In John’s account of the event of Jesus walking on the water, we will see that following the directives of Jesus is not always easy, and sometimes we make slow, painful progress. We will see Jesus demonstrate His identity by fulfilling Old Testament scriptures which should shape, strengthen, and solidify our faith in Him. And we will see that Jesus’s deliverance is not about getting us out of the storm but getting Him into our boat.

The feeding of the 5,000 is recorded in all four Gospels (Matt. 14:13-21, Mark 6:32-44, Luke 9:10-17). However, John starts and ends his account differently from the other three accounts of this event. John opens this passage by pointing out the motive and mindset of the masses who are coming to Jesus, and then concludes the passage by giving the crowd’s understanding of this sign and who they understood Jesus to be, and then what they wanted to do with Him.

The Father has life in Himself, and the Son has life in Himself. The final day will come when those who are dead and hear my voice will live. Even now, this is happening (think of the girl that was raised in Matthew 9:19-26, and Lazarus in John 11:38-44). It is at the voice of Jesus that people will respond. Either people will receive life from His voice or hear the pronouncement of judgment from His voice. The judgment will be handed down to Jesus from the Father, so it will be Jesus’s voice also as the judge.  

The works of God are intentional, strategic, and bigger than they originally seem. Miracles and works of God always have a greater purpose than the work itself. They are given and done to reveal who God is and who we are, and the greater need and good. Miracles and healing are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

Honoring Jesus for who He is, serving Him and following Him, and treasuring Him, is miles apart from welcoming Jesus because of what He can do for you. There are those among us today who, if they don’t get what they want from Jesus when they want it, will leave Him for something or someone else who they think will satisfy and fulfill their wishes.

The passage of the “woman at the well” has been preached in many different ways from many different angles. It has been used as a method of evangelism. It has been used as an example of Jesus breaking gender and racial barriers. These things are true about this passage, but that is not the main point. The main point is to reveal who Jesus is so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.

Sometimes people, when hearing the news of someone’s success, respond not with happiness for the person but with jealousy, accusations, and disparaging remarks. It is especially true in cases where someone’s star ascending means yours shines less bright. Like a star in entertainment or sports being pushed off the stage by someone new. This is hard for us to deal with mentally and emotionally. How would John reply to the reality of the rise of Christ and his now diminishing role and influence?

God is light, He is perfect, and there is no darkness in Him at all. If we say we have a relationship with God but continue to walk in perpetual darkness, we are a liar because we don’t practice the truth. And here is the beautiful and powerful thing about living your life in accordance with the teachings of Jesus: we have both fellowship (deep relationship) with others and with God because Jesus cleanses us from all sins. It takes humility and a love of truth to acknowledge our sin and walk truly and rightly with God and others.

We are focusing on one of the most important passages of Scripture in the entire Bible. In this passage of John chapter three, Jesus explains the way into the kingdom of God. If you want to be in the kingdom of God, having eternal life, you must pay close attention to what Jesus teaches in this passage. Your eternity rests on these things.