Read John 13:1-20

1. What in this passage stands out to you, or would you like to consider more closely?

2. When Jesus says to his disciples “do just as I have done to you” (v15), what might he be saying to them? And to us as his followers today?

3. How might we make sense of Judas’ betrayal?

4. More importantly, how might his betrayal of Jesus help us to become aware of our own attitudes and assumptions?

5. What are some ways that our lowering of self might become a revelation of God to others?

Discussion starters:

1. Read John 13:15-38.  What stands out to you?

2. The first and last verses of this section of the Gospel – John 13:1 and John 17:26 – invite us to ‘understand’ how God loves us through Jesus, and how that love is to be expressed through us who are connected to him.  As such, how does the idea of reading this week’s passage as displaying how Jesus loves through conflict direct us in engaging with it – to encounter Jesus, and then to imitate him?

3. How do you usually respond in times of conflict?  What has shaped your ways of dealing with it?

4. In verse 21 we encounter Jesus ‘troubled in his spirit’ (compare John 11:33).  What do we learn about how Jesus deals with the emotional pains of love?  How might this guide us into emotional maturity in dealing well with our emotional pains experienced in our relationships?

5. Both Jesus and Judas experience frustration as Judas seeks to manipulate Jesus for control.  How does Jesus respond to this bad behaviour?  How has he treated Judas for the last three years, and now during dinner?  What should we imitate in this?  What erroneous and dangerous conclusions must we avoid by appreciating the specific circumstances here as we negotiate abusive relationships?  What enables Jesus to sit with the ambivalence of what Judas will do without seeking to manipulate him in return?  

6. What helps us to know when and how to set firm boundaries, stand against bad behaviours, or limit a relationship, all from an orientation of love?

7. How does Jesus respond to Peter’s boastful folly on display here?  What do you do when others fail you?  What do you do when you fail others?

8. Jesus issues a new command here.  Compare Leviticus 19:17-18, 33-34.  In what sense is it ‘new’?  What does it actually mean in practice for us to love others in the way Jesus loves us?  if you want some help, compare Romans 13:8-10, or 1 John 3:11-14; 4:7-21.  

9. Where might we be failing to keep this command to love?  Who might we need to learn to love as Christ loves them?  

10. In what ways does encountering the love of God in Christ cause us to love?  How does it empower you, and so what things might you do to keep growing in love?  

11. Watch and listen to Paul Kelly’s song, ‘Love is the Law’ https://youtu.be/z4UBb-f3lQw?si=SCbnqn1Egd1Ma7rw.  What does it teach you about loving others?  

Discussion starters:

Read John 14:1-14.

1. When Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled (14:1)” what do you think the disciples were actually afraid of?

2. How does understanding the Temple background change how you hear Jesus say “In my Father’s house there are many rooms”?

3. When Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life”, he’s not giving directions, or facts, but his relational presence. What’s the difference between wanting answers from God and wanting God himself?

4. The disciples feared losing Jesus’ presence. When in your life have you felt that fear, in relation to God or people? What does “fear of abandonment” look like in adults? (Control? Withdrawal? Anger? Overworking?)

5. If Jesus’ promise is about access to God now, how might that shape the way you pray?

Discussion starters:

Read John 14:15-31

1. Jesus says to his disciples at the beginning and end of this section, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (14:1, 27). What troubles your heart most at this stage of life? Family, health, money, faith, identity?

2. Did you grow up feeling “at home” in your home? Why or why not?

3. Who in your life now allows you to be fully yourself?

4. What do you think Jesus means by God making His home in us?

5. Do you experience God’s Spirit more as comfort, conviction, guidance, strength… or not at all?

6. What would it look like for our church to feel more like home for struggling people?

7. Reflect individually, then share: If God truly made His home in me, and I didn’t need to perform, how would I live differently this month?

1. Read John 15:1-17. What phrases or ideas stand out to you in this passage?

2. In verse 3 Jesus says, “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you”. How do we hold the tension between being fully cleansed in Christ and still undergoing “pruning”?

3. JB Phillips translates Romans 8:13 as “cutting the nerve of instinctive action by obeying the spirit”. What might this look like in our lives today?

4. What are you abiding in (making your spiritual and emotional home)? Where do you feel you are rooted in life?

5. What might abiding in Jesus look like practically in your life?

Discussion Starters

1. Read John 16:5-15.  How would you summarise what Jesus says here?  What stands outs to you?  What questions does it provoke?

2. What does Jesus want to achieve here by saying these things?  Why is that necessary?

3. What is like to feel you have been left to fend for yourself?  Have you ever felt this way regarding God’s presence in your life – why or why not?

4. What does Jesus mean by ‘going to him who sent me’ in verse 5?  Why is this the key thing to understand: for these disciples’; for all disciples, all of the time?  What difference does understanding and believing in this make to your daily life?

5. What advantages are there for us in Jesus ‘going’ and sending the paraclete to us (verse 7)?  What is your personal experience of this (if any)?

6. Compare John 15:18-6:4. How did Jesus experience this himself?  What does Jesus envision for his disciples?  How do people experience this today – across the world; in Australia?

7. How does this ‘legal’ setting direct our understanding of the work of paraclete who helps us as Advocate (described in verses 8-11)?  Where and when are the verdicts given, and what differences do they make and not make to our daily life now?

8. Compare Mark 13:9-11.  How does the Spirit’s help include not just our ‘words’, but also our behaviour, in any situation like this?  In thinking about this, describe how Jesus spoke and behaved as the Spirit empowered him in such circumstances.  How do our corresponding actions bear witness to his gospel? 

9. Why can’t the disciples bear any more instructions from Jesus at this point (verses 12)?  In what ways can this be our struggle too?

10. Read verses 13-15 carefully.  Try to give examples for each phrase Jesus uses as they applied to the disciples after all the events of Jesus’ life had played out; and then how these features remain true in our experiences of walking with him in the ‘better way’ now. 

Discussion starters

1. Read John 16:16-33.  What stands out to you in this passage?

2. Reflect on the human hunger to ‘be with’ another who really knows you and remains close.  (e.g. think of children; of couples; of long-term close friendships).  What does this indicate about human beings?  What has been your experience of this over your lifetime?

3. ‘Being with’ is not just a metaphor for discipleship in this passage.  It is discipleship.  Why is that the case?  How are ‘being with’ other people and ‘being with’ God related in your experience?  How has one shaped the other?

4. Verses 16-22 claim that being with the risen Jesus turns sorrow into an indestructible joy.  How does that work in practice as described in the passage – for the disciples then; for us now? 

5. In verses 23-28 Jesus promises being with the Father in Jesus’ name opens a relationship of love in which we may ask freely.  What do you understand this to mean?  How does it correspond with your current experience of prayer?

6. What is your inner reaction to Jesus’ affirmation that ‘the Father himself loves you’ (in verse 27)?  In what ways might growing in that love reshape your life at present? 

7. What should we expect life to look like for us consequent upon the pronouncement that being with the overcoming Jesus gives his people a peace that endures through tribulation (verses 29-33)?  What did it look like for the first disciples?  How is it experienced day by day by us who follow (compare 1 John 4:4; 5:4-5)? 

8. What have you learnt about ‘attachment’ and ‘the circle of security’ here?  Can you identify any areas which have positive or negative significance in your life now in your relationships with people and with God?  Are there any ways in which you are relating to intimate others in your life you want to change?  Are there things which stand out for which you are thankful? 

Discussion starters

1. Read John 17:1-27, noting the three groups Jesus prays for: himself, his disciples, not yet disciples. What stands out to you in this prayer?

2. Jesus’ prayer for himself is to be ‘glorified’. How does understanding glorifying as “making someone’s true character seen, known, and valued so they can be rightly responded to” shape your understanding of what Jesus is asking for here?

3. In verse 21 Jesus prays that “they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” What is this “oneness” that Jesus asks for here, and what does he see it achieving?

4. This is often called Jesus’ High Priestly prayer, because it is about opening access to God for all to know and receive his love. If Jesus has removed barriers to knowing and accepting God’s love, are there still barriers for you? Are you able to identify what they are?