The Gospel of John

God
When you look at your watch, you know that an intelligent person designed it. It didn't just come into existence by itself. What about your wrist - isn't it more complicated than your watch? Didn't an intelligent person design your wrist too? We call the One who designed these things God, our Creator, the One who spoke the word and created the universe.

God has spoken to us in terms we can understand. The Bible is the record of his revelation - what he wants us to know about himself. God also became flesh and blood in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is 100 percent human and 100 percent God. Want to know what God is like? Study the life of Jesus Christ in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Jesus
Jesus was born approximately 5 B.C. in the town of Bethlehem, Israel, to a virgin named Mary, who was descended from King David. Raised in Nazareth by Mary and her husband, Joseph, Jesus lived the ordinary life of a carpenter's son. Those who knew him didn't yet know that he was also God's Son. At age 30, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and tempted by the devil into the desert. He then began healing, teaching and performing miracles throughout Judea. He called people to believe in him as the only way to God.

Christ
Christ, meaning "anointed one," is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. The Jews were waiting anxiously for the Messiah, the person guaranteed by God to be their leader and ruler. Every Jewish person living at the time of Jesus knew exactly what he or she was waiting for. "Is he the one?" was the question everyone was debating about Jesus. Some said yes; some said no; and some said Jesus was a liar.

Lazarus
Lazarus deeply loved Jesus Christ. One day Lazarus grew sick. While he was dying, his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus. Jesus knew that Lazarus' death would end in hundreds of people believing in him, so he didn't hurry to visit Lazarus but waited before traveling to Lazarus' house. When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead four days, and his body was wrapped and in a tomb. Jesus Christ called Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Lazarus walked out alive and well. Many people who witnessed this miracle believed that Jesus is the Son of God.

Martha
Martha wholeheartedly believed in Jesus Christ, who was a friend of her family. Jesus wept when her brother, Lazarus, died-then Jesus raised him from the dead. Martha's sister, Mary, loved to sit at Jesus' feet, soaking up his teaching. But Martha had a different personality. With a servant's heart and an eagerness to be hospitable, she had difficulty understanding that the most important thing was to listen to Jesus-not to cook for him. Martha easily became distracted by all she thought she needed to do, and thus she forgot to sit still and listen.

Mary
In the New Testament, the name Mary is just about as common as the names John and Amy are today. There are three notable Marys in the Bible, all of whom were dedicated to Jesus Christ and recognized that he was God. These three women also modeled lives of faith. the first Mary we encounter is Jesus' mother. A virgin, she was chosen by God to have a child-Jesus-through the Holy Spirit. When an angel told her of her pregnancy, she replied, "I am the Lord's servant...may it be to me as you have said" (Luke 2:38). Later, Mary became one of Jesus' followers and was part of the group who received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

Ask
To ask means to "call on" or to "request." God definitely wants us to come to him and make our requests. Psalm 62:8 tells us to "pour out [our] hearts to him." Read through the Psalms, and you'll see King David asking for things unashamedly.

Believe
Beliefs dictate who we are and how we live our lives. To believe in something is to have faith in it. Though it may seem feeble to accept something on faith rather than fact, we all believe many things on different levels without being experts through experience or knowledge. A Christian's life is a demonstration of grounded belief in action.

Merely "believing" in God does not make someone a Christian any more than believing in exercise keeps one in shape; a person must actually exercise to stay in shape. Demons "believe" in God (James 2:19). They know he exists, but they don't choose to follow him. Believing that Jesus Christ is your Savior means believing that Jesus' death pays the penalty for your sin. As a result of this belief you repent-you turn away from your sin-and obey Jesus Christ.

Death
Death has many faces in our culture, most of them ugly. There's a reason for that: Death was not part of God's plan. When God created us, he intended for us to live forever in perfect harmony with him. But when Adam and Eve sinned, death became a fact of life because the consequence of sin is death. Sin and death separate us from God because God's holiness cannot permit even the smallest imperfection to enter his presence. Those who don't know God are alienated from his love, guidance and spiritual protection all their lives. Physical death seals the sentence of permanent separation from him.

But Christians never have to experience death as the world does. Christ came to take upon himself the penalty for our sins and to remove the barrier between God and us by dying in our place. If we believe and trust our lives to him, we can experience a relationship with God here on earth. The Bible says that when Christ comes into our lives, our sinful self dies., and we immediately receive a new life. We receive a new identity as a child of God. And because Christ overcame death by coming back to life, we too can live with him after death. For followers of Christ, death is no longer a defeating end, but the victorious beginning of life in the physical presence of God.

Eye
If someone says, "I'm keeping an eye on you," it might imply suspicion or displeasure. But when God says his eye is on us, he's promising to watch over us with tenderness and care. He sees our every need and provides for us in ways we may not even be aware of. The Lord also gives spiritual insight, opening our eyes to see things we previously couldn't imagine or didn't know were there. On the other hand, Satan and sin blind us to spiritual truth.

Father
God the Father perfectly cares fur us, giving us all we need -- though we may not agree with him regarding what those needs are. He promises us that we don't have to worry about having enough food or clothes because he knows what we need before we ask. God has also given us every spiritual blessing - something of much more value to our lives than any kind of physical possession.

As children of God, we can expect to be disciplined if we err. And we shouldn't be discouraged when this happens because discipline shows that God loves us. Just as good parents teach their children not to do things that will hurt them, so our Father in heaven teaches us what is best for us.

Feet
Feet make us mobile; we'd have trouble walking without them. Feet also need a brain to guide them; they only go where they're told. If people have a good head on their shoulders, their feet won't likely lead them into trouble.

Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Israel's capital, is first mentioned in Abraham's time; it was then called Salem. From that time forward, it has played a large role in Biblical history. David conquered the city and established royal rule there. His son Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, making the city the nation's civic and religious capital. After a long siege, Babylon's King, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city in 588 B.C. In 536 B.C. the Jews started to rebuild the city. During Jesus Christ's time on earth, Jerusalem was under Roman control. Jesus was crucified there. The Holy Spirit later came to believers in Jerusalem.

Glory
Millionaires, Olympic athletes and superstars excel in shrewdness, strength, talent, beauty, discipline and sometimes just plain good luck. Thus they enjoy the kind of adoration many people crave. But the Bible reminds us that even the greatest human honor and splendor will fade away. Alexander the Great's conquests are legendary, but only crumbling artifacts remain of his empire. God alone is perfectly and eternally glorious by his very nature. Scripture calls him the "King of glory" (Psalm 24:7-10). He is, and always has been, magnificent, powerful and holy. Everything he does demonstrates his glory, and nothing can detract from it.

Home
The concept of a home - a place where we belong and from which we gain our identity - is prominent in the Bible. People are often identified in the Bible by their ancestry, such as "Lot son of Haran" (Genesis 11:31), or according to their hometown such as "Joseph of Arimathea (Mark 15:43). The word "house" frequently indicates the collective relatives and descendants of an individual, such as "the house of David" (1 Samuel 20:16).

With this in mind, the image of a home or house is often used symbolically. The temple was called the house of God. Although God is present everywhere, the temple represented his special relationship with the Israelites, his chosen people, and their identification with him. In the new testament, Christians are referred to as God's house because his Spirit lives in them, as the Spirit of God filled the temple (see Temple).

Jews
A yellow star stitched on a jacket declares a person's Jewish identity in Germany during World War II. It was not the fist time that being a Jew carried a death sentence, nor was it the first time that the Jews emerged victorious from a plot for their worldwide extermination.

Jews are the physical descendants of Abraham through his grandson Jacob, the father of the Israelites. The label "Jew" came into use after the Babylonian captivity. The stories of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther highlight God's protection of the people in the midst of great danger and opposition.

Life
Do you want to live forever? Jesus Christ says he's the only true way. He says he's the door to a life of abundant blessing. God is the giver of life, and his role as such started with the creation of our ancestors, Adam and Eve. When sin entered the world, we were blocked, not only from having eternal life with God, but also from a meaningful life on this planet. Both can be obtained through God himself.

This is where Jesus enters the picture. He came to give us abundant life. He tells us to give him our cares and stop worrying because worrying doesn't add a single hour to our lives. Jesus also tells us to stop selfishly hoarding our lives; instead, we are to freely give them away by serving him. In a strange paradox, it's only when we lose our lives to him that we gain them back. Jesus reminds us that if we get everything the world has to offer, yet lose our souls, we haven't really lived.

Look
Looking something over is a way of understanding it to a fuller extent. No one knows us more completely than God, who thoroughly examines our actions. Since he is perfect, only he can judge what things are truly done for him and what things are misdirected attentions.

Praise
"Thank you for all your hard work today," the employer regularly said at the end of the day. True, the work was expected, yet the praise acknowledged the effort, making the employees feel important and valued. Recognition is integral to praise, and in our relationship to God, praise is one thing we can actually give him. He desires that we praise him through acknowledging his works, benefits and perfect character.

True praise is not flattery or empty adoration. It starts as genuine thanks in the heart, which is expressed in songs, prayers or meditation. No matter how it's done, praise lifts up sincere admiration to God, who rightfully deserves to be lauded.

Son
"If you really want to understand someone," said President George W. Bush, " you look at his family and where he was raised." Using this reasoning, what can we learn about Jesus Christ, the Son of God? The Bible says that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). This means that the Son is fully God; all of God the Father's qualities are manifested in him: love, justice, righteousness, holiness. God the Son was also fully human; while he was on the earth, he shared our experiences: temptation, hunger, fatigues, pain and death.

Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son - yet is completely God.

Before Jesus came to the earth, the Holy Spirit guided and directed select people at specific times for specific purposes. To prophets, he revealed future events and warnings of judgment. To kings, he gave wisdom to rule. But when Jesus was near the end of his life on earth, preparing his disciples for his impending death and resurrection, he promised that the Holy Spirit would, form that time on, be with his followers all the time.

Stone
What are the two most famous stones in the Bible? The first is the small, smooth stone that 14-year-old David put into his slingshot. With it, God allowed him to defeat Israel's enemy by killing the Philistine bully Goliath ( 1 Samuel 17:48-49). The second is the large stone that the Roman soldiers rolled across the door of Jesus' tomb to make sure the body would remain there. It didn't work; Jesus rose from the grave anyway and defeated death, humankind's enemy.

Teach
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day," the old saying goes, but "teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." Teaching and learning are also crucial to our Christian faith. Learning is the first step, in fact, to telling others about Jesus Christ. Jesus taught the people about God. He explained what the Scriptures meant, and he taught with an incredible authority that the people had never seen before. In fact, the people called him Rabbi, which means "teacher." Jesus told us to carry on his work. We are to instruct people not only in the facts about salvation, but also in how to obey God and apply what they hear.

Time
Time governs our lives. Our day planners help us manage it. We eat by it. We sleep by it. We're upset if people don't respect it. God, however is not constrained by time. He created time, and - though it's hard for us to grasp - he exists outside of time. Because he contains time, he knows the future and is able to reveal it in prophecy.

God has a clear understanding of time. In the Bible, he warned that all people should live for him because the time is coming when he will return to the earth. While some believe they can delay serving God, we are commanded to serve God now. We are to take advantage of the moments God gives us to share the gospel.

World
World does not refer to the landmass represented by the globe of earth; it refers to people, perspectives and practices. When we say that God loves the whole world, we mean that God loves all people. However, God hates the perspectives and practices that belong to the "prince of this world" (John 12:31), who is Satan. That's why Christians are told not to love this world. The important thing to remember is that the people God loves and the perspectives and practices he hates are under his control.

Comfort
We wouldn't know what comfort is if we had never had run-ins with pain. Opposites often help clarify concepts and ideas. If we had never experienced sadness, we wouldn't recognize happiness. Yet we'd all choose happiness; we'd all choose comfort.

Forever
God is eternal. The Lord and his Word will stand forever. God promises to continue his work in us as well (see Philippians 1:6). He promises to never stop loving us. An evidence of this love is the salvation he gives us - it doesn't end! God proved this through Jesus' death, forever guaranteeing our forgiveness, and by giving us the Holy Spirit as our guide to living a godly life.

Unlike the boss who retires or the president whose term is complete, nothing will force God out of power. In fact, the Bible tells us that God will always rule, and whatever he establishes cannot be altered by anyone. When everything else seems to change so quickly, God will always be the same.

Grief
Grief is a natural reaction to change and loss. We begin to understand the fragility of the life in times of deep sorrow-when loved ones die, when close friends endure pain, when accidents and atrocities befall us or those we care about. The root cause of suffering, emotional as well as physical, is the curse that came as a result of Adam and Eve's sin. In our anguish, we often try to distract ourselves with work, play, food, sleep, other people. These things are not bad, but nothing and no one can ease our pain except God. He alone enables us to confront our grief because Jesus took it all on himself when he died on the cross. He alone gives true comfort.

Resurrection
The resurrection was no hoax. When God raise Jesus from the dead, he gave new life to a dead and mangled body (see Crucify). That Jesus' resurrection was miraculous is evident from the amazement of every person who saw him. After his resurrection, Jesus could eat, speak and work, and his disciples could touch and see him, but his new body was perfectly immortal.

Brothers
Big brothers, babe brothers, blood brothers - all imply a relationship characterized by warmth and similarity of character. Brother can refer to to both natural brothers and "brothers in Christ" (fellow believers). Jesus Christ said that everyone who does the will of God is his brother. Though Jesus is our God, we enter a fraternal relationship with him when we become children of God. Although that does not make us equal with him, Christ is not ashamed to call us his brother or sister.

18. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem.
19. And many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
20. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23. Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24. Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies,
26. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27. “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
28. And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.”
29. When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
30. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
31. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved and troubled.
34. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35. Jesus wept.
36. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37. But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38. Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
39. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40. Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41. So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43. When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

Topic: Pathway to Freedom
John 11:25

Right on time

Martha's heart must have churned with confusion and plan when she heard that Jesus was on his way. Why hadn't he come when when she first called for him - in time to heal her dying brother? Was the delay a mistake, or could it be that Jesus didn't care enough to come in time?

Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. He always does. When Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, was sick, neither the urgency of the situation nor the disciples' resistance could influence his actions. Raising Lazarus from the grave would be the beginning of Jesus' journey to the cross. So he waited for the time set by God and went with God's purposes in clear focus. In restoring life to Lazarus, Jesus revealed to Martha and the world that he is the source of life.

In every circumstance, we can be certain that Jesus knows every detail and sees everything in context of God's perfect plan. He will listen to our urgent requests, but he may not provide the answers we expect. When Jesus walks toward us in our time of need, he brings the power of his resurrection life, which conquered death and now exists within all who believe.

What did Martha receive that day from Jesus, besides her brother's life back? Is God offering the same to you?

STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART:
Jeremiah 29:11; Matthew 17:20
Hebrews 3:11; 11:1

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THE STARTING POINT STUDY BIBILE New International Version
The Luis Palau Evangelistic Association / www.luispalau.org