Podcast Week 8 | John 15-16
SHOW NOTES
DAY 1: John 20:1-18
Stories: Jesus rises from the dead!
Curiosities:
1) Because of the laws regarding Sabbaths and especially the Passover, no one was allowed to touch Jesus until Sunday morning. He wasn’t dead for 3 whole days. Rising on the third day carried a different meaning for the Jews. He died before sundown on Friday, lay dead all Saturday and rose early Sunday morning. He rose on the third day, but not necessarily after 72 hours as we would think of three days today.
2) Here again John seems to introduce a little humor and friendly ribbing into his book. He and Peter ran to the tomb from where they were, but John outran him. I can see the smile on John’s face as he retold this in Peter’s presence for years to come and I can see Peter rolling his eyes and saying “but…” It looks like John stopped short of entering the tomb because it would have ceremonially defiled him, but Peter bounded straight in, unconcerned with that. That might have been Peter’s comeback to John.
3) Mary thought someone had taken Jesus’ body. Keep in mind that there were a lot of people who hated Jesus, so this wasn’t beyond reason. She didn’t care about conspiracy theories at this point, she just wanted to find Jesus’ body. When she met the “gardener,” she just wanted to know where He was. Something about hearing her name from His mouth opened her eyes to see Him. What a tender moment.
4) Why couldn’t Mary touch Jesus? What was it about Him at this moment and about “ascending to His Father” that he didn’t want her to touch Him?
DAY 2: John 20:19-31
Stories: Jesus appears to His disciples
Curiosities:
1) How did Jesus get through the walls? Why did He show them His hands and sides? Why did Jesus’ resurrected body bear the scars of His suffering? Will our resurrected body bear our scars?
2) Did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit now, or was He still to come at Pentecost?
3) Thomas refused to believe Jesus was risen unless he saw the scars for himself – he wouldn’t take anyone’s word for it. Jesus, in His new M.O. Appeared in the room even though the doors were locked. When Jesus told him that those who hadn’t seen would be blessed, He was speaking of us. How blessed is it to take these men at their words and receive the blessing Jesus promised here!
4) John tells us at the end of this chapter that the signs and actions of Jesus that he recorded are by no means exhaustive, but hand-chosen to make the point he set out to make in this book – that the Messiah was in fact divine. Jesus was God and the Messiah at the same time.
DAY 3: John 21:1-14
Stories: Fishers of men
Curiosities:
1) Jesus performed a nearly identical miracle to one that Peter had encountered early on in his time with Jesus. A mysterious man caused him to bring in a supernatural catch of fish. In Peter’s world, this could only be God.
2) Why did Jesus appear so few times to His disciples? He was on earth for several weeks after His resurrection, so why didn’t He spend all His time with His disciples like before?
3) Jesus loved fishing metaphors. John doesn’t record this, but we know that Jesus called these men to leave their nets and “fish for men.” He calls us to the same thing today.
DAY 4: John 21:15-25
Stories: Peter forgiven & John’s conclusion
Curiosities:
1) Why did Jesus ask Peter three times if he loved Him? I love Peter’s third response. He knew that he couldn’t hide anything from Jesus.
2) John wouldn’t die? Not exactly – but he was very difficult to kill. Peter, on the other hand would one day die on a cross.
Paradoxes:
DAY 5: Closing Thoughts
Main things to look for in study of John
1) Messiah and God as one – this is counterintuitive to the understanding at the time that the Messiah was a man and not God. John makes the case that He is both at the same time. How wonderful that our savior is God Himself!
2) Paradoxes – John wants us to wrestle with our understanding of Jesus and God and eliminate all the wrong conclusions we have come to. He wants us to know God in truth, not a god of our own choosing.