Additional Teaching Ideas
The following material supplements the suggested lesson outline. You may want to use one or both of these ideas as part of the lesson.
1. Living water
In one of the ceremonies conducted during the Feast of Tabernacles, a priest put water from the pool of Siloam on the altar. This offering was made to request rain and the success of the next year’s crops. As Jesus taught in the temple on the last day of the feast, he invited the people to partake of living water (John 7:37–38).
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In what other setting did Jesus mention living water? (See John 4:5–15.) What is “living water”? How can we drink of it?
2. Jesus Christ is Jehovah
Read and discuss John 8:37–59.
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Why did Jesus tell the unbelieving Jews that they were not children of Abraham? (See John 8:39–40. Although they were literal descendants of Abraham, they did not do righteous works as Abraham did.) Why did Jesus tell them they were not children of God? (See John 8:41–44.) How can we show by our actions that we are Heavenly Father’s children?
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Why were the Jews upset by the Lord’s comments about Abraham? (See John 8:51–53, 56–57. They did not realize that Jesus was referring to his ability to overcome spiritual death [verse 51] and to his premortal life [verses 56–57].) What does Jesus’ statement, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58) help us understand about him? (See footnote 58b; see also Exodus 3:13–14. Jesus is Jehovah, the Great “I Am,” the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.) Why is it important to know that Jesus was Jehovah before his mortal life?
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