by Eric Spivey | Mar 26, 2019 | Discussion Guides, Seen: The Gospel of John
Passage Intro The Gospel of John documents seven signs, or miracles, that Jesus did during his ministry that were meant to help people see that he was the Messiah (John also mentions that Jesus did a number of other signs he didn’t document; 20:31). We’ve looked at...
by Eric Spivey | Mar 20, 2019 | Discussion Guides, Seen: The Gospel of John
Passage Intro Every time Jesus healed someone he was communicating some deeper truth about himself; Jesus’ miracles were always a sign pointing to something greater. At bare minimum it was that God was at work through him, so people should listen to his words, but...
by Eric Spivey | Mar 13, 2019 | Discussion Guides, Seen: The Gospel of John
Passage Intro Many of your Bibles will put a heading over this passage saying something like “The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11.” At first glance this may seem concerning, either for you or for folks in your group. You’ll see my thoughts about the...
by Eric Spivey | Mar 6, 2019 | Discussion Guides, Seen: The Gospel of John
Passage Intro In some ways this passage is about the disabled man, and in some ways it isn’t. Certainly Jesus had compassion on this man, whose four decades of disability had surely beaten him down. For some reason Jesus singled him out from the crowds of disabled...
by Eric Spivey | Feb 25, 2019 | Discussion Guides, Seen: The Gospel of John
Passage Intro There are two linguistic notes that’ll help us get started with this passage. First off, the “official” introduced in v.46 isn’t described in much detail, but the Greek title basilikós, here translated as “official” is rendered in other...
by Eric Spivey | Feb 14, 2019 | Discussion Guides, Seen: The Gospel of John
Passage Intro You’ve probably already heard about the deep-seated racial tension that existed between Samaritans and Jews during the New Testament era. Grasping Jewish disdain for Samaritans in the first century is crucial to understanding Jesus’...