Page 71 - The Gospel of John - Student textbook

Section 11: Jesus Preaches from the Temple

11.1 Connect

In today’s lesson, Jesus was in Jerusalem. He spent time with his disciples on the Mount of Olives,
just a stone’s throw across the valley from the Herold’s temple. But in the morning he would travel
to the temple mount and sit down and teach the masses of people. He was there for the Feast of
Dedication and so thousands of people flocked to the temple for this special time. While at the
temple, he confronted the Pharisees and other religious leaders and made them so made by accusing
them of having the Devil as their father, that they sought to stone Him. He clearly declared Himself
as the Messiah and the great I AM.

When Jesus said He was the I AM, he was declaring Himself to be the “Eternal One” – God Himself. Twice in this
discourse, He told the religious leaders and people that He was the I AM. Declaring Himself to be God was the
ultimate assertion that they could not believe, and sought to stone Jesus. Jesus clearly told them in verse
24, Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your
sins.” In your Bible you probably will see the word, “He” after the “I am.” While the translators were trying to
help the reader understand, actually adding the “He” brings misunderstanding. Jesus told the Pharisees and
people, “unless you believe that I AM (“ego emi” in Greek) you will die in your sins.” He was telling them that if
they will not accept the fact that He was the Messiah, “God with Us,” they would be eternally lost. And the
same applies to every person today. Unless you honor Jesus as Lord God, and believe in who He is, you will be
eternally lost. Let’s look into the details of his talk on the temple mount.

11.2 Objectives

1. The student will be able to explain how Jesus came to die for our sins, thus be able to forgive us
our sins when we trust in Him.

2. The student should be able to describe the hardness of the hearts of the religious leaders as they
study this chapter in John.

3. Jesus uses the illustration of the sheep coral. The student should be able to explain how this illustration
defines who are Jesus’s sheep and who are not.

11.3 Jesus Preaches from the Temple - John 8:1-59 (HCSB)

2
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn He went to the temple complex again,
and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the
3
scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the
center. “Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing
4
adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” They asked this to
6
5
trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on
the ground with His finger. When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one
7
8
without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He stooped down again and
continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men.
9

70