Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

John 13 has proven to be a study in contrasts. Jesus knew all things, and He knew that He would return to His Father, after His work on the cross was over.  Jesus washed the feet of all His disciples, including Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him.  The disciples did not know why Jesus washed their feet. They did not know about His betrayal and death on the cross, even though Jesus told them many times. Night came with darkness, but glory followed. John 13:30  He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night. That last paragraph ends with ominous words. Satan entered into Judas Iscariot and he ran out from them, to betray our Lord. Thus, we read "and it was night." What would Jesus do next? How would He respond to Judas' betrayal? Was His thinking about the excruciating suffering that He would have to endure, for us? John 13:31-32  Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.  32)...

Our studies in the Book of Ecclesiastes, bring us to chapter nine. Remember, Solomon is writing to tell us what life without God is like. The righteous suffer and the wicked seem to prosper. Jeremiah 12:1  Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?  Jeremiah also saw the inequities existing in the world, where the wicked seem to prosper while the righteous seem to suffer.  This is the very perplexing state of things that vexed Solomon so much. Life without God is a life that has no meaning, no purpose and is naturally self centered. It is a life that is not prepared to die and stand before God in judgment. It is a life that is full of wasted potential to glorify God.  We cannot know love or hatred by external things.  Ecclesiastes 9:1  For all this I considered in my heart even to declar...

In John thirteen, we see our Lord Jesus Christ graciously ministering to His disciples, giving them truth and instruction that they needed. Jesus was just a few hours away from going to the cross, but He was not self absorbed and consumed with troubles that He would experience.  Instead, Jesus was focused on the men who would carry out the Great Commission on earth, while He directed them from heaven. As John tells us, He loved His own until the end. In this text, we see several things that Jesus knew and several things the disciples did not know.  Jesus knew that His hour, the time He would die on a cross for our sins, and fulfill many prophecies, was at hand.  Jesus knew that He would depart from this world and return to His Father in heaven (John 13:1). Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and yet Jesus used His hands to wash the disciples feet (John 13:3-5). Jesus knew that He came from God and He would go to God after His resurrect...

It is vanity that the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper. Ecclesiastes 8:14  There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.  Wise and good men have, of old, been perplexed with this difficulty. How can the prosperity of the wicked and the troubles of the righteous be reconciled, with the holiness and goodness of the God that governs the world.  Concerning this Solomon here gives us his advice. He has the righteous people suffer greatly in this life, often abused by the wicked. The righteous are often troubled and perplexed in their minds by the afflictions and trials that come their way.  The wicked seemingly prosper without hindrance and their minds are at ease. They have no fear of God and are secure (for now) in their sins and evil doing.  Psal...

You will find the archive index for years 2019 through 2021, posted on 9/7/2022.  The index for all of 2022 was posted on January 24th, 2023. The archives are a tool to help you in your Bible study, by listing the topics and dates that our studies were posted.  We studied through the gospel of John beginning in April 2020 and stopping at the end of John 12, in August 2020.  The previous lessons on John's gospel can be viewed in the blog's archives . John 13 to 17 gives us the instructions and truths that Jesus taught His disciples. John recorded intimate details of the last hours, leading up to the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.  Jesus did the unthinkable by rising and girding Himself in order to wash the disciples' feet. This menial task was normally done by a slave in the home.  Peter balked at the idea that Jesus, the Son of God, would stoop so low as to wash his feet.  However, Peter quickly changed his mind when Jesus said that Peter had no connect...

I want to continue our study through the book of Ecclesiastes, even as we study John 13 through 17. King Solomon has much to say to us about how empty life is when we live it without God. We will pick up where we left off in Ecclesiastes 8. Obey civil authorities because that is God's plan. Ecclesiastes  8:2  I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.  Ecclesiastes 8:6-9  Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.  7)  For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?  8)  There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.  9)  All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one m...

The first verse of John 13 is like a summary of all that will follow in chapters 13 through 17.  This is similar to the first 18 verses of John's gospel that introduces all the subject matter that He was led to record.  Jesus loved His disciples to the very end.  John 13:1  Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.  Almost every topic that comes up in John 13 to 17 is linked to this text. These texts are a transition from Jesus ministering on earth, to Jesus ministering from heaven through His disciples. The cross looms large and the public ministry of Jesus is over. He spent His last hours having one on one teaching time with His disciples.  Why did John emphasize that Jesus loved them unto the end? Because Jesus is our perfect example. He was given the Spirit of God without measure, and the p...