Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Read  John 1:32–36 . What does John the Baptist say here about Jesus that the people were not expecting about the long-awaited Messiah? The Jews looked for a Messiah to come who would deliver them from the rule of Rome. Long under oppression, the Jews believed that the Messiah would not only overthrow Rome but would establish them as a great and powerful nation. John’s words, however, calling Jesu...

Lesson 2 described how the witness of John the Baptist brought the first disciples—Andrew and John, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael—to Jesus. One would expect that the Baptist, having given his witness, would move off the scene. But he reappears several times in the Gospel of John. Read  John 3:25–36 . How does John the Baptist compare himself to Jesus? A dispute arose between John the Baptist’s disc...

Read for This Week’s Study John 3:25–36, John 1:32–36, Dan. 7:18, John 6:51–71, John 5:36–38, John 7:37–53 . Memory Text: Jesus doesn’t merely say astonishing things about Himself or about who He is or about who sent Him or about where He came from. He also showed who He is by the miracles and signs that He performed. As some openly testify of Jesus: “ ‘When the Christ comes, will He do more signs...

Read Ellen G. White, “At Jacob’s Well,” pp. 183–195, in The Desire of Ages. “As soon as she had found the Saviour the Samaritan woman brought others to Him. She proved herself a more effective missionary than His own disciples. The disciples saw nothing in Samaria to indicate that it was an encouraging field. Their thoughts were fixed upon a great work to be done in the future. They did not see th...

Read  John 4:27–29 . What surprising action did the woman take? Jesus’ discussion with the woman was interrupted by the arrival of the disciples. Though surprised that He was speaking with a woman, they did not question Him. Instead, they urged Him to eat. The woman, meanwhile, left her water pot and rushed into the city to share with others what she had just experienced with Jesus. Read  John 4:3...

Read  John 4:16–24 . What did Jesus do to show this woman that He knew her deepest secrets, and how did she respond? The light was too blinding to look at directly. While recognizing Jesus as a prophet, the woman practices avoidance again. She asks Jesus a question of religious controversy between Jews and Samaritans—the proper place to worship. In response, Jesus pointed out that the Samaritans d...

“ ‘Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them’ ” ( Ezek...

Read  John 4:7–15 . How does Jesus use this encounter to start witnessing to this woman? “The hatred between Jews and Samaritans prevented the woman from offering a kindness to Jesus; but the Saviour was seeking to find the key to this heart, and with the tact born of divine love, He asked, not offered, a favor. The offer of a kindness might have been rejected; but trust awakens trust.”—Ellen G. W...

Read  John 4:1–4 . What was the background issue that led Jesus through Samaria? The Pharisees discovered that the disciples of Jesus were baptizing more people than did those of John the Baptist. This situation could create tensions between John’s followers and Jesus’. The disciples of John, quite naturally, were jealous for their master’s reputation and status (compare with  John 3:26–30 ). John...

Read for This Week’s Study John 4:1–42, John 3:26–30, Jer. 2:13, Zech. 14:8, Ezek. 36:25–27 . Memory Text: Who were the Samaritans? The northern kingdom of Israel had been taken captive by the Assyrians in 722 b.c. To create political stability, the Assyrians dispersed their captives throughout their empire. Likewise, captives from other nations were brought to populate the northern kingdom, and t...

Read Ellen G. White, “Nicodemus,” pp. 167–177, in The Desire of Ages. Nicodemus “searched the Scriptures in a new way, not for the discussion of a theory, but in order to receive life for the soul. He began to see the kingdom of heaven as he submitted himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit. . . . “Through faith we receive the grace of God; but faith is not our Saviour. It earns nothing. It is t...

Read  John 3:1–21 . How does the testimony of Nicodemus support the theme of the Gospel of John? Nicodemus was a respected teacher in Israel and a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin. His testimony plays an important part in John’s Gospel for several reasons. He referred to Jesus as “Rabbi” and pointed to the signs that Jesus performed as evidence of His divine mission. Hence, even before Nicodemus re...

Read  John 1:43–46 . What did Philip’s message reveal about his faith in Jesus already? Philip was from Bethsaida, as were Andrew and Peter. He found his friend, Nathanael, and told him about Jesus. John the Baptist had called Jesus “the Lamb of God.” Andrew had told Peter that he had found “the Messiah.” But Philip calls Jesus the one Moses and the prophets wrote about and adds the name “Jesus of...

Two disciples of John the Baptist were standing with him when Jesus walked by. John declared, “ ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” ( John 1:36, NKJV ). The two disciples had listened to John’s message about the Christ, who would fulfill the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah. The disciples left John to follow Jesus, recognizing that Jesus was greater than John the Baptist and that He was t...

The Hebrew nation was looking for a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome. The goal of the Gospel of John was to change their understanding of the Messiah so that they could recognize in Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the coming King. The Messiah would not be an earthly ruler. He came to fulfill all the Old Testament promises concerning Himself, which include His self-sacrifi...

As last week’s lesson illustrated, the Gospel of John begins with Jesus Christ, the Word, in His eternal existence before Creation. But in that same prologue, John the Baptist appears as a witness to Jesus. Some Jews in Jesus’ time expected two messiahs, one priestly and the other royal. John clearly teaches that John the Baptist did not claim to be one of these messiahs but, rather, was a witness...

John 1:19–23, Isa. 40:1–5, John 1:29–37, Rom. 5:6, John 1:35–39, John 1:43–51, John 3:1–21 . Memory Text: No question, Jesus provided people with powerful scriptural evidence to back up the claims that He had been making about Himself, including “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” ( John 6:47 ). But there’s more: turning water into wine; feeding thousand...

Read Ellen G. White, “ ‘God With Us,’ ” pp. 19–26, in The Desire of Ages. “The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. This was no robbery of God [ Prov. 8:22–27  quoted...

Read  John 17:1–5 . What did Jesus mean when He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (ESV)? Yesterday’s study looked at the earthly, human storyline of the Gospel of John with its clash and interplay between people, always revolving around who Jesus is and what He is doing. Today’s study focuses on the divine, cosmic storyline, also found in John. The Pr...

Read  John 3:16–21, John 9:35–41, and John 12:36–46 . How do these texts repeat the theme of belief/unbelief found in the prologue? In John’s Gospel, humanity seems to be divided into two overarching groups: those who believe in Jesus and accept Him as the Messiah and those who, having the opportunity to believe, choose not to. Eleven of the disciples are in the first group, as are others such as...

Read  John 1:9–13 . What harsh reality is John depicting here about how people respond to Jesus? The Prologue,  John 1:1–18 , describes not only who Jesus Christ, the Word (logos), is but also how people in the world related to Him. In  John 1:9 , He is called the true Light, who enlightens every person coming into the world. That light illumines the world, making it understandable. As C. S. Lewis...

Read  John 1:1–3, 14 . What are these verses telling us that Jesus, God Himself, did—and why is this truth the most important truth that we could ever know? John starts his Gospel not with the name “Jesus” or His role as Messiah/Christ but with the term logos. Around the time John wrote, various philosophies used the term logos to refer to the rational structure of the universe, or to refer to the...

Read  John 1:1–5 . What do these words reveal about the Word, Jesus Christ? The Gospel of John begins with this amazing thought: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” ( John 1:1 ). This one beautiful sentence contains a depth of thought that we can barely grasp. First, the evangelist alludes to the Creation story in  Genesis 1:1 , “In the beginning.” The...

Read for This Week’s Study John 1:1–5, Gen. 1:1, John 1:9–13, John 3:16–21, John 9:35–41, Matt. 7:21–23, John 17:1–5 . Memory Text: Week one dealt with the end of the book of John, which explained why he wrote his Gospel. This week’s lesson returns to the beginning of the Gospel, where John sets forth the direction that he, inspired by the Holy Spirit, intends to take the reader. In the first word...

Read Ellen G. White, “The Crisis in Galilee,” pp. 383–394; “ ‘Lazarus, Come Forth,’ ” pp. 524–536; and “Priestly Plottings,” pp. 537–542, in The Desire of Ages. “The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with powe...