Sabbath: More Testimonies About Jesus
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 2nd of November 2024
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study: John 3:25-36, John 1:32-36, Daniel 7:18, John 6:51-71, John 5:36-38, John 7:37-53.
Memory Text:
“ ‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself’ ” (John 12:32, NKJV).
Jesus doesn’t merely say astonishing things about Himself or about who He is or about who sent Him or about where He came from. He also showed who He is by the miracles and signs that He performed. As some openly testify of Jesus: “ ‘When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?’ ” (John 7:31, NKJV).
He backed up His words with actions that proved the truth of His words.
But as the drama continues, a division begins among the people. The healing of the man by the pool of Bethesda attracts the ire of some leaders. The discussion in Capernaum following the feeding of the 5,000 results in the rejection of Jesus by the multitudes. The resurrection of Lazarus creates faith in some but triggers in others a hostility that will lead to the trial and execution of Jesus.
This week’s lesson looks at some of those who witnessed and testified about Jesus. In each of these incidents, some aspects of who Jesus really is are revealed, and together they create a deeper vision of Jesus, the Messiah.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 9.
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If you are writing an academic paper, you typically have to show that you know about the previous literature on the topic. In my day, you visited the dusty archives of the university library and looked though the proceedings of conferences and workshops; you followed references in papers to other papers, and hoped that at the end of the day some of the reading was relevant.
In the modern world you let loose the dogs of Google Scholar and find the relevant material. It is much easier than the dusty walk to the basement of the library, but sometimes the quality is not as good. I taught students when Google was a fairly mature product and found that my students are good and finding references and adding them correctly formatted to their papers. But they often knew little of what the references contained. In other words, they were noting that the keywords were in the citation but knew nothing of the content. Nowadays it is worse. Not only will AI find the references it will summarise them for you and all a student has to do is cut and paste them into their paper.
I no longer teach but if I did, I would be asking my students a lot of questions about why they included a particular reference and what sort of conversation they had with the AI Bot that trawled the archives for them.
I mention this in the context of this weeks lesson. We are reading the dusty archives of the Bible about the testimonies of Jesus. The lesson authors have found these testimonies for us. Are we just satisfied to know that they are there? Or, have we taken the time to read them for ourselves and make an application in our 21st century Christian experience?
Thank you. Powerful! It is very true that at times we read the Bible and do not really comprehend what these verses mean to us.
The testimonies of Jesus can strengthen our spiritual growth and help us to have focus in our Christian journey because these things were happening in reality. Thus, we should know it was not just drama, or staged events, like what is happening today.
I am not sure where this fits into this weeks lesson. But I thought it apropos to Christ method of witnessing to people. Reminds me of an aspect of the charactor of God.
We should not tell someone what they believe. That is not teaching. It's brainwashing.
Truth is not a Popularity Contest
There is a difference between brainwashing and using psychology in soul winning. The skills come with practice.
So get out there and win souls. You can start initially without much knowledge. We witness word of mouth method throughout the Gospels of the life of Christ.
As I was reading the Bible references, the sentence: ”A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven – John 3:27” stood out for me. Can we apply this ‘truth’ to anything the believer experiences in life, or do we consider it to be too far a stretch? When considering that the believer is the work of God's hands, the application broadens to include everything one experiences in life – Eph. 2:10.
John 1:32-36 shares where John’s understanding came from: v.33-34 - ”I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me: ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit."
What is this ‘greater witness’ John referes to? 'Finishing the work which the Father gave Jesus; works that bear witness of Him that the Father sent Him' – John 5:36. Jesus needed to establish that He was the one the people of Israel where waiting for, and He needed to do this through the work He was given by His Father.
Jesus asked His Father that the believer would receive His Holy Spirit to continue Jesus' work - John 14:26. Does the believer have a testimony which can demonstrate that it is given by our heavenly Father? Considering James 1:16-24 NIV - I say yes! We are the craftmanship of God’s hands - a living testimony to His Grace and Mercy to show others the way to the Father.
Good afternoon everyone
I'm great full of thanks to the lord
1.humility is a virtue that reveals and makes us to understand ourselves better before the lord
2. As John began his ministry many were transformed, others were also disturbed and wanted to know if he was the prophet,are you Elijah or are you Messiah but according to John he knew well that there shall come a person who would be greater than him and therefore he didn't uplift himself but instead when the right time came in John 1:29
He pointed to them the lamb of the world that takes away the sins of the world, and that's the reason why he said may he increase as I decrease
3.Jesus Christ too many were wondering about his performance on miracles and wanted to know how he does them but instead he answered them that it's not him does them on his own but he performs through the will of the father and whatever he does the father knows cause he is the son
Jesus Christ spoke of things very different from what any teacher has said. He did things differently from any messenger of God. You must either accept or reject Him (John 7:31). The healing at Bethesda, the discourse after the feeding of the 5,000, & the resurrection of Lazarus all made people believe in Him. But it also triggered hostility that caused His death. We’ll look at key witnesses of the Messiah.