Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Writer
  The authorship of the Pentateuch has been the subject of great controversy among professing Christians since Spinoza introduced "higher criticism"of the Bible in the seventeenth century. The "documentary hypothesis,"which dev...
• 2. Hezekiah's Passover 30:1-31:1
  "Following the restoration of the temple and its services in ch. 29, the emphasis now falls heavily upon Hezekiah's strenuous efforts to reunite in worship the hitherto separated peoples of the north and south."80Hezekiah wan...
• The difficulty of obtaining wisdom 2:1-5
  Even though wisdom wants people to adopt her (1:20-33) she is hard to get. The person who wants her has to work hard to obtain her (v. 3). If understanding does not come easily, one should work harder to obtain it.40He or she...
• The disciple's relationship to brethren 7:1-5 (cf. Luke 6:37-42)
  Jesus first laid down a principle (v. 1). Then He justified this principle theologically (v. 2). Finally He provided an illustration (vv. 3-5).7:1 Jesus taught His disciples not to be judgmental or censorious of one another i...
• 1. The first preaching tour of Galilee 1:35-39 (cf. Luke 4:42-44)
  While these verses record the itinerant ministry of Jesus, Mark's emphasis was clearly on Jesus' spiritual preparation for that ministry. It highlighted His dependence on His Father.1:35 Mark implied that these events happene...
• 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 ...
• Jesus' sufferings in Gethsemane 14:32-42 (cf. Matt. 26:36-46; Luke 22:40-46)
  This incident contrasts Jesus' humility and dependence on the Father with Peter's self-confidence (vv. 27-31). It is a remarkable revelation of the humanity of Jesus."So far from sailing serenely through his trials like some ...
• 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...
• C. The appearance of the Light 1:9-13
  The first section of the prologue (vv. 1-5) presents the preincarnate Word. The second section (vv. 6-8) identifies the forerunner of the Word's earthly ministry. This third section introduces the ministry of the Incarnate Wo...
• 1. Jesus' first sign: changing water to wine 2:1-11
  The first miracle that Jesus performed, in His public ministry and in John's Gospel, was semi-public. Apparently only Jesus' disciples, the servants present, and Jesus' mother understood what had happened.2:1 The third day ev...
• 1. The first cleansing of the temple 2:13-22
  The Synoptics record Jesus' cleansing of the temple after His triumphal entry (Matt. 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-16; Luke 19:45-46). Only John noted this cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. The differences b...
• 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 ...
• 1. Jesus' return to Galilee 4:43-45
  John again bridged the gap between important events in his narrative with a transitional explanation of how Jesus moved from one site to another (cf. 2:12; 4:1-3). John typically focused on clusters of events in Jesus' minist...
• 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...
• The response of the Jews 7:1-9
  "John 7 has three time divisions: before the feast (vv. 1-10), in the midst of the feast (vv. 11-36), and on the last day of the feast (vv. 37-52). The responses during each of those periods can be characterized by three word...
• 1. The controversy surrounding Jesus 7:10-13
  7:10 Jesus proceeded to Jerusalem shortly after his half-brothers did because the Father led Him to go then. He did not herald His arrival with great publicity, as His brothers had recommended, but went without fanfare. If He...
• Jesus' authority 7:14-24
  7:14 Toward the middle of the week Jesus began teaching publicly in the temple. This verse sets the scene for what follows immediately.7:15 It was quite common for Jewish males to read and write. The people do not appear to h...
• 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 ...
• 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...
• 3. The unbelief of the Jewish leaders 7:45-52
  7:45-46 When the officers of the temple guard returned to the Sanhedrin without Jesus, the Sanhedrin members asked why they had not arrested Him (cf. v. 32). The officers replied that no man (Gr. anthropos, emphatic in the Gr...
• 4. The woman caught in adultery 7:53-8:11
  The textual authenticity of this pericope is highly questionable. Most ancient Greek manuscripts dating before the sixth century do not contain it. However, over 900 ancient manuscripts do contain it including the important e...
• 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...
• Jesus' claims about His origin 8:21-30
  Jesus began to contrast Himself and His critics.3108:21 Evidently what follows continues Jesus' teaching in the temple when He spoke the words that John recorded in the preceding verses. The Greek word palin("again"or "once m...
• The violent response of Jesus' critics 8:48-59
  8:48 Since the Jews could not refute Jesus' challenge they resorted to verbal abuse (cf. 7:52). Perhaps they called Him a Samaritan because He had questioned their ties to Abraham. This may have been a Samaritan attack agains...
• 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; ...
• The Pharisees' first interrogation 9:13-23
  "John evidently wants us to see that the activity of Jesus as the Light of the world inevitably results in judgment on those whose natural habitat is darkness. They oppose the Light and they bring down condemnation on themsel...
• The Pharisees' second interrogation 9:24-34
  The Pharisees, who considered themselves enlightened, now tried to badger the formerly blind man into denying that he saw the light.9:24 The Pharisees now questioned the healed man again. They had already decided that Jesus w...
• 7. The Good Shepherd discourse 10:1-21
  Evidently this teaching followed what John recorded in chapter 9 (v. 21), but exactly when between the feast of Tabernacles (7:2, 14, 37) and the feast of Dedication (v. 22) it happened is unclear. The place where Jesus gave ...
• The division among Jesus' hearers 10:19-21
  Again Jesus' claims resulted in some of His hearers believing Him and others disbelieving (cf. 7:12, 43; 9:16). Here the expression "the Jews"refers to the Jewish people generally, not specifically to the religious leaders as...
• 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' claim to be God's Son 10:31-39
  10:31-33 Clearly the Jews understood Jesus to be claiming more than simple agreement with God in thought and purpose but equality with the Father as deity. They prepared to stone Him for blasphemy.370They believed Jesus was b...
• 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...
• Lazarus' death 11:1-16
  In this pericope John stressed Jesus' deliberate purpose in allowing Lazarus to die and the reality of his death.11:1-2 "Lazarus"probably is a variant of "Eleazar"meaning "God helps."379The Synoptic writers did not mention hi...
• 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)....
• Jesus' reaction 11:54-57
  This pericope summarizes the situation at this stage of Jesus' ministry. The leaders had determined to kill Him, and Jesus withdrew to the town of Ephraim.11:54 Jesus may have learned of the Sanhedrin's decision from a sympat...
• 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 kernel of wheat teaching 12:20-26
  12:20 The New Testament writers frequently referred to any Gentiles who came from the Greek-speaking world as Greeks (cf. 7:35; et al.). We do not know where the Gentiles in this incident came from. They could have lived in o...
• The importance of believing now 12:27-36
  12:27 Anticipation of the death that had to precede the glory troubled Jesus deeply (Gr. tataraktai, cf. 11:33; 14:1; Mark 14:32-42). It troubled Him because His death would involve separation from His Father and bearing God'...
• 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...
• 6. The warning about opposition from the world 15:17-27
  Jesus had discussed the Father's unity with the Son, the Son's unity with His disciples, and the disciples' unity with one another, as recorded in this chapter. It was natural then that He should also address the disciples' r...
• 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...
• 3. Annas' interrogation of Jesus 18:19-24
  John's version of Peter's denial is quite similar to those of the other Gospel writers, but His revelation of Jesus' interrogation by Annas is unique. None of the other evangelists mentioned it.18:19 Clearly Annas was the (un...
• 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 disciples' spiritual preparation 1:12-14
  1:12-13 The disciples returned to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. The short trip from where Jesus ascended on Mt. Olivet to the upper room was only a Sabbath day's journey away (about 2,000 cubits, two-third...
• The Sanhedrin's response 4:13-22
  4:13-14 The Sanhedrin observed in Peter and John what they had seen in Jesus, namely courage to speak boldly and authoritatively without formal training (cf. Matt. 7:28-29; Mark 1:22; Luke 20:19-26; John 7:15). They may also ...
• C. The guilt of all humanity 3:9-20
  Having now proven all people, Jews and Gentiles, under God's wrath Paul drove the final nail in mankind's spiritual coffin by citing Scriptural proof.3:9 The phrase "What then?"introduces a conclusion to the argument that all...
• I. INTRODUCTION 1:1
  The writer identified himself for the original recipients of this epistle and greeted them to introduce himself to his readers.James (lit. Jacob) was probably the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ who evidently became a b...
• A. God as Father 3:1-3
  This section introduces John's recapitulation and expansion of his exposition of what is necessary for people to have fellowship with God. He changed his figure from God as light to God as the Father of the believer."John beg...
• Historical background
  Traditionally the writer of this epistle was Judas, the half-brother of Jesus Christ (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) and the brother of James (Jude 1; Acts 15:13). Some scholars have challenged this identification in recent years, bu...
• 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 ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• The Word In Eternity, In The World, And In The Flesh
  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. 4. In Him was lif...