Trusting Christ’s Knowledge John 21:15–19 You know that I love you. John 21:15 As Christ questioned him, consider Peter’s repeated appeal to Christ’s knowledge. In each case he answered Christ’s question by affirming his love and then saying, “You know that I love you” (vv. 15–17). He might have said, “As I know my own…

From Doubt to Faith John 20:24–31 My Lord and my God! John 20:28 What convinced Thomas that Jesus had risen from the dead? What finally got through to him was the presence of Christ, identified by the wounds in his hands, feet, and side. It was the Christ of the cross who reached Thomas. This…

Privileged Adoption John 20:10–18 I am ascending to my Father and your Father. John 20:17 Our new relationship to Christ provides a new relationship to God the Father. What is involved here is our adoption into the family of God. We are not naturally born into God’s family. We are alienated from God and are…

Resurrection Lessons John 20:1–9 He saw and believed. John 20:8 There are a few lessons that arise out of the narrative of the empty tomb. The first is that God has provided perfectly adequate evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The evidence consists of the claims of those who saw Jesus…

For Love John 19:38–42 Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. John 19:38 Will not love generated at the cross draw you to Christ? It was obviously the death of Christ that brought cowardly Joseph and weak Nicodemus from their places of hiding. Much to their shame, during…

Christ Our Passover John 19:31–37 They did not break his legs. John 19:33 The fact that Jesus’s bones were not broken points to him as the Passover Lamb slain for the sins of his people. Psalm 34:20 tells us, “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” This is the verse John…

Jesus the King John 19:19–22 Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. John 19:19 What does it mean for Jesus to be Lord? I think there is an answer to that question in the significance of the languages in which the caption of the cross was written (see v. 20 KJV). The first language…

What Is Truth? John 18:36–38 I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. John 18:37 The statement of Christ is preeminently a word to our own disillusioned culture. First, it says that there is such a thing as truth and that truth is an entity. That is, truth is singular. It is…

Jesus’s Claims John 18:19–24 The high priest then questioned Jesus. John 18:19 The Jewish trial exposes the true nature of the hearts of men and women. Jesus was not condemned under a primitive, barbaric, or even inadequate judicial system, but under the best. He, the righteous One—the One who on one occasion demanded which of…

Understanding Jesus’s Death John 18:1–11 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place. John 18:2 Jesus was in control of the events leading to his death. They did not come upon him by accident, but rather he willed them in conformity to his knowledge of the will of his Father. On the final night,…