Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/22) John 4:1-26

Jun22

Read and believe in Jesus

“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty…” John 4:15a

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – John the Baptist exalts Jesus one last time. He humbly tells his disciples that the end of his mission is near, that now Jesus must increase, while he must decrease. He then goes on to lift up and praise Jesus, the Son of God. Such a man of God, and such an example of humility.

John 4:1-6

After spending a bit more time in Judea while His disciples baptized a few people, Jesus heard that the religious leaders were causing a fuss about Him because He was baptizing more than John (He wasn’t). To offset possible trouble, He and his disciples left the area and made for Galilee.

Of course, without a long detour, that meant that they had to walk THROUGH Samaria, that land where the hated Samaritans lived. (Most Jews would cross the Jordan River and walk on the east bank until they passed Samaria, then cross the river again to reach Galilee.)

(NOTE: The Samaritans were a people of mixed ancestry. After the Northern Kingdom had been defeated by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:1-6), only a few poor Jewish farmers were left in the land. Then, as was his way, the Assyrian king relocated people from other lands he’d conquered to live in Israel. These intermarried with the Jews, and over time their “religion” became half truth and half pagan. The Jews of Israel avoided contact with these “pagans.”)

But that day, Jesus had an “appointment” with a certain Samaritan woman who lived in Sychar. The ancient well that the patriarch Jacob/Israel dug was there, and after sending His disciples into town for food (was Kosher food to be found there??), Jesus sat down at the well.

It was about noon, and it was hot.

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John 4:7-15.

A Samaritan woman approached the well carrying a water jar. She set it on the ground and glanced at Jesus. Now, usually the women of town would come in the cool of morning to draw water, so right away we know something was different about this woman. She was disliked and shunned by the Sychar Ladies Society. Why? We will find out.

“Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her.

The woman gave Him a double take. Usually men did not speak to women in public … especially JEWISH men.

“How is it that YOU, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? she asked.

‘If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is that is saying to you, ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

The woman’s jaw dropped open. Then she said,

“Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” (She knew her history.)

Jesus answered her with a beautiful offer.

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Silence again. And then…

“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty … or have to come here to draw water!” The Samaritan woman wasn’t quite sure what Jesus was offering. Was this some mystical holy water? Or some special means to receive regular water without work? Was He “pulling her leg?”

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John 4:16-26.

Jesus abruptly changes the topic. “Go, call your husband and come here.”

Ah…um…“I have no husband.”

“You were right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you said was true.” Jesus quickly answereed back. His eyes never left her face.

Softly she answered, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”

Then more boldly, trying to change the subject from husbands, she said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but You say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.“

Jesus corrected her and gave her new knowledge. “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do NOT know, we worship what we DO know, for salvation is from the Jews. But… the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Almost more than she could comprehend, she said firmly, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When HE comes, HE will tell us all things.”

Silence, until she looked right at Him.

“I who speak to you am He.” Jesus said softly.

Whoa!

(And that’s where we leave them today. But stay tuned, it gets really exiting and amazing.)

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/19) John 3:22-36

Jun19

Read and believe in Jesus

“” John

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – Jesus spoke and taught Nicodemus one night and explained the wonders of new birth, true belief, and eternal life. He even gave the inquiring Pharisee a picture of how all this could happen – when He was lifted up like Moses’ serpant in the wilderness. Difficult, but Nicodemus pondered it I’m sure. And he was eventually saved. See John 7:50-51 and John 19:38-40 to see the evidence.

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John 3:22–24.

After the Passover Feast, Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went through the Judean countryside to the river. They remainded there, and His disciples were baptizing. John the Baptist was also baptizing, farther south where the water was plentiful, and the people were coming to him in repentance.. (In doing this, John always pointed the people to the Messiah, Jesus.)

At one point, a discussion began between John’s disciples and a Jew.. They brought their question to John. “Rabbi, He who was with you across the Jordan (Jesus), to whom you bore witness, is baptising and all are going to HIM.” In other words, we are losing our baptees.and followers.

But this was not a probllem to the humble “voice” in the wilderness.

He said, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. The one who has “the bride” is “the bridegroom”. A friend of the bridegroom rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.“

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John 3:30-36

Then John gives a speech that is surely spirit-inspired.

“He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way,” (John). “He who comes from Heaven is above all. (Jesus the Messiah) He bears witness to what He has seen and heard, yet no one receives His testimony.

“Whoever receives His testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent utters the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.”

And as John fades from the forefront, he gives an invitation to faith in Jesus.

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Wow! What a testimony of truth. What a man of God. Wouldn’t you love to have heard more of his sermons before he held the baptisims? He was a preacher, and you know his words were Spirit-led, for this “invitation” is just like Jesus was preaching to Nicodemus in the previous section.

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/18) John 3:1-21

Jun18

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“Truly, truly, I say unto you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – Jesus, indignant about how “His Father’s house had been turned into a marketplace, made a whip and drove out the animals, birds, the men selling them, and the moneychangers. (They simply moved their business outside the walls.) However the chief priests were angry at Jesus, for they got a cut of all the money exchanged “for the Temple,” they said (haha). They wanted to know by whose authority Jesus had done this.

Give us a “sign,” they said. Jesus told them the only sign of His authority was His own resurrection from the dead. (He’d cloaked this information in an allegory – “Destroy this temple (His body) and in three days I will raise it up.” They took it wrong, of course, and thought He meant the temple King Herod was restoring. He was crazy!)

After this, “many believed in His name when they saw the miracles He was doing,” but Jesus knew their hearts and did not trust their allegience to be genuine..”

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John 3:1-8.

But there was a man, a Pharisee, a renowned teacher of the law and member of the Jewish “Supreme Court,” the Sanhedrin, who wanted to know more about this country rabbi who spoke so forceibly and performed miracles. But this important man did not want to be seen inquiring. He might have been black-balled, even thrown out of the court. So he came to Jesus by night.

(Perhaps, Jesus was already establishing the garden on the Mount of Olives, as a place for He and His men to relax and sleep. It was quiet and private.)

Nicodemas came up to Jesus in the dim light of a torch and began his shpeal. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” You can almost here him open his mouth to continue, but Jesus spoke first, getting right to the question that bothered this man the most.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Taken aback, Nicademas blurted out, “How can a man be BORN AGAIN when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? (Good question, Nick.)

Again Jesus emphasized the truth of what He was saying. He wasn’t joking. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is flesh is FLESH. And that which is Spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Then Jesus clarifies (and confuses) with, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. SO it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

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John 3:9-15.

Okay, now Nick is really confused. “How can theses things be?” he asks.

Jesus scolds him. Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but YOU do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe it if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And … as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that … WHOEVER believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Whoa, that was a mini-sermon that Jesus spoke to Nicodemas. 1) Who is the “we” and “our” that Jesus uses first? 2) Is Jesus declaring openly to this Pharisee that He came down from heaven? 3) Why is He comparing Himself to a serpant?? 4) And when anyone looks on Him (lifted up like Moses’ snake) and believes they will have eternal life.What does THAT mean? WOW.

  1. Jesus’ use of “we” and “our” (speaking for the Godhead) in verse 11 counters Nicodemus’s “we” in verse 2, and places the real, devine testimony of God against the flawed understanding of the Pharisees.
  2. And yes, Jesus reveals to Nicodemas that He, like the Son of Man of Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 7:13-14), has descended from heaven and has true knowledge of heavenly things.
  3. Yes, as an “picture” or simile, Jesus was saying that LIKE the bronze image of the serpant that Moses made and lifted on a pole for the people to see (in obedience to God’s instructions) and be healed … HE would be lifted up on a cross.
  4. In Numbers 21:5-9, God sent vipers to the people as a judgment on their sin. In His mercy, He told Moses to make an image of the vipers and put it high on a pole. If the people would look on the image – NOT to worship it, but in obedience and faith in God’s words – He promised them they would not die from the poison, but live. And so, those who will look on Jesus – lifted up on the cross to pay for the sins of man, and believe what God says about Him – they too will live. TAnd this time have eternal life.

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John 3:16-21.

You know this wonderful and well know verse. Say it with me and think of the wonderful sacrifice and promise God makes in it.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus came to earth to die as the judgment on the sins of man because of the great LOVE of God for His human creation. God sent His only beloved Son to be tortured, disgraced and die in the place of all who would believe (place their trust) in Him. BELIEVE that His death covers their sin once and for all… that His death gives them the righteousness they need to one day stand before a super-holy God of the universe, and not desinergrate.

Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, but in order that it might be saved through Him.

And sadly, those who reject Jesus and His work on the cross, have no chance, for they are ALREADY condemned. They love darkness instead of that Light that has come into the world. And why? Because their deeds (thoughts, speech) was evil, and Light shows that up, and they would stand … EXPOSED.

Not so, those of the Light. They eagerly come to the light to show what God has worked in them.

"This is the message we have from Him and proclaim to you, 
that God is light and in Him is no darknesses of all.
If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness,
 we LIE, and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, 
we have fellowship with one another, 
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:5-7

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/17) John 2:13-25

Jun17

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“Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” John 2:16b

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – Jesus’ family and disciples are invited to a Wedding. At the week (or so) feast that followed, the wine supply was depleted. Jesus’ mother came to Jesus with the problem, then left Him to do as He would. As His first sign-miracle, Jesus turned six huge jars of fresh water into the best wine they had ever tasted. Surely this points to a new life, changed by Jesus, into one that blesses all around them. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and bring them into His Kingdom.

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John 2:13-17.

After the wedding and a brief stop in Capernaum, Jesus (with family and disciples?) did what all devout Jewish men did at that time of the year, as commanded by God. He went “up to Jerusalem” to celebrate Passover. This “feast” commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt, when the angel of the LORD “passed over” all who had the lamb’s blood sprinkled on their doorposts, and killed the firstborn of all others.

(This is the first of three Passovers that John mentions in his Gospel.)

At Passover, worshippers came from all over Israel and the Roman Empire. Because it was not feasible to bring all the required animals for the sacrifice over such a distance, merchants saw an opportunity to make a bit of cash by providing them … at exorbitant prices. Also, the annual temple tax was to be paid by every male aged 20 and over. Coins from the countries in the Roman Empire were NOT accepted for this tax, so they needed to be exchanged into the Jewish shekel.

Not only did the animal sellers and moneychangers exploit the situation by charging high fees, but the Sadducees (major rulers of the Temple) also raked off a percentage of their earnings for allowing them to set up tables. And so, this outer court of the temple – a place where Gentiles were supposed to come to worship the LORD – was turned into a loud, chaotic (and filthy) marketplace by greedy merchants.

Jesus was infuriated with righteous indignation and anger. His Father’s holiness and worship were at stake.

He braided together a whip of cords and drove out not only the merchants but also the animals. “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade,” Jesus cried as He swung the whip above His head, and turned over the tables piled high with coins.

Later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples remembered the Scripture passage from Psalm 69:9, “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

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John 2:18-22.

It was chaotic, but there was no uproar from the people. Otherwise, the Roman soldiers – on high alert during this Feast – would have been there in an instant. (Eventually, the merchants and travelers continued their bargaining outside the Temple walls.) However, the religious leaders saw their departure as the end of their money-making. They came to Jesus in protest.

“What sign do You show us for doing these things?” They wanted to know who had given Jesus the “authority” to drive out the merchants and animals. They believed that THEY alone had authority over the Temple.

Jesus gave them a sign, alright, but they totally did not understand it. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Jesus’ death and resurrection would show who He was and the authority He had, but even after the event, the religious leaders rejected Him. In fact, this was one of the accusations they used to get a “guilty verdict” at his trial. For who could rebuild the magnificent temple that had taken King Herod 46 years to restore … in THREE DAYS?

Again, Jesus’ disciples would remember His words and understand their meaning. Just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit would remind and teach them all the things Jesus had said.

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John 2:23-25.

“Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs (miracles) that He was doing.“

This sounds good, right? Many believed! The miracles convinced them. (But what did they believe? And how sincere were they?)

“But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man.”

Jesus, as God, knew the hearts of people, and if their faith was sincere or not, and what it was based on. If only miracles convinced them, what would happen when He was arrested and crucified? How genuine was that belief?

“He Himself knew what was in man.”

Jesus was looking for true disciples who were genuinely converted. Mere enthusiasm for His miracles would fade in the face of opposition. True faith, and not “wows” at miracles, is needed for a life to be changed. Jesus was looking for whole-hearted commitment in His disciples.

(“Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'” Matt. 16:24-25. This challenge remains the same for us today.)

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/16) John 2:1-12

Jun16

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“This, the first of His signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him. “ John 2:11

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – Jesus’ first disciples believe and begin to follow Him: John and Andrew, Simon (Peter), Philip, and Nathaniel. John and Andrew are directed by John the Baptist to Jesus. Andrew brings his brother Simon, and Jesus gives him a new name. After Jesus invites Philip to follow Him, the disciple finds his friend Nathaniel and simply says, “Come and see.” Nathaniel believes when he hears that Jesus “saw” him earlier, and Jesus promises him more supernatural revelations.

John 2:1-5

Three days after Jesus called Philip and Nathaniel, there was a wedding in the nearby town of Cana. Jesus’ mother was there. (It was possibly a family member’s wedding, and she had some responsibilities.) If that was the case, it was natural that Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. The newest disciple, Nathaniel, was from Cana. (John 21:2)

The celebration was going along nicely (it could be up to a week!) when Mary noticed they were out of wine. This would be a big embarrassment to the host (the groom & family), and Mary told Jesus about the problem.

Did she expect Him to do something about it? (Run to the nearest BEV MO?) Verse 11 says that this was the FIRST of Jesus’ miracles, so she couldn’t have expected a miracle of Him. Perhaps she was simply used to going to Jesus as her oldest and first-born son with any problems that arose after the death of Joseph.

What follows is hard for us to understand. It seems like Jesus is rude to His mother, telling her that since He had begun His ministry (acclaimed by John the Baptist and calling His first disciples), He could no longer be involved in her household problems. From that time onward, His eye (concern) would be on the cross and His death on it for the sins of man. (His “hour”)

What Mary understood of that, we don’t know. It seems she might have said, “Whatever!” and then turned to the servants with, “You do what He says.” After that, she walked away, leaving everything in His hands.

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John 2:6-11

In this house where the wedding was being held (it must have been grand), there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rite of purification (ritual baths). Each held 20-30 gallons. GALLONS!! Jesus told the servants to fill each of them up with fresh water (from a well or nearby spring). It must have taken some time. When they were full (you could see the inside bottom of the jars through the clear liquid), Jesus told the servants to draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.

Were they scared to do so? Water to the head master? But they were servants; they obeyed. A pitcher was carried to the man at the head table. And sometime between drawing the water out and pouring it into a wine glass … the water had become wine. The freshest and best wine from the highest-quality grapes.

The head of the feast was flabbergasted. He turned to the groom with high praise. The groom must have been wide-eyed in wonder himself. Where had it come from? (Only the servants knew.) Whatever, the wedding feast went on in splendid form.

“This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.“

John emphasized that miracles were not merely displays of power, but had spiritual significance. They were “signs” that pointed to deeper realities through the eyes of faith.

(What do YOU believe this sign of turning water to wine at a wedding feast pointed to in Jesus’ life and ministry?)

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John 2:12.

After the wedding feast, Jesus and His disciples (and His mother and brothers) went down to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus would soon establish this town as His northern headquarters. For now, they stayed only a few days before heading to Jerusalem for Passover (next reading).

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/15) John 1:35-51

Jun15

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“He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah.” John 1:41

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – John the Baptist points people to Jesus, saying He is the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ He is questioned by the religious leaders from Jerusalem, but humbly claims only to be the one pointing others to the promised Messiah.

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John 1:35-42.

The next day, two of John the Baptist’s own followers were standing near him when Jesus walked by. John pointed to Him and said, “Behold (or look!), the Lamb of God.” The two disciples (who happened to be John and Andrew) began following after Jesus.

“What are you seeking?” Jesus turned and asked them.

“Rabbi, where are You staying?

Jesus, I think, with a grin on his face, answered, “Come, and you will see.”

They followed Him and stayed with Him that day.

(NOTE: If John was using the Jewish way of reckoning time, it would have been 4:00 pm, but John often uses the Roman method, and so it would have been 10:00 in the morning, and the two stayed with Jesus, learning from him all that day.)

It seems that John and Andrew were convinced of who Jesus was. Andrew went off to find his brother, Simon, and exclaimed, “We have found the Messiah!”

He brought Simon to Jesus, and after a simple look, Jesus said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which in Greek is Peter)?“

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John 1:43-46.

The next day, Jesus went north to Galilee, to the city of Bethsaida (the northern tip of the Sea). Peter and Andrew were originally from that city. Jesus found Philip there and said, “Follow Me.”

Almost immediately, Philip found Nathaniel (sometimes called Bartholomew) and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

(Philip got two things wrong, but they were later corrected. While Jesus WAS raised in Nazareth, He was born in Bethlehem, and while Joseph was His adopted father, Jesus was the Son of God. In reality, He had no earthly father.)

Nathaniel scoffed, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (Nazareth was an insignificant, poor village without prophetic significance. Nathaniel, a scholar, knew that.)

Philip’s answer? “Come and see.”

(This is a great way to introduce Jesus, even today. “Come and see.” You can invite friends or family to study the Gospels with you, or invite them to your church’s Sunday School or Bible study. There, as they read the Bible, they can “see” Jesus for themselves.)

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John 1:47-51.

Nathaniel agreed and went with Philip. Jesus saw him coming and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (Wow, what a thing for Jesus to say of him!)

“How do You know me?” Nathaniel asked, astonished.

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Amazed, and recognizing Jesus as the Messiah that Philip called Him, Nathaniel said, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israle!” (Wow! Nathaniel claimed Jesus as “the Son of God” way before Peter made that announcement!)

Jesus said, “Because I said I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

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(What did Jesus mean by that? If you remember way back in Genesis 28:12, Jacob (who became Israel) had a dream as he left the ‘promised land’ to seek a wife: a ladder stretched from earth to heaven. Angels were ascending and descending on it. That was when the LORD promised Jacob that He would be his God, as He had been to Abraham and Isaac, and that the promised land would be HIS and his offspring’s forever. —– Jesus’ point to Nathaniel was that just as Jacob/Israel experienced a supernatural, heaven-sent revelation, so Nathaniel and the other disciples would experience supernatural confirmation about WHO Jesus was. And “the Son of Man” replaced the “ladder” in Jacob’s dream, showing that Jesus was the means of access to God.)

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/12) John 1:19-34

Jun12

(Note: I had to change the “John” icon due to copyright issues. This is my own pic.)

Read and believe in Jesus

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

REVIEW – John’s magnificent introduction to his gospel showed Jesus as Creator, Eternal God, Light and Life, Son of God, the WORD who became flesh and blood, Israel’s Messiah, and the One who brings grace and truth. He would be rejected by many, but received by some, who would become the children of God. John mentions John the Baptist, a fiery yet humble man who came as a witness to Jesus and who prepared the way for Him. And that’s where the story begins today.

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Isaiah 40:3-5 — “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’”

This is the call that John the Baptist heard from the Scriptures he studied.

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John 1:19-28.

John had been doing what God called him to do, up and down the Jordan Valley. The way he was “preparing a way” for the Lord was by turning the people’s hearts away from themselves and their sin and toward God. He would preach and then baptize those who repented. He painted a picture of the One who was coming after him as eternal, holy, worthy of worship. He did this so the Messiah would be revealed to the people.

John was causing a lot of fuss, and the religious leaders in Jerusalem heard about him. They sent priests and Levites to find out who he was. (Remember, John was in the priestly line; his father, Zechariah, was a priest, and his mother, Elizabeth, was also a “daughter of Aaron.”)

The priests asked him, “Who are you?“

John confessed plainly, “I am not the Christ.”

They asked further, “What then? Are you Elijah?” (Referencing Malachi 3:1 and 45-6, which tells of a future herald.)

John answered, “I am not.“

Priests: “Are you the Prophet?” (Referencing Deuteronomy 18:15-18, where God told Moses about the Messiah.)

John: “No.”

Priests: “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

John quotes Isaiah. “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

The Priests, quoting the Pharisees, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

John: “I baptize with water, but among you stands One you do not know, even He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

That must have given the priests enough fodder, for they departed, leaving John to his baptizing.

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John 1:29-34.

The very next day, while John was again preaching and baptizing, he saw Jesus walking toward him. He knew who the man Jesus was – for they were cousins – but he did not KNOW Jesus was the Messiah, the One whom he was “preparing the people” for. So God gave John a sign, and then he KNEW.

“BEHOLD, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The Jews were familiar with lambs being used for sacrifice. There was the Passover Lamb that called to remembrance their deliverance from the death angel and escape from Egypt. A lamb was offered in the daily sacrifices for Israel. The Jews understood how their sins were laid upon an animal’s head before it died, and so their sin was atoned for.

Here was the One who would atone for the sins of the world … if, in fact, they “received Him, and believed on His name.” John 1:11.

Then John told how he saw the Holy Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and remain on Him. (It was when he baptized Jesus.) It was the sign from God, and he knew that “THIS IS THE SON OF GOD.“

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/11) John 1:1-18

Jun11

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“And the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – We’ve read the gospels of Mark and Luke, both of which draw on eyewitness accounts. John (and next, Matthew) were actual disciples of Jesus. Daily they were with Him for most of three years. Matthew was probably written first. John, written last, was written many years later, when the “beloved disciple” was an old man.

John doesn’t write his account in specific chronological order. Instead, he gives seven signs (miracles) that prove Jesus was the Messiah and Savior. He also uses seven “! AM” statements that identify Jesus as God. He had a purpose for writing his book that you will find at the end of his Gospel: “that YOU may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you might have life in His name.” John 20:31.

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John 1:1-5

“In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD WAS God.

“He was in the beginning with God. ALL things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”

According to Greek philosophy, the “Lagos” (or WORD) is the “initiator” of all that exists. THIS is Jesus. John uses this word not only to reach Jews, but also Greeks with the Gospel.

“In Him was LIFE, and the life was the LIGHT of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

LIFE and LIGHT are spiritual and eternal qualities shared in the Godhead, and also in those who respond to the gospel message about Jesus.

LIGHT refers to Biblical truth, as well as to holiness and purity, while darkness points to Satan, rebellion, and death. Darkness will never conquer the LIGHT of Christ, just as a single candle can overcome a room filled with darkness, but not vice versa. (PRAISE GOD!)

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John 1:6-8.

John mentions John the Baptist, a man sent by God as a “witness” to tell about the light of Jesus, so all might believe in Him. John wasn’t the light, but he came to point to the light. And indeed he did, to all who came to him to be baptized … and even to King Herod who had him beheaded for it.

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John 1:9-13.

Jesus, the true light, came into the world (the world that He created), and they (for the most part) DID NOT KNOW HIM.

He came to His own people, the Jews, who since Abraham had been expecting their Messiah, and they (for the most part) DID NOT RECEIVE HIM.

BUT …. to all WHO DID RECEIVE HIM, who did believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Spiritual children of God, not of flesh and blood or the will of man … but by THE WILL OF GOD.

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John 1:14-18

Here, John the disciple can’t help but testify on his own behalf.

“The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, AND WE HAVE SEEN HIS GLORY, GLORY AS THE ONLY SON OF THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH!”

In John’s first letter, verse 1, you see that amazement again.

“That which was from the beginning, WHICH WE HAVE HEARD, WHICH WE HAVE SEEN WITH OUR EYES, WHICH WE LOOKED UPON AND HAVE TOUCHED WITH OUR HANDS…. the life was made manifest, and WE HAVE SEEN IT…”

(This is the one who is writing this Gospel we are about to read. A man who knew Jesus, who walked with Him, hugged, linked arms with. The Word of Life, John knew personally. And he’s going to tell us about Him.)

Then John the disciple tells the testimony of John the Baptist.

“John bore witness about him and cried out, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He WAS before me.”

And John’s final words of introduction before going into more of what John the Baptist said and did:

“And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father’s side, HE has made Him known.”

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Yes, this is a tough section of John’s Gospel. Jesus is presented not as a babe in a manger or even a man being baptized, but as the Eternal God, author of life and all that exists. Let’s try to keep this image of Him in our minds as we read.

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (6/10) Luke 24:36-52

Jun10

A five-day-per-week study

June 10 – Luke 24:36-52

Read and Believe in Jesus

“It is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” Luke 24:46b-48

The Gospel according to Luke.

REVIEW – Jesus, in His “resurrected body disguise,” joined two disciples as they walked to Emmaus from Jerusalem after Passover week. They were astounded that this man didn’t know all the amazing things that had happened there, and told Him. Jesus then explained how all those things fulfilled the prophesies about the Messiah in the Scriptures. The two were amazed and said that “their hearts burned.” Jesus accepted their invitation to stay at their home, and when He took the bread, broke it, and gave it to them …. they suddenly recognized him as their Master. At that moment Jesus disappeared. The two rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles.

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Luke 24:36-43.

Meanwhile, back in Jerusalem, the apostles and disciples were hearing and rejoicing at Simon Peter’s account of seeing Jesus himself. The two from Emmaus arrived and told their story. And there was great rejoicing.

As they were talking, encouraging each other, Jesus suddenly appeared among them. “Peace to you,” He immediately said, for they were frightened, thinking He was a ghost!

“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

(We may laugh at them, but seriously! How would YOU feel if Jesus in resurrected flesh was suddenly behind you while you read this on your phone or tablet? You would be wide-eyed. You would gasp. Your heart might start pounding. I know that’s how “I” would feel.)

Jesus then held out His nail-printed hands and showed his scarred feet. Surely they could see the healed wounds the crown of thorns made on his forehead. Yes, it was Jesus! Yes, He had risen as He said! But oh, how absolutely amazing and astounding it was to actually SEE Him. They looked and touched, wide-eyed and trembling. They saw Jesus but still “disbelieved for joy.”

(You know how that is. Sometimes something is SO amazing, we might say, “Wow! Unbelievable! I can’t believe I saw that!” That’s the attitude they had.)

Smiling at their amazement and joy, Jesus sought further proof to show them, and asked for some food. Surely ghosts don’t EAT! They gave Jesus a piece of boiled fish, and He ate it. Oh, how they watched wide-eyed as He bit, chewed, and swallowed.

(I can even see Him open His mouth and stick out His tongue to show that the fish had actually been swallowed!! Ha-ha)

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Luke 24:44-49.

Then, as He had done with the two on the road to Emmaus, Jesus told them that “Everything written about Me in 1) the Law of Moses, 2) the Prophets, and 3) the Psalms (the whole Old Testament) must be fulfilled.” Then Jesus did a wonderful thing. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Often, when He had taught the crowds, He told His disciples that they wouldn’t understand it all “then,” but they would later. NOW was that time.

(Can you imagine how it would be to totally understand and “see” Jesus throughout the Bible? We study and learn some, but to have instant understanding! Wow. Of course, these men (and women) would need that knowledge, as well as the Holy Spirit in them, to begin preaching the Gospel to all the world.)

Then Jesus states clearly the Gospel that is to be preached to all nations. “That Christ (Messiah) should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name.” This message would first be preached in Jerusalem and then spread to the whole world.

Jesus also promised that He would “clothe them with the power” they would need for the task. The Holy Spirit of God would soon come upon them. They were to wait in the city until this happened. (40 days later, on Pentecost)

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Luke 24:50-53,

Their clear task before them; the promise of power soon to be fulfilled; it was time for Jesus to return to Glory, to the Father, to the place of honor from which he had come 33 earth-years earlier. From there, He would send the Holy Spirit. And there He would intercede for them when the Tempter tried to prevail. And from there He would welcome them home when they were martyred for His name’s sake.

Jesus led them out as far as Bethany on the easter slope of the Mount of Olives. He lifted up His hands in a final blessing on them. And as He did, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”

Like we would, they continued to stare in amazement into heaven at the last tiny spot they had seen Jesus. Then they worshiped Him (in praise and prayer). They returned to the Holy City with great joy, and were in the temple continually blessing God.

Hallelujah!!

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Luke omits some incidents and words that the other Gospels include after the Resurrection and goes straight to the glorious point of Jesus’ ascension.

As we study John next, we will see Jesus in those precious moments with Mary Magdalene in the garden, with “doubting” Thomas, who then proclaimed Him as “My Lord and my God”, with 500 disciples at one time in Galilee, and with the disciples beside the Sea, when Peter humbly said three times that he DOES love Jesus.

Matthew ends with the Great Commission and Jesus’ promise, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (6/9) Luke 24:13-35

Jun9

A five-day-per-week study

June 9 – Luke 24:13-35

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened the Scriptures?” Luke 24:32

The Gospel according the Luke.

REVIEW – Jesus was resurrected early on the first day of the week (Sunday). A group of women came to do a thorough job of annointing His body with spices and ointments. (Joseph was hurried on Friday when he placed Jesus’ body in his tomb because it was almost the Sabbath.) /But the women found the tomb empty. Then a pair of angels appeared. One asked them the most amazing question. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” He told them to remember what Jesus had said about rising from the dead. The women ran to tell the disciples, who pooh-poohed their account. But … after they left, Peter (and John) ran to the tomb to find it exactly as the women had said.

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Luke 24:13-24.

Later on the same day, when the women and the apostles received the good news that Jesus had risen, we meet two more of the Master’s disciples. They were returning home from Jerusalem to Emmaus after Passover. One was named Cleopas (possibly the husband of one of the Marys who stood at the cross, see John 19:25).

As they walked, they talked about everything that had happened in Jerusalem that week: 1) Jesus’ triumphant entry on a donkey, 2) His amazing teaching, 3) His arrest, trial, and ultimate horrible crucifixion, with the darkness and earthquake, 4) Joseph’s merciful act of burial, and then 5) the news about His resurrection. It was all just too much to take in.

As they walked, a man joined them on the road. Jesus kept His identity from them as they went, listening, then questioning what they were talking about.

They stopped, amazed, and Cleopas asked, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?“

“What things?” Jesus asked them, urging them on.

“Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. We had hoped that He was the One to redeem Israel! And now, some of the women amazed us, saying they saw a vision of angels who said that He was alive!

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Luke 24:25-27.

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” said Jesus tenderly. “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?

And beginning with Moses (five books of the Law) and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in ALL Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

(Some of the Scriptures would have included an explanation of the sacrificial system, with its offerings and death. He would have pointed them to the prophetic passages that spoke of crucifixion, like Psalm 16, 22, and 69, Isaiah 52-53, Zechariah 12-13, and even explained such passages as Genesis 3:15, Numbers 21:5-9, Psalm 16:10, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Daniel 9:26, as well as many more.)

OH, WOULDN’T YOU HAVE LOVED TO HEAR THAT TEACHING AS THEY WALKED ALONG? This is why we should study the Old Testament too. It’s rich in the things that point to Jesus.

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Luke 24:28-32.

When they came to their house in Emmaus, Jesus acted as if he would travel farther, but they urged Him strongly to stay with them for the night. Jesus agreed.

When he was at the table with them, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. (OH, that must have seemed SO familiar!!) And at that minute, Jesus “opened their eyes to recognize Him.” And then He vanished.

Amazed, cheered, and with more understanding of all the events as they finished the simple meal, they said over and over, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”

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Luke 24:33-35.

And they got up that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the Eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two from Emmaus told what had happened along the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

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What a time of rejoicing that must have been. Jesus really was alive. And those who hadn’t witnessed His appearing yet longed for it to happen to them too. (And it would soon.)

Oh, and don’t you know that special appearance to “Simon” (not Peter) was surely a sweet time, when the distraught disciple who had denied his Lord three times, as predicted, was tenderly assured that he was still Jesus’ own sure possession. Such grace. Such love.