Main Theme: This week continues with the revelation of God as given us in John. We will also more fully explore the flip side of things, in which, despite the powerful evidence for Jesus as the Messiah, some rejected Him. We will study this idea for two reasons: to avoid the same mistake, but also to consider how we might be able to reach out to those in danger of making that mistake, as well.
Share: Your friend says she accepted the gift of eternal life years ago, so she knows no matter what she does today, good or bad, she is already saved. What do you tell your friend? See Once Saved Always Saved.
Read in Class: John 1:12-13. Ask the class to summarize this passage.
Study: What are the steps described here about becoming a Christian?
Apply: Read Romans 8:16. What principle about salvation in Jesus is found here?
Share: Your friend says we are either predestined to be the children of God or we are predestined to be lost. We have no choice? What do you tell your friend? See How do we Get Elected by God?
Apply: Read Numbers 13:23-33. What made the difference between the two reports the spies brought back about Canaan? How do we make sure we don’t make the same mistake most of the spies made?
Share: Your friend asks, did Satan try to tempt Jesus into disbelief? Is so, how did Jesus meet that temptation? What do you tell your friend? See Matthew 4:1-4.
Main Theme: This week we will look at more ways John revealed Jesus as the Messiah, and also, we will look at why some people still continued to reject Him—despite all the powerful reasons affirming Him as the Christ.
Read in Class:John 5:39-40, 46-47. Ask the class to define the main idea of these passages.
Study: What do these verses teach us about Jesus’ attitude toward the authority of Scripture?
Apply: Read John 19:28.What does this passage teach about the authority of Scripture as understood by Jesus and John? What should this tell us about the crucial role all Scripture must have for our faith, as well?
Share: Your friend asks, you, “What are the forces today that either subtly or openly work to undermine our faith in the authority of the Bible?” What do you tell your friend?
Study: How are these New Testament and Old Testament passages linked? That is, how does the New Testament use these texts to bear witness to Jesus?
Apply: How does the fulfillment of these prophecies strengthen your faith an all Scripture, including scriptures that have not been fulfilled yet?
Share: Your friend says that every religion has its own god, how do we know our God is the real God? How can you even prove Jesus even really existed? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What do each of these passages from John’s Gospel reveal about Jesus as a fulfillment of Messianic prophecy?
Apply: Read Matthew 24:9. How does the fulfillment of the prophecy about Jesus being betrayed make you feel about the prophecy of what we as Christians will one day face if we are not facing it already? What comfort do you gain by knowing Jesus has already experienced being betrayed?
Share: Your friend asks you what other prophecies about Jesus being the Messiah were predicted in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament? What do you tell your friend? See The Messiah in Scripture.
Read in Class: John 8:12-30. Ask the class to define the main idea of these passages.
Study: What is the dynamic here between Jesus and these religious leaders? Which texts best explain why many rejected Him?
Apply: What lessons do you draw from Jesus’ exchange with the religious leaders? How can we be “from above” and not “from beneath”—and how can we know the difference?
Share: Your friend mentions there were some obstacles that kept certain people from believing in Jesus in His day. What are some obstacles that kept you from first believing in Jesus? How did you overcome those obstacles? What do you tell your friend?
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 NKJV
Was the Father being fanatical when He gave us His Son, or was He just in love with us? Is the Father being extreme when He gives us all things or is He just in love with us?
In John 12:1-8, a woman comes to Jesus with an extremely expensive bottle of perfume. She anoints Jesus with this costly perfume as an expression of her love and appreciation for the incredible sacrifice Jesus was making for her. She was a sinner, saved by the love of Jesus, and she simply wanted to give all she had for Jesus because Jesus was giving all He had for her. However, some of the disciples, including Judas, took exception to her gift. They called it a waste of money that could have been used to help the poor. John points out though that instead of helping the poor, Judas was using the poor fund to benefit himself. This leads me to a couple of conclusions.
Judas called the woman out for being “wasteful” simply because he was not as giving and did not want to look bad. So how do you make yourself look perfectly balanced while still being selfish? You label the unselfish woman as being fanatical and accuse her of extremism. Do some do this today? Others make reforms in their diet or behavior that we are not willing to make, so to make ourselves look balanced we have to make the unselfish person look unbalanced and extreme or fanatical. By pushing them into the far-right category that moves us into the perfectly moderate and balanced category. However, this woman was not being legalistic, fanatical, extreme, or unbalanced. She was simply in love with Jesus. She was simply giving all she had because Jesus was giving her all He had. This should be the natural reaction of all who have experienced the love of Christ today. Just because someone is making changes that we are not willing to make does not mean that they are unbalanced or extreme fanatics. It could just mean that they love Jesus and want to show their appreciation for His love and sacrifice by making a few sacrifices themselves. That is what love does.
Going back to Judas acting like he was really interested in the poor while only serving himself, how many times have we said, “I wish I was rich so I could give to the poor?” What are we really saying? Could we really be saying, “I wish I was rich so I could give to the poor without having to sacrifice?” Jesus pointed out to Judas that poor have always been there and he can help them anytime he wants. Likewise, we can help the poor anytime we want if we are willing to sacrifice. Do we really wish we had more money to give to the poor or do we just wish we had more money so we could give to the poor without it being such a sacrifice? Keep in mind when the Father gave everything including His son, it was a sacrifice. Is there any other way that we can genuinely respond to such love without also making a real sacrifice?
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Main Theme: Who were some of these people, and why did they testify as they did to the identity of Jesus?
Read in Class: John 12:1-8. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What was the significance of Mary’s actions here? How was this a witness to who Jesus really was?
Apply: Jesus knew what was in the heart of Mary and the heart of Judas. He knows what’s in your heart, as well. What should this truth tell us about the need of Christ as our righteousness, transforming us and covering us, as well?
Share: Your friend says that she wishes she had millions of dollars so she could help the poor. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 18:38 and John 19:4-22. Ask the class to define the main idea of these passages.
Study: How is Pilate’s verdict connected to the theme of John’s Gospel?
Apply: What can we learn from Pilate’s example about the dangers of allowing popular sentiment, even pressure, to keep us from doing what we believe is right?
Share: Your friend asks you if you can think of others in the Bible or life today who have “unwittingly” testified about Jesus? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:John 20:19-31. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.
Study: What can we learn from the story of Thomas about faith and doubt? What major mistake did Thomas make?
Apply: Do you only put your faith in what you can feel or see? Can you think of a time when you put your faith in something you could feel or see and were still disappointed?
Share: If someone were to ask you Why do you believe in Jesus? what would you say?
And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. Revelation 13:8 NLT
Sadly, many put their confidence in popular opinion, while the Bible tells us the vast majority of the world will worship the beast.
Interestingly while Jesus claimed to be God, the majority accused Him of blasphemy and had Him crucified for making such a claim. Later the beast claims to be God, but instead of accusing him of blasphemy, the majority worships him. Truth is clearly not a popularity contest.
Occasionally, at church or the Adventist school where I teach Bible and evangelism, someone will ask me, “What do we believe about such and such?” My response has always been, “I don’t know what you believe, but here is what I and many Seventh-day Adventists believe,” and I show them in the Bible what I believe and why. I am not going to tell someone what they believe. That is not teaching. That’s brainwashing. Besides, truth is not truth just because everyone in the Adventist church believes it. Truth is not a popularity contest in the church or the world. Truth is truth only if the Bible supports it.
During the Dark Ages, when people did not have access to the Bible, people trusted their priests to tell them what they believed, and because of that there was a lot of brainwashing going on.
Even before the Dark Ages, priests abused their authority and tried to brainwash people into believing whatever they believed. This happened in Jesus’ day when those in “authority” were trying to capture Jesus.
When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
“We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.
“Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? John 7:45-48 NLT
The guards experienced and heard the Word of God speaking to them and believed. Since the Pharisees did not want to believe, they mocked at this. In John 7 the Pharisees misconstrued Scripture to try and prove their point, but amazingly, instead of hanging their hat on Scripture, they hung it on the fact that none of the rulers or leaders believed. Is truth a popularity contest? If everyone else believes something is it right, and if no one else believes it, then is it wrong? Is that how it works?
The number of people who believe something simply because everyone else believes it is staggering. Take the state of the dead for example. Years ago I attended the funeral of a dear Adventist saint. Her family believed in the immortality of the soul and asked the Adventist preacher doing her funeral to “put her in heaven now.” The pastor replied that he could not do that since it simply is not true. However, he told them he believed in liberty of conscience and freedom of speech so if one of them wanted to stand up and say she was in heaven, they could. So, one of the family members stood up and talked about how her grandmother was now in heaven. I remember she kept saying “we cling to this!” Very emphatically, yet she gave no Scriptural reference other than that is what everyone believes. So, I am not sure exactly what she was clinging to other than popular belief. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul tells us to “comfort each other with these words” about the resurrection. Sadly, instead of comforting each other with the words Paul told us to use to comfort each other, many people use phrases about going straight to heaven when you die that are nowhere in the Bible and Paul nor anyone else ever suggested that we use. Sadly those phrases have been used so often that people believe it because they have heard it so many times.
When it comes to Sabbath keeping, I have heard so many people say that Sunday must be the true day because the whole world can’t be wrong. They forget that at the time of the flood only 8 people were right! Truth is not a popularity contest.
And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. Acts 17:11 NLT
Like the temple guards, the Bereans were interested in new ideas if they were found in Scripture. They didn’t believe something because Paul and Silas believed it or because a ruler did. On their own they searched the Scriptures daily to find the truth.
I have heard Seventh-day Adventists telling their Baptist and Methodist friends to search the Bible for themselves because their pastors could be wrong. I have watched some of the same Seventh-day Adventists listening to their own favorite Adventist preachers, without bothering to search the Scriptures, because, after all, their pastor is Adventist, so he is automatically right, right? Wrong! We all make mistakes, as we all continue to learn and grow.
Let’s not be like the foolish Pharisees in John 7, who hung their hats on how many people believed or did not believe something. Truth is not a popularity contest. Let’s search the Scriptures ourselves to find truth.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Main Theme: This week’s lesson looks at some of those who witnessed and testified about Jesus. In each of these incidents, some aspects of who Jesus really is are revealed, and together they create a deeper vision of Jesus, the Messiah.
Study: How does John the Baptist compare himself to Jesus? What are some things John Said about the Messiah that may have surprised his listeners?
Apply: How can we learn the lesson of humility before both God and humanity? What can we learn from the example of John here about humility of the soul?
Share: Your friend asks you how you came to realize that Jesus is the Messiah and your personal Savior? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 6:51-71. Ask the class to summarize this passage.
Study: What did Jesus say that people had trouble accepting?
Apply: What can we learn from this story about the fact that the majority is usually wrong? Why must we remember this, especially with the aspects of our faith that are unpopular with the majority—even the majority of Christians?
Share: Your friend asks, what did Jesus mean by “eat my flesh and drink my blood?” What do you tell your friend?
Study: What does the Father say about Jesus, and what does Jesus say about the Father?
Apply: Read 2 Peter 1:16-21. How would we know the truth about Jesus as our atoning sacrifice unless it were revealed to us? Why, then, is knowing the Bible and what it teaches about Jesus so crucial?
Share: Your friend asks, “How can I know if God is well pleased with me?” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:John 7:37-53. Ask the class to summarize this passage.
Study: When Jesus spoke to the Jews attending the Feast of Tabernacles, what was the response of many in the crowd?
Apply: In John 7:47-48, the leaders imply that the people should not believe in Jesus since the leaders don’t believe in Him. How much influence do you allow leaders to have over what you believe? See Truth is not a Popularity Contest.
Share: In your sphere of influence what has been your testimony about Jesus? Is there someone you can share your testimony with this week?
In Light of The Cross 