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Session 21
Mission of Jesus
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Opening Prayer
In today's session, we'll explore the heart of Jesus's mission—discovering his profound humility, his incredible love for sinners, and the remarkable way he delivers people from their own self-destructive longings.
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Bible Reading

John 7:1-25

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
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Commentary
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Meditation Questions
Why did Jesus prefer to be a laughing stock rather than compromise to be liked?
What sort of person loves even those who hate him?
Why did Jesus speak with such authority?
Are you prepared to hear uncomfortable truths about yourself?
Do our natural desires always lead to our good?
Why did the biblical writers leave difficulties or seeming contradictions in their accounts?
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Closing Prayer
Express heartfelt gratitude to God for sending his Son and for the remarkable love and humility Jesus demonstrated. Ask God to reveal where your desires may be leading you astray and to cultivate within you a receptive heart for his truth. Invite him to deepen your trust in Jesus and help you recognize the divine authority he holds over all creation.
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Further Study
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