People could easily picture manna in the desert as bread from heaven. They could easily see the multiplication of loaves and fish as miraculous. Although hunger returned, it still made sense to go looking for Jesus. Presented with the promise of His flesh as the Bread of life, however, many found it too hard to swallow. Words He spoke as Spirit and life didn’t reach them because they decided they had heard enough. The Twelve stayed. Even if they didn’t understand everything that Jesus taught, they could not walk away from believing. As His

Five loaves and two fish became more than enough food for a vast crowd. The Gospel of John assures us that God doesn’t ration the gift of the Holy Spirit, either. To Nicodemus, a Pharisee, the idea of grown people “born from above” and “born of the Spirit” made no sense. To him, babies were born, and that was that. Later, with the Apostles on trial before the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel advised letting them go. If just a fad, their endeavors would die out. If not, the Sanhedrin might find itself “fighting against God”! Th

Picture the Risen Lord lightheartedly greeting His baffled friends and followers. Mary Magdalene mistook Him for the gardener. (“Mary!”) Two disciples heading to Emmaus thought that Jesus might be the only one around who didn’t know the things that had occurred in the past few days. (“What sort of things?”) Mistaken for a ghost, the Lord asked the Disciples for something to eat. When He appeared on shore and Peter jumped into the water, what could the Lord say? Peter and John later found themselves in hot water but told authorities th

Six days before Passover, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus hosted a dinner for Jesus. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive, perfumed oil. At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of the Disciples. Through Him, the Lord’s followers learned the value of serving one another. After the Lord’s arrest, Pontius Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but the Jews insisted that calling Himself a king and God’s Son constituted offenses against Caesar and God. After the Crucifixion and burial, an angel appeared at the Lord’s tomb. The guards were petrifi

Jesus saved a woman caught in adultery when He challenged anyone without sin to hurl the first stone at her. The Lord proclaimed that anyone who kept His word would never die. He said that He had seen Abraham and told the Jewish people that God, His Father—their God!—sent Him. They wanted to stone Him. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the chief priests and Pharisees feared that everyone would come to believe. The Lord and His Disciples left the area to lay low for a while, leaving people to speculate whether the coming Passover cel

Frustrated with people refusing to believe without seeing a miracle, Jesus declined to go with a royal official to heal his gravely ill son. The official had faith that healing could occur sight unseen, and his son lived. When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would become the Mother of Jesus, she went from fear to pondering and finally to faith-filled acceptance. Guards sent to seize Jesus let Him go, because no one had ever spoken like the Lord did. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, recommended hearing Jesus before

A scribe asked Jesus to name the greatest Commandment. The reply to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength seems to leave no room for love of neighbor. But wait! Peter wanted to know if Jesus expected him to forgive someone as many as seven times, and Jesus said seventy-seven. Love overflows our hearts. Having learned of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph needed reassurance. An angel provided it. People knew what Mosaic law required and what the prophets had taught, but they needed more. With complete lesson plans, Jesus came as Te