"Take away the stone."

John 11

Welcome! Today we come to our last message from the book of John until next year. By way of a quick preview, we will be going through the book of Titus after this, and then we will have a Christmas series. And then, beginning in January, we will pick back up the book of John and go through the rest of book right through Easter.

Our series for this middle section of John has been entitled “What did He Say?!” because a major theme of these chapters is not only the things Jesus did and said, but the people’s response to these things. John shows us more than any gospel how people responded to the words and actions of Jesus, and by and large, as we have seen, the way they responded was with shock, with disdain, with laughter, and even with anger and hatred. In fact, in the previous chapter they tried to stone Jesus in verse 31 and then tried to grab Him in verse 39, but as it says, He escaped their grasp. Their anger towards Jesus was for a variety of reasons, but in chapter 10 it was specifically because they understood that Jesus was claiming to be God, a claim He did not in any way deny. The chapter ends by saying that Jesus went back across the Jordan to where John the Baptist had baptized people around the time Jesus was just beginning His ministry, and it says that there, in contrast to Jerusalem, many people believed in Him. This brings us to the beginning of John 11:

"I am the gate."

John 10

Good morning!  Today, we are going into John chapter 10 as the next part of the series “What did He say?”  I think this chapter is familiar to many.  This chapter contains some beautiful imagery and some great assurances of our salvation.  It is also a chapter which flows right out of the previous chapter.  Literally, Jesus started a dialog at the end of chapter 9 and his speaking continues into chapter 10.  There is no interruption or time lapse between the last verse of chapter 9 and the first verse of chapter 10.  Before we jump into John chapter 10, let’s pray.

Lord, open our hearts and minds to your Word.  Help me communicate the truths that You want us to understand.  We thank you that you do not leave us alone, but that you are our shepherd.  Give us humility to recognize our need for you and your eternal provision and protection.  You are faithful and kind.  All this we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I have to confess that I was envious of Carl because he got to share on John 9 last week.  I love the story of the man born blind whose transformation you can see in just a single chapter.  His pluck and boldness before the Pharisees is so invigorating.  Then, as Jesus seeks him out the second time after the confrontation with the Pharisees, the man worships Jesus.  It is exciting.

"I am the light"

John 9

Welcome! Today we continue our series on the book of John entitled “What did He say?!” in which we explore the works and especially the words of Jesus. The book of John contains more conversations among the people, more reactions of the people to what Jesus was doing and saying, than any other gospel. And so, in this series, we are not really taking the book of John in a particular slant; we are simply following the cues of the book itself.

Now, today, we look at chapter 9 of John. In John chapter 8, Jesus was in Jerusalem, teaching whoever would listen among the crowds, including the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. It was a contentious series of conversations – the people questioned Jesus’ claims about Himself, they questioned what He meant by how they needed to be set free, they called Him demon-possessed, and so on. Jesus tried to tell them that they were in fact blind, they were in fact slaves, slaves to sin, and that they were the ones who were actually under the influence of the devil. He also told them in only slightly veiled language that He would go somewhere they could not follow to save them from their sins. He also told them He had been in God the Father’s direct presence, and He told them that He was ancient; “before Abraham was born,” He said, “I am.” In response they picked up stones to stone Him, but He slipped away.

John chapter 9 picks up right from these events, from this moment of slipping away.