

John 1:23

There are names of biblical prophets like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Isaiah, that are more highly esteemed and widely recognised than John the Baptist, and yet the Lord Jesus said that among those that are born of women, there is none greater than John.

The voice of God’s holy prophecy had been silenced for 400 years, due to Israel’s continued apostasy and refusal to repent... and their punishment for breaking their covenant with the Lord continued read more...

John 1:29

John the Baptist was the last and the greatest of God's prophets to Israel, for he was chosen by God to be His herald of the King of kings and to the voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord," just as had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah.

John had heard the voice of God from heaven declaring, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and He read more...

John 1:30

John the Baptist was the last 'Old Testament' prophet. He was prepared, commissioned, and enabled by God to announce the arrival of Israel's expected Messiah-King and to prepare the lost sheep of the house of Israel for His arrival.

He did not promote himself in any way because he knew he was simply a 'voice' crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. John had to be heard but was not to be 'seen'. The message had read more...

John 1:34

In the beginning, God spoke the universe into being. The eternal Word was with God, and that Word was the true and living God. The Word was the eternal Son Who was true Light, and Life, and Truth, and Love. Through Him all things were created, and He became God incarnate by taking upon Himself the form of a man. He did this by being born into the human race and becoming part of His own creation.

The Lord Jesus was the eternal read more...

John 1:38

On two consecutive days, we read that John the Baptist pointed people to Jesus with the words, "Behold the Lamb of God.." The first time he added the phrase, "Who takes away the sin of the world." On the second occasion, he said it directly to two of his own disciples. John had received confirmation from above, that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, for at His baptism, he heard the voice of God the Father testifying of Jesus, and read more...

John 1:39

John the Baptist was the prophet of God, foretold by Isaiah. He was called to prepare the way of the Lord and pronounce the arrival of Israel's long-awaited, promised Messiah. John was sent from God as a witness to testify that Jesus was God's anointed King, the Word made flesh, the Light of the world.

John's prophetic mission was to declare that the True Light of God was coming into the world to give light to everyone, and read more...

John 1:48

Each of the four Gospels introduces the Lord Jesus in their own particular way, laying peculiar emphasises on different aspects of His Person and work; His character and ministry; His life, and His death. The Gospel of John places priority on the divinity of Christ Who is co-equal with the Father; co-eternal, consubstantial, co-essential, omniscient, and omnipotent.

Throughout his Gospel, John brings attention to the deity of read more...

John 2:4

At the very start of His ministry, the Lord Jesus was an invited guest at a wedding feast and was accompanied by both His disciples and His mother. Jesus was the named wedding guest, for the name of JESUS alone holds supremacy in the writings of Scripture - it is at the name of JESUS alone that every knee will one day bow.

Throughout His life, Jesus increasingly found favour with God and man. He grew in stature and grace, He read more...

John 2:5

At the very start of His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus had to establish His God-appointed authority on earth, for as He set out on His three year walk towards the Cross He would honour no other instruction than those that came from His Father in heaven.

His mother had often pondered the gracious words and godly wisdom she heard from the only begotten Son of the Father, and she had to began to understand what we all have to read more...

John 2:13

Each year, the Passover was a reminder to the people of Israel that God had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. It was customary for the men of Israel to travel up to Jerusalem to celebrate certain feast days, and Passover was the first of these annual festivals to be commemorated.

The Lord Jesus was starting His earthly ministry, and one of His first public appearances was attending the Passover in Jerusalem. He had already read more...

John 2:15

Throughout His earthly life, the Lord Jesus ignored the unscriptural traditions of the elders and would knowingly violate the unbiblical customs of the Scribes and Pharisees, and disregard their man-made rituals and manufactured ceremonies. But in every respect, the Lord Jesus fulfilled the Law of God which was given to Israel through Moses, and He kept the statutes of the Lord in order to remove the curse of the Law from those who would believe on His name and read more...

John 2:19

The beautiful Temple in Jerusalem was ordained by God to be a sacred house of prayer for all nations. But the religious leaders had become proud and rebellious, and instead of it being used for its hallowed purpose of worship and prayer, the holy Temple of God had become a profane place of ungodly merchandise, dishonest trading, and gross malpractice of unprecedented proportion.

It was at the beginning of His ministry that Jesus read more...

John 2:21

The prophets of old foretold of Christ's death and Resurrection, and Jesus Himself also predicts in a number of places that He would die and rise-again from the dead. And here, at the very beginning of His earthly ministry, the Lord prophesied of His own death and Resurrection: "Destroy this Temple..." He challenged angrily, as He accused the Pharisees of making His Father's house into a den on thieves, "...and in three days I will read more...

John 2:24

The Lord Jesus Christ is the exact image of the invisible God Who existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. Although Christ laid aside His glory for a season, in order to be born into the human race and become our Redeemer, His deity was not lessened, and His divine attributes and character were undiminished.

One of God's supernatural characteristics is His omniscience. God is all-knowing, all-wise, and read more...

John 2:25

In the previous verse we read: "Jesus did not commit Himself to the people." He did not entrust Himself to them: "Because He knew what was in their hearts." Even though the crowds were following after Him excitedly and placing their confidence and trust in Him because of the many mighty miracles they witnessed, Jesus knew that this could never become a mutual trust. Jesus knew that He could not commit His life and His important read more...

John 3:1

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, which was part of the ruling class in Israel and although the nation was under the authority of their Roman overlords, they were permitted to administer religions decisions and certain civil rulings. This particular court was given considerable concessions by their Roman masters, which allowed them certain autonomy in their decisions as long as their rulings did not conflict with Rome's rigorous read more...

John 3:2

We are given no indication why Nicodemus visited the Lord Jesus at night. Many think that it was fear, embarrassment, or a desire to hide his questioning heart. But it could have been his busy schedule as he was a member of the Sanhedrin and night-time may have been the only available opportunity for him to visit the Lord. It could have been that he wanted to engage in uninterrupted conversation, knowing Jesus was surrounded by huge crowds as he taught in the read more...

John 3:3

It was to a great religious teacher that Jesus spoke these life-changing words: "Unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The man to whom Jesus was speaking was a very religious leader of the Jews, a teacher who read his Bible, worshiped on the right days, and tried to keep the commandments of God. But he was trying to win salvation and favour from God by all the good things that he did. He was trying to reach God the read more...

John 3:4

Spiritual understanding and godly wisdom does not come from much learning, nor is it gained from intense, intellectual study. True knowledge is from above and is given by God to the spiritual man or woman, for spiritual knowledge, wise discernment, and godly understanding is spiritually discerned.

The natural man does not understand the things of the invisible God. Indeed, they are foolishness to him. Likewise, the religious read more...

John 3:5

One night, the Lord Jesus was visited by an important teacher of the Jews called Nicodemus. He had come earnestly seeking answers to important questions which he and other Jewish rulers had regarding Jesus, His teachings, and His miracles. They all acknowledged that no one could do the mighty miracles that Jesus performed unless God was with Him. However, He did not fit in with the Jew's perception of God's Messiah and Nicodemus wanted answers to important, read more...

John 3:6

When Nicodemus came to visit with Jesus by night, the Lord immediately knew the reason he had come. He recognised the spiritual need of this religious separatist. Even though he was a member of the Sanhedrin, a teacher of the Law, and supposed himself to be a guardian of the truth, Nicodemus was a man who was spiritually impoverished. He needed to know how to enter heaven and how to gain access into Christ's kingdom. He needed to know how to be saved.

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John 3:8

Like so many of His teachings, the Lord Jesus used a simple example from nature to teach a profound spiritual truth. He likened the invisible, unpredictable movement of the wind which can only be observed by the swishing of grass, the swaying of trees, or the eerie howl from the rafters of a house with the indiscernible, unfathomable Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God can only be observed in the life of a believer by a lifestyle change, a more godly attitude, read more...

John 3:13

Step by step, the Lord Jesus explained the necessity for a new, spiritual birth to Nicodemus, a renowned teacher of the Law who, despite his great learning and honoured religiosity, was dead in his sins, confused about the kingdom of God, and ignorant of his great need of a spiritual birth.

Spiritual truths cannot be absorbed by the carnal mind of sinful man and no amount of effort, education, religion, training, discipline, or read more...

John 3:14

I wonder what thoughts thundered through the mind of Nicodemus as he helped to remove the bloodied body of His Saviour from Calvary's cruel Cross. No doubt his mind fled back to that dark night of confused questioning when the 'Light-of-the-world' began to pierce the deep darkness within his proud, unbelieving heart, and he heard those penetrating words for the very first time: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of read more...

John 3:15

Nicodemus was a teacher of the Law, but he had to come to a deeper understanding of salvation by grace through faith. He had to come to see that we are all sinners, and that there is a price that has to be paid - not only for the sins we commit but also because we are born sinners with a sin nature that is inherently sinful.

Nicodemus had to come to accept that no one is exempt from God's righteous judgement. For not only was sin read more...

John 3:16

This much-loved verse of Scripture outlines the glorious gospel of grace clearly and simply. It tells that Christ died a sacrificial death on the Cross to pay the price for our sin and break its power in our lives. It tells that Jesus was sent as an expression of the indescribable love of God for us: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

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John 3:17

So many believers are living under condemnation. So many see God as an angry God with a big stick, watching our every movement with a frown on His face, waiting in anticipation for us to do something wrong so that He can punish us.

If only believers would take what the Word of God says literally and believe what it says, so many would not be living their lives under condemnation but would be rejoicing in the Lord. "For God did read more...

John 3:18

God is not a cruel and merciless potentate Who is watching for every opportunity to pour out His wrath on mankind and punish the human race individually and collectively, as so many erroneously believe. He is long-suffering, merciful, and of great goodness, and His grace is extended to all humanity, from generation to generation.

It was sin that separated man from God, but even before the foundation of the world, God in His read more...

John 3:19

John is often called the apostle of love but He is also the Gospel writer that focusses on judgement. John knew that the salvation of mankind was initiated out of love for fallen sinners, but also that judgement is the inevitable result of those who choose to reject His gracious offer of salvation by grace through faith in Christ's sacrificial work at Calvary.

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that You are either one who read more...

John 3:20

Most wicked acts are carried out secretively and under cover of darkness, for even though evil men know that God exists, they do not honour Him as Lord, nor do they give thanks to Him for His daily provision. Instead, the thoughts of their hearts are only evil continuously and their lives become futile and worthless.

Such ungodly people suffocate their God-given conscience and sear their sense of right and wrong. They wilfully read more...

John 3:29

Jesus identified John the Baptist as the greatest of all prophets in the Old Testament. Many men of God prophesied of the coming of the Messiah, Who would come and set up His kingdom on earth, but John had the singular privilege of proclaiming that the Messiah had arrived! The King of Glory had come, as foretold, and John was the voice that proclaimed His coming. YES, Jesus had at last been sent to set up God's kingdom on earth.

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John 3:30

John the Baptist could more correctly be called, John the Witness. From his conception, he testified of the Messiah. The angel announced that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb, and he would lead the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

He was the prophesied forerunner of the Lord, who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. His father announced that John would be a prophet of read more...

John 3:34

Never let us forget that Jesus is the incarnate Word Who came from heaven above, spoke the Word of God, and is the almighty, sovereign, Lord of all. The Gospel of John affirms the deity of Christ from the very beginning. He makes it clear that Christ's birth into the human race, was a great demonstration of God's love, grace, and power.

The apostle wanted his audience to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ His beloved Son, in read more...

John 3:36

John the Baptist was the earthly witness that God used to present His dearly beloved Son to the world. He bore witness that: "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

John was to bear witness that Jesus Christ came from heaven as the Lamb of read more...

John 4:4

Jesus had to go through Samaria, on His way to Jerusalem from Galilee, but there were alternative routes that He could have taken. Even though journeying through Samaria was the quickest route between the Galilee to Judea, this particular journey through Samaria was almost always avoided by Jews, especially those that honoured their heritage. They despised the Gentile dogs that lived there, for Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.

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John 4:7

The union of God and Man in the Person of Christ Jesus is far beyond the limited understanding of finite man. As eternal Deity, the Lord never grows faint or weary and there is no limit to His wisdom and understanding, but as humanity, Jesus grew tired and hungry. He experienced the full range of human emotions and was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.

The early signs of His rejection had already begun in read more...

John 4:10

Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost, for He is a gracious God Who searches us out before we would ever consider searching for Him; and yet in Christ are the words of eternal life. In Christ is all that we need for life and godliness; in Christ we become a new creation and part of His Body, with a new life and new hope of glory; in Christ we have peace with God and access to the peace of God in our hearts. Oh, we should be seeking Him out with all our read more...

John 4:11

Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, but He did not only come to save His own people from their sin. He also came as Saviour of the whole world. All people were to be given the opportunity to be saved - both men and women, Jew and Gentile alike. All were given the opportunity to drink deeply of His life-giving Spirit for the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting. He came into the world through Israel, and so the gospel was to the Jew first, read more...

John 4:14

Many people have a historical faith in Jesus Christ. They believe many of the facts that surround His life and consider Him to be a good man and one of the finest moral teachers ever to have lived. To some, their belief in Jesus remains a historical fact and not a saving faith.

When belief in the historical Jesus becomes faith in the person and work of Christ as Son of God and Son of Man, He is removed from being an read more...

John 4:21

Like the whole of humanity, this woman's sin caused eternal separation from her Creator, but on one special visit to Jacob's well she found herself face to face with God incarnate. His eyes penetrated deep within her hurting heart, and Jesus knew that He was all she needed. She needed to drink of the living water of life that only comes by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who alone paid the price for her sin, and ours.

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John 4:22

The Lord Jesus is the heavenly Man Who came to reveal the Father to a lost and dying world. The Lord Jesus is God incarnate Who set aside His heavenly glory to become humanities Kinsman-Redeemer.

The Lord Jesus is the Living Bread Who came down from heaven so that all who partake of His body would not perish but have everlasting life. He is the Living Water and Scripture reminds us that whoever believes in Him, will have streams read more...

John 4:23

The Lord Jesus Christ is God incarnate, and His coming fulfilled many biblical prophecies. He had been born of a virgin as foretold by Isaiah, and His birthplace was Bethlehem as Micah tells us. He was called out of Egypt, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and Daniel even proclaimed the exact time of His appearance.

The King of Israel had arrived and the good news of His kingdom was being proclaimed far and wide. The temporary, old read more...

John 4:24

Religious men often seek to worship God through symbolic acts, man-made rituals, fleshly works, or emotional outbursts, but God desires a worshipful heart that is clean before Him, dependent upon Him, submissive to Him, and full of humility and grace.

God is eternal, and God is Spirit, and God made man in His own image and likeness. At the innermost core of man's innermost being we have a human spirit which was designed for read more...

John 4:26

This much loved story of the woman at the well has become a favourite with many Christians who recognise the beautiful way that God in His goodness and grace has approached each one of us, and has slowly and gently brought us to a deep and saving understanding of Who He truly is.

Someone once said that there is a God-shaped hole in each of our hearts, and the Bible reminds us that God has placed eternity in the heart of us all and read more...

John 4:42

The apostle John points to the deity of the lovely Lord Jesus so that many will believe and trust Him as Saviour, and be given eternal life through Him, by grace. The woman at the well was one that testified of Jesus and pointed to Him, for when Christ is lifted up, He will draw all men unto Himself. But it is the Spirit of Christ that convicts man of sin, it is Christ Himself Who builds His Church, and it is His Word that causes men to look to read more...

John 5:11

The healing at the pool of Bethesda was unusual, in that Jesus Himself asked the man, "do you want to be healed?" - whereas normally He was approached by others who asked for healing.

In an act of grace, Jesus chose to engage with this man on a Sabbath day, despite his being infirm for 38 years. But like all the signs and miracles recorded in his Gospel, John's purpose in writing was to prove that Jesus was the read more...

John 5:14

Jesus was the promised Messiah that the nation of Israel was eagerly awaiting... and there were many identifying marks and prophetic signs, recorded in the Old Testament, which would establish His identity. He would cause the blind to see, heal those that are broken, feed the hungry, and raise the dead. He would loosen the tongue of the mute who would shout for joy - and he would cause waters to break forth in the wilderness and streams in desert places.

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John 5:16

The Lord Jesus went about doing good. He healed the sick, cast out demons, brought comfort to the afflicted, and fed the hungry. He raised the dead, forgave the sinner, gave relief to the poor, and brought good news of great joy which is for all people. He came as the Light of the world in darkness, the Bread of life for the hungry, and the Living Water for those that are thirsty. He is the Rock of our salvation, for in Him alone are the words of eternal life. He read more...

John 5:17

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day He rested from all His work. But man wilfully disobeyed God and sinned against his Creator. Death came into the world because of man's sin, and as the consequence of sin, the earth was cursed, sorrow and pain entered the world, and God started once again to work. God set in motion His new work of redemption, and His glorious plan of salvation started to unfold.

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John 5:18

One of the most dangerous aspects of religiosity and legalism is that the truth of the glorious gospel of grace is hidden underneath a black cloud of unbelief. An example of this is Christ's miraculous healing of the man at the pool of Bethsaida who had been crippled and bed-ridden for 38 years, which was considered as inconsequential by the religious leaders of the day because, in their estimation, it constituted breaking the Sabbath of the Lord!

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John 5:19

John's Gospel was written in order that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living, invisible, immortal God and that by believing in Him we may have life in His name.

But in order to carry out the will of His Father, the eternal Son of God, Who is God the SON, had to humble Himself and be born into the human race as a perfect Man. He had to lay aside His heavenly glory and be clothed in a human body of flesh read more...

John 5:21

God will not share His glory with another and yet Christ demonstrated His deity when He healed the paralytic man on a Sabbath Day. No one but God can give life and health and the Jewish leaders knew about Christ's Messianic claims, but could not bring themselves to see the truth. They knew Jesus came from God, but were so bound up with legalism and religiosity that their eyes were blinded to the truth that Jesus was God incarnate.

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John 5:22

The healing of the paralysed man at the Pool of Bethesda, infuriated Jewish leaders. They objected to Christ's Messianic claims and were furious that He often referred to God as His Father. They were constantly looking for ways to get rid of Jesus and accused Him of breaking the Sabbath day. They regarded the healing of the paralytic man as work. But no biblical Law was violated, just a man-made, Sabbath-day rule.

Jesus read more...

John 5:23

There is only one eternal Creator of heaven and earth. There is only one Almighty God, and He has made it very clear that He will not share His glory with another, and yet we discover Jesus making the most astonishing claims which if not true, would be outrageous and even blasphemous.

Jesus not only claimed to be of equal status with the Father, but declared that He had the same authority to raise the dead and should be ascribed read more...

John 5:24

Jesus had just healed a man at the pool of Bethsaida, but He did this healing on the Sabbath. The Jews had so misinterpreted the Law of Moses about the Sabbath day that they considered the miracles that Jesus carried out on the Sabbath, violated their strict rules. When the man that had been healed obeyed Christ's instruction and picked up his bed to carry it home, it was construed as work, and they accused Jesus of violating their laws. But Jesus replied, read more...

John 5:25

The eternal Son of God has had life in Himself from before time began, before space was created, before matter was spoken into being, and before man was formed from the dust of the ground. But because of Adam's sin, every man is born into this physical world spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, at enmity with God, facing eternal separation from his Creator, and without hope in the world.

However, for four thousand years God read more...

John 5:26

Because God is eternal, He has life in and of Himself. God is the source of all life, the author of all life, the fount of life, and no other creature that has been made has life in itself. No other created being has this life, yet God gave the Life that was unique to Himself to the Son so that His only begotten Son has that same life in Himself.

But Christ Himself also has life in and of Himself, for He is the Word that spoke read more...

John 5:28

The Lord Jesus gained victory over death and hell through His own sacrifice on the Cross and His glorious Resurrection, but throughout His life He gave solemn warnings that an hour was coming when the tombs of all who were dead would hear His voice; some to the resurrection of life but others to the resurrection of condemnation. And in a few short verses the Lord Jesus speaks of some, very different resurrections.

One that He read more...

John 5:29

It was in the second year of His ministry that the Lord Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda, which means House of Mercy. It was on a Sabbath day when this miracle took place, causing the chief priests and scribes to have an even greater hatred for the Lord Jesus.

When the Jews found out that it was the Lord Jesus Who had healed the man, they started to persecute Him, because He had healed a man on the Sabbath day. He broke read more...

John 5:30

The Lord Jesus is God incarnate. He is equal in honour, glory, majesty, and power with the God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is the second member of the triune Godhead, but this verse gives a beautiful glimpse into the incredible sacrifice that Christ made in order to save His people from their sins. He set aside His heavenly glory and almighty power, and only said and did those things that He heard from the Father.

This read more...

John 5:37

There were many accusations against Jesus because He claimed to have the authority of God, and this wounded the pride of sinful man. But there were also many witnesses for Him, testifying to His authority and authenticity.

Here in John 5, the first witness testifying about Jesus was the greatest man ever born into the human race; John the Baptist, who was God's chosen forerunner to testify of Christ.

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John 5:39

There were many witnesses to Christ's claim to deity and His role as Redeemer. John the Baptist was one such human witness, for He proclaimed: "This is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world." And both the Father and the Holy Sprit were heavenly witnesses of Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan (an act which they carried out together, in order to fulfil all righteousness).

Christ's miraculous signs and great read more...

John 5:40

Many people find it very difficult to accept that the Lord Jesus is equal in all aspect of deity with the Father, while remaining the unique Son of God and second Person of the Trinity. But He is very God of very God, eternally begotten of the Father, made flesh, and dwelt amongst us to save His people from their sins. Various unbiblical cults and religious sects seek ways to diminish Christ's eternal deity and divine authority and regard Him a lesser 'god', for read more...

John 6:4

Christ participated in four Passover celebrations during His short, three and a half year ministry on earth. Early in His ministry, He cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem by overthrowing the tables of the money-changers proclaiming, "My Father’s House is a house of prayer for all people, but you have made it a den of thieves." This first Passover seemed to be a critical event at read more...

John 6:20

Jesus was going about doing good. He authenticated His claim to be Israel's Messiah through the many signs and wonders He performed... in fulfilment of Bible prophecy. People wondered if He was the coming great Prophet about whom Moses spoke. Like Moses, He fed the people in the wilderness and promised to save them from their sins... and so great multitudes followed Him... wondering if He could be the promised Son of David.

But read more...

John 6:29

Whenever we think of the word 'work' it brings to the mind some activity that we have to DO. As good Christians we want to work for the Lord and indeed, we are called to do His work. We desire to be good and faithful servants, workmen who will not be ashamed when we stand before Him. And the Bible tells us that we are His workmanship who have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has already prepared for us.

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John 6:32

Too often today, men and women are seeking to gratify their short-term physical desires at the expense of their eternal, spiritual needs.

Too many believers today are seeking to gratify their carnal lusts and excite their flesh, their feelings, and their emotions with sights and signs, miracles, wonders, and worldly 'hip' and 'hype' at the expense of true, spiritual satisfaction, which alone comes from knowing the Lord Jesus read more...

John 6:35

During His earthly ministry, Christ taught the multitudes that He was the promised Messiah. He authenticated His claims through many signs and wonders, such as the feeding of the 5000. The supply of bread and fish satisfied the crowd's physical hunger and excited their carnal cravings, but they neglected to understand the deeper meaning of this miracle of Jesus.

Knowing that the Lord had crossed to the other side of the Galilee read more...

John 6:37

Physical hunger requires food for the body, but spiritual hunger requires spiritual food for the soul and Christ had just announced that He is the Bread of Life, the spiritual food that came down from heaven. Jesus had just made the first of many earth-shattering 'I AM' statements that announced His Messianic authority and proclaimed His eternal deity. He expands this truth by announcing: "All those that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who read more...

John 6:38

Jesus gave a detailed discourse about the Bread of Life to the same multitude who had just partaken of the five barley loaves and two small fishes. Throughout His ministry, Jesus was teaching the people that He had been sent from God to carry out the will of the Father. He taught that He alone is able to satisfy the hungry soul and provide for our bodily needs. He was proclaiming to be the promised Messiah, Who had come in fulfilment of Scripture.

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John 6:44

Throughout the Gospel of John, we find that both the unsaved crowds and Christ's own believing disciples misunderstood His teaching, and substituted a physical interpretation on important spiritual truths. Christ was the promised Messiah and his signs and wonders authenticated His claims, and yet His word was not believed. Five times the Lord told the crowds that He had: "Come down from heaven," but they would not hear and believe.

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John 6:44

It is our Christian duty to proclaim the gospel of grace to a world that is dead in sin and without hope of salvation. However, it is not our responsibility, to save people - to get a person 'saved'. That role is reserved for the Holy Spirit, Who is in the world to convict the unsaved sinner of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement. Every man has the choice to come into the light of the gospel or remain in spiritual darkness.

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John 6:47

Jesus set the stage for His important teaching on the Bread of Life by feeding a multitude of 5000 men, besides women and children, with 5 barley loaves and 2 small fishes. Although God is our great Provider Who supplies all our bodily needs and the daily necessities of life according to His great goodness, His greater provision is the gracious offer of the salvation of our soul, the redemption of our body, the forgiveness of our sin, and life everlasting.

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John 6:51

The Lord Jesus used the feeding of the 5000, in John chapter 6, to teach the powerful truth about God's plan of salvation for mankind, to clarify His heavenly origin and Messianic claim, to correct some flawed beliefs that had developed in Israel, and to announce some very precious promises for all who would believe in Him.

Jesus graciously fed a great multitude of hungry people with 5 small barley loaves and 2 tiny fishes, read more...

John 6:55

The apostle John had written his Gospel in order that we may know and believe that: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing we may have life in His name." And although the written Scriptures, the Messiah, and God's plan of redemption was to come through the Jewish nation, God in His grace knew that for a time Israel would have to be set aside for a time, due to unbelief. The Church, which is the Body of Christ, would have to be formed read more...

John 6:56

Jesus is the Living Bread Who not only has Life in Himself, but is the giver of Life and Who gave His Life as a ransom for many. Jesus is the Bread of Life, in Whom is life-everlasting. He is the eternal God of all gods, Light of all lights, and Life of all life.

Jesus is the divine Bread from heaven Who came to earth in the likeness of sinful man in order to give His sinless life as the ransom price for the sin of the world. The read more...

John 6:57

When Adam, the progenitor of the human race, sinned against the living God, fellowship with his Creator was broken forever, and fallen man was eternally separated from God by sin. But in His omniscience, God already knew of man's ruinous choice, and so before the foundation of the world He planned to give His dearly beloved Son to be the only acceptable ransom for the sin of the world. And when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a read more...

John 6:68

On a number of occasions, the disciples were challenged to give an answer for what they thought about Jesus Christ. Early in His ministry, it was revealed to Peter by the Spirit of God, that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. But as time passed, Christ's teachings became increasingly challenging to the Jewish mindset. In His earthly ministry, Christ was only sent to Israel, but His true mission was to include the whole world.

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John 6:69

The Gospel of John is the only New Testament book that is specifically written to unbelievers. Indeed, in chapter 20, we discover the reason that John wrote his gospel: "These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God," he wrote, "and that by believing, ye might have life through His name."

Faith must be in the read more...

John 7:2

It was in the third year of Christ's ministry that we read: "The feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near." Jesus knew the Jews were seeking to kill Him, and so He deliberately delayed His journey to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. He remained in Galilee until the last possible moment.

Christ's brothers taunted Him by suggesting read more...

John 7:17

The time was getting closer to the day when the Lord Jesus would be betrayed and handed over to wicked men, who would crucify Him by nailing His sinless body to the Cross. Grace and truth came through Him and for three years, He spoke only those things that He heard from the Father. No one spoke the gracious words that Jesus spoke, and no one performed many mighty miracles that Jesus performed; prophetic signs that authenticated the Man read more...

John 7:29

Earlier, John told us that God GAVE His only begotten Son to be the Saviour of the world, and here He tells us that God SENT His Son into the world. Later, this same beloved disciple gives the reason that God sent His Son into the world: "He was sent, so that we might live through Him." And just before His death, Jesus also revealed to His disciples: "I and the Father are one," one in unity, and one in Spirit.

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John 7:37

Three times a year, the Jewish males were instructed by the written Law to travel up to Jerusalem to celebrate three of the great feasts of the Lord. Each feast reminded them of a significant part of their national heritage and yet each feast also pointed forward to a wonderful future fulfilment when the promised Messiah would come to right all wrongs and set up His earthly kingdom of peace and prosperity, as promised to Israel in the Old Testament Scriptures.

John 7:38

Jesus delivered this pleading invitation to the nation of Israel to come and drink of the Living Water. It was on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, only months before His death, that Jesus made this astonishing announcement as He stood and cried out with a loud voice: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water'.

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John 7:39

On the last day of the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles, Jesus cried out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel: "If anyone is thirsty, come to Me and drink, and from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water." It was not a literal river of water that would flow from their belly: "But He spoke of the Holy Ghost, Whom those who believed in Jesus would one day receive."

Jesus knew that His death read more...

John 7:46

Jesus is the incarnate God. He is the Word of God made in human flesh... and Jesus spoke only those things which He heard from His Father in heaven. It is no surprise, therefore, that the officers of the Law who had been sent by the high priest to arrest the Lord Jesus, reported back to the Sanhedrin so admiringly saying, "Never has a man spoken in the way that this man speaks."

But the Pharisees and Sadducees read more...

John 8:7

The person who is most critical of the faults, failings, and sins of others is often guilty of the self-same faults, failings, and sins. 'When you point a finger of accusation at another, remember you have three fingers of accusation pointing right back at yourself,' as the old saying goes. How often the person who is severely judging his fellowman is the hypocrite who flatters himself of his own uprightness.

Throughout His read more...

John 8:9

The woman caught in adultery had certainly sinned and judgement needed to be meted out, but the Jewish leadership were using the undeniable guilt of this adulteress in an evil scheme to trap the Lord Jesus. This was an underhand plot to either accuse Jesus of disregarding sin by demonstrating His contempt for the God-given Law of Moses, or reveal that He was not living up to His claims of being a friend of sinners and their merciful Saviour. A lose-lose situation read more...

John 8:12

Christ is the image of the invisible God. He is the Son of God, Who is God the Son, and He came to earth to shed the light of the Father to the far-flung corners of the universe. That light shines in the darkness, but darkness and evil cannot quench the light of His love. He is the shining Light, that alone enlightens the darkened soul of man. He is that gentle Light, that pours warmth into the chilled human breast.

He is that read more...

John 8:18

Jesus had been introduced by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. He had been identified as the promised Messiah Who spent His time going about doing good, performing many mighty signs and miracles, and healing all those that were sick in body and distressed in soul.

Jesus was in His final year of ministry, having proclaimed Himself to be the true Bread from heaven, the Living Water for the read more...

John 8:19

The Lord Jesus was the living Bread that had come down from heaven to feed His people Israel and to save them from their sins. Jesus was the eternal Son of the living God Who laid aside His glory so that He might become the Kinsman-Redeemer of the fallen, human race.

Jesus was God incarnate. Jesus was the Lord's anointed Messiah. Jesus was the only begotten Son of God. And for a time, He set aside the heavenly glory He had shared read more...

John 8:21

Throughout His ministry, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were at enmity with Christ, but as the time for His crucifixion drew ever closer, we see their hostility escalating, and their accusations against the Lord Jesus, becoming increasingly hostile.

They used a woman, caught in adultery, in an attempt to accuse Jesus of contradicting the Mosaic Law, but they were caught in their own trap, and were convicted of their own read more...

John 8:23

From the start of Christ's ministry, the scribes and Pharisees resented His unorthodox teaching and heavenly testimony, which laid claims to His being the incarnate Son of God Who came to earth from heaven as the anointed Messiah of Israel. They resisted the preaching of John the Baptist - about whom Isaiah prophesied and held Christ's disciples in utter contempt.

These religious bigots tried to explain away Christ's read more...

John 8:24

The unbeliever dies in his sins, because he is born dead in trespasses and sins and continues to live his life in sin. The power of sin enslaves the unbeliever, making him a slave to sin. The unbeliever will therefore die in his sins.

The Christian dies in the Lord, because he has been born again and given the life of Christ and so from that point on, he lives his life in the Lord. The power of sin is severed in the life of the read more...

John 8:31

The Lord Jesus had the words of eternal life, for He was the Light of the world, the Messiah of the Jews, and the Saviour of mankind Who had come into the world to save sinners from their sins. But many of Israel's religious leaders were blind to His saving light, deaf to His comforting words, and sought to trap Him at every point. However, there were certain of these Jews who did believe the words of the Lord Jesus; that all who believe on the only begotten Son read more...

John 8:32

Having explained to the Jews who had believed in Him: "If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples," Jesus continued to explain that those who choose to abide in His Word would: "Know the truth and the truth will set you free."

All who receive the Lord Jesus as the Word of God made flesh, are given the right to become children of God, even to those that believe on His name, and there are many read more...

John 8:34

Jesus is incarnate Truth and when He says to His followers, "truly, truly I say to you..." we should pin back our ears and pay special attention to all that He has to say. "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." The Lord Jesus came to earth to set fallen man free from his shocking enslavement to sin and to deliver us from the ruinous nature of sin which is imputed to every member of the human read more...

John 8:36

Freedom is the cry of every man and woman, every boy and every girl. And Jesus proclaimed, "if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." Only a few verses earlier we heard Jesus explain to His followers, and those that were challenging His Messianic claims, "you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Those who know the Son know the TRUTH - for Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and read more...

John 8:44

As Christ's earthly ministry progressed, the animosity against the Lord Jesus increased. In this chapter, the gracious words and godly wisdom of Christ stand in stark contrast with the wicked plots of evil men who sought to discredit His words and damage His reputation by setting traps to denigrate His teachings. In this chapter, man's scheming wickedness is seen to be the antithesis of the goodness of Christ.

Grace and read more...

John 8:58

One of the fundamentals of our faith is that the Lord Jesus Christ is fully God in every way and fully equal with the Father. Many people consider that Jesus never claimed to be God or professed equality with the Father, and yet when the Lord Jesus declared, "Before Abraham was, I AM," He was making the most blatant and incontrovertible declaration of His Deity, claiming equal status with YHWH of the Old Testament, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and read more...

John 9:4

Christ only had a small window of opportunity in His earthly walk, to work the works of the Father Who sent Him. Christ had come into the world to be the light of the world and to be the One Whose death, burial, and Resurrection would reconcile the world back to Himself so that all who believe in Him could be presented faultless and blameless before Him.

Christ had come into the world to read more...

John 9:5

God is Light, and He is the Creator of light. He the Sustainer of light and Giver of light. He is the Light shining in the darkness, and He is the light of life. Only the incarnate God can authoritatively proclaim, "I am the Light of the world." Only He is able to lift the one that is dead in trespasses and sins out of deep darkness that has permeated man's soul. Only He can transfer the one that is dead in sin and engulfed in darkness into the read more...

John 9:25

What a wonderful testimony we have from this man that was blind: "One thing I know, once I was blind but now I see." This man offers a clear undeniable witness to the truth. His impaired vision had been restored, and he was able to clearly see the trap into which the Pharisees were about to fall.

These proud leaders of the Jews were seeking to discredit the Lord Jesus. They questioned the man about his healing read more...

John 10:7

No one but Jesus used the words "verily, verily I say unto you," for these were words that carried authority, a greater authority than any earthly jurisdiction – a sovereign command that was directly from God. Jesus wanted to get across the eternal truth that He was the door of the sheepfold; the only Good Shepherd; the one Way to God; the revealed Truth of God and everlasting Life that only comes from God – for He is God in the flesh. But read more...

John 10:9

When Jesus said, "I Am the Good Shepherd," He claimed to be the true Shepherd of Israel. He declared Himself to be the legitimate Shepherd Who was anointed by God as foretold by prophets of old. Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus was sent by God to care for the lost sheep of the house of Israel and that He came to fulfil the oath that God swore to their forefather, Abraham, and his seed forever. Jesus was the hope of all nations Who was sent from heaven read more...

John 10:10

Jesus came as the GOOD Shepherd to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and He led out as many as received Him from the Jewish sheepfold to join His other sheep, His Gentile sheep. And there shall be one sheepfold and one Good Shepherd of the sheep, for there is now no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.

Jesus brought peace to Jew and Gentile alike through the blood of the read more...

John 10:11

On many occasions, the Lord Jesus used the phrase "I Am," as a bold proclamation of His deity and equality with God the Father. The Messiah of Israel was God incarnate, and on this occasion He presented Himself as the Good Shepherd Who laid down His life for the sheep.

Referring to Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep was a metaphor that was easy to understand during the time of Christ, for there had been many prophets, read more...

John 10:12

The Lord is OUR Shepherd Who provides all we need for life and godliness. He is the Faithful Shepherd, Who cares for His people and encourages us to lie down in green pastures. He is the One Who leads us beside quiet pools of refreshments, restores our fainting soul, and guides us into the pathway of righteousness and peace.

He is that Great Shepherd of the sheep and the Father of all mercies. He is the God of all comfort and read more...

John 10:14

Jesus is our Good Shepherd and knows us by name, just as we know Jesus as our Saviour God and gentle Shepherd. Yet He elevates our relationship with Himself to heights beyond our imagination. He compares our relationship to Himself with His Own intimate and cherished relationship with the Father. Jesus said: "I know My sheep and My sheep know me, JUST AS MY FATHER KNOWS ME AND I KNOW THE FATHER."

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John 10:15

What is more helpless than a little lamb or what is sillier that a straying sheep? And yet we are the sheep of His pasture and we are His little lambs that need to be nurtured and protected by our Good Shepherd.

Twice in this chapter, the Lord identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd. The first time identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd of Israel. He leads the lost sheep of the house of Israel that hear His voice out of the read more...

John 10:17

Christ laid down His life as the one and only compulsory sin-offering that was required to appease the wrath of a holy and righteous God, but Christ also laid down his life as a free-will offering - a burnt-offering - a voluntary sacrifice - a sweet savour to the Lord, and this is why the Father loves Him. This is why Jesus Christ is the beloved Son of the Father.

His voluntary death was succeeded by His glorious Resurrection. His read more...

John 10:18

The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect Man Who, of His own human volition, willingly lay down His sinless life as a ransom for His fellow men. The Jews may have falsely accused Him and screamed out for His death, Pilate may have condemned Him and handed Him over to be crucified, the Roman soldiers may have driven the nails into His hands and feet, and your sins and mine may have been placed upon Him in those three hours of deep darkness, but He laid His own life down read more...

John 10:27

Jesus is our Heavenly Shepherd Who came from His home above to gather all who would follow Him and believe on His name, to become one fold with one Shepherd. Jesus is our caring Shepherd Who guards and guides us, Who feeds us and tends us, Who protects us and loves us, and Who intimately knows each of His own, by name.

There is a special relationship between shepherds and their sheep. It is said that sheep recognise the voice of read more...

John 10:28

The Lord Jesus is the good Shepherd of the sheep and He knows all the needs of His little flock. He protects them from danger, He finds them when they're lost, He understands their deepest concerns, and He provides for all their needs.

At His first advent, Jesus made it clear, through His words and His works, that He was their promised Messiah and the Son of the most high God. But He was misunderstood by the crowds and rejected read more...

John 10:30

Jesus knew that the hour of His death was approaching and so He prepared to lead the lost sheep of the house of Israel out of their sheepfold, and join them together with His 'other sheep' for whom He also would soon shed His blood.

The increasing resistance of the Jewish leaders, who constantly called for more and more evidence of His claimed Messiah-ship, were about to hear the clear evidence of Christ right to the throne of read more...

John 10:34

Christ's discourse in John Chapter 10 thrills the heart of every child of God, for Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd, Who not only knows our name but lays down His life for the sheep. While His words rejoice our souls, they caused the Pharisees of His day great consternation. Some labelled Him as insane and demonically possessed because He called God, His Father, while others argued that He could hardly open the eyes of read more...

John 10:36

Jesus claimed deity, eternality, omniscience, and equality with the Father on many occasions, and the Jews of His day knew exactly what Christ meant when He called God His Father and referred to Himself as the Son of Man, when He forgave sins, or identified Himself with the holy name of God (I AM). But how often do we hear the apostate, the heretic, the agnostic, the atheist, the cults, and even carnal Christians declare that Christ never claimed to be the one true read more...

John 11:4

One of the most moving and beautiful narratives in Scripture is the raising of Lazarus from the dead. We all empathise with the sisters who became distressed when their precious brother fell ill. Their anguish increased as his health rapidly deteriorated. They had seen Jesus heal the many sick people, and even raise some from the dead, and so they hurriedly sent an urgent request for Him to come and heal the one He loved so dearly.

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John 11:25

Nothing in the life of a Christian happens without a purpose and every event that takes place, whether good or ill, is used by God for our spiritual growth and eternal benefit. During our sojourn on earth, we are called to mature in the faith and to grow in grace, and God takes all the circumstances of life as an opportunity to develop our trust in Him so that we may discover a little more of His gracious character, His omnipotent power, His omniscient wisdom, His read more...

John 11:27

Three days before her declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Martha had buried her beloved brother and was grieving deeply. She had sent an urgent message to the Lord to come quickly and heal him. But Jesus deliberately delayed His journey and His beloved friend died and was buried in a stone-cold tomb.

Jesus could have healed Lazarus from a distance, just as he had healed the nobleman's servant, but He delayed read more...

John 11:55

Over half of the Gospel of John details the last few weeks of Christ's earthly ministry, before His death on the Cross. The mention of the approaching Passover of the Jews in chapter 11, reminds us that His sacrificial death at Calvary was fast approaching.

The Passover was the first of three, annual feasts of the Lord which every Jew was required to celebrate in the holy city of Jerusalem. But over the years, God's Feast of read more...

John 12:3

Mary is a beautiful example of a woman who loved the Lord Jesus and who was loved by her Saviour. Although the Jewish leaders plotted how they might destroy Him, Mary was a devoted disciple who regularly worshipped at His feet, honoured His presence in her home, and drank deeply from the fountain of life.

The love and respect Mary had for Jesus caused her to anoint His feet with an extravagantly costly perfume, which she read more...

John 12:21

There was a point in Christ's ministry, when the hour had arrived for the Son of Man to be glorified. This time had been scheduled from the foundation of the world and Christ's whole life, from His birth in Bethlehem, had been a journey towards this historic moment.

He had been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and had been baptised by John in the River Jordan to fulfil all righteousness. He had declared His read more...

John 12:23

Three times during His ministry, the Lord Jesus said His hour had not yet come. He first said this to His mother at the wedding in Cana of Galilee at the start of His ministry. The second was to His siblings, near the end of His ministry, when they mocked their brother about his Messianic claims.

The third time was as He taught in the temple, laying out His Messianic proclamation to the people and testifying that God was His read more...

John 12:24

The truth of the glorious gospel of Christ is very easy to understand, and many everyday activities and occupations were used, by the writers of the New Testament, to illustrate important biblical principles and various godly precepts.

Jesus used stories like the good Samaritan, the wise and foolish builders, and a fishing dragnet, to illustrate some of His teachings, while Paul utilised the patience of a long-distance runner or read more...

John 12:27

For three and a half years, the Lord Jesus ministered in Israel declaring that He was the promised Messiah. He boldly proclaimed that He was anointed by God to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to teach deliverance to the captives, to recover sight to the blind, and set at liberty those that are bruised. Like John the Baptist, He taught that the kingdom of God had come to earth, for He was their rightful King - but on many occasions, He read more...

John 12:28

The final few days before Christ's crucifixion were packed with signs and happenings that overflow with meaning. Jesus had eaten a meal in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper, where Martha was busily serving food. In an outpouring of love, her sister Mary came to Jesus and breaking her costly alabaster oil of spikenard, she anointed His feet and wiped them dry with her hair.

While Judas and the other disciples criticised this read more...

John 12:31

For three and a half years, the Lord Jesus was on a journey towards a pivotal point in the history of humanity when the world would be examined and found wanting. It was God's appointed time for this fallen world system to be judged and for Satan, the illegitimate ruler of this earth, to be cast out. The hour had come for God's terrible verdict to fall upon a world that spurned God's offer of salvation and rejected His only begotten Son - it was the time that the read more...

John 12:46

At the beginning of Christ's ministry, His identity as the LIGHT of the world was revealed to us. And here, as Jesus nears the end of His time on earth, this theme of illumination is reiterated: "I have come as Light into the world so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness."

God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all, and Jesus was sent by the Father to give light the Gentiles and to enlighten those who sit in darkness read more...

John 12:48

Old Testament writings pointed to Christ, and He fulfilled each aspect of the Law and every prophetic Scripture relating to the earthly ministry of Israel's long-awaited, promised Messiah.

Jesus was the incarnate Word of God. He was the fulfilment of God's written Word - for this Man was the Word made flesh about Whom the Scriptures spoke and towards Whom the prophets pointed. Jesus Himself said, "It is the Scriptures read more...

John 13:1

Jesus was the Passover Lamb, and the Law given through Moses demanded that four days before this Feast, the Passover lambs were to be selected and carefully checked for blemishes. This would carry on until the 14th day of the first month, when they would be sacrificed unto the Lord. And for four whole days before His crucifixion, Jesus was relentlessly pursued and bombarded by the scribes and Pharisees with trick questions in an attempt to accuse Him of read more...

John 13:7

Though Peter may have left all to follow Jesus, watched in amazement as He saw Him transfigured at the top of the holy mount, and unashamedly proclaimed: "Thou are the Christ the Son of the living God," he could not begin to understand the staggering spiritual significance of Christ's act of humility, when He laid aside His garments, girded Himself with a towel, and began to wash the disciples' feet.

The read more...

John 13:13

Some of the claims that Christ made would have been downright arrogant if they had not been true, but every sign He performed was the direct fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy that was the identifying signature of the Jewish Messiah. He proved over and again that He was Who He said He was; Son of God and Son of Man, God incarnate, the Messiah of Israel, and Saviour of the World.

He had just broken the bread and passed the read more...

John 13:14

The hour had come that Christ was to leave the disciples He loved so dearly and for whom He had devoted His life. The hour had come that He was to purchase them with His own blood. 

The Lord Jesus had laid aside His eternal glory and set apart His life for this hour, and in humility and grace, He took a basin of water and washed His disciples' feet. This was a physical scene that was to illustrate a spiritual truth that would read more...

John 13:15

Christ's entire life was an example of humble obedience, submissive service, and active dependence upon His heavenly Father. He was the personification of meekness and grace, faithfulness and love. He was the One Who created the heavens and the earth and through Him, all things hold together by the might of His power. The very breath of man is in His hands, and the winds and waves obey His voice.  And yet, He set us an example of humility and grace when He washed read more...

John 13:34

The Cross was drawing ever closer. Jesus had just washed the feet of His confused disciples, in an act of gracious love. The kingdom that seemed so promising a few short days earlier was fast fading into obscurity, as Christ talked of leaving them, of going away to a place where they could not follow. And then came the shocking realisation of His forthcoming death. It was at this time of intense sorrow and deep, deep passion that the little flock of Christ heard read more...

John 13:35

The love of Christ is a supernatural love, a divine love, a love that streams to us from the heart of God, for God is Love. The Lord Jesus was soon to demonstrate how deep that love was for all who receive Him as their redeeming sin sacrifice, for greater love has no one than this, that the Man Christ Jesus, God incarnate, would lay down His life for His friends.

And so, He gave us a new commandment, a command that sums up the read more...

John 13:36

We have all been through a difficult circumstance in life, but it is only as we look back on all that happened that we come to a fuller appreciation of its deeper significance and receive greater understanding of all that God was doing in our life at that time. This seems to be the case in Peter's life, when Jesus started to speak to His disciples with increasing urgency about His fast approaching departure.

From the point read more...

John 13:37

The apostle Peter holds a special place in many hearts. It was to him that Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom when he was instructed, three times: "Feed My sheep." Peter was the one who unlocked the gate of the kingdom, first to Jews at Pentecost, and later to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, the Roman centurion.

Peter was the big fisherman who showed great affection for his Lord and Master and he was the one who read more...

John 13:38

Jesus had been sent from heaven to fulfil His Father's will and had just explained to his confused disciples He was about to return to heaven, where He would be seated at the Father's right hand. The disciples had expected Him to bring in the kingdom there and then and were distressed to hear Him say He was going away and they would be unable to go to Him. Had he not told them earlier that they would sit on twelve thrones, judging the nation of Israel?

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John 14:1

Let not YOUR heart be troubled; Let not MY heart be troubled; Let not OUR hearts be troubled. These words from Scripture have comforted multitudes of God's children down through the corridors of time. Neither the things of the world that blacken our life nor the imaginations of the heart that cloud our mind, must shift our trust in this Word of comfort that comes directly from God, the Father of all comforts.

These words were read more...

John 14:2

Jesus came to heal the broken-hearted, to set the captives free, to cause the lame to walk again, and to make the blind to see. He also came to comfort the sorrowing heart and to calm the grieving, confused soul. And what reassurance must have been shed abroad in the hearts of His disciples when they heard these time-shattering words for the first time: "There are many rooms in my Father's house." - If there weren't, I wouldn't have told you read more...

John 14:3

Jesus had just told His disciples that He was going away – but that He was going to prepare a special place for them in His Father's house. This was very disturbing for the little group of men who had given up everything to follow the Lord Jesus, and separation from Him was quite shocking.

They realised that He was the Messiah of Israel, and their expectation was that Jesus would shortly set up the long-awaited kingdom of God. read more...

John 14:6

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'" WOW! What a statement! However, there is more truth packed into these few short words than is found in the combined libraries of humanity - and that is no emotional fantasy but a stark statement of factual reality. If, in love, we could but grasp, believe, and act on the deep significance of Christ's simple, yet profound statement, our troubled read more...

John 14:9

Like all His band of twelve disciples, Philip was a follower of Christ who had walked and talked with the Creator of the universe for three years. He had witnessed His perfect character, listened to His words of wisdom, seen many proofs of His divine person, and along with Christ's other disciples, Philip had been taught about Christ's holy, heavenly mission. However, the truth that the Lord Jesus was God incarnate, had yet to penetrate the heart of Philip read more...

John 14:10

To fulfil prophecy, Jesus came to redeem His people, Israel, preaching repentance of sin and the gospel of the Kingdom. He was sent ONLY to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and performed many signs to authenticate His Messianic claims. According to Scripture, Jesus had to offer salvation to His own people first, before He could shepherd the Gentiles into His heavenly sheepfold, and most of His earthly ministry and Messianic claims were directed towards read more...

John 14:12

The miracles of Christ were supernatural signs to authenticate His claims to be the Messiah of Israel as outlined in Scripture, but the WORK that Christ referred to was very different from walking on water, feeding 5000 men with bread and fish, raising people from the dead, or casting out demons. The work to which Christ was referring was feeding the soul with every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and helping to raise spiritually dead souls into newness of read more...

John 14:15

The Lord Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law on behalf of all who would trust in His name as Saviour, so there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life has set us free, in Him, from the law of sin and death. And yet, Jesus called us to keep His commandments, why would this be?

We may no longer be under the curse of the Law but this does not exclude us from living godly in Christ Jesus. We read more...

John 14:16

For well over three years, the Lord Jesus had moved in and out among His disciples, living alongside His little band of followers every moment of the day and throughout the darkness of each long night.

The first thing mentioned in this important chapter is the simple fact that the worlds came into being through the Word of God and that everything created, both visible and invisible, was made by His mighty power. 

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John 14:17

Isaiah prophesied of the day when the virgin would conceive and give birth to Immanuel, God with us, and this joyful news was told to Joseph when an angel of the Lord appeared to him. For thirty-three amazing years, God dwelt among His own people, for the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth.

Jesus was indeed God WITH us, but He told His disciples of an even read more...

John 14:19

The sudden shock of hearing that Jesus was leaving to go back to the Father, must have been desperately disturbing for the disciples, but Jesus quickly started to explain that although they could not go with Him at that time, their physical separation from Him would only be temporary. Jesus was going to prepare a heavenly abode for each one of them, and unless He went away, the many benefits that were planned for believers and the glorious mysteries surrounding read more...

John 14:20

Jesus had just finished telling His confused disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them in His Father's house, but that He would not leave them comfortless but send the Holy Spirit to be with them and to live inside them. Their bodies were to become God's holy temple, His permanent residence, and although they did not know it, Pentecost was on the near horizon.

The disciples must have been overwhelmed with the read more...

John 14:24

It was decided in God's eternal council chambers, that the Son of God would come to earth and be born into the human race as God incarnate, and live the perfect life that God desires from all of us; a life that was empowered by the Holy Spirit, a life that was submitted to the will of the Father and not his own human will.

And so, the words that the Lord Jesus read more...

John 14:26

The time for Christ's exodus from this world was fast approaching. Jesus had already told His disciples that He was going to ask the Father to send them another Counsellor, a Helper just like Himself – the Spirit of truth Who would act as their Advocate and plead their case to the Father. He explained that the unsaved would not be able to receive Him, because they know nothing of Him, but that the Spirit of Whom He spoke would stay with them forever, and that in read more...

John 14:27

We have peace, peace - wonderful peace with God, because we are saved. Through believing on Christ's finished work of redemption, we have peace with God, for Christ is the propitiation for our sins Who made peace with God on our behalf.

We have peace, peace - the wonderful peace of God that passes understanding, even through days of deep distress and troublous times, when we submit to His leading and follow His example, by saying: read more...

John 14:27

As the Cross drew ever closer, the solemnity of Christ's approaching passion blanketed the hearts of the confused disciples, whose earlier anticipation of the heavenly kingdom and their individual positions in it were quickly crumbling.

Understanding the perplexity in their hearts, the gracious Saviour offered words of compassion and comfort as He compressed His eternal love for them into a brief season, starting with these dear read more...

John 14:31

Some of the last words of help, encouragement, advice, and guidance that Christ gave His eleven disciples, shortly before He became the sin sacrifice for humanity, were that He did exactly as the Father commanded Him so that the world would know that He loved the Father.

Throughout His life, the Lord Jesus had demonstrated the very life that God created man to live; a life of utter dependence upon God, totally submitted to carry read more...

John 15:1

In the Old Testament, there are many references to Israel as a vine planted by God, but she was an empty vine, a fruitless vine. Isaiah calls her a worthless vine that was to be made desolate for her unbelief. But God planted a second Vine; a true Vine, a Vine that will bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit. For unless a grain falls onto the ground and dies, it remains alone. But through Christ's death and Resurrection, He qualifies Himself as the true Vine Who will read more...

John 15:2

The picture of Christ as the true Vine is a very precious concept to most believers. All Christians are branches of the true Vine, for all are taken out of Adam and placed into Christ. All are in union with Him from the point of rebirth, and as branches we share His life, both on earth and in the eternal ages to come.

All branches are commanded to abide in Him, and so our privileged position becomes an important day-by-day read more...

John 15:3

Jesus had just made an important announcement to His disciples, "I am the Vine," He declared, "and My Father is the Vinedresser." In the Old Testament, it was Israel who was called the vine. Israel was to trust the Lord in loving obedience and humility of heart. They were to be a people who cultivated righteousness and justice. But they proved unfaithful to their covenant promise. They disobeyed God and produced fruit that was read more...

John 15:4

Jesus knew how important it was for His disciples to be clear about their relationship to Himself. And using the familiar symbol of a vine He identified Himself as the True Vine. For centuries, Israel had been an unfruitful vine, and only days before His crucifixion, Jesus taught the parable of the tenant farmers who killed the son of the vineyard owner - prophesying His own rejection and death which would be instigated by the priests and Pharisees who were looking read more...

John 15:4

Remaining in Christ or abiding in Him, was a theme that the Lord Jesus introduced to His disciples just before His death and Resurrection, and it is a subject that is picked up by Paul and is evident within each of his letters. Christ is fully God and fully Man, uniting holy deity with perfect humanity; and fruitfulness in the life of a believer results from the very life of the Son being reproduced within the life of the Christian.

Throughout His read more...

John 15:5

The image of a branch gaining all its sustenance and strength from the parent vine is a beautiful description of man's total dependence upon God, without Whom we can do nothing, for in Him we live and move and have our being.

When Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walked the earth, He demonstrated this truth, for He lived His entire life in utter dependence upon the Father: "I can do nothing of Myself," He said, read more...

John 15:6

All born-again believers are united with Christ at the point of salvation, and having been made one with Him, we are instructed to abide in Christ. To abide in Christ simply means that we are to mature in our spiritual life, to grow in grace, and to maintain a close and increasingly intimate fellowship with our heavenly Father. We are to love as Christ loved and to live as Christ lived; in total dependence upon the Father and not trying to do things in our own read more...

John 15:7

In a few short verses, the believer is called and challenged to abide in Christ; to abide in the Vine; to abide in His love; to abide in Him. The vine was an important symbol which ran through Old Testament Scripture, and Israel was the one whom Isaiah described as 'the choicest vine.' Israel was chosen by God to be a fruitful vine, and they were expected to bring forth good fruit for His glory, but Israel brought forth wild grapes and had to be trampled down and read more...

John 15:8

As believers, we are positioned in Christ, born into the family of God, made members of the Body of Christ, and placed in eternal union with our Lord Jesus. As such, we are called upon to glorify our Father Who is in heaven.

As Christians, there are many beautiful descriptions of our precious relationship with our Lord: He is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. He is our Father and we are His children. He is the Vine and we are the read more...

John 15:9

Christ Jesus is the eternal, uncreated Son of God Who was in the bosom of the Father from before the foundation of the world, and Who has been loved by the Father from eternity past.

The love that the Father has for the Son is a deep, abiding, immeasurable, and eternal love. It is a love that passes the understanding of our limited human minds. It is a love that can never be comprehended by human understanding.

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John 15:9

Despite the simplicity of His statement and the brevity of His instruction, the command Christ gave His disciples, just before His walk to the cross, is one of the most profound pronouncements ever voiced in the history of the human race. "Just as the Father has loved Me," He told them, "so I have also loved you - abide in My love." The apparent simplicity of the text, only serves to magnify its transcendent significance.

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John 15:10

The Lord Jesus told us that if we keep His commandments, we would abide in His love – we would remain in His love – we would rest in His love. But did He then give us a long list of commandments to keep? Did He point us to the Law of Moses or deliver us a set of rules and regulations that all worthy Christians ought to keep? NO! He gave us one commandment – a new commandment – a commandment that incorporates every other godly command and gracious act – read more...

John 15:11

This much-loved passage gives real insight into our position in Christ and reminds us that because we are united to Him by faith, we are to love one another as Christ loved us. We are also to abide in His love and trust His wise purpose for our lives. But we must also realise that we will be hated of all men, because we are His children, but praise God that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to read more...

John 15:12

God Himself, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, set aside His heavenly glory and came to earth as the Son of Man. He did this in order to live His life as a perfect pattern of the way God desires that all His children live.

He was the exact example of a life that was set apart unto God. A life that walked in spirit and truth, a life that set aside His own will to do the will of the Father in heaven.

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John 15:13

In those final hours just prior to His crucifixion on a cruel Roman cross, the Lord Jesus was with those that were his dearest and closest friends. Friends that had given up all to walk with Him; friends that had eaten, slept, and marched with Him for three and a half years; friends that had been given apostolic power to heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead.

And yet these same friends would abandon Him, deny Him, or read more...

John 15:14

As Jesus prepared His disciples for the fast approaching crucifixion, He was also preparing them for the difficult future they must all face: a world of hatred against God and themselves, and a world where the physical presence of their master is absent. The Lord Jesus knew that these men whom He loved so dearly would be easy prey to the enemy who, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour. How important it was therefore, that they listened carefully read more...

John 15:15

The Lord Jesus, Who is the eternal Son of God and high King of heaven, chose us to become intimately related to Himself. We did not choose Him, for we were dead in our trespasses, slaves to sin, and eternally estranged from His Father. And yet, in grace and love He stooped down from His high kingly throne to raise us up and seat us together with Himself in heavenly places, and open up His Word to us.

When we start to consider the read more...

John 15:16

Many misquote the first part of this verse as referring to initial salvation: "You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you." But these words were spoken to men who had already believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and were being chosen and appointed to produce good and lasting fruit, to the praise of God the Father.

The Lord Jesus was only hours away from His crucifixion when He spoke these words to His read more...

John 15:18

Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in fulfilment of biblical prophecy. Partway through His ministry however, the Lord Jesus started to give hints that God's plans and purposes for Israel were to be postponed for an undisclosed length of time. This "dispensation of the grace of God," as Paul called it, was to be a season during which the Lord would carry out His plans and purposes for the redemption of mankind, through a read more...

John 15:19

In the beginning when Adam disobeyed the Lord, our relationship with God was broken. From the moment that sin entered the world, Adam died spiritually, and every one of his descendants has been born with a sinful nature, dead in trespasses and sins, and in bitter conflict with God and all that is holy. Instead of walking in the light of our Creator God, we came into the world as sons of disobedience, walking according to the course of this demonic world system, read more...

John 15:25

If we trust in the person and work of Jesus, we are saved by faith in Him, and saved unto eternal life as a free gift of God's grace. We are forgiven of our sin and clothed in His own perfect righteousness. But disciples are believers who move to the next level of faith, living life by faith, through a process of progressive sanctification. This can often be uncomfortable, because we are not OF the world but are living IN this fallen read more...

John 15:26

The emotions of the disciples were in disarray. They were deeply troubled as Christ continued to urgently unfold many profound truths as to His Person, His Work (on the Cross), and the shocking disclosure of His imminent departure. He promised that He would send a Helper from the Father: "The Spirit of truth Who proceeds from the Father." He told them that the Holy Spirit would testify about Himself and will confirm to them all that He had read more...

John 16:1

The gracious words of the Lord Jesus are light and life, health and wholeness, truth and love, and they are words of great comfort for all His children. The words of Jesus bring peace and hope, and His words keep us from stumbling. Would that we pay attention to the Word made flesh Who is the only One that will guide us into all through truth through His written Word of truth, by means of His Spirit of truth.

The Cross was read more...

John 16:7

The Lord Jesus was about to leave the little band of men who had come to believe that: "Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God." They had expected Him to set up the promised kingdom, but had discovered He was going away... and yet it was to their advantage. How confused they must have been.

With the Scriptures in hand, we know the supernatural happenings of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was sent to read more...

John 16:8

For much of His ministry, the Lord Jesus was teaching the gospel of the kingdom to none but the lost sheep of the house or Israel, but as the animosity and hatred towards their promised Messiah became increasingly evident among the Jewish leaders, Jesus began to prepare His little band of disciples for the significant changes that were about to take place after His Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.

Jesus started to lay read more...

John 16:13

It is hard to imagine the grief that must have flooded the questioning hearts of Christ's disciples when they started to face the reality that Jesus was going away. For over three years He had been their Teacher and Protector, and His wisdom and grace was acknowledged by all, yet there was so much more that they needed to learn from Him.

He had clearly told them that He was leaving them and was going back to the Father in heaven read more...

John 16:14

The time for Christ's departure had come... and although the separation from their Master was a painful prospect for the confused disciples, nevertheless they were to discover an inner strength and receive extraordinary comfort that was not available to them during Christ's lifetime on earth.

As faith begins to fail so fear starts to overtake the soul, and the prospect of life without Jesus plummeted His disciples into utter read more...

John 16:15

Although the disciples had acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of the living God and hailed Him as their Messiah and Lord, there was so much that they did not know... and so much that they had yet to learn.

He told them He was going away to be with the Father and would return for them at the right time - but they expected Him to come back soon. They even expected Him to return and set up the kingdom in their lifetime.

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John 16:17

The last half of John's Gospel is concentrated into the final days of Christ's life. The gospel of the kingdom had been preached and refused. The Person of Jesus had been identified as the Messiah and rejected. The incarnate Word of God had come to His own people and His own received Him not: "But as many as did receive Him to them was given the power to become Sons of God."

Everything seemed to be read more...

John 16:21

As the hour for His death and Resurrection loomed ever closer, Jesus sought to prepare His disciples for their physical separation from Himself, with an illustration that accompanies the birth of every little baby.

For the mother in labour and the expectant father, the pain that accompanies those pre-birth hours and minutes appear to morph into the most intense anguish, accompanied by an eternity of time.

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John 16:33

The Lord Jesus was to face the most challenging event in the history of the universe, for He Who had rested in the bosom of the Father and communed with Him throughout eternity, was to experience the most excruciating separation from His God and Father – an agonizing disconnection which is beyond the comprehension of frail mortal man.

Yet, He was able to communicate to His confused and fearful followers, both deep comfort and read more...

John 16:33

So often the comforting statements of the Lord Jesus are designed to link a wonderful promise of God to deep concerns that may surface within the heart and mind of believers, as we journey through life, in an increasingly alien world. This was true for the disciples too. As the shadow of the cross grew closer, Christ's little company of disciples became fearful of the antagonistic attitude of the religious leaders towards Jesus, which grew stronger as Calvary read more...

John 17:1

The prayer of all prayers was prayed by the Lord Jesus as the pivotal hour in the history of the ages had finally arrived. The moment, which was planned in eternity past and towards which every step of Christ's earthly pathway had been progressing, had finally arrived. The Cross, where the blood of the eternal Son of God made Man, had reached its terminus.

The Lord Jesus lived His life following God's divine timetable. Every day read more...

John 17:2

The hour for Christ to be glorified had arrived for, in His wisdom, God chose the sacrifice of His beloved Son on the Cross as the most shattering event of eternity. The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. May we never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ's burden was to glorify, honour, exult, and magnify His Father in heaven. read more...

John 17:3

John 17 is the holy of holies in Scripture, for it contains the greatest prayer ever prayed on earth, by the greatest man who ever lived. It causes us to take off the shoes from off our feet, for the place whereon we stand is holy. And within this sacred text we discover, from the prayerful lips of the Lord Jesus Himself, exactly what eternal life is.

Eternal life is not heaven (our ultimate destination) or the life hereafter, as read more...

John 17:4

This greatest of all recorded prayers of Christ is prayed as He set out towards the Garden of Gethsemane and the Cross of Calvary, and it gives us the most astonishing insight into the heart of God, the glory of God, the plan of God, and the will of God. The only begotten Son of God took on the role of sin substitute (on behalf of fallen humanity) so that we who believe on His name might be reconciled to God - through Him.

Christ read more...

John 17:5

Although Christ was fully God the Son, He lived His whole life in full submission to the indwelling Holy Spirit of God and in total dependence on God the Father, only doing those things which He heard from above. And having completed His work on earth, in spirit and truth, the Lord Jesus set His face as a flint towards His ultimate victory over sin, death, and the satanic forces of evil in heavenly places: the Cross of Calvary.

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John 17:6

This beautiful 'high priestly' prayer of the Lord Jesus demonstrates His humble obedience and unreserved dependence upon God. This prayer of all prayers also displays His utter submission to God's will and the depth of love He has for His Father. But it also highlights the compassionate love that the Saviour has for His people.

Christ knew that the hour to fulfil the sacrificial mission for which He had come to earth had arrived. read more...

John 17:7

The Lord Jesus is the express image of the invisible God, and during His earthly ministry had been revealing the 'I AM' of the Old Testament as the Good Shepherd, the Door of the sheepfold, the Light of the world, the Bread of life, the living Water, the Resurrection, the Way, the Truth, and the Life (abundant life, eternal life), for in Him was life and His life is the light of all mankind.

Jesus had glorified the Father in the read more...

John 17:8

Throughout the Old Testament, God gradually unveiled His character, His names, and His attributes to the race of fallen man as, little by little, He unfolded His eternal plan of salvation. But when the fullness of the time had come, God revealed Himself in a new and unique way by sending His only begotten Son as the Word made flesh, to live a perfect life, to die a sacrificial death, and to reveal Himself to a race of condemned sinners.

read more...

John 17:9

The hour had arrived for Christ's betrayal and crucifixion, and the Lord Jesus gave His disciples an amazing glimpse into the intimate fellowship and precious communication which took place between the Father of all mercies and His dearly beloved Son, as Jesus prayed His High Priestly prayer in their hearing.

Christ's sovereignty over all flesh was referenced in His prayer, as was His authority to grant the gift of eternal life read more...

John 17:10

The beautiful unity and cherished communion that we discover existing between the Father and the Son, cannot be better conveyed than through this simple sentence in this most magnificent of all prayers in John 17: "All things that are Mine are Yours, and all that are Yours are Mine."

The equality of the Son with our Heavenly Father is indisputable, for no created being, visible or invisible, whether on earth, read more...

John 17:11

The Word of God is from everlasting, but in the fullness of time the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God incarnate was clothed in human flesh and came to reside in the world that He created, and to live as a Man among those He had made in His own image and likeness. And for a time, the eternal Son of God veiled His glory and shrouded His deity by coming to earth in human form, as the perfect Son of Man, in submission His Father in heaven.

read more...

John 17:12

The Son of God was born into the human race that He Himself created, in order to carry out the will of the Father: that whosoever believes on His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, might have eternal life and become ministers of reconciliation to a lost and dying world.

The very men who became Christ's disciples were the very people about whom the Lord Jesus was praying in this second section read more...

John 17:14

The Word of God is true, His Word is eternal, and the Lord Jesus has given us the Word of the Father. We have been given the gospel; the good news that God loved the world so much that He sent Christ to pay the price for our sin. He broke the power of sin and death in our lives and freed us from its bondage, forever.

The world is at enmity with the Father, and the world hates the anointed Son of the Father. And we who are read more...

John 17:14

God loved the world so much that He gave us His only begotten Son. He gave us the Word – the Word made flesh – the Word Who was God of God and Light of Light. And the Word came to tabernacle among us, to live as one of us. He came as Man born of a woman – God of God yet Man of man, born into our sinful race as one of us so that He could be the propitiation for our sins and demonstrate the love of God towards us.

Christ also read more...

John 17:16

Just before His death and Resurrection, the Lord Jesus prayed a wonderful prayer - a prayer that demonstrated the intimate relationship with the Father and the Son - a prayer for the protection of all believers during our time in this world - a prayer that Christ Himself would be given the glory He had with the Father before His sojourn on earth - a prayer that asked that all who are in Christ Jesus may be made one as He is one with the Father - a prayer that we read more...

John 17:17

Just before He was taken from His disciples, the Lord Jesus prayed the most beautiful and profound prayer that the mortal ear has ever witnessed. Now that the hour of His crucifixion had arrived, Jesus prayed to the Father for the disciples He loved so dearly, that they would be sanctified in the truth, set apart, and made holy unto Him. Jesus prayed that they would be a consecrated, read more...

John 17:19

The word 'sanctify' means 'set apart' and in this amazing high priestly prayer, where Jesus prays for his disciples to be 'set apart unto God' through the truth of the Word of God, He also sanctifies Himself: "For their sakes I sanctify Myself so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth."

Jesus sanctified Himself to do the will of the Father. He set Himself apart unto God in order to carry out the read more...

John 17:20

Christ's prayer and intercession in John 17 is our only opportunity to take a peep behind the scenes of Christ's intercourse with His Heavenly Father. After praying that He will glorify the Father through His finished work on Calvary, Jesus intercedes for His disciples, whom the Father gave Him out of this world, for these men were to be God's chosen instruments. These were the ones who were to take the good news of the gospel to a lost and dying world.

read more...

John 17:21

Every phrase and every word in this beautiful High Priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus as He faces the shadow of Calvary's Cross, are thoughts upon which we should take time to reflect. From beginning to end, this is a prayer that should cause us to rejoice with great joy and praise God with deep reverence - for we see Christ interceding on our account at the throne of grace.

We discover, in this intimate exchange with His heavenly read more...

John 17:22

The glory of Christ in His humanity is the glory that is given to those that have come into union with Christ as Saviour. In this life, we are being conformed into His likeness day by day, as we submit to the leading and guiding of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And one day, we will be exactly like Him, for we shall see Him as He is; in His glorified body, full of grace and truth.

The unity of spirit, soul, and body that Christ (in read more...

John 17:22

We who were once dead in our sins and eternally separated from God, were drawn near to Him and placed in His family because we trusted in His Son as our Saviour. Not only are we forgiven of our sins and redeemed by His blood, but we have been given the glory that Christ Himself was given by the Father. OH! this is not the glory of His deity, divine nature, omniscient character or almighty attributes, for in Him dwells all the fullness read more...

John 17:23

Throughout His earthly life, the Lord Jesus was demonstrating to His disciples that He was fully God yet fully Man. He was the eternal Word Who was fully Deity that had been made flesh by being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of Mary. He was the one who would suffer and die on a cruel Roman cross. He was the one that was physically thirsty by the well in Samaria and yet He could cry, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever read more...

John 17:24

Our citizenship is in heaven, and one day Christ is coming back to take us to be with Himself in our heavenly home, for He is preparing a place for us in His Father's house.

And just a few short hours before the Son of Man was lifted up on Calvary's Cross as the sacrifice for the sin of the whole world, He prayed to the Father for His disciples and for all who would come to trust in Him as Saviour, through their faithful read more...

John 18:6

Never forget that the gentle Shepherd of the lost sheep of the house of Israel is God incarnate. He revealed Himself to David as his Shepherd, Who leads us beside still waters, restores our soul, guides us along the path of righteousness, and protects us in the valley of the shadow of death.

Never forget that our crucified Lord and resurrected Saviour is the divine Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. And in a brief read more...

John 18:11

The kingdom of Christ is not of this world to be fought for with sword and spear, but could only be won though the shedding of the sinless blood of the Son of God: "For without blood there is no remission of sins." Only through His death and Resurrection, could Christ disarm the principalities and powers and make a public spectacle of the satanic realms; triumphing over them by the Cross.

Peter had earlier argued that read more...

John 18:33

After Christ's illegal trial and unjust interrogation before Annas and Caiaphas, the high priest, Jesus was sent to the Praetorium, to be delivered to Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea and Samaria. The Jews' hatred of Christ was intense, and they desired His death, but being under Roman governance, they were denied the right of execution, as laid out in the Law of Moses.

When Pilate asked what crime Jesus had committed they read more...

John 18:36

Jesus is the heavenly Man. He came down to this world from above, and He came to redeem a race of lost sinners and to rescue a fallen creation from the destructive ravages of sin and Satan, darkness, disease, and death.

Since Adam's ruinous decision to believe Satan's lies in the garden of paradise, man was dethroned from his appointed position to rule the earth and govern creation, and in his place, Satan set up his own, broken read more...

John 18:37

While the other Gospels often portrayed Jesus as the suffering Servant and Son of Man, John presents Him as Son of God and God the Son. He is the Word made flesh Who created the world, the great I AM of Old Testament times, the Good Shepherd Who gives His life for the sheep. He is the root and the stem of David, sent by God as the eternal King of Israel and the immutable Saviour of the world. And His kingdom will have no end.

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John 19:1

As soon as His illegal religious trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin was concluded, Christ was handed over to the Roman governor for an illegal civil trial... throughout which Pilate compromised the rule of law and his personal and professional integrity. Jesus had erroneously been found guilty of blasphemy by the Jews, despite being the eternal Son of God, and proving His authenticity through the many prophetic signs, miracles, and read more...

John 19:5

The terrible verdict of Pilate, the Roman governor who judged the civil case against Christ was: innocent, but condemned; blameless, but convicted; without fault, and yet sentenced to death. And yet before him stood the Son of God in human flesh, without Whom Pilate could not have drawn another breath, and Who had the power to call on ten legions of angels to rescue Him from this ungodly trial.

The combined hatred of the religious read more...

John 19:26

Christ had already offered a powerful prayer of pardon for His murderers, and a precious promise of assurance to the repentant, dying thief. His third utterance from the Cross, is a one of gracious comfort and loving assurance to His mother, as well as bestowing an opportunity of sweet service to John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. For we read: "When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He said to His mother, 'Woman, read more...

John 19:27

Although God is in control and exercises His sovereign power in the affairs of men, He will often permit satanic strategies and the evil schemes of fallen man to prosper, in order to bring His perfect plans and eternal purposes to fruition, and to teach us an important truth. For instance, while the Lord permitted the heinous events surrounding Israel's rejection of their Messiah and Christ's cruel crucifixion on a Gentile cross to be carried out by sinful man, the read more...

John 19:28

After many exhausting hours on the Cross and following the humiliating trials, the cruel beatings, the merciless floggings, and the excruciating pain that seared through His body, no doubt the Lord's throat was parched as His tongue was stuck to the roof of His mouth. But the depth of meaning behind His words: "I thirst," must never be overlooked.

Christ was the Lamb of God Who had paid the full price for the sin of mankind so that the full read more...

John 19:30

"It Is Finished!" was Christ's cry of profound significance and ultimate joy, which must have resounded throughout the entire universe as the Lord Jesus pronounced His triumphant victory over sin, Satan, and death. It was for this cause that Christ was born into this world when He emptied Himself of His former glory by assuming the form of a slave and taking upon Himself the likeness of man, for He came to seek and to save that which was lost and to call read more...

John 20:2

Mary Magdalene was one of the women who went to the tomb early in the morning, on the first day of the week. She had been at Golgotha the previous Friday and wept as she saw her Saviour crucified on a cruel Roman cross. She watched, with the other women, to see where the body of Jesus was laid. She waited until the early hours of the morning to prepare her spices and she set out with the other women, very early in the morning - while it was still dark. Together read more...

John 20:8

As we look back to Christ's Resurrection, we rejoice that He was willing to die as the substitute for our sin and rise again on the third day. But John 20 gives us a glimpse into the happenings on Resurrection Day and the heart of some of His disciples.

Mary Magdalene had come early in the morning to anoint the dead body of Jesus with spices, and finding that the stone was rolled away, immediately ran to tell the disciples. Two of read more...

John 20:17

In Proverbs, we are advised: "Those that seek Me early will find Me," and what a beautiful example of this we see in Mary who went to seek Jesus so early in the morning: "While it was still dark." And what ecstatic joy must have flooded her heart when Jesus spoke her name, and yet He told her tenderly but firmly: "Touch Me not for I am not yet ascended to the Father."

Throughout Old read more...

John 20:21

Just as the Transfiguration was a tiny preview into the coming earthly kingdom, when Christ would rule and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, so the things that Christ said to His followers and the things that Christ did with His disciples following His Resurrection was also a tiny foretaste of the coming Church dispensation: A time when believers not only have peace with God by grace through faith in His death, burial and Resurrection, but they have the read more...

John 20:28

The development of the disciple's faith in Jesus as their God and their Saviour, can be traced from the time of John the Baptist to the final chapters of John's apocalypse. For the three years of Christ's own ministry, we see evidence of little seeds of faith taking root, growing, and blossoming into a firm foundation of unshakable faith.

It was revealed to Peter, that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God... and the read more...

John 20:29

So often we refer to the son of Didymus as 'doubting Thomas', yet when Christ's other disciples expressed a reluctance to go to Jerusalem for fear of the Jews, it was Thomas who, cried out,  "Let us also go, that we may die with Him". Thomas was also the disciple who prompted the Lord to say, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" when he questioned Him, by saying, "Lord, we read more...

John 20:31

We are exhorted by Christ's apostles to live by faith and not by sight. We are charged to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and we are counselled to believe on the One Whom God sent into the world to be the propitiation for our sins.

It is by God's grace that the Father gave His only begotten Son to pay the ransom price for our sin, and it is by faith in His finished work on Calvary's Cross, that salvation (the read more...

John 21:25

Throughout his Gospel, the apostle John presented the Lord Jesus Christ as Almighty God. As the Word made flesh, Jesus dwelt with His creation who despised and rejected Him, and yet in love He went to the Cross to pay the full price for our sins (for only the shedding of His righteous blood would satisfy the righteous requirement of a holy God).

John only related a fraction of the inexhaustible fullness of all Christ did during read more...