Passion. Zeal. Love. Light. These are all characteristics of my Savior, Jesus Christ. This passionate, zealous, loving, Light of the World comes into our hearts to drive out the darkness -- not to condemn us, but to save us. This truth is profound and eternal -- it's worth spending some time to slowly take it all in.
Follow me to the gospel of John as we consider a familiar passage in light of the context of Scripture.
On this week's episode I discuss:
- Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
- Read in context
- Consider the historical context
- Use section headings
- Refer to the introduction
- Slow down
- Gaining historical context through the reading of the introduction - BlueLetterBible.org
- This episode of Jesus cleansing the temple - John 2:13-22
- Listening to the sounds of the scene unfolding at the temple
- What the money changers were up to in the temple - GotQuestions.org Article
- The zeal and passion of Jesus. This is who He is!
- Eternal live is initiated by God and founded in His love
- The idea that God loves the "world" would be shocking to Nicodemus
- Jesus begins with the end in mind...the cross - Check out Episode 103 where I unpack Moses and the serpent mentioned here
- Biblical faith is not intellectual ascent, it is transferring our trust out of ourselves INTO Jesus
- We must surrender, repent of our sin of autonomy and turn to God and place our trust into Christ
- How we are not better having heard the truth if we do not personally experience God
Additional Resources
This Week's Challenge
Read John 1-3. Our song leads us straight to John 3, but the context of everything that leads up to this profound conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus should shed light on that very conversation. Use an introduction in your study Bible or online source to help ground you and give you historical context as you engage in the words of the Gospel of John. And if you have never done it…step into the light and believe “into" the Light of the World.
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