Lesson 6: More Testimonies About Jesus,

Sabbath School Lesson for November 2-8, 2024

The Teacher’s Notes by Never Palanjeta
• Wednesday: The Witness of the
Overview and Introduction Father–Jesus is God’s beloved Son.
of Lesson 6, • Thursday: The Witness of the
Crowd–Jesus is Christ, the Messiah.
Memory Text:” ‘And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men to Sunday: Humility of Soul:
Myself.’” John 12:32 NKJV
John the Baptist
Jesus didn’t merely say startling things
about Himself. There were plenty of signs John the Baptist was pretty clear to his
and wonders to show us the Divine Person disciples about his relationship with Jesus.
He was. His words came with actions that John had a very humble attitude about his
were hard to deny. role in salvation. Besides saying he was “a
voice crying in the wilderness”, he
But as we know, some people did deny the declared himself to be merely a friend of
Messiah, and consequently, they rejected the the bridegroom. He realized that Jesus
Son of God. Divisions quickly rose up must increase, and that he must decrease.
among the people–some reacting quite See John 3:29-30.
strongly with malice in their hearts, and
others with a blossoming love and faith in Some of John’s disciples seemed to have a
their Saviour. harder time developing a humble attitude,
however. In John 3:26, they came to John
This week, we’ll explore several incidents with apparent jealousy and reported that
and aspects of Jesus that were designed to the disciples of Jesus were baptizing more
bring us to a right understanding of who the than they were. This does raise a question
Messiah was and what He accomplished for for us though. Why were Jesus and John the
our salvation. He was the humble Lamb of Baptist working side by side for awhile?
God. And His sacrifice was a glorious event Wouldn’t it have just been easier if John
for what it meant for the whole universe. had quietly slipped off his pulpit and gone
Because of it, all God’s created beings will home, letting Jesus take over as the only
one day be free from Satan’s grasp, and once ministry?
again enjoy heavenly peace in God’s
presence. The order John spoke, saying that Jesus
must increase and he must decrease, must
In this lesson, we will examine… have been important. Jesus would first
have to establish Himself, before John
• Sunday: Humility of Soul: John could end his work. John knew what was
the Baptist Testifies Again–Jesus is happening, and seemed to be fine, for the
humble. most part, with the sequence of events that
• Monday: A New Understanding of both ministries experienced.
the Messiah–Jesus is the Lamb of
God. Bible Verses:
• Tuesday: Acceptance and
Rejection–Jesus is the Bread of Life. John 3:25-36

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 • How does John see his relationship kind of surrender and faith must come
with Jesus? from God to us as well.
• Why was it more difficult for his
disciples to be humble about it? Bible Verses:
• Why do you think both ministries
worked side by side at first? And John 1:32-36
how did this lead to some friction
between the disciples? • How did John’s testimony of Jesus
being the Lamb of God indicate that
Monday: A New he more clearly understood God’s
mission than most Jews did?
Understanding of the • How does our national pride prevent
Messiah us from seeing and knowing God
more intimately?
• What is the best and only way for us
There was little humility in the minds of
to know who God truly is?
most Jews at the time of Christ. They had
come to believe that not only would a
Messiah overthrow the vast Roman Tuesday: Acceptance and
Empire, but that He would make Israel a
great and powerful nation again. Their
Rejection
national pride was paramount in their
The feeding of the 5,000 with just a few
thinking.
loaves of bread was one of the early
miracles that impressed the disciples of
John the Baptist had a much truer
Jesus. See John 6:1-14. But, later, in Jesus’
understanding of the Messiah’s work,
preaching, He declared Himself to be the
however. Twice he declared Him to be the
bread of life, the living bread which came
Lamb of God, not the Lion of the tribe of
down from heaven as manna (John 6:48,
Judah that most of them were looking for
51). He further explained that this bread
(Revelation 5:5). That prophecy of a King
symbolized His flesh. But many
figure wouldn’t be fulfilled until Christ’s
questioned how He could give His flesh to
Second Coming.
eat (John 6:52)–once again, taking literally
something that was meant to have
At His baptism, John pointed out the
spiritual meaning.
Lamb of God, emphasizing His priestly,
sacrificial work for the sins of the world.
What was particularly sad about their
And the next day, he repeated the
quarrelling over this was that many of those
proclamation in front of two of his disciples.
who had started to follow Him turned
Calling Him the Lamb of God came directly
away from Jesus at this point. A large
from God’s word. Isaiah 53:7 described
portion of the multitude rejected Him,
the Messiah as a lamb being brought to
causing Jesus to be saddened with the
the slaughter.
knowledge that many of those who turned
away would later betray Him, calling for
John’s knowledge hadn’t come from the
His execution.
learned teachers of the time, nor from any
worldly philosophy or science. It came from
God Himself. Anything that produces that

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Jesus was evidently so concerned and The sacrificial death of Jesus is perhaps the
troubled about this that He asked His close most stunning witness of His Father’s glory,
disciples if they wanted to continue however. Only a loving, just God would
following Him (John 6:67). To his credit, dare to give His own life, so others could be
Simon Peter reaffirmed their belief that fully pardoned and be with Him in heaven.
He was Christ, the Son of the living God The earth shook, the sky darkened, and
(John 6:68-69). That must have been good to the temple curtain was ripped in two
hear, but even so, Jesus revealed that one of when Jesus died. God’s grief and
them would later prove disloyal. disappointment were evident and showed
the divine nature of the One they had
Bible Verses: killed.

John 6:51-59 Bible Verses:

• How did Jesus try to explain who He John 5:36-38

was and how He was the living
bread? • In what ways did the Father testify of
• Why was it so hard for many of them Jesus?
to understand? • Why wasn’t God’s witness enough
for some of the people?
John 6:60-71

• How must Jesus have felt to be

Thursday: The Witness of
rejected by so many He had come to the Crowd
save?
• Why did Peter and some of the The witness of the crowd hearing Jesus
others continue following Jesus? preaches such bold statements about
Himself being the Messiah was not always
Wednesday: The Witness of good. When He tried to explain the spiritual
meaning of the living water, for instance
the Father (John 7:37, 38), many of them continued to
question and doubt His identity.
Besides the witness of John, the Baptist and
the many signs and wonders of Jesus, Christ Having grown up in Nazareth, in Galilee,
preached that His Father in heaven was also they mistakenly thought Him to be from
His witness. God the Father, on several that area. This was one obstacle in their
occasions, affirmed that Christ was His minds, not knowing that Jesus was of the
beloved Son. Notably at His baptism and line of David and actually was born in
on the Mount of Transfiguration, God’s Bethlehem, as the Scriptures foretold. See
voice was audibly heard by others. John 7:40-43.

There were also the Scriptures, that bore There were arresting officers in the crowd,
testimony that Jesus was the Messiah. Many who went to the Pharisees and chief priests,
Old Testament verses prophetically wondering why they hadn’t been called to
revealed exact details of His humble birth arrest such a contentious preacher. They
and ministry. were told that none of the Pharisees

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believed the claims of Jesus. However, one There were a few who were willing to stand
of them, Nicodemus, quietly defended for Jesus and speak the truth about who He
Jesus by reminding them that a person was. Most notably were John the Baptist and
shouldn’t be judged until he was fully a few of Jesus’ close disciples, especially
heard and known to be guilty. This caused Peter. But the truths they testified about
suspicion to be on Nicodemus, as well. were seldom accepted by the majority of
They wondered if he might also be from Israel during the time of Christ’s ministry.
Galilee, pointing out that no prophet had Many divisions arose when humility and
ever come from Galilee. See John 7:45-52. love were cast off in favour of pride and
hatred.
Bible Verses:
It was humility and love that caused Jesus to
John 7:37-38 give His disciples (and all of us) the choice
of whether to follow Him or not. When He
• What did Jesus mean by these asked the twelve if they wanted to leave
words? Him, Peter spoke healing words by declaring
that Jesus was the Son of the living God.
John 7:39-44 Jesus had become their anchor. And to “be
adrift [without this anchor] was to be adrift
• Why is it important to have all the on a dark and stormy sea.” Ellen G.
knowledge we can about someone White, The Desire of Ages, p. 393
before judging them?
• Is this knowledge even possible, and Next Week: Blessed Are Those Who
what are its limits? Believe

John 7:45-53 The Teacher’s Notes by Never Palanjeta

• Why do you think Nicodemus spoke Source; https://www.outlookmag.org/

up and tried to bring reason and
caution to this conversation about
their doubts about the Messiah?
• What did it cost him and his own
reputation?

Friday: Final Thoughts

It’s difficult to imagine that the majority of
God’s people were not good testifiers for the
cause of Christ. Most of the learned Jews
had become absorbed in their own
importance. Their formalized, imbalanced
love of rites and ceremonies caused them to
lose their spiritual bearings, and it made it
hard for every Jew to see the mission of the
Messiah for what it really was: to save them
from their sinful ways.