THE ONE

John 12:12-19

Look how the whole world has gone after him!

Here Jesus’ popularity reaches its apex. The people who were present when He raised Lazarus from the dead are spreading the news of this wonderful miracle.
He’s the One!

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, there is a spontaneous eruption of enthusiasm, awe and affection for Him. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!"

Meanwhile, not everyone is happy. The religious leaders see the threat. As Jesus popularity with the people increases, they know their power and influence is waning.

And they’re correct, because this is exactly what happens when people start listening to Jesus. The voice of the Teacher becomes the sole source of all authority. Every other competing voice fades into the background.

Why pay attention to any other when Jesus has all the answers about how to live a life that pleases God?

This is what every student of the Teacher understands. He has the best information on every subject! He is a complete and final authority for living the good life.

He alone knows the way to God.

Listening to Jesus, excitedly following Him, is what being a student of Jesus is all about.

WHAT TO GIVE?

John 12:1-11

…a dinner was given in Jesus' honor.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It’s only natural his family would want to do something to express their thanks. But what to give?

What do you give to someone who is so powerful He doesn’t need anything? Someone who even has the power over death? Someone who already has everything He needs?

What do you give to such a person when He brings your dear brother back to life?

Lazarus’ family chose to give the simple gift of a celebratory dinner in Jesus’ honor.

They invited guests. Martha served the meal and Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair.

They gave the very best any person can give or receive – the gift of hospitality!

So what should we give to repay Jesus for giving His life for us? Dying for our sins? For His promise of a future resurrection?

Students of Jesus give the gift of hospitality also. Grateful students present the very same devoted attention to Jesus that was exemplified by Martha’s serving and Mary’s anointing.

This is the every day life of a student of Jesus. They open their hearts and lives to Jesus. Welcome Him and honor Him by paying special attention to Him.

A living celebration in His honor!

This is the greatest gift a human being can give to another. And of this gift we can almost hear Jesus say – Oh, this is just what I always wanted!

RIGHT AND WRONG!

John 11:45-57

You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.

Jesus is gaining students and the religious leaders don’t like it. They voice their concern over His growing popularity - If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him.

They are wrong in thinking this would be a bad outcome. They are actually opposing God’s Will. For God sent Jesus into the world for that everyone might believe in Him and be saved.

And they make another misjudgment. They think if Jesus replaces their authority with His own, the nation of Israel will perish. They fail to see God is the one who protects the nation and not them.

Based on these two false premises, they make a calculated decision. They plot to take Jesus’ life

In this terrible moment, Caiaphas, the high priest, gives a fateful prophecy.

You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.

In this Caiaphas is both right and wrong!

He is wrong in thinking that killing Jesus will save the nation. It won’t. In only a few years after Jesus’ death, Rome will burn Jerusalem to the ground.

But unknowingly, and for reasons he doesn’t understand, his prophecy is absolutely right. For Jesus has been sent by God to do exactly what he said – One man, Jesus, will die for the sins of all the people!

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

HE DIED TWICE!

John 11:38-44

It isn’t easy to die. At least a person only has to face it once, right?

Not Lazarus!

Jesus will call him back from the tomb. Incredibly, he will live again.

But this also means he will die again.

Lazarus died twice!

When we first read of Jesus bringing Lazarus back, the natural thought is, “What a blessing!”

Then we realize what seems like a second chance at life also means he was removed from a state where all his troubles were over. Brought back to a world where suffering is again possible for him.

Apparently Jesus knows he won’t mind.

Maybe Jesus knew his sisters Martha and Mary would need him in the future. In which case, Lazarus would gladly return.

We don’t know. What we do know is Jesus demonstrated His power over death by calling him from the grave to live again. What better assignment could any student of Jesus desire?

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

In this story we see the result for every student who follows Jesus. Who trusts Him!

There is a resurrection when life is over! The glory of God!

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

TEARS OF JESUS

John 11:28-37

Jesus wept.

Jesus is surrounded with grieving people. All friends of Lazarus who has died! The deceased is His friend too!

The Teacher is not aloof from the mourners. He does not stand above them. Instead, He weeps with them - He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

He did not hide His emotions. Everyone saw His grief.

Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

Here is a poignant picture of the compassion of Jesus.

His is a love expressed in real emotion. A love moved when sorrow comes to those who are the object of it.

Our Teacher is not a dispassionate observer of the lives of His students. He cares. Deeply!

Jesus wept.

How comforting to know His heart is moved by our sorrows. For every life has its share of them.

What a support this is to all who struggle to follow Him. For it isn’t easy to become like Jesus. What an encouragement to know of His genuine and heartfelt concern for us when we fail!

The tears of Jesus at the grave of Lazarus speak to us of a personal relationship the Teacher has with His students.

This is a Teacher students can trust with their hearts!

And as He raises Lazarus from the dead, we understand He is a Teacher we can trust with our lives!

THE DIFFERENCE

John 11:17-27

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

There is finality about death. Life is over!

Or is it?

Here the Teacher asks His students to believe what is beyond the possibility of human achievement. To trust He is able to offer continued life after death. He even claims to be the source of life.

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Lazarus is very dead, at least four days dead. Jesus plans to bring him out of the tomb. Give his life back to him.

But before He does this He asks the students standing there a question:

Do you believe this?

This is a question all who seek to follow Him must answer. And here He probes their faith in Him knowing full well He will prove His ability to keep the promise.

By the very nature of the case, this is what He must do with each of His students. For it is a question we must answer while we are alive, before we die, and have opportunity to personally experience the truth of His claim.

Martha, Lazarus’s grieving sister, answers for herself - "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

There are many teachers in the world. But only one Teacher who is able to give resurrection and life after death? This is The Difference!

NO MISTAKE

John 11:7-16

“But Teacher," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?"

Here Jesus’ students question His decision to return to Judea. Why would He go back to a place where only a few days ago His enemies attempted to kill Him?
Surely this is a mistake!

No Mistake!

Jesus answered, “A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."

The Teacher knows what He is doing. Unlike His enemies, Jesus is purposeful because He is walking in the light of His Father’s Will for His life.

His students don’t understand it yet, but Jesus is going back into the teeth of the opposition to fulfill His destiny.

Soon, Jesus will give Himself over to His enemies. That’s why He isn’t afraid of their stumbling efforts to destroy Him. In fact, at the right time their very hatred of Him will play into the plan of God.

And the Teacher has another purpose for returning to the Jerusalem area. He shares the news of the death of His friend Lazarus - Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.

Then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.”

Contrary to His student’s assessment, Jesus makes no mistake in returning. Nor are His actions – as they appear on the surface – either random or reactionary. He always clearly sees where the Father is leading Him because He is living in the light.

No mistake. It is the sure-footed walk possible for every one who comes to the Light. Those who walk in darkness stumble and fall.

NO MIRACLES?

John 10:40-11:6

Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true.

Isn’t it strange? John didn’t perform any miracles. This is the man who prepared the people to receive Jesus. He preached to thousands, baptized thousands!

Yet…no miracles! Not even one.

But Jesus does many wonderful things and the people understand John’s testimony about Him was absolutely true - And in that place many believed in Jesus.

John’s life was the work of a student of Jesus. The crowning achievement of John’s life was when those who knew him and listened to him came to believe in Jesus too. Without miracles, John’s life was a complete success.

And which is greater? To perform a supernatural feat, the effects of which are locked in a moment of time? Or to point people to Jesus who can change their lives for time and eternity?

After all there is something greater than a miracle and that is the purpose for which a miracle is given. Jesus performed miracles so people would believe in Him. John did what was in his power to further the same end.

Here is the result that leads to a triumph superseding all miracles.

For trusting and following Jesus leads to a changed life and a changed destiny!

This is what John had in mind for himself and for others when He devoted his life to testifying about what Jesus could do.

No miracles for John, but without them he did very well what every student of Jesus desires to do.

NO STONES, BUT…

John 10:31-39

We are not stoning you for any of these…but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.

Here Jesus asks His enemies why they want to kill Him. He points to His great miracles. After all, what was wrong with helping people?

But the good things Jesus did for people weren’t the problem. It was His claim to be God they couldn’t accept.

Jesus doesn’t recoil from the charge. He embraces it. Affirms it!

I am God's Son!

He will escape this assassination attempt. His time had not yet come. But eventually this will be the very indictment that leads to His death.

His enemies were wrong, but at some level we understand their inability to believe what must have seemed impossible. That God would come to earth as a man!

Jesus says He’s - the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world.

It is incredible when you think about it. It is inexplicable apart from one equally incredible thought. The extent of God’s love for humanity!

A love that would come on a daring rescue mission and seem to fail, dying in the attempt! But a love that provides a resurrection for the Rescuer and all who follow Him.

We believe Jesus did many miracles. And unlike His enemies that day, we have come to realize He’s God. We’re not picking up stones, but…

We still struggle to believe His promises that, as God, He is willing and able to use His power in our lives. Our inability to trust His promises to do so mirrors His enemy’s rejection of His claim to be God.

What is a faith that believes Jesus is the Son of God that does not also trust His power to do everything He promised to do for us in this life when we follow Him?

FOLLOWING JESUS

John 10:22-30

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Here the Teacher gives a practical daily discipline for His students.

What is necessary and natural for helpless sheep – following their shepherd’s voice – must become a more conscious choice for those who follow the Good Shepherd!

Any shepherd knows his sheep. It is the sheep who must come to know and trust his voice. Learn to discern the one voice that can lead them out of harm’s way into green pastures and contentment.

And our Shepherd says He already knows us. It is we who must come to know and trust Him if we are to avoid the pitfalls of life and live the abundant life into which He seeks to lead us.

But listening to the voice of the Teacher is not a one-time choice but a practiced daily discipline. This is because of all the competing voices that call out to distract us. Voices from the outside and even our own often misguided thoughts and impulses!

Serious discipline is necessary if we are to be trained to recognize His voice in the daily noise of our lives.

Part of this training is reading His words. Communication – prayer – is also a vital regimen.

And one thing more – practicing the presence of the Shepherd!

The Teacher has promised to be with us always. Recognition of His constant presence is the key difference between one who merely believes in Jesus and one who is being led by Him moment by moment.

Anyone who has attempted to have such a personal relationship with this Teacher knows the ability to pay attention to Him and listen to His constant leading requires dedicated focus and training.

But growing in this discipline is the only way one actually follows Jesus every day.

KNOWING JESUS

John 10:14-21

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…

Is it possible to get to know Jesus? After all, hasn’t it been nearly 2,000 years since Jesus lived on the earth?

How is it possible now – as He says – to know Him?

The key is to listen to Him.

Here using the comparison of a shepherd to his flock, Jesus speaks of others who in the future will join Him.

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

What brings someone into this Shepherd’s flock is the desire and ability to listen to His voice.Deciding to become a student of this Teacher is how one gets to know Him. Enters into a personal daily relationship with Him!

Then by degrees Jesus reveals Himself more fully. Shepherding our lives in the positive direction of becoming more like Him in heart and life.

In fact, a student’s relationship with this Teacher can become such an intimate friendship that Jesus compares it to His own knowledge of His Heavenly Father.

I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…

Knowing Jesus! This is what being a student of Jesus is all about.

ABUNDANT LIFE

John 10:7-13

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Here Jesus claims the life He offers is quite different from a life apart from Him.
So, what is life without Him?

On the surface, a life without Jesus appears to work fairly well for some people. But living apart from Jesus always leads to the cultivation of a personality based on our own human nature.

At the worst we become terribly enslaved to the destructive habits of sin and are destroyed. At the best, we manage by human effort to keep the worst of our nature suppressed and live a socially acceptable life.

In either case, we must come to the end of our days only to die without hope.

So what does the Teacher mean when he talks about the full life – the abundant life?

Jesus is talking about a real and lasting life – the very life of God shared with those who follow Him.

It is a life that is eternal, one that lasts forever. If this is so, then the life Jesus offers must be of benefit in both the present and the future.

In the present, students follow Jesus and with the aid of the Holy Spirit actually overcome the negative tendencies of human nature by becoming more like the Teacher. Developing a character more like Jesus is the real and present difference between the full life with Jesus and a life without Him.

And when the time comes to die there is the future resurrection to life. Living forever in the world He is preparing for those who follow Him!

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

SHEPHERD'S VOICE

John 9:40-10:6

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

The Shepherd and His flock. What an attractive description of the relationship between the Teacher and His students.

The Teacher is on a first name basis with His students. He has a personal relationship with each one.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

In Jesus’ time it was common practice for the shepherds to bring their sheep in from the fields at the end of the day. The sheep were placed in a guarded enclosure at night.

There all the flocks were mixed up together. But in the morning the shepherds would come and call their sheep. Knowing the voice of their own shepherd, each flock was easily re-grouped for the day.

Today, Jesus is assembling His flock.

His voice, His teaching is calling out. And all who belong to Him hear His voice and follow Him. And He leads them.

What an appropriate description of the Teacher-student relationship. Students of Jesus have learned to listen to His voice every day. They seek to go where He leads.

Listening, paying attention to the voice of Jesus is what identifies and separates His flock from those who are listening to someone or something else.

Do we begin each new day listening for the Shepherd’s voice?

THE DRAMA

John 9:35-39

Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

What does Jesus do when He hears how the religious leaders have shunned the man whom He had healed?

Jesus goes looking for Him. He healed his blind eyes and now He will bring healing and life to his broken spirit.

Finding him, Jesus asks - Do you believe in the Son of Man?

The man wants to know more and Jesus reveals Himself to him.

Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

This is such a beautiful story. For it contains elements of every person’s need and Jesus’ compassion and power to respond.

Jesus opens the man’s eyes. And for the first time in his life he is able to see the beauty of the earth. To look at the face of his parents!

Here is a look into the very heart of Jesus as He seeks out one lonely person and establishes a relationship with him. This is a drama re-enacted in the life of every student of Jesus.

He comes to us with power to open our eyes. And we see for the first time the beauty of God’s eternal kingdom. We look into the face of Jesus and see our Heavenly Father.

We follow Jesus – believe in Him and worship Him - because He loves us and cares about what is going on in our lives too.

We come to understand His power. To open our eyes, change us, and lead us to become more like Him.

We each have our part to play in Heaven’s Drama. Jesus, the Teacher and we, His daily students.

OPEN EYES

John 9:13-34

Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

The religious leaders were skeptical when word reached them. Surely there must be some mistake here. No one can open the eyes of a man blind from birth.

So they called the formerly blind man to their counsel and asked him if it was true. They didn’t believe the man even when he affirmed Jesus had healed him. So they called his parents.

One can only imagine the parent’s fear at being summoned in such a way. They were afraid to answer, except to confirm this was their son and he was indeed born blind and to suggest they talk to him about it.

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

How sad when religion is held together by control and fear tactics. How different the respect and freedom in the true teaching from God!

Calling the man in for a second time, the leaders attempt to coerce him to agree with them that Jesus is a sinner and to deny Jesus’ part in the miracle.

The man’s reply - Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!

Their reaction? An attempt to ridicule that, as it turns out, is the highest compliment that can be given - You are this fellow's disciple! And they threw him out!

Students of the Teacher identify with this man, for their eyes too have been opened to His power to transform their lives.

Our challenge before a disbelieving world? To also be guilty of the charge – You are this fellow’s disciple!

LIFE’S WORK

John 9:1-12

As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

The Teacher gives the priority of a student’s life. To display by actions the work God is doing in the world.

Doesn’t this perfectly describe the life of our Teacher? His days were filled with serving others. His life’s work: Ministering to the sick, reaching out to the poor and teaching God’s Word.

This is the life work for every student of this Teacher. This is what it means to follow Him.

The Teacher said that He must work while it is day for the night is coming when no one can work.

Day represents our lifetime and night signals the end of life when it is too late to do God’s Will.

Here Jesus heals a man blind from birth. As He provides the tremendous gift of sight to this man, he explains the reason - so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

This is the life work of every student of Jesus. To display in their own changed life and by service to others the work of God in this world.

Some mistakenly think that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day and has been distant and aloof from the earth since that time.

But Jesus explains God is still working. Working through Him and working in and through His students.

Students of Jesus have various occupations in life to earn a living, but they all have one constant employment every day. To follow the Teacher’s example by doing the work of God in their lives!

PUZZLING PROMISE

John 8:48-59

I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

Here the Teacher makes an astounding promise. It certainly confused his enemies - Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?

They accused Jesus of being demon-possessed to make such an obviously outrageous claim. But Jesus didn’t say faith in Him would prevent the natural process of physical death.

The key to understanding what Jesus meant is in the condition He gives – if anyone keeps my word…

Jesus is claiming the power to give everlasting life when this life is over. For those who follow Jesus, death is not the end. Even physical death is but a door that opens to a never ending new life.

Jesus is actually claiming to be the source of all life. To have the power to give eternal life! To make such a promise is to make the claim to be God Himself!

“I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!”

I AM is the name God gave to Moses at the burning bush when He sent him to Pharaoh to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. When Moses inquired of God, whom shall I say sent me? God said…tell the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.

When Jesus says, I AM, He is claiming to be God. I AM – the One who has life in Himself.

Jesus’ power over death is not impossible if He is God. For He would then be the One who created life in the first place! He could as easily then re-create life out of death.

Life in place of death! A promise well worth keeping the words of this Teacher! Because becoming a student of Jesus is the difference between life and death.

BELONGING

John 8:41b-47

He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

Here Jesus makes it clear to His enemies to whom they belong - You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire.

According to the Teacher, everyone belongs to one side or the other in the cosmic battle between good and evil.

On the one side is God who desires our good. Opposed is the devil who desires our destruction.

Jesus says the devil was a murderer from the beginning. This looks back to the first murder on earth when Cain killed his brother Abel. Jesus says the devil was influencing that evil deed.

The devil enlists humanity to fulfill his evil desires through lies - When he lies; he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

The devil has to lie, for if people knew the truth in advance about all the pain and heartache living a life his way brings they would never choose the wrong path. People who live lives opposed to the truth of God are deceived because they simply don't know the truth.

Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

The stark reality is that everyone chooses between the truth and the lie and so belongs to God or to the evil one.

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you?”

Do we understand Jesus' language? Becoming a student of Jesus is a serious decision - a choice between life and death.

To whom do we belong?

SET FREE!

John 8:31-41a

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Ignorance enslaves! Truth liberates!

Universities charge students thousands of dollars for a good education. Yet, Jesus offers truth from heaven free of charge - I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence.

Every autumn, thousands of students vie for acceptance in the best colleges and universities. It is a wonder so few seek to enroll in the University of Jesus.

It was the same when Jesus walked the earth. And the reason is the same. People are ignorant of their need to be set free.

Here’s what the Jews said to Jesus – We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?

Jesus leads His students to freedom. Freedom from the final penalty of sin through His death on the cross! Freedom from death by His resurrection!

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Being a disciple – a student of Jesus - means living in the light of His teaching and experiencing increasing freedom in life. A freedom to become the person our better nature desires to be. Increasing freedom from the restraints that vie to keep us from pleasing God!

To be a student of the Teacher is to be Set Free!

PLEASING GOD

John 8:21-30

The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.

Jesus didn’t live a very successful life if judged by the standards most people use to define success.

Jesus didn’t have much money. He didn’t have a wife and family. No house. Not many honors during His lifetime.

Yet, today this Teacher stands head and shoulders above every other person who ever lived.

And here, He gives His students the secret to His most successful life.

He always did what pleased the Father!

This is the kind of life the Teacher lived and the kind of life He wants to help His students enjoy.

This is a successful life because in pleasing God we are satisfying the One who created us. We are fulfilling the purposes He had in mind from the beginning when He created us.

The most successful life – by the world’s standards – is really a complete failure if it does not please God. Does not meet with the approval of heaven!

Does it really matter? How much money one accumulates, how many accolades, how many accomplishments – if at the end of life - our Creator is not pleased with how we lived.

But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”

This is why Jesus is the Teacher. He alone lifts our lives above and beyond earthly concerns to the heavenly. Students of this Teacher learn how to live a life that is pleasing to God.

LIGHT OF LIFE

John 8:12-20

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

From every perspective, our Teacher is the light of the world.

The fact that Jesus made the sun, moon and stars should remove all doubt about His power to give light to guide life's journey.

Here He promises to illuminate everyone who follows Him with the light for living life.

This is the work of the Teacher. He shines the light of God’s Word into our hearts and powerfully changes the direction of our lives.

Everything changes. Confusion and darkness flee. The path forward becomes clearer.

The work of a student is simply to walk with the Teacher and earnestly seek to walk in the light of His Life and Teaching.

To keep focus on Him and desire to live as He lived, think as He thought, and keep the priorities He displayed every day.

Doing this naturally leads every student to closer relationship with the Heavenly Father. This is what Jesus’ life was all about.

“You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

The Light of the World leads us to more than an intellectual belief that God exists. The Teacher says if we get to know Him we actually get to know the Father also.

And getting to know God – the Source of all life - is real life. Eternal life!

CASTING STONES

John 8:1-11

If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

Here the teachers of the law and the Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery.

They want to put Jesus on the spot. What will He advise to do with this woman when the Law of Moses called for death by stoning? Probably they know He will react with grace instead of demanding the letter of the law.

After all, they know Jesus has been showing grace instead. At the very least they hope to demonstrate Jesus’ disregard for the Law and so have reason to accuse Him.

At first Jesus ignores their question, but they keep pressing for His answer. Finally, He utters this famous and gracious judgment - If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

Perfect! He doesn’t show disrespect for the law. He doesn’t say what the woman has done is not deserving of severe punishment. Instead, He invites anyone who is not also worthy of similar punishment to go ahead and be the first to cast a stone at her.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there.

Here in one scene is the mission of Jesus revealed.

He has not come to earth to condemn people for their universal failure to keep the God's Law, but to extend grace and forgiveness. He will go the cross to show the extent of His commitment to be merciful.

He will personally take the punishment of every sin of every person who ever lived. Including the sin of this fallen woman!

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

LIVING WATER

John 7:37-53

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

This is highly symbolic language. The Teacher is making a radical claim. Just as water is essential for physical life, Jesus is claiming to be the source of spiritual life.

He makes this announcement on the last day of the annual Jewish Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. A day when water was carried by the priests from the Pool of Siloam and poured out on the altar as a sacrifice to God.

This symbolic act commemorated God’s provision of water for the Israelites in their sojourn with Moses in the desert after their deliverance from Egyptian slavery.

Perhaps Jesus chose the very moment the priests poured out the water on the altar to emphasize His claim to also be the difference between living or dying - Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.

What is He talking about? Jesus says the life-giving water He is talking about is the Holy Spirit - By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

Jesus says the Living Water - the Holy Spirit - will flow within those who believe in Him!

Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus lives in those who believe in Him. And through the work of the Spirit in our hearts, the Teacher changes us to become more like Him.

Only by God’s supernatural presence in our lives can students of the Teacher have the kind of life the Teacher talks about.

This is the shared life with the Spirit of God!

ONLY A NAZARENE?

John 7:25-36

But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.

The people made a critical error in judgment. They thought Jesus was only a Nazarene, a person from the city of Nazareth.

True, Jesus’ hometown was Nazareth. But before He lived there, heaven was His hometown. This the people did not know. Did not take time to find out!

Today, many make the same kind of mistake about Jesus. They think He is just another teacher. Merely another wise philosopher or moral teacher in a long line of wise men of history!

They do not realize He comes from heaven.

Jesus attempts to expand their thinking about His origins – I am not here on my own…because I am from Him and He sent me.

Our Teacher is more than He appears. Students of the Teacher have come to understand this. He is not just a Nazarene!

He is the Teacher sent from God.

Jesus said, I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me.

Understanding who Jesus really is, where He comes from, changes everything. Suddenly this Teacher becomes greater than anyone who ever lived.

The realization grows that being a student of Jesus is the greatest opportunity a person will ever have in life.

Listening to the voice of Jesus! Hearing the voice of God! This is wisdom for living from the One who created everything.

THE DECISION

John 7:14-24

The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?

Here everyone is surprised by Jesus’ teaching. They wonder how He came by His extraordinary understanding. They are especially astounded because they think He never studied.

They’re wrong. This Teacher is also a student. He’s been paying attention to His Father all His life.

At twelve years of age in the temple, He amazed the teachers of the law. Even then, He told them He must be about His Father’s business.

Now the Teacher reveals the source of His wisdom - My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.

He then shares the secret to acquiring such life-changing knowledge.

If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

Students of the Teacher take note. From the beginning Jesus made a choice. He made a decision to seek the Father’s Will.

This is His secret that opened for Him a life of wisdom and power. And the decision to seek God is still the secret to every successful student’s life.

Certainly Jesus studied and knew the Scriptures, but the secret to His amazing knowledge goes far deeper. His deep understanding did not come primarily from studying. Other rabbis knew the Scriptures very well.

No, He was given Wisdom from above because of the decision He made – a commitment to do God’s Revealed Will.

When you think about it, why would God reveal amazing, insightful truths to one who isn’t first seriously committed to follow them? Such knowledge would be wasted on one who doesn’t intend to do what God desires in the first place. That’s why the Teacher says the road to real wisdom begins with THE DECISION.

RELUCTANT STAR

John 7:1-13

No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.

Here Jesus’ own brothers – who don’t believe in Him yet – attempt to goad Him into going public. You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.

For all His notoriety, Jesus wasn’t a publicity seeker. He preferred family, a small circle of close friends, remote areas and quiet evenings alone in prayer. Many students of Jesus identify with this.

Yet, His compassion drives Him to use His energy and power to help the poor and the sick. Naturally, His fame grows.

His brothers chide their humble Brother without mercy - Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.

Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.”

Jesus has a mission and in His time He will shine brighter than the stars. The cross is waiting. There will be an empty tomb and exaltation to the throne of heaven.

But not yet…

In this moment, we glimpse the path Jesus would have preferred to walk if not for His love of people. In fact, would He have ever left heaven in the first place if not for His love for people?

Our Teacher is a reluctant star, and He will choose the path less travelled. The difficult and treacherous way - The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.

And He shines all the more brighter in our eyes because of this.

SAY GOODBYE!

John 6:60-71

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

Strange isn’t it? The people gladly accept Jesus’ incredible miracle of feeding 5,000 with only five loaves, but they can’t believe Jesus’ claim to change their lives.

When He talks about being the bread of heaven, they walk away.

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

When Jesus seeks to turn the focus from the physical to the spiritual; most Say Goodbye.

Is this the way it is?

Do followers of Jesus come to Him only for what He can do to improve their physical lives – put more bread on the table, bring greater success in business, maintain physical health?

The Teacher’s reaction is very interesting. He doesn’t go running after them. He simply keeps speaking the truth.

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.

Students of the Teacher come to experience greater physical blessings as they follow Him, but their greater concern is the eternal life He is providing. They understand if they walk away from Him, they say goodbye to their futures.

They have come to understand from His life story that eventually the physical existence gives way to death and a new resurrected life.

To whom shall we go? You alone have the Words of eternal life!

BREAD OF HEAVEN

John 6:52-59

This is the bread that came down from heaven.

Jesus fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes. Excitedly they pursue Him – seek Him out - but Jesus knows they are only after another miraculous meal.

By focusing on the loaves instead of the compassion and power of the One who fed them, the crowd completely misses the point of the miracle of bread.

If they would only believe in the Person, He could do so much more for them than provide lunch.

Jesus attempts to turn their attention to the greater possibilities He offers - Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

In this highly symbolic language, Jesus asks them to pursue Him with the same vigor that caused them to run around the lake seeking another free meal.

Pursue the Teacher. Take Him into our very being. Allow Him to get down inside of us, change our lives!

There is such harmony in this story of the loaves. As we seek bread to nourish our physical bodies for a day, we pursue Jesus to eat of the Bread of Heaven and change our lives forever.

This is the work of the student of Jesus. Seeking the daily bread of His presence and allowing His teaching and His power to come inside of us!

Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven.

WHO'S TEACHING?

John 6:41-51

It is written in the Prophets: “They will all be taught by God.”

Is it really possible to have God as a Teacher?

Jesus says it is.

In fact, when we listen to Jesus, we are actually being taught by God Himself.

Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
This is the great privilege of becoming a student of Jesus. Our Teacher is God!

Everyone in the world is listening to some voice. Friends, scholars, scientists, religion, gurus, or even their own thoughts… So the question is – Who’s Teaching?

Only a student of Jesus is listening to the voice of God and so has God as a Teacher.

Then why isn’t everyone in the world excited to become a student of Jesus?

Perhaps for some it seems too good to be true. They just can’t believe the Creator would have a personal interest in them. Have difficulty receiving and internalizing God's love.

Apparently some in Jesus’ day couldn’t believe in Him - They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

Those who become students of Jesus have come to understand and know that what He says is what God is saying.

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

Who’s Teaching?

FIRST A STUDENT

John 6:34-40

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

It’s true. The Teacher invites us to become His students. In doing so, He is not asking us to do anything He has not already done.

For the Teacher Himself was first a student! Even as He taught great truths to the world, He was a Student-Teacher.

The One who asks us to listen to Him was Himself listening to His Father. He was always seeking to follow the Will of His Father.

For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

There was significant meaning and purpose for Jesus in being a student of His Father. By this life process, He allowed Himself to be led to gradually fulfill His Father’s plan for His life. A life that created eternal possibilities for all of mankind as well!

What a perfect student our Teacher was! And what an example of what it means to be a good student!

When we pay attention to Jesus, He leads us to fulfill our destiny. We become more like our Teacher and enter by degrees into the eternal life the Father purposed for us.

Jesus fulfilled His God-given destiny on earth by being a student of His Father. Only in this same way do students of Jesus journey to their ultimate destination and fulfill their destiny.

No, it wasn’t one way for Jesus and another way for us. The life of a student was His before it ever became ours.

The path is the same and the destination is the same. A changed and purposeful life and glory with God in heaven!