John 9:1-41

Thursday evening our Life group held its weekly meeting with six members attending. We studied John 9 using questions from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups, which Serendipity House, Littleton, Colorado, 1988, gave me permission to use. These are the questions and a combination of my answers to them and what I can remember of the others’ answers to them.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind (9:1-12)

DIG

1. What idea lies behind the disciples’ question (v. 1): Curiosity? Guilt-tripping? A Trap? Compassion?
   All in the group except me said that the idea that lies behind the disciples’ question is curiosity, but I said that it is guilt-tripping and they agreed that guilt-tripping is also involved.
2. What does Jesus’ answer (vv.3-5) reveal about the man’s pain?
   Jesus’ answer reveals that God allowed/caused the man’s main to display His works and glory (11:4,40).
3. In this story, what is the “work of God” (v.3)? The “night” that is coming (v.4)? The “light of the world” (v.5)? How are sin and suffering related (also 5:14)? How are faith and action related?
   The “work of God” is the healing of the man’s blindness. The “night” that is coming is Jesus’ bring taken away in death. The “light of the world” is Jesus. Sin and suffering aren’t necessarily related, but (5:14) sometimes sin causes suffering. Because of the man’s trust or faith in Jesus, he did what Jesus told him to do (action) and was healed.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing (9:13-34)

DIG

1. What convinces some of the Pharisees to stand against Jesus (v.16; see also 5:9-10,23)? What question bothers others? Why does Jesus keep healing on the Sabbath when it upsets the Pharisees so much?
   Some of the Pharisees stand against Jesus because he healed the man on the Sabbath. Others ask how a sinner should perform such signs. Most of the group said that Jesus kept healing on the Sabbath although it upset the Pharisees because his hour has come, but I said that it was because he thinks that it is good to do works of mercy on the Sabbath.
2. In light of their divided opinion, why do the Pharisees question the man’s parents? How would you feel if you were his father or mother?
   The Pharisees question the man’s parents to see if the man was actually born blind. If I were the man’s father or mother, I would feel threatened with excommunication from the synagogue.
3. Note the conflicting claims to knowledge and certainty on the part of the Pharisees, the parents, and the man born blind. What is each party sure of? Not sure of?
   The Pharisees are sure that Jesus is a sinner (verse 24), but they aren’t sure if the man was born blind (verse 19) or where Jesus came from (verse 29). The parents are sure that the man is their son and that he was born blind (verse 20), but they aren’t sure how the man had received sight and who had opened his eyes (verse 21). The man who was born blind is sure that he had been born blind and could now see (verse 25) and that God doesn’t listen to sinners and thus Jesus must be from God (verses 31-33).
4. In the course of this investigation, what is the man able to see about Jesus ( vv.12,17,25,27,30-33,also 36,38)? About the Pharisees? How is his attitude changing as well?
   In the course of the investigation, the man sees Jesus as a man called Jesus (verse 11), a prophet (verse 17), as one who could have followers (verse 27), as being from God (verses 30-33), and as the Son of Man and Lord (verses 35-38). He comes to see that the Pharisees are opposed to Jesus and so won’t accept what he says about Jesus. His attitude changes from recognizing Jesus as the man who healed him to recognizing Jesus as one to be worshipped.
5. What is the Pharisees’ real motive in questioning the man (vv.28,34)? What in the man’s response finally puts them “over the top”?
   The Pharisees’ real motive in questioning the man is to cast doubt on his account of how he was healed. What sends them “over the top” is the man’s asserting that Jesus is from God.

REFLECT

1. Who has been the toughest person for you to explain your faith to? Why? What have you found helpful in dealing with people who ridicule your faith?

Spiritual Blindness (9:35-41)

DIG

1. Why does Jesus wait until now to fully present himself? How is the man, only now, able to affirm Jesus as Lord?
   Jesus waits to fully present himself until the man is ready to believe him. We didn’t answer the second part of the question.
2. How has this chapter illustrated verse 39? What blindness is the result of sin (vv.39-41)? How do such guilty people “see” again?
   In the chapter the blind man receives physical and spiritual healing, but the Pharisees who thought that they could see are shown to be spiritually blind. Spiritual blindness is the result of sin. Such guilty people can “see” again if they recognize their spiritual blindness,

REFLECT

1. How would you rate your own spiritual sight: 20-20? 20/800? A few “blind spots”? Why? What could correct this?
   Most in the group said that they would rate their spiritual sight as 20/20, but I said that I would rate mine as a few “blind spots” because of my bad habits and my doubts. However I acknowledged that I answered the question as if it said “life” instead of “sight.”

John 7:53-8:59

Thursday evening our Life group held its weekly meeting with six members attending. We studied John 7:53-8:59 using questions from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups, which Serendipity House, Littleton, Colorado, 1988, gave me permission to use, and had lunch. All of us observed that we found the questions difficult. These are the questions and a combination of my answers to them and what I can remember of the others’ answers to them.

Woman Caught in Adultery (7:53-8:11)

The earliest manuscripts and other ancient versions do not have this passage. A few manuscripts include it elsewhere.

DIG

1. How is this situation a trap for Jesus? What would the Pharisees accuse Jesus of if he told them to let the woman go? If he told them to stone her? How does he spring the trap?
   If Jesus told the Pharisees to let the woman go, they could accuse him of not supporting the Law, which prescribed the death sentence for adultery. If he told them to stone her, they could accuse him to the Romans, who did not allow the Jews to carry out the death sentence. He sprang the trap by saying, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

We also considered why the teachers of the law and the Pharisees didn’t bring the man with whom the woman was caught in adultery, what Jesus wrote on the ground, why the older ones went away first, and whether or not the woman received salvation.

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony (8:12-30)

DIG

1. What is Jesus really claiming in verse 12? What is the promise? What does Jesus mean by “light” and “darkness”?
   In verse 12 Jesus claims that he lights the way to God. The promise is that those who follow him will walk in the presence of God. By “light” and “darkness” Jesus means the presence of God and worldliness.
2. With what does Jesus bolster his claim (see 5:31-40)? What does it matter that Jesus knows where he comes from (vv.14,21-23; see 7:41-42)?
   In 5:31-40 Jesus claimed that John the Baptist, Jesus’ works, and the Scriptures bore witness to him. In 8:14,21-23 Jesus claims that he knows where he comes from; his coming from above rather than from this world means that he comes from God and thus his testimony is valid.
3. Compare verses 21-22 with 7:34-36: How are they misunderstanding Jesus now?
   In 7:34-36 the Jews understood that by saying he was going where they couldn’t find him Jesus meant that he was going to visit the Jews scattered through the Roman Empire. In 8:21-22 they understood him to mean that he was going to kill himself.
4. What is at stake in this whole discussion (v.24)? Why does everything hinge on who Jesus really is (v.25) and who sent him (vv. 16,18,26,29)?
   What is at stake in the whole discussion is who Jesus is. If the Jews don’t believe that Jesus is who he claims to be and that he was sent by the Father, they will die in their sins.
5. What does Jesus claim about his relationship with the Father in verses 27-29? What does he mean by each phrase in verse 28? How will this show people he is the Christ?
   In verses 27-29 Jesus claims that he speaks just what the Father taught him, that the Father sent him and is with him, and that he always does what pleases the Father. “When you have lifted up the Son of Man” refers to the crucifixion of Jesus, “you will know that I am he” identifies Jesus as the Son of Man (see Daniel 7:13-14), “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me” means that Jesus’ message is of divine rather than human origin, and “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone” refers to God the Father, who sent Jesus to earth is with him. People’s recognizing that Jesus is the Son of Man and that God the Father is with him shows them that he is the Christ.

REFLECT

1. How is following Jesus like following someone with a light through a dark place for you?
   Our answers to this question varied but included the idea that following Jesus shows us the way that we should live in this world.

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is (8:31-41)
Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are (8:42-47)
Jesus’ Claims About Himself (8:48-59)

DIG

1. What does Jesus want to stress to the people who “believed” him? What does he mean by disciples? Truth? Freedom?
   Jesus wants to stress to the people who “believed” him that being his disciples involves following his teaching as well as professing faith in him. By “disciples” Jesus means genuine believers in Jesus, by “truth” he means the Gospel, and by “free” he means being free from sin.
2. What false assumptions confuse the issue of spiritual freedom for Abraham’s descendants? How does Jesus undermine their base of confidence? What issues does he force them to confront (vv.34-41)?
   Jews believed that their being descendants of Abraham assured them that they were spiritually free. Jesus told them that anyone who sinned was a slave to sin. In verses 34-41he says that their looking for a way to kill him shows that they are children of Satan rather than of Abraham.
3. How does Jesus undermine their claim in verse 41? What does he say is the ultimate test to show who “belongs to God” (vv. 42-47)? How does he account for their misunderstanding of him (vv.37,43,45,47)?
   In verse 41 the Jews claimed that they were children of God. Jesus undermines their claim by asserting that if God was their father they would love Jesus, who came from God. He says that the ultimate test to show who “belongs to God” is hearing what God says. He credits their misunderstanding of him to their not belonging to God.
4. In verse 48, why do the people use these terms to insult Jesus (see 4:29)? How is this issue central to the whole argument in 7:4-8:58? How does Jesus use their loyalty to Abraham against them? Why does Jesus’ final claim cause such an outrage (see Ex 3:14)?
   Leon Morris observes in his commentary on John, “Their accusation that Jesus was a Samaritan is puzzling, but clearly it points to a laxity, as they saw it, in the observance of the tenets of Judaism.” The charge that Jesus was demon-possessed is also found in 7:20, 8:52, and 10:20; it is also reported in the Synoptic Gospels. The people used these terms to insult Jesus because of his saying that their father is not God but the devil (see our answer to question 3). I don’t remember how we answered the second part of question 4. Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing Jesus’ day. The people were outraged because they realized that by saying, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” Jesus was claiming to be God.

REFLECT

3. Of the four claims Jesus makes in this chapter (vv.12,32,51,58), which means the most to you now? Why?
   We gave different answers to this question but agreed that all four claims are important to us.

9. Montaigne’s The Essays

In the 20th century, [Montaigne] is fully recognized in all his aspects as a great writer, and his public is worldwide. Most of his readers see him as friend, mentor, and master of the essay, of the “art of being truthful,” and of the art of living. (page 396, volume 12, The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974)

In my rereading of selections from Great Books of the Western World guided by The Great Ideas Program, I’ve again reached Montaigne’s The Essays. The eighth reading in the eighth volume of The Great Ideas Program, Ethics: The Study of Moral Values by Mortimer J. Adler and Seymour Cain (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1962) considers another selection of the essays (11 of 107) in The Essays.

Adler and Cain consider the characteristics of Montaigne’s essays, the selected essays, and five specific questions on the reading. Here I’ll sketch Montaigne’s life, comment on Montaigne’s use of the essay, list the titles of the essays assigned for the reading, outline Adler and Cain’s guide to the essays, and share the questions which Adler and Cain ask about the reading.

Montaigne’s Life

This summary of Montaigne’s life is copied from my earlier article on The Essays, https://opentheism.wordpress.com/2017/12/08/9-montaignes-the-essays/. My primary sources for it were the biographical note on pages v-vi of the volume on Montaigne in Great Books of the Western World (volume 25; Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952) and “Montaigne, Michel de” in The New Encyclopedia Britannica (volume 12; Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974).

Montaigne was born Michel Eyquem on February 28, 1533, in the Château of Montaigne near Bordeaux. His father was a prosperous merchant and lord of the seigneury of Montaigne, and his mother was descended from a family of Spanish Jews that had recently converted to Catholicism. He was their third son, but by the death of his older brothers became heir to the estate.

Montaigne was brought up gently and until he was six was taught to speak only Latin. At that age he was sent to the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux. After seven disappointing years there, he studied law at Toulouse. In 1554 his father obtained a position for him in a new tax court in Bordeaux. In 1557 the court was abolished and its members were absorbed into one of the regional bodies that composed the Parlement of France, the king’s highest court of justice.

In 1565 Montaigne married Françoise de La Chassaigne, whose father was also a member of the the Parlement of Bordeaux. Although fond of women, he accepted marriage unenthusiastically as a social duty. However he lived on excellent terms with his wife and bestowed some pains on the education of their daughter, Léonore, the only one of six children to survive infancy.

In 1568 Montaigne’s father died, leaving him the lord of Montaigne. Two years later he sold his Parlement position, abandoned the name of Eyquem, and retired to his estate, intending to collect his ideas and write. While there (1571-1580) he wrote the first two books of The Essays, which were published in 1580 at Bordeaux.

The year after publishing The Essays Montaigne left the estate for extensive travel determined to find relief from internal disorders that had been troubling him. In 1581 while he was at La Villa in Italy, he learned that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux. Returning there he served as mayor efficiently and was re-elected to a second term, which ended in 1585. He again retired to Montaigne but shortly after was driven from his estate by the plague.

Montaigne had begun revising The Essays almost immediately after their publication, perfecting their form and added new ones. While in Paris in 1588, he supervised the publication of the fifth edition of The Essays, the first to contain Book III. However he continued working on The Essays after returning to his estate, not writing any new books or chapters but adding numerous passages.

Sometime after returning to his estate in 1588, Montaigne was stricken with quinsy, which brought about a paralysis of the tongue. On the evening of September 13, 1592, he had his wife call together some of his neighbours so that he might bid them farewell. He requested mass to be said in his room and died while it was being said. He was 59.

Montaigne’s Use of the Essay

This comment on Montaigne’s use of the essay is copied from my earlier article on The Essays, https://opentheism.wordpress.com/2017/12/08/9-montaignes-the-essays/.

An essay is “a literary composition of moderate length, dealing in an easy, cursory way with a single subject, usually representing the writer’s personal experience and outlook” (page 963 of volume III of The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974). Although earlier authors wrote essays, the term essai was first applied to the form by Montaigne, to emphasize that his compositions were just attempts to express his personal thoughts and experiences.

Adler and Wolff say that the most outstanding property of Montaigne’s essays is their intensely personal nature. They note that he often observes that his essays are products of leisurely speculation rather than products of experimentation and that he establishes his position by use of quotations and examples rather than by argument. Thus “both in method and intent … Montaigne is not a philosopher” (page 103, Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff , A General Introduction to the Great Books and to a Liberal Education, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1959).

However they continue by asserting that “in aim and outlook, though not in method, Montaigne is akin to the modern social scientist. His concerns and subject matter fall into the field of history, anthropology, psychology, and sociology; all of these are the branches of social or behavioral science. And so, though the matter of his book is on one way himself, in another it is all of human behavior.” (same source as the previous quotation).

Essays Assigned in the Reading

That to study philosophy is to learn to die
Of moderation
Of cannibals
That we are to avoid pleasure, even at the expense of life
That the relish of good and evil depends in a great measure upon the opinion we have of them
Of drunkenness
Of cruelty
Of glory
Of virtue
Of anger
Of repentance

The Essays can be read at https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3600/pg3600-images.html.

Outline of Adler and Cain’s Guide to the Assigned Essays

I uses the beginning of “Of repentance” to show how Montaigne uses himself to illustrate the human condition and to show his sense of the changeability of things. I also identifies three characteristics of Montaigne’s essays that may prove irritating if the reader is looking for a definite doctrine: 1. he copies copiously from the writings of the past; 2. he indulges in various digressions from the subject he is dealing with; and 3. it is often hard to tell what the main topic of an essay is.
II shows how these three essays demonstrate Montaigne’s closeness to the ancient Stoics: “That to study philosophy is to learn to die”, “That the relish of good and veil depends in a great measure upon the opinion we have of them”, and “Of glory.”
III considers what Montaigne views as the main virtue, moderation, in “Of moderation” ; a deplorable but not so bad vice, drunkenness, in “Of drunkenness”; and what he views as one of the most dangerous of passions, anger, in “Of anger.”
IV discusses in “Of cruelty” the nature of virtue. In it Montaigne distinguishes three types or levels of virtue: the state in which virtue has become a fixed and settled habit of soul, the state in which a person struggles successfully with very urgent and powerful natural impulses, and a state of natural innocence and goodness. The vice which upsets Montaigne most is cruelty. The unfavourable comparison between civilized and primitive society made in “Of cruelty” is developed fully in “Of cannibals.”
V considers “Of repentance.” Montaigne defines repentance as “a recanting of the will and an opposition to our fancies.” He observes that it is a matter of action, not of mere thoughts or wishes, and that it should be directed to the future, to what can be changed, not to the past, which he regards for all practical purposes as determined.

Questions Asked by Adler and Cain on the Assigned Essays

• Does Montaigne think that good and evil are merely a matter of opinion?
• Does Montaigne believe that our conduct should be governed by the moral standards of our place and time?
• Is man good in a state of nature?
• Is a man’s treatment of animals subject to ethical judgment?
• Does Montaigne have a social ethic?

John 7:1-52

Yesterday evening our Life group studied John 7:1-52. It describes Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles primarily celebrated the completion of harvest but also commemorated the goodness of God to His people during the wilderness wanderings. The name “tabernacles” refers to the custom of building leafy shelters to be lived in during the festival. See Leviticus 23:33-43. The following questions on the chapter are taken from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups, which Serendipity House, Littleton, Colorado, 1988, gave me permission to use in small group study.

Jesus Goes to the Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-13)

1. Why did the religious leaders want to kill Jesus (see 5:18)?
   The religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus because he broke the Sabbath and because he called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
2. In urging Jesus to attend this feast, are the brothers being sincere or sarcastic (vv. 2-5; see 6:42,66)? Explain.
   The brothers’ advice was not given sincerely because they didn’t yet believe in Jesus.
3. What rumors are circulating about Jesus in Jerusalem? Hence, why do you think he chose to go secretly?
   Some say that Jesus is a good man, but others say that he deceives the people. Jesus chose to go secretly or privately because he didn’t want to attract the publicity that his brothers had recommended.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast (7:14-24)

1. Given the risk, why does Jesus go to the festival? How do people react to his teaching? Why?
   Jesus goes to the festival to teach. People react to his teaching in amazement, asking where he gets such learning (knowledge of Scripture) without having studied under a recognized rabbi.
2. What do Jesus’ responses reveal about his authority? About their authority? Their objections to his healing? Their judgments?
   Jesus’ responses reveal that his authority comes from God but that their authority came from themselves. He claims that if circumcising a child on the Sabbath was in agreement with the Law of Moses so was healing a man whole on the Sabbath. He says that they judged by mere appearances rather than by right judgment.

Is Jesus the Christ? (7:25-44)

1. Who is saying what about Jesus in this passage? What is causing the confusion?
   Some people of Jerusalem observe that Jesus is the man the religious leaders want to kill but that he is speaking publicly and they aren’t saying anything to him. They wonder if this means that they really know that he is the Christ.
2. Why does Jesus’ teaching in verses 14-29 provoke the responses of verses 30-31? How do you account for the wide range of opinions about him? For the “timing” involved?
   In verses 14-29 Jesus claims that God sent him and that his authority came from God. Some tried to arrest Jesus, but others put their faith in him because they couldn’t conceive the Christ doing more miracles than Jesus did. We suggested that his time (verse 8) had come.
3. Every day at the feast, water would be poured out as a symbol of thanks for God’s provision. In this context, what does Jesus’ statement in verses 37-38 mean? What are some of the ways that the Spirit’s work is like water (compare 4:13-14)? How is the Spirit received?
   I understand verses 37-38 to mean that mean that ones who believe in Jesus will be moved by the Holy Spirit to express thanks to God. According to 4:13-14 just as water quenches thirst the Holy Spirit gives eternal life. The Holy Spirit is received by believing in Jesus.
4. How does the confusion over Jesus’ birthplace (vv.41-42) cloud the issue of his identity even more?
   Micah 5:2 said that the Messiah would be come from Bethlehem, but the crowd thought that Jesu came from Galilee.

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders (7:45-52)

2. What justification do the Pharisees offer in refuting the guards? Nicodemus? Why would Nicodemus risk defending Jesus?
   The Pharisees suggested that Jesus had deceived the guards, their being impressed by Jesus although none of the religious leaders or of the Pharisees believed in him. They told Nicodemus that no prophet had come from Galilee. Nicodemus risked defending Jesus because of his previous conversation with Jesus (chapter 3)

Reflect Questions

• Are you more likely to be cautious or daring in sharing your faith with your family? Why?
  Our answers to this question varied.
• When have you been ridiculed for your faith? What did you do?
  We couldn’t remember having been ridiculed for our faith.

John 6:1-71

Friday evening our Life group held its weekly meeting. Six members attended,. We studied John 6, and had lunch. We studied John 6 using questions from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups, which Serendipity House, Littleton, Colorado, 1988, gave me permission to use. Because of the length of the passage, I assigned fewer than half of the questions asked there. These are the questions and what I can remember of our answers to them.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand (6:1-15)

1. Why did the crowd follow Jesus? What did they think about him?
   The crowd followed Jesus because they had seen the miracles that he had performed by healing the sick. They thought that Jesus was the Prophet like Moses that God promised to raise up (Deut. 18:15,18).
2. What is the significance of the fact that there was more left over after the feeding than there was food to start with? What truths about Jesus does this miracle show?
   The significance of there being more left over after the feeding than there had been food to start with is that it shows that Jesus supplies abundantly. The miracle shows that Jesus provides for people’s needs.

Jesus Walks on the Water (6:16-24)

1. On a dark and stormy night, weary from rowing and afraid of capsizing, how would you have reacted if you saw Jesus on the water? When he climbed aboard?
   If I saw Jesus on the water, I would be frightened, thinking that he was a ghost. When he climbed aboard, I would be relieved. (According to the account in Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 6:45-51, the disciples were terrified, thinking that he was a ghost, when they saw Jesus walking on the water and they were amazed and worshipped him when he climbed aboard and the wind died down.)

Jesus the Bread of Life (6:25-59)

2. How does Jesus’ response to [the crowd’s] question show the difference between his interests and theirs?
   Jesus’ response to the crowd’s question show that he was interested in spiritual matters rather than in physical matters as they were.
3. How are they to work for the food that leads to eternal life?
   They are to work for the food that leads to eternal life by believing in Jesus.
4. How does Jesus use their interest in food to illustrate what he wants them to understand? What are the similarities and differences between manna and the “bread of life” (v.35)?
   I can’t remember how we answered the first question. Similarities and differences: both manna and the “bread of life” satisfy a person’s hunger, but the former satisfies physical hunger and the latter satisfies spiritual hunger and the person who eats the former will hunger again but the person who eats the latter will never go hungry.
5. What claims does Jesus make in verses 35-40? What do these claims emphasize about his being the bread of life? About the will of the Father?
   Jesus claims that whoever comes to him will never go hungry or be thirsty and will have eternal life, that all that the Father gives him will come to him, that he came down from Heaven to do the Father’s will, and that he won’t lose any that the Father gives him. The will of the Father is that everyone who believes in the Son will have eternal life.
6. What part is played by God and by the people in the process of coming to know Jesus (vv.44-45)? What promise is repeated three times for those who come to him? Why the emphasis on this?
   God draws the people to Jesus and they listen to and learn from Him. The promise is that those who come to Jesus will receive eternal life. I can’t remember how we answered the third question.
7. From the passage as a whole, what does Jesus mean by “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood” (compare v.40 with v.54)? How does the image of eating and drinking clarify what he means by believing in him?
   Our group said that Jesus’ saying “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood” made them think of our participating in communion. However I observed that since Jesus hadn’t yet instituted communion, the disciples wouldn’t think of that. We agreed that although Jesus may have had communion in mind, for the disciples he meant believing in him. I can’t remember how we answered the second question.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus (6:60-71)

1. What teaching do Jesus’ followers find so unacceptable (6:54-56)? How has their attitude changed since verses 14-15?
   The teaching that Jesus’ followers find so unacceptable is the eating his flesh and drinking his blood will give them eternal life. In verses 14-15 they viewed him as the Prophet and wanted to make him king, but now they question him and quit following him.

Reflect Questions

In your culture, what is the main reason for following Jesus? What was your original motive?
We gave different answers tp the first question, including that we are raised in a church environment.
When times are hard, what keeps you from junking your faith and going on to something else?
I can’t remember how we answered this question.

John 5:1-47

Thursday evening our Life group held its weekly meeting. All seven members attended,. We studied John 5, and had lunch. We studied John 5 using questions from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups, which Serendipity House, Littleton, Colorado, 1988, gave me permission to use. Because of the length of the passage, I assigned only some of the questions asked there. These are the questions and what I can remember of our answers to them.

The Healing at the Pool (5:1-15)

2. … What does Jesus mean by his question in verse 6? What did the invalid hope Jesus might do?
   Some in the group thought that Jesus was just asking the man if he wanted to get well and others thought that Jesus was offering to make the man well. The invalid hoped that Jesus would help him get into the pool when the water was stirred.
3. As an invalid, what do you feel in verses 8-9? In verses 10-12? In verse 13? In verse 14?
   We gave different answers to these questions. I said that I would feel thankful in verses 8-9, frightened in verses 10-12, frustrated in verse 13, and relieved in verse 14.
4. Why were the leaders so upset? How do you suppose they responded to his medical update (v.15)?
   The leaders were upset because the man’s carrying the mat and Jesus’ making him well occurred on the Sabbath. We gave different answers to the second question. I said that I supposed that they felt angry at Jesus.

Life Through the Son (5:16-30)

1. What was the result for Jesus of healing the man in verses 1-15?
   The result for Jesus of healing the man was that the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.
2. How did his response to the Jewish leaders only heighten their opposition? Why would Jesus do this?
   Jesus’ response to the Jewish leaders heightened their opposition because he claimed a special relationship with God (the Father). We gave different answers to the second question. I said that Jesus did it to justify his making the man well on the Sabbath.
3. In what ways is Jesus equal to the Father? What terms are used to show the relationship between the two? How does this relate to 1:1 and 1:18?
   Jesus is equal to the Father because he does the things that the Father does, gives life to the dead, and will judge the dead. ‘The Father” and “the Son” show the relationship between them. 1:1 and 1:18 identify Jesus with God.
4. What claims does Jesus make about himself in verse 24? What is the promise? When does someone start to possess this promise?
   In verse 24 Jesus claims that whoever listens to him and believes in God has eternal life. That life begins now.
5. What happens to those who hear and believe (vv.24-30)? To those who so not?
   Those who hear and believe will rise from their graves to live. Those who do not will rise to be condemned.

Testimonies About Jesus (5:31-47)

2. Who or what testifies in favor of Jesus? How do you think the religious leaders felt when Jesus refers to these witnesses (already discounted by these authorities)?
   Who or what testifies in favour of Jesus are John the Baptist, the works of Jesus, the Father, the Scriptures, and Moses. We gave different answers to the second question. I said that I thought that the religious leaders were skeptical when Jesus referred to these witnesses.
3. How does Jesus throw back at the religious leaders their own Scriptures? Since lack of information was not their problem, what was?
   Jesus told the religious leaders that their own Scriptures tell about him. Their problem was that they didn’t believe that the Scriptures told about Jesus.

Reflect

What “witnesses” have convinced you that Jesus is indeed the one who gives life?
I said that “witnesses” that have convinced me that Jesus is indeed the one who gives life are the Bible, my parents, the church, and things that have happened to me personally. The others gave similar answers.

7. Hobbes’ Leviathan

“Hobbes’s ethical thought is of special interest to the present-day reader, because it attempts to interpret human behavior in terms of physical bodies and their movements—inner emotion in terms of outer motion. Hobbes’s materialistic account of human psychology and conduct, based on the mechanico-mathematical world picture of his day, provides us with a first look at a type of interpretation that became more prominent in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This view is presented with the force and vigor of Hobbes’s magnificant and ideosyncratic prose style.” (Mortimer J. Adler and Seymour Cain, Ethics: The Study of Moral Values, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1962, pages 107-08)

The above comes from Adler and Cain’s introduction to their guide to Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan as it is given in Volume 23 of Great Books of the Western World (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952). The full text of Leviathan can be read online at https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/hobbes/Leviathan.pdf. Here I’ll give just the titles of its chapters that Adler and Cain give a guide to and the questions which they ask about those chapters.

These are the titles of the chapters of Leviathan than Adler and Cain comment on in their guide:
(Part I. Of Man)

6. Of the Interior Beginnings of Voluntary Motions, Commonly Called the Passions; and the Speeches by Which They Are Expressed
7. Of the Virtues, Commonly Called Intellectual, and Their Contrary Defects
8. Of Power, Worth, Dignity, Honour, and Worthiness
9. Of the Difference of Manners
10. Of the Natural Condition of Mankind as Concerning Their Felicity and Misery
11. Of the First and Second Natural Laws, and Contracts
12. Of Other Laws of Nature
    The other parts of Leviathan are:
    II. Of Commonwealth
    III. Of a Christian Commonwealth
    IV. Of the Kingdom of Darkness

These are the questions which Adler and Cain ask about the chapters of Leviathan listed above and a few observations on their answers to the questions:

• Does Hobbes’s description of human nature provide any ethical norms?
  Adler and Cain observe that Aristotle also find a basis for ethics in human nature. They also ask if peace and order are ethical norms for Hobbes and why men “ought to endeavour peace.”
• Can psychological analysis provide the basis for ethics?
  Adler and Cain seem to agree with Hobbes that making ethical judgments is a matter of psychological predispositions and preferences even though we generalize them and allow for the action of the object.
• How are the ethical and the social related in Hobbes?
  Adler and Cain say that according to Hobbes man’s natural fears and desires, as well as his rational apprehension of the laws of nature, change man into a social/ethical human being.
• Is it possible to see the ethical state of the natural man in a different way than Hobbes did?
  Adler and Cain observe that throughout history many have seen natural man as a perfectly good and happy being. They question whether that view or Hobbes’ view is closer to reality.

John 4:1-54

Thursday evening our Life group held its weekly meeting. Only three of the six regulars were able to attend, but a friend of Leonora joined us and so we held the meeting. We studied John 4 and had lunch. We studied John 4 using questions from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups, which Serendipity House, Littleton, Colorado, 1988, gave me permission to use. These are the questions that we discussed and what I can remember of our answers to them.

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman (4:1-26)

4. How would you describe the woman’s response in verse 9?
   The woman’s response in verse 9—How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?—indicates that she was confused by a Jew, Jesus, addressing her, a Samaritan woman. (Samaritan) 2 Kings 17:24-33 records how the king of Assyria brought outsiders into Samaria who continued worshipping their own gods as well as worshipping the Lord. Although later they rejected their polytheistic origins and followed the teachings of Moses, they accepted only the Pentateuch and had their own temple (at Mount Gerizim). The verse observes that “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (woman) Jewish men didn’t associate with women in public.
5. In the woman’s reply in verses 11-12, what is she really saying? How is she like Nicodemus?
   The woman’s reply in verses 11-12—Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?—shows that she thinks of physical water when Jesus refers to living water just as Nicodemus had thought of physical birth when Jesus spoke to him of being born again.
6. Why do you think this woman changed the conversation to focus on a religious controversy? In the context of this scene, what does Jesus mean by telling her that God is interested in worshippers who will do so in “spirit and truth”?
   Probably the woman changed the conversation to focus on a religious controversy because she didn’t like the turn the conversation had taken to her living with someone who was not her husband. In the context by telling the woman that God is interested in worshippers who will do so in “spirit and truth” Jesus means that where people worship isn’t important as long as they worship Him in accordance with His nature.
7. What is significant about Jesus choosing this woman as the first person to whom he revealed himself (see also vv.39-42)?
   Jesus’ choosing this woman as the first person to whom he revealed himself is significant because it shows that the Gospel is for everyone, not just for the Jews.

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus (4:27-38) & Many Samaritans Believe (4:39-42)

4. How does the parable of the harvesters apply to the disciples?
   John the Baptist and his followers had sowed the seed and the disciples of Jesus were now to reap from what they had sowed.
5. Given the social barriers between Jews and Samaritans, what do verses 40-42 teach you about Jesus? As a disciple, how would you feel about spending two days as a guest of people against whom you were prejudiced?
   Verses 40-42 teach that Jesus came for all people, not just Jews. Our answers to the second question varied.

Jesus Heals the Official’s Son (4:43-54)

3. What motivates the royal official to travel so far? How would you have responded to what Jesus told him to do? What was the result of his action?
   Concern for his son motivated the royal official to travel so far. We hoped that we would have responded as the royal official did. The result of his action was the healing of his son.
4. What does this “miraculous sign” point to about Jesus? How does it add to what was demonstrated by his first sign (see 2:1-11)?
   This “miraculous sign” pointed to Jesus’ power. It demonstrated that he could to heal at a distance.

Reflect Questions

What discussion aspects of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman could you use as a model for your own discussions with searching friends?
Our answers varied.

What do you learn about being a witness from the woman? From the parable in vv. 35-38?
Our answers varied.

John 3:1-36

Yesterday evening our Life group studied John 3:1-36 guided by questions from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups (1988) that I’d given the group with the permission of Serendipity House, Littleton, Colorado in our previous meeting. Below are the questions and what I can remember of our answers.

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus (3:1-21)

DIG

1. What can you find out about Nicodemus in verses 1-2? What is significant about his coming to Jesus? Why at night (see vv. 19-20)? Why was Jesus so direct with him?
   Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin (“a ruler of the Jews”). His coming to Jesus was significant because of his position. We observed that he probably came at night so that others wouldn’t know that he came to Jesus or so that he could have a long talk with him which would have been hard in the daytime with the crowds around Jesus. However some Bible scholars think that “night” is symbolic of the spiritual darkness that Nicodemus lived in. Perhaps Jesus was so direct with him because Jesus realized that Nicodemus was sincere.
2. What two ideas about birth are Jesus and Nicodemus thinking of? What point is Jesus making by comparing spiritual birth to the wind? How does Jesus account for Nicodemus’ lack of understanding?
   Jesus is thinking of spiritual birth, and Nicodemus is thinking of physical birth. We observed that both are sovereign over their activities. I shared this from Arthur W. Pink’s commentary on John, “The comparison is a double one. First, both are sovereign in their activities; and second, both are mysterious in their operations.” Jesus attributes Nicodemus’ lack of understanding to his knowing only earthly things.
3. What does Jesus claim about himself in verses 13-15? How does the “snake in the desert” (Nu 21:4-9) illustrate what he has come to do?
   Jesus claims that he (the Son of Man) came from heaven and is going to be lifted up. Numbers 21:8-9 tells how Moses put a bronze snake on a pole so that people who had bitten by a snake could look on it and live. In the same way Jesus would be lifted up on a cross so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
4. From verses 16-18, what stands out to you about God? About what he wants to do? About how a person is condemned? How will belief show itself (vv. 15-21)?
   What stood out to us about God is His love. He wants everyone to have eternal life. A person is condemned by no believing in Jesus to be the Son of God. Belief will show itself in good works.
5. How is Jesus’ use of the words “born again” similar and different from the way it is used today? How would you define what it means to a person who had never heard the phrases?
   We couldn’t answer the first question. We said that we’d define “born again” as being born spiritually.

REFLECT

1. What first aroused your interest in Jesus? Why?
2. Where are you right now in the birthing process of eternal life: Not yet conceived? Developing, but not so anyone could tell? Heavy with child and writhing? Kicking and screaming like an infant? Growing daily? Explain.

John the Baptist’s Testimony About Jesus (3:22-36)

DIG

1. Given the different ideas about baptisms, what do you think happened at the river? What do you think the “certain Jew” had said? How would you have felt if you were one of John’s disciples at this point?
   We thought that John was baptizing people in the river by immersion. D. A. Carson says in his commentary on John, “Possibly the clash arose over the relation between John’s baptism and more traditional Jewish practices, or the practices of other prominent Jewish religious figures.” We said that if we were one of John’s disciples, we would likely have felt discouraged and jealous that more people were going to Jesus to be baptized by his disciples (John 4:2) than to John.
2. How does John the Baptist respond? What is the point of the story about the bride and bridegroom? What does John’s response tell you about him?
   John responded by saying that God was responsible for more people going the Jesus than to John. Andreas J. Kostenberger says in a note in the ESV Study Bible, “The Baptist’s reference to Jesus as the bridegroom (cf. Matt. 9:15 par.) identifies Jesus as Israel’s long-waited King and Messiah. In the OT, Israel is frequently depicted as God’s “bride” (e.g., Isa. 62:4-5; Jer. 2:2; Hos. 2:16-20). The Baptist’s role is that of the bridegroom’s friend, who selflessly rejoices with the groom (cf. John 1:6-9, 15, 19-36). On Christ as the bridegroom, see Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 19:7-8.” Arthur W. Pink argues in his commentary on John that here the bride is regenerated Jews rather that the Church. What John’s response tells me about him is he recognized and accepted his subordination to Jesus.
3. What facts about Jesus does John bring out in verses 31-36?
   Facts that John (the apostle or the Baptist) brings out about Jesus are that he came from heaven, that he spoke the words of God, and that God had placed everything under him.
4. How does the phrase “rejecting the Son” stand in contrast to what “belief” really means? What are the results of each response to him?
   “Rejecting the Son” standing in contrast to what “belief” really means indicates that “believes in the Son” means to accept Jesus as the Son of God. The results of them are continuing to experience God’s wrath for rejecting the Son and eternal life for believing in him.

REFLECT

1. Other than the way John the Baptist did, how can you express the express the role and place of Jesus in your life?
2. In a scientific world in which everything must be measured or proven, what proof can you put forward for your hope of eternal life?
   We suggested the Bible and our change in life as supports for our hope of eternal life.

John 2:1-25

Yesterday evening our Life group studied John 2:1-25 guided by questions that I had given them in our previous meeting. Below are the questions and what I remember of our answers.

Jesus Turns Water into Wine (2:1-12)

What did Jesus mean by telling Mary, “My hour has not yet come” (KJV; NIV and others: “My time has not yet come”)?
We made different suggestions. I supported one of them with Leon Morris’s comment in the NIV Study Bible, “Several similar expressions scattered through this Gospel (See 7:6,8,30; 8:20) picture Jesus moving inevitably toward the destiny for which he had come: the time of his sacrificial death on the cross. At the crucifixion and resurrection Jesus’ ‘hour’ had truly come (see 12:23,27; 13:1; 16:32; 17:1).”

How did Jesus perform the miracle?
After telling the servants to fill the six water jars with water, Jesus turned the water in the jars into wine and then told the servants to serve the freshly made wine. I observed that D. A. Carson and Leon Morris refer in their commentaries on John to Westcott’s view that the water turned into wine was freshly drawn from the well after the water jars had been filled, and Morris argues against it. We disagreed with it.

Most modern versions report that John calls Jesus’ changing of water into wine a “sign” (KJV has “miracle”). What does this particular sign reveal about Jesus?
John says that Jesus revealed his glory through the signs. I observed that in the ESV Study Bible Leon Morris comments, “This miracle showed the glory of Jesus as the sovereign Creator and ruler of the material universe and also as the merciful God who provides abundantly for his people’s needs (cf. 1:14).”

How did this first sign affect Jesus’ disciples?
This first sign caused Jesus’ disciples to believe in him. On what this means, I referred to John 20:30-31, “30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple (2:13-25)

Why did the people attending the Passover need to buy cattle, sheep, and doves and to exchange money?
People attending the Passover needed cattle, sheep, and doves to offer as sacrifices. It was more convenient for people who came great distances to buy them locally rather than to bring them with them. Money changers were needed to change the people’s money into local currency to pay the annual Temple tax.

Why did Jesus oppose the sellers and moneychangers?
Jesus opposed the sellers and moneychangers because they were conducting business in the outer courts of the Temple, which were the only places in the Temple where Gentiles were allowed to worship. I observed that when Jesus cleared the Temple at the end of his ministry, he said, “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17; parallels Matthew 21:13 and Luke 19:46). However John doesn’t record him as saying this during this earlier cleansing of the Temple and so Jesus’ opposition then would seem to be just against conducting business in the Temple.

How was Jesus going to prove his authority to drive the vendors out of the Temple? Jesus was going to prove his authority to drive the vendors out of the Temple by rising from the dead.

Why did many people believe in Jesus’ name, and why wouldn’t he commit himself to them?
Many people believed in Jesus’ name because of the miracles that he worked. He wouldn’t commit himself to them because he they their hearts and realized that their faith was spurious.

Application Questions

Summarize what the chapter reveals about Jesus?
Our answers focussed on Jesus’ compassion and power.

What insight from the chapter seems most significant to you personally?
The most popular answer given by us was the extraordinary things that Jesus did. I also found it significant that Jesus knew at the beginning of his ministry that he was going to be killed and to rise from the dead after three days.