Our conversations began with a simple invitation:
“Come and see.”
Since then, we have listened as Jesus made remarkable claims about himself. He has claimed to be the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the True Vine.
But claims raise a question:
Why should we believe him?
John now brings us to the events toward which his whole Gospel has been moving: Jesus is arrested, crucified, buried—and then his followers make an extraordinary discovery.
The question is no longer simply, “What did Jesus claim?”
It is now:
“Who is Jesus—and what will I do with him?”
1. Connect
Extraordinary claims usually require good reasons for believing them.
What kind of evidence would you want before believing that someone who had died was actually alive again?
2. Read
Read ; ; together.
This is a longer reading than our previous conversations. As you read, notice what happens to Jesus, what his followers discover, and how different people respond.
(NET2)
1 When he had said these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. There was an orchard there, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times with his disciples.) 3 So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. They came to the orchard with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Then Jesus, because he knew everything that was going to happen to him, came and asked them, “Who are you looking for?” 5 They replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He told them, “I am he.” (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was standing there with them.) 6 So when Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they retreated and fell to the ground. 7 Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, let these men go.” 9 He said this to fulfill the word he had spoken, “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.”
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear. (Now the slave’s name was Malchus.) 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
(NET2)
16 Then Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,
17 and carrying his own cross he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” (called in Aramaic Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him along with two others, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate also had a notice written and fastened to the cross, which read: “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” 20 Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem read this notice because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, and the tunic remained. (Now the tunic was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) 24 So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice to see who will get it.” This took place to fulfill the scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” So the soldiers did these things.
25 Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, here is your son!” 27 He then said to his disciple, “Look, here is your mother!” From that very time the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty!” 29 A jar full of sour wine was there, so they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a branch of hyssop and lifted it to his mouth. 30 When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(NET2)
1 Now very early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. 2 So she went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out to go to the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, came in, and he saw and believed. 9 (For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.)
10 So the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Mary replied, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Because she thought he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus replied, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came and informed the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her.
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together and locked the doors of the place because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.”
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the wounds from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!”
26 Eight days later the disciples were again together in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and examine my hands. Extend your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe.” 28 Thomas replied to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
NET Bible, Second Edition. © 2017 Biblical Studies Press. Used by permission.
What caught your attention?
3. Explore
Look back at the passages as you discuss these questions.
- In , Jesus asks, “Who are you looking for?” What happens when Jesus identifies himself?
- According to , what happens to Jesus? What details show that John intends us to understand that Jesus really died?
- In , what do Mary, Peter, and the other disciple discover at the tomb?
- Thomas initially refuses to believe that Jesus has risen. What evidence does he say he would need?
- What happens when Thomas encounters the risen Jesus in verses 24–29? How does he respond?
- According to , why does John say he recorded these signs and events?
4. Consider
Thomas eventually stands before the risen Jesus and says:
“My Lord and my God!”
Think back over the Jesus we have encountered:
- I am the Bread of Life.
- I am the Light of the World.
- I am the Door.
- I am the Good Shepherd.
- I am the Resurrection and the Life.
- I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
- I am the True Vine.
Now John presents this same Jesus as crucified and risen from the dead.
- How does the resurrection affect the way you understand Jesus' earlier claims?
- What do you think Thomas means when he calls Jesus “my Lord and my God”?
- What do you find most convincing about John's account?
- What questions or difficulties do you still have?
- If Jesus really did rise from the dead, what would that tell us about who he is?
5. Respond
At the beginning of these conversations, you were invited simply to come and see.
John now tells us why he wrote his Gospel:
“These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
So we finish where John wants his readers to finish—with the question that has been behind all eight conversations:
Who do you think Jesus is?
And then comes a more personal question:
What would keep you from trusting him and beginning to follow him?
You don't need to pretend that you have no remaining questions. Following Jesus doesn't mean knowing the answer to everything.
But John's invitation is no longer simply to investigate Jesus from a distance. It is an invitation to believe in him and receive the life he offers.
Where From Here?
If you still have questions, keep asking them. Keep reading John's Gospel. Keep talking with the person who has been exploring it with you.
If you have come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, tell the person who has been reading with you. They can help you understand the good news about Jesus and what it means to trust him and begin following him.
That is what D3DStart is designed to help you do.
Come and see. Believe and live. Follow Jesus.