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John: Responding to the Incomparable Story of Jesus
Become a daily Bible reader, attentive to the mind of God.
In the New Testament Everyday Bible Study Series, widely respected biblical scholar Scot McKnight reveals the newness and activeness of God's Word as it works in our everyday lives. His unique approach to Bible study combines sound theology with relevant pastoral wisdom. Each volume of this series
Original Brief, precise expositions of the biblical text and offers a clear focus for the central message of each passage.Fresh Brings the passage alive with fresh images and what it means to follow King Jesus.Practical Biblical connections and questions for reflection and application for each passage.
Ideal for personal reflection or group study, John will help you see God in the biblical context so you can hear from God in your context. John's Gospel highlights how people responded to Jesus in the first century but also showcases responses for readers faith that abides in who he is, obeys what he calls us to do, and witnesses about Jesus to the world.
Who Jesus is and who we understand him to be shape how we respond to Jesus and the kind of person we are created to become.
Scot McKnight will walk you and your group through John with Scripture passages (sometimes translated from the original by McKnight himself), reflection questions, pastoral insights, and ideas for putting God's words into action.
In the New Testament Everyday Bible Study Series, widely respected biblical scholar Scot McKnight reveals the newness and activeness of God's Word as it works in our everyday lives. His unique approach to Bible study combines sound theology with relevant pastoral wisdom. Each volume of this series
Original Brief, precise expositions of the biblical text and offers a clear focus for the central message of each passage.Fresh Brings the passage alive with fresh images and what it means to follow King Jesus.Practical Biblical connections and questions for reflection and application for each passage.
Ideal for personal reflection or group study, John will help you see God in the biblical context so you can hear from God in your context. John's Gospel highlights how people responded to Jesus in the first century but also showcases responses for readers faith that abides in who he is, obeys what he calls us to do, and witnesses about Jesus to the world.
Who Jesus is and who we understand him to be shape how we respond to Jesus and the kind of person we are created to become.
Scot McKnight will walk you and your group through John with Scripture passages (sometimes translated from the original by McKnight himself), reflection questions, pastoral insights, and ideas for putting God's words into action.
348 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 8, 2022
18 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Scot McKnight
210 books542 followersScot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author or editor of forty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly speaks at local churches, conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the USA and abroad. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 1, 2023
A combination of commentary and Bible study in a single volume.
Author, Scot McKnight, begins this book with a careful introduction that he turns into the first study by extracting verses from chapter 20 where John states his, (God’s), purpose for writing this gospel. Even here we get the exact same treatment as in every other study:
- Title of the study
- Biblical Reference
- Entire reference quoted in italics
- Study/Commentary
- 5 questions for reflection & application
- Grey box For Further Reading (most chapter endings)
Scripture used is the NIV, unless otherwise noted. Chapter length is 3-11 pages with an average length being 5-6 pages. Most of these studies could be accomplished in 30 minutes on a cursory level or they could take a hours, days or a week; a true case of you’ll get out what you put in.
All things considered, well written & approachable, you don’t need to be a divinity scholar to use this📚
Author, Scot McKnight, begins this book with a careful introduction that he turns into the first study by extracting verses from chapter 20 where John states his, (God’s), purpose for writing this gospel. Even here we get the exact same treatment as in every other study:
- Title of the study
- Biblical Reference
- Entire reference quoted in italics
- Study/Commentary
- 5 questions for reflection & application
- Grey box For Further Reading (most chapter endings)
Scripture used is the NIV, unless otherwise noted. Chapter length is 3-11 pages with an average length being 5-6 pages. Most of these studies could be accomplished in 30 minutes on a cursory level or they could take a hours, days or a week; a true case of you’ll get out what you put in.
All things considered, well written & approachable, you don’t need to be a divinity scholar to use this📚
July 27, 2023
Mcknight's commentary on John is part of his ongoing Everyday Bible Series. These are accessible commentaries that aim to blend an emphasis on current scholarship and pastoral concern. By design, these commentaries go verse by verse, breaking passages into bite size and digestible chunks via chapter breaks that can encourage a daily devotional approach.
One of the great things about these commmentaries is how deep they manage to dig in a fairly short amount of time. The format does face some challenges given John's lengh; all the others I have read, save for Acts, have been on the epistles, which are considerably shorter. Unlike Acts, the thematic weight and sheer breadth of John's Gospel is a lot, and you can feel the attempts to wrestle it down to fit and serve its format. I do think he finds success, relying largely on teasing out the patterns and points of repitition, but this does demand a bit more work and investment on the part of the reader.
Mcknight begins by noting the uniqueness of the Gospels in terms of literary text and genre in the sccriptures. He notes how the closest parallels are portions of Moses' biography in the OT, or the different viignettes of the key figures in Israels story. This distances the Gospels from the prophetic texts in terms of interests and focus, an important distinction given how the Gospels exist in the tall shadow of the prophetic history. It represents a shift from "what the prophets said" to an obsessive take on "what Jesus did". Given the Gospel allegiances to ancient biography and the Caesar Gospels, this becomes one of its most distinctive elements. When one considers how absent this emphasis on what Jesus did is in Paul's letters, it becomes an even bigger point of consideration.
Mcknight then moves to explore the counter-intuititive nature of John's Gospel. He suggests that in common approaches we come to the text with "a good idea of who God is" and then ask how Jesus fits into that given the nature of his actions and words in the Gospel. What John wants us to do is gain a good idea of who Jesus is and ask how that fits in to our conceptions of God. This is how faith is formed and expressed in the Gospel of John, faith which operates in conjunction with belief, which in the ancient mindset is understood as "ongoing abiding in who (Jesus) is. For John this is what it means to enter into the grand narrative of the "logos" made flesh. The very logos whom tabernacled amongst us. Here it is important to note how John's Gospel is composed to reflect a new Genesis, or a new creation text. Less overt to modern readers is how it is also designed around the story of a new exodus. Mcknight does a good job of anchoring us in the ancient story of Israel as we go, the purpose of the Gospel being "to promote believing" in this story.
There is no escaping the long history of anti-semitism and bigotry that follows John's Gospel in the pages of history, and Mcknight faces that head on. And he tackles this by employing one of this most popular forms of exegesis- learning how to read the story backwards. Here the point and context for the Gospel is stated in 20:30-31 and its emphasis on belief as a whole journey, as the living of the Gospel story. It is within this story then that John is interested in connecting the logos to God by way of consecutively drawn out relationships- John the Baptist, the world, to the coommunity of faith. Here John is using a Greek term and idea (logos) to evoke the timeless and eternal nature of the story of Israel. The Logos in John doesn't "descend upon or enter into Jesus, the Logos of God became the human nature Jesus bore." This is crucial to understanding the way the text "baptizes" the Greek term in the Jewish story. The Logos is alligned with the creator. It is "the light" and the very source of life. And in John, the relationship between the baptizeer and the son becomes a key part of the structure in terms of how these relationships function as signposts. This becomes important too when it comes to John's emphasis on the "world". So often people read John to suggest God against the Jews and God against the world. Not surprisingly this then results in common perceptions within Reformed circles that John is suggesting that the flip side is God's sovereign purpose in narrowing the emphasis of God's love to a "chosen" and select few. The faithful. Those who believe. But this misses what John is saying altogether, which is precisely why we need to learn how to read the Gospel backwards. To hold the Gospels aim and interest in view as we navigate the particularities of Johhns language. In John's Gospel the "I am nots" parallel the "I ams" as an internalized structure meant to reveal Godself in Jesus. The same applies to the way the Gospel functions as in inward critique (speaking to and from the inside) pointing outwards. What tends to happen is that Christians come to this Gospel and assume an external position looking from the outside in towards the Jews and the world and the non-elect. But if they truly understood the nature of the internal critique they would recognize that such a reading only condemns themselves. And yet the purpose of the Gospel is to believe in a much different truth and a much different story.
"Who Jesus is also changes what it means to be human." This is why the "all" phrases matter so deeply to John. "to callJesus Messiah is to affirm him as the consummation of Israel's story", and this consummation understands that this story is one that speaks to and for the world. We either trust this story or we don't, and both postions have implications for how we then see not just the world around us, but what the nature of humanity and God. This is what is at the heart of the high priestly prayer. The implications of this, according to John, is quite literally what is behind the reactions to Jesus' words and actions which send him to the cross. That Jesus is God afffects everything else. "What surprises the disciples in the midst of their chaos is Jesus' word that they know the way, for they seem to think they don't." This is the very thing that should suprise us as readers. And its a surprise, if John has his way, something he hopes to root in the arrival of the Spirit, that should unsettle and disorient us from one perspective into another based on its revelatory force. "To serve Jesus" in John "means walking toward the cross of his death, but with the consciousness that the "Father will honor" that way of life. Not just honor, but redeem in the truth of Jesus' resurrection and ascencion. A truth that can only truly be underestood in the paatterns and motifs of the story of Israel. A story that is for the world, not against it.
One of the great things about these commmentaries is how deep they manage to dig in a fairly short amount of time. The format does face some challenges given John's lengh; all the others I have read, save for Acts, have been on the epistles, which are considerably shorter. Unlike Acts, the thematic weight and sheer breadth of John's Gospel is a lot, and you can feel the attempts to wrestle it down to fit and serve its format. I do think he finds success, relying largely on teasing out the patterns and points of repitition, but this does demand a bit more work and investment on the part of the reader.
Mcknight begins by noting the uniqueness of the Gospels in terms of literary text and genre in the sccriptures. He notes how the closest parallels are portions of Moses' biography in the OT, or the different viignettes of the key figures in Israels story. This distances the Gospels from the prophetic texts in terms of interests and focus, an important distinction given how the Gospels exist in the tall shadow of the prophetic history. It represents a shift from "what the prophets said" to an obsessive take on "what Jesus did". Given the Gospel allegiances to ancient biography and the Caesar Gospels, this becomes one of its most distinctive elements. When one considers how absent this emphasis on what Jesus did is in Paul's letters, it becomes an even bigger point of consideration.
Mcknight then moves to explore the counter-intuititive nature of John's Gospel. He suggests that in common approaches we come to the text with "a good idea of who God is" and then ask how Jesus fits into that given the nature of his actions and words in the Gospel. What John wants us to do is gain a good idea of who Jesus is and ask how that fits in to our conceptions of God. This is how faith is formed and expressed in the Gospel of John, faith which operates in conjunction with belief, which in the ancient mindset is understood as "ongoing abiding in who (Jesus) is. For John this is what it means to enter into the grand narrative of the "logos" made flesh. The very logos whom tabernacled amongst us. Here it is important to note how John's Gospel is composed to reflect a new Genesis, or a new creation text. Less overt to modern readers is how it is also designed around the story of a new exodus. Mcknight does a good job of anchoring us in the ancient story of Israel as we go, the purpose of the Gospel being "to promote believing" in this story.
There is no escaping the long history of anti-semitism and bigotry that follows John's Gospel in the pages of history, and Mcknight faces that head on. And he tackles this by employing one of this most popular forms of exegesis- learning how to read the story backwards. Here the point and context for the Gospel is stated in 20:30-31 and its emphasis on belief as a whole journey, as the living of the Gospel story. It is within this story then that John is interested in connecting the logos to God by way of consecutively drawn out relationships- John the Baptist, the world, to the coommunity of faith. Here John is using a Greek term and idea (logos) to evoke the timeless and eternal nature of the story of Israel. The Logos in John doesn't "descend upon or enter into Jesus, the Logos of God became the human nature Jesus bore." This is crucial to understanding the way the text "baptizes" the Greek term in the Jewish story. The Logos is alligned with the creator. It is "the light" and the very source of life. And in John, the relationship between the baptizeer and the son becomes a key part of the structure in terms of how these relationships function as signposts. This becomes important too when it comes to John's emphasis on the "world". So often people read John to suggest God against the Jews and God against the world. Not surprisingly this then results in common perceptions within Reformed circles that John is suggesting that the flip side is God's sovereign purpose in narrowing the emphasis of God's love to a "chosen" and select few. The faithful. Those who believe. But this misses what John is saying altogether, which is precisely why we need to learn how to read the Gospel backwards. To hold the Gospels aim and interest in view as we navigate the particularities of Johhns language. In John's Gospel the "I am nots" parallel the "I ams" as an internalized structure meant to reveal Godself in Jesus. The same applies to the way the Gospel functions as in inward critique (speaking to and from the inside) pointing outwards. What tends to happen is that Christians come to this Gospel and assume an external position looking from the outside in towards the Jews and the world and the non-elect. But if they truly understood the nature of the internal critique they would recognize that such a reading only condemns themselves. And yet the purpose of the Gospel is to believe in a much different truth and a much different story.
"Who Jesus is also changes what it means to be human." This is why the "all" phrases matter so deeply to John. "to callJesus Messiah is to affirm him as the consummation of Israel's story", and this consummation understands that this story is one that speaks to and for the world. We either trust this story or we don't, and both postions have implications for how we then see not just the world around us, but what the nature of humanity and God. This is what is at the heart of the high priestly prayer. The implications of this, according to John, is quite literally what is behind the reactions to Jesus' words and actions which send him to the cross. That Jesus is God afffects everything else. "What surprises the disciples in the midst of their chaos is Jesus' word that they know the way, for they seem to think they don't." This is the very thing that should suprise us as readers. And its a surprise, if John has his way, something he hopes to root in the arrival of the Spirit, that should unsettle and disorient us from one perspective into another based on its revelatory force. "To serve Jesus" in John "means walking toward the cross of his death, but with the consciousness that the "Father will honor" that way of life. Not just honor, but redeem in the truth of Jesus' resurrection and ascencion. A truth that can only truly be underestood in the paatterns and motifs of the story of Israel. A story that is for the world, not against it.
dropped
January 10, 2023Dropped at 25%
This Bible study has some interesting elements, but it doesn't seem geared towards a clear target audience or category of study. The author typically picks a few key ideas to focus on from each passage, so this isn't thorough enough to serve as a commentary, but the attempts at personal life application are weak enough that this wouldn't be particularly helpful as an individual devotional. The book includes reflection questions that someone else wrote for each reading, but I didn't find them especially useful.
Typically, when the author does share a life application, it is a condescending effort to cure the reader of biases he thinks they must hold. I found some of his writing about the Pharisees extreme and bizarre, because he assumes that negative observations about Pharisee religious leaders in the Bible will necessarily lead to prejudice against Jews as a whole. He tries to show evangelicals what they have in common with the Pharisees, but in his effort to paint them in a new light, he ignores legitimate critiques. The author highlights his own social points above the text and comes across as harsh and negative. The book might get better over time, but I'm giving up at a quarter of the way through because I'm not connecting with this and feel distracted by the author's tone.
It is appropriate to call out error and recognize that many people throughout history have weaponized Scripture to discriminate against Jews, but this book goes further. Instead of making an effort at nuance and careful understanding, the author fervently tells his readers to repent of the biases that he has just projected on them. He seems to believe that anyone who is left alone with the book of John is at risk for becoming an anti-Semite, but if someone reads this book of the Bible and walks away with a hateful views of Jews, they didn't get that from the text or the whole counsel of Scripture. They would be treating John as a Rorschach Test and seeing what they want to see.
Elements of this book would be helpful for some people, and some of the author's observations shed light on complex elements of John that might be difficult for some readers to understand without guidance. However, I'm put off by the condescending assumptions and tone, and the whole book seems rushed. There are some convoluted sentences that needed better editing, and the book doesn't feel balanced or sufficiently thoughtful. I'm not impressed, and wouldn't recommend this when there are so many better options available for both commentaries and personal Bible studies.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
This Bible study has some interesting elements, but it doesn't seem geared towards a clear target audience or category of study. The author typically picks a few key ideas to focus on from each passage, so this isn't thorough enough to serve as a commentary, but the attempts at personal life application are weak enough that this wouldn't be particularly helpful as an individual devotional. The book includes reflection questions that someone else wrote for each reading, but I didn't find them especially useful.
Typically, when the author does share a life application, it is a condescending effort to cure the reader of biases he thinks they must hold. I found some of his writing about the Pharisees extreme and bizarre, because he assumes that negative observations about Pharisee religious leaders in the Bible will necessarily lead to prejudice against Jews as a whole. He tries to show evangelicals what they have in common with the Pharisees, but in his effort to paint them in a new light, he ignores legitimate critiques. The author highlights his own social points above the text and comes across as harsh and negative. The book might get better over time, but I'm giving up at a quarter of the way through because I'm not connecting with this and feel distracted by the author's tone.
It is appropriate to call out error and recognize that many people throughout history have weaponized Scripture to discriminate against Jews, but this book goes further. Instead of making an effort at nuance and careful understanding, the author fervently tells his readers to repent of the biases that he has just projected on them. He seems to believe that anyone who is left alone with the book of John is at risk for becoming an anti-Semite, but if someone reads this book of the Bible and walks away with a hateful views of Jews, they didn't get that from the text or the whole counsel of Scripture. They would be treating John as a Rorschach Test and seeing what they want to see.
Elements of this book would be helpful for some people, and some of the author's observations shed light on complex elements of John that might be difficult for some readers to understand without guidance. However, I'm put off by the condescending assumptions and tone, and the whole book seems rushed. There are some convoluted sentences that needed better editing, and the book doesn't feel balanced or sufficiently thoughtful. I'm not impressed, and wouldn't recommend this when there are so many better options available for both commentaries and personal Bible studies.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
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August 9, 2023Another good entry in this growing series that continues to challenge my reading of the text
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews