The Details
Read
John 3:1-21
John 13:1-35
John 17
Psalm 100
Notice
God loves
Look out for
Jesus
Memorize
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
Get Ready
There is no way to cap the elation of the Resurrection, but the story of Jesus isn’t finished. We’ve only scratched the surface, and this week we’re taking a look at God’s love as expressed and exemplified by Jesus. So prepare to listen as the story doesn’t move forward, so much as it deepens, adding another layer to what you’ve already seen.
A little more
A little background
You might have noticed that the first four weeks of New Testament readings have come exclusively from three of the Gospels. The fourth, John, is so unique that its stories don’t fit neatly in a linear telling of Jesus’ life. If Matthew, Mark and Luke tell a story, John paints a portrait. There is not a better or worse here; John is just doing something different from the others.
John’s Gospel can be neatly divided into three Acts. Act One runs from chapters 1 through 11 and contain signs, lessons, and interactions. Act Two focuses on Jesus’ final week, through His death on the cross. Act Three relates Jesus’ resurrection and succeeding stories – more extensive than in any other gospels.
In the second and third readings this week, the setting is the Upper Room, the Passover Feast, with Jesus’ disciples. The first introduces us to Nicodemus, a Pharisee who comes to Jesus by night. This last detail betrays a little sneaking around – like Nicodemus didn’t want others to know he was seeking out Jesus. The Pharisees were not a uniform bunch, and Acts relates that some of them came to believe in Jesus.
A little timeline
The two accounts at the Last Supper occur mere hours before Jesus’ trial and execution. The story of Nicodemus in chapter 3 is not placed: it could have happened early in Jesus’ ministry, or near the end. John’s gospel is like that – a series of images rather than a linear story.
A little geography
Everything you read here happens in and around Jerusalem, the center of Jewish worship.
A little epilogue
John goes on to develop churches throughout Judea and Asia Minor, ending his life in exile, producing at least three known letters and a concluding prophecy (Revelation). Nicodemus’s story is left incomplete – did he believe? – but his name reappears once more, in chapter 19, at the cross.
Getting deeper into the weeds
What can you learn about God’s character, personality, or priorities here?
The theme this week is God’s love, which is expressed in multiple ways. In the Nicodemus story of chapter 3, God’s love is expressed in this way: “That He gave His only Son.” This is a give-everything-you-have-to sacrificial love, of the kind later called for from husbands (“Give yourself up for her, as Christ gave himself up for the church” in Ephesians 5). John 13 begins with a love that drives service – the washing of the feet, even dying for one who would betray you. And John 17 takes a step back, as Jesus prays first for His disciples, then for everyone who would believe in Him.
In all these instances, concern for the object of love is why God does it. God isn’t co-dependent on us. We don’t fulfill him. God loves because we need loving. “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” Jesus tells Peter when Peter doesn’t want his master washing his feet. Jesus doesn’t love, doesn’t sacrifice, doesn’t serve, doesn’t pray, for His own health. He does it for Peter’s, for yours and mine.
Also note that God’s love drives Him to action. This love was not passive, and not a feeling. It was a decision. How does that fill out God’s character?
How can parents help their kids through the readings?
What you’ll find in John’s gospel, more than in the others, is dialogue. Extensive conversations, long sections of nothing more than Jesus teaching. This week you’ll read three of them: Jesus talking with Nicodemus, Jesus example at the Last Supper, Jesus prayer at the end of that Supper.
Their abstract nature might make these readings more difficult with kids, but you shouldn’t panic. Nicodemus story in chapter 3 is a good place to start. You might chuckle when Nicodemus asks “Can a man get born as a baby all over again?” but imagine that he’s not stupid. He’s calling out the opacity of Jesus’ statement, “You must be born again.” He’s trying to nail Jesus down; Jesus is trying to draw him out; it ends at another plane altogether.
Even though we’re only reading three sections of John, you might just want to sit everyone down and read through the Gospel at one shot. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” inaugurates a new story of creation, and a new era in the world. Paint the portrait with your kids.