Sabbath School Summary

By Elder Dr Masimba Mavaza

Blessed Are Those Who Believe

Lesson 7
Memory Text: “Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ ” (John 20:29, NKJV).

INTRODUCTION

Throughout his Gospel, John has a diversity of people with different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences—all testifying to who Jesus was.
“ ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:36, NKJV). “ ‘We have found the Messiah’ ” (John 1:41, NKJV). “ ‘We have found Him of whom Moses . . . wrote’ ” (John 1:45, NKJV). “ ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ ” (John 1:49, NKJV). “ ‘Could this be the Christ?’ ” (John 4:29, NKJV). “ ‘We ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world’ ” (John 4:42, NKJV). “ ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ ” (John 6:68, NKJV). “ ‘I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world’ ” (John 11:27, NKJV). “ ‘Though I was blind, now I see’ ” (John 9:25, NKJV). “ ‘Behold your King!’ ” (John 19:14, NKJV). “ ‘I find no fault in Him’ ” (John 19:6, NKJV). “ ‘My Lord and my God!’ ” (John 20:28, NKJV).

Who were some of these people, and why did they testify as they did to the identity of Jesus?


SABBATH:
It is said that “God” is a short name for “good”. Jesus, God Himself & one with the Father, came to dwell with us in the flesh. He touched hearts with His good words & deeds. Many people testified of Him as the Messiah, Lamb of God, the one Moses wrote about, Rabbi the Son of God & King of Israel, Christ, the one with eternal life, Healer of the Blind, King, blameless, & the Lord God (John 1:36, 41, 45, 49, 4:29, 42, 6:68, 11:27, 9:25, 19:14, 6, 20:28).

SUNDAY:
The desire of Abraham was to see the promised Savior. Through types & promises, he saw the divine character of Christ. The call to sacrifice Isaac was a light given to him to see the One who would willingly give His life as a ransom for many (John 8:56, Heb. 11:8, 17-19, Gen. 12:3, 18:16-18, 26:4, Matt. 1:1, Acts 3:25, PP, p. 154). Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, was a sure witness to Christ’s divinity (John 8:57-59).

MONDAY:
You must sit at Jesus’ feet or you’ll never anoint them. Martha served at the table but Mary served in her own unique way; she anointed Jesus’ feet with a costly perfume. She planned to use this at Jesus’ burial (John 12:1-8). This was 6 days before Passover at the house of Simon who was healed from leprosy. Jesus put Mary at ease when rebuked by Judas. Mary was thankful & Jesus knew Judas (John 2:24, 25; 6:70, 71; 13:11; 16:19, 12:6, DA, p. 560).

TUESDAY:
Pilate wasn’t far from God’s kingdom. He had the Truth, Jesus, right before him. For three times, he declared Jesus as innocent but sentenced Him to death. He followed the mob & not his heart. Pilate wrote the words “‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’” to seal his witness of Christ (John 2:4, 7:6, 8, 30; 12:7, 23, 27; 13:1; 17:1). His witness is important because he was a Roman governor (John 18:38, 19:4-22, 18:28).

WEDNESDAY:
“Seeing is believing” was the conditions of the faith of Thomas. But faith is the evidence of things not seen. Thomas wasn’t ready to accept that Jesus resurrected & appeared to other disciples. He wanted to see & feel Jesus to believe (John 20:19-31). This approach to faith in Jesus can be seen in the words of Nicodemus, the woman at the well, & the crowd fed by Jesus (John 3:4, 4:11, 6:30). God’s existence inspires faith (John 20:29, SC, p. 105).

THURSDAY:
The pen & book of John couldn’t record all the signs & acts of Jesus. Would you have believed if you saw Jesus teach & perform miracles in person? He had few followers but didn’t vanish from history. We now have more reasons to witness God (John 20:30, 31). We have exemplar Biblical stories; fulfilled events like the destruction of the temple, the spread of the gospel, & the great falling away (Matt. 24:2, 14, 2 Thess. 2:3, 24:6-8). Read the Bible!

FRIDAY:
“Doubting Thomas” failed to believe Jesus’s resurrection until he saw the Lord himself. Jesus gently rebuked him, saying those who believe without seeing are blessed. Many today make excuses for their doubt, not knowing they have more evidence than Thomas. Those who dwell on doubts will find their faith to be very weak, when faith is most needed. Those who accept Christ do so by the testimony of others.

—Ellen G. White, “The Test of Faith,” pp. 145–155, in Patriarchs and Prophets; “In Pilate’s Judgment Hall,” pp. 723–740 & 807, 808, in The Desire of Ages.

Keywords

DA- The Desire of Ages

SC- Steps to Christ

Judas- John is careful to point out who Judas is—a self-serving thief

Captions

SUNDAY- Harking Back to Abraham
MONDAY- The Witness of Mary
TUESDAY- The Unwitting Witness of Pilate
WEDNESDAY- The Witness of Thomas
THURSDAY- Our Witness of Jesus

Discussion Questions

📌 What was the essential difference in the expressions of faith by Abraham and by Thomas? What can we learn from their stories?

📌 In class, let those who are willing bear witness to Jesus, as we have seen done in the Gospel of John. Though the accounts differ, what do people say, and how do they all bear witness to the same Lord?

📌 Pilate asked a very philosophical question: “What is truth?” Give your answer to that question in light of all we have studied in John.

📌 Look at the prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7. Though those in the time of Jesus had these two chapters, what great advantage do we have today that they didn’t have back then, in terms of seeing those prophecies fulfilled and thus having even more reasons to believe?

For November 9-15. Happy Sabbath.