Week 4 | John 7-8
Week 4 Day 1: John 7:1-24
Week 4 Day 2: John 7:25-52
Week 4 Day 3: John 7:53-8:11
Week 4 Day 4: John 8:12-30
Week 4 Day 5: John 8:31-59
SHOW NOTES
DAY 1: John 7:1-24
Stories: Festival of Tabernacles
Curiosities:
1) “After this” – is John implying a large passage of time? What does he mean by “after this?” It looks like about 6 months have passed, but why not just say this?
2) Jesus’ Brothers – who is this referring to?
3) What does the statement “my time is not yet here” mean? What is Jesus actually referring to?
4) Judge correctly instead of by mere appearances – a theme repeated throughout John
Paradoxes: My teaching is not my own – Isn’t He God in the flesh? How does the teaching come from God but not Himself as well? The Trinity is a concept that is difficult to grasp.
DAY 2: John 7:25-52
Stories: Festival Continued
Curiosities:
1) When Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from – a statement they will directly contradict almost immediately
2) Jesus tells them that He is from God, but that they do not know Him, for which they tried to arrest Him.
3) Messiah / Prophet debate – Deuteronomy 18:14-22
Paradoxes: They said the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, but assume Jesus is from Galilee. Why doesn’t Jesus ever correct them? Why is Jesus silent on the matter of the place of His birth? John points this out several times and never see Jesus address this.
DAY 3: John 7:53-8:11
Stories: Woman Caught in Adultery
Curiosities:
1) This passage does not exist in the earliest manuscripts available to us of the book of John. This doesn’t mean the story is not true or didn’t happen. It could have been added later by whomever edited the book of John (possibly done by the elders of Ephesus) by the will of John himself, or because it was a story John had spoken so often. The story is not contradictory in any way to Jesus’ teaching or doctrine on anything and provides an interesting insight into the lives of the Pharisees, something John routinely points out.
2) Why didn’t Jesus condemn the woman? Wasn’t it in the law? Didn’t Jesus say that He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it? What did this mean?
3) What did Jesus write in the sand and why did He do it?
Paradoxes:
1) Why did the Pharisees bring only the woman, instead of both the man and woman? According to the law, they both were supposed to die.
The Mosaic law had a very interesting command for men who were jealous that their wives had been unfaithful. Jesus writing in the sand here was indicative of that command, found in Numbers 5:11-31.
DAY 4: John 8:12-30
Stories: Light of the World
Curiosities:
1) Here again we return to discussions about Jesus’ testimony. What was wrong with Jesus being His own witness?
2) Why could Jesus testify on His own behalf and still be valid?
3) Why does Jesus say He has much to say in judgment of them, yet He refrains?
DAY 5: John 8:31-59
Stories: Before Abraham Was, I Am
Curiosities:
1) Jesus’ words to them, that they are the children of their father the devil, seems extremely harsh.
2) Why would they accuse Jesus of being demon-possessed? Why a Samaritan?
3) “I Am” is the very distinct name for God that all these Pharisees understood very well. They knew by Jesus saying this He was claiming to be God and it enraged them enough to immediately pick up stones to kill Him, proving what He had just accused them of. “I Am” is the name of God that means He always was, is and always will be.
Paradoxes: Why do the Pharisees say first they are Abraham’s children and then almost immediately say their only father is God Himself?