Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 1 to 25 of 344 results

1. Jesus At the Temple

Luke 19:45-48

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... , that is, at the end of his ministry. Both arguments are plausible and it not easy to decide between them. In view of the fact that such an assault upon the religious establishment would have undoubtedly incurred the wrath of the religious authorities, as the Synoptics actually depict, it is hard to imagine how Jesus could have survived for very long. Also in view of the fact that the Gospel of John from a literary point of view appears not to follow a strict chronological sequence of events, it seems best ...

2. Through the Eyes of an Eagle (Introduction)

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... there was a theological climate in the first century which was shared by more than one group within Judaism. So perhaps the Fourth Gospel, whatever its origin, may have had a very early date - perhaps even being written at the same time the other three “synoptic” Gospels were committed to writing. I find it most interesting that scholars who live and work in the Holy Land tend to give strong credence to John’s Gospel, many of them telling us that it appears to have been written by someone who lived ...

3. The Passover Meal

John 13:1-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 14:12; Luke 22:7–9), which is ordinarily served after dusk on the Jewish date of 15 Nisan (in March-April). John mentions such a meal (13:2, 26) and indicates through mention of the betrayal of Judas (13:21–30) that this meal is the Passover from the Synoptics (cf. Mark 14:17–21). However, John’s date seems not to be 15 Nisan (Passover), for later he will say that Jesus is crucified on 14 Nisan, when the temple lambs are being slaughtered (19:14). Hence John’s story shows the meal to be on the day ...

4. The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies

John 11:1-16

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... who would not listen to Moses and the prophets, and would not be persuaded even if a man were to rise from the dead. In John’s miracle, Lazarus does, in fact, rise from the dead and the Jews who witnessed it are not persuaded. So a Synoptic parable becomes an event in John. The miracle of the raising of Lazarus is for Richardson an illustration of "the truth that Christ is the resurrection and the life of all the faithful. To those who know Christ, the resurrection is not merely a hope for the future ...

5. I'll Never Forget That Night

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... them deeper and more complex secondary meanings. Fourth, there are extended monologues by Jesus scattered through the pages of John’s gospel that are both mystical and doctrinal, and have no clear parallel to the manner of Jesus’ teachings or conversations as recorded by the synoptics. In short, the fourth gospel is a wild ride in a theme park of its own. Yet, it is also so homey and comfortable that elements of it are like old slacks and shirts worn easily. The Greek language, through which the text is ...

6. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... Gospels (cf. Mark 6:32–44; Matt. 14:13–21; Luke 9:10b–17), while the account of Jesus walking on the water is paralleled in Mark (6:45–52) and Matthew (14:22–33). The theme by which John’s Gospel draws this material together is the familiar synoptic theme of the pursuit of Jesus by large and persistent crowds (vv. 2–5, 14–15, 22–24; cf., e.g., Mark 1:35–37; Matt. 4:25–5:1). This pursuit becomes the occasion for Jesus to teach the crowds what “following” or coming toward him (vv. 2 ...

7. Children of God

1 John 2:28--3:10

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... , and are actively trying to win over to their “heretical party” the remaining Johannine Christians. In the Gospel and letters of John, the focus of love is within the community of believers. There is no command concerning love of neighbor or love of enemies, as in the Synoptic Gospels and Paul’s writings. What is at issue is love among Jesus’ disciples (John 13:34–35; 15:12, 17) and love among those who claim to be brothers and sisters in the same fellowship (1 John 2:9–10; 3:10–11, 14–18 ...

8. Peter Disowns Jesus

Luke 22:47-53

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... that Luke may have had access to passion traditions other than those before him in Mark (see Marshall, pp. 839–40). Those various sources may account for the presence of some of the discrepancies now readily apparent when the four Gospels are read synoptically. Second, some discrepancies are probably due to the respective evangelists’ (and here I am thinking primarily of Matthew and Luke) desire to tell the passion story differently from the way it was told in their source(s) (such as in Mark and ...

9. Walking On Our Hands

John 8:31-41

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

... grass, and he met the butterfly eyeball to eyeball as it skimmed along the ground.1 Kysar concludes that the Evangelist John walks on his hands because he has a different perspective on the story of Jesus than do the other Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the "Synoptic Gospels" because they "see together." They follow the same general outline of Jesus' story, and share much of the material with each other. John, on the other hand, rearranges the ...

10. Jesus Clears the Temple

John 2:12-25

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to protect their investments. 2:18 What miraculous sign: The word sign (Gr.: sēmeion) is the same word used in 2:11 but with a different meaning. The reference is to a spectacular demonstration of power, or a sign from heaven (cf. 6:30). A close synoptic parallel is Matt. 12:38, in which the Pharisees ask for such a sign and Jesus similarly answers with a veiled prediction of his resurrection (the “sign of the prophet Jonah,” Matt. 12:39–40). 2:19 Destroy this temple. The meaning of the imperative is ...

11. Pilate and the Condemnation of Jesus

John 18:28-40, John 19:1-16

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... cross and insists that it stand as written (19:19–22). The title king of the Jews occurs first in Pilate’s opening question to Jesus (v. 33). The question Are you the king of the Jews? is found in all four Gospels, and in each of the Synoptics Jesus’ answer is noncommittal (lit., “so you say,” Mark 15:2/Matt. 27:11/Luke 23:3), the equivalent of no answer at all. In this Gospel, however, the question is asked twice (vv. 33, 37a); in each case Jesus’ answer builds on the enigmatic “so you say ...

12. The Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... place Jesus’s death on the fourteenth of Nisan, the day the lambs were sacrificed. The problem of the difference between John and the Synoptics is complex and cannot be treated adequately here. Some have argued that the Synoptic writers used the sectarian calendar from the Essenes, which would explain the variance in dating. It has also been suggested that the meal in the Synoptics is not actually the Passover but a Passover type of meal. The best solution is that the Gospel of John uses the terminology ...

13. Foreshadowing Death and Resurrection

John 11:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... toward “the hour”—the hour of death, resurrection, and glory. 11:1–16 · The village of Bethany, two miles east of Jerusalem, was the regular residence of Jesus while he was in Judea (cf. Mark 11:11; 14:3). While Lazarus is not known in the Synoptics (but see Luke 16:20), Luke does refer to the sisters Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38–42). The profile of the two sisters in Luke (the compulsive Martha; the contemplative Mary) is paralleled in John (11:20; 12:2–3).While Jesus was in the Jordan ...

14. Jesus Arrested

John 18:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Review · The Passion: The story of Jesus’s trial, death, and resurrection provides us with an excellent opportunity to test historical tradition in the Fourth Gospel, since so much of John’s passion narrative overlaps with the Synoptics. The New Testament scholar C. H. Dodd even began his magisterial volume with a study of this section (see Dodd). Nevertheless, the Johannine account has had to weather various criticisms. Scholars have noted how John places all guilt on the Jews while leaving Pilate ...

15. Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified

John 19:1-16, John 18:28-40

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

16. Eating Living Bread

John 6:25-59

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... he does not have the words of institution for the Eucharist. The reading for today has echoes of the words of institution more clearly than anywhere else in John's gospel account. Context of Related Scriptures For accounts of the words of institution of the Lord's Supper in the synoptic gospels, see Mark 14:22-25; Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:17-21. See also 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Genesis 2:23-24 -- The woman is flesh of the man's flesh and the two become one flesh. Joel 2:28 -- The Lord will pour his spirit ...

17. John 1:43-51

John 1:43-51

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... gospels' lists of Jesus' twelve disciples. Not so with the Nathanael Philip excitedly seeks out. John's gospel never provides a name-by-name list of Jesus' chosen twelve companions, and Nathanael's name doesn't appear in any of the Synoptic gospels. Yet the way in which Nathanael is contacted (by Philip) and the dialogue that ensues with Jesus suggest that John did indeed consider him among Jesus' first disciples. Philip uses traditional language and imagery to describe Jesus to Nathanael: Jesus is the ...

18. John 2:13-22

John 2:13-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... immediately on the heels of this demonstration and the good feelings it evokes, John's gospel moves to one of the most dramatic, confrontational events in Jesus' ministry. All four of the gospels tell the story of Jesus' "cleansing" the temple, but the synoptic writers place this combative encounter at the end of Jesus' ministry. Yet John introduces this story at the very beginning. Some scholars have suggested that the pericope originally appeared at the end of John's gospel but became misfiled by a later ...

19. John 6:1-21

John 6:1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the reader as well as for the disciples is found in verse 4. John's pointed aside that "the Passover ... was near" is a red flag, alerting us to the linkage of the following events to the message and meaning of Jesus' death. Unlike the synoptics, John now records a dialogue between Jesus and his disciple, further emphasizing the heuristic or teaching "feel" John gives this scene. In fact, what is most missing from John's version of this feeding miracle is any reference to Jesus' compassion for the crowd or ...

20. John 1:29-42

John 1:29-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... witness is recorded as an “after-the-fact” event, with the Baptizer offering his own interpretation of a miracle. In John 1:29-34 John’s retelling of the story of Jesus’ baptism is remarkably similar to those offered by the Synoptic gospels. John affirms that he offered Jesus his water baptism. Most pertinently the Baptizer asserts that John’s entire ministry was providentially ordered so that John could perform Jesus’ baptism and thus make the Messiah “be revealed to Israel” (v.31). John ...

21. John 1:6-8, 19-28

John 1:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the discussion away from himself and his activities and towards “The one who is coming after me” (v.27). John declares he baptizes with water (v.26) but there is no discussion here of any other type of baptism that might follow — such as the Synoptic discussions of a baptism of spirit or fire. In this fourth gospel the topic immediately returns to John’s single-minded focus on witnessing to the one who is to come. If the Pharisees want John to disclose some hidden authority he has for his baptismal ...

22. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

23. Prophecy of Scripture

2 Peter 1:12-21

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... from the Shekinah cloud which enveloped the person of Jesus on the mount (Mark 9:7). The accounts in all three Synoptic Gospels link the transfiguration of Jesus with his second coming, and Peter does the same here. The dazzling splendor on ... is meant the Shekinah glory cloud (cf. John 1:14): “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The wording in the Synoptic Gospels is virtually identical and echoes that used at Jesus’ baptism (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; cf. Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1 ...

24. Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... ). By race and religion she is from the Jewish standpoint an outsider, a hated Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans, the writer explains, will not even touch the same utensils (v. 9). In reaching out to her, Jesus in this narrative is recognizably the Jesus of the Synoptics (cf., e.g., Mark 7:24–30; Luke 7:36–50; 10:25–37), the one who came to show mercy to tax collectors, prostitutes, and all such outcasts of Jewish society. The encounter begins surprisingly, not with Jesus granting mercy to the woman, but ...

25. Jesus Heals the Official’s Son

John 4:43-54

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . Because of this and because of the difference in context, these passages should not be allowed to determine the meaning here. 4:46 There was a certain royal official whose son lay sick. The story that follows cannot be identified (as some have tried to do) with the synoptic account of the healing of a Roman centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:5–13/Luke 7:1–10). Basilikos is not a term normally applied to Roman soldiers, and in our passage it is the man’s son who is ill, not a servant (it is definitely a ...

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