“John 7–10,” New Testament Institute Teacher Manual (2025)
John 7–10
During the celebrations of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus taught that only through faithful obedience to His word could people know His identity and teachings. He showed compassion to a woman caught in adultery. Responding to His critics, Jesus provided greater understanding about His divinity and mission. After healing a blind man, Jesus taught powerful truths about spiritual blindness. He taught that He is the Good Shepherd.
Additional Resources
Scripture Helps: New Testament, “John 7–10”
The “Introduction to the Course” provides guidance on how to use the four standard lesson elements that follow.
Encouraging Personal Study
Before class, consider sending students one or more of the following messages or some of your own:
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Do you have questions about the truthfulness of any gospel principles? Study John 7:14–17, and ponder the Savior’s answer.
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Do you ever feel unworthy because of things you have done? Read John 8:1–11 or watch “Go and Sin No More” (3:18), and consider how the Savior can help you.
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What challenges come with blindness? Study John 9:1–38, looking for what can cause spiritual blindness.
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What makes you feel unsafe? Study John 10:1–15, and ponder how you can feel greater safety by following the Good Shepherd.
Questions and Sharing
Provide time for students to ask questions and share insights and truths they discovered in their personal study of John 7–10.
Skill Training
John 8:1–11 might be a helpful place to use the skill “Visualizing the Scriptures” in Scripture Study Skills. John 8:31–32 might be a good place to use the skill “Memorizing Scripture Passages” in Scripture Study Skills. And John 10:7–15 might be a good place to use the skill “Asking Questions That Invite Diligent Learning” in Scripture Study Skills.
Learning Activity Options
Multiple learning options are provided for you and your students. Prayerfully choose which option or options will be most meaningful for your class.
How can I know for myself what is true?
You could begin by displaying the following questions and inviting students to record their answers:
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What are some of Jesus Christ’s teachings that you have a testimony of?
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What is a teaching about which you have questions?
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How can we know the truth of the Savior’s teachings?
Invite students to read John 7:10–18, looking for what Jesus taught about how to know the truth of His doctrine. (Help students identify a principle like the following: As we do Heavenly Father’s will and keep His commandments, we will know His doctrine is true. If students have questions about the meaning of doctrine, you could watch and discuss “What Is Doctrine?” [3:42]).
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Why can it be challenging to live a gospel truth that we don’t fully understand?
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How can living gospel truths help someone who struggles to believe a particular doctrine of the gospel?
Consider sharing the following statement by President Bonnie L. Oscarson:
Being truly converted means we are acting upon what we believe. … Sometimes we try to do it backward. For example, we may take this approach: I will be happy to live the law of tithing, but first I need to know that it’s true. Maybe we even pray to gain a testimony of the law of tithing and hope the Lord will bless us with that testimony before we have ever filled out a tithing slip. It just doesn’t work that way. The Lord expects us to exercise faith. We have to consistently pay a full and honest tithe in order to gain a testimony of tithing. This same pattern applies to all the principles of the gospel. (“Be Ye Converted,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 76–77)
You could invite students to review their responses to the first question you displayed (“What are some of Jesus Christ’s teachings that you have a testimony of?”).
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How has living the Savior’s teachings strengthened your testimony and conversion?
Invite students to review their responses to the second question (“What is a teaching about which you have questions?”). Give students time to reflect on how acting on this teaching could influence their testimony. They could write down a simple plan to incorporate that teaching or truth into their lives.
John 8:1–11; Joseph Smith Translation, John 8:11
How does the Savior view us when we sin?
Improving Our Teaching and Learning
Love those you teach. To teach like the Savior, we must love as He loved (see John 13:34–35). Christlike love increases when we see the worth and divine potential of all learners. Pray for this gift daily (see Moroni 7:48), and pray for those you teach (see 3 Nephi 17:17).
Consider displaying the following image and scenario:
I am a bad person. What I have done is so embarrassing. If others knew what I’ve done, they would look down on me. I am sure God wants nothing to do with me.
Why might someone feel this way?
How can these feelings affect us?
Explain that while the Savior was teaching in the temple, the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman and publicly declared that she had been caught in adultery. (This might be an effective place to display the picture below and practice the study skill “Visualizing the Scriptures” in Scripture Study Skills.)
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How do you think this woman felt as she was publicly accused of serious sin?
Read together John 8:1–11, including Joseph Smith Translation, John 8:11 (in John 8:11, footnote c). Or you could watch “Go and Sin No More” (3:18). Invite students to look for how the Savior helped this woman overcome her feelings of unworthiness and glorify God. Consider asking the following questions to help deepen students’ understanding:
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What was the Savior’s message to the scribes and Pharisees? How can we apply this message to ourselves and others?
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What did you notice about how the Savior treated this woman? What was the Savior’s message to her? (Students may identify a truth like the following: While the Savior does not condone sin, He offers us mercy through repentance.)
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How has repentance helped you feel the Savior’s love and mercy? How can focusing on the Savior help us overcome feelings of unworthiness? (You could watch “How Do I Replace Shame with Hope?” [3:25] and discuss how it relates to the truths you discussed today.)
Consider discussing the follow statement by Sister Amy A. Wright:
Christ’s response to this precious daughter of God was … “Go, and sin no more” [John 8:11]. Another way to say “go, and sin no more” could be “go forth and change.” The Savior was inviting her to repent: to change her behavior, her associations, the way she felt about herself, her heart.
Because of Christ, our decision to “go forth and change” can also allow us to “go forth and heal,” for He is the source of healing all that is broken in our lives. (“Christ Heals That Which Is Broken,” Liahona, May 2022, 82)
Invite students to ponder what they can do to accept the Savior’s mercy.
How can the Savior bring me true freedom?
Write the following on the board:
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Light versus Darkness
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Truth versus Lies
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Freedom versus Bondage
Explain that some Jewish leaders repeatedly opposed Jesus Christ and His teachings. In John 8, Jesus confronted His critics and taught powerful truths about the opposing concepts written on the board. You could watch “Jesus Declares: I Am the Light of the World; the Truth Shall Make You Free” (4:26) and have students listen for and write down words and phrases that provide insight about these opposites. Or students could take turns reading aloud John 8:12–58 and mark words and phrases that help them better understand the concepts on the board.
After students have watched or read the account, invite them to write on the board any words, phrases, or truths that help them understand these concepts. Then give students time to take turns asking each other questions about what they wrote on the board. If needed, you could ask one or more of the following questions:
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How do the words light, truth, and freedom relate to the Savior and His mission?
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How does Jesus Christ bring us freedom? (Help students focus on the Savior’s words, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” [John 8:31–32].)
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What experiences have taught you that following Jesus Christ and living His teachings make us free?
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How do the words darkness, lies, and bondage relate to the adversary?
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How does sin lead to bondage?
Give students time to reflect on what they have learned from this discussion. You could take a few minutes to practice memorizing the inspired truth: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31–32). Encourage students to think about this truth throughout the week.
Note: The Jews prided themselves on being Abraham’s seed, or children. They felt it gave them a special spiritual status. Jesus challenged their beliefs by declaring that He is the God of Abraham (see John 8:58). If students have questions about what this means, read together “John 8:58–59. Why did the Jews want to stone Jesus when He said, ‘Before Abraham was, I am’?” in Scripture Helps: New Testament.
How can the Savior improve my spiritual sight?
Consider writing the following incomplete statement on the board: Spiritual blindness occurs when … Invite a few students to share how they would complete the statement. Encourage students to look for what they can learn about overcoming spiritual blindness as they study the account of the Savior healing a man born blind.
Read John 9:1–7, or watch the first part of “Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind” (from time code 0:00 to 3:38).
Explain that John 9:8–38 records that the man born blind was repeatedly questioned about how he was healed. Divide students into six groups. (If your class is small, students could work individually.) Assign each group to study one of the following scripture references: John 9:8–12; John 9:13–16; John 9:17–20; John 9:24–25; John 9:26–29; John 9:30–34. Ask each group to prepare a short description (one or two sentences) about what they read and to find answers to the following questions. You might display these questions or distribute copies of them to students:
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How did the man respond to the questions about how he was healed? What did he say about Jesus in his response?
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How did the questioners respond to the man’s answer?
After a few minutes, invite a student from each group to read their short description and share their responses to the questions.
After each group has shared, consider asking the following questions:
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What evidence is there that this man was increasing his spiritual sight? In what ways were the Pharisees spiritually blind?
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What do we learn about the Savior from this scripture account? (Students may identify a truth like the following: Just as Jesus Christ gave sight to those who were blind, He can give spiritual sight to those who believe in Him.)
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In what ways might you be spiritually blind? How can the Savior help you overcome spiritual blindness?
You could conclude with the following statement by President Thomas S. Monson. Then you could invite students to share examples of how the Savior has helped them or someone they know improve their spiritual sight.
Those who have felt the touch of the Master’s hand somehow cannot explain the change which comes into their lives. There is a desire to live better, to serve faithfully, to walk humbly, and to be more like the Savior. Having received their spiritual eyesight and glimpsed the promises of eternity, they echo the words of the blind man to whom Jesus restored sight: “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” [John 9:25]. (“Anxiously Engaged,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 58)
How can the Good Shepherd bring me greater safety?
Consider displaying the following picture and explaining that anciently shepherds would keep their sheep at night in an enclosure called a sheepfold. A good shepherd would guard the opening of the sheepfold against predators and thieves. Or you could watch “Sheepfold” (0:41).
Invite the class to read John 10:1–5, looking for and discussing the possible symbolism.
Provide students with the handout “Studying the Parable of the Good Shepherd,” and invite them to practice the skill “Asking Questions That Invite Diligent Learning” in Scripture Study Skills.
After students have studied John 10:7–15 and recorded their questions, invite them to discuss in pairs or small groups how they would answer their questions.
After groups have had time to discuss, you could display the following truth: The Good Shepherd (Jesus Christ) knows His sheep and gave His life for them.
Consider displaying the following image of sheep being taken off the mountain before winter arrives. Point out that in this account by Elder Gary E. Stevenson, more than 200 sheep were lost.
Most of the missing sheep were not lost to sickness or natural death but to predators such as mountain lions or coyotes. These predators usually found the lambs that had strayed from the safety of the flock, withdrawing themselves from the protection of their shepherd” (“Shepherding Souls,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 111)
Consider asking one or more of the following questions:
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What dangers do we face when we withdraw from the safety of the Good Shepherd and His flock?
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How have you felt safe by remaining close to the Good Shepherd? How have you been blessed by being part of His flock?
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What can we do to emulate the Savior’s example and be good shepherds to others? (Students may identify someone they could be a shepherd to. You could watch “This Is Church: Troy’s Story” [3:16].)
You might conclude by reading, singing, or listening to the hymn “Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd” (Hymns, no. 221). Students could record their thoughts, feelings, and impressions.