John 21:18-19 – “‘I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’”

In this passage, we see Jesus talking to Peter after restoring him.  Peter had failed, denying three times that he even knew Jesus.  WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER – In the Bible, youth sometimes symbolizes spiritual vigor.

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John 18:38-40 – “What is truth?”  Pilate asked.  With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.  But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover.  Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!”  Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

Pontus Pilate, the Roman Governor who presided over Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, had a custom of releasing a prisoner as a gesture of good will on the Passover, an important Jewish holiday.  On this occasion, he presented a choice to the crowds gathered outside the Governor’s Palace, letting them decide which of two prisoners he would release.  The choice was between Jesus and Barabbas, a Jewish rebel leader and murderer.  The people chose Barabbas, exactly as Pilate expected.

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John 15:1-6 – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

In John 15, Jesus describes himself as the VINE, and explains that we are branches of the Vine (that is, of Him).  The teachings in this passage took place at the Last Supper, the night they arrested Jesus and took him away to his trial.  What is the meaning of the statement that Jesus is the Vine?

Jesus uses the image of the Vine and branches to make four basic points about our salvation:

1)     God expects and requires that we are spiritually fruitful

2)    Close connection – we “remain in him” and he “remains in us,” sharing the same spiritual life and sustenance from eternity, in the same way that a vine and its branches share the same life and are part of the same organism

3)    Absolute dependence – we can accomplish nothing (fruit) on our own, but only through our close connection with Him

4)    If we lose our close connection with him, there are dire consequences – lack of fruit, and eventually, permanent severance and judgment.

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John 16:7-15 – “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.  Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine…”

Here, Jesus explains that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit first required his ascension into heaven.  The disciples did not understand why Jesus had to go away from them.  If the Messiah had come, they thought, why could he not simply stay, and establish his kingdom?  Even if the Messiah had to die for sins and rise again, did he have to ascend into heaven afterward?  Why did Jesus not stay on earth forever after the resurrection? Jesus answers this very question: his ascension into heaven was completely necessary to complete God’s Project of Salvation.  The early church understood this.

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John 13:5-10 – After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.”

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John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

God’s plan for his people is for them to have abundant life. He challenges us to give Him the opportunity for this by putting Him first, before everything else in our lives. God does not ask us to ignore or neglect our families, or jobs, or personal needs.

He only asks that we put Him first, and then attend to these other things. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 6:33 – “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.”

Abundant life includes two types of “abundance.” There is material abundance and spiritual abundance. The second type is much more important, but many churches unfortunately focus on material abundance instead.

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John 8:12 – When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

This story takes place during Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  This was either on the last day of the festival (see John 7:37), or the next day (see John 7:53-8:2).

“I am the Light” – This is a main theme of the Gospel of John (review John 1:4-9; John 3:19-21; John 11:9-10; John 12:35-36; John 12:46). Jesus is not talking about physical light, but rather spiritual light. In Genesis 1:3, “light” existed for three days before the creation of the sun itself (Genesis 1:16-18).  Spiritual light is part of God’s essence – revelation, truth, and clarity.

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John 3:1-8 - “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’

Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ “

Physically, our birth was on the day that we celebrate every year as our birthday – there was a time, years ago, when our mother gave birth, and we came into this world as a baby.  Yet this is only physical, not spiritual.  We also need a spiritual birth.  Spiritual birth happens when the Holy Spirit produces a miracle inside of us – regeneration, the creation of a new person whose life is identified with Jesus Christ.  We receive this only by coming to Christ in faith and complete surrender.  Jesus give us new birth.

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John 7:37-42 - On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Christ.”

Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?“

This took place during the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the main annual religious holidays for Israel. Originally, it was supposed to be a time when the Israelites remembered the 40 years in the wilderness when they lived in tents and encamped from place to place as the Lord led them.

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John 7:37-39 - On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The infilling of the Spirit in us is an important dimension of the “salvation” that Christ gives us. This is more than merely quenching our spiritual thirst – this is enough water for daily cleansing of our hearts and lives (purification, holiness). It is enough to bring abundant life. It is enough to overflow and provide a blessing for those around us. Each of us should become like a small fountain or spring, a source of this “living water” that flows fresh every day. John adds some comments that teach us a few other doctrinal points about the Holy Spirit:

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