Today’s passage: John 12:37–50 Focus verse: Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue. (John 12:42) After John writes that many people believe in Jesus because he raised […]
Today’s passage: John 12:1–36 Focus verse: So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. (John 12:10–11) Let’s recap. Lazarus gets sick. Lazarus dies. Jesus raises him from the dead in front of a host […]
Today’s passage: John 11:45–57 Focus verse: “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” (John 11:50) When Jesus’s friend Lazarus dies, Jesus goes to his grave and, with a dramatic flair, raises him from the dead. When the people witness […]
Today’s passage: John 11:1–44 Focus verse: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25) Here we have a story of Jesus and three siblings. They are Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Jesus has great affection for them and sometimes hangs out at their […]
Today’s passage: John 10:22–42 Focus verse: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) Jews, whom I suspect are Pharisees, ask Jesus if he is the expected Messiah, the Christ they’ve been awaiting. They want a direct yes or no answer. “I […]
Today’s passage: John 9:35–10:21 Focus verse: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) I suspect you’re familiar with the phrase the Good Shepherd. Yet the term only occurs three times in the Bible, all in today’s passage in the book of John. Jesus, as the […]
Today’s passage: John 9:13–34 Focus verse: “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” (John 9:16) The Pharisees come up often in the four biographies of Jesus, over eighty times altogether. From our present day, we look back two millennia, dismayed at the hypocrisy and closed-mindedness of the Pharisees. While […]
Today’s passage: John 9:1–12 Focus verse: “This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) As Jesus and his disciples travel, they meet a blind man. He was blind from birth. The disciples assume sin caused his blindness. That’s their view of God, that he afflicts people who do […]
Today’s passage: John 8:31–59 Focus verse: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32) Jesus speaks to the Jews who believe in him. He encourages them to hold fast to his teaching. By doing so, they prove […]
Today’s passage: John 8:1–30 Focus verse: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) Jesus’s detractors drag a woman caught in the act of adultery before him. They’re doing this to test him. These religious leaders who present the adulterous woman care nothing […]