GUIDING QUESTIONS:
- What happened, Why Here, What does John want us to know feel do?
(Go to 31-36 for the know feel do part in particular because that the the takeaway John has for us from the brief exchange between JB, his disciples, and the Jews.)
- How were John’s disciples measuring success? How was John measuring success?
- Why is John happy that Jesus is gaining a greater following?
- In John the Baptist's analogy there are three characters, the bride, the groom and the friend of the groom who stands with him. Which one is John? Which one is Jesus? Whose is the bride?
- Trace the logic and flow of 31-36. What is the author saying about Jesus? How is this similar to 3:16-21? What does John want us to know about Jesus in 31-36? How does this contribute to your understanding of belief so far in John?
BIG IDEA:
Jesus is better than any human system of success especially in the context of eternal (the “good”) life.
APPLICATION:
- At the end of your life, what would need to have happened for you to be able to say, "I lived the 'good' life"?
- Humans struggle to get off the throne of their heart in part due to their own inflated Ego, how do you think you might be better than you actually are? What strengths of your own may actually get in the way of putting Jesus on the throne and distort your view of “the good life?