3 resources to help you study Johnfeatured

I hope you have been reading through John these past couple of weeks and are beginning to get a feel for the flow of the book. Today marks the beginning of week 3, where we will continue our broad overview read-through and end by reading the intro in a study bible and answering the introduction study questions.

NOTE: If you are late to the party and/or are not as far as you’d hoped, don’t stress! We are studying John all.year.long which means there are plenty of opportunities to fall behind and catch up. Please jump in at any time. You can find all the resources you need to study John by visiting this page and reading this first blog post.

A couple of notes for BSFers: If you are going to Wednesday morning BSF, you will probably consider Wed or Thurs your “day one,” as opposed to Mondays. Do whatever works for you. Also, your first week’s notes will include background information on the book of John. You may choose to read these notes vs. the intro in a study bible (or do both!).

This week, I wanted to share a few resources that may help you embark on your study of John. The PDFs noted below are also available on our main resource page.

#1: A printed copy of the text

Crossway has given us permission to email a PDF version of the text to those participating in the study. A printed copy of the text allows you to mark it up, writing your notes and questions. Some people prefer to do this in their bibles, but if you’re like me and can’t handle the mess that makes, please email me and I’d be happy to send you a PDF to print. (kendramdahl[at]gmail[dot]com)

#2: Help with reading this bible genre

Studying John (a Gospel/New Testament narrative) is different than studying Philippians (an Epistle/letter). David Helm’s book One-to-One Bible Reading teaches a bible study method he calls COMA: Context, Observation, Meaning, and Application. This follows a similar flow of thought as you’ll find in our guide: Observation, Interpretation, Application. In his book, Helm offers some specific background and questions to ask when studying this particular genre that you may find helpful. (You can also download a PDF to print here.)

The Gospels are the four accounts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection found in the beginning of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They individually cover some of the same parts of Jesus’ life, but from slightly different perspectives, emphasizing different themes in the story of Jesus. In a literary sense, the Gospels are narratives. They tell a story (a true story), andas we read them we need to bear in mind how stories work.

Here are some COMA questions that are especially useful for the Gospels and Acts:

Context questions:

• What has happened so far in the narrative? Have there been any major events, characters, or themes?
• What has happened just prior to the section you are reading?

Observation questions:

• What do you learn about the main characters in this section? How does the author describe them? How do they describe themselves?
• Is time or place significant in the events that happen in this passage?
• Is there a conflict or high point in the passage?
• Do you think there is a main point or theme in this section of the story?
• What surprises are there?

Meaning questions:

• Are there any ‘editorial’ comments from the author about the events in the narrative? How do these comments illuminate what is happening?
• Does someone in the narrative learn something or grow in some way? How? What does this person learn?
• What does the passage reveal about who Jesus is, and what he came into the world to do?
• How could you sum up the meaning of this passage in your own words?

Application questions:

• How does this passage challenge (or confirm) your understanding?
• Is there some attitude you need to change?
• What does this passage teach you about being a disciple of Jesus?

#3: Key Word List

During Step 1 of our inductive method, you will mark repeated words and ideas in your copy of the text. Kay Arthur’s Inductive Study Bible offers a list of keywords to watch for as you read/study John. While you will probably find others as you go through the annotating step of your study, with such a long book, it may be helpful to have a starting point of words to watch for, since they may repeat over a span of several chapters vs. verses. You also may find it helpful to create a key with a distinct way of marking these words (or others you find). Kay Arthur suggests making this list (and your key) a bookmark for an easy guide as you’re working (download the PDF to print here).

• believe
• life
• sign(s)
• judge (judgement)
• witness
• love
• sin
• true (truth, truly)
• Spirit
• king (kingdom)
• works
• commandments
• fruit
• abide
• ask
• devil (Satan, ruler of this world)
• light
• darkness