Richard A Burridge

Father, Glorify Your Son We now come to one of the most sublime passages of the New Testament. It was common at the end of a farewell speech to pray and pronounce a blessing over the listeners…

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John The People's Commentary - Going to the Father

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Going to the Father The disciples are still discussing among themselves what Jesus means by all his allusions to ‘a little while’. At the end of the discourse the time has come to be blunt…

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John The People's Commentary - Sorrow will Turn to Joy

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Sorrow will Turn to Joy Now that Jesus has warned his disciples of the coming persecution and the presence of the Spirit to convince the world and guide them into truth, he returns to his main theme…

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John The People's Commentary - Not of the World

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Not of the World In a farewell speech the speaker may talk of the terrible things which will happen after they have gone: as Madame de Pompadour put it before the French Revolution, ‘après nous le déluge’…

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John The People's Commentary - I Am The Way, Truth & Life

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

I Am The Way, Truth & Life People often start reading the Farewell Discourse here, but this section runs straight on from chapter 13. Starting here misses those opening themes about glory and loving each other, because Jesus is going away…

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John The People's Commentary - Light Sent to Save the World

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Light Sent to Save the World The ‘hour’ has arrived. Jesus has been anointed for burial and welcomed with great rejoicing. He refused the path of violent revolution, but stressed instead that he will be glorified through a self-sacrificial death for everyone, including non-Jews, …

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John The People's Commentary - Belief, Blindness and Fear

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Belief, Blindness and Fear We have suggested that John’s gospel is a two-act drama, with this section as an interlude (see on 1:19 and 11:1 above). The central actor, Jesus, is working very hard! He was not merely on stage for most of Act One, but at the centre of the action…

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John The People's Commentary - One Man Must Die for the People

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

One Man Must Die for the People In a paradox typical of John, this chapter about giving life ends with the threat of death. In Chapter 9, Jesus took the blind man out of darkness to see the light, while the religious leaders went from seeing into self-imposed darkness…

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John The People's Commentary - Your Brother Will Rise Again

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Your Brother Will Rise Again It would probably have been a two day journey back across the Jordan to Bethany, a small village on the edge of Jerusalem. Jesus’ delay of two days plus the journey means that when he arrives Lazarus is not only dead and buried, but has been in his to…

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John The People's Commentary - Lazarus is Asleep

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Lazarus is Asleep After the unexplained delay for two days, Jesus tells his disciples that they are returning to Judaea (11:7). Not surprisingly, they are rather taken aback by this—they have all just escaped from there…

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John The People's Commentary - The One You Love is Ill

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

The One You Love is Ill Chapter 10 finished Jesus’ public ministry back across the Jordan, where it all began with John the Baptist, and ended all the debates with the religious leaders…

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John The People's Commentary - The Father & I Are One

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

The Father & I Are One The debates between Jesus and “the Jews” about his identity have revealed much about his relationship with God. After healing the paralysed man, Jesus called God his Father, saying that he could only do what his Father wanted…

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John The People's Commentary - I Am The Door

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

I Am The Door The first half of John’s gospel, chapters 1—10, covers Jesus’ miraculous ‘signs’, his teaching and the debates which followed in Galilee and Jerusalem…

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John The People's Commentary - Jesus Brings both Sight & Blindness

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Jesus Brings both Sight & Blindness The extraordinary thing is that Jesus has been missing for most of the story, ever since he told the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam (9:7)…

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John The People's Commentary - I Was Blind but Now I See

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

I Was Blind but Now I See The Jewish leaders’ interrogation of the blind man’s parents has not given them any answers, but it has confirmed their suspicion and doubts…

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John The People's Commentary - Healing Brings Opposition

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

Healing Brings Opposition The blind man’s healing is only the start of this story. More important is what happens next, and everyone’s reactions. After the bystanders’ initial questioning, ‘they lead him to the Pharisees’ (9:13) as Jesus himself will be led to the authorities lat…

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John The People's Commentary - The Blind Man is Healed

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

The Blind Man is Healed As with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman and the paralysed man, so the blind man is led by Jesus away from understanding things on a simple physical level to a deeper spiritual reality…

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John The People's Commentary - The Light comes to a Blind Man

by BRF - Richard A. Burridge

The Light comes to a Blind Man The story of how the light of the world comes to heal a blind man is beautifully written. Although it is self-contained in chapter 9, its part in the development of the gospel is significant…

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