Bible Study DatePassage Topic

January 19, 2011 John 1:1-18 Background & Prologue

February 16, 2011 John 2:1-25 Signs of the Christ

March 16, 2011 John 3:1-21 The New Birth and Belief

April 20, 2011 John 4:4-42 An Encounter in Samaria

May 18, 2011 John 5:1-47 Stubborn Unbelief

June 15, 2011 John 6:1-71 The Bread of Life

July 20, 2011 John 7:1-8:59 Seven Dialogues

August 17, 2011 John 9:1-41 The True Light

September 21, 2011 John 10:1-11:44 The Good Shepherd and Lazarus

October 19, 2011 John 11:45-12:50 Palm Sunday

N0vember 16, 2011 John 13:1-16:33 A Final Discourse

December 21, 2011 John 17:1-26 Our Lord’s Prayer (or a Christmas theme instead since John 17 was studied by the group in March 2009)

January 18, 2012 John 18:1-19:42 Passion Narrative

February 15, 2012 John 20:1-31 Beginning of the Resurrection Narrative

March 14, 2012 John 21:1-25 Culmination of the Gospel

Study Plan for the Gospel of John

John’s Gospel -- Background• Author: The Apostle John• When & Where:

– 2nd Century Tradition: Ephesus– Probably 65-85 A.D.

• Why: To evangelize• Comments:

– John probably had secretaries who wrote it

– Earlier Aramaic versions of parts may have been used

Who Was John?

• Possibly a cousin of Jesus

• Probably a late teenager or in his 20s during Jesus public ministry

• One of the inner circle of the Twelve

• One especially close to Jesus (the one Jesus loved)

• A primary leader of the early church

Jesus’ Family Connections

MaryElizabeth

John the BaptistJesus

Salome

James & John

Peter & Andrew

James & Jude (Judah)

cousin sister?

sonsons

son

Half-brothers

cousinSome kind of cousin business

partners

Wrote the epistles of James & Jude

John the Baptist• 6 months older than Jesus (Luke 1:36, 57-80)

• John began baptizing about 26-27 A.D. (Luke 3:1—23; Jesus was about 30 when He was baptized by John)

• John baptized near Jerusalem and in the Jordan valley; Jesus probably was baptized within a day’s (at most 2 day’s) walk of Nazareth/Cana (ala John 1 & 2) – location of Bethany (Bethabara ala Origen not known now)

• How long John ministered is unknown (probably not much longer than a year or so)

Map Size

~100 miles wide

and

~150 miles tall

!st Century Population of Palestine

• ½ to 2 million, mainly Jews

• 90% “peasants”, 10% elites

• tax level (30-40%?)

When Gabriel appeared to Mary in Nazareth (Luke 1:26ff), she probably was a teenager. Then she makes a trek to a city of Judah in the hill country (possible a suburb of Jerusalem).

Did she make the trip (a week or so walking) by herself? Or did others go with her to see Elizabeth? She returned to Nazareth in three months, but six months after that she and Joseph made essentially the same trip to Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

Were others from Nazareth and Galilee required to go to Bethlehem for the census also? Did Joseph and Mary have traveling companions? His clan going for census registration?

Elevations indicated at bottom of the graphic

A Curious Thought• Unless exposed to high energy

radiation, atoms then to remain what they are, even when migrating through different materials chemically

• An immense number of atoms left Jesus body every day (in his breaths and waste products) – most of those atoms are still within our planet and its atmosphere. Are those atoms special in some way for their association with the Son of God?