Archive for month: May, 2024

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 11:17-31.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
John 11:17-22 (NIV)
17  On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
18  Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,
19  and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
20  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21  “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
 
On verses 17-22:  Martha was probably disappointed that Jesus did not arrive before her brother Lazarus passed away.  But when Jesus arrived on the scene, even then she still had hope in Jesus: “I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask” (v22).  What can we learn from this?  When you have Jesus in your life, you have hope that is even greater than death and disappointment. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 10:31-42.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
John 10:31-36 (NIV)
31  Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,
32  but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33  “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34  Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?
35  If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came–and the Scripture cannot be broken–
36  what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?
 
On verses 31-36:  When Jesus questions his opponents as to why they are trying to stone him, his opponents explain that they are stoning Jesus for blasphemy because he claims to be God.  Jesus’ response is intriguing.  First he quotes Psalm 82:6 and shows that in certain situations the Scriptures describe people as “ ‘gods’…sons of the Most High.”  In the case of Psalm 82:6 specifically, human judges were described as “gods” in that they possessed the power of life or death over others. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 10:22-30.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
John 10:22-23 (NIV)
22  Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,
23  and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.
 
On verses 22-23:  The Feast of Dedication was a relatively new festival that the Jews first began celebrating in 164 B.C. to commemorate the reconstruction and rededication of the temple in Jerusalem by Judas Maccabeus in 165 B.C. after it was destroyed by the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C.  This Feast of Dedication involves a celebration of lights and is now more commonly known as Hanukkah, a festival that Jewish people continue to celebrate to this day.  During Jesus’ time on earth, whenever the Feast of Dedication was celebrated, there was an undercurrent of hope among the Jews that the Messiah would arrive at the temple and begin establishing Israel as an independent nation.