Brian Lee

John 5:1-15 Introduction: What’s “wrong” with Jesus? There’s a part of me that feels uncomfortable even asking that question. It sounds irreverent. And yet John 5 almost invites the question. Because Jesus does something so right, so merciful, so timely, that it somehow becomes controversial. A man who hasn’t walked in thirty-eight years stands up and walks “at once” (v. 9). That should lead to celebration. Instead, it leads to interrogation. So what’s going on? John is showing us that there...

John 5:16-30 Summary John tells us that the religious leaders persecuted Jesus “because he was doing these things on the Sabbath” (v. 16). Jesus answers with a single sentence that detonates the whole controversy. “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (v. 17). He’s not saying, “Sabbath doesn’t matter.” He’s saying, “You don’t understand God’s Sabbath, and you don’t understand me (I am God).” God’s “rest” never meant inactivity , as if the world runs itself. The Creator continues...

John 4 John, chapter 4, can be divided into three sections. 4:1-14, 15-30, and 31-42. Let's take a look at the whole chapter first, then at each unit. Summary John 4 moves from a quiet, personal conversation at a well to a public awakening in an entire town. John records how Jesus deliberately crosses boundaries—geographic (Samaria), social (a woman, alone), moral (her broken past), and religious (where true worship happens)—to reveal who he is and what he gives. He is not a teacher who gives...