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Bible Study resources for the Gospel of John, to help individuals and small groups explore how the Bible applies to life today: background, commentary, questions. John Additional passages of the Gospel of John will be added approximately once a week, after I test-drive them with my Bible Study group and refine them. John 1:1-18 In the beginning, the Word was with God and was God, yet he chose to come and live among us. His life is the light that enlightens us, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:10-18 (Continuation of 1:1-18) When John says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he is talking about Jesus, the only Son of the Father. Jesus invites us to be sons and daughters of God also. Introduction to John The Gospel of John shows us Jesus Christ, who is both God and man and Son of the Father. It provides spiritual insights that go beyond what the other Gospels have, so that we can believe and have life. John 1:19-34 The religious authorities want to know who John the Baptist is. John is more interested in identifying who Jesus is. That's the central question for us, too. John 1:35-51 As Jesus gathers disciples, they try to decide who he is. He invites them to “Come and see.” Jesus says that to us, too. What is he inviting you to see right now? John 2:1-12 At the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus turns water into wine. It is far more than a miracle; it is a sign that God is present, calling us to “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:13-25 Jesus cleanses the Temple, removing the sacrificial lambs he will one day take the place of. Where do we need his cleansing in the “temple” of our own life? John 3:1-15 Jesus tells us we need to be born again/from above in order to enter his kingdom. What does this mean, and what might our life look like if we are born from above? John - Bibliography Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of the Gospel of John. Image at top by Travis Emmett, provided by Unsplash via Wix.

Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of the Gospel of John. Previous Next John Index John - Bibliography Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of the Gospel of John. Some of the resources on the author's bookshelf. Tom Faletti November 23, 2025 Major Sources Barclay, William. The Gospel of John, Volume 1. 2 nd edition. The Daily Study Bible. The Saint Andrew Press, 1956. Note: All of the volumes in Barclay’s Daily Study Bible series can be viewed online at “William Barclay's Daily Study Bible,” Bible Portal , https://bibleportal.com/commentary/william-barclay . Barclay, William. The Gospel of John, Volume 2. 2 nd edition. The Daily Study Bible. The Saint Andrew Press, 1956. Note: All of the volumes in Barclay’s Daily Study Bible series can be viewed online at “William Barclay's Daily Study Bible,” Bible Portal , https://bibleportal.com/commentary/william-barclay . Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament . Yale University Press, 1997. Bruce, F.F. The Gospel of John . Eerdmans, 1983. Ellis, David J. “John.” The International Bible Commentary: With the New International Version . F.F. Bruce, General Editor. Marshall Pickering/Zondervan, 1986. Flanagan, Neal M., O.S.M. The Gospel According to John and the Johannine Epistles . Collegeville Bible Commentary. The Liturgical Press, 1983. Fredrikson, Roger L. John . The Communicator’s Commentary (Mastering the New Testament) , Lloyd J. Ogilvie, general editor. Word Books, 1985. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament, Revised Standard Edition, Second Catholic Edition . Ignatius Press, 2010. Interlinear Bible. Bible Hub , https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ . The International Bible Commentary: With the New International Version . F.F. Bruce, General Editor. Marshall Pickering/Zondervan, 1986. Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott . A Greek-English Lexicon . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940. Internet Archive , Volume I: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0001/mode/2up , Volume II: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0002/mode/2up . Also at Furman Classics Editions, http://folio2.furman.edu/lsj/ . New American Bible, revised edition (NABRE) . Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2010. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary . Edited by Raymond E. Brown, et al. Prentice Hall, 1990. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version: With the Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible . Eds. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2010. New Revised Standard Version Bible , copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Perkins, Pheme. “The Gospel According to John.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary . Edited by Raymond E. Brown, et al. Prentice Hall, 1990. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance . Bible Hub , https://biblehub.com/greek/21.htm . Vine, William E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary , 1940, StudyLight.org , https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ved.html . Additional Sources Augustine. The Confessions . Circa AD 397-400. Translated by J.G. Pilkington. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series , Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. Christian Literature Publishing Co., Buffalo, NY, 1887. Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. New Advent , https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1101.htm . Brown, Raymond E. The Community of the Beloved Disciple . Paulist Press, 1979. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2003. The Vatican , https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM . Encyclopaedia Britannica (the editors of). “logos.” Britannica , https://www.britannica.com/topic/logos . Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History , Book III. New Advent , https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm . Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History . Book VI. New Advent , https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250106.htm . Irenaeus. Adversus Haereses ( Against Heresies ). Book III, Chapter 1. New Advent , https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103301.htm . Justin, the Martyr. First Apology . Circa AD 155-157. Translated by Cyril C. Richardson, Early Christian Fathers, Vol. 1 . The Westminster Press, 1953. Christian Classics Ethereal Library , https://www.ccel.org/ccel/richardson/fathers.x.ii.iii.html . Sloyan, Gerard S. What Are They Saying About John?, Revised Edition . Paulist Press, 2006. Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

Special materials from Faith Explored to help you learn more about the Bible and apply it in your life, including Bible quizzes and quotes. Special Materials Easter Quiz: The Resurrection of Jesus How much do you know about the resurrection of Jesus? What does the Bible say? Take this 5-question quiz and see what you know. Quiz on Faith, Hope, and Love You’ve probably heard the words “faith, hope, and love” together many times. Take this 6-question quiz to see how much you know about them. Nagasaki - A History of Christian Faithfulness in Adversity For these Christians, neither persecution nor suppression, not even an atomic bomb, has kept them from staying faithful to Christ. Quotes Quotes worth thinking about. Tags used for Blog Posts 1 Corinthians (5) 5 posts 1 Peter (3) 3 posts 1 Thessalonians (11) 11 posts 1 Timothy (2) 2 posts 2 Corinthians (1) 1 post 2 Thessalonians (1) 1 post Action (23) 23 posts Acts (1) 1 post Advocacy (13) 13 posts Anger (4) 4 posts Anxiety (1) 1 post Bible (41) 41 posts Bible Study (24) 24 posts Catholic (6) 6 posts Christian Faith (15) 15 posts Christian Living (39) 39 posts Church (8) 8 posts Colossians (4) 4 posts Death penalty (1) 1 post Deuteronomy (2) 2 posts Ephesians (7) 7 posts Everyday Life (23) 23 posts Exodus (1) 1 post Family (1) 1 post Forgiveness (3) 3 posts Galatians (3) 3 posts Genesis (3) 3 posts Gentleness (4) 4 posts God (10) 10 posts Gratitude (3) 3 posts Hebrews (3) 3 posts Hope (2) 2 posts Human Dignity (15) 15 posts Hunger (2) 2 posts Isaiah (3) 3 posts Issues (15) 15 posts James (5) 5 posts Jeremiah (1) 1 post John (11) 11 posts Justice (18) 18 posts Leviticus (2) 2 posts Love (9) 9 posts Luke (19) 19 posts Malachi (1) 1 post Marginalized (8) 8 posts Mark (7) 7 posts Matthew (21) 21 posts Mercy (2) 2 posts Micah (1) 1 post Nonviolence (3) 3 posts Peace (3) 3 posts Philemon (1) 1 post Philippians (7) 7 posts Politics (7) 7 posts Poverty (4) 4 posts Prayer (6) 6 posts Proverbs (3) 3 posts Psalms (12) 12 posts Racial Justice (7) 7 posts Respect (10) 10 posts Rights (3) 3 posts Romans (5) 5 posts Science (3) 3 posts Sin and temptation (2) 2 posts Social Media (2) 2 posts Solidarity (6) 6 posts Thanksgiving (3) 3 posts Titus (1) 1 post Trust (3) 3 posts Truth (15) 15 posts Words (7) 7 posts Image at top by Sabbir Ahmed, provided by Unsplash via Wix.

Quotes worth thinking about. Previous Special Materials Next Quotes Quotes worth thinking about. Tom Faletti September 26, 2025 This collection will grow over time. Quotes on issues of faith, life, truth, and justice, etc. FAITH There are no ordinary people “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” – C.S. Lewis. The Weight of Glory . 1941. LIFE Measure your performance by how much better you made the people around you “The most important measure of how good a game I’d played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.” – Bill Russell. Inscription engraved on a block that stands with a statue of Mr. Russell at Boston’s City Hall Plaza See John Hareas. “City of Boston celebrates Bill Russell: Player, activist, mentor.” NBA.com , 1 Nov. 2013, https://www.nba.com/news/bill-russell-city-of-boston . Recover from your mistakes “If you stumble, make it into a dance.” – Inside a Dove candy wrapper TRUTH Read old books “Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books. . . . Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us. Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them.” – C. S. Lewis. “Introduction” to On The Incarnation , a translation of Athanasius’s On the Incarnation of the Word of God . Translated by Sister Penelope Lawson, a nun in the order of the Convent of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin. Originally published in 1944. Current edition published by GLH Publishing, Louisville, KY, 2018, pp. 2-3. (Italics are in the original; boldface added. In the original publication, the translator was listed as “A Religious of C.S.M.V.” Athanasius’s treatise was written prior to A.D. 319.) JUSTICE Justice, injustice, and democracy “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” – Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971). In the foreword to The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness: A Vindication of Democracy and a Critique of Its Traditional Defense . 1944. University of Chicago Press, 2011, p. xi. (See Joseph E. Hartman. “Democracy and Sin: Doing Justice to Reinhold Niebuhr.” Academic Questions . Fall 2015. National Association of Scholars . https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/28/3/democracy_and_sin_doing_justice_to_reinhold_niebuhr#_ftnref27 .) (For clarity in the 21 st century, the quote is often rendered: “Humanity’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but humanity’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”) PURPOSE God has created me to do Him some definite service; I have a mission [A slightly shortened version of this is often printed with the title “The Mission of My Life”] “1. God was all-complete, all-blessed in Himself; but it was His will to create a world for His glory. He is Almighty, and might have done all things Himself, but it has been His will to bring about His purposes by the beings He has created. We are all created to His glory – we are created to do His will. I am created to do something or to be something for which no one else is created; I have a place in God’s counsels, in God’s world, which no one else has; whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me and calls me by my name. “2. God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his – if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling. “3. Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me – still He knows what He is about.” – John Henry Newman (1801-1890). “Hope in God – Creator.” 7 Mar. 1848. In Part 3: Meditations on Christian Doctrine, in Meditations and Devotions of the late Cardinal Newman . Edited by Fr. William Neville. London: Longmans, Green, 1893. Newman Reader , https://www.newmanreader.org/works/meditations/meditations9.html . THE POOR Contact with the lowly and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord “Love for the Lord, then, is one with love for the poor. The same Jesus who tells us, ‘The poor you will always have with you’ ( Mt 26:11), also promises the disciples: ‘I am with you always’ ( Mt 28:20). We likewise think of his saying: ‘Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me’ ( Mt 25:40). This is not a matter of mere human kindness but a revelation: contact with those who are lowly and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord of history. In the poor, he continues to speak to us.” – Pope Leo XIV. Dilexi Te (Apostolic Exhortation on Love for the Poor) . The Vatican , 4 Oct. 2025, https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20251004-dilexi-te.html , par. 5. Love for God is not possible for the Christian without love for the poor “In his new apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te , Pope Leo . . . traces the uninterrupted centrality that the poor have played in the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel in every age and culture, and the rich legacy that the saints have left us in their comprehension that love for God is not possible for the Christian without love for the poor.” – Robert McElroy (Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Washington). “Cardinal McElroy’s statement on Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation ‘Dilexi Te.’” Archdiocese of Washigton , 9 Oct. 2025, https://adw.org/news/mcelroys-statement-dilexi-te/ . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Special Materials Next

When John says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he is talking about Jesus, the only Son of the Father. Jesus invites us to be sons and daughters of God also. Previous Next John Index John 1:10-18 (Continuation of 1:1-18) When John says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he is talking about Jesus, the only Son of the Father. Jesus invites us to be sons and daughters of God also. Annibale Carracci (1560-1609). Saint John the Baptist Bearing Witness . Detail. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_John_the_Baptist_Bearing_Witness_MET_LC-2009_252-1_(Bild).jpg . Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 John 1:10-13 The world did not know him and his own people did not accept him, but some did In verse 11, John says the world did not “know” him. What do you think he means when he says they did not “know” him? They did not recognize him (they didn’t recognize that God the Word was with them). They did not understand him – in colloquial terms, they didn’t “get it.” Jesus was very real and performed miracles. How can it be that they didn’t recognize him? How do people in our day fail to recognize or understand Jesus? Verse 11 says he came to “what was his own” (probably referring to Israel as a nation), and “his own people” (the Jews). In what sense were they “his own”? Are there ways that people who are “his own” don’t accept or receive Jesus today? We could still consider the Jewish people “his own.” In addition, we could think about people who were baptized, people who grew up in the Church, but don’t accept Jesus today as still being “his own.” Verse 12 says that not everyone rejected him. Some accepted him. What did he give to them? What did John say they need to do, to become children of God? What does it mean, in verse 12, to accept or receive him? Anyone who is a child must have been born somehow. Verse 13 says that when they became children of God they were born of God, not by a biological process or human desire or the will of a man. We will see more in chapter 3 about what it means to be born “of God.” What does it mean to you, that you are a child of God? How do you experience that relationship with God? In what way do you see yourself as having accepted or received Jesus? What difference does it make in your life that you have accepted/received Jesus? John 1:14 What did God do? A mini-summary of the gospel What did God the Word do, and what does it mean when we say he did those things? He became flesh: he became a human. He dwelt among us – i.e., he lived with other humans, lived as one of us. The Greek word, variously translated as “dwelt” or “lived” or “made his dwelling” among us, literally means he encamped or pitched his tent with us. (This word might have been chosen to invoke the image of God living in a tent with us as he made himself present to the Israelites in a tabernacle/tent in the desert.) What does John mean when he says, “we saw his glory”? This could be a reference to seeing the resurrected Jesus; or seeing Jesus crucified, which Jesus considered part of entering into his glory; or seeing Jesus transfigured on the mountain; or seeing Jesus’s miraculous signs, which John says revealed his glory (John 2:11). In verse 14, where most translations say he is the Father’s “only son,” the actual Greek word is “only-begotten.” As we know from the “begats” in the Old Testament and the New Testament, when a man is begotten of someone else, it means they have a father-son relationship. The idea of sonship is embedded in having been begotten , and that may be a key point that John is trying to make by using that word. Modern translations mostly say “only son” rather than “only-begotten.” Doing so brings out the relationship that is embedded in the Greek word: John is telling us that Jesus is God’s only Son. We express this truth in the Nicene Creed. We say that Jesus Christ is the “Only Begotten Son of God,” echoing John’s reference to the Father’s only-begotten Son (verse 14). We also say he was “begotten, not made.” He cannot have been made or created because he was present in the beginning (verse 1) and nothing was created except through him (verse 3). John gives us the pieces that were fleshed out in the words of the Creed. In terms of your own faith, what stands out to you in verse 14, and what difference does it make in your life? John 1:15-18 Jesus brought grace and truth and revealed the Father John now makes it clear that when he says the Word is God and became human, the human he is talking about is Jesus Christ, who is the only Son of God. Looking at verse 15, what did John the Baptist say about Jesus? What does he mean when he says that Jesus existed before him, given that John was born months earlier that Jesus (Luke 1:36)? Looking at verse 16, when John says that we received from his fullness, what does that mean? What have we received? The last phrase in verse 16 is sometimes translated as “grace upon grace,” which can be interpreted to mean that we keep receiving God’s grace more and more abundantly. However, a translation that may be truer to the Greek is “grace in place of grace.” This makes more sense in the context of the next verse. People received a kind of grace through the revelation of the Mosaic Law, but we receive a fuller grace through Jesus. This happens as the New Covenant in Jesus Christ transcends the Old Covenant that was based on the Mosaic Law. In verse 17, John contrasts what we received previously from the Mosaic Law with the “grace and truth” we receive through Jesus. How is what we receive from Jesus greater than what the Mosaic Law offered? In what ways do you receive “grace” through Jesus? In what ways do you receive “truth” through Jesus? Verse 18 says that no one has seen God. Why is that, and how does Jesus change that? Now that Jesus has come, people have seen God in the flesh. What does Jesus’s presence as God-in-the-flesh (Emmanuel, “God with us”) teach us that we might otherwise not be able to understand about God? In verse 18, John refers to Jesus as God the only Son. He has now stated that Jesus Christ is the Word; that he was with God in the beginning; that he is God; that all things were created through him; that he became human and lived among us; that he is the Father’s only Son; and that he is God the Son. Contrary to the claims of skeptics, these are not ideas that were manufactured by the Church centuries later. It took time for the Church to settle on the exact words of the Creed, but John expressed all of these ideas here. In what ways has Jesus revealed the Father to you? Take a step back and consider this: For Christians, we hear so often the idea that God became human that we can easily forget how amazing this claim is. People who have never heard of Jesus have no concept that God would become one of us. The oldest religions in the world (Hinduism, etc.) don’t have this concept. When people create new religions, they might think that people can become gods, but they don’t envision the Creator of the universe coming to Earth and living as one of us. What kind of God is infinite, eternal, and transcendent, but chooses to come and live the life of a finite, mortal, limited creature so that they could become like him? What does this tell us about how much God cares about us? How can you recapture more of the awe and appreciation that might come with first learning that God cares so much about us that he came to live as one of us to bring us to himself? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

In the beginning, the Word was with God and was God, yet he chose to come and live among us. His life is the light that enlightens us, and the darkness has not overcome it. Previous Next John Index John 1:1-18 In the beginning, the Word was with God and was God, yet he chose to come and live among us. His life is the light that enlightens us, and the darkness has not overcome it. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 Welcome! This study is designed for anyone who is willing to approach the Bible with an open heart, including: Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals, and Orthodox. People who are active in their church, who have stepped away from a local church or the Church as a whole, or who have never found a church home. People who are familiar with the Bible and people who are just starting out. Seekers, doubters, agnostics, explorers, and the curious. Everyone is welcome to join us as we explore what the Bible says, what it means, and how we can apply it to our lives today. A NOTE FOR SMALL GROUPS This study material can be very enriching for personal study and growth, and it can be even more powerful and life-changing when it is used by a small group of people who explore God’s Word together. We will occasionally offer instructions, indented like this, that may be useful for a small-group study. Small-group leaders can find leadership training material and practical suggestions at Leading a Small-Group Bible Study . Leaders can see Preparing to Lead a Small-Group Bible Study Meeting for suggestions on how to prepare for a small group Bible Study. I encourage you to begin and end each meeting with a time of prayer, and to go through each passage in detail, often verse by verse. As you do so, try to explore what the passage says, what it means, and how we can apply it in our lives. Personal Introductions If you are studying with a small group, it would be helpful to take some time to build community. Introduce yourselves, make sure everyone has a chance to know everyone else’s name, and get to know each other a bit. Here are some questions you could ask everyone in the group to answer: What is your name and where are you from (or how are you connected to our church or this group? Can you describe some away that the written word or the spoken word is important to you? What is one thing you hope to learn more about as you participate in this study of the Gospel of John? We will provide an introduction that looks at the background of the Gospel of John (who wrote it, etc.) in our third study, after we have explored the first 18 verses and have an idea of what this Gospel sounds like. If you want to explore that introductory material first, you can find it here: Introduction to John . NOTE: Whenever the chapter and verse for a passage are underlined, please read the passage before proceeding. John 1:1-18 The Word was with God and was God, created all things, and became human Verse 14 and 15 tell us who John is talking about when he refers to the Word. John doesn’t name him until verse 17, but who is he talking about? Jesus, the One who was God and became flesh, the only Son of the Father, the one John the Baptist pointed to, whom Christians identify as the Second Person of the Trinity. John 1:1-18 is a prologue to the Gospel of John. It sounds very abstract, because John is speaking in cosmic terms, but it is introducing some of the major themes of that we will see again in more detail later in the Gospel. How is this writing different than what you have seen in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke? What is your reaction to this passage? What questions does this passage prompt in you? What questions do you already have after having just read it? Re-read John 1:1-5 In the first verse, what does John tell us about the Word? The Word was already present in the beginning, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Greek word translated as “Word” is logos . John tells us a lot about the Word in this section. Let’s look at what logos meant. Although the Greek word logos did mean “word,” it also meant much more than that. It traditionally was used where we might use the word “reason” or “thought” or “speech.” Then a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus, who lived from around 540 BC to 480 BC, used the word Logos in a way that affected Greek philosophy ever after. He said the Logos was the divine reason or principle that keeps the universe orderly, that sustains and provides order to the world. Hundreds of years later, around the time of Jesus, a Greek-speaking Jewish philosopher named Philo tried to make connections between Greek philosophy and the Jewish worldview derived from the Torah. Philo described the Logos as the intermediary between God and the universe and said that God created the universe through the Logos . (For more on the Greek understanding of Logos , see Barclay, The Gospel of John, Volume 1 , pp. 2-14; and Encyclopaedia Britannica .) Even before Philo, the Jews thought that a “word” was much more than a unit of speech: In Jewish thinking, every word has creative power. When God created the universe, all he had to do was speak a word and things came into being. For everyone, once a word went forth, it had an independent existence and force. In the last few hundred years before Christ, a form of Old Testament literature arose that is known as “Wisdom literature.” In Wisdom literature, Wisdom is personified as a living being. Wisdom was present with God at the Creation (Proverbs 8:30). Wisdom is the breath of God (Wisdom 7:25). Wisdom is always actively seeking to guide humans (Proverbs 8:1-9:12 and Wisdom 7:7-10:21). (For more on the Jewish understanding of the word of God and of Wisdom, see Barclay, The Gospel of John, Volume 1 , pp. 2-14.) John brings all of this together at the beginning of his Gospel in a way that offers a truer understanding of the Greek concept of the Logos while remaining consistent with the Jewish Scriptures. John is asserting in verse 1 that the Word existed in the beginning, was with God, and was God. But in verses 14-17, he says that the Word became human and lived as the man Jesus. Why is it significant that he is connecting God and Jesus in this way, and how does it connect with our concept of the Trinity? John is saying that Jesus, who is the only Son of the Father, is the Word who was present with God in the beginning. The Word is distinct from God (he was “with God”), and yet the Word is God, not some lesser being. He is identifying on God but two Persons, a step toward our understanding of the Trinity (which also includes the Holy Spirit). Note: The official Bible of the Jehovah’s Witnesses mistranslates verse 1 to say that the Word was “a god”. The article “a” does not appear in verse 1 in the Greek. In fact, in the Greek, the verse actually says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word,” which makes it even clearer that the Word (i.e., Jesus) is not a lesser god. What else does John tell us about the Word in verses 2-5? * All things were created through him, and nothing was created except through him. * Life came from him. * This life provided light for the human race. * Darkness has not overcome this light. Why is it significant that the Word created the world? Verse 5 mentions darkness. What does the darkness not do? Darkness is not a physical thing – it is merely the absence of light. (Evil is also not a thing: theologians and church fathers have helped us understand that it is best understood as a corruption of a good or an overemphasis on one good that results in a lack or absence or loss or denial of another good – the technical terms is a privation.) What does the darkness stand for, metaphorically? There is not a single correct answer to this question. The spiritual darkness John is envisioning could be an absence of the knowledge of God, a resistance to God’s teachings, opposition to the way of Christ, a state of having embraced what is contrary to God, etc. When we do not embrace the light of Christ, we are turning to the darkness. This reference to darkness brings to mind Isaiah 9:1-7 (8:23-9:6 in the NABRE), which includes verses that are well-known at Advent/Christmas such as, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is. 9:2; 9:1 in the NABRE) and “For unto us a child is born, a son is given . . .” (Is. 9:5; 9:6 in the NABRE). John says that the Word brings life and light to us. How do the images of “light” and “life” capture important elements of the Christian faith? How have you experienced Jesus bringing you life or light? Can you describe a time that has happened? John 1:6-9 John the Baptist came to testify to the light In the first 5 verses, John establishes some eternal truths. In verse 6, he moves into the timeline of human history. Look at verse 7. What was John the Baptizer’s purpose? He came to testify, or give testimony, or serve as a witness. What does it mean to testify or be a witness? We use those terms in courts of law. What do they mean? The NABRE says of verse 7: “ Testimony: the testimony theme of John is introduced, which portrays Jesus as if on trial throughout his ministry. All testify to Jesus: John the Baptist, the Samaritan woman, scripture, his works, the crowds, the Spirit, and his disciples” ( NABRE , John 1:7, fn.). John the Baptist is the first of many people and sources that will “testify” to Jesus or serve as witnesses on his behalf. What do you think the purpose of their testimony is? What do they show? Are we also called to testify (bear witness, give testimony) about Jesus? Explain. In verse 9, John says that Jesus was the real light who gives light to every person. What does that mean? What is our relationship to the light and to the darkness? Where do you need the light of God to show in some part of your life right now? (It would be beneficial to bring to God in prayer those areas of your life where you feel the need for God’s light, and ask him to shine his light in your situation and help you let his light shine through you.) (We will continue with verse 10 in the next session .) Take a step back and consider this: Saint Augustine, in his book The Confessions written around AD 397-400, said that in the books of the Greek philosophers he found teachings that he also found in John 1:1-5, “not indeed in the same words, but to the selfsame effect” (Augustine, Book 7 , Chapter 9, par. 13): specifically, that the Word was with God and was God, that all things were created through him, and that he provides light and life to humans. But Augustine went on to say that he did not find in the Greek philosophers what John says in 1:12: that he gave those who believe in him the power to become children of God. Nor did he find what John says in 1:14: that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Augustine also did not find in the Greek philosophers that the Word emptied himself and became obedient unto death (Phil. 2:7-8) and died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6) (Augustine, Book 7 , Chapter 9, par. 14). Augustine expressed appreciation to God that God allowed him to read the books of the Platonists (Greek philosophers in the tradition of Plato), because the Greek teachings about the Word helped prepare him for what he learned when he became a Christian and read John, even though they did not have the whole truth. Christians sometimes think they must disdain everything that is not “Christian.” Augustine would have disagreed, as would many of the early Church fathers. Here, John was clearly building on concepts from the Greek philosophers. Paul quoted a Greek philosopher-poet as he tried to bring the gospel to the people of Athens (Acts 17:28). Partial truths can be found in many places, even if they must be refined. In what ways can we learn from thinkers of the past, or people in our own lives who are not Christian, as we try to understand God’s nature and role in the world? How can you decide when drawing from non-Christian sources is appropriate and when it will lead you to error? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

At the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus turns water into wine. It is far more than a miracle; it is a sign that God is present, calling us to “Do whatever he tells you.” [John 2:1-11] Previous Next John Index John 2:1-12 At the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus turns water into wine. It is far more than a miracle; it is a sign that God is present, calling us to “Do whatever he tells you.” Paolo Veronese (1528-1588). Venedig Die Hochzeit zu Kana (The Wedding at Cana) . Circa 1571. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Gallery), Dresden, Germany. Photo by Tom Faletti, 25 June 2024. Tom Faletti November 8, 2025 John 2:1-12 The wedding feast at Cana What happens in this incident? We don’t know how many disciples Jesus brought with him to the wedding – even the wedding host might not have known how many were coming. But those disciples got to see how Jesus addressed the shortage of wine, and John tells us in verse 11 that this strengthened their faith. Let’s look at the whole story. First, look at the interaction between Jesus and his mother. Does Mary actually ask Jesus to do something? How is she both deferring and pushing? Does Jesus say yes or no, or does he leave the conversation unsettled? Jesus calls his mother “Woman.” Although that may not have been rude in his time, it was also not a normal way to address one’s mother. Scholars think that Jesus is signaling that whatever he does will not be based on his family connection to Mary. What guides Jesus’s decisions throughout his ministry? On what does he base his decisions? Jesus does what is the will of his Father. In verse 4, Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come.” Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus’s “hour” is the time of his suffering (his “Passion”) and death, and sometimes also includes his resurrection and ascension (for example, John 13:1). What does his “hour” have to do with whether he does something here? Although this miracle may have important symbolic meaning, it also shows in a small and practical way that Jesus cares about the little things – the everyday things in life that matter to us humans. How have you seen ways that Jesus cares about the little things in our lives? How does this encourage you to trust Jesus in every part of your life, not just in the “big” decisions? In the other Gospels, Jesus says, “This is my body.... This is my blood” at the Last Supper. John does not include that in his account of the Last Supper. Instead, he presents Jesus as the Bread of Life in chapter 6 after the multiplication of the loaves. In the Old Testament, there are poetic passages that refer to wine as the “blood” of grapes (Gen. 49:11; Deut. 32:14). Is John similarly replacing the Last Supper cup of wine with this provision of wine at Cana? How is this miraculous sign of providing wine for all like his gift of himself to us in what Christians commemorate in “communion” or the “Eucharist”? Mary tells the servant, “Do whatever he tells you” (verse 5). How is that an appropriate guide to everything we do in our lives? Jesus gives the servant some instructions, and they do what he tells them to do, even though he doesn’t explain why. Have you ever had a situation where you felt that God was asking you to do something that was perplexing but that turned out to be the right thing to do? What happened? Is there a particular challenge you are facing right now, or a difficult part of your life, where God might be asking you to “Do whatever he tells you”? What might he be asking you to do? In verse 11, John calls what happened here the beginning of Jesus’s “signs.” A sign is something that points to something bigger than itself; it tells or proclaims something about the thing it is pointing to. John will show us 7 of Jesus’s signs – actions that are more than just physical miracles, actions that point to something bigger. In what way is this miracle a “sign”? Beyond just the physical miracle, what does it tell us or show us? It demonstrates the power of Jesus in such a way that his actions glorify God. John makes connections between Jesus and Moses in a variety of places in this Gospel. He has already suggested in chapter 1 that Jesus is greater than Moses (1:17). Moses’s first “plague” in Egypt was to turn water (the Nile River) into blood (Ex. 7:14-19). Jesus’s first sign is to turn water into wine. What might be the connection? What was the point or “sign” in Moses’s action and how was that similar to Jesus’s “sign”? Both signs called people to respond to God, who was speaking through the person standing in front of them. Through Moses, God was saying, “Let my people go.” Jesus is communicating the love of the Father. In verse 11, John tells us that this first sign revealed Jesus’s glory, “and his disciples believed in him.” John is suggesting that for some of the disciples, this was a turning point. Why might this have been a decisive factor that brought them to believe in him? How important are Jesus’s miracles or “signs” to your faith? What do they tell you or how do they support your faith? If you were at the wedding feast at Cana, through whose eyes would you have seen what Jesus did? (The disciples? The servers? The chief steward/headwaiter? The bridegroom?) And how might this miracle have affected you? John not only tells us about the surface level – what physically, literally happened – he also helps us see the deeper spiritual implications. Besides what we have already discussed here, what other spiritual insights do you see? What can you bring from this story into your everyday life? Take a step back and consider this: Imagine you were the water in the story of the wedding feast at Cana. You were poured into the jars used for purification, so you expect that you will be used to help a human who needs to be purified (besides ritual washings before meals, Jews went through purification rituals after having been defiled by contact with a dead animal, a grave, or something else that conferred ritual impurity). The humans are having a party, so you don’t really expect to be needed right now. It’s not the time for purification rituals. Suddenly, voices are talking near you, someone draws a ladleful of you out of the jar, and you realize that something has changed. You’re no longer just water for purification. You have been transformed into something more! Jesus has changed you into wine – something that will bring joy to others and glory to God. (That’s what Jesus does. He transforms us into something more than we were.) You, the water-turned-into-wine, catch a glimpse of the one who has done this. They call him Jesus, and he is smiling. He clearly loves being with other people. And you have made him happy by fulfilling the purpose he assigned to you. Jesus does this with us, too. He does it with everyone who follows him. Opportunities appear that may bring joy to others and glory to God. They may be big or small. It might be the chance to offer a smile or a cheery greeting to someone in need, which might bring them more joy than a glass of wine ever could. It might be a simple act of service; a fully engaged, eye-to-eye conversation; an effort to speak out for justice for those whose voices are not heard. In ways too numerous to count, God seeks to transform the situations we are in. He gives us the opportunity – the privilege! – of letting him first transform us into more than we were, so that we can do more than we were doing to convey the love of God to those around us. God is always finding opportunities for us to bring joy to others and make them more aware of the presence of God in their midst. How can we be ready and flexible, so that when Jesus calls us to do something different, we can fulfill his purposes even though we might not see the full picture of what God is doing? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

As Jesus gathers disciples, they try to decide who he is. He invites them to “Come and see.” Jesus says that to us, too. What is he inviting you to see right now? Previous Next John Index John 1:35-51 As Jesus gathers disciples, they try to decide who he is. He invites them to “Come and see.” Jesus says that to us, too. What is he inviting you to see right now? In the foreground, Simon Peter and Andrew kneel before Jesus; in the background, Jesus calls to James and John on the boat. Domenico Ghirlandaio. The Calling of the First Apostles . Sistine Chapel, The Vatican. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Domenico_Ghirlandaio_-_Llamada_a_los_primeros_ap%C3%B3stoles_(Capilla_Sixtina,_Roma,_1481-82).jpg . Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 John 1:35-51 Jesus’s first disciples In this section, John is giving us an abbreviated account of the calling of the disciples. A disciple is a follower of Jesus. (John never uses the word “apostles,” but he does refer to the Twelve in John 6:66-70.) John is telescoping into just a few “days” what took a longer period of time, as seen in the other Gospels. The reference to the “next day” in verse 35 is the first of a series of 3 days in which John shows Jesus gathering disciples and then going with them to the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-2), where, he says, Jesus first reveals his glory to them. Who calls whom to follow Jesus? Follow the linkages from person to person. Who issues the invitation and who responds in verses 35-36, 39, 40-41, 43, and 45-47? John the Baptist --> Andrew and someone else (could this be the Beloved Disciple?) Jesus --> Andrew and the other disciple of John Andrew --> his brother Simon (whom Jesus names Cephas/Peter) Jesus --> Philip --> Nathanael Notice the networking. The Bethsaida network was not unlike our alumni networks, LinkedIn and Facebook networks, etc. Notice that it is John the Baptist who first points people to Jesus. What does this tell us about John the Baptist? He is not possessive of his followers. He wants what is best for people, even if it means they leave him. What lesson might we learn from John the Baptist when we face situations where we might need to let a fellow believer move on from our circle so that he or she can go do something God wants them to do? What caused these people to follow Jesus? (Consider, for example, verses 31, 33, 39, 41-43.) This abbreviated story about who the calling of the disciples shows that Jesus calls people and people call people. What does this story suggest about our own potential role in encouraging people to become followers of Jesus? Think about how you became someone who follows Jesus. Who called you? (Jesus? Someone who was already involved in the Christian community? Both at different times?) What is your story of becoming a follower of Jesus? In verse 39, what is Jesus’s invitation? Jesus says, “Come and see.” Note that in verse 46, Philip also says, “Come and see.” Suppose you were there. If Jesus said to you, “Come and see,” would you have been willing to follow along and check him out? Why or why not? How can “come and see” be a useful way of inviting people to get to know Jesus? Is there someone in your life to whom you would like to say, “Come and see,” as a way of introducing them to your faith? If so, what would you invite them to “come and see”? Your Sunday worship? Your Bible Study? A service ministry you are involved in with other Christians? Something else? As our faith grows and develops, Jesus often has new things he wants us to “come and see.” In what ways is Jesus saying to you, “Come and see,” in your life today? In verse 41, Andrew tells his brother Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah.” Earlier, in verse 21, John the evangelist (i.e., the Gospel writer) used the Greek word Christos for Messiah, but here he is quoting Andrew so he uses the Aramaic word for Messiah that Andrew would have used; and then, since he is writing in Greek, he explains by providing the corresponding Greek word Christos . The fact that John uses the Aramaic word here suggests that this story was preserved from the way the original eyewitness told the story orally – which appears to be John telling us what he himself actually heard – whereas in the earlier passage he was passing on the testimony of John the Baptist. In verse 42, Cephas and Peter are the Aramaic and Greek forms, respectively, of the name Jesus gives to Simon. In verses 45-46, John’s first mention of Nazareth is part of a derogatory comment Nathanael makes about Jesus’s hometown. How do we sometimes dismiss things without a fair consideration? Notice that Nathanael goes from skeptical (verse 46) to questioning (verse 48) to faith (verse 49). How does his transformation model the typical process of becoming a follower of Jesus? How can we honor the fact that coming to faith is usually a process in order to be effective in trying to help people come to faith in Jesus? Look at verses 50-51 and the “greater things” Jesus says they will see. The reference to angels ascending and descending comes from Genesis 28:10-17. Read Genesis 28:10-17 . What happens in this story about Jacob, and what does it say about the angels? When Jacob, in his dream, sees angels going back and forth between heaven and earth, he concludes that this place where he slept is the “gateway to heaven” (Gen. 3:17) – what people in our day might call a “portal.” In John 1:51, Jesus says that he is the portal, the staircase, the gateway to heaven. In what ways is Jesus a gateway to heaven? The reference to the “Son of Man” comes from Daniel 7:13-14. Read Daniel 7:13-14 . What does Daniel say, and who did the Jews think it was referring to? The Messiah. When you put it all together, what is Jesus saying about himself in John 1:51? In John 1:50-51, the first time Jesus uses the word “you,” the word is singular – i.e., spoken directly to Nathanael. But the other two times he uses the word “you” in these verses, it is in the plural: “you all” – i.e., everyone who is listening. Jesus’s claims about himself are not some kind of private revelation. They are meant for everyone, for every follower of his to hear – including you and me. How can we incorporate this understanding of Jesus into our lives? The Prologue (John 1:1-18) gave us many descriptions of Jesus. These passages add more: Verse 38: Rabbi, which is Hebrew for “teacher” (literally, great one or master). Verse 41: Messiah, which is Hebrew for “anointed one” – the word that in Greek is Christos or “Christ.” Verse 49: King of Israel. (And also, Son of God, but we already saw that in the Prologue.) Verse 51: Son of Man. Which of the descriptions of Jesus in verses 38-51 is most significant for you right now in your life? (Teacher? Messiah/Christ? King? Son of Man?) Explain. How are John 1:1-18 and John 1:19-51 different? How are they similar? What can you take away from these passages that might affect how you live your live this week or this year? Take a step back and consider this: In verse 47, Jesus says that Nathanael is a person in whom there is no “deceit” (NRSV) or “duplicity” (NABRE) or “guile” (RSV). Nathanael is genuine: What he shows you is really who he is. Let’s consider what this means on 2 levels: Spiritually, being genuine is a necessary component of coming to faith. We need to face up to who we are relative to who God is and be honest with God about our need for him. A lack of genuineness can hinder our growth in the faith. If we try to play games with God, pretend that we are holier or more faithful than we are, or put on an act of piousness, if what we reveal to God on the surface does not reflect what is underneath (of course, God see it all!), then spiritual growth is difficult if not impossible. And in our relationships, one of the things that most undermines a romantic relationship or a friendship or the opportunity to do good in the workplace is an unwillingness to be honest and transparent – to rely on deceit or guile to try to get what we want. When Jesus says that Nathanael is a person without deceit or duplicity, what does that tell you about the way he relates to other people? Why is Nathanael’s approach important for relationships? Jesus is also describing Nathanael’s lack of guile in his approach to God. How is that important? Would you like to be known as a person in whom there is no deceit? Explain. Nathanael was so honest that he even spoke aloud his negative opinion of Nazareth. Is it necessary to be brutally honest at all times in order to be a person with no deceit, or are there ways to keep some of our critical thoughts to ourselves and still be genuine? How do we find a balance that involves living without deceit but still being kind? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

The Gospel of John shows us Jesus Christ, who is both God and man and Son of the Father. It provides spiritual insights that go beyond what the other Gospels have, so that we can believe and have life. Previous Next John Index Introduction to John The Gospel of John shows us Jesus Christ, who is both God and man and Son of the Father. It provides spiritual insights that go beyond what the other Gospels have, so that we can believe and have life. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 Introduction: Background Regarding the Gospel of John (This background information is a synthesis of the scholarship presented in many sources, including the following: Brown, Introduction , pp. 362-376; Brown, The Community , pp. 22-24, 166-182; Bruce, pp. 1-12; Flanagan, pp. 101-104, 119-121; Perkins, pp. 942-950; Sloyan, pp. 8-28; Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , pp. 157-158; Ellis, pp. 1230-1231; and New American Bible, revised edition , New Testament, pp. 142-144.) Why was the Gospel of John written? The Gospel of John tells us why it was written: John wants us to believe and have life: At the end of chapter 20, John says that he could have written many more things about Jesus. “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31, NRSV). Around AD 324, Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea, tried to summarize everything he could find about the origins of the Gospels. In his Ecclesial History , he quotes from a document written by an earlier bishop, Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215), that we no longer have: John tells about events before John the Baptist was arrested that are not in the other Gospels: Clement said that John wrote his Gospel partly because the first 3 Gospels did not tell about the beginning of Jesus’s ministry but only covered the final year of Jesus’s ministry after John the Baptist was arrested (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book III , Chapter 24, pars. 7-8). Eusebius reports: “John accordingly, in his Gospel, records the deeds of Christ which were performed before the Baptist was cast into prison, but the other three evangelists mention the events which happened after that time” (par. 12). John wrote a “spiritual gospel”: Eusebius writes: “But, last of all, John, perceiving that the external facts had been made plain in the Gospel, being urged by his friends, and inspired by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel. This is the account of Clement.” (Eusebius, Book VI , Chapter 14, pars. 6-7) This suggests that John is going beyond the external, physical, material facts and exploring the meaning of what Jesus did He is exploring on a deeper level than the other Gospels, not just providing strictly what Jesus said and did. We might call this the “theological” Gospel, because it focuses on the symbolic nature of Jesus’s life and the metaphors that help us understand the true nature of Jesus. We can see this in the ways John talks about Jesus being the light, the way, the truth, the life, the resurrection, the good shepherd, etc. How important are metaphors like the light, the way, the truth, the life, etc. in understanding who Jesus is? How do you think this Gospel might help you believe in Jesus and have life? Who is the author? We are not sure of the identity of the author of the Gospel of John. None of the Gospel authors put their name on their Gospel. The titles that say they are “according to Matthew,” “according to Mark,” etc., were added early on and are not part of the original documents. There are two puzzles regarding the authorship of the Gospel of John: John’s Gospel never refers to “John,” but it does talk about “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who scholars call the “Beloved Disciple.” Was this Beloved Disciple the same as John the apostle, or someone else? John the apostle and his brother James were the sons of Zebedee. This Gospel never refers to James or John by name, and it only refers to the sons of Zebedee once: in an epilogue (chapter 21) not written by the author of the rest of the book. Many scholars believe that the Beloved Disciple was the apostle John, the son of Zebedee. A smaller number of scholars think it was Lazarus or Thomas. A significant group of scholars think it was another disciple not named in the other Gospels: an eyewitness who was there through it all but was not one of the “Twelve” and only rose to prominence later. The simplest conclusion is that “the one whom Jesus loved” is the apostle John, the son of Zebedee. The Beloved Disciple appears in many places where we might expect John the apostle. He reclines at Jesus’s side at the last Supper (13:21-26). He is treated as a leader (20:1-2). He is at the foot of the cross and took Mary into his house (19:25-27). And he is the disciple who it is suggested would not be martyred as Peter was (21:17-24). These are all things that fit John the Apostle. So concluding that it was John the apostle requires the fewest additional assumptions, even though many scholars prefer the idea that it was an unknown eyewitness. Who wrote the Gospel of John? Was it the eyewitness Beloved Disciple/John the apostle, or was it another person from John’s community drawing on John’s oral accounts? Irenaeus, writing around AD 180, says: “John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia” ( Irenaeus , par. 1). Eusebius, reporting what Clement had written, says that “the apostle John . . . gave in his Gospel an account of the period which had been omitted by the earlier evangelists” (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book III , Chapter 24, par. 11). The belief that John the apostle provided the Gospel of John has a long history, and it is likely that he was the source of the eyewitness testimony (unless the scholars who think the Beloved Disciple was another, anonymous disciple are right). But that may not tell us who actually put pen to papyrus (or parchment). Several other facts complicate the question of who wrote the Gospel of John: Chapter 21 of John’s Gospel is clearly an epilogue added by someone else. Chapter 20 has a clear ending in verses 30-31. Chapter 21 tells several stories, including the story of the conversation about whether Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved would be martyred. It tells us that the story came from the beloved disciple, and “we know that his testimony is true” (21:24). The use of the word “we” indicates that some or all of chapter 21 was added by a group. Scholars talk a lot about the “Johannine community” – the community of which John was a central member in Ephesus. There was another John – John the “presbyter” or “elder” – who was also a highly respected member of the community at Ephesus. Some scholars, going all the way back to the time of Eusebius, have thought that John the Elder wrote the Book of Revelation; some also think he wrote, or at least compiled the final version of, the Gospel of John. All of the Gospels were developed through a process as they transitioned from oral stories to written accounts that compiled those stories. None of the Gospels appeared from out of nowhere. The stories were first told orally. Then, someone wrote them down. It appears that the 4 Gospels have material that was gathered from a variety of sources – probably mostly oral sources, though there also may have been written documents that were partial Gospels or collections of sayings or stories. So even if John the Apostle was the primary source for this material, it might have gone through stages, including possibly more than one written stage, before it arrived at the final version we have. Many scholars today think that the Gospel of John was the work of several people in the Johannine community. They think there was an original “John” who was an eyewitness; that there was an “evangelist” who first wrote a Gospel that built on what the original eyewitness reported; and that a redactor put it into its final form. Some think that there was a version written in Aramaic before the first version in Greek, but others find no evidence for that. We will call the author “John,” but whether it was John the apostle or an unnamed disciple whom Jesus loved doesn’t chang the outcome. What matters is that at its root, it came from an eyewitness, and the result – the Gospel we have today – was inspired by God. Where did the author of the Gospel of John get his material? The original source was an eyewitness. The Gospel shows great familiarity with Palestinian geography (for example, Solomon’s portico in the Temple area; the pavement called Gabbatha where Pilate decided Jesus’s fate; that there were 2 towns called Bethany; the pool of Siloam, which was only rediscovered in 2005; the pool of Bethesda with its 5 porticos, rediscovered in the 1800s; etc.); the details of Jesus’s trial and crucifixion (that 4 soldiers gambled for Jesus’s robe; the blood and water that poured from his side; the weight of the myrrhs and aloes used to anoint his body; etc.), and many other details (that the boy with the loaves and fishes had barley loaves; that they had rowed 3 or 4 miles before Jesus came walking to them on the water; that Judas objected that the perfumed oil used to anoint Jesus’s feet could have been sold for 300 days’ wages; quotes of statements made by Thomas; etc.). This original eyewitness had a unique perspective, separate from the other Gospel authors. Most of the material in the Gospel of John is different from what is in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) – not contradictory (except in one significant place), just different. There is some overlap with Mark, but that could just relate to the fact that different eyewitnesses saw the same events. Some of the material in the Gospel of John appears to come from the reflection of the Johannine community and not necessarily all from the mouth of Jesus while he walked the Earth. That would be consistent with the idea that John’s is a “spiritual gospel” that presents more of an interpretation or analysis of who Jesus is, not just what he did and said. The Johannine community appears to have placed a strong emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit (the Paraclete), so some of the material may not have come directly from Jesus but from later revelations the Johannine community received that they believed were revealed to them by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. So, for example, in John 3:16-21, did Jesus say, “For God so loved the world that he sent his only son,” or is that an explanation by John? The Greek of that time did not use quotation marks, so we don’t know whether it is a quote or an explanation. But maybe it doesn’t matter, because either way, we believe it is part of the inspired Word of God. To what extent does it matter to you whether the Gospel of John was written by John the apostle or another eyewitness? To what extent does it matter to you whether the final version reflects a process of editing and refinement by other writers in the Christian community, or not? Do these questions affect whether the result that we have today is the Word of God? Explain. When was the Gospel written? Most scholars think the Gospel of John was written in the AD 90s, but a small case could be made that it was written before AD 70. John does not offer many textual clues for when it was written. Scholars think Matthew was written after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70 in part because Matthew’s Gospel makes some statements that sound like the author knew that it had happened. John does not give us that kind of clue. There is one spot where John uses a phrase that could indicate that it was written before AD 70. John 5:2 says, “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool....” It would be odd for John to use the word “is” if he knew that the city had been destroyed and the pool was no longer there. However, the Gospel could merely be relating the story as it would have been told orally and handed down for decades, so a single “is” is not much evidence to base a conclusion on. John presents what is called a “high Christology” – a high view of Jesus’s identity as God. Many scholars believe that it took time for the understanding to develop that Jesus was not just the Messiah/Christ but God in the flesh. That argues for a later date. The latest it could have been written was the early 100s. For a while, some scholars argued that John’ Gospel wasn’t written until as late as 150 or later. That idea was shot down when a fragment of papyrus was discovered in Egypt that contains a few verses from chapter 18 of John’s Gospel and that is considered to be dated between 100 and 150. Since it would have taken some time for that copy of the Gospel to have reached Africa, John was probably published no later than the early 100s ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , p. 157; Bruce, pp. 6-7). On a separate note, people sometimes wonder whether the Gospels might have been doctored or rewritten over the centuries by people or factions who had agendas of one kind or another – for example, after the time of Constantine when Christianity became the state religion. The facts don’t support such a theory: We have a papyrus dating from the end of the 2 nd century (the late 100s, only 100 years after the Gospel of John was probably written) that contains most of the first 14 chapters of John’s Gospel and parts of the rest. Another papyrus from the end of the 2nd century contains most of Luke and the first half of John. We also have a papyrus from the early 3 rd century (100 years before Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire) that contains portions of all 4 Gospels and Acts of the Apostles (Bruce, pp. 6-7). The Gospels we have today are not hugely different from what the Church had in the 2 nd and early 3 rd centuries. Where was the Gospel written? There is widespread agreement that the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus. There is a large amount of evidence that John lived in Ephesus for much of his later life, with Jesus’s mother Mary. What do we know about John’s audience and community? Many scholars have written whole books presenting their theories about the Johannine community. These scholars try to read between the lines of John’s Gospel and compare it to what we know or think we might know about what was going on the Church at that time, to extrapolate what we might conclude about John’s community. The most important points are these: Many scholars think that John’s Gospel was written mainly for Jews and Jewish Christians, though not all agree. Although it does not quote the Old Testament as frequently as other Gospels, John’s Gospel would be nearly unintelligible to people who lack an understanding of Jewish traditions and concepts. For example, this is the Gospel with all the “I am” statements that echo God’s name for himself in the Old Testament. Non-Jews would tend to miss the import of those statements. John also focuses on Jesus’s attendance at Jewish feast days in Jerusalem, without bothering to explain them. John’s community appears to have faced intense opposition from Jews who did not believe in Jesus. Those Jews kicked Jewish Christians out of the synagogues. When John speaks negatively of “the Jews,” modern people tend to wonder why, since John was a Jew. He is talking about the leaders of the non-Christian Jews who persecuted Christians. It might be like a White person speaking negatively about “the Whites” who persecuted Black people in the South for 100 years after the Civil War. He doesn’t mean all Jews, just those who rejected Jesus and mistreated Christians. Many scholars think John’s community may have included Samaritans who converted to Christianity. They reach this conclusion because of John’s inclusion of the story of the Samaritan woman and the conversion of her town in John 4 and the lack of any negative references to Samaritans in his Gospel (Matthew and Luke each have one or more negative references to Samaritans). The idea would be that John originally gathered converts in Palestine, Samaritan converts joined him, and they all eventually moved to Ephesus because of Jewish opposition in Palestine. If indeed John’s community included Samaritans, that could have precipitated even more Jewish persecution since there was a longstanding hatred of Samaritans in the Jewish community. John’s community may have had a special emphasis on the Holy Spirit. John’s Gospel has much more material on the Holy Spirit than the other Gospels do. John’s community may have had frequent theological disagreements with other Christians and may eventually have had a split inside their own community. Scholars think the Johannine community was critical of what scholars call “crypto-Christians” – Jewish Christians who downplayed their Christian faith in order to remain in the synagogues. They see hints in his Gospel that he may have had disagreements with Christians who did not share his high Christology or who did not place such a high emphasis on the ongoing role of the Holy Spirit. And the New Testament letter 1 John, which might have been written as few as 10 years after the Gospel of John, indicates that the Johannine community eventually faced a serious internal disagreement that led to a painful split in which some Christians in the community left. In what ways do you think the experiences and difficulties the early Church faced might have shaped what the Gospels writers decided to include or not bother to include in their Gospels? Themes in the Gospel of John The Gospel of John is marked by a series of 7 “signs” – wondrous deeds Jesus does that demonstrate his authority – beginning with his turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (2:1-11). The first chapter of John provides a first mention of many themes that will recur later in the Gospel. These themes include: Jesus is the Son of God the Father. Jesus is one with the Father and existed before he was born as a human. Jesus reveals the Father. Some people do not know the Father because they refuse to accept Jesus. Jesus’s followers are children of God. Jesus brings life. Jesus brings light. Jesus brings the truth. Many people and events provide testify that Jesus is who he says he is. John develops additional themes as the Gospel progresses , include these: There is a Third Person of the Triune God, the Spirit, who will be with Jesus’s followers when Jesus returns to heaven. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus will be “lifted up” to bring people to himself. God loves the world and shows his love in Jesus’s sacrifice of himself. Jesus’s disciples are called to follow him, obey him, and love one another. Which of these themes of John’s Gospel intrigue you the most, and why? What do you hope to learn by studying John’s Gospel? What questions do you hope to have answered as you study? If you could ask John one question, what would you ask, and why? How do you think he would respond? Take a step back and consider this: Atheists criticize belief in the Gospels because they have such different perspectives, which they call contradictions. If God inspired them all, how could the authors have such different versions of the story? The differences do not trouble me. In fact, if the Gospels were all perfectly aligned, I would be more skeptical. If every book told the story in exactly the same way, it would make me wonder if some person or group doctored or coordinated all the writings. I can’t imagine that a genuine set of Scriptures could be any other way than our Scriptures are: different in tiny details because of the humanness of the human authors and how they obtained and crafted their material. The only way the accounts could be entirely identical and still genuine is if God turned the original authors into robots taking dictation from him, and that would go directly against what it means to be a human made in the image of God with freedom, a unique personality, unique experiences, and unique ways of telling what we know to be the truth. Not everyone has such confidence in God: to believe that he could work through humans to develop a collection of books and letters that are inspired by him and have sacred and eternal value even though they were written by human authors working with their various perspectives and limitations. But that is why we say God is the author of the sacred Scriptures even as humans were the authors of the various books. God, in his awesomeness, honored human freedom even as he guided the result. What does the fact that God used such different people to produce the 4 Gospels tell you about God’s confidence in working through human beings to achieve his purposes? How can that give you greater confidence that God can work through you? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

The religious authorities want to know who John the Baptist is. John is more interested in identifying who Jesus is. That's the central question for us, too. [John 1:19-28; 1:29-34] Previous Next John Index John 1:19-34 The religious authorities want to know who John the Baptist is. John is more interested in identifying who Jesus is. That's the central question for us, too. Giovanni di Paolo (1398–1482). Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God) . Circa 1455-60. Detail. Art Institute of Chicago, Public domain CC0, https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16159/ecce-agnus-dei . Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 John 1:19-28 What John the Baptist says about himself This man who was baptizing people in the desert is often called John the Baptist. People sometimes call him John the Baptizer, to avoid any confusion between him and the denominations of Christians known as Baptists that arose many centuries later. Who challenges John the Baptizer? Priests and Levites (verse 19), and then Pharisees (verse 24). Priests offered the sacrifices in the Temple. Levites served in the Temple but not as priests. Pharisees were a religious sect within Judaism that emphasized zealous adherence to the Torah and its purity laws. Who does John say he is not? He says he is not the “Christ or “Messiah.” “Messiah” is the word that Jewish people would have used in their own language to refer to the one whose coming they were awaiting, who they expected would bring them liberation. The Hebrew word “Messiah” means “Anointed One.” The Greek word Christos , from which we get our word “Christ,” is the Greek word for “Anointed One.” He says he is not Elijah. In the Old Testament, Elijah does not die; instead, in 2 Kings 2:1-12, he is described as being taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. And in a prophecy in Malachi 3:23-24, God says he is sending Elijah the prophet before the day of the Lord comes (when the Messiah comes). The scholars in the Jewish tradition interpreted these passages literally and expected Elijah himself to return before the Messiah comes. In Matthew 11:14 and Mark 9:11-13, Jesus indicates that John has played the role that people expected of Elijah. But John knows he is not literally Elijah and says so. He says he is not the prophet. In Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Moses says that God will raise up a prophet like Moses for the people. Again, this was part of Jewish tradition and the Jews of Jesus’s time waited expectantly for this Prophet. Who does John the Baptist say he is? John is quoting Isaiah 40:3. Read Isaiah 40:1-5 . Why do you think John the Baptist sees himself in this description? How is this a fitting description of John the Baptist? In verse 26, what does John say he does? In verse 27, how does John the Baptizer distinguish himself from “the one who is to come,” which is Jesus? How is this a fitting description for Jesus? John 1:29-34 What does John testify about Jesus? Notice that in verse 29, John the evangelist says that this happens “on the next day.” John divides his episodes into days. Day one: If John is not the One, what is his role? Day two: Here is the One. How does John describe Jesus? Let’s look at each of the things John says. Notice that John telescopes into one paragraph here what happens over a longer period of time in the Synoptic Gospels. John is trying to get to the spiritual meaning of what was happening. What is the significance of calling Jesus the Lamb of God? This image probably evokes the Passover or “paschal” lamb whose blood saved the Israelites from the death of the firstborns in Egypt before Pharaoh finally let them go (Ex. 12). It may also evoke the Suffering Servant in Isaiah who is led like a lamb to the slaughter (Is. 53:7) and whose life is an offering for sin (Is. 53:10). What is the significance of saying that he takes away the sin of the world (note that the word “sin” is singular – John is referring to the whole state of sinfulness, not just specific sins)? What is the significance of saying that “he existed before me”? What is the significance of saying that the Spirit descended on him like a dove and remains on him? What is the significance of saying that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit? What is the significance of saying he is the Son of God? John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus (Luke 1:36ff), so scholars have puzzled over the fact that in verse 33 he says that he had not known Jesus (he uses a special form of the past tense). If they were relatives as Luke says, why does he say this? There are two main possibilities: John may merely be saying that he had not “known” in the sense that he had not realized previously that Jesus was the Messiah. John may never have spent much time with Jesus. Jesus’s early years were spent in Egypt and his family settled in the north, in Galilee, a multi-day walk from the territory where John’s family lived. They were “relatives,” but not necessarily close cousins. As an adult, at some point John went off and lived in the desert. So it is possible that they never interacted with each other before Jesus showed up to be baptized. In verses 33-34, how does John explain why he is so confident that what he is saying is true, (even though he had not known previously)? Looking over all the ways that John the Baptist describes Jesus, which description is most important to you and your life, and why? (John says: he is the Lamb of God, he takes away the sin of the world, he existed before me, the Spirit is on him, he will baptize with the Spirit, he is the Son of God.) And can you describe a time when that understanding of Jesus especially mattered for you? Take a step back and consider this: Identities are important. Sometimes, it matters a great deal who you are – or are not. The religious authorities want to know who John is (or who he thinks he is). John the Baptist wants his followers, and everyone listening to him, to know who Jesus is. Sometimes we want to know who someone is so that we can put them in the proper box in our mental assessment of who’s who in the world. That can be helpful (“this teenager is one of my students; I need to help him”) or unhelpful (“I’ve never seen this teenager here; he must be up to no good”). John the Baptist not only identifies Jesus; he testifies (verse 34) that Jesus is the Son of God. This role of testifying or bearing witness is sometimes crucial (“this is one of my most diligent students; he’s here to talk with me about his scholarship essay”). If we have experienced that Jesus takes away sins, is filled with the Spirit, or is the Son of God, we can testify to what we have seen, as John the Baptist did. How would you introduce Jesus to someone who does not know him? How would you describe him – what words would you use to identify him – so that others might be motivated to learn more about him? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

Jesus cleanses the Temple, removing the sacrificial lambs he will one day take the place of. Where do we need his cleansing in the “temple” of our own life? [John 2:13-17; 2:18-25] Previous Next John Index John 2:13-25 Jesus cleanses the Temple, removing the sacrificial lambs he will one day take the place of. Where do we need his cleansing in the “temple” of our own life? From Histoire Sainte , an incomplete set of hand-coloured lithographs depicting scenes from the Bible and the History of Christianity, published in Paris by Delagrave and printed by Becquet frères. Circa 1850-1880. The British Museum, London (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1981-U-56-134?selectedImageId=1097590001 ). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Histoire_Sainte_(BM_1981,U.56-134_60).jpg . Tom Faletti November 8, 2025 John 2:13-17 The cleansing of the Temple Why does Jesus go to Jerusalem? In John’s Gospel, Jesus spends much more time in Jerusalem than he does in the other Gospels. He goes from Bethany east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing, to Galilee (where he grew up), where he starts gathering disciples, and now to Jerusalem for Passover. Passover was the annual spring religious feast celebrating God’s liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It was marked by the sacrificing of lambs to commemorate how they were protected when the angel of death “passed over” the houses of the Israelites that had the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. In the Gospel of John, Jesus goes to Jerusalem 3 times for Passover, suggesting that his public ministry lasted more than 2 years, and perhaps longer. Luke tells us (Luke 2:41) that Jesus’s parents brought him to Passover in Jerusalem every year as a child, and presumably he continued that practice throughout his adult life. What does Jesus do in Jerusalem? John places the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, whereas the Synoptics place it at the end. The Gospels writers arranged their stories to achieve their theological purposes, not to tell the story in chronological order. In the Synoptics, this event is the precipitating factor that leads to the final murder plot against Jesus. For John, the precipitating factor is the raising of Lazarus. There are other, more minor differences that at a minimum suggest that the story was passed down orally in two slightly different forms from different eyewitnesses. Some scholars think he cleared the Temple twice, once at the beginning of his ministry and again at the end. What were the sheep, oxen, and doves used for, in the Temple? Oxen, sheep, and doves were sacrificed in the Temple. You could buy the appropriate animals for your sacrifice, so that you would not have to travel to Jerusalem with your own animals for sacrifice. Also, if you brought your own animal to the Temple, the authorities might reject it, saying it was blemished, and tell you to buy one of theirs. The Synoptic Gospels and secular historical accounts indicate that people were often fleeced by the merchants in the Temple. Why were there moneychangers in the Temple? (It’s understandable if you do not know the answer to this question.) The moneychangers were there to accept payment for the Temple tax that every adult male was obligated to pay annually. The Jewish leaders accepted only certain coins – for example, they did not accept Roman coins, which carried the image of Caesar – so you needed a moneychanger to exchange your money for the accepted coins. All of this business was conducted in the outer court of the Temple complex – the Court of the Gentiles – making it a noisy place not conducive to prayer. Jews could proceed into the courts that were closer to the Holy of Holies, but Gentiles had to stop here and could not proceed further in order to find a quiet place to pray. What reason does Jesus give in verse 16 for his action? Jesus does not want God’s house to be a marketplace. It had lost it sense of reverence as economic concerns overshadowed the primary purpose of the Temple as a place where people could interact with God. Jesus’s action reminds many scholars of the last verse of the book of Zechariah (Zech. 14:21), which prophesies that when the Lord comes there will no longer be merchants in the house of the Lord. What do you think Jesus wants God’s house to look like? How might economics, money, and market considerations affect how the Church as a whole and our local churches operate? How might those concerns interfere with our primary purposes as God’s people? John may have a deeper point in mind. Sheep and oxen were essential to the Temple’s role as a place of sacrifice. Therefore, what might be the deeper symbolism in driving them out of the Temple? What would it mean if there were no longer any sacrificial animals in the Temple? There could only be no animals if Temple sacrifice was no longer necessary. This could happen because Jesus is here and will sacrifice himself as the “Lamb of God,” as John the Baptist called him in 2:29 and 2:36. There may be even more to this, in the mind of John the evangelist. In the other Gospels, the Last Supper is on Passover night . But in John’s Gospel the Last Supper is on the night before Passover, and Jesus is dying on the Cross in his ultimate act of sacrifice just as the Passover lambs are being slaughtered in the Temple in preparation for that evening’s Passover meals. Jesus’s sacrifice will make the whole sacrificial system in the Temple unnecessary, which would obviate the need for merchants buying and selling animals for sacrifice. That would bring to fulfillment Zecharia’s prophecy that when the Lord comes there will no longer be merchants in the Temple. Verse 17 tells us that Jesus’s action reminds his disciples of Psalm 69:9 (69:10 in the NABRE), which talked about zeal for God’s house. They were struck by the zeal with which Jesus cleansed the Temple. Why do you think Jesus cleared the Temple? What is your reaction to what Jesus did? John 2:18-25 Jesus is challenged by the Jewish leaders In verse 18, John refers to “the Jews,” a phrase he will use repeatedly throughout his Gospel. Sometimes, he is just referring to the Jewish people generally (for example, in John 2:13: “The Passover of the Jews was near”). But other times, as in verse 18, he is referring specifically to the Jews who opposed Jesus: the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem. John’s references to “the Jews” are never a general indictment of all Jews. John and Jesus and Jesus’s mother Mary and many people in John’s community were Jews. John was not speaking against all Jews. What was the reaction of the Jewish leaders to Jesus’s cleansing of the Temple? Why do they challenge him? What do they want? What “evidence” does he offer them? John often tells stories where someone misunderstands something Jesus says. What does Jesus mean by the “temple,” and what do the Jewish leaders think he means? Why do you think Jesus answers their challenge in this way? Note: If this confrontation seems premature, we need to remember that John is not necessarily telling us everything in chronological order. Where would you have been in this scene? (One of the disciples? One of the people challenging Jesus? A moneychanger or merchant? A Temple leader? A bystander? Or would you not even have been in the Temple?) Consider the person you just named in the previous question. How do you think they would have reacted to the clearing of the Temple and the discussion that followed? What does this story say to you? Saint Paul said that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, who resides in us (1 Cor. 6:19). Is there any part of the “temple” of your life that needs some cleansing by Jesus? What would he like to do? How do we let Jesus clear away the distractions so that we are proper temples of the Holy Spirit? Take a step back and consider this: Verse 23 tells us that Jesus did other signs while he was in Jerusalem that John does not tell us about, and many people began to believe in his name – but Jesus did not trust these apparent declarations of faith. The New Testament scholar Raymond Brown wrote that Jesus “did not trust their faith because it stopped at the miraculous aspect of the sign and did not perceive what was signified” (Brown, p. 341). In other words, they saw only the miraculous action and not the message or meaning to which the sign pointed. We are called to look for what God’s miraculous signs “signify” – the deeper messages they point to, the eternal truths that lie behind what God has done at the surface or physical level. The human tendency is to stop at the surface of what God has done and is doing. We can only reach our full calling when we go beyond the surface and embrace what the signs signify. How can we train ourselves to look for the deeper spiritual meaning behind what happens on the surface of our lives? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John Index Next

We explore how to apply the Bible to everyday life, with free Bible studies for individuals and small groups and a positive approach to issues of faith and justice. See our full set of Bible Studies for the Gospel of Matthew Read our Latest Blog Post Take a look at our Jubilee Year 2025 Study Guide Based on the Word of God The Faith Explored website is for everyone who has an open heart: Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals, and Orthodox; people who are active in their church, have stepped away, or have never found a church home; people who are familiar with the Bible and people who are just starting out; seekers, doubters, agnostics, explorers, and the curious. Everyone is welcome here at Faith Explored. We explore what the Bible says and means, how it applies to our everyday lives, how God is calling us to care for each other and extend his love and justice to everyone, and how we can respond more fully to God's invitation to become like him in every part of our lives. Come join us as we explore! Faith Explored Exploring how to apply the Bible to our lives today Applied to Real Life Bible Study Materials Resources for Justice Resources for Growth Our Latest Posts We are continually developing new materials that apply God’s Word to our lives and our world. Here is a sample of our recent articles: Gratitude Can Change Your Life Developing a habit of gratitude can rewire your brain and change your life and the lives of others. Take a look at this video to see gratitude in action (warning: it will put a smile on your face but might also tug at your heart). And consider these ideas for how to give thanks. Tom Faletti 2 days ago God Loves You More God loves you more than the birds, more than the moon and stars, more than you can imagine. Listen to Matthew West as he expresses these truths in his powerful song “More.” Then accept and embrace God's love, and shine brightly. Tom Faletti Nov 18 Have a Yes Mindset: Let Your Default Setting Be to Say Yes to the Good I was blessed with wonderful parents whose default position was to say Yes if they could. Jesus modeled the Yes mindset. Those who refuse to provide SNAP benefits for the hungry show a No mindset. We all have to decide whether we approach life with a Yes mindset or a No mindset, and for whose benefit we are most likely to say Yes. Tom Faletti Nov 9 Read More Articles Subscribe to Be Notifed of New Posts Bible Study Materials Our Bible Studies provide study materials that equip small groups and individuals to study the Bible confidently and apply it to their lives in practical ways, with thought-provoking questions, background commentary where needed, and challenging reflections. Explore Our Bible Study Materials Justice The Justice section of the website explores God’s repeated call for justice throughout the Old and New Testaments and how we can respond to that call by working for justice in our time. God is not willing to settle for only saving our individual lives; He also wants to transform our societies, businesses, governments, and cultures. This section explores how we can participate in that work. Respond to God's Call for Justice Christian Faith The life of a follower of Christ is an adventure. The Christian Faith section of our website addresses a variety of questions and challenges that arise as we try to live the Christian life. Each article focuses on one aspect of the faith or one component of Christian living, such as joy or forgiveness. The goal is to help us understand how we can put our faith into action in every area of our lives. Grow in the Christian Faith and Life God's Purposes God’s Purposes explores what God is trying to do in our world, why He doesn’t make life easy for us, and how each of us is called to join in God’s work to transform the world in our own unique ways. Consider God’s Purposes for Your Life Images at top of Bible, individual with Bible, and small group provided by Wix. All other images by Tom Faletti.