Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The Lord's intervention for Israel 34:11-24
  34:11-12 The Lord further promised to search for His wandering sheep Himself, to care for them, and to deliver them from the places where they had scattered in the gloomy days of their national distress (cf. Jer. 30:4-7; Luke...
• The transition from Galilee to Judea 10:1 (cf. Matt. 19:1-2)
  Though Mark did not record it, Jesus gave His disciples much additional instruction as they travelled from Capernaum in Galilee toward Jerusalem (cf. Matt. 8:19-22; 18:15-35; Luke 9:51-18:14; John 7:2-11:54). Evidently Jesus ...
• Characteristic features and purpose
  John's presentation of Jesus in his Gospel has been a problem to many modern students of the New Testament. Some regard it as the greatest problem in current New Testament studies.15Compared to the Synoptics that present Jesu...
• Message27
  In one sense the Gospel of John is more profound than the Synoptics. It is the most difficult Gospel for most expositors to preach and to teach for reasons that will become evident as we study it. In another sense, however, t...
• Outline
  I. Prologue 1:1-18A. The preincarnate Word 1:1-5B. The witness of John the Baptist 1:6-8C. The appearance of the Light 1:9-13D. The incarnation of the Word 1:14-18II. Jesus' public ministry 1:19-12:50A. The prelude to Jesus' ...
• 5. The explanation of Jesus' preeminence 3:31-36
  This pericope explains why Jesus must become greater. It also unites several themes that appear through chapter 3. John the Apostle or John the Baptist may be the speaker. This is not entirely clear.3:31-32 The incarnate Son ...
• F. Jesus' second visit to Jerusalem ch. 5
  "In chapters 1-4 the subject is described from the standpoint of a spectator, ab extra, and we are thus enabled to see something of the impression created on others by our Lord as He deals with individuals in Jerusalem, Samar...
• The healing of the man 9:1-12
  The exact time of this miracle and Jesus' resultant discourse is unclear. Evidently these events transpired sometime between the feast of Tabernacles (7:2, 10; September 10-17, 32 A.D.) and the feast of Dedication (10:22-39; ...
• 8. The confrontation at the feast of Dedication 10:22-42
  The present section of the fourth Gospel is strongly Christological and focuses on Jesus' identity. In this subdivision of the text Jesus presented Himself as the Messiah (vv. 22-30) and as the Son of God (vv. 31-39). This re...
• Jesus' claim to be the Messiah 10:22-30
  10:22-23 "At that time"(NASB) is a general reference to the proximity of the feast of Dedication and the events narrated in the previous pericope. It does not mean that the events in the preceding section occurred exactly bef...
• Jesus' withdrawal from Jerusalem 10:40-42
  10:40 John presented Jesus' departure from Jerusalem as the result of official rejection of Him. The event had symbolic significance that the evangelist probably intended. Jesus withdrew the opportunity for salvation from the...
• 3. Mary's anointing of Jesus 12:1-8 (cf. Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9)
  In contrast to the hatred that the religious leaders manifested stands the love that Mary demonstrated toward the One she had come to believe in. Her act of sacrificial devotion is a model for all true disciples. This is the ...
• The explanation of Israel's unbelief 12:37-43
  12:37-38 The majority of the Jews did not believe on Jesus despite the many miracles that He performed that indicated His messiahship (cf. 1:11). John again attributed Israel's unbelief to God's will, though he balanced that ...
• The request to reveal the Father 14:8-14
  14:8 The Eleven regarded Jesus very highly. Notwithstanding they did not yet realize that He was such an accurate and full revelation of God the Father that to see Jesus was to see the Father. Philip asked for a clear revelat...
• 4. The promise of future understanding 14:25-31
  Jesus realized that the Eleven did not fully understand what He had just revealed. He therefore encouraged them with a promise that they would understand His words later.14:25-26 Jesus had made these revelations to His discip...
• The vine and the branches metaphor 15:1-8
  Jesus often used a grapevine to describe the nation of Israel (cf. Matt. 20:1-16; 21:23-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 13:6-9; 20:9-16). The vine as a symbol of Israel appears on coins of the Maccabees.474Here Jesus used the vine meta...
• 1. Jesus' requests for Himself 17:1-5
  17:1 "These things Jesus spoke"(NASB, Gr. tauta elalesen Iesous) clearly connects what follows with what Jesus had just been saying (cf. 14:25; 16:1, 4, 25, 33). Lifting up the eyes to heaven indicated prayer, as did Jesus' w...
• G. The purpose of this Gospel 20:30-31
  John followed the climactic proof that Jesus is God's Son with an explanation of his purpose for writing this narrative of Jesus' ministry. This explanation constitutes a preliminary conclusion to the book.20:30 "Therefore"ti...
• Bibliography
  Allen, Ronald B. "Affirming Right-of-Way on Ancient Paths."Bibliotheca Sacra153:609 (January-March 1996):3-11.Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James D...
• The content of the way of knowledge 8:4-6
  Paul resumed his discussion of knowledge after digressing briefly in verses 2 and 3 to comment on the superiority of love over knowledge.8:4 In this verse Paul returned to the original subject of eating meals in idol temples ...
• The example of Christ 2:5-11
  This paragraph is the most important one in the epistle and the most difficult to interpret."By anyone's reckoning, 2:6-11 constitutes the single most significant block of material in Philippians."582:5 Paul introduced an ill...
• 1. Renouncing sin reaffirmed 3:4-9
  "The present vv, 3:4-9, form six strophes, each of which divides . . . roughly into half. The two halves of the strophes balance one another; for the second part of the v provides a development of the first part (vv 4, 5, 7),...
• The dragon's hostility toward the male child 12:1-6
  This pericope furnishes the plot for the drama that unfolds in the rest of the chapter.12:1 John saw a "sign,"something that signified or represented something else (cf. v. 3; 13:13-14; 15:1; 16:14; 19:29). Usually John used ...
• 4. The judgment of the wicked 20:11-15
  20:11 This "And I saw"introduces something else John saw in this vision (cf. 19:11, 17, 19; 20:1, 4, 12; 21:1, 2). The continuation of chronological progression seems clear from the continued use of "And"to introduce new info...