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PART ONE // WEEKS 1–6

“These are written so that you may believe that is the , the Son of , and that by believing you may have life in his name.” :31

For a great overview, watch the Project video “John, Part 1 of 2” here: https://bibleproject.com/explore/john/#!

© 2020 by Redemption Church Tempe All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.

2 Table of Contents

4 Introduction

5 How to Use this Study Guide

6 Conversational Prayer

7 Week One: The Word

10 Week Two: Among Us

13 Week Three: The

16 Week Four: Follow Me

19 Week Five: The Winemaker

22 Week Six: The Temple

25 Notes

Table of Contents // 3 introduction

The Gospel according to John is an eyewitness account of the Good News about Jesus. Early church tradition attributes the authorship of this gospel to the apostle John. Though John was in the small inner circle of Jesus’s friends, he preferred to identify simply as “the whom Jesus loved” (John 20:21,24). His firsthand, front-row seat to the life of Jesus gives credibility to his words.

John’s heart in writing this book was to bear witness to what he saw and heard as he lived and walked with Jesus. He states his purpose near the end of the book: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31).

First-century followers of , like John and his friends, were not only familiar with the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures (the ) that pointed to the coming but they were actively looking for the One whose life matched up with the signs they knew would identify the Christ.* Included in their daily prayers was the longing that “the seed of David would flourish speedily.”**

Jesus met the criteria. He performed signs and wonders that only One sent from God could do. He connected the pieces of God’s story like he was the author (which, of course, he was). He healed the sick, walked on water, and raised the dead. Beyond that, he ushered in the next movement of God’s eternal story. He moved beyond familiar Old practices with the of God and saw people through the lens of redemptive potential. He changed whole lives around, including John’s.

John wrote these stories so that we could come to know, as he and his friends discovered, that Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of God. His goal was not just to fill our heads with convincing information but to invite us into God’s story. John’s day-to-day life with Jesus over a three-year friendship shaped the rest of his life. He wanted us to know the things Jesus said and did so that we too could be changed by him and experience life in his name.

A quick note about the distinctive purpose and writing style of John’s gospel is helpful before we dig in. The first three —Matthew, Mark, and Luke—are called the . They follow similar narrative patterns and describe the events of Jesus’s life in a sequential manner. convey Jesus’s compassion and love for those he encountered and his power over brokenness.

John’s purpose was not so much to outline a timeline as it was to present Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s eternal story. He wanted his readers to know that Jesus truly is the Son of God. Miracles, while full of compassion and love, are also signs that confirm Jesus as the Messiah. Stories often connect to an “” statement about who Jesus is for the whole world. Israel was waiting for a to usher in a new Kingdom, and John wrote to show us that Jesus is the One the world was waiting for.

*Both Christ in Greek and Messiah in Hebrew are defined as “anointed.” When God appointed a king to rule over Israel, he was often anointed with oil as a symbol of God’s choosing. When Jesus is referred to as the Christ, he is identified as God’s promised Messiah, the Anointed One, the coming King. ** See https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Prayers/Daily_Prayers/Shemoneh_Esrei/David/david.html

Introduction // 4 how to use this study guide

This study guide aligns with our current Sunday teaching series on the Gospel of John. It is designed for personal study and as a resource for Redemption communities and Bible study groups. The consistent discipline of immersing ourselves in Scripture is the goal, so make sure to begin with the Bible reading each week. RC and study group leaders are free to choose the sections of the guide that best align with the focus of their group. study “THESE ARE WRITTEN. . .” Read through the passage in a few translations of the Bible. Listen to an audio version if that works best for you. What questions do you have? Is there an image that is central to this passage? What does this story teach you about Jesus? Imagine the passage as it may have actually happened. Follow the prompts to consider the story from the perspective of someone who was there and experienced the story firsthand. signs of the messiah “THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD,. . .” John’s purpose was to present Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s eternal story. Read through the Old Testament Scripture passages in this section. What signs were given that verified the authenticity of the Messiah? How did Jesus prove he was the One those first disciples were looking for? Focus on the imagery and story correlations between the Old Testament and the passage we are studying. How did John connect Jesus’s story to the story God had been telling all along? life in his name “AND THAT BY BELIEVING YOU MAY HAVE LIFE IN HIS NAME.” John’s purpose in our believing was that ultimately we would experience the life Jesus came to give. John spent three of the best years of his life living alongside Jesus. He was formed in those years as a lifelong disciple of Jesus. This section includes a formational practice and group discussion questions for each week. Conversations with Jesus: See Conversational Prayer guide on page 6. Conversations with your Community: Gathering with your community is a time to pull together the truths you’ve gleaned from individual study and Sunday sermons in order to learn from each other and be formed as apprentices of Jesus. What examples did he leave for us to follow? Questions are provided to guide your conversation. Make sure to carve out time to pray for each other when you are together. notes Printable note pages are provided at the end of the guide for use throughout the study. Use them for your study notes, journaling space, sermon notes, or a place to record prayer requests and praises with your study group.

How to Use this Study Guide // 5 conversational prayer CONVERSATIONS WITH JESUS

In their daily coming-and-going, fishing-and-eating, healing-and-serving life, Jesus and his disciples must have had the most amazing conversations. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have the ear of God, in the flesh, walking beside you, for every question, for everything you happened to notice and just wanted to talk about? First-century followers of Jesus got to do that.

In John’s Gospel, God communicates to us through Jesus. He is the Word who put on flesh and made God known to the world. He interacted with people and had conversations with them. He listened to people and talked with them.

One of the most reassuring things Jesus said to John and his friends before he went to heaven was that their conversations would not have to stop just because they could not see him. God would send his Spirit to keep the words of Jesus present and to give his followers access to him through prayer. John’s talking to and hearing from Jesus continued for the rest of his life. As followers of Jesus, we have that same access. We have been invited into daily, hourly, minute-by-minute conversations with God. what conversational prayer is Conversations are typically not rehearsed; they can be spontaneous and happen in the moment. They can be informal and can vary in length and depth. As we engage in conversational prayer, it simplifies the way we talk to God because there is not a specific formula to follow. This gives us the freedom to talk to God about anything at any time because he listens to us, and he desires to communicate with us. how to do it Choose something to talk to God about. This can be anything because there are no limitations on our conversations with God. A good starting point is to choose something or someone that is on your heart or mind (a person, place, situation or issue, an emotion, a question). If there isn’t anything specific on your heart or mind, you can ask God to bring something or someone to your mind. Start talking to God, and be honest about your thoughts and feelings. This is the beginning of the conversation. Just like other conversations, as you continue to talk and listen, the conversation changes, the relationship grows, and affections deepen. three movements of conversational prayer each week

SOMETHING Pray about a situation or issue, an emotion, or a question. SOMEONE Pray for a person or people. SCRIPTURE Pray responding to a passage or theme in John.

Conversational prayer is a great way to pray with other people in your community. As a community, choose something to pray about, and talk with God together. It is helpful to have different people pray a few sentences on each topic. Praying together this way takes the pressure off of thinking you have to have the perfect words and builds community by putting Jesus at the center of the conversation.

Conversational Prayer // 6 week one THE WORD

study :1–13 Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you immerse yourself in John’s introduction to his story of Jesus. What is written? What questions do you have? Is there an image that is central to this passage? What does this story teach you about Jesus?

imagine Read John 1:1–13 again. This time imagine yourself hearing John’s letter read out loud as a first-century Jew who knew the Genesis story well. How does the familiarity of the words “in the beginning” draw you in?

context John 1:1–18 is the prologue to these are written... John’s Gospel. He writes to bear witness to what he knows about Jesus. The One who was from the beginning—the author of life—became flesh to show us God and to offer us eternal and abundant life. The themes introduced in these opening verses are developed throughout the book to illuminate Jesus as the life-bringer and way-maker of the .

Week One // 7 signs of the messiah

THE WORD At first glance, it might seem like John was using a secret code to talk about Jesus when he referred to him as “the Word.” Was John calling Jesus the Scriptures? What is the connection between the Word and creation and why does John start here?

At the time of John’s writing, Jewish and writers of the Hebrew Scriptures often spoke of the word of in a way that was synonymous with God. (See Psalm 33:6.) Israel knew Yahweh as both the transcendent creator who ruled the heavens and the earth and the personal God who walked and talked in the garden with Adam and Eve, gave the law to , and spoke through the . In order to put language around this personal attribute of Yahweh without compromising the foundational belief in One God, rabbis drew on the creation account in Genesis when God spoke the world into existence. His voice was associated with his nearness. The Word, then, became a way to articulate the God who is near. With this in mind, reread John 1:1–3. How does John’s introduction make more sense?

During the same time period, Greek philosophers defined (Greek for word) as that which brought sense into the world, moving chaos to order. The best thinkers of the day searched for meaning through logos. First-century Greek philosopher used the idea of logos to define the mediating quality that bridged the gap between the transcendent God and the personal experience of the divine.* Before Jesus became flesh, before Paul wrote to Timothy that “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5), Jewish rabbis and Greek philosophers laid the foundation of thought on which Messiah seekers would begin to understand Jesus as the Christ.

ISAIAH’S PROPHECY REGARDING John introduces us to another John in this prologue to his gospel. This second John, often known as John the Baptist, came “to bear witness” about Jesus. Read 40:3–5. How does this Messiah-pointing prophecy confirm John’s premise that Jesus is the Christ?

*Werblowsky, R.J. Zwi, Wigoder, G. (ed), “God,” “Logos,” The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion, revised edition,

... that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of God... (Adama books, New York. 1986). Week One // 8 life in his name CONVERSATIONS WITH JESUS Spend some time with your community talking to God together. Everyone is invited to pray simple sentences about the things you’ve chosen to focus on.

SOMETHING Pray about a situation or issue, an emotion, or a question.

SOMEONE Pray for a person or people.

SCRIPTURE Pray in response to the theme of light in the darkness: Where do you currently see darkness in the world? Pray for the light to shine in those places and for the kingdom to come and overthrow the powers of darkness in these areas. Pray for those living in the dark to turn to Jesus and live in the light.

CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR COMMUNITY 1. What stood out to you this week?

2. What did this passage reveal about Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?

3. Imagine that you are living in the first century hearing these words of John. How does your understanding of the Word influence what you hear? What thoughts emerge for you?

4. When John began with the Word, he was beginning with what was already familiar to his audience. Layers of learning readied the first-century Messiah seekers to recognize Jesus when he finally came. What does this teach you about the way God made and continues to make himself known?

5. John anchors his telling of the good news about Jesus within the context of the whole story of the world. In our me-centric culture, it is easy to be drawn into the idea that it is up to us to write our own stories. But what if we changed our focus and found our place within God’s redemptive story of the world? What does that look like for you? How does that take some of the pressure off of starting from scratch?

6. John writes in his gospel about what he witnessed and experienced as a young disciple of Jesus. As an elder in the church many years later, he gives us an insightful look at how his life was formed by those early years spent with Jesus. Read 1 John 1:1–4. How did John’s belief that he could live his entire life in union with the One who had been there since the very beginning shape his perspective?

7. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness. Where do you currently see darkness around you that creates a longing for Jesus?

8. What did you learn about life in Jesus’s name that you can put into practice this week?

If you are meeting with a group,

... and that by believing you may have life in his name. take time to share prayer requests and praises together.

Week One // 9 week two AMONG US

study JOHN 1:14–18 Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read John’s introduction of Jesus as the one who came to live among us. What is written? What questions do you have? Is there an image that is central to this passage? What does this story teach you about Jesus?

imagine Read John 1:14–18 again. As you read, imagine yourself as a Jewish priest of the temple, daily fulfilling temple rituals of cleanliness and holiness so that God could be with his people. What would it have been like to hear that God himself became flesh and came to dwell with us?

context The second part of the phrase “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) can also be translated as “tabernacled among us.” The these are written... tabernacle was where God’s presence dwelled with his people before the Temple was built. Have you ever wondered if first-century followers of Yahweh dreamed about what it would have been like to live back in the tabernacle days when the presence of God was visible? How reassuring would it have been to wake up and see the cloud by day or the pillar of fire in the dark? How do John’s words about Jesus speak to that longing?

Week Two // 10 signs of the messiah THE TABERNACLE In ancient Israel, the tabernacle represented God’s presence in the community. Sometimes called the tent of meeting, the tabernacle was where Moses met with God. Numbers 9:15–23 describes the visual manifestation of God’s presence for Israel throughout their forty years in the wilderness. The tabernacle was situated in the middle with each of the twelve tribes of Israel camped around it. Everyone could see the presence and leading of God. As you read this passage in Numbers, what stands out to you? Compare the reality of God in the midst of Israel’s community to The Message version of John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” How was the presence of Jesus on the seashore, around dinner tables, and attending a better version of God’s presence than first-century Messiah seekers could have imagined? How did Jesus become a new and better tabernacle? THE FULLNESS OF GOD’S GRACE Many of us have heard that the Old Testament is about the law and the New Testament is about grace. But John said that from Jesus “we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). The grace of Jesus builds upon the grace made known through God’s revelation to Moses. Reread John 1:17, but this time substitute the word “” for “law.” How can the books of the law given to Israel through Moses be seen as an act of grace? Study the references and notes in the table. How did Moses and John experience the and grace of God? What does “grace upon grace” teach you about God?

MOSES’S SCRIPTURE JOHN’S SCRIPTURE EXPERIENCE REFERENCE EXPERIENCE REFERENCE

The Torah and Read Exodus Beyond the cloud John 1:14 “[F]ull of God’s presence to 33:12–17. God’s and the pillar of grace...” Moses and Israel presence with Israel fire that represented John 1:16 “From his was a definitive distinguished them God’s presence to fullness we have all demonstration of the from all other nations. Israel, Jesus came in received, grace upon graciousness of God. the fullness of grace grace.” to show us God.

Moses wanted to see Read the story in In Jesus, God became John 1:14 “[W]e God’s glory but only Exodus 33:18–23. flesh. John and his have seen his saw his back. He friends saw God’s glory…” was not allowed to glory in the life of see God’s face. Jesus. Jesus made it safe to see God.

God revealed The Torah, the God revealed John 1:18 “[T]he himself to Moses Law, and the Books himself to first- only God, who is and Israel through of Moses are used century Jews and at the Father’s side, the Torah (law). interchangeably of to the whole world he has made him the first five books of through the person known.” the Old Testament. of Jesus. ... that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of God... Week Two // 11 life in his name CONVERSATIONS WITH JESUS Spend some time with your community talking to God together. Everyone is invited to pray simple sentences about the things you’ve chosen to focus on.

SOMETHING Pray about a situation or issue, an emotion, or a question.

SOMEONE Pray for a person or people.

SCRIPTURE Pray in response to the theme of grace and truth: Talk to Jesus and reflect on his grace in your life, others’ lives, and in the world. Give thanks, confess your sin to receive his grace, and ask him to reveal areas in your life where you need to rely on his grace. Listen and reflect on ways you can extend his grace to others. CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR COMMUNITY 1. What stood out to you this week?

2. What did this passage reveal about Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?

3. John’s gospel hinges on the reality that in Jesus, God became flesh. The Message version of the Bible says Jesus “moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14 MSG). Because of the brokenness of the world, God put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood to bring redemption and restoration. Where are the places of brokenness God is calling you to move toward? What does it look like to participate in God’s work of restoration in these places?

4. John the Baptist “bore witness” to Jesus (John 1:7,8,15). The term “witness” throws us off sometimes. We wonder if we have the right words. But what if bearing witness is simply to speak of what we know about Jesus? Where have you experienced Christ’s presence and power in your life? Have a few people in your group share their responses. How can you share your responses with your friends who do not know Jesus?

5. John could not keep silent about what he had become convinced of after living in the actual neighborhood with Jesus. After Jesus ascended to heaven, John and Peter were arrested for the disruption they caused after healing a lame man in Jesus’s name. Read about their arrest and inquiry before the authorities in :1–22. What does their response in Acts 4:8–20 reveal about what life looks like after an encounter with the living God? Can you think of a time when knowing Jesus gave you boldness?

6. Exodus 33:18–23 describes Moses’s encounter with God when Moses asked God to show him his glory. Read that story and contrast it with John’s testimony that when he saw Jesus, he saw God’s glory. Jesus made it safe to see God. What did you learn this week about “grace upon grace”? What does it teach you about God?

7. What did you learn about life in Jesus’s name If you are meeting with a group,

...and that by believing you may have life in his name. that you can put into practice this week? take time to share prayer requests and praises together.

Week Two // 12 week three THE LAMB OF GOD

study JOHN 1:19–34 Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus. What is written? What questions do you have? Is there an image that is central to this passage? What does this story teach you about Jesus?

imagine Read John 1:19–34 again. As you read, imagine yourself in the place of the Jewish leaders questioning John the Baptist. How would you feel about his answer to your questions?

context Two groups were sent to interrogate these are written... John the Baptist about his identity: priests and Levites from (the temple ruling class) and (strict keepers of the ). There was a hint of confrontation in the air as both groups hassled John about his identity and his authoritative right to baptize. They didn’t know that the One they were really seeking was standing there among them in the crowd. They were looking to John, but he was pointing them to Jesus.

Week Three // 13 signs of the messiah WHAT THE PRIESTS, LEVITES, AND PHARISEES WERE LOOKING FOR We know that first-century followers of Yahweh were looking for the Messiah (the Christ), but why was John the Baptist asked if he was ? Or the ?

Malachi prophesied that Elijah would come before the day of the LORD. (See 4:5.) To this day, Jews set a place at their Passover tables for Elijah, believing that his appearance indicates the coming of the Messiah. Before John was born, an told John’s dad Zechariah that his John would “go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah” (:17). Jesus explained to his disciples that John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come (See :1–14; 17:10–13.)

Moses told the people of Israel that God would “raise up for [them] a prophet like [Moses]” (Deuteronomy 18:15). This is likely the prophet to whom the priests, Levites, and Pharisees were referring when they questioned John.

Read Isaiah 40:1–11. What imagery do you see in Isaiah 40 that points to John? What points to Jesus?

BAPTISM IMAGERY was not a new practice established by the Christian church after the . Cleansing rituals regulated in the Levitical law included ceremonial washing for many natural life occurrences from childbirth to contact with someone who was ill. In addition to those ceremonial cleansings (which were often characterized by immersion in water), historians describe a baptism of repentance practiced by first-century followers of Yahweh. This kind of water baptism followed repentance, a commitment to a life of justice toward others, and a reverence toward God.*

New Testament baptism is loaded with imagery from the Old Testament . God parted the waters to bring Israel out of Egypt from slavery to freedom. (See Exodus 14.) John is implying that Jerusalem and its leadership are like the “new Egypt” from which God’s people need to be delivered. He is calling people to come out from the corrupt leadership of the day and to declare their allegiance to Yahweh in preparation for his coming movement. This was the symbolic backdrop for John’s baptism.

THE LAMB OF GOD When John calls Jesus “the Lamb of God,” this is also an Exodus image. Lambs were the only sacrificial animal used for Passover, commemorating the night when God covered his people’s sin to deliver them from Egypt. (See Exodus 12.) Now, however, there is a Lamb of God who will take away the sin not only of Israel but “of the world” (John 1: 29). Jesus is the instrument of God’s new exodus: to deliver and restore his people.

*Josephus, Flavius, The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18.5.2. ... that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of God... Week Three // 14 life in his name CONVERSATIONS WITH JESUS Spend some time with your community talking to God together. Everyone is invited to pray simple sentences about the things you’ve chosen to focus on.

SOMETHING Pray about a situation or issue, an emotion, or a question.

SOMEONE Pray for a person or people.

SCRIPTURE Pray in response to the symbolism of baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit: Ask God to help you live more fully aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence so you are empowered to be faithful witnesses as his people. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move and work in your life and the lives of other people. Sit in silence for two minutes and pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR COMMUNITY 1. What stood out to you this week?

2. What did this passage reveal about Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?

3. What stood out to you as you studied imagery in relation to John’s baptism?

4. Contrast the interrogating persistence of the priests, Levites, and Pharisees with the straightforward and humble responses of John the Baptist. The Pharisees wanted definitive answers to their questions about John’s identity and missed that Jesus was standing in the crowd. What gets in the way of seeing Jesus for you? What does a posture of humility have to do with having our eyes open to see Jesus?

5. When temple leaders challenged John’s authority he responded by pointing them to Jesus. How can you bring the conversation back to Jesus and God’s story of the world when your faith is challenged?

6. John recognized and identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. How is God’s redemption of Israel from bondage in Egypt a picture of his redemption of us? What does it mean to be freed from slavery to sin? Can you give an example?

7. John the Baptist was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Soon after he was born, John’s father Zechariah prophesied about who his son would become. Read Luke 1:67–80.* How often do you imagine John heard these words as he grew? What Scripture or promise from God has been influential in shaping your life? What Scripture can you speak over others to help them define their identity?

8. What did you learn about life in Jesus’s name that you can put into practice this week?

If you are meeting with a group, ...and that by believing you may have life in his name. take time to share prayer requests * For John the Baptist’s whole birth story, see Luke 1:5–25, 57–66. and praises together.

Week Three // 15 week four FOLLOW ME

study JOHN 1:35–51 Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read the story of some of the first disciples to follow Jesus. What is written? What questions do you have? Is there an image that is central to this passage? What does this story teach you about Jesus?

imagine Read John 1:35–51 again. Imagine yourself as one of John the Baptist’s disciples who heard John say, “Look, the Lamb of God!” What compelled you to follow Jesus? What was it like to spend that day with Jesus?

context First-century disciples (talmidim these are written... in Hebrew) became followers of the teacher () they wanted to be like. Disciples often left everything to learn to emulate the life and teachings of their master. At the end of one’s apprenticeship, talmidim would be equipped to make disciples who could also live like the master teacher.*

*For more about Rabbis and Talmidim and the first-century education of Jewish students, see

https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim

Week Four // 16 signs of the messiah EXPECTATIONS AND FOLLOWING JESUS John did not record the specific conversation John the Baptist’s disciples had with Jesus the day they became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. Their expectations had been shaped by Old Testament prophecies, but even the best students of Scripture did not have all the details right about what the new Kingdom would look like. While many teachers of the law got stuck when Jesus didn’t match their exact expectations, disciples like those we read about this week were open to listening to Jesus and his teaching about the Kingdom of God. Jesus was calling out a new beginning, and those who had ears to hear became a part of his movement. Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael were among the first to become histalmidim .

THE FIG TREE Nathanael was sitting under a fig tree when Philip found him. Fig trees were a common place to find shade in the Middle East so it was not out of the ordinary that Nathanel was finding respite from the heat under a fig tree. Whatwas out of the ordinary was that Jesus saw him there without Jesus actually being there. When Jesus said to Nathanael, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (John 1:48), Nathanael’s doubts about Jesus and whether anything good could come from were erased. Nathanael believed and followed.

Fig trees in the Old Testament were often a symbol of peace and safety for Israel. This image is used in prophetic language to describe what life will be like when the Kingdom of Israel is restored: when “the Lord will reign over them” (Micah 4:7) and “God will remove the iniquity [sin] of this land” (Zechariah 3:9). Look at these verses within the context of the chapters they are in. How do they point to the restoration of God’s people?

Jesus said of Nathanael, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (John 1:47). The imagery here points us to those among God’s people who, like Nathanael, were waiting faithfully for the kingdom of peace that the Messiah would bring. Jesus came to usher in a New Covenant Kingdom for Nathanael, for God’s people, and ultimately for the whole world.

JACOB’S DREAM AND JESUS’S PROPHECY Read John 1:51. Compare Jesus’s statement to Nathanael with Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28:10–19. What similarities do you see?

What connections would Nathanael and the other disciples have made between the two stories?

What might they have thought about the way Jesus put himself in the same place as Bethel, the place Jacob named the House of God?

Jacob was surprised when he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16). How could a similar thing be said for those first crowds in the presence of Jesus? ... that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of God... Week Four // 17 life in his name CONVERSATIONS WITH JESUS Spend some time with your community talking to God together. Everyone is invited to pray simple sentences about the things you’ve chosen to focus on.

SOMETHING Pray about a situation or issue, an emotion, or a question.

SOMEONE Pray for a person or people.

SCRIPTURE Pray in response to the theme of discipleship and following Jesus: Pray for the church to be shaped and formed by Jesus instead of the habits of our culture. Pray for boldness and courage to faithfully follow Jesus even when it is difficult.

CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR COMMUNITY 1. What stood out to you this week?

2. What did this passage reveal about Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?

3. When John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, two of his disciples began to follow Jesus. John’s objective was not to build a big community for himself. He did not measure success by his number of followers. What can you learn about how to measure success from him? How are you inclined to measure success?

4. John’s two disciples spent the day with Jesus and came away convinced that he was the Messiah. A couple of days before, religious leaders—adamant for control and engrossed in their interpretation of the Scriptures—missed that Jesus was among them. What made the difference? Imagine what the conversation might have been like that afternoon with Jesus. If you spent an afternoon with Jesus, what would you ask? What would you tell him? What do you hope you would hear?

5. The Bible tells more than one story of Andrew bringing others to Jesus. The first person he brought was his brother Simon. Is there someone you know that you would like to introduce to Jesus? Is there someone’s salvation you are praying for that you can share with your group?

6. When Jesus met Simon, Jesus spoke to him about who he would become. Jesus said his name would be Cephas, which means “rock.” (Cephas is , equivalent to Peter in Greek, which also means “rock.”) Read Matthew 16:13–19. What is the rest of the rock story? Who are you becoming because you follow Jesus? If he gave you a new name, what would it be?

7. Philip got some pushback from Nathanael when he told him they had found the Messiah (John 1:46). What was Philip’s response? Sometimes questions about faith seem to be more about starting an argument than finding an answer. How can you develop a strategy of telling a story about something Jesus said or did to bring the conversation back to him?

If you are meeting with a group, ...and that by believing you may have life in his name. 8. What did you learn about life in Jesus’s name that you can put into practice this week? take time to share prayer requests and praises together.

Week Four // 18 week five THE WINEMAKER

study :1–12 Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read the story of Jesus’s first . What is written? What questions do you have? Is there an image that is central to this passage? What does this story teach you about Jesus?

imagine Read John 2:1–12 again. This time, read it from the perspective of the servants who saw the miracle of the wine unfold from behind the scenes when no one else knew. these are written... context Weddings in Jesus’s day included marriage rituals and blessings, music, community, dancing, and extravagant feasting that lasted up to seven days. The bride and bridegroom lavished their guests with wine and food. A friend of the bridegroom acted as the master of ceremonies and stayed by the bridegroom’s side throughout the festivities. To run out of wine was a major faux pas. Week Five // 19 signs of the messiah

THE BRIDEGROOM AND HIS BRIDE Wedding imagery is used throughout the Bible to describe the relationship between God and Israel and then between Christ and the church. Jesus’s first miracle at a wedding reminds us of the bride he came to make ready and the union he came to make possible. The week-long celebration of covenantal love was filled with imagery that points us to the redemptive work of Jesus.

Isaiah prophesied about Jerusalem’s coming salvation in :1–5. Read those verses. How does the last phrase of verse five, “and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you,” describe the hope Israel longed for?

ABUNDANT WINE The prophet Amos wrote of an abundance of wine as a sign of the . Read Amos 9:11–15. What phrases point you to the overflowing sufficiency of wine in the days of the Messiah?

Jesus stepped in when the best efforts and planning of the wedding hosts came up short. He didn’t make just barely enough—he turned six 20–30 gallon vessels of water into the best wine ever. That was 120–180 gallons of wine. Given a glass of wine of about five ounces (as it is today), that would have been about 4,600 more glasses of the best wine. Talk about extravagance!

What do you think the significance is of the jars that held the wine? Normally, these jars were used to hold water for Jewish rites of purification. Under the Old Covenant law, repetitive hand washing and cleansing practices regulated daily activity. Did you notice that the jars were empty? Jesus didn’t ask the servants to empty the jars first. He didn’t turn the water that was already in there into new wine. The water for keeping the law had run dry that day. The law was not enough to make someone clean anyway. Jesus took the old covenant vessels and filled them to overflowing with new wine. New covenant wine always points us to the extravagant, overflowing blood of Jesus and to the fullness of his grace, lavished upon us, so that we can be his bride.

THE THIRD DAY John begins this story with, “on the third day there was a wedding” (John 2:1). Third days matter in the Bible. They signal to us that God is doing something big. On the third day, God provided a ram for Abraham and Isaac; on the third day, he descended onto Mt. Sinai in the sight of all Israel; and on the third day, he delivered Jonah from the fish. (See Genesis 22, Exodus 19, and Jonah 1:17–2:10.) In John’s gospel, more specifically, “the third day” foreshadows Christ’s resurrection after three days in the grave. Christ’s resurrection inaugurates the wedding feast of his kingdom that heals and restores his people, causing the abundant wine of the new creation to flow. Here at the beginning of John’s gospel, this “first sign” of Jesus’s ministry shows what he will accomplish at its end. ... that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of God... Week Five // 20 life in his name CONVERSATIONS WITH JESUS Spend some time with your community talking to God together. Everyone is invited to pray simple sentences about the things you’ve chosen to focus on.

SOMETHING Pray about a situation or issue, an emotion, or a question.

SOMEONE Pray for a person or people.

SCRIPTURE Pray in response to the theme of Jesus’s care for the social well-being of others: Pray for those who are vulnerable in society. Pray for their provision, care, and flourishing. Ask God to reveal the ways he wants you and your community to care for the vulnerable. CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR COMMUNITY 1. What stood out to you this week?

2. What did this passage reveal about Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?

3. John first introduces us to Jesus’s mom at the wedding. The only other time we see her in this book is at the foot of the cross where Jesus asked John to take care of his mom. (See :26–27.) By the time John wrote this gospel, he had been caring for Mary for several years. Imagine the stories they told each other when they talked about Jesus. What do you think Mary might have told John about the wedding and how she felt when Jesus told her, “My hour has not yet come”? How do you think she told John the story about her response? What did Mary’s response reveal about her faith? What does Jesus’s response reveal about his love for his mom and the people she cared about?

4. What would it have been like to be one of the servants at the wedding who knew the secret of the new wine? Would you have been able to keep it a secret? Have you seen the power of Jesus displayed in a way that you can’t keep silent about?

5. When Jesus turned water to wine, he showed compassion and prevented social disgrace and shame for the bridegroom’s family. He cares for people in difficult situations. Have you ever come up short, despite your best plans, and found Jesus to be abundantly more than what you could have done on your own in the first place? Where have you experienced the abundance of Jesus?

6. It’s pretty cool that Jesus stayed until the end of the party. He loved his community. He celebrated with his neighbors. He didn’t just stop in to make an appearance; he came back the next day and the next, until the wedding was over. He really saw people. He wanted there to be enough wine. Who are the people in your life right now? How can you celebrate them, stay with them, recognize their needs and follow Jesus’s example to love them well?

7. Discuss the water-to-wine miracle and how it points to our salvation. The water in the ceremonial cleansing jars could only wash people on the outside. Jesus came to purify us from If you are meeting with ...and that by believing you may have life in his name. within. What does it mean that Jesus’s blood purifies us? a group, take time to share prayer requests 8. What did you learn about life in Jesus’s name that you can and praises together. put into practice this week? Week Five // 21 week six THE TEMPLE

study JOHN 2:13–25 Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you study the story of Jesus at the feast of Passover in Jerusalem. What is written? What questions do you have? Is there an image that is central to this passage? What does this story teach you about Jesus?

Mathew, Mark, and Luke all record this event in their gospels. It is helpful to fill in some of the details by reading their accounts as well. Read Matthew 21:12-17, :15–19, and :45-48.

imagine Read John 2:13–25 again. Imagine yourself in the place of someone in the temple. What emotions would you have felt while you watched Jesus as he cleared the temple courts? Would you have stayed?

context Jesus lived his life in sync with the Jewish

these are written... calendar. The annual spring Passover festival marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar, commemorating God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt. In the time of Jesus, the number of people in Jerusalem during Passover quadrupled in size to an estimated one million people. It was crowded, busy, and loud. Jewish rabbis taught that the future redemption of Israel under the reign of the Messiah would come at Passover time. Jesus’s words and actions revealed that redemption was drawing near.

Week Six // 22 signs of the messiah THE REAL CORRUPTION AT THE TEMPLE Some think Jesus was upset because people were selling things in the temple (as in, “Get that bookstore out of the church lobby!”). But Israel was supposed to sell things in the temple. Jewish pilgrims traveled there from all over the world, and God had appointed a system for people to change money and buy and sell animals, food, and drink. (See Deuteronomy 14:24–26.) The bigger issue here was the corruption of the temple overall.

Forty-six years before this event, Herod the Great commissioned an extravagant expansion of Israel’s second temple and its surrounding courts. Israel’s first temple, built under the direction of King Solomon, was a magnificent structure for the presence and worship of God, but it was destroyed by the Babylonians when Israel went into exile. The second temple, constructed by Ezra and some of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem, was a much smaller version of Solomon’s temple. Exiles who remembered the first temple mourned the loss of the former temple and its glory. Centuries later, Herod the Great decided to embellish the second temple with a decades-long building project. More for his own glory than for God’s, he built a large temple mount to hold the refurbished temple, temple courts, ceremonial baths, law offices, a bank for money exchange, and markets. By the time of Jesus, shopkeepers on the temple mount were part of a corrupt system, and high priests were hoarders of money and misappropriated tithes for their own gain.*

Jesus’s clearing of the temple courts pointed to the underlying rejection of the peaceable way of the kingdom he came to proclaim.

PROPHECY OF COMING DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE Jesus’s dramatic actions foreshadow the temple’s coming destruction. On the surface it can appear that this event, often referred to as the “cleansing” of the temple, was the main take- away, but it’s more properly understood as a symbolic “destruction” of the temple.

Prophets often undertook dramatic actions in the Bible as “” of coming destruction. Ezekiel lay on his side 430 days eating food cooked over dung to symbolize the nation’s approaching captivity; Isaiah walked around naked, depicting how Assyria would lead the people away stripped and shamed; and Jeremiah smashed a clay jar outside Jerusalem’s walls as a sign of the city’s coming destruction. (See Ezekiel 4, Isaiah 20, and Jeremiah 19.) Jesus is a prophet in this tradition whose actions are a sign that the temple will be destroyed.

Read Jeremiah 7:1–15. What reasons do verses 6 and 9 give for the temple’s coming judgement? Jesus quotes Jeremiah 7:11, calling the temple a “den of robbers.” (See Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46.) The word “robbers” (leston in Greek) was commonly used for revolutionaries who wanted a violent uprising against Rome. This is one of the reasons—a very practical reason, from Rome’s perspective—that the temple was eventually destroyed in 70 AD.

From Jesus’s perspective, destruction of the temple carried a deeper, more spiritual meaning. The physical temple would no longer be required to know the presence of God. The sacrificial system for atonement would soon be obsolete. This story in the opening of John points us to the story he is about to unfold.

... that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of God... *Josephus, Flavius, The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20.9.2 Week Six // 23 life in his name CONVERSATIONS WITH JESUS Spend some time with your community talking to God together. Everyone is invited to pray simple sentences about the things you’ve chosen to focus on.

SOMETHING Pray about a situation or issue, an emotion, or a question.

SOMEONE Pray for a person or people.

SCRIPTURE Pray in response to Jesus’s passion for his Father’s house: Jesus responded to injustice and greed and the exclusion of Gentiles from the temple. Pray for the unity and generosity of the church and how we can participate in its mission. CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR COMMUNITY 1. What stood out to you this week?

2. What did this passage reveal about Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?

3. Jesus’s actions prompted his disciples to remember Psalm 69:9 where David wrote, “Zeal for your house has consumed me.” We often pray that our affections would be aligned with the heart of Jesus. Talk about what it would look like today to have a consuming zeal for God’s house. What was Jesus passionate about in this story? How can you align your life with that passion?

4. God’s vision for his temple was to be a light to the whole world. Jesus quoted :7 when he said, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’?” (Mark 11:17). But he looked around and saw Gentiles who were excluded, poor who were taken advantage of, and leaders who forgot that the whole point of the temple was to draw near to God. The temple had become a place of exclusion, and meeting God in prayer was no longer the main thing. What does Jesus’s response reveal about his heart and his desire to draw all people to himself ? How can you participate in making sure God’s house is for everyone?

5. When Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19), he was speaking about his body. How was Jesus eventually “torn down” and “built back up” again in three days? Imagine the using temple imagery (i.e., his body torn down “brick by brick,” nails through his hands like a sledgehammer, the spear piercing his side like a demolition ball through the wall) and his resurrection as a glorious temple restored. How is Jesus a better temple?

6. When Jesus drove the sellers of sacrificial animals out of the temple courts, he stopped the sacrifices for a while that day. The continuous blood of animals for the atonement of sin would soon be replaced with the forever atoning blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God. In 70 AD the whole temple would be destroyed. Sometimes the old has to be torn down to make way for the new. Is there anything in your life that you had to or need to “tear down” to make room for the way of Jesus? If you are meeting with a group, take

...and that by believing you may have life in his name. 7. What did you learn about life in Jesus’s name that you can time to share prayer put into practice this week? requests and praises together.

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