Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 1. The feeding of the 5,000 6:31-44 (cf. Matt. 14:13-21; Luke 9:11-17; John 6:1-13)
  Mark's account of this miracle plays an important role in his Gospel. The unusually long introduction provides the setting for this miracle. It stresses Jesus' humanity, and the miracle itself demonstrates His deity. Mark lat...
• 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' ...
• 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 fourth sign: feeding the 5,000 6:1-15 (cf. Matt. 14:13-23; Mark 6:30-46; Luke 9:10-17)
  The importance of this sign is clear in that all four Gospels contain an account of it. Apparently John was familiar with the other evangelists' versions of this miracle as well as being an eyewitness of the event. His story ...
• 2. The fifth sign: walking on the water 6:16-21 (cf. Matt. 14:24-33; Mark 6:47-52)
  John probably included this incident for a number of reasons. It accounts for the return of Jesus and His disciples to the western shore of Galilee where Jesus gave the discourse on the Bread of Life. Perhaps he did so to con...
• Jesus' creating desire for the bread 6:26-34
  This section of the text contains Jesus' enigmatic and attractive description of the Bread of Life. Jesus was whetting His hearers' appetites for it (cf. 4:10). The pericope ends with their asking Him to give them the Bread (...
• The meaning of believing 6:52-59
  Jesus introduced a new metaphor for believing on Him, namely eating His flesh. The following pericope is highly metaphorical.6:52 As Jesus' hearers had objected to what He had said about His identity (vv. 41-42), so they now ...
• The response of many disciples 6:60-65
  6:60 Not only "the Jews"(v. 52) but many of Jesus' followers found His teaching about the Bread of Life offensive (Gr. skleros, difficult or hard). The term "disciple"is not synonymous with "believer,"as should be patently cl...
• The promise of the Spirit 7:37-44
  Having announced His departure Jesus proceeded to offer the Holy Spirit for those who believed on Him (cf. chs. 14-16).7:37 The feast of Tabernacles lasted seven days (cf. Deut. 16:13). However the day following the feast was...
• 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...
• The revelation of the resurrection and the life 11:17-29
  The scene now shifts from the region near Bethany of Perea (1:28; 10:40) to the Bethany in Judea. Both towns became sites where people believed on Jesus.11:17 There is some evidence that the later Jewish rabbis believed that ...
• 2. The responses to the raising of Lazarus 11:45-57
  Again Jesus' words and works divided the Jews (cf. 6:14-15; 7:10-13, 45-52; 10:19-21)....
• 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 ...
• 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...
• 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 ...