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.

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.

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.

Judas
Judas may be best known for a kiss––the kiss by which he betrayed Jesus, the Son of God, to his enemies. Jesus chose Judas Iscariot as one of his 12 disciples even though he knew Judas would betray him. The Old Testament prophesied that there would be a man who would "sell" Jesus' life for 30 pieces of silver. Judas was that man. He agreed to hand Jesus over to the chief priests, who were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus and kill him.

Peter
When Jesus gave a fisherman named Simon Peter the opportunity to become a "fisher of men," this man left everything to follow Jesus. It was the beginning of a lifelong mission.

Simon Peter was an amazing man of God. One minute we admire him, and the next minute we cringe because he's stuck his foot in his mouth again. One minute our hearts cry out to be like him, and the next minute we're relieved that we're not like him. Peter seemed to operate in extremes, yet God wa preparing him for something very special.

Simon
Five significant men in Jesus' life shared the name Simon, but they were as different from each other as they could be. (1) Simon the fisherman was a disciple of Jesus. God change his name to Peter (see Peter) because of the part he would playing the the church. (2) Jesus' other disciple named Simon was called Simon the Zealot. He was a man of intense political and religious convictions. (3) One of Jesus' half brothers, a son of Mary and Joseph, was also named Simon. (4) A leper named Simon opened his home to Jesus, perhaps after being cured by him. He was shocked at the woman who came to anoint Jesus with her tears, and he received a lesson on the connection between forgiveness and love. (5) Another Simon, originally from Cyrene, was in Jerusalem one day. Soldiers ordered him to carry the cross for the exhausted and bleeding Jesus. All these men knew Jesus - each in a profound way. Their names may not have all been changed, but after meeting Jesus, their hearts were never the same again.

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.

Command
Americans don't like taking orders-they mess with our self-reliance and pursuit of happiness. Christians, however are called to live differently from the "norm." We are called to follow God's commands. And as we do so, God helps us discover the happiness we have longed for.

Cup
What do you like your cup filled with? It's what the cup contains that makes the cup significant. Jesus used the metaphor of a cup to speak about our lives and about suffering and blessing, but, most importantly, he used a cup to illustrate the new covenant relationship that we have with God.

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.

Disciples
Does disciple sound uncomfortably like "discipline"? It is. A disciple is a person who adheres to the teaching of another - not just believing a certain philosophy, but also applying it to his or her life.

In the Bible, the word "disciple" can apply to followers of John the Baptist, students of the Pharisees or the broader circle of people who believed Jesus' teachings. But it most often refers to the twelve disciples whom Jesus asked to follow him. They lived with him night and day and learned from his teaching and lifestyle. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus' followers were not perfect, but they knew enough to recognize that leaving everything they had in order to follow Jesus was worth the price.

Duty
Perhaps you've seen duty-free shopping in airports or wished for duty-free lives. just as the Jews of the Bible could not escape paying duty, or taxes, to Rome, so we, too, cannot escape the duties or obligations of life. But we can choose to whom we'll be obligated: God or Satan, others or ourselves.

Finish
There is nothing quite like the exhilaration of finishing a task. Whether the job is small or large, changing a light bulb or painting a watercolor, we enjoy the sense of completion. For example, most marathon runners keep the finish line in mind throughout the grueling endeavor.

Fire
Fire can reduce an entire building to ashes in a matter of minutes. The breathtaking power of fire is an appropriate parallel for the awe inspiring strength of God. He appeared to Moses in a burning bush (see Exodus 3:2) and to the Israelites in a pillar of fire in the desert (see Exodus 13:21). But the Bible also cites instances in which fire is a literal instrument of God's judgment. Burning sulfur destroyed the Old Testament cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and fire consumed the Israelites who disobeyed him in the desert. God has created a lake of fire for the eternal punishment of Satan and his followers.

Fulfill
Does it surprise you that the Bible almost never uses the word "fulfillment" in reference to a human's satisfaction in life? The Bible doesn't promise a fulfilling life. In the Bible, the word "fulfill" refers overwhelmingly to God's following through on his promises and intentions. God will always keep his promises. The plans he makes will come about. Our faithful God in control of all that happens in the universe, and his plans will overcome any obstacle.

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.

Instruction
Does God give us instruction? You bet! The book of Proverbs was written for "attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for...doing what is right and just and fair" (Proverbs 1:2-3). God gave instructions to the Israelites through prophets and to Jesus' parents through angels and dreams. God doesn't expect us to guess our way through life. For situations in which he doesn't give explicit instruction, he promises to give wisdom to those who ask (see James 1:5-6). His instructions warn us against mistakes, encourage us to persevere and make possible good interpersonal relations.

Message
One of the bigger communication revolutions of the late twentieth century was the advent of e-mail, instant messages allowing us to contact people without gargantuan phone bills. But even more revolutionary than the technological revolution is the fact that God communicates with us.

Nazareth
Though born in Bethlehem, Jesus grew up and began his public ministry in the small town of Nazareth, southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Although Nazareth was mostly agricultural, it probably felt the influence of nearby larger cities and trade routes.

Pharisees
If you lived in the time of the Pharisees, you were in big trouble if you had a house fire on the Sabbath. Carrying your clothes out of the burning building was strictly against the law. But putting your clothes on before escaping was legal!

The Pharisees were the most influential Jewish leaders while Jesus was on earth. They tried to perfectly uphold the law, and they imposed that expectation on others. Yet as carefully as they defined the law, they went one step too far and made it the epicenter of their faith. Jesus was not impressed with their law - abiding ways; in fact he harshly criticized them for burdening people with unnecessary rules and forgetting how to love others.

Pray
Prayer, simply put, is talking to God. It is telling him our concerns, confessing our sins and thanking him for what he's done.

How important is prayer? When Jesus Christ was on earth, he always took time out to talk to God. If the Son of God himself needed to pray, how much more do we. If we don't know how to pray for a certain situation, we know that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, giving words to what we cannot express. In those times when it seems like God isn't listening, we are to keep praying. We're told that God is close to us when we pray and that he is always listening.

Priests
Although ministers of pagan religions are mentioned in the Bible, the word priest is most often used of those who attend to activities and things that are devoted to the true God. Today, some Christians refer to their church officials as priests, while others refer to their leaders as pastors.

Right
International laws stand to protect the dignity, basic freedoms and governmental immunities due each person because of his or her humanity. Sadly, despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, people still face persecution. Christians, though we live in this flawed world, are ultimately under God's rule and protection. Our rights as God's children guarantee freedom from sin's bondage and immunity to spiritual death.

Righteous
In the German language, righteousness and justice (see Justice) are the same word. Righteousness is not merely goodness; nor is it self-righteousness, which smugly justifies hypocritical behavior. Righteousness is a lawful, equitable standard of evaluation. Is measures actions, motives and intentions against God's holiness (see Holy).

Sanctification
"I'm no saint," we may say, but we are saints if we've asked Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and take control of our lives. The word sanctify is directly related to the word saint. The Bible says Christians are sanctified - holy, or set apart, to serve God (see Consecrate). We have a unique identity because the Spirit of the one holy God lives in us, and we have a special job to perform for him.

Servants
"Serve people? You've got to be kidding!" We tend to associate servitude with oppressed people slaving for a cruel master. In the Bible, servants had a different job description, one more akin to our current-day employer-employee relationship. The servant's job was to loyally carry out his or her master's orders and act in the master's interest at all times. In return, the master was responsible for feeding and clothing the servants and looking after their needs.

Sword
The Bible compares the tongue to a lethal weapon: a sword. With a word - through gossip, slander or a negative comment - we can do as much damage to someone's life as we could with the thrust of a sword. This is why we must seek the Holy Spirit's assistance in our lives, asking his aid in showing us how to control our tongues, for "the fruit of the Spirit is...self-control" (Galatians 5:22).

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.

Temple
After Jesus' death and resurrection, god no longer dwelt in a building made by human hands, but in the believing human heart. Because the Holy Spirit lives in each believer our very own bodies are his temples. Today a church building is not the temple, but it is where many "temples" of the Holy Spirit gather to worship God weekly.

Unity
When we want to accomplish something on a large scale, we band together with other people who share our vision. The same thing applies to believers. There are to be no lone rangers in the Christian faith. God designed us to be part of a community. Each Christian possesses gifts that compliment the gifts of other believers. We are far more effective in worship, ministry and godly living when we combine our gifts for the single purpose of glorifying God. When Christians work against one another, defeat is almost guaranteed. The amazing truth is that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are united with God because his Spirit (see Holy Spirit) comes to live in us. The apostle Paul used marriage (see Marriage) to illustrate this concept: Christians are united with God, just as husbands and wives are united in marriage.

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.

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.

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.

Truth
What is truth? God is truth. Everything he says we can believe. There is no deception, no hypocrisy, no half-truth in God, Our finite minds can't fully comprehend God or understand all his mysteries, but he is everything he says he is: the all-powerful, just, loving Creator of everything that exists. How do we know right from wrong? God alone, because he is truth, provides an accurate standard for ethics and morality. Whatever he does and commands us to do is right. Anything God hates and forbids us to do is wrong.

Creation
How would you react if your computer suddenly, in a fit of defiance, refused to allow you access to your files? Computers were created for certain uses. They can't rebel. Yet, as God's creation, human beings do rebel. We constantly try to do things our own way. The Lord knows best how to manage what he has made - and that includes our lives. Our salvation ensures that we are now new creations with God - given abilities and desires to see that God's work is done. God has also given us creative abilities so that we can use a variety of means to accomplish his work. Those are abilities a disgruntled computer doesn't have!

Captivity
Is captivity always a punishment? More than once God allowed nations that didn't believe in or follow him to carry Israel and Judah - his chosen people - away from their land and into slavery. He allowed it because his people chose not to follow him. But God always brought back a remnant; he always kept his promises to them.

18. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

20. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21. that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26. I have revealed you to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be theirs and that I myself may be in them.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jesus Arrested

1. When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.

2. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3. So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5. “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6. When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7. Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

8. “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9. This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

10. Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

11. Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"”

Jesus Taken to Annas

12. Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him
13. And brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Peter’s First Denial

15. Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. 16. But Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there, and brought Peter in. 17. “Surely you are not another of this man’s disciples?” the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.” 18. It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

19. Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

20. “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues, or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

22. When Jesus had said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. “Is that any way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.

23. “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “speak up about it. But if I spoke the truth, why did you hit me?”
24. Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas, the high priest.

page 27

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