Conservative Friends Bible Study of The Gospel of John #18

John 11:1-37

We read John 11 with attention to language, source questions, and the inward Light, moving from Lazarus’s death to Jesus’s tears and the claim “I am the resurrection and the life.” We contrast Martha’s presumption with Mary’s surrender, and explore how glory means God’s manifest presence, not spectacle.

• ethical framing against gambling and exploitation
• John 11 context, Bethany near Jerusalem
• name meanings and linguistic notes in Greek and Hebrew
• “glory” as manifested presence of God
• light “in” a person vs external light
• sleep vs death and Johannine misunderstanding motif
• “I am the resurrection and the life” and zoe vs bios
• Martha’s doctrine vs Mary’s inward posture
• Johannine community, late dating, and source theories
• Jesus’s emotions, “deeply moved,” “troubled,” and “Jesus wept”
• early heresies: Docetism and the full humanity of Christ
• Quaker emphasis on inward life, peace beyond understanding