Alright!
Welcome to the next portion of my Online Bible Study.
Each month, I work through a section of Scripture and share the process publicly. The goal isn’t to present finished conclusions, but to study the text carefully together—asking questions, making observations, and following where the Scriptures lead.
In our previous study of John 11–15, we watched Jesus’ public ministry come to its conclusion. The raising of Lazarus became the final sign before the cross, while Jesus spent His remaining time preparing His disciples for His departure. The focus shifted from proving who Jesus is to preparing those who would continue His mission after He was gone.
This month, we enter John 16–21, where every major theme of John’s Gospel reaches its fulfillment.
Jesus concludes His final instructions to the disciples, promises that their sorrow will be turned into joy, and prays for them—and for all who will later believe through their testimony. From there, John records Jesus’ arrest, trials, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and final appearances to His followers. The Gospel closes not simply with an empty tomb, but with the restoration of Peter and Christ’s continuing call to follow Him.
If the earlier chapters of John ask, Who is Jesus?, and the middle chapters ask, What does it mean to follow Him?, these final chapters confront us with one last question:
How should we live in light of the risen Christ?
As we read through John 16–21 this month, I’ll be paying close attention to how John presents the death and resurrection of Jesus—not merely as historical events, but as the culmination of everything the Gospel has been building toward. My hope is that this study helps us better understand John’s message and challenges us to consider what it means to follow the risen Lord with faith, perseverance, and hope.
– First Post –
!! ISAAC HUNTER’s BIBLE STUDY !!
John 16–21 brings John’s Gospel to its climax. The question is no longer simply:
What does it mean to follow Him?
Jesus has finished preparing His disciples. The focus now shifts to the fulfillment of everything He has been teaching throughout the Gospel. These chapters begin with Jesus’ final encouragement to His disciples before His arrest. He promises that their sorrow will soon become joy, assures them that the Holy Spirit will come, and prays not only for those with Him, but also for all who will one day believe through their testimony. From there, the Gospel moves deliberately toward the cross.
John records Jesus’ arrest, trials, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection with remarkable care, emphasizing again and again that these events unfold according to the Father’s plan. What appears to be defeat becomes the very means by which Jesus accomplishes the work He came to do.
Several themes emerge throughout these chapters:
- the work of the Holy Spirit
- prayer and unity
- truth and sanctification
- sacrifice and redemption
- the fulfillment of Scripture
- death and resurrection
- belief and eyewitness testimony
- restoration and discipleship
- following the risen Christ
One of the things I appreciate most about this final section of John’s Gospel is how intentionally it points beyond the resurrection itself. The empty tomb is not presented as the conclusion of the story but as the beginning of a new mission. Jesus restores Peter, commissions His followers, and leaves them with a call that extends to every generation. These chapters invite us not only to believe that Christ is risen, but to consider what it means to live faithfully in light of that reality.
Our Approach
- Read the text every day for 10 days. During this time, write down every question that comes to mind.
- For the next 10 days, continue reading the text each day, but shift your focus to creating a hierarchical outline of it.
- Last 10 days, answer the questions by researching online, in commentaries, and other resources.
John 16-21
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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If you would like to join us for Isaac Hunter’s Official Bible Study, use the form at the bottom of this email, then post a comment below to confirm you are present and accounted for. And if you are reading this months or years later, by all means, join in after the fact, post down below, and start reading. Better late than never!
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Check out this excerpt from my novel, Our Daughter:
“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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