Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• God's questions of Job 38:4-39:30
  As Job's friends had done, God began to break Job down blow by verbal blow. Finally all his pride was gone. However where Job's friends had failed, God succeeded."The function of the questions needs to be properly understood....
• A. The anger and goodness of Yahweh 1:2-8
  "The opening verses of Nahum form a prologue dominated by the revelation of God's eternal power and divine nature in creation (cf. Rom 1:20). As in Romans 1:18-32, this revelation is characterized preeminently by God's justic...
• 1. The setting of Jesus' ministry 4:12-16
  Comparison of John's Gospel and Matthew's shows that Jesus ministered for about a year before John the Baptist's arrest. John had criticized Herod Antipas for having an adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife (...
• II. The Servant's early Galilean ministry 1:14--3:6
  Mark omitted Jesus' year of early Judean ministry (John 1:15-4:42), as did the other Synoptic evangelists. He began his account of Jesus' ministry of service in Galilee, northern Israel (1:14-6:6a). Because of increasing oppo...
• The unbelief of Jesus' enemies 3:22-30 (cf. Matt. 12:22-37; Luke 11:14-26)
  Evidently it was between the time that Jesus' family left Nazareth to take custody of Him and the time they arrived in Capernaum (v. 31) that this incident occurred. Mark's account is shorter than Matthew's and stresses the n...
• The deliverance of a demoniac in Gadara 5:1-20 (cf. Matt. 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39)
  Even though Mark had already reported that Jesus had exorcized many demons, this case was extraordinary.5:1 Mark and Luke called this area the country of the Gerasenes, but Matthew called it the country of the Gadarenes. Gerg...
• 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...
• 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' ...
• A. The preincarnate Word 1:1-5
  John began his Gospel by locating Jesus before the beginning of His ministry, before His virgin birth, and even before Creation. He identified Jesus as co-existent with God the Father and the Father's agent in providing creat...
• II. Jesus' public ministry 1:19--12:50
  The first part of the body of John's Gospel records Jesus' public ministry to the multitudes in Palestine who were primarily Jewish. Some writers have called this section of the Gospel "the book of signs"because it features s...
• 3. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus 3:1-21
  John now presented evidence that Jesus knew people as no others did and that many believed in His name (2:23). This constitutes further witness that He is the Son of God. John summarized several conversations that Jesus had w...
• 4. John the Baptist's reaction to Jesus' ministry 3:22-30
  The writer next noted the parallel ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus in Judea. John the Baptist readily confessed Jesus' superiority to him even though they were both doing the same things. This was further testimony t...
• 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 ...
• 2. The second sign: healing the official's son 4:46-54
  This incident completes a cycle in John's Gospel. Jesus performed His first sign in Cana (2:1), and now He returned and did another miracle there (v. 46). There is even a second reference to Capernaum (2:12; 4:46). John's acc...
• 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...
• 1. The third sign: healing the paralytic 5:1-9
  This third sign in John's Gospel signaled Jesus' identity and created controversy that followed. Particularly it testified to Jesus' authority over time.2095:1 Some time later Jesus returned to Jerusalem to celebrate one of t...
• 3. The Son's equality with the Father 5:19-29
  The preceding controversy resulted in Jesus clarifying His relationship to His Father further. Jesus proceeded to reply to His enemies' charge that He was not equal with God the Father. This is the most thoroughgoing statemen...
• Jesus' origin and destiny 7:25-36
  7:25-26 Though many of the Jewish pilgrims in the temple courtyard did not realize how antagonistic the religious leaders were to Jesus (v. 20), some of the locals did. They marvelled that Jesus was speaking out publicly and ...
• Jesus' testimony about Himself 8:12-20
  8:12 The context of the events in this paragraph continues to be the temple during the feast of Tabernacles (v. 20, cf. 7:14). Jesus was speaking to the Jews who had assembled there some of whom were residents of Jerusalem an...
• Spiritual sight and blindness 9:35-41
  "John is interested in the way the coming of Jesus divides people."3479:35 The healed man had responded positively and courageously to the light that he had so far, but he did not have much light. Therefore Jesus took the ini...
• 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 ...
• 2. Jesus' announcement of His betrayal 13:21-30 (cf. Matt. 26:21-25; Mark 14:18-21; Luke 22:21-23)
  Jesus had spoken only briefly about His betrayal until now (cf. 6:70; 13:10, 18). Now He gave the Twelve more specific information.13:21-22 The prospect of His imminent betrayal and death upset Jesus visibly (Gr. etarachthe, ...
• C. Jesus' civil trial 18:28-19:16
  John reported much more about Jesus' trial before Pilate than did any of the other Gospel writers. He omitted referring to Jesus' appearance before Herod Antipas, which only Luke recorded (Luke 23:6-12). He stressed Jesus' au...
• 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...
• B. The mystery of lawlessness 2:6-12
  Paul continued his instruction concerning the events that must precede the beginning of the day of the Lord by stressing the lawlessness of that period. His purpose was to explain more clearly that his readers had not missed ...
• A. God as Light 1:5-7
  John began his explanation of what it means to live in the light by emphasizing that God is light.1:5 This verse provides a basis for what follows in verses 6-10. It gives the standard against which the three following Christ...
• The enticements of the world 2:15-17
  John next warned his readers of worldly dangers that face the Christian as he or she seeks to get to know God better. He did so to enable them to prepare for and to overcome these obstacles with God's help."As often in 1 John...
• 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 ...