03/17/2025 – Day 260 – Our conclusion to John’s Gospel- Chapters 19 -21/ Next Monday, we will start with a 14 week study in Acts, up to our last week in this cycle.
Again, you might want to look at the posts from the category: “The Gospel of John – 21 chapters in 21 days”. There are four posts for these final three chapters to John’s Gospel back in 2023 during Lent.
Here are the verse commentaries from “The Apologetics Study Bible:
“19:24,36. This is another passage that is typological in the OT (Psalm 22:18). Psalm 22 contains numerous details strikingly paralleled in Jesus life, even though it was originally describing the afflictions of the psalmist. To the believing Jew, this was no coincidence but a sign of God’s hand at work.”
Psalm 22 is a Davidic psalm. How could Psalm 22 be anything but a crucifixion scene? Crucifixions were introduced by the Greeks, but put into practice on a mass scale later by the Romans. So Psalm 22 was written 600 years or so before the first public crucifixion. So, was David just having a LSD trip?
“19:39. This is the amount of anointing material that was used at the funeral for a king. Would Joseph and Nicodemus really have brought so much? If they had come to believe Jesus was a true king, then why not?”
“20:12 Matthew referred to ‘an angel’ (Matthew 28:2); Mark, to a ‘a young man’ (Mark 16:5); and Luke, to ‘two men’ (Luke 24:4). John harmonized the three accounts. Two angels, appearing like men (as consistently in Scripture), were present. Only one is ever said to speak, so abbreviated accounts could easily have left the second one out. Since no Gospel says that only one angel or man was present, there is no contradiction.”
“21:14. But John already narrated four appearances! Presumably the one to Mary didn’t count as ‘to the disciples,” which leaves three – On Easter Sunday night (20:19-23), one week later (20:24-29) and now later still in Galilee (21:1-14).
“21: 18-19. Jesus’ cryptic prophecy seems to have been fulfilled when Peter was martyred by crucifixion during Nero’s persecutions of A.D. 64 and 68, as attested by early church tradition.”
“21:22-23. The dominant early church tradition attests that John was the one disciple who did not die a martyr’s death but lived out his life in old age to virtually the end of the first century, ministering in and around Ephesus (including a brief exile in the mid-90s on the island of Patmos, during which he wrote the book of Revelation). It is possible that John died shortly after completing a draft of his Gospel and that, because of the misinterpreted report described here, his followers added this closing information by way of clarification.”
Soli Deo Gloria!
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Questions for fellowship generation, the lifelong sanctification process:
- What does the text reveal about God’s character?
- How has this reading generated prayer for you and/or us?
- What themes stand out to you in this bible study?
- How does our reading fit into the bigger picture (creation, the fall, restoration, etc.)?
- What verse(s) jumped out at you like never before? Is it explainable at this point?
- Do you have any questions you would like to put before the group as to how to interpret any particular verse(s) in our reading. Let scripture testify to scripture: Share with us where you sense contradiction between passages elsewhere.
- What did you find convicting and inspiring at the same time? Share with us how the Spirit of God is working within you as a messenger, both within and outside of our fellowship group.
- Share with the group how our study is calling or confirming to you a new mission to glorify God in our times.