Bent Oak Church

Jesus concluded his public ministry by explaining that now was not the moment of judgment but salvation, but he also warned that the truth he had given them would one day judge them. They had seen his miracles and heard his teaching. Many believed, but there were many who, knowing who he was, still would not follow. John tells us they loved the glory that comes from men more than the glory that co...

Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds showing save the king. His disciples must have felt overwhelmed by this public show of support. If ever there was a moment of glory surely it was this. But Jesus spoke of a different glory to come, a glory that could only be shown by his death. Jesus teaches us to reconsider what glory means and why God's promise to glorify himself is s...

Jesus doesn't act how we would expect, nor how others expected. Jesus fits oddly into that scene of mourners grieving the death of Lazarus. Jesus fits oddly into a world of death. For he is resurrection and life. 

In the middle of Jesus's discussion with the Jewish leaders, he decides to change his analogy. Jesus decides to describe himself as a shepherd—the good shepherd and the shepherd's gate.  For us, that image seems quant and sentimental, but it was a prophetic indictment of the way in which Israel's leaders were caring for their own flock. Jesus offered the test of a truly good shepher...

In the previous chapter, Jesus had claimed to be the light of the world. Now, as he had healed the lame man when entering Jerusalem, he healed a man born blind as he left.  It served as a kind of parable to his claim. He could give light to a man born into darkness, but the bulk of the story is not the miracle. The story is as much about the blindness of the Jewish leaders to recognize what Jesus...

Jesus shocked the crowd by claiming to be the light of the world. Many were against him, but there were some in the crowd you began to beleive. Jesus offered them three tests of faith. He described how true disciples would abide in his word, bear his word, and obey it. 

The story of the woman caught in adultery is well known and controversial. We take a close look at the text and recognize why it was placed in chapter eight. Jesus uses the moment to reveal the universal depth of sin and to war those who find sin in others more quickly than in themselves. Ultimately, Jesus offers a new way of obedience. "Go and sin no more."

Increasingly, John portrays controversy around Jesus. He disappointed the crowd, confused his disciples, and offended the leaders. In John 7 we see people increasingly divided over who Jesus and what should be done with him.  It is no different today. Jesus divides the world. 

Jesus's disciples were offended. They were offended by his talk of flesh and blood and by his unwillingness to meet their needs and expectations. Many abandoned Christ that day.  The truth is, Jesus often said or did things that offended. It was this possibility of offense that forced people to make a decision. They could no longer live in their delusions or expectations but were forced to de...

Having witnessed and tasted Jesus's miraculous provision of bread, the crowd was ready to seize him and make him king. But Jesus slipped away. They eventually tracked him down in Capernaum where they began to question him. But Jesus sensed they were not there for the truth, they were there for more bread. Jesus explained that the bread they were really looking for was him. 

Brad Lombardi shares from the familiar stories of Jesus feeding the crowd and walking on water. 

Surrounded by accusations of blasphemy and law-breaking, Jesus worked to explain his power and authority to the Jewish leaders. It wasn't a formal trial, but the accusations were extremely serious. So Jesus did what any other accused in the first century would have, he called witnesses.  

Jesus continued his conversation with the Jewish leaders by turning to the topic of the resurection. He had been given the power of life. Though Jesus spoke of the expected future resurrection, he also said that hour was now. Resurrection was here.  On this Easter Sunday, we take a look at what it means to live with the hope of a future and present resurrection. Practice resurrection. 

The Jewish leaders confronted Jesus about his healing on the sabbath. But Jesus didn't buckle under their pressure; in fact, he doubled down. He explained that as the father had been working since creation, so too had he. Jesus went on to explain why all authority to judge and give life and been given to him. It makes a turn in John's gospel in which the Jewish leader decide that Jesus m...

On arriving in Jerusalem for a festival, Jesus found a man who had been lame for 38 years and healed him. It was a miracle, but we quickly learn that it was also the Sabbath and Jesus had commanded the man to take up his mat, a violation of Sabbath law. The leaders were forced to make a decision, had Jesus violated the Sabbath, or was he the fulfillment of it.

Jesus returned to his home region of Galilee to a warm welcome. His hometown fans had seen his miraculous signs and were suddenly supports. Everyone suddenly claimed to beleive in him. But Jesus was skeptical and used the desperate request of an official to talk about true belief. 

Most people have heard about the Jewish and Samaritan division. We understand the tension of a Jewish man sticking up a private conversation with a Samaritan woman. But most miss the bigger reality of Jesus' conversation. The language of division—gender, ethnicity, place of worship—is hers. Jesus instead offers something new and better—living water, Spirit, and truth.

John uses the word believe more than 100 times in his gospel. It is used on almost every page. But what does it mean? Many around Jesus misunderstood. We take a look at the importance of believing in Jesus.

Under the cover of darkness, Nicodemus came to Jesus. He had seen Jesus's signs and recognized Jesus had come from God. But Jesus pushed that conversation much deeper leaving Nicodemus confused and disoriented. At the center of the conversation was a question about faith. What does it mean to believe in Jesus?

Jesus's clearing of the temple was not an emotional outburst. It was another sign. A deliberate action by which Jesus revealed himself to his followers. The temple was not the future, not the physical one at least. Jesus, by His resurrection, would become a new and better temple. 

John tells us that Jesus's first sign was turning water into wine, but he also gives us several other details crucial to understanding the significance of Jesus's action. He was not pressured into by his concerned mom, Jesus chose this miracle for its symbolic meaning. Jesus was the messiah who came to offer a better wine and an eternal banquet. 

Jesus, realizing he was being followed, turned and asked the two men, "what do you seek?" It was a question that would change their lives and the world. Those men became some of Jesus's first followers. 

John the Baptist was questioned by religious leaders from Jerusalem. "Who do you say you are?" they asked him. John wasn't interested in that question. He wasn't interested in himself. John was helping Israel see the one standing in their midst. "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

John builds our anticipation for who this word is. He takes his time to get to the answer, explaining the problem of our preferring darkness and the divine solution of the word becoming flesh. The result is that we have seen God's glory and finally, John reveals it is seen through the flesh of Jesus Christ.

John begins his gospel with a prologue. In the beginning, was the word... Before we are introduced to John the baptist or to Jesus, we a reminded of what is at stake. The eternal word of God made flesh. This is a story that is set in the context of eternal salvation.