Alright!
Welcome back to Isaac Hunter’s Online Bible Study. We’ve now reached the midpoint of our July reading.
This month, we’ve been working through John 11–15. As with every mid-month check-in, the goal isn’t to arrive at final conclusions but to pause, reflect on what we’ve read so far, and consider the themes John continues to develop.
One of the things that has stood out to me is how dramatically the Gospel’s pace changes in these chapters. Earlier in John’s account, the focus often moves from one public encounter to the next. Here, the narrative slows considerably as Jesus spends His remaining time preparing His disciples for what is about to happen.
The raising of Lazarus serves as both a remarkable display of Jesus’ authority over death and the event that accelerates the religious leaders’ determination to kill Him. From that point on, the emphasis shifts away from convincing the crowds and toward equipping those who will carry His message after His departure.
Throughout these chapters, Jesus repeatedly returns to themes of love, humility, obedience, and abiding. He washes His disciples’ feet, commands them to love one another, promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, and describes Himself as the True Vine. Rather than preparing His followers for comfort or success, He prepares them for faithful discipleship in a world that will often reject them.
The question running beneath these chapters is both simple and deeply challenging:
What does it truly mean to remain in Christ when following Him becomes costly?
Let’s jump in…
– Mid Month Check In –
!! ISAAC HUNTER’s BIBLE STUDY !!
By the midpoint of these chapters, one pattern becomes increasingly clear: the Gospel of John is pressing the question of discipleship.
Jesus is no longer addressing the crowds as often as He is preparing His closest followers. He raises Lazarus from the dead, washes His disciples’ feet, gives them a new commandment to love one another, promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, and calls them to abide in Him as branches abide in the vine.
The focus is no longer simply on recognizing who Jesus is.
It is on learning what it means to remain faithful to Him.
Throughout these chapters, Jesus repeatedly points His disciples beyond the immediate moment. He knows His arrest, crucifixion, and departure are near, yet His concern is not for Himself. Instead, He prepares His followers for the mission they will inherit, encouraging them to love sacrificially, obey faithfully, bear lasting fruit, and remain steadfast when opposition inevitably comes.
One truth continues to surface as I read these chapters:
Following Christ is not merely about believing certain truths about Him. It is about abiding in Him so deeply that His life begins to shape our own.
That, more than anything else, seems to be the thread that holds John 11–15 together.
Some Questions:
- What teaching or conversation in John 11–15 has challenged you the most, and why?
- Jesus repeatedly calls His disciples to “abide” in Him. What do you think He means by abiding, and how is that different from simply believing certain facts about Him?
Our 2nd Half of the Month:
In the second half of the month, we shift from primarily reading and recording observations to in-depth research. While I still recommend reading through John 11–15 at least once each day for the remainder of the month, our attention now turns to consulting commentaries, Bible dictionaries, cross-references, historical background resources, and the broader witness of Scripture to help answer the questions that have emerged during our reading.
By this point, your text should also be marked and organized using your hierarchical outlining method. Continue refining that outline as your understanding develops. In these chapters especially, pay close attention to recurring themes and images: resurrection and life, glory, love, service, abiding, fruit, the Holy Spirit, friendship, obedience, peace, and the relationship between the Father, the Son, and His disciples. As you study, notice how these themes build upon one another and prepare the reader for the events that follow in John’s Gospel.
Word of Reminder:
- This study is not about speed or volume.
- You do not need to “finish” quickly.
- You do not need polished answers.
- You do not need to resolve every tension.
If you are following the monthly reading schedule, continue working through John 11-15 at a steady pace. There is no requirement to match anyone else’s speed.
Read patiently and watch for repeated patterns. And let the text expose what it intends to expose before attempting to resolve it.
John 11-15
The Gospel of John opens not by addressing a drifting people, but by revealing a person—Jesus as the Word, the light, and the source of life—and then immediately moves into how individuals respond when they encounter Him; rather than building slowly, John establishes His identity upfront and shows that while clarity is given, responses vary—some recognize Him, some misunderstand, some hesitate, and some begin to oppose—making the central point clear: exposure to truth does not guarantee acceptance of it.
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“Okay, mom,” Randy said.
“You behave yourself and be nice. You’re lucky to have company while you wait for the doctors.”
The woman turned and started back the way she came.
“The nurse said it would be twenty or thirty more minutes, so we’ll eat quick and be back up here before they take you in, okay?”
“Okay, mom.”
“Sorry for him,” the woman said to Katie as she walked by.
“He’s funny.”
Katie grinned.
As the woman left, Katie noticed the boy moving around again on the bed. Before she realized what was happening, the tiny lump disappeared and she could hear the faint sound of bare hands and feet on the tile floor.
He was low crawling under the beds toward her.
A moment later, Randy popped his head out from under the nearest hospital bed, craning his neck around to look up at her.
“Hello, there,” Katie said.
Randy disappeared back under the bed, the bed sheet draping down almost to the floor. Katie could still see three little fingers pressed to the tile.
“What are you here for?” Katie asked, readjusting her seat in the chair, trying to get the ache in her chest to lessen.
For whatever reason, the wheelchair was really uncomfortable.
“Why are – “
Randy’s voice trailed off for a moment as he looked around.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m getting my leg fixed,” Katie said. “See?”
Randy poked his head back out from under the bed and looked at the leg she was pointing to.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“The doctor said it’s broken,” Katie said. “Shattered.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Ouch.”
“Can you feel it?” Randy asked, able to stay out from his hiding place.
“I can feel it, but it’s not too bad,” Katie said, then tapped the IV in her arm. “This thing is giving me medicine of some kind for the pain. At least that’s what the nurses said.”
“Why are you – “
Randy stopped mid-sentence.
He scooted out from under the bed entirely and slowly crept over to er on all fours.
“What are you, some kind of spider?” Katie asked, giggling a little.
“What are you?” Randy echoed.
He was now only about a foot away from her chair and sat there, his legs folded up under him, gawking up at her.
“What are you staring at me for?”
“I’ve never – “
Randy put out a hesitant hand and ever so gently touched her arm.
“Are you some kind of ghost?”
He looked around again.
“Are you – ”
He leaned in, talking in a whisper.
“Are you dead?”
A nurse came around the corner and stopped abruptly, spotting the empty bed in the far corner where Randy should have been.
“Randy Andrews,” the nurse said, her hands now on her hips. “You get right back into the bed and you stop playing around, please. They are ready for you in surgery.”
Katie watched as Randy scrambled on all fours under the beds and back up onto his, pulling the sheet back over top of himself again.
She started to ask him about his question, but couldn’t get the words out before his parents appeared at the door.
Katie sat there quietly, watching Randy stare back at her from under his sheet. She glanced over at his parents and the nurse, noticed Randy’s dad had no hair on the top of his head.
Are you dead?
What kind of question was that?
The snap of the wheel locks being disengaged on Randy’s hospital bed jarred Katie out of the confusion she was in.
The doctor she’d first seen was now at the door, waiting for Randy.
He was his surgeon.
They wheeled Randy out of the room, his parents following right behind, disappearing to the left, heading for his operating room.
The pre-op room was empty again.
Dead.
Are you dead?
What kind of crazy question was that?
The nurse came back through the double doors.
“It won’t be long now,” she said.
“Okay.”
Katie tried not to think about the dull ache growing just behind her sternum.
The nurse disappeared around the corner as Katie watched the double doors to the operating rooms slowly shut.
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What do you think?