November 2024

Again and again, as John presents witnesses to Jesus, his point is to bring us to a sweeping conclusion: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30, 31, NKJV).

Read John 20:19–31. What can we learn from the story of Thomas about faith and doubt? What major mistake did Thomas make?

Christ appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, when they were shut up together in a room because of fear. Thomas was not with them. Later, he heard the reports of the Resurrection from the other disciples, but he despaired. It did not fit his picture of the kingdom. And, too, he surely must have wondered why Jesus would have revealed Himself to the others when he himself was not there.

Time and again, John records the attempts of the religious leaders to seize Jesus, to bring Him to trial, and to sentence Him to death. A theme in John’s Gospel, stated often by Jesus, is that His time or hour had not yet come, by which He meant the time for His crucifixion (John 2:4; John 7:6, 8, 30; John 12:7, 23, 27; John 13:1; John 17:1).

Now the hour had come. Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, brought before Annas, then Caiaphas the high priest, then twice before Pilate.

Six days before Passover, Jesus came to visit Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised to life. Simon, who had been healed of leprosy, hosted a feast in appreciation for what Jesus had done for him. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was sitting at the table with the guests (John 12:1–8).

What was the significance of Mary’s actions here? How was this a witness to who Jesus really was? (See John 12:1–3.)

Jesus was not shy in declaring who He was, nor in calling on witnesses to testify to who He was, even witnesses who were long gone, including Abraham. “ ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad’ ” (John 8:56, NKJV).

Why was Abraham’s witness so important that it was included in John’s gospel? (Gen. 12:3, Gen. 18:16–18, Gen. 26:4, Matt. 1:1, Acts 3:25.)

Read for This Week’s Study

John 8:54–58, Gen. 12:3, Rom. 4:1–5, John 12:1–8, John 19:4–22, John 20:19–31, Daniel 2, Daniel 7.

Memory Text:

“Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ ” (John 20:29, NKJV).

Throughout his Gospel, John has a diversity of people—people with different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences—all testifying to who Jesus was.

Read Ellen G. White, “The Crisis in Galilee,” pp. 383–394; “In the Outer Court,” pp. 621–626, in The Desire of Ages.

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ ” (John 7:37, 38, NKJV).

John recorded, numerous times, Jesus making bold statements about Himself, about who He was and what He came to do.

The Gospel of John begins by talking about the Word (logos) as being with God; that is, being with God the Father (John 1:1). When the Word became flesh, the Spirit testified about Jesus by resting on Him at His baptism (John 1:32–34). But the Father also testifies about Jesus during His earthly ministry.

Read John 5:36–38. What does Jesus say here about the Father?

Jesus links the Father to the works and miracles that He had performed. He is very clear that the Father had sent Him and also had testified about Him.

Lesson 2 described the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6 but did not cover the final section of that story, which is studied here.

Read John 6:51–71. What did Jesus say that people had trouble accepting?