Category: Bible Study

Today’s passage: John 6:1–71

Focus verse: Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

Jesus offered the Samaritan woman living water to drink. Now he wants to feed the people life-giving bread. Just as we need water to live, we also need food—our daily bread.

After Jesus teaches a massive crowd of over 5,000 people, he intends to feed them. But the disciples don’t have the money to buy that much food, and all they can scrounge up is a boy’s lunch: five small loaves of bread and two tiny fish.

Jesus tells the people to sit to eat, anyway. He blesses the boy’s food, passes it out, and everyone has enough to eat. There are even leftovers. It’s a miracle, and the people wonder if Jesus is the Savior whom the prophets predicted.

That evening Jesus and his disciples leave, but the people find him again the next day on the other side of the lake. He criticizes their intentions.

They’re not seeking him because of his miraculous power, but because he fed them. “Don’t strive for food that spoils but for food that leads to eternal life.”

“What must we do?” the people ask.

“Believe in the one God has sent.” He reminds them of God giving the people manna—bread sent from above—to eat when they were in the desert. 

The crowd wants this bread too.

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus says. “If you come to me, you’ll never go hungry or be thirsty again. Just believe, and you’ll live forever.”

He follows this with one of his more shocking statements. Jesus says they must eat his body and drink his blood, something prohibited by the Law of Moses.

Everyone who eats and drinks of him will have eternal life. Jesus’s followers have trouble understanding this teaching. But this is not a call to eat human flesh. It’s a metaphor. Just as we need food and drink for physical life, we need Jesus’s body and blood for spiritual life.

To eat his body and drink his blood is a euphemism for receiving him and his death as the solution for the wrong things we have done. In making this bold statement, Jesus foreshadows his execution, which he willingly accepts.

By doing so, he offers himself as a redeeming, life-restoring sacrifice—the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Jesus isn’t contradicting the laws of Moses. Instead, he voices his intention to fulfill it.

The idea of eating his body and drinking his blood also foreshadows communion, which serves as a reminder of his death and resurrection—that is, his victory over death—to save us. 

This appalls his followers, all Hebrews. The people grumble. They complain he’s hard to understand and say no one can accept his message. They view his statement as heresy, many turn on him and leave.

These followers become ex-followers. They reject him and go in search of something else, but his main twelve disciples stay. They’re committed.

The principal message of Jesus is easy: believe in him. He loves everyone and opens his arms to accept all. But sometimes he’s hard to understand. Sometimes his message offends people. Their response is to give up on Jesus.

To eat his body and drink his blood is not a physical call to cannibalism, but a spiritual invitation to salvation. All we need to do is believe Jesus is the bread we need for life.

Questions:

1. Have you ever miraculously seen food multiply to feed everyone?
2. Why do you seek Jesus? What do you expect to gain when you follow him?
3. What should you do that leads to eternal life? 
4. How can you embrace Jesus as the bread of life?
5. How do you understand Jesus’s command to eat his body and drink his blood?

Discover more about blood in Leviticus 17:10–12, Ezekiel 39:17, and 1 Corinthians 11:25–27. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 5:31–47

Focus verse: “There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.” (John 5:32)

In the Old Testament of the Bible, Moses writes that one witness is insufficient. To prove a point requires two or, even better, three testimonies.

The context is someone who has committed a crime, but the principle of needing multiple witnesses to confirm a matter carries through to the New Testament.

Though two are good, three are better. The Bible often repeats concepts three times for emphasis, to make a point, such as saying God is “holy, holy, holy” (Revelation 4:8).

Jesus tells people he is the Savior. He is the Messiah they’ve been expecting. Often, he is indirect, such as when talking to the Samaritan woman. Other times, he is more direct, such as in Mark 14:61–62.

Yet, he also acknowledges that what he says about himself doesn’t carry much weight. Though we believe Jesus is the Son of God and value everything he says, a skeptic won’t accept what Jesus says about himself.

Jesus understands this. He calls three witnesses to give testimony to who he is.

Remember the poetic opening to the book of John? In this we have reference to the first testimony for Jesus. John the Baptist came as a witness to testify about the light—that is, Jesus—so that the people will believe (John 1:7).

John later calls Jesus the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Next, he confirms Jesus is God’s Chosen One (John 1:34). Jesus reminds the people what John said about him. John is his first witness.

Though the Bible says John the Baptist is the greatest person to ever live (Matthew 11:11), Jesus has an even more weighty testimony than John. Jesus points to the spoken words of God.

After John baptizes Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus and a voice booms from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22). Father God supplies the second testimony for Jesus.

As if the testimonies of John and God aren’t enough, Jesus reminds the people that Scripture is full of references to his coming. Though the religious leaders study their sacred texts with diligence, they refuse to accept what it says about Jesus.

Yet the Bible provides us with the third witness for Jesus.

Based on the three testimonies about Jesus from John the Baptist, Father God, and the Bible, the people can accept with confidence that Jesus is who he says he is. And so can we.

Questions:

1. What do you think about worshipping God as holy, holy, holy?
2. What do you think about John the Baptist being the greatest person to ever live?
3. How can you give a testimony for Jesus? 
4. How well does your life back up your words? 
5. How well do people accept what you say about Jesus?

Discover more about having multiple witnesses in Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, John 8:17, 2 Corinthians 13:1, and 1 Timothy 5:19. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 4:43 to 5:30

Focus verse: At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath. (John 5:9)

In Genesis, after God finishes his amazing creation, he takes time on the seventh day to rest. Later, in the Old Testament, God tells his people to keep the Sabbath holy and not work. Yes, they take a day off from work. 

In his commands to rest and revere the Sabbath, God never tells them to go to the temple every Sabbath. Though a few of their special celebrations fall on the Sabbath and involve the temple, temple attendance isn’t a weekly command.

As the people rest on God’s holy day and worship him, what does he do? Does he have a Sabbath rest too? What does he do on our Sundays?

Just as he did after he created us, I once assumed God rests along with us. He’d sit back and receive our worship. I imagined our adoration restoring him, even to where the more engaging our praise, the more energized he became.

I assumed that as we take a break, so would he. That God, along with us, rests one day out of seven for a mini re-creation. Now we’re both ready to start a new week.

Although an imaginative idea, Scripture doesn’t support it.

Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath. His detractors confront him. They criticize him for working on the day that God commanded everyone to rest. 

Jesus sees this differently. He explains that as his Father God is always working, he is too. Aside from the creation account, we don’t read that God and his Son rest on the seventh day. 

No, as we rest and worship, God works. And I’m okay with that. If God were to rest, for even one day, what would become of us? I need him every moment of every day, so I’m glad he doesn’t take a break.

What does your Sunday look like? Do you apply the Old Testament commands for a Sabbath rest from your weekly schedule? Do you follow God’s instruction to keep the day holy?

In the early days of Jesus’s church, the first day of the week becomes their special day instead of the Sabbath. Many Christians today apply the Old Testament directives for Sabbath rest and holiness to Sunday. 

Yet, Jesus models doing good and helping others, even if it occurs on the day of rest.

Questions:

1. What does your Sunday look like? 
2. Do you rest one day each week and keep it holy? Why?
3. How obligated should you feel to attend church each Sunday?
4. Do you do good on the Sabbath (Sunday) and help others, regardless of what people might think? 
5. How can you go to church and also be available to help others?

Discover more about the Sabbath in Genesis 2:2–3, Exodus 20:8–11, and Mark 2:23–28. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 4:1–42

Focus verse: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)

People need water to live. Though we can survive many days without food, we can only make it a few without water. Without regular hydration, we will die. Water is essential to life.

In parts of the world, this life-sustaining substance is available in our homes. We turn on a faucet and all the water we want flows forth. Other areas aren’t so fortunate, with water not as accessible.

People must travel, sometimes quite far, to find the water they need to survive. Sometimes it’s clean, but too often it’s dirty or, even worse, polluted. Such is the daily reality for too many people.

Two thousand years ago few people had running water. They went to the town’s well every day to draw water. Water was more essential than food. This is what we see in the first part of John 4.

Jesus and his disciples stop in Samaria on their way to Galilee. It’s midday and Jesus rests by the town’s well as his disciples go into town to buy food. A woman comes out to fetch water. We assume she goes at noon because during the heat of the day no one else will be there.

Everyone else would’ve gotten their daily supply of water in the early morning before it got hot. Because of her sordid past, she wants to lessen her interactions with others, protecting herself from their critical looks and judgmental words.

Jesus asks her for a drink. 

This surprises her because it’s unacceptable. The first problem is a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman. The second issue is that Jesus will need to drink from her cup. Both are things that religious Jews seek to avoid.

Now he surprises her even more. “If you knew who I was, you’d ask me for living water.”

She assumes he means physical water, but he’s referring to spiritual water. The kind that wells up to supply eternal life.

Jesus proves his supernatural power to her by revealing that he knows about her past. But he doesn’t judge her. Instead, Jesus accepts her for who she is.

She goes into town and tells everyone about Jesus. Based on her testimony, they come out to meet him. They believe in him and beg him to stay. He spends the next two days with them before resuming his trip to Galilee.

Jesus knows everything about this Samaritan woman, but he accepts her despite the lifestyle she leads. He offers her love that she doesn’t deserve without criticizing her life choices. In this way, Jesus shows her grace and mercy.

As for the woman, she seeks water to satiate her body, but Jesus gives her living water to save her soul. He offers her eternal life. She only needs to believe in him to receive it.

Questions:

1. What can we do to help people have clean water?
2. What steps do you take to avoid judgmental or unpleasant interactions with others?
3. What socially unacceptable things are you willing to do to let other people know about Jesus? 
4. How can we not judge others and better accept them for who they are? 
5. Is your testimony convincing enough so that others might believe?

Discover more about living water in Jeremiah 2:13, Jeremiah 17:13, Zechariah 14:8, John 7:38, and Revelation 7:17. Read more about life-giving water in Ezekiel 47:9 and Revelation 22:17. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 3:1–21

Focus verse: “I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3)

Nicodemus—who only shows up in the book of John, albeit three times—comes to Jesus. He arrives in secret, in stealth at night, under the shroud of darkness. He’s a member of the religious council that opposes Jesus.

They fear his growing influence and his threat to their way of life and the traditions they find comfort in. 

If they learn of Nicodemus’s interest in Jesus, it will ruin him. They’ll kick him off the council, the religious elite will shun him, and Jewish society will ostracize him. He’s not willing to take this risk—at least not yet.

Still, he has a question burning in his soul that his religious training doesn’t cover, and his peers can’t answer. That’s why he sneaks off to meet Jesus at night.

He finds the teacher and addresses him as Rabbi, but before he can voice his question, Jesus answers the uncertainty gnawing in Nicodemus’s soul. “To be part of God’s kingdom, you must be born again.”

“What?” Nicodemus doesn’t understand. “It’s impossible for an adult to be reborn as a baby.”

“First there’s physical birth—of water,” Jesus says. “After that we have spiritual birth—through the Holy Spirit. That’s what it means to be born again.”

“How so?” I’m glad he asked because I want clarification too.

“Once I sacrifice myself, everyone who believes in me and what I’ve done will have eternal life,” Jesus says.

He restates the importance of belief in the best-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16. Then he adds, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36). Jesus, of course, is God’s one and only Son.

After a comforting reminder that Jesus hasn’t come to condemn the world—that is, to judge us—but to save humanity through him, he reaffirms the importance of believing in him a third time. “Everyone who believes faces no condemnation. But those who don’t believe stand condemned already.” 

To be born again means to believe in Jesus. He says so three times to emphasize belief as an essential truth and to make sure we don’t miss it.

The Bible doesn’t record Nicodemus’s response to Jesus’s call to be reborn by believing in him. But we can infer he says, “Yes.” 

The second time we read of Nicodemus, he advocates for Jesus’s life in front of the religious rulers. Though his words don’t sway them and result in them attacking him, at least he takes a stand for what’s right and doesn’t keep silent.

The last time we hear of Nicodemus occurs after Jesus’s death. In a bold act, Nicodemus helps Joseph of Arimathea prepare Jesus’s body for burial, according to the custom of the day. 

At first Nicodemus approaches Jesus in private. Next, he takes a public stand for Jesus. Last, he shows his affinity for Jesus by helping bury his body.

The actions of Nicodemus show he is born again. 

Questions:

1. How much of your faith do you hide from others and keep a secret? 
2. What question do you have burning in your soul? How can you find an answer? 
3. How do you understand being born again? 
4. What can you do to take a stand for Jesus?
5. How willing are you to take a stand for what’s right and not keep silent?

Discover more about being born again in 1 Peter 1:23. Learn more about Nicodemus in John 7:50–52 and John 19:38–42. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 2:13–24

Focus verse: “Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:16)

When you think of Jesus, what image comes to mind? 

Is it Jesus, meek and mild? The little children gather around him and he gazes at them, his eyes brimming with compassion. 

In another scene, Jesus stands on a boat near the shore. He instructs the people who flock to hear his counter-cultural words that remove judgment and emphasize love.

Another image is Jesus as the Good Shepherd—our Good Shepherd. He cares for his sheep, feeds the little lambs, and protects the flock from danger.

For the one sheep that wanders off and gets lost or hurt, Jesus searches for it, finds it, and carries it back to the fold in his gentle, loving arms. Oh, to be safe in the arms of Jesus, secure in his embrace.

We celebrate Jesus who feeds the hungry, heals the hurting, and gives hope to the hopeless. We uphold his example and want to be more like him.

And even when the mob comes to arrest Jesus, he does not resist them. He does not seek his freedom or call an army of angels to rescue him. He goes with them without complaint.

Later, when on trial, accused and facing death, he says nothing to defend himself. He stays silent and accepts his fate.

This is how I view Jesus.

Yet Jesus has another side, one that’s easy for us to forget. It’s a physical Jesus, intense, one consumed with zeal. 

In Jerusalem for the Passover, Jesus goes to the courtyard of the temple. He finds people conducting business instead of worshiping God.

Some sell the cattle, sheep, and doves needed for the various sacrifices. Others serve as a currency exchange. They make a nice profit for their efforts. Though both enable worship, they don’t belong in the temple courts, at the very doors to the temple.

Incensed at how they have disrespected his father’s house, Jesus fashions a whip. He drives the merchants out of the temple’s courtyard, including their animals. He overturns the tables of the money changers, scattering coins everywhere. “Get out! My father’s house is not a marketplace!”

No one tries to stop him. They scurry away.

Is this an example that gives us permission to get violent for God? No. Remember that Jesus is God. His actions promote worship that respects his Father and the temple as a place of worship and connection.

Instead, this passage serves as a reminder to not let money and the world’s activities encroach on our worship time and our worship space.

Questions:

1. When you think of Jesus, which of this lesson’s images come to mind? 
2. What practices might we do today that make Jesus just as angry?
3. How does your zeal compare to Jesus’s?
4. How willing should you be to make a ruckus for Jesus?
5. What must you do to not let money or worldly activities detract from your worship?

Discover the foreshadowing of this event in Psalm 69:9. What insights can you glean from this passage?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 2:1–12

Focus verse: He revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:11)

Consider the miracles Jesus performs. He heals people with broken bodies, casts out evil spirits, and even raises dead people to life. Whatever their situation, Jesus makes their life better—much better.

Yet his first miracle, right after he calls Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael to follow him, includes none of these grand supernatural signs.

Jesus’s first miracle is less astounding. Compared to his other incredible wonders, his first one is trivial. Yes, it’s still a miracle. We shouldn’t lose sight of that. Yet on the scale of supernatural significance, this one ranks near the bottom.

What is this miracle? Jesus makes wine from water at a party.

Here’s the situation.

Three days after Jesus calls his first disciples, they attend a wedding celebration. Mary, Jesus’s mother, is present too. Midway through the reception, social disaster strikes. The groom runs out of wine. 

This isn’t a life-or-death situation, but only a public embarrassment. Yes, the people will remember what happened, that the man didn’t give them enough to drink. They’ll talk about his shortsightedness and failure to care for his guests.

The man’s failure could come up at every wedding for years to come. It will form the basis for how the people in this town regard him and his bride. For years they’ll carry the stigma of running out of wine and disrespecting their guests.

Having nothing left to drink jeopardizes no one’s well-being. In fact, since many have already drunk too much, they may be better off not drinking any more.

Mary, aware of what happened, edges up to Jesus and whispers, “They ran out of wine.”

Jesus dismisses her concern in a way that seems disrespectful, but she ignores his apparent disregard for the groom’s plight. Instead, she instructs the servants, “Do whatever he says to do.” She’s done what she can and trusts Jesus to do what she cannot.

Despite telling Mary that he doesn’t want to get involved, Jesus acts. He tells the servants to fill six large jugs with water. Together they will hold well over one hundred gallons. They follow his instructions, and he tells them, “Take a sample to the master of ceremonies.”

The master takes a sip of the water, which Jesus has miraculously turned into wine, and commends the bridegroom for saving the best for last. This is unlike the typical practice of serving the best wine first and holding back the lesser quality vintages for when people have drunk enough not to care.

Jesus’s disciples see what he did, turning water into wine. In doing so, he reveals his power to them. Based on this, his disciples place their trust in him.

Questions:

1. What does Jesus turning water into wine tell us about him?
2. Do you think Jesus will help us avoid embarrassment today, like he did for the groom?
3. Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus said to do. How willing are you to obey whatever Jesus tells you to do?
4. Why do you think Jesus performed miracles? 
5. Do you believe the miracles Jesus did can still happen today? Why?

Discover some of Jesus’s other miracles in John 4:39–54, John 5:1–15, John 6:1–2, and John 9:1–7. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 1:15–51

Focus verse: John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (John 1:23)

We first meet John the Baptist in John 1:6. (Remember, John the Baptist is not the author of the book of John. John, the disciple of Jesus, is.)

John the Baptist comes to tell us about the light of Jesus so we might believe in him. In fact, God wants us all to believe—not that everyone will, but so that everyone has an opportunity to. Salvation isn’t a given. It’s a choice. 

After this opening passage in the book of John about Jesus being Word, life, and light, we now return our attention to John the Baptizer.

John’s purpose, his ministry, is to point us to Jesus, preparing people to accept and follow him. John isn’t the light. He serves as a witness pointing to the light (John 1:7–8).

Here are a few things John the Baptist says about Jesus:

• Jesus existed long before John. Though we understand this because John writes that Jesus created our world, the people John addresses aren’t aware of this detail. Explaining that Jesus comes before John hints at Jesus’s eternal nature (John 1:15).
• Jesus will bless us with his abundance (John 1:16).
• The law, God’s commands of right behavior and proper worship in the Old Testament, comes from Moses. In contrast, Jesus will offer grace and truth instead of rules and requirements (John 1:17).
• No one has seen God, except for the Son of God, who is also God (John 1:18). If John’s statement that Jesus is God and God’s Son is confusing, consider that Jesus later says this about himself too (John 17:21–22).

Though some people who come to hear John the Baptist assume he’s their long-expected Savior, he insists he is not. Nor does he claim to be Elijah or even the Prophet (John 1:19–21), even though he embodies the prophesied return of Elijah and is a prophet too. 

Instead, John quotes Isaiah’s prophecy about someone who will call out from a desolate place. This person will tell people to get ready to receive their Lord—that is, their Savior, Jesus the Messiah. John baptizes those who believe what he says.

The next day Jesus arrives. As soon as John the Baptist sees Jesus, he proclaims, “Look! Here comes God’s Lamb who will take away our sins. Though I baptized you with water, he will baptize you with Holy Spirit fire. I confirm Jesus is the chosen one sent by God.”

Questions:

1. What do you think about the line that “salvation isn’t a given. It’s a choice?”
2. How can we understand that Jesus is God and also God’s Son?
3. How does John’s baptism differ from Jesus’s?
4. What do you think about Jesus being the Lamb of God? 
5. How do you understand being baptized with Holy Spirit fire?

Discover more about Jesus coming to John the Baptist in Matthew 3:13–17, Mark 1:9–13, and Luke 3:21–22. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Today’s passage: John 1:1–14

Focus verse: In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:4)

The book of John opens with a most moving passage. It’s lyrical, it’s evocative, and it is exquisite.

In this poetic prelude of John’s Gospel, he calls Jesus the Word, and asserts that the Word is God. This means Jesus is God. While some people may think it’s an overreach to claim that the Word refers to Jesus, keep reading.

To remove all doubt, John later states that this Word becomes human to join us on earth. Jesus becomes a man to live among us. Jesus, as the Word, shows us his glory as the one and only Son from Father God. Jesus overflows with grace and abounds in truth.

He is the Word sent to us from God.

We often assume the Word of God means Scripture. But remember that the New Testament of the Bible didn’t exist until several centuries after Jesus’s death and resurrection. Because of this, we should consider God’s Word as his spoken Word, more so than his written Word.

What if Jesus is more than the metaphorical Word? What if he serves as the actual Word of God? Yes, Jesus is the Word.

John also writes that in Jesus is life. Jesus is present when time begins and takes part in forming our existence. In fact, without Jesus, creation cannot occur. Physical life flows through Jesus at creation. In the same way, eternal life emanates through Jesus now.

Jesus comes so we may have life and live with abundance (John 10:10). This theme of life recurs throughout the book of John, with his writing mentioning life in forty-one verses, more often than any other book in the Bible.

The life of Jesus, and the life through Jesus, gives us light. Just as the sun that Jesus created illuminates our physical world, the light that Jesus gives off now illuminates our spiritual world.

This light shines for us in the darkness that surrounds us, exposing the evil in our world. Best of all, this light of Jesus overcomes the darkness, pushing it away. This means good is stronger than evil. God is more powerful than Satan. Hold on to this truth. Don’t forget it.

Jesus is the light. As the light—our true light—he comes into our world to save us. Though many do not recognize him or accept him, everyone who receives him and believes in his name become children of God, born of God.

Because of Jesus we’ve been born into the physical realm, and through our belief in him we are born a second time into the spiritual realm.

Take time to contemplate John’s profound opening to his biography, revealing Jesus as the Word, the life, and the light.

Questions:

1. What does it mean that Jesus is the Word?
2. How does the Word of God impact your life each day?
3. What does it mean that Jesus is life?
4. What does it mean that Jesus is the light?
5. How does knowing that Jesus took part in creation inform our understanding of him?

Discover what else John says about the Word of God in 1 John 2:14, Revelation 1:1–2, Revelation 19:12–13, and Revelation 20:4. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.