Gospel of John: March 30, 2017

Date	Theme	Scripture & Class Exercises
March 30	The Doctrine of Eternal life	Summary of Teaching: 12:44-50 Jesus’ Prayer for His Disciples: 17:1-26 Jesus’ Resurrection: 20:1-31

1. Summary of Teaching: 12:44-50   (DVD Disc 2; Chapter 2 +)

            What does eternal life mean to us?

Class Response:

* Life continues in a Spirit form after death

*The Spirit continues as conscious individuals

* There is no pain or suffering

*Continue to live but under different conditions

* The conditions are of great beauty and love

            Why does John say that God commands us to do that will lead to eternal life?

* We love in Christ’s love and in a Spiritual mindset.

2.  Jesus’ Prayer for His Disciples: 17:1-26  (DVD Disc 2; Chapter 7+)

            Jesus prays for himself, this disciples, and future believers.

17:1-5:  Prays for Himself

17: 6-9: Prays for current disciples

17: 20-26:  Prays for all the future disciples

            What conflicts is he praying about?

Class Response:

* Sharing Knowledge

*Believing in God; Acting in God; Sharing what we know and our faith

* How we live IN the world, but not FOR the world

* Live for God and Christ not the temptations of the world

* Live to promote the way to eternal life.

3.  Jesus’ Resurrection: 20:1-31 (DVD disc 2; Chapter 13)

            There are several disciples who react to Jesus’ resurrection.  How do each of them respond?   Which one are you or do you have a different reaction?

       Mary Magdalene      Peter      John (the other disciple)    Thomas 

           

            How is the resurrection proof of life eternal?

            What does it mean to us that we have access to life eternal?

Class Response:  

* As physical evidence of a spiritual state of being.

* Get rid of the fear of death.

*  We know that what we do will continue.  All our hard work as Christians is not in vain.

Gospel of John: March 23, 2017

Date	Theme	Scripture & Class Exercises
March 23	The Last Supper Chapters 13-17	Jesus washes the disciples’ feet: 13: 1-20 Jesus’ New Commandment: 13: 31-35 The Promise of the Holy Spirit: 14: 15-31

The Last Supper:  Chapters 13-17

1. Jesus washes the disciples’ feet: 13:1-20  (DVD Disc 2; Chapter 3)

What is the act of foot washing?  Why was it done in Jesus’ time?   Who usually did the act?    There was a space when people entered the house to wash your feet.  Feet were usually dirty since sandals were worn. This was usually done by the lowest servant or slave in the household. Touching feet was sometimes considered to be an act of uncleanliness or submission.  Jesus breaks the established hierarchy.  This goes back to his decree that the lowest become the highest and the Highest must lower themselves.  Jesus shows that he is without shame, or worried about caste structure, and that there is no shame in serving.  He is living his example of personal humility and teaching that the purpose of the Highest in our society must serve the Lowest.

            How would the different disciples have felt when Jesus washed their feet?

Class Response:

Peter: Doesn’t want Jesus to demean himself but doesn’t want to be excluded 

Judas: Probably very uncomfortable since he knows he’s going to betray Jesus

John (the author):  Probably was one of the disciples who accepted what Jesus was doing

James and John (Zebadee):  These two were always trying to figure out their place in Jesus’    

          Hierarchy, so this was a strong lesson for them.   Showed them that life was about serving,  

           not a competition

Thomas (the doubter):  Probably wondering what this really meant

Nathaniel (the skeptic):  Probably wondering what good this would do.

Matthew (the tax collector):  Probably felt very assured and included

            How would you have felt?

2. Jesus’ New Commandment: 13:31-35  (DVD Disc 2; Chapter 5)

            What is “new” about Jesus’ commandment?

1^st two commandments are:  1. Love God with all your being; 2. Love your neighbor as yourself

This sets up two “trinity” relationships: this first one is communal and the second is personal

                                                           

               GOD                                                              GOD

           /               \                                                      /               \ 

         /  CHRIST   \                                                  /  CHRIST  \

        /                     \                                               /                       \

PERSON ------- NEIGHBOR                        PERSON ----- OUR OTHER SELF

                                                               (the problem part of us that we pray about)

The Third Commandment: To love others as Christ loved us; puts Christ in the middle of these two trinities to achieve this.

3. The Promise of the Holy Spirit: 14:15-31 (DVD Disc 2; Chapter 6)

            How does the word “Counselor” describe the ministry of the Holy Spirit?

Class Response:

*The Holy Spirit is connected to God and then is witnessed as connected to Jesus at his Baptism.

*The disciples see the Holy Spirit utilized in Miracles and witness Christ’s Transfiguration.

* The disciples start to connect to and use the Holy Spirit when they begin to heal people.

Holy Spirit: Advocate, Counselor, Helper, Accessible to Everyone

     LAW: Follow the rules but doesn’t guarantee eternal life

     GRACE: Holy Spirit guides us as Christ guided us in God’s love.  Leads to Eternal life.

            What is the difference between love through Christ and earning through our good works?

            How does the peace Jesus offers differ from the peace offered by the world? 

4.   How do the three concepts of being a servant, the New Commandment, and the Holy Spirit affect you?  

Gospel of John: March 16, 2017

Date	Theme	Scripture & Class Exercises
March 16	Miracles	The Wedding at Cana: 2:1-12 The Blind Beggar: 9:1-40

1. The Wedding at Cana: DVD (Disc 1; Chapter 3)

Elements of the Story:  Read the story and as we go through it write some of the elements of the story down on the board and what they symbolize.

Class Response/Discussion:

Wedding	God’s Covenantial Love
Family Connection With Disciples present	Jesus is connected to humanity
Wine Runs Out	We lose our connection to God
Mother’s request:“Do whatever he tells you”	Sometimes we need to be obedient and step out in faith
6 Stone Jars are for Water Rites.  Living Water is Used Purification	Jesus uses a common household object, but it is also holy
Take out, distributed, declared to be the “Best Wine”	Recognizing the value of Holy Connection & Holy Connection is shared with everyone
Some know about the miracle, some don’t	We don’t always know when miracles happen to us but they affect everyone

                                                

2. The Blind Beggar:  DVD (Disc 1; Chapter 13)

Social construct of sin – What does it mean when we commit a sin?

Class Response:

            We go against God’s commandments & teachings

Sin causes a lot of pain, hurt & dis-function.

SIN as: Systemic or Spontaneous Inflections of Negativity

                                               

What are some assumptions that we come across about sin, both in the Gospel and in life?

Class Response:

1.     Bad things are a punishment from God

2.     The person must have wanted it to happen

3.     Once a bad person always a bad person

                                               

What is the assumption about the man who is born blind?

            *That his parents or the man caused his own blindness.

How does Jesus break down the assumptions that we have about sin?

            * By showing us that it is possible to get out of the pattern of sin.

            * Discussion on how to get out of our own assumption of sin and how we can accept forgiveness and miracles in our life to be less sinful.

3. Discussion:   What Miraculous Events have happened in your life?