Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John: 40-Day Bible Study Series, #6

By Peter DeHaan

Do you have a spiritual thirst? Do you want to drink Living Water that only Jesus offers?

 

Whether you are yet to take your first sip of Living Water or have been quenching your spiritual thirst for a long time, dig deeper into the Gospel of John to move forward on your spiritual journey.

 

Embrace John's—and Jesus's—recuring themes of eternal life, love, and the need to believe. It could—it should—change everything.

 

Explore profound truths in Living Water, a devotional Bible study based on John's biography of Jesus. 

 

In Living Water, lifetime student of the Bible and founder of the ABibleADay website Peter DeHaan, PhD, celebrates the poetic rhythm of the Gospel of John. In doing so he digs into the disciple's evocative writing to uncover profound spiritual truth and life-changing insights with eternal ramifications.

 

You'll never look at John the same way.

 

In Living Water, you'll discover:

• Why John's biography of Jesus is beloved by so many.
• Jesus's gift of living water—so we'll never thirst again.
• The power of Jesus's longest prayer and what it means for us today.
• Jesus as the Good Shepherd who cares for us, his sheep.
• The role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus's ministry—and in our lives.

Learn more about Thomas's disappearing doubt, Peter's redemptive restoration, and Nicodemus's born-again confusion. Find out who Jesus's first missionary was, how Joseph of Arimathea risked everything for Jesus, and the truth about Mary Magdalene.

 

Get Living Water today to celebrate Jesus's life and embrace his love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rock Rooster Books
• Release date: Apr 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781948082532

Book preview

DAY 1: JESUS: THE WORD, THE LIFE, AND THE LIGHT

JOHN 1:1–14

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:4)

The book of John opens with a most moving passage. It’s lyrical, it’s evocative, and it is exquisite.

In this poetic prelude of John’s Gospel, he calls Jesus the Word, and asserts that the Word is God. This means Jesus is God. While some people may think it’s an overreach to claim that the Word refers to Jesus, keep reading.

To remove all doubt, John later states that this Word becomes human to join us on earth. Jesus becomes a man to live among us. Jesus, as the Word, shows us his glory as the one and only Son from Father God. Jesus overflows with grace and abounds in truth. He is the Word sent to us from God.

We often assume the Word of God means Scripture. But remember that the New Testament of the Bible didn’t exist until several centuries after Jesus’s death and resurrection. Because of this, we should consider God’s Word as his spoken Word, more so than his written Word. What if Jesus is more than the metaphorical Word? What if he serves as the actual Word of God? Yes, Jesus is the Word.

John also writes that in Jesus is life. Jesus is present when time begins and takes part in forming our existence. In fact, without Jesus, creation cannot occur. Physical life flows through Jesus at creation. In the same way, eternal life emanates through Jesus now. Jesus comes so we may have life and live with abundance (John 10:10). This theme of life recurs throughout the book of John, with his writing mentioning life in forty-one verses, more often than any other book in the Bible.

The life of Jesus, and the life through Jesus, gives us light. Just as the sun that Jesus created illuminates our physical world, the light that Jesus gives off now illuminates our spiritual world. This light shines for us in the darkness that surrounds us, exposing the evil in our world. Best of all, this light of Jesus overcomes the darkness, pushing it away. This means good is stronger than evil. God is more powerful than Satan. Hold on to this truth. Don’t forget it.

Jesus is the light. As the light—our true light—he comes into our world to save us. Though many do not recognize him or accept him, everyone who receives him and believes in his name become children of God, born of God.

Because of Jesus we’ve been born into the physical realm, and through our belief in him we are born a second time into the spiritual realm.

Take time to contemplate John’s profound opening to his biography, revealing Jesus as the Word, the life, and the light.

Do you recognize Jesus as Word, life, and light? Do you believe in him?

[Discover what else John says about the Word of God in 1 John 2:14, Revelation 1:1–2, Revelation 19:12–13, and Revelation 20:4.]

DAY 2: JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST

JOHN 1:15–51

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ (John 1:23)

We first meet John the Baptist in John 1:6. ( Remember , John the Baptist is not the author of the book of John . John , the disciple of Jesus , is.)

John the Baptist comes to tell us about the light of Jesus so we might believe in him. In fact, God wants us all to believe—not that everyone will, but so that everyone has an opportunity to. Salvation isn’t a given. It’s a choice.

After this opening passage in the book of John about Jesus being Word, life, and light, we now return our attention to John the Baptizer. John’s purpose, his ministry, is to point us to Jesus, preparing people to accept and follow him. John isn’t the light. He serves as a witness pointing to the light (John 1:7–8).

Here are a few things John the Baptist says about Jesus:

Jesus existed long before John. Though we understand this because John writes that Jesus created our world, the people John addresses aren’t aware of this detail. Explaining that Jesus comes before John hints at Jesus’s eternal nature (John 1:15).

Jesus will bless us with his abundance (John 1:16).

The law, God’s commands of right behavior and proper worship in the OldTestament, comes from Moses. In contrast, Jesus will offer grace and truth instead of rules and requirements (John 1:17).

No one has seen God, except for the Son of God, who is also God (John 1:18). IfJohn’s statement that Jesus is GodandGod’sSon is confusing, consider that Jesus later says this about himself too (John 17:21–22).

Though some people who come to hear John the Baptist assume he’s their long-expected Savior, he insists he is not. Nor does he claim to be Elijah or even the Prophet (John 1:19–21), even though he embodies the prophesied return of Elijah and is a prophet too.

Instead, John quotes Isaiah’s prophecy about someone who will call out from a desolate place. This person will tell people to get ready to receive their Lord—that is, their Savior, Jesus the Messiah. John baptizes those who believe what he says.

The next day Jesus arrives. As soon as John the Baptist sees Jesus, he proclaims, Look! Here comes God’s Lamb who will take away our sins. Though I baptized you with water, he will baptize you with Holy Spirit fire. I confirm Jesus is the chosen one sent by God.

What does it mean that Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Spirit? Have you received Jesus’s Holy Spirit baptism?

[Discover more about Jesus coming to John the Baptist in Matthew 3:13–17, Mark 1:9–13, and Luke 3:21–22.]

BONUS CONTENT: JESUS’S DISCIPLES

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. (John 1:37)

Matthew , Mark , and Luke list Jesus’s twelve disciples. John doesn’t. He does, however, sometimes refer to them as the Twelve . He also mentions a few by name.

Two disciples of John the Baptist decide to follow Jesus instead. One of them is Andrew, but the Bible doesn’t give the name of the other one. What we know is that when John points out Jesus, these two disciples leave John to go with him (John 1:35–37). Losing two of his followers doesn’t concern John. He later acknowledges that Jesus will increase in importance while he will decrease (John 3:30).

Andrew finds his brother, Simon Peter. He brings Peter to Jesus (John 1:40–42).

The next day Jesus invites Philip to join his team. Philip, Andrew, and Peter grew up together in the town of Bethsaida. This means they knew each other before meeting and following Jesus.

Philip finds Nathanael. Come! We found the one the Law of Moses points to and the prophets wrote about. Though skeptical, he goes with Philip. Jesus affirms Nathanael and reveals that he supernaturally saw Nathanael sitting under a shade tree before Philip sought him. Based on this, he believes. You’re the Son of God and our king (John 1:43–51).

In other passages, John mentions Judas Iscariot, Judas the son of James, and Thomas. This covers three of the other twelve disciples. But John doesn’t mention any other disciples by name, including himself and his own brother, James.

In these passages we see that Andrew hears about Jesus and brings his brother Peter. We also see that Philip follows Jesus and later brings Nathanael.

Who can we bring to Jesus?

[Discover more about John’s mentions of the Twelve disciples in John 6:67–71 and John 20:24.]

DAY 3: