How did Jesus address a crisis? Here's a daily Bible study guide for this week

Introduction

The following chapters of the Bible tell the story of Jesus and his disciples at a time of crisis: Jesus was about to be arrested and crucified. We read how Jesus comforted his disciples and clarified issues about who he is and where he fits during frightening, confusing times.
Sound familiar?
Here is a guide I wrote to three chapters of the Bible to help you see where Jesus fits in crisis. This doesn't tell you what or how to think. That's up to you. There are some questions after each passage to consider.
For each day, read the passage, then think about and answer the five questions at the end. This week will take us through three chapters of the book of John.

Day 1

John 14:1-14

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Questions

1. Why did Jesus begin with words of comfort in verses 1-4? How do the words in the first few verses comfort you? What perspective was he trying to give his disciples and how does that apply to now?
2. In verses 5-14, Jesus emphasizes that he and the Father are one. Why do you think that matters?
3. Jesus emphasizes (in verse 12) that he needed to go to the Father for the disciples to be able to do “even greater things than these.” Why do you think that’s the case?
4.  If you were one of the original disciples and heard this, how would you react? How do you react now?
5. What do you learn about Jesus from this passage?

Day 2

John 14:15-31

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.”

Questions

1. Remembering that Jesus promised in the previous verses (read Monday) that the disciples will be able to do greater things than him after he left. How does the start of this passage fit with that?
2. Re-read verses 15-21. What is Jesus saying about the connection between our obedience and how he can work in us? What can you do to more fully obey God?
3. Verse 27 talks about peace. How does Jesus give us peace that’s different from what the world gives? How do you access Jesus’ peace?
4. If you were a disciple and heard verse 28-31, what would you think? How does history change that? How does that affect how you believe Jesus can work in your situation now?
5. What do you learn about Jesus from this passage?

Day 3

John 15:1-8

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Questions

1. Based on what you know about gardening, what does Jesus mean in verses 1-6?
2. What can you do to “remain in” Jesus? How can you connect to the vine better?
3. How has God “pruned” you in your life? When have you had things cut away to make you healthier?
4. What can you do to make yourself more connected to the vine and able to bear fruit? How much is your responsibility, how much is God’s?
5. What do you learn about Jesus from this passage?

Day 4

John 15:9-17

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Questions

1. What do you learn from verses 9-10 about “remaining in Jesus’ love?”
2. Jesus connects obedience and joy in verse 11. Have you found that true? Why or why not?
3. This is a point where Jesus’ relationship with his disciples (and us) changes. What do you think we should learn from verses 14-16?
4. “Love” or a variation of it appears eight times in these eight verses. What do you think Jesus means by “love”? How does it look?
5. What do you learn about who Jesus is in this passage?

Day 5

John 16:1-15

1 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

Questions

1. How would you feel if you were a disciple and heard what Jesus said in verse 4?
2. Jesus repeats (in verse 7) a theme he discussed earlier: That it’s good for the disciples for him to go away. Why is that? Would it seem that way to them at the time?
3. Verses 7-15 talk about the role of the Holy Spirit. Based on this passage, what does the Holy Spirit do?
4. The disciples were in a crisis during this time. How did Jesus’ words comfort them?
5. What do you learn about who Jesus is in this passage?

Day 6

John 16:16-33

16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Questions

1. The disciples remain confused in verses 16-18. How does Jesus explain things to them in verses 19-24?
2. If you were a disciple, how would you respond to Jesus’ explanation?
3. In verse 29, the disciples begin to see clearly. Why and what do you think of Jesus’ reaction to that?
4. In verse 31-32, Jesus acknowledges that the disciples believe, but still makes a startling prediction (which came true) about them. What do you learn about Jesus with what he says then in verse 33?
5. What do you learn about who Jesus is in this passage?