4 Tools
Looking at the background of Biblical society to see if/how this affects the meaning of a text.
What is Culture?
John's overall theme/message.
What is, Jesus' words are just as powerful as his touch?
The type of bread that Jesus blesses when feeding the 5,000 in John 6.
What is barley bread?
The name of the group that we used as an example of bad religion.
Who is the Wetboro Baptist Church?
The meaning of the word compassion.
What is, "to suffer alongside"?
The subject matter of Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
What is contentment?
John's audience in his gospel.
What are a second generation of Christians?
The two people that Jesus speaks with about eternal life in John 3&4.
Who are Nicodemus and the Woman at the Well?
The name we give to copies of the Biblical text.
What are manuscripts?
What names in the Bible often describe.
What are an individual's characteristics?
What are context, culture, language and the big picture?
The reason John specifically mentions doves when Jesus clears the temple in John 2.
What is, "doves were sacrifices for the poor"?
The meaning of the Greek word "eulogeo".
What is, to speak well of?
The understanding of God that Jesus challenged when he said, "neither this man nor his parents sinned."
What is, "God is not a conduit of karma"?
The main lesson from John 11:35, "Jesus wept."
What is, "God weeps with humanity in suffering"?
Three ways we can learn more about the Bible's culture.
What are commentaries, the Old Testament, and credible articles/books?
The reason Jesus keeps moving from town to town as he performs signs in John's gospel.
What is controversy?
The main lesson from Jesus blessing the bread in John 6.
What is, Jesus makes the mundane holy?
The two qualities of scripture that are similar to the two qualities of Jesus.
What are fully divine and fully human?
What prayer in John 14 is truly about.
What is, developing our names/characters to become more like Jesus' character.
The definition of the "context" tool.
What is, looking around a particular verse to see if/how the subject changes the meaning?
The 3 animals that are mentioned when Jesus clears the temple in John 2.
What are sheep, cattle, and doves?
The main lesson from Elijah feeding 100 people with bread in 2 Kings.
What is, Jesus is more interested in serving the people like the prophets rather than ruling over them as a king?
The reason we know what Jesus wrote in the dust in John 8.
What is, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7, a celebration of liberation from oppression, where the Jews would often speak of freedom from their current oppression from Rome by reading about the Messiah in the prophets. Jesus stands up on the last day of the feast and speaks about "living water", which is a reference to the prophet Jeremiah, where the names of those who have forsaken God are written in the dust?
The very very very important lesson from Jesus washing his disciples feet in John 13.
What is, "don't become corrupted by power, and remember that we are to be servants like Christ"?