Bible study update

I mentioned last month that I was starting a Bible study at work. We have met a couple of times and I am pretty pleased so far. The group is small, about a half dozen people, but very diverse. There are a couple of fairly new Christians, at least from a doctrinal standpoint. There is one woman who used to be a Jehovah’s Witness and is now just searching around. One is a very active Roman Catholic and one is a young lapsed Roman Catholic who doesn’t seem grounded spiritually but is pretty smart and curious. The first few studies went well, we covered lots of stuff all over the map and not much from the text. Second meeting covered more of John 1: 1-18. Could have spent more time there but how I want to keep moving at this point. Today we are looking at John 1: 19-34 and I was planning on talking a little more about the Pharisees and why they were threatened by John the Baptist and ultimately Jesus and then spend the rest of the hour talking about Jesus as the Lamb of God, looking at prefiguring in the Old Testament, His propitiation at the cross and the ultimate consummation of His role as the Lamb who was slain. This is my outline for today:


1. Who are the Pharisees?

a. Why would the Pharisees be threatened by John the Baptist and later Jesus?
b. The role of religion in Jesus day and today

2. The imagery of the Lamb
a. Where else do we see this imagery?
i. Abraham and Isaac, Genesis 22 (esp 22:8)
ii. The Passover
iii. Isaiah 53: 7, the Suffering Servant
iv. Later in Revelation where Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb who was slain
1. Revelation 22:1-3
2. Revelation 21:22-23
3. Revelation 7:17
4. Revelation 5:6-13
b. What does this Lamb imagery represent?
c. Why did Jesus have to die?
i. Old Testament sacrificial system of imperfect sacrifices
ii. Leviticus 16
iii. Hebrews 9, starting verse 11
1. Jesus as the mediator of the New Covenant
a. Heavenly things versus earthly things

This is going to delve into some deeper stuff, I am hoping to get some good discussion about the idea of good works, about the reality of sin, about God as a just and holy God who is also a merciful and loving God. This has been a great opportunity for me to help equip fellow believers and also to witness to some of my co-workers!