Sabbath School Lesson for November 2-8, 2024
Overview and Introduction of Lesson 6, More Testimonies About Jesus
Memory Text: ” ‘And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ ” John 12:32 NKJV
Jesus didn’t merely say startling things about Himself. There were plenty of signs and wonders to show us the Divine Person He was. His words came with actions that were hard to deny.
But as we know, some people did deny the Messiah, and consequently, they rejected the Son of God. Divisions quickly rose up among the people–some reacting quite strongly with malice in their hearts, and others with a blossoming love and faith in their Savior.
This week, we’ll explore several incidents and aspects of Jesus that were designed to bring us to a right understanding of who the Messiah was and what He accomplished for our salvation. He was the humble Lamb of God. And His sacrifice was a glorious event for what it meant for the whole universe. Because of it, all God’s created beings will one day be free from Satan’s grasp, and once again enjoy heavenly peace in God’s presence.
In this lesson, we will examine…
- Sunday: Humility of Soul: John the Baptist Testifies Again–Jesus is humble.
- Monday: A New Understanding of the Messiah–Jesus is the Lamb of God.
- Tuesday: Acceptance and Rejection–Jesus is the Bread of Life.
- Wednesday: The Witness of the Father–Jesus is God’s beloved Son.
- Thursday: The Witness of the Crowd–Jesus is Christ, the Messiah.
Sunday: Humility of Soul: John the Baptist
John the Baptist was pretty clear to his disciples about his relationship with Jesus. John had a very humble attitude about his role in salvation. Besides saying he was “a voice crying in the wilderness”, he declared himself to be merely a friend of the bridegroom. He realized that Jesus must increase, and that he must decrease. See John 3:29-30.
Some of John’s disciples seemed to have a harder time developing a humble attitude, however. In John 3:26, they came to John with apparent jealousy and reported that the disciples of Jesus were baptizing more than they were. This does raise a question for us though. Why were Jesus and John the Baptist working side by side for awhile? Wouldn’t it have just been easier if John had quietly slipped off his pulpit and gone home, letting Jesus take over as the only ministry?
The order John spoke, saying that Jesus must increase and he must decrease, must have been important. Jesus would first have to establish Himself, before John could end his work. John knew what was happening, and seemed to be fine, for the most part, with the sequence of events that both ministries experienced.
Bible Verses:
John 3:25-36
- How does John see his relationship with Jesus?
- Why was it more difficult for his disciples to be humble about it?
- Why do you think both ministries worked side by side at first? And how did this lead to some friction between the disciples?
Monday: A New Understanding of the Messiah
There was little humility in the minds of most Jews at the time of Christ. They had come to believe that not only would a Messiah overthrow the vast Roman Empire, but that He would make Israel a great and powerful nation again. Their national pride was paramount in their thinking.
John the Baptist had a much truer understanding of the Messiah’s work, however. Twice he declared Him to be the Lamb of God, not the Lion of the tribe of Judah that most of them were looking for (Revelation 5:5). That prophecy of a King figure wouldn’t be fulfilled until Christ’s Second Coming.
At His baptism, John pointed out the Lamb of God, emphasizing His priestly, sacrificial work for the sins of the world. And the next day, he repeated the proclamation in front of two of his disciples. Calling Him the Lamb of God came directly from God’s word. Isaiah 53:7 described the Messiah as a lamb being brought to the slaughter.
John’s knowledge hadn’t come from the learned teachers of the time, nor from any worldly philosophy or science. It came from God Himself. Anything that produces that kind of surrender and faith must come from God to us as well.
Bible Verses:
John 1:32-36
- How did John’s testimony of Jesus being the Lamb of God indicate that he more clearly understood God’s mission than most Jews did?
- How does our national pride prevent us from seeing and knowing God more intimately?
- What is the best and only way for us to know who God truly is?
Tuesday: Acceptance and Rejection
The feeding of the 5,000 with just a few loaves of bread was one of the early miracles that impressed the disciples of Jesus. See John 6:1-14. But, later, in Jesus’ preaching, He declared Himself to be the bread of life, the living bread which came down from heaven as manna (John 6:48, 51). He further explained that this bread symbolized His flesh. But many questioned how He could give His flesh to eat (John 6:52)–once again, taking literally something that was meant to have spiritual meaning.
What was particularly sad about their quarreling over this was that many of those who had started to follow Him turned away from Jesus at this point. A large portion of the multitude rejected Him, causing Jesus to be saddened with the knowledge that many of those who turned away would later betray Him, calling for His execution.
Jesus was evidently so concerned and troubled about this that He asked His close disciples if they wanted to continue following Him (John 6:67). To his credit, Simon Peter reaffirmed their belief that He was Christ, the Son of the living God (John 6:68-69). That must have been good to hear, but even so, Jesus revealed that one of them would later prove disloyal.
Bible Verses:
John 6:51-59
- How did Jesus try to explain who He was and how He was the living bread?
- Why was it so hard for many of them to understand?
John 6:60-71
- How must Jesus have felt to be rejected by so many He had come to save?
- Why did Peter and some of the others continue following Jesus?
Wednesday: The Witness of the Father
Besides the witness of John the Baptist and the many signs and wonders of Jesus, Christ preached that His Father in heaven was also His witness. God the Father, on several occasions, affirmed that Christ was His beloved Son. Notably at His baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration, God’s voice was audibly heard by others.
There were also the Scriptures, that bore testimony that Jesus was the Messiah. Many Old Testament verses prophetically revealed exact details of His humble birth and ministry.
The sacrificial death of Jesus is perhaps the most stunning witness of His Father’s glory, however. Only a loving, just God would dare to give His own life, so others could be fully pardoned and be with Him in heaven. The earth shook, the sky darkened, and the temple curtain was ripped in two when Jesus died. God’s grief and disappointment were evident and showed the divine nature of the One they had killed.
Bible Verses:
John 5:36-38
- In what ways did the Father testify of Jesus?
- Why wasn’t God’s witness enough for some of the people?
Thursday: The Witness of the Crowd
The witness of the crowd hearing Jesus preach such bold statements about Himself being the Messiah was not always good. When He tried to explain the spiritual meaning of the living water, for instance (John 7:37, 38), many of them continued to question and doubt His identity.
Having grown up in Nazareth, in Galilee, they mistakenly thought Him to be from that area. This was one obstacle in their minds, not knowing that Jesus was of the line of David and actually was born in Bethlehem, as the Scriptures foretold. See John 7:40-43.
There were arresting officers in the crowd, who went to the Pharisees and chief priests, wondering why they hadn’t been called to arrest such a contentious preacher. They were told that none of the Pharisees believed the claims of Jesus. However, one of them, Nicodemus, quietly defended Jesus by reminding them that a person shouldn’t be judged until he was fully heard and known to be guilty. This caused suspicion to be on Nicodemus, as well. They wondered if he might also be from Galilee, pointing out that no prophet had ever come from Galilee. See John 7:45-52.
Bible Verses:
John 7:37-38
- What did Jesus mean by these words?
John 7:39-44
- Why is it important to have all the knowledge we can about someone before judging them?
- Is this knowledge even possible, and what are its limits?
John 7:45-53
- Why do you think Nicodemus spoke up and tried to bring reason and caution to this conversation about their doubts about the Messiah?
- What did it cost him and his own reputation?
Friday: Final Thoughts
It’s difficult to imagine that the majority of God’s people were not good testifiers for the cause of Christ. Most of the learned Jews had become absorbed in their own importance. Their formalized, imbalanced love of rites and ceremonies caused them to lose their spiritual bearings, and it made it hard for every Jew to see the mission of the Messiah for what it really was: to save them from their sinful ways.
There were a few who were willing to stand for Jesus and speak the truth about who He was. Most notably were John the Baptist and a few of Jesus’ close disciples, especially Peter. But the truths they testified about were seldom accepted by the majority of Israel during the time of Christ’s ministry. Many divisions arose when humility and love were cast off in favor of pride and hatred.
It was humility and love that caused Jesus to give His disciples (and all of us) the choice of whether to follow Him or not. When He asked the twelve if they wanted to leave Him, Peter spoke healing words by declaring that Jesus was the Son of the living God. Jesus had become their anchor. And to “be adrift [without this anchor] was to be adrift on a dark and stormy sea.” Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 393
Next Week: Blessed Are Those Who Believe
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