Podcast

Jesus and His disciples go into the Kidron Valley to the garden of Gethsemane, where they are met with a large number of soldiers. Jesus confronts the soldiers, finds out that they are looking for Jesus, and declares “I am,” echoing the the fact that He is God.

The soldiers come to take Jesus away and He tells them to let the disciples go. This was to fulfill what Jesus said in John 17, showing that John gives Jesus’ words the same weight as the Old Testament prophets.

Peter strikes a soldier on the ear, but Jesus tells him to but his sword back, healing the man.

Jesus is taken to Annas, but does not testify on his behalf, simply stating that He had been preaching publicly, and that if they want to know His teaching, they need only summon witnesses. Jesus is then taken to Caiaphas, who finds Him guilty of blasphemy and sends Jesus to Pilate for trial based on treason or sedition.

Jesus repeats his final command: love. Through a long explanation, Jesus declares His love for His disciples and explains that He must go away, but that He will return. Once more, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will come, proceeding through the Son. Jesus also explains that some in the world will try to hurt the disciples. After this, He prays to His Father that we would be preserved from a host of threats and from the evil one.

Jesus calls himself the true vine, which calls to mind the imagery of Psalm 80[79], and He states that His Father is the vinedresser, who will prune away the branches that do not bear fruit. Thus, we must accept and grow the fruit that God is giving us. If we do not take the discipline that God requires of us and prove that we are His disciples, we will be eating and drinking judgment on ourselves in the Eucharist.

Jesus speaks to each of us in the whole of the Last Supper, saying that He wants to love you specifically and that He wants you in particular to be full of His joy.

At the Passover feast, Judas is already preparing to betray Jesus. Jesus takes off His outer robe and washes the feet of His disciples. Such washing by the master is unheard of in the tradition of ritual washing.

Even knowing the betrayal, and the prophecy from Psalm 41 that Jesus will be betrayed by an intimate friend, Jesus is hurt by the knowledge of Judas’ sin. Jesus gives Judas the morsel, a piece of honor at the Passover feast, asking Judas to do what he will do.

Judas leaves, and Jesus tells them that He is now glorified, but that the apostles cannot follow where He is going.  Jesus then gives a new commandment, that they love one another as He has loved them.  Peter protests that He wants to follow Him, and Jesus prophesies that Peter will betray Him that very night.

Several apostles have objections or comments now, and Jesus uses these as an opportunity to explain His relationship with the Father and promise the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also tells the other Judas that those who love Him keep His commandments, reinforcing a theme that John has developed in his gospel.

Jesus goes to Bethany, which becomes His base of operations, and there, Martha anoints His feet with costly oil. Jesus lets her do it, saying that she is preparing His body for burial. Judas thinks that the money should have been given to the poor, and plans to betray Jesus.

Jesus then enters Jerusalem on an ass, like a peaceful king. Jesus, who had said all along that His time had not yet come, declares that His time has now come. Jesus is troubled by the coming trauma of taking on the sins of humanity.

Some Jews come to ask Jesus to plainly declare Himself the Christ, but He tells them what He already said, but they take up stones because Jesus makes Himself out to be God. Jesus tells them that they do the same thing when they use the title of God for their religious.

Jesus then hears that Lazarus has died. He stays for two more days and then returns Judea to Lazarus’ home. Thomas cynically suggests that they will be going to their deaths by returning to Judea, as well.

When Jesus visits the family and sees Lazarus’ tomb, He starts to cry, overcome with emotion despite the knowledge that He will raise Lazarus soon. Jesus then tells the people to take away the stone, cries out with a loud voice, and raises Lazarus, who had been dead for four days.

Hearing of this, the Pharisees seek to kill Jesus.

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Shepherd, which recalls Zechariah 11, Ezekiel 34, and Malachi 2. A father must feed his children first, and likewise the priests must tend their flocks before themselves.

Jesus uses an example of sheep who come to the shepherd’s name to explain Himself. He is the gate for the sheep, and while a hireling would abandon his flock, the good shepherd will not. Jesus will put his life down voluntarily to save His flock, and He will pick it up again. This is something that only God can do, and those who hear Him say it understand the implications of such statements.

Jesus and the authorities get into a heated argument. Jesus tells them that He knows the will of the Father, and that the authorities do not. Jesus then says that Abraham saw His day, and that before Abraham was, I am, referring to the name of God. The authorities then take up stones against Jesus, but He escapes.

Jesus then heals a man born blind, but the Pharisees question the man, who tells them that Jesus did it on the Sabbath, and defends Jesus. The Pharisees throw the man out, who goes and becomes a disciple of Jesus, who tells him that He is the Son of Man.

John 8 begins with the narrative of the woman caught in adultery. This section, while an authentic eyewitness account of the Gospel, was probably not written by John, since early manuscripts attached it to different gospels or different parts of John, but it was too important to be left out of the Gospel altogether.

Jesus proclaims that He is the Light of the world. Darkness is used to denote that which is not of God throughout the Bible. Psalms 27, 36, 119, Numbers 6, and Isaiah 49 correlate light with God and God’s gift of life. The Pharisees object that Jesus has not confirmed His testimony by another witness, a legal procedure. Jesus states that His testimony is confirmed even if He states it Himself, since He does not judge, but rather the Father.

Jesus then speaks of His death, but the Pharisees do not understand. Jesus tells them that they will understand when He is lifted up, which refers to His crucifixion.

Jesus says that He is the bread which has come down from Heaven, that we must physically eat His body to have eternal life, and that He will raise those who believe on the last day, and this upsets many of his followers. Jesus states these things clearly and without equivocation and makes no attempt to offer a more crowd-pleasing teaching.

John next tells of Jesus teaching at the Fesival of Booths, where Jesus states that His teaching comes from God, not from any man, which hearkens back to Jeremiah 31:31ff, where God says that His new covenant will no longer need to be taught by men, since God will forgive them. In this, the New Testament and forgivness are bound up with teaching.