John

Book Outhne

Key theme: Jesus is the Christ: believe and live!

Key verse:

I. Opportunity ()

A. He presents Himself to

1. The world ()

2. His disciples ()

3. The Jews ()

4. The Samaritans ()

5. The Jewish leaders ()

6. The multitudes ()

II. Opposition ()

A. There is conflict with the Jewish leaders over

1. Moses ()

2. Abraham ()

3. Who Messiah is ()

4. His miraculous power ()

5. His authority from the Father ()

III. Outcome ()

A. The faith of the disciples ()

B. The unbelief of the Jews ()

C. The victory of Christ ()

Book Overview

Will God really live on earth?” asked Solomon as he dedicated the Temple (). A good question, indeed! God’s glory had dwelt in the tabernacle (), and in the temple (, ), but that glory had departed from disobedient Israel (; , ; , ).

Then a marvelous thing happened: the glory of God came to His people again, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. The writers of the four Gospels have given us “snapshots” of our Lord’s life on earth, for no complete biography could ever be written (). Matthew wrote with his fellow Jews in mind and emphasized that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. Mark wrote for the busy Romans. Whereas Matthew emphasized the King, Mark presented the Servant, ministering to needy people. Luke wrote his gospel for the Greeks and introduced them to the sympathetic Son of Man.

But it was given to John, the beloved disciple, to write a book for both Jews and Gentiles, presenting Jesus as the Son of God. We know that John had Gentiles in mind as well as Jews, because he often “interpreted” Jewish words or customs for his readers (, , ; ; , ; ). His emphasis to the Jews was that Jesus not only fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, but He also fulfilled the types. Jesus is the Lamb of God () and the Ladder from heaven to earth (; see ). He is the New Temple (), and He gives a new birth (.). He is the serpent lifted up () and the Bread of God that came down from heaven (.).

Whereas the first three gospels major on describing events in the life of Christ, John emphasizes the meaning of these events. For example, all four gospels record the feeding of the five thousand, but only John records Jesus’ sermon on “The Bread of Life,” which followed that miracle when He interpreted it for the people (ch. ).

But there is one major theme that runs throughout John’s gospel: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and if you commit yourself to Him, He will give you eternal life ().

“Be Transformed”

Witness is a key theme in the gospel of John. The word “witness” or its synonyms “testimony” or “testify” are used at least twenty-three times, not to mention allusions to the concept (see ). As John came to the close of his book, he affirmed again the credibility of his witness. The book ends with Peter and John together following Jesus, showing that John himself witnessed the events he recorded for us as he was led by the Holy Spirit. What an exciting thing it must have been to receive the power of the Spirit and to bear witness of Jesus Christ! Had John not trusted Jesus, been transformed by Him, and followed Him, he would have remained a successful fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and the world would never have heard of Him.

Jesus Christ is transforming lives today. Wherever He finds a believer who is willing to yield to His will, listen to His Word, and follow His way, He begins to transform that believer and accomplish remarkable things in and through that life.

Peter and John have been off the scene (except for their books) for centuries, but you and I are still here. As He asked them, Jesus still asks us to follow Him. What a responsibility! What a privilege! We can succeed only as we permit Him to transform us.

The Eternal Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John’s Witness: The True Light

6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

13who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Becomes Flesh

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

15John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

17For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

A Voice in the Wilderness

19Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

22Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

23He said: “I am

‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Make straight the way of the LORD,” ’

as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.

25And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.

27“It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

28These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

30“This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’

31“I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”

32And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.

33“I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34“And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

The First Disciples

35Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.

36And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

40One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).

42And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

Philip and Nathanael

43The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”

44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

48Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

49Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

51And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Water Turned to Wine

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

2Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

3And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

4Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

6Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.

Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

8And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.

9When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

10And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

12After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

13Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.

15When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.

And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

17Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

18So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

21But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

22Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

The Discerner of Hearts

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.

But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,

and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

The New Birth

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

3Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?

11“Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.

12“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

13“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15“that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

16“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

17“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

21“But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.

23Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.

24For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

25Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.

26And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”

27John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

28“You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’

“He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.

30“He must increase, but I must decrease.

“He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

“And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.

33“He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.

34“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

35“The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John

2(though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),

3He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.

4But He needed to go through Samaria.

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”

8For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

9Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

11The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?

12“Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

13Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,

14“but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

17The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’

18“for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

19The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

20“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22“You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

23“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

24“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

The Whitened Harvest

27And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

28The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,

29“Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

30Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

31In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

32But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

33Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

35“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

36“And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

37“For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’

38“I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

The Savior of the World

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”

40So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.

41And many more believed because of His own word.

42Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Welcome at Galilee

43Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.

44For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

45So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

A Nobleman’s Son Healed

46So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

48Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”

49The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”

50Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.

51And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”

52Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”

So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.

This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.

In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.

4For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

5Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

7The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

8Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.

10The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

11He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

12Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

13But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.

14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

15The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Honor the Father and the Son

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

18Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

21“For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

22“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

23“that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Life and Judgment Are Through the Son

24“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

26“For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,

27“and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.

28“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice

“and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

30“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

The Fourfold Witness

“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.

32“There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.

33“You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.

34“Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.

“He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.

36“But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.

37“And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.

38“But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

40“But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

41“I do not receive honor from men.

42“But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.

43“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

44“How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

45“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.

46“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

47“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Feeding the Five Thousand

After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

2Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.

3And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

4Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.

5Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

6But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

7Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

8One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

9“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

10Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

12So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”

13Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Sea

Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,

17got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.

18Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.

19So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.

20But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

21Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

The Bread from Heaven

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—

23however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—

24when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

26Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

28Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

29Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

30Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?

31“Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

33“For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

36“But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

38“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

39“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

40“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Rejected by His Own

41The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”

42And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves.

44“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

45“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

46“Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

48“I am the bread of life.

49“Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50“This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.

51“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

52The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

54“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

55“For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

56“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

57“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.

58“This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

59These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Turn Away

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

61When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?

62“What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?

63“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

64“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.

65And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

66From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

67Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

68But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

69“Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

70Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”

71He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

Jesus’ Brothers Disbelieve

After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.

2Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.

3His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.

4“For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”

5For even His brothers did not believe in Him.

Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.

7“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.

“You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.”

9When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

The Heavenly Scholar

10But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

11Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?”

12And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.”

13However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

14Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.

15And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

16Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

17“If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.

“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.

19“Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”

20The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

21Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel.

22“Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

23“If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

24“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Could This Be the Christ?

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill?

26“But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?

27“However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

28Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.

“But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

30Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

31And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”

Jesus and the Religious Leaders

32The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.

33Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.

34“You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

35Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?

36“What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Who Is He?

40Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.”

41Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee?

42“Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”

43So there was a division among the people because of Him.

44Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

Rejected by the Authorities

45Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

46The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

47Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived?

48“Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?

49“But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

50Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them,

51“Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

An Adulteress Faces the Light of the World

And everyone went to his own house.

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5“Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

6This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Jesus Defends His Self-Witness

The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

14Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.

“You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

16“And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.

17“It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.

18“I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

19Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

Jesus Predicts His Departure

Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

22So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”

23And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

24“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

25Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.

26“I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”

27They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

28Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.

29“And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

The Truth Shall Make You Free

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

32“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

35“And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

36“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Abraham’s Seed and Satan’s

37“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

38“I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”

39They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.

40“But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

“You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

“Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.

44“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

45“But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

46“Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?

“He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I AM

48Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

50“And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.

51“Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

52Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’

53“Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

54Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.

55“Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.

56“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

59Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.

And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

4“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

5“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.

7And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

8Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”

9Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.”

Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”

11He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”

12Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

The Pharisees Excommunicate the Healed Man

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.

14Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

15Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

16Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

17They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.

19And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;

21“but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.”

22His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.

23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”

He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

26Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

28Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples.

29“We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”

30The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!

31“Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.

32“Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.

33“If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

34They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.

True Vision and True Blindness

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

36He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

37And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

38Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

40Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

Jesus the True Shepherd

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4“And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

“Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

6Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

7Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

“All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

9“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

12“But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.

13“The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.

“As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

18“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

19Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.

20And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”

21Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

22Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

23And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

24Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.

“But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

28“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

29“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

30“I and My Father are one.”

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

31Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

32Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

33The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

34Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’?

35“If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),

36“do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

37“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;

38“but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

39Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

The Believers Beyond Jordan

40And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.

41Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”

42And many believed in Him there.

The Death of Lazarus

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

2It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

3Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.

7Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”

9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

10“But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

11These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

12Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”

13However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

14Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

15“And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.

18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.

19And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.

21Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

22“But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

26“And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

27She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

28And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”

29As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.

30Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.

31Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

32Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

34And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

Jesus wept.

36Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

37And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

38Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

40Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

42“And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

44And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.

46But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.

47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.

48“If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

49And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,

50“nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”

51Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

52and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

53Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.

Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

55And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.

56Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?”

57Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.

The Anointing at Bethany

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.

2There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,

5“Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

6This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.

8“For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

9Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

10But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,

11because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’

The King of Israel!”

14Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

“Fear not, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

16His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

17Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.

18For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.

The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

The Fruitful Grain of Wheat

20Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.

Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

22Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

25“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

26“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross

27“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

28“Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

30Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.

31“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

33This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

34The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

35Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

Who Has Believed Our Report?

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,

38that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

“Lord, who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”

39Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,

Lest they should see with their eyes,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.”

41These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

Walk in the Light

42Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;

43for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.

45“And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.

46“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

47“And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

48“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

49“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

50“And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

2And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,

4rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

5After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

6Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”

7Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”

Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

9Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”

So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

13“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.

14“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

16“Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.

17“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Jesus Identifies His Betrayer

“I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’

19“Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.

20“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

21When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

22Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.

23Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

24Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.

25Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”

Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

27Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

28But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him.

29For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.

30Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.

The New Commandment

So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.

32“If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.

33“Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.

34“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

36Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”

37Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”

38Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

4“And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The Father Revealed

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

10“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

11“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

The Answered Prayer

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus Promises Another Helper

15“If you love Me, keep My commandments.

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

“the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

18“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Indwelling of the Father and the Son

19“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.

20“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

21“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

The Gift of His Peace

25“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

28“You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

29“And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.

31“But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

The True Vine

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

8“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Love and Joy Perfected

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

10“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

11“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

13“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

14“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

16“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

“These things I command you, that you love one another.

The World’s Hatred

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

19“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

22“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23“He who hates Me hates My Father also.

24“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.

25“But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

The Coming Rejection

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

27“And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

1“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.

2“They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

3“And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.

4“But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’

6“But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

7“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9“of sin, because they do not believe in Me;

10“of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;

11“of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

15“All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Sorrow Will Turn to Joy

“A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”

17Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”

18They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”

19Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’?

20“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

21“A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

23“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.

24“Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Jesus Christ Has Overcome the World

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.

“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;

27“for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.

28“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

29His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!

30“Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?

32“Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus Prays for Himself

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,

2“as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

3“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

5“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

7“Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.

8“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

9“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.

10“And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

12“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

13“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.

14“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

16“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

18“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

19“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;

“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

22“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

23“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

24“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

“O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.

“And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.

And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.

3Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

4Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”

5They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them.

6Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

8Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,”

9that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”

Before the High Priest

12Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.

13And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year.

14Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

Peter Denies Jesus

And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.

16But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.

17Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”

18Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

Jesus Questioned by the High Priest

19The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.

20Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing.

21“Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”

22And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?”

23Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”

24Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Denies Twice More

25Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!”

26One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?”

Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.

In Pilate’s Court

Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

29Pilate then went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

30They answered and said to him, “If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.”

31Then Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.” Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,”

32that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

33Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

34Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

35Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

38Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.

Taking the Place of Barabbas

39“But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

Then they all cried again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

1So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.

And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe.

3Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.

4Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

Pilate’s Decision

Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

8Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,

9and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

12From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

13When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

14Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

15But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.

The King on a Cross

And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,

where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

19Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

21Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

23Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.

24They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

“They divided My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots.”

Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Behold Your Mother

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”

27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

It Is Finished

28After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”

29Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

31Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

32Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

34But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

35And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

36For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”

37And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb

38After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.

And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

40Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

41Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.

42So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

The Empty Tomb

Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

3Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.

4So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.

5And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.

6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,

7and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

8Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.

9For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

10Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord

But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

12And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

14Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

The Apostles Commissioned

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

20When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

22And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Seeing and Believing

24Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

25The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

26And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”

Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

28And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

That You May Believe

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;

31but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Breakfast by the Sea

After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself:

2Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.

4But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

5Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.”

6And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.

But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish.

9Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.

10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”

11Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken.

12Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord.

13Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.

14This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.

Jesus Restores Peter

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

16He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”

This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”

The Beloved Disciple and His Book

20Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?”

21Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”

22Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”

This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

25And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Annotations for John

, Much as our words reveal to others our hearts and minds, so Jesus Christ is God’s “Word” to reveal His heart and mind to us. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (). A word is composed of letters, and Jesus Christ is “Alpha and Omega” (), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. According to , Jesus Christ is God’s last Word to mankind, for He is the climax of divine revelation.

The verb “were made” is past perfect tense in the Greek, which means “a completed act.” Creation is finished. It is not a process still going on, even though God is certainly at work in His creation (). Creation is not a process; it is a finished product over which God exercises authority.

Light and darkness are recurring themes in John’s gospel. God is light (), while Satan is “the power of darkness” (). People love either the light or the darkness, and this love controls their actions (). Those who believe on Christ are the “sons of light” (, ). Just as the first creation began with “Let there be light!” so the new creation begins with the entrance of light into the heart of the believer (). The coming of Jesus Christ into the world was the dawning of a new day for sinful man (, ).

Why did the world reject Jesus Christ? Because “the world did not know Him.” They were spiritually ignorant. Jesus is the “true Light” (v. )—the original of which every other light is a copy—but the Jews were content with the copies. They had Moses and the law, the temple and the sacrifices, but they did not comprehend that these “lights” pointed to the true Light who was the fulfillment, the completion, of the Old Testament religion.

, Whenever Jesus taught a spiritual truth, His listeners interpreted it in a material or physical way. The light was unable to penetrate the darkness in their minds. This was true when He spoke about the temple of His body (), the new birth (), the living water (), eating His flesh (.), spiritual freedom (), death as sleep (), and many other spiritual truths. Satan strives to keep people in the darkness, because darkness means death and hell, while light means life and heaven.

Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word. He was not a phantom or a spirit when He ministered on earth, nor was His body a mere illusion. John and the other disciples each had a personal experience that convinced them of the reality of the body of Jesus (, ). Even though John’s emphasis is the deity of Christ, he makes it clear that the Son of God came in the flesh and was subject to the sinless infirmities of human nature.

In his Gospel, John points out that Jesus was weary () and thirsty (), He groaned within () and openly wept (). On the cross He thirsted (), died (), and bled (). After His resurrection, He proved to Thomas and the other disciples that He still had a real body (), howbeit, a glorified body.

The revelation of God’s glory is an important theme in the gospel. Jesus revealed God’s glory in His person, His works, and His words. John recorded seven wonderful signs (miracles) that openly declared the glory of God (). The glory of the old covenant of law was a fading glory, but the glory of the new covenant in Christ is an increasing glory (see ). The law could reveal sin, but it could never remove sin. Jesus Christ came with fullness of grace and truth, and this fullness is available to all who will trust Him ().

The word “Son” is used for the first time in John’s gospel as a title for Jesus Christ. He is the “one and only”—Jesus is unique, the only one of His kind. Some translations have “only begotten,” which has caused some confusion. It does not suggest that there was a time when the Son was not, before the Father brought Him into being. Jesus Christ is eternal God; He has always existed.

, Jesus Christ has fullness of grace and truth. Grace is God’s favor and kindness bestowed on those who do not deserve it and cannot earn it. If God dealt with us only according to truth, none of us would survive, but He deals with us on the basis of grace and truth. Jesus Christ, in His life, death, and resurrection, met all the demands of the law; now God is free to share fullness of grace with those who trust Christ. Grace without truth would be deceitful, and truth without grace would be condemning.

Jesus Christ reveals God to us. As to His essence, God is invisible (; ). Man can see God revealed in nature (; ) and in His mighty works in history; but he cannot see God himself. Jesus Christ reveals God to us, for He is “the image of the invisible God” () and He is “the express image of His person” (). The word translated “declared” in is the Greek word exegeomai, which means “to explain, to unfold, to lead the way.” Jesus Christ explains God to us and interprets Him for us. We simply cannot understand God apart from knowing His Son, Jesus Christ.

John explained that his baptism was in water, but that the Messiah would come and baptize with a spiritual baptism. Again, John made it clear that he was not establishing a new religion or seeking to exalt himself. He was pointing people to the Savior, the Son of God (v. ).

The people of Israel were familiar with lambs for the sacrifices. At Passover, each family had to have a lamb, and during the year, two lambs a day were sacrificed at the temple altar, plus all the other lambs brought for personal sacrifices. Those lambs were brought by men to men, but here is God’s Lamb, given by God to men! The blood of those lambs cover sins, but the Lamb of God can take away sin. Those lambs were for Israel alone, but this Lamb would shed His blood for the whole world!

The two disciples of John the Baptist who followed Jesus were John, the writer of this gospel, and his friend Andrew. John the Baptist was happy when people left him to follow Jesus, because his ministry focused on Jesus. “He must increase, but I must decrease” ().

Jesus invited them to spend the day with Him, and no doubt He told them something of His mission, revealed their own hearts to them, and answered their questions. They were both so impressed that they found their brothers and brought them to Jesus. Andrew found Simon and John brought James.

There was some confusion among the Jewish teachers as to what the Messiah would do. Some saw Him as a suffering sacrifice (as in ), while others saw a splendid king (as in and ). Jesus had to explain even to His own followers that the cross had to come before the crown, that He must suffer before He could enter into His glory (). Whether or not Jesus was indeed the Messiah was a crucial problem that challenged the Jews in that day (, ; ; ).

When Philip witnessed to Nathanael, the evidence he gave was Moses and the prophets. Perhaps Jesus gave Philip a “quick course” in the Old Testament messianic prophecies, as he did with the Emmaus disciples (). It is always good to tie our personal witness to the Word of God.

Some students believe that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person. John never mentions Bartholomew in his gospel, but the other three writers name Bartholomew and not Nathanael. Philip is linked with Bartholomew in the lists of names (; ; ), so it is possible that the two men were “paired off” and served together (). It was not unusual in that day for one man to have two different names.

, “Son of Man” was one of our Lord’s favorite titles for Himself; it is used eighty-three times in the Gospels and at least thirteen times in John. The title speaks of both the deity and humanity of Jesus. The vision in presents the “son of man” in a definite messianic setting, and Jesus used the title in the same way ().

Our Lord would certainly have a special message here for His people, Israel. In the Old Testament, the nation is pictured as “married” to God and unfaithful to her marriage covenant (; ; .). The wine ran out, and all Israel had left were six empty waterpots! They held water for external washings, but they could provide nothing for internal cleansing and joy. In this miracle, our Lord brought fullness where there was emptiness, joy where there was disappointment, and something internal for that which was only external (water for ceremonial washings).

Jesus was accompanied by His mother and His six disciples. Perhaps it was the addition of seven more people that helped create the crisis, but it must have been a small wedding feast if this were the case. We have reason to believe that our Lord’s earthly family was not prosperous, and it is likely that their friends were not wealthy people. Perhaps the shortage of wine was related to a low-budget feast.

, Our Lord was not a recluse, as was John the Baptist (). He accepted invitations to social events, even though His enemies used this practice to accuse Him (, ). Our Lord entered into the normal experiences of life and sanctified them by His presence. Wise is that couple who invite Jesus to their wedding!

Mary’s words to the servants reveal that she was willing to let her Son do whatever He pleased, and that she trusted Him to do what was right. It would be wise for all of us to obey what she said! It is worth noting that it was Jesus, not Mary, who took command and solved the problem. Also note that Mary pointed not to herself, but to Jesus.

, Each of the six stone waterpots could contain about twenty gallons each. However, we are not told that all of the available water in the jars turned into wine. Only that which the servants drew out and served was transformed into wine. The quality of this new wine was so superior that the man in charge of the banquet highly praised it, and, of course, the groom’s family basked in the glory of the compliments.

The miracle did something for His disciples. It revealed His glory () and gave them a stronger foundation for their faith. Though miracles alone are insufficient evidence for declaring Jesus to be the Son of God (, ), the cumulative effect of miracle after miracle should certainly convince them of His deity. The disciples had to begin somewhere, and over the months, their faith deepened as they got to know Jesus better.

The condition of the temple was a vivid indication of the spiritual condition of the nation. Their religion was a dull routine, presided over by worldly-minded men whose main desire was to exercise authority and get rich. Not only had the wine run out at the wedding feast but the glory had departed from the temple.

There was still a godly remnant in Israel who loved God and revered His temple (; ), but most religious leaders were false shepherds who exploited the people. When Jesus cleansed the temple, He “declared war” on the hypocritical religious leaders (), and this ultimately led to His death. Indeed, His passion for God’s house did consume Him!

In writing this gospel, John included a number of vivid pictures of the death of the Savior. The first is the slaying of the Lamb in , indicating that His death would be that of a substitute for sinners. The destroying of the temple is the second picture, suggesting a violent death that would end in victorious resurrection. The third picture is that of the serpent lifted up (), a reference to .

The temple was an important element of the Jewish faith, for in it God was supposed to dwell. All of the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Jewish religion centered in the temple. When Jesus suggested that their precious building would be destroyed, their angry reaction was predictable. After all, if His body is the temple, then the Jewish temple would be needed no more. In this cryptic statement, our Lord actually predicted the end of the Jewish religious system.

John was not discrediting the importance of our Lord’s signs, because he wrote his book to record these signs and to encourage his readers to trust Jesus Christ and receive eternal life (, ). However, throughout the book, John makes it clear that it takes more than believing in miracles for a person to be saved. Seeing the signs and believing in them would be a great beginning; in fact, even the disciples started that way and had to grow in their faith (compare and ).

, “He knew all men” is a statement that is proved several times in John’s Gospel. Jesus knew the character of Simon (). He knew what Nathanael was like (.), and He told the Samaritan woman “all things” that she had ever done (). He knew that the Jewish leaders did not have God’s love in their hearts (), and that one of His disciples was not truly a believer (). He saw the repentance in the heart of the adulteress () and the murder in the hearts of His enemies (.). Several times in the Upper Room message, Jesus revealed to His disciples their own inner feelings and questions ().

Our Lord’s accurate knowledge of the human heart is another evidence of His deity, for only God can see the inner person. This brief paragraph prepares us for the important interview with Nicodemus recorded in the next chapter. Nicodemus wanted to learn more about Jesus, but he ended up learning more about himself!

, Nicodemus was a Pharisee, which meant he lived by the strictest possible religious rules. Not all of the Pharisees were hypocrites (as one may infer from Jesus’ comments recorded in ), and evidence indicates that Nicodemus was deeply sincere in his quest for truth. He came to Jesus by night, not because he was afraid of being seen, but because he wanted to have a quiet uninterrupted conversation with the new Teacher “come from God.”

Catalyst

Only God knows how many people have been brought to the point of faith in Christ as a result of reading the account of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus one evening. For a man who met Jesus in the shadows, Nicodemus has been instrumental in bringing countless others to the light. Though only mentioned by name in John’s gospel, Nicodemus participated in three memorable moments in Jesus’ life: here at the beginning of His ministry; later in , when Nicodemus spoke up in defense of Jesus’ innocence in the high council; and finally when he joined Joseph of Arimathea () to retrieve Jesus’ body, prepare it for burial, and place it in the tomb.

As a religious leader among the Jews, Nicodemus came to Jesus representing “we” (), but Jesus immediately treated him as “you” (v. ). He came looking for information, and Jesus offered him transformation. Our Lord began with that which was familiar, birth being a universal experience. The word translated “again” also means “from above.” Though all human beings have experienced natural birth on earth, if they expect to go to heaven, they must experience a supernatural birth from above. We come to Jesus from many different places and with many different purposes, but wherever and whomever we might be, Jesus lovingly says to each of us, “You must be born again.”

Go to the

Jesus was not teaching that the new birth comes through water baptism. In the New Testament, baptism is connected with death, not birth, and no amount of physical water can effect a spiritual change in a person. The emphasis in vv. is on believing, because salvation comes through faith (, ). The evidence of salvation is the witness of the Spirit within (), and the Spirit enters your life when you believe (; ,).

Human birth involves travail (), and so does the birth from above. Our Savior had to travail on the cross so that we might become members of the family of God (). Concerned believers have to travail in prayer and witness as they seek to lead sinners to Christ (; ).

Nicodemus must have had a surprised and bewildered look on his face, for the Lord had to say, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ” But Nicodemus was born a Jew. He was a part of God’s covenant people (, ). Certainly his birth was better than that of a Gentile or a Samaritan! And his life was exemplary, for he was a faithful Pharisee. He could well understand Jesus telling the Romans that they had to be born again, but certainly not the Jews.

It is likely that the evening wind was blowing just then as Nicodemus and Jesus sat on the housetop conversing. The word “wind” in both Hebrew and Greek can also be translated “spirit.” One of the symbols of the Spirit of God in the Bible is the wind or breath (; ; ). Like the wind, the Spirit is invisible but powerful, and you cannot explain or predict its movements.

The verb “lifted up” has a dual meaning: to be crucified (; ) and to be glorified and exalted. In his Gospel, John points out that our Lord’s crucifixion was actually the means of His glorification (.). The cross was not the end of His glory; it was the beginning of the full revelation of His glory (). Jesus was also using the event recorded in to point to God’s precedent in lifting up a way of healing and salvation for those who would trust.

This is one of the major images used in this gospel (). Why will sinners not come into the “light of life” ()? Because they love the darkness! They want to persist in their evil deeds, and this keeps them from coming to the light, for the closer sinners get to the light, the more their sins are exposed. “Intellectual problems” don’t keep people from trusting Christ; moral and spiritual blindness keeps them loving the darkness and hating the light.

The matter of purifying was important to the Jews (). Under the Old Testament law, it was necessary for them to keep themselves ceremonially clean if they were to serve God and please Him. Unfortunately, the Pharisees added so many extra traditions to the law that the observing of it became a burden.

The image of the bridegroom would have been significant to the Jewish people, for Jehovah had a “marriage covenant” with the nation (; , ; ; ; ; , ). Alas, Israel had been unfaithful to her vows, and God had to put her away temporarily. Today, God is calling out a people for His name, the church, the bride of Christ (; ). One day the Bridegroom will come to claim His bride and take her to her home in heaven (; .).

Since Jesus came from heaven, He represents the Father; and to reject His witness is to reject the Father (). We know that His witness is true because He is the true God. We can trust it and rely on it.

, Jesus shares what He has seen and heard from the Father (). Those who receive His witness and act on it know by personal experience that His witness is true (). Our Lord’s teachings are not to be studied intellectually, separated from everyday life. It is when we obey His Word and put it into practice that we see its truth and experience its power.

“Eternal life” does not simply mean eternity in heaven. The believer possesses that life right now! It is the life of God in the believer. The opposite of eternal life is eternal death, the wrath of God. A person does not have to die and go to hell to be under the wrath of God. “But he who does not believe is condemned already” (v. ). The verdict has already been given, but the sentence has not yet been executed.

Because the Pharisees were trying to incite competition between Jesus and John the Baptist (), Jesus left Judea and started north for Galilee. He could have taken one of three possible routes: along the coast, across the Jordan and up through Perea, or straight through Samaria. Orthodox Jews avoided Samaria because there was a longstanding, deep-seated hatred between them and the Samaritans.

The Samaritans were a mixed race, part Jew and part Gentile, that grew out of the Assyrian captivity of the ten northern tribes in 727 B.C. Rejected by the Jews because they could not prove their genealogy, the Samaritans established their own temple and religious services on Mount Gerizim.

In that day, it was not considered proper for any man, especially a rabbi, to speak in public to a strange woman (v. ). But our Lord set social customs aside because a soul’s eternal salvation was at stake. It certainly surprised her when He asked for a drink of water. She surmised that He was a Jewish rabbi, and perhaps she tried to “read between the lines” to find another meaning to His request.

Jesus pointed out to her that she was ignorant of three important facts: who He was, what He had to offer, and how she could receive it. Here was eternal God speaking to her, offering her eternal life! The Samaritans were as blind as the Jews (). But our Lord’s words had aroused her interest, so she pursued the conversation.

The only way to prepare the soil of the heart for the seed is to plow it up with conviction. That was why Jesus told her to go get her husband: He forced her to admit her sin. There can be no conversion without conviction. There must first be conviction and repentance, and then there can be saving faith. Jesus had aroused her mind and stirred her emotions, but He also had to touch her conscience, and that meant dealing with her sin.

In spite of her ignorance, there was one truth this woman did know: The Messiah was coming and would reveal the secrets of hearts. Where did she learn this truth? We do not know, but that seed had lain buried in her heart until that very hour, and now it was going to bear fruit. Our Lord’s response to her statement was, literally, “I who speak to you am He,” He dared to utter the holy name (“I AM”) of God! (See .)

Our Lord did not look on the Father’s will as a heavy burden or a distasteful task. He viewed His work as the very nourishment of His soul. Doing the Father’s will fed Him and satisfied Him inwardly. “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (). The Samaritan woman was now doing the Father’s will and finding excitement and enrichment in it.

Many of the Samaritans believed because of the testimony of the woman, and then many more believed when they personally heard Jesus. They were so excited about Him that they begged Him to stay with them, and He stayed for two days. During that short time, His Word produced fruit in their lives.

The woman put her faith in Jesus Christ and was converted. Immediately she wanted to share her faith with others, so she went into the village and told the people she had met the Christ. When you consider how little spiritual truth this woman knew, her zeal and witness put us to shame. But God used her simple testimony, and many of the people came out to the well to meet Jesus.

Jesus was met at Cana by a nobleman from Capernaum, perhaps around ten miles away. The man had heard about His miracles and came to intercede for his son, who was dying. The first miracle at Cana came at the request of his mother (), and this second miracle at Cana at the request of a father.

This man began with crisis faith. He was about to lose his son and he had no other recourse but the Lord Jesus Christ. Many people came to Jesus with their crises, and He did not turn them away. The nobleman’s crisis faith became confident faith: he believed the Word and had peace in his heart. He was even able to delay his trip home, knowing that the boy was out of danger. His confident faith became confirmed faith.

This is one of several miracles that Jesus performed at a distance. He healed the centurion’s servant from a distance (, and note that he too lived in Capernaum), and He healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman in the same manner (). These two were Gentiles and, spiritually speaking, were “far off” (, ). Perhaps this nobleman was also a Gentile. We do not know.

Our Lord’s first two miracles recorded by John were somewhat private in nature. The servants and the disciples knew that He transformed the water into wine, and the servants and the nobleman’s family knew that He had healed the sick son. The miracle recorded in chapter was not only public, but it was performed on the Sabbath day and incited the opposition of the religious leaders.

John described these people as “sick . . . blind, lame, paralyzed.” What havoc sin has wrought in this world! But the healing of these infirmities was one of the prophesied ministries of the Messiah (). Had the religious leaders known their own Scriptures, they would have recognized their Redeemer, but they were spiritually blind.

Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. You would think that the man would have responded with an enthusiastic, “Yes! I want to be healed!” But, instead, he began to give excuses! He had been in that sad condition for so long that his will was as paralyzed as his body. But if you compare verse with verse , you will see that Jesus had a spiritual lesson in mind as well. Indeed, this man did illustrate the tragic spiritual state of the nation.

The miracle would have caused no problem except that it occurred on the Sabbath day. Our Lord certainly could have come a day earlier, or even waited a day, but He wanted to get the attention of the religious leaders. Later, He would deliberately heal a blind man on the Sabbath (). The scribes had listed thirty-nine tasks that were prohibited on the Sabbath, and carrying a burden was one of them. Instead of rejoicing at the wonderful deliverance of the man, the religious leaders condemned him for carrying his bed and thereby breaking the law.

The Jewish leaders did not prosecute the man who was healed, even though he had broken the law, but they did begin to persecute the Lord Jesus. As the guardians of the faith, the members of the Jewish Sanhedrin (the religious ruling council) had the responsibility of investigating new preachers and teachers who appeared in the land, lest some false prophet come along and lead the people astray.

The penalty for such blasphemy (claiming to be God) was death. It is here that the official persecution of Jesus began, culminating in His crucifixion. In the days that followed, our Lord often confronted His enemies with their evil desire to kill Him (, ; , ). They hated Him without a cause (). They ignored the good deeds that He performed for the helpless and hopeless, and centered their attention on destroying Him.

Instead of denying their accusation, He endorsed it! If today a man made this kind of a claim, we would conclude that He was joking or mentally disturbed. Jesus was certainly not insane, and there is every evidence that He was deadly serious when He spoke these words. Either He is what He claims to be, or He is a liar, and if He is a liar, how do you explain all the good He has done in the lives of needy people? Nobody wants to trust a liar; Jesus’ disciples were willing to die for Him.

Not only did the Father show the Son His works and enable Him to do them, but the Father also shared His love. The first three gospels open with the Father calling Jesus “My dearly loved Son,” and John echoed this statement in . We usually think of the Father’s love for the lost world, as in , but we must also remember the Father’s love for His dear Son.

For Jesus to claim to have power to raise the dead was a blasphemous thing in the eyes of the Jewish leaders; they believed God alone had that power. They said that Jehovah held the three great keys: the key to open the heavens and give rain (); the key to open the womb and give conception (); and the key to open the grave and raise the dead (). As far as the gospel records are concerned, Jesus had not yet raised anyone from the dead, so to make this claim was to invite even more opposition.

Believers will be given resurrection bodies so that they might reign with Christ in glory. Unbelievers will be given resurrection bodies—but not glorified bodies—that they might be judged and then suffer punishment in those bodies. Bodies that were used for sin will suffer the consequences of that sin. The fact that Jesus has the authority to raise the dead is proof that He is equal with the Father, and therefore He is God.

Who were the witnesses to Jesus’ identity? The first was John the Baptist (vv. ), whom the religious leaders had interrogated carefully (). In fact, at the very end of His ministry, our Lord pointed the rulers back to the witness of John the Baptist. The second witness was the witness of His teachings and miracles (). The third and final witness our Lord summoned was the Word of the Father (vv. ). The Old Testament law required the testimony of two or three witnesses (; ); the Lord met that requirement by giving three trustworthy witnesses.

Whenever God raises up a spiritual leader who commands attention, there is always the danger of attracting people who want to bask in his popularity but not submit to his authority. A “mixed multitude” followed Moses and Israel out of Egypt, people who were impressed with the miracles but not yielded to the Lord. The prophets and apostles, as well as the great leaders in church history, all had to put up with shallow people who followed the crowd but refused to obey the truth. We have them in churches today.

, The very Scriptures that the Jewish leaders used to defend their religion would one day bear witness against them. The Jews knew what Moses wrote, but they did not really believe what he wrote. It is one thing to have the Word in our hands or our heads, but quite another thing to have it in our hearts. Jesus is the Word made flesh (), and the written Word bears witness to the Incarnate Word.

In this passage there are four possible solutions to the need: First, the disciples suggested that Jesus send the people away (, ). The second solution came from Philip in response to our Lord’s “test question” (): raise enough money to buy food for the people. The third solution came from Andrew, but he was not quite sure how the problem would be solved. He found a young boy who had a small lunch: two fish and five barley cakes. The fourth solution came from our Lord, and it was the true solution. He took the boy’s lunch, blessed it, broke it, handed it out to His disciples, and they fed the whole crowd!

Catalyst

Start with what you have. Andrew found a boy who had a small lunch, and he brought the lad to Jesus. Was the boy willing to give up his lunch? Yes, he was! God begins where we are and uses what we have.

Give what you have to Jesus. Jesus took the simple lunch, blessed it, and shared it. The miracle of multiplication was in His hands! Little is much if God is in it. Jesus broke the bread and gave the pieces to the disciples, and they, in turn, fed the multitudes.

Obey what He commands. The disciples had the people sit down as Jesus ordered. They took the broken pieces and distributed them, and discovered that there was plenty for everybody. As His servants, we are distributors, not manufacturers. If we give what we have to Him, He will bless it and give it back to us for use in feeding others.

Conserve the results. Left over were twelve baskets filled with pieces of bread and fish after the people had eaten all they wanted. But these pieces were carefully collected so that nothing was wasted (v. ). I wonder how many of the pieces the boy took back home with him?

Go to the

It is significant that twice John mentioned the fact that Jesus gave thanks (vv. , ). Matthew, Mark, and Luke all state that Jesus looked up to heaven when He gave thanks. By that act, He reminded the hungry people that God is the source of all good and needful gifts. This is a good lesson for us: instead of complaining about what we do not have, we should give thanks to God for what we do have, and He will make it go further.

The practical lesson is this: whenever there is a need, give all that you have to Jesus and let Him do the rest. Begin with what you have, but be sure you give it all to Him. That little lad is to be commended for sharing his lunch with Christ, and his mother is to be commended for giving him something to give to Jesus. The gift of that little snack meant as much to Jesus as the pouring out of the expensive ointment ().

As you read the gospel records, note that our Lord was never impressed by the great crowds. He knew that their motives were not pure and that most of them followed Him in order to watch His miracles of healing. “Bread and circuses” was Rome’s formula for keeping the people happy, and people today are satisfied with that kind of diet. Give them food and entertainment and they are happy. Rome set aside ninety-three days each year for public games at government expense. It was cheaper to entertain the crowds than to fight them or jail them.

Sometimes we are caught in a storm because we have disobeyed the Lord. Jonah is a good example. But sometimes the storm comes because we have obeyed the Lord. When that happens, we can be sure that our Savior will pray for us, come to us, and deliver us. In writing the account of this event years later, perhaps John saw in it a picture of Christ and His church. Christ is in heaven interceding for us, but we are in the midst of the storms of life, trying to reach the shore. One day, He will come for us and we shall reach the port safely, the storms all past.

The disciples may have been impressed that so many people stayed through a storm in order to seek their Master, but Jesus was not impressed. He knows the human heart. He knew that the people originally followed Him because of His miracles (v. ), but now their motive was to get fed! Even if they were attracted only by the miracles, at least there was still a possibility they might be saved. After all, that is where Nicodemus started (, ). But now their interest had degenerated to the level of basest self-satisfaction—food.

Jesus pointed out that there are two kinds of food: food for the body, which is necessary but not the most important, and food for the inner man, the spirit, which is essential. What the people needed was not food but life, and life is a gift. Food only sustains life, but Jesus gives eternal life. The words of Isaiah come to mind: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” ().

, In His reply, our Lord sought to deepen the people’s understanding of the truth. It was God, not Moses, who gave the manna, so they must take their eyes off Moses and focus them on God. Also, God gave the manna in the past, but the Father is now giving the true bread in the person of Jesus Christ. The past event is finished, but the present spiritual experience goes on! Then Jesus clearly identified what the bread is: He is the true Living Bread that came down from heaven. He came not only for Israel but for the whole world.

In His reply to their impetuous request, Jesus used two key words that often appear in this sermon: come and believe. To come to Jesus means to believe on Him, and to believe on Him means to come to Him. Believing is not merely an intellectual thing, giving mental assent to some doctrine. It means to come to Christ and yield yourself to Him. At the close of His sermon, Jesus illustrated coming and believing by speaking about eating and drinking. To come to Christ and believe on Him means to receive Him within, just as you receive food and drink.

In answering the people’s request for continual bread, Jesus explained the process of personal salvation. These are among the most profound words He ever spoke, and we cannot hope to plumb their depths completely. He explained that salvation involves both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The Father gives men and women to the Son (vv. , ; , , , , , ), but these men and women must come to Him, that is, believe on Him.

When Jesus called Himself “the bread of life” (v. ), He was not claiming to be exactly like the manna. He was claiming to be even greater! The manna only sustained life for the Jews, but Jesus gives life to the whole world. The Jews ate the daily manna and eventually died, but when you receive Jesus Christ within, you live forever. When God gave the manna, He gave only a gift, but when Jesus came, He gave Himself. There was no cost to God in sending the manna each day, but He gave His Son at great cost. The Jews had to eat the manna every day, but the sinner who trusts Christ once is given eternal life.

How do we “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood”? Through the Word. “So the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (). Jesus connected His Word with His life: “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (). “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life” (). The scribes who knew would have understood the concept of receiving God’s Word into one’s inner being.

The preaching of the Word of God always leads to a sifting of the hearts of the listeners. God draws sinners to the Savior through the power of truth, His Word. Those who reject the Word will reject the Savior. Those who receive the Word will receive the Savior and experience the new birth, eternal life.

Mary bore other children, with Joseph as their natural father (, ; ), so Jesus would have been their half-brother. It seems incredible that His brothers could have lived with Him all those years and not realized the uniqueness of His person. Certainly they knew about His miracles (see , ) since everybody else did. Having been in the closest contact with Him, they had the best opportunity to watch Him and test Him, yet they were still unbelievers.

Jesus was exercising caution because He knew that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him. Though they were “religious” leaders, they were a part of “the world” that hated Jesus because He exposed their evil works. By His character and His ministry, He revealed the shallowness and emptiness of their futile religious system; He called the people back to the reality of life in God. History reveals that the “religious system” often persecutes the very prophets of God who are sent to save it!

Jesus was certainly not lying or being evasive; rather, He was exercising sensible caution. In our Lord’s actions, we see a beautiful illustration of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The Father had a plan for His Son, and nothing could spoil that plan. Jesus did not tempt the Father by rushing to the feast, nor did He lag behind when the proper time had come for Him to attend the feast. It requires spiritual discernment to know God’s timing.

If we really seek God’s will, then we will not worry over who gets the glory. All truth is God’s truth, and God alone deserves the glory for what He has taught us. No teacher or preacher can take the credit for what can come only from God. If he does go after the glory, then it is proof that his teaching is self-generated and not received from God. This is the origin of many cults and church splits—somebody “invents” a doctrine, takes credit for it, and uses it to divide God’s people.

Once again, the people could not see the truth because they were blinded by what they thought were dependable facts. Jesus had met this same kind of resistance in the synagogue in Capernaum (.). Even the learned teachers—the “builders”—would not be able to identify the cornerstone, even though they had studied the God-given blueprints for centuries ()!

Jesus boldly asserted that He not only knew the Father, but was sent by Him! He was once again claiming to be God! He was not simply born into this world like any other human; He was sent to earth by the Father. This means that He existed before He was born on the earth.

The last day of the feast would be the seventh day, a very special day on which the priests would march seven times around the altar, chanting . It would be the last time they would draw the water and pour it out. No doubt just as they were pouring out the water, symbolic of the water Moses drew from the rock, Jesus stood and shouted His great invitation to thirsty sinners. Jesus was not suggesting a shallow “taste test” but rather the deep personal commitment of the person to truth. The Jews depended on education and authorities and received their doctrine secondhand, but Jesus insisted that we experience the authority of truth personally. The Jewish leaders were attempting to kill Jesus, yet at the same time they claimed to understand God’s truth and obey it. This proves that an enlightened and educated mind is no guarantee of a pure heart or a sanctified will. Some of the world’s worst criminals have been highly intelligent and well-educated people.

, Water for drinking is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. (Water for washing is a symbol of the Word of God; see ; .) Just as water satisfies thirst and produces fruitfulness, so the Spirit of God satisfies the inner person and enables us to bear fruit. At the feast, the Jews were reenacting a tradition that could never satisfy the heart. Jesus offered them living water and eternal satisfaction!

The leaders challenged Nicodemus to search the prophecies to see if he could find any statement that a prophet would come out of Galilee. Of course, Jonah was from Galilee, and Jesus said that Jonah was a picture of Himself in death, burial, and resurrection (). Perhaps Nicodemus read , (see ) and began to trace the great messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. If he did, then he became convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the very Son of God.

The record of the incident with the woman caught in adultery is not found in some of the ancient manuscripts; where it is found, it is not always in this location in John’s gospel. Most scholars seem to agree that the passage is a part of inspired Scripture, regardless of where it is placed.

The development of the entire chapter can easily be seen to grow out of this striking event in the temple. Our Lord’s declaration that He is the light of the world (v. ) certainly fits, and so do His words about true and false judgment (vv. , , ). The repeated phrase “die in your sins” (vv. , ) would clearly relate to the judgment of the woman, and the fact that the chapter ends with an attempt to stone Jesus shows a perfect parallel to the opening story.

Our Lord found Himself again in conflict with the Jewish religious leaders, but this time they set a trap, hoping to get enough evidence to arrest Jesus and get Him out of the way. However, their plot failed, and a controversy followed. In this chapter we see a series of contrasts that reveal the graciousness of Christ and the wickedness of man.

The Pharisees would not be likely to catch a couple “in the act” of adultery, so we wonder if the man (who never was indicted!) was part of the scheme. The law required that both guilty parties be stoned (; ) and not just the woman. It does seem suspicious that the man went free. The scribes and Pharisees handled the matter in a brutal fashion, even in the way they interrupted the Lord’s teaching and pushed the woman to the front of the crowd.

It was required by Jewish law that the accusers cast the first stones (). Jesus was not asking that sinless men judge the woman, for He was the only sinless person present. If our judges today had to be perfect, judicial benches would be empty. He was referring to the particular sin of the woman, a sin that can be committed in the heart as well as with the body (). Convicted by their own consciences, the accusers quietly left the scene, and Jesus was left alone with the woman. He forgave her and warned her to sin no more ().

We must not misinterpret this event to mean that Jesus was easy on sin or that He contradicted the law. For Jesus to forgive this woman meant that He had to one day die for her sins. Forgiveness is free but it is not cheap. Furthermore, Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law so that no one could justly accuse Him of opposing its teachings or weakening its power. By applying the law to the woman and not to themselves, the Jewish leaders were violating both the letter and the spirit of the law—and they thought they were defending Moses!

The law was given to reveal sin (), and we must be condemned by the law before we can be cleansed by God’s grace. Law and grace do not compete with each other; they complement each other. Nobody was ever saved by keeping the law, but nobody was ever saved by grace who was not first indicted by the law. There must be conviction before there can be conversion.

To “follow” the Lord Jesus means to believe on Him, to trust Him, and the results are life and light for the believer. The unsaved are walking in darkness because they love darkness (.). One of the major messages in this gospel is that the spiritual light is now shining, but people cannot comprehend it—and they try to put it out (, ).

Not all of the Jewish leaders had left the group, and others had no doubt come along after the woman left. As usual, they debated with Jesus. This time, they accused Him of bearing witness to Himself by claiming to be the light of the world, and Jewish courts would not permit a person to bear witness to Himself. But light has to bear witness to itself! The only people who cannot see the light are blind people!

Jesus made it clear that their witness was not dependable because their judgment was faulty. They judged on the basis of externals, mere human judgment, but He judged on the basis of spiritual knowledge. The way they judged the woman taken in adultery proved that they neither understood the law nor their own sinful hearts.

Their further attempts to arrest Jesus were again thwarted by the Father, for it was not yet our Lord’s hour when He should give His life. When the servants of God are in the will of God, they can have courage and peace as they do their duty.

The true believer has his citizenship in heaven (; , ). His affection and attention are fixed heavenward. But the unsaved belong to this world; in fact, Jesus called them “the sons of this world” (). Since they have not trusted Christ and had their sins forgiven, their destiny is to die in their sins. The Christian dies in the Lord because he lives in the Lord (), but the unbeliever dies in his sins because he lives in his sins.

Salvation is a matter of life or death. People who live in their sins and reject the Savior must die in their sins. There is no alternative. We either receive salvation by grace or experience condemnation under God’s law. We either walk in the light and have eternal life, or walk in the darkness and experience eternal death.

Jesus addressed the “many who believed in Him” mentioned in verse , and He warned them that continuance in the Word—discipleship—was proof of true salvation. When we obey His Word, we grow in spiritual knowledge, and as we grow in spiritual knowledge, we grow in freedom from sin. Life leads to learning, and learning leads to liberty.

Their claim that Abraham’s descendants had never been in bondage was certainly a false one that was refuted by the very record in the Old Testament Scriptures. The Jews had been enslaved by mighty nations, as recorded in the books of Exodus and Judges. The ten northern tribes had been carried away captive by Assyria, and the two southern tribes had gone into seventy years of captivity in Babylon. And at that very hour, the Jews were under the iron heel of Rome! How difficult it is for proud religious people to admit their failings and their needs!

Jesus explained that the difference between spiritual freedom and bondage is a matter of whether one is a son or a servant. The servant may live in the house, but he is not a part of the family, and he cannot be guaranteed a future. (Jesus may have had Isaac and Ishmael in mind here; see .) “Whoever commits sin [continually] is a slave of sin.” These religious leaders would not only die in their sins (, ), but they were currently living in bondage to sin!

, The leaders could not refute our Lord’s statements, so they attacked His person. Some students think that the leaders’ statement in verse —“We were not born of fornication”—was a slur on our Lord’s own birth and character. After all, Mary was with child before she and Joseph were married. But the personal attacks in verse are quite obvious. For a Jew to be called a Samaritan was the grossest of insults, and then to be called demon-possessed only added further insult.

, The most difficult people to win to the Savior are those who do not realize that they have a need. They are under the condemnation of God, yet they trust their religion to save them. They are walking in the darkness and not following the light of life. They are sharing a “living death” because of their bondage to sin, and, in spite of their religious deeds, they are dishonoring the Father and the Son. These are the people who crucified Jesus Christ, and Jesus called them the children of the devil.

The worst bondage is the kind that the prisoner himself does not recognize. He thinks he is free, yet he is really a slave. The Pharisees and other religious leaders thought that they were free, but they were actually enslaved in terrible spiritual bondage to sin and Satan. They would not face the truth, and yet it was the truth alone that could set them free.

Jesus’ statement can also be translated, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Again, this was another affirmation of His divine sonship, and the Jewish leaders received it as such. He had once again made Himself equal with God (), and this was the sin of blasphemy, worthy of death (). Jesus was divinely protected and simply walked away. His hour had not yet come. We cannot help but admire His courage as He presented the truth and invited blind religious men to trust Him and be set free.

About the only thing a blind man could do in that day was beg, and that is what this man was doing when Jesus passed by (v. ). No doubt there were many blind people who would have loved to be healed, but Jesus selected this man (see ). Apparently the man and his parents were well known in the community. It was on the Sabbath when Jesus healed the man (), so that once again He was upsetting and deliberately challenging the religious leaders (.).

The disciples did not look at the man as an object of mercy but rather as a subject for a theological discussion. It is much easier to discuss an abstract subject like “sin” than it is to minister to a concrete need in the life of a person. The disciples were sure that the man’s congenital blindness was caused by sin, either his own or his parents’, but Jesus disagreed with them.

In the final analysis, all physical problems are the result of our fall in Adam, for his disobedience brought sin and death into the world (). But afterward, to blame a specific disability on a specific sin committed by specific persons is certainly beyond any man’s ability or authority. Only God knows why babies are born with handicaps, and only God can turn those handicaps into something that will bring good to people and glory to His name.

Four times in this chapter people asked how the blind man was healed (vv. , , , ). First the neighbors asked the man, and then the Pharisees asked Him. Not satisfied with His reply, the Pharisees asked the man’s parents and then gave the son one final interrogation. Only the first time did they ask “Who?” The rest of the time they focused on finding out “How?” We are so prone to ask “How?” We want to understand the mechanics of a miracle instead of simply trusting the Savior, who alone can perform the miracle.

Since the Pharisees were the custodians of the faith, it was right that the healed man be brought to them for investigation. The fact that they studied this miracle in such detail is only further proof that Jesus did indeed heal the man. Since the man was born blind, the miracle was even greater, for blindness caused by sickness or injury might suddenly go away. Our Lord’s miracles can bear careful scrutiny by His enemies.

What lay behind all of this questioning and these furtive replies? The fear of people. We met it at the Festival of Shelters (), and we shall meet it again at our Lord’s last Passover (). These people were seeking the honor of men and not the honor that comes from God (). To be sure, it was a serious thing to be excommunicated from the synagogue, but it was far more serious to reject the truth and be lost forever.

He did not debate the character of Jesus Christ, because that was beyond his knowledge and experience. But one thing he did know: Now he could see. His testimony here reminds the reader of . Read that psalm in the light of this chapter, from the viewpoint of the healed beggar, and see how meaningful it becomes. Sharing the gospel effectively includes both an explanation of the process and a testimony about what Christ has done for us.

We admire the boldness of the man in asking those irate Pharisees if they wanted to follow Jesus! The man expected a negative answer, but he was courageous even to ask it. Unable to refute the evidence, the judges began to revile the witness, and once again Moses is brought into the picture ().

The Good Shepherd always cares for His sheep. Jesus knew that the man had been excommunicated, so He found him and revealed Himself to him. Remember, the man knew our Lord’s voice, but he had never seen His face.

Jesus’ statement does not contradict , . The reason for our Lord’s coming was salvation, but the result of His coming was condemnation of those who would not believe. The same sun that brings beauty out of the seeds also exposes the vermin hiding under the rocks. The religious leaders were blind and would not admit it; therefore, the light of truth only made them blinder. The beggar admitted his need, and he received both physical and spiritual sight.

The beggar was physically blind and spiritually blind, yet both his eyes and his heart were opened. Why? Because he listened to the Word, believed it, obeyed it, and experienced the grace of God. The Pharisees had good physical vision, but they were blind spiritually. Had they listened to the Word and sincerely considered the evidence, they too would have believed on Jesus Christ and been born again.

This sermon grew out of our Lord’s confrontation with Jewish leaders, following the excommunication of the beggar (ch. ). He had briefly spoken to them about light and darkness, but now He changed the image to that of the shepherd and the sheep. Why? Because to the Jewish mind, a “shepherd” was any kind of leader, spiritual or political. People looked on the king and prophets as shepherds.

The thieves and robbers could never enter through the door, so they have to climb over the wall and enter the fold through deception. But even if they did get in, they would never get the sheep to follow them, for the sheep follow only the voice of their own shepherd. The false shepherds can never lead the sheep, so they must steal them away.

When Jesus came to the nation of Israel, He came the appointed way, just as the Scriptures promised. Every true shepherd must be called of God and sent by God. If He truly speaks God’s Word, the sheep will “know His voice” (v. ) and not be afraid to follow him. The true shepherd will love the sheep and care for them.

Jesus was referring primarily to the religious leaders of that day. He was not condemning every prophet or servant of God who ever ministered before He came to earth. They were not true shepherds nor did they have the approval of God on their ministry. They did not love the sheep, but instead they exploited them and abused them. The beggar’s excommunication was a good example of what the “thieves and robbers” could do.

The word translated “good” means “intrinsically good, beautiful, fair.” It describes that which is the ideal, the model that others may safely imitate. Our Lord’s goodness was inherent in His nature. To call Him “good” is the same as calling Him “God” (, ).

As the shepherd cares for the sheep, the sheep get to know their shepherd better. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. They get to know Him better by listening to His voice (the Word) and experiencing His daily care. As the sheep follow the Shepherd, they learn to love and trust Him. He loves all who are His (; , ) and He shows that love in the way He cares for them.

The fact that Jesus said that He died “for the sheep” must not be isolated from the rest of biblical teaching about the cross. He also died for the nation Israel () and for the world (). While the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for the salvation of the world, it is efficient only for those who will believe.

God’s people are compared to sheep, and the comparison is a good one. Sheep are clean animals, unlike pigs and dogs (). They are defenseless and need the care of the shepherd (). They are, to use a classic phrase, “prone to wander,” and must often be searched for and brought back to the fold (). Sheep are peaceful animals, useful to the shepherd. In these and other ways, they picture those who have trusted Jesus Christ and are a part of God’s flock.

, His voluntary death was followed by His victorious resurrection. From the human point of view, it appeared that Jesus was executed; but from the divine point of view, He laid down His life willingly.

Since Jesus Christ is “the gate” (v. ), we should expect a division, because a door shuts some people in and others out! He is the Good Shepherd, and the shepherd must separate the sheep from the goats (). It is impossible to be neutral about Jesus Christ, for what we believe about Him is a matter of life or death ().

Jesus revealed to the Jewish leaders why they did not understand His words or grasp the significance of His works: They were not His sheep. From the human standpoint, we become His sheep by believing, but from the divine standpoint, we believe because we are His sheep. There is a mystery here that we cannot fathom or explain, but we can accept it and rejoice (). God has His sheep and He knows who they are. They will hear His voice and respond.

Jesus was at a site called Bethany east of the Jordan, about twenty miles from the Bethany of Judea (; ). One day, a messenger arrived with the sad news that our Lord’s dear friend Lazarus was sick. If the man had traveled quickly, without any delay, he could have made the trip in one day. Jesus sent him back the next day with the encouraging message recorded in . Then Jesus waited two more days before He left for Bethany, and by the time He and His disciples arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. This means that Lazarus had died the very day the messenger left to contact Jesus.

Our Lord’s message to the sisters did not say that their brother would not die. It promised only that death would not be the ultimate result, for the ultimate result would be the glory of God (note that once again, Jesus called Himself “the Son of God”). He wanted them to lay hold of this promise; in fact, He reminded Martha of this message when she balked at having the tomb opened (v. ).

God’s love for His own is not a pampering love; it is a perfecting love. The fact that He loves us and we love Him is no guarantee that we will be sheltered from the problems and pains of life. After all, the Father loves His Son, and yet the Father permitted His beloved Son to drink the cup of sorrow and experience the shame and pain of the cross. We must never think that love and suffering are incompatible. Certainly they unite in Jesus Christ.

The disciples feared for Jesus’ life in Judea, but the Lord calmed their fears by reminding them that He was on the Father’s schedule, and that nothing could harm them. As we have seen, this is an important theme in the gospel of John (; , , ; ; ; ; ). But the disciples not only misunderstood the schedule, they also misunderstood the reason for the visit.

Thomas was a doubting man, but we must confess that he was a devoted man: He was willing to go with Jesus into danger and risk his own life. We may not admire his faith, but we can certainly applaud his loyalty and courage.

Jesus was concerned not only about the faith of His own disciples, but also about the faith of Mary and Martha (vv. , ). Each experience of suffering and trial ought to increase our faith, but this kind of spiritual growth is not automatic. We must respond positively to the ministry of the Word and the Spirit of God. Jesus had sent a promise to the two sisters (v. ), and now He would discover how they had received it.

When we find ourselves confronted by disease, disappointment, delay, and even death, our only encouragement is the Word of God. We must live by faith and not by sight. Their situation seemed hopeless, yet the sisters knew that Jesus was the Master of every situation.

Perhaps the greatest transformation Jesus performed was to move the doctrine of the resurrection out of the future and into the present. Martha was looking to the future, knowing that Lazarus would rise again and she would see him. Her friends were looking to the past and asking, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” (v. ). But Jesus tried to center their attention on the present: Wherever He is, God’s resurrection power is available now (; ; ).

Here is another instance in John’s gospel of people lacking spiritual perception and being unable to understand the words of Jesus. Our Lord’s reply is the fifth of the “I AM” statements. It is important to note that Jesus did not deny what Martha said about the future resurrection. The resurrection of the human body is a cardinal doctrine in the orthodox Jewish faith. But in His great “I AM” statement, our Lord completely transformed the doctrine of the resurrection and, in so doing, brought great comfort to Martha’s heart.

Mary did not say much because she was overcome with sorrow and began to weep. Her friends joined in the weeping, as Jewish people are accustomed to do. The word “wailing” means “a loud weeping, a lamentation.” Our Lord’s response was to groan within and “He was deeply troubled.” At what was He indignant? At the ravages of sin in the world that He had created. Death is an enemy, and Satan uses the fear of death as a terrible weapon.

Our Lord’s weeping reveals the humanity of the Savior. He has entered into all of our experiences and knows how we feel. In fact, being the perfect God-Man, Jesus experienced these things in a deeper way than we do. His tears also assure us of His sympathy; He is indeed “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (). Today, He is our merciful and faithful High Priest, and we may come to God’s throne and find all the gracious help that we need ().

The experience of Lazarus is a good illustration of what happens to a sinner when he trusts the Savior (). Lazarus was dead, and all sinners are dead. He was decayed, because death and decay go together. All lost people are spiritually dead, but some are more “decayed” than others. No one can be “more dead” than another.

, As with the previous miracles, the people were divided in their response. Some did believe and on Palm Sunday gave witness of the miracle Jesus had performed (, ). But others immediately went to the religious leaders and reported what had happened in Bethany. These “informers” were so near the kingdom, yet there is no evidence that they believed. If the heart will not yield to truth, then the grace of God cannot bring salvation. These people could have experienced a spiritual resurrection in their own lives!

Jesus withdrew to Ephraim, about fifteen miles north of Jerusalem, and there He remained in quiet retirement with His disciples. The crowd was gathering in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, and the pilgrims were wondering if Jesus would attend the ceremonies even though He was in danger. He was now on the “wanted” list, because the council had made it known that anyone who knew where Jesus was must report it to the officials.

The account of Mary’s anointing of her Lord is found also in and . But it must not be confused with the account given in , where a former harlot anointed Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee. Mary was a virtuous woman, and she anointed Jesus in the house of Simon the (former) leper (). The event took place in Galilee, while the account we are now considering occurred in Judea.

In a sense, Mary was showing her devotion to Jesus before it was too late. She was “giving the roses” while He was yet alive, and not bringing them to the funeral! Her act of love and worship was public, spontaneous, sacrificial, lavish, personal, and unembarrassed. Jesus called it “a good work” (; ) and both commended her and defended her.

It would have required a year’s wages from a common laborer to purchase that ointment. Like David, Mary would not give to the Lord that which cost her nothing (). Her beautiful act of worship brought a fragrance to the very house in which they were dining, and the blessing of her deed has spread around the world (; ). Little did Mary realize that night that her gesture of love for Christ would be a blessing to believers around the world for centuries to come!

, gives the impression that immediately after this rebuke, Judas went to the priests and bargained to deliver Jesus into their hands. But it is likely that the events recorded in took place first. No doubt the Lord’s rebuke of Judas at Bethany played an important part in his decision to actually betray Jesus. Also, the fact that Jesus once again openly announced His death would motivate Judas to escape while the opportunity was there.

, This quiet evening of fellowship—in spite of the cruel way Judas treated Mary—must have brought special encouragement and strength to the Savior’s heart as He faced the demands of that last week before the cross. We should examine our own hearts and homes to ask whether we are bringing joy to His heart by our worship, work, and witness.

The procession between Bethany and Jerusalem was a part of His obedience to the Father’s will. The prophet Zechariah () prophesied that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem in that manner, and Jesus fulfilled the prophecy. Certainly Jesus was openly announcing to the people that He indeed is the King of Israel (), the promised Messiah. No doubt many of the pilgrims hoped that now He would defeat the Romans and set the nation of Israel free.

What did the “triumphal entry” mean to the people of Israel? The pilgrims welcomed Jesus, spread their garments before Him, and waved palm branches as symbols of peace and victory (). They quoted from , which is a messianic psalm, and they proclaimed Him the “King of Israel.” But while they were doing this, Jesus was weeping ()! But He wasn’t weeping because He was overcome by their adulation; He was weeping because of the unbelief that lay behind the welcome.

The name Jerusalem means “city of peace” or “foundation of peace,” and the people were hoping that Jesus would bring them the peace that they needed. However, He wept because He saw what lay ahead of the nation—war, suffering, destruction, and a scattered people. At His birth, the angels announced peace on earth (, ), but in His ministry Jesus announced that He came not to “give peace on earth . . . but rather division” (, ). It is significant that the crowds shouted “peace in heaven” (), because that is the only place where there is peace today!

As they watched the great crowd gather and honor Jesus, the Pharisees were quite sure that Jesus had won the day. They were anticipating some kind of general revolt during the Passover season. Perhaps Jesus would perform a great miracle and in that way capture the minds and hearts of the restless people. How little they really understood the mind and heart of the Master! What they did not realize was that Jesus was forcing their hand so that the Sanhedrin would act during the feast. The Lamb of God had to give His life when the Passover lambs were being slain.

These Gentiles asked Philip for the privilege of an interview with Jesus. Philip finally told Andrew (who was often bringing people to Jesus), and Andrew gave the request to the Lord. No doubt there were many people who wanted private interviews with the Lord, but they were afraid of the Pharisees (). Being from out of the country, the Gentile visitors either did not know about the danger, or did not fear the consequences.

The central theme of this message is the glory of God (vv. , ). We would have expected Jesus to say, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be crucified.” But Jesus saw beyond the cross to the glory that would follow (see ; ). In fact, the glory of God is an important theme in the remaining chapters of John’s gospel (see , ).

God’s children are like seeds. They are small and insignificant, but they have life in them—God’s life. However, that life can never be fulfilled unless we yield ourselves to God and permit Him to “plant” us. We must die to self so that we may live unto God (; ). The only way to have a fruitful life is to follow the example of Jesus Christ as we die to self and experience His resurrection power.

The people heard a sound but did not know the message that had been conveyed. Yet if the voice was for their sakes and they could not understand it, what good was it? In that the voice assured Jesus, who was to die for their sakes, the voice was for their good. They heard Him pray and they heard a sound from heaven in response to that prayer. That should have convinced them that Jesus was in touch with the Father.

We have met the phrase “lifted up” before (; ). Its basic meaning is crucifixion (see ), but it also carries the idea of glorification. “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high” (). The Son of Man was glorified by being crucified!

This marked the end of our Lord’s public ministry as far as John’s record is concerned. Jesus departed and hid Himself. It was judgment on the nation that saw His miracles, heard His messages, and scrutinized His ministry, and yet refused to believe on Him.

There were those who would not believe, and there were those who would not openly confess Christ even though they had believed (, ). Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea belonged to this group initially, but they eventually came out openly in their confession of Christ (, ). There were numbers of Pharisees () and even priests () in the early church. It was the old struggle between the glory of God and the praise of men (, ). It was a costly thing to be excommunicated (), and these “secret believers” wanted the best of both worlds. See in this regard.

Forms of the word “judge” are repeated four times in the closing words of this message, and solemn words they are. Jesus did not come to judge; He came to save (; ). But if the sinner will not trust the Savior, the Savior must become the Judge. But the sinner is actually the one passing judgment on himself, not the Lord! As you have studied these twelve chapters of the gospel of John, you have seen Jesus Christ in His life, His ministry, His miracles, His message, and His desire to save lost sinners.

Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Sunday, and on Monday He had cleansed the temple. Tuesday was a day of conflict as the religious leaders sought to trip Him up and get evidence to arrest Him. These events are recorded in . Wednesday was probably a day of rest, but on Thursday He met in the Upper Room with His disciples in order to observe Passover.

This was the hour that Jesus recognized was the time when He would be glorified through His death, resurrection, and ascension. From the human point of view, it meant suffering, but from the divine point of view, it meant glory. Jesus would soon leave this world and return to the Father who sent Him, having finished His work on earth (). When the servant of God is in the will of God, He is immortal until His work is done. They could not even arrest Jesus, let alone kill Him, until the right hour had arrived.

The Father had put all things into the Son’s hands, yet Jesus picked up a towel and a basin! His humility was not born of poverty, but of riches. He was rich, yet He became poor (). A Malay proverb says, “The fuller the ear is of rice-grain, the lower it bends.” Jesus celebrated the glory ahead by stooping to serve.

The Lord cleanses us through the blood of Christ, that is, His work on the cross (), and through the application of His Word to our lives (; ; , ). The water of the Word can keep our hearts and minds clean so that we will avoid the pollutions of this world. But if we do sin, we have a loving Advocate in glory who will hear our prayers of confession and forgive us (, ).

, When the sinner trusts the Savior, he is “bathed” and his sins are washed away and forgiven (see ; ; and ). “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (). However, as the believer walks in this world, it is easy to become defiled. He does not need to be bathed all over again; he simply needs to have that defilement cleansed away. God promises to cleanse us when we confess our sins to Him ().

John was careful to point out that Peter and Judas were in a different relationship with Jesus. Yes, Jesus washed Judas’s feet! But it did Judas no good because he had not been bathed all over. Some people teach that Judas was a saved man who sinned away his salvation, but that is not what Jesus said. Our Lord made it very clear that Judas had never been cleansed from his sins and was an unbeliever ().

The servant (slave) is not greater than his master; so, if the master becomes a slave, where does that put the slave? On the same level as the master! By becoming a servant, our Lord did not push us down. He lifted us up! He dignified sacrifice and service. You must keep in mind that the Romans had no use for humility, and the Greeks despised manual labor. Jesus combined these two when He washed the disciples’ feet.

We today, just like the disciples that night, desperately need this lesson on humility. The church is filled with a worldly spirit of competition and criticism as believers vie with one another to see who is the greatest. We are growing in knowledge, but not in grace (see ). Jesus served His disciples because of His humility and because of His love. Examine with , and : Jesus “was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” “For God so loved the world. . . .” In the Upper Room, Jesus ministered in love to His own disciples, and they received Him and what He had to say. The Greek text says in , “He loved them to the uttermost (to the very end).”

Jesus was concerned that Judas’s treachery would weaken His disciples’ faith. This is why He related it to the Word of God: When the disciples saw all of this fulfilled, it would make their faith stronger (see ). Judas had been disloyal, but Jesus expected them to be loyal to Him and His cause. After all, He was God the Son sent by God the Father. They were Christ’s chosen representatives; to receive them would be the same as receiving the Father and the Son. What a privilege, to be ambassadors of the King!

When Jesus gave the bread to Judas, it was interpreted as an act of love and honor. In fact, Judas was seated at the place of honor, so our Lord’s actions were seen in that light. He was bestowing a special honor on Judas. No wonder, after Judas left the room, the disciples got into an argument over who was the greatest ().

The instant Judas was gone, the atmosphere was cleared, and Jesus began to instruct His disciples and prepare them for His crucifixion and His ultimate return to heaven. It was after Judas’s departure that He instituted the Lord’s Supper, something that Judas as an unbeliever certainly could not share. Judas was out in the night, controlled by the prince of darkness, Satan, but Jesus was in the light, sharing love and truth with His beloved disciples.

This section begins and ends with love: Jesus’ love for His own () and the disciples’ love for one another. It is love that is the true evidence that we belong to Jesus Christ.

We are not surprised that the apostles were troubled. After all, Jesus had announced that one of them was a traitor, and then He warned Peter that he was going to deny his Lord three times. Self-confident Peter was certain that he could not only follow his Lord, but even die with Him and for Him. Alas, Peter did not know his own heart, nor do we really know our hearts, except for one thing: Our hearts easily become troubled.

Since heaven is the Father’s house, it must be a place of love and joy. When the apostle John tried to describe heaven, he almost ran out of symbols and comparisons ()! Finally, he listed the things that would not be there: death, sorrow, crying, pain, night, and so on. What a wonderful home it will be—and we will enjoy it forever!

This is a clear promise of our Lord’s return for His people. Some will go to heaven through the valley of the shadow of death, but those who are alive when Jesus returns will never see death (, ). They will be changed to be like Christ and will go to heaven ().

What does it mean to know the Father? The word “know” is used ninety-one times in John’s Gospel, but it does not always carry the same meaning. In fact, there are four different “levels” of knowing according to John. The lowest level is simply knowing a fact. The next level is to understand the truth behind that fact. However, you can know the fact and know the truth behind it and still be lost in your sins. The third level introduces relationship; “to know” means “to believe in a person and become related to him or her.” This is the way “know” is used in . In fact, “to know” is also used of the most intimate relationship between man and wife (). The fourth use of “know” means “to have a deeper relationship with a person; a deeper communion.” It was this level Paul was referring to when he wrote, “I want to know Him” (). When Jesus said that knowing Him and seeing Him was the same as knowing and seeing the Father, He was claiming to be God. From now on, they would understand more and more about the Father, even though Jesus was leaving them.

The “greater works” would apply initially to the apostles who were given the power to perform special miracles as the credentials of their office (, ; , ). These miracles were not greater in quality, for “a servant is not greater than his master” (), but rather in scope and quantity. Peter preached one sermon and three thousand sinners were converted in one day! The fact that ordinary people performed these signs made them even more wonderful and brought great glory to God ().

, This is not a “magic formula” that we automatically attach to our prayer requests, guaranteeing that God will answer. To ask anything of the Father, in the name of Jesus, means that we ask what Jesus would ask, what would please Him, and what would bring Him glory by furthering His work. For example, when your employer says to you, “You may use my name” to conduct business correspondence, he or she is handing you a great privilege as well as a tremendous responsibility.

The “anything” in these verses is qualified by all that God has revealed in His Word about prayer. God is not giving us carte blanche; “in My name” is the controlling element. To know God’s name means to know His nature, what He is, and what He wants to do. God answers prayer in order to honor His name. Any request that does not glorify God’s name should not be asked in His name.

, The Holy Spirit is given two special distinctions by our Lord: “another Helper” and “the spirit of truth.” The Greek word translated “Helper” is parakletos and it is used only by John (, ; ; ; ). It means “called alongside to assist.” This is why the term is sometimes translated “Comforter.” The Holy Spirit does not work instead of us, or in spite of us, but in us and through us.

If we want the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we must seek to glorify Christ, and we must make much of the Word of God. When you compare with , you will see that both passages describe the same kind of Christian life—joyful, thankful, and submissive. To be filled with the Spirit is the same as to be controlled by the Word. The Spirit of truth uses the Word of truth to guide us into the will and the work of God.

The Holy Spirit abides in the believer. He is a gift from the Father in answer to the prayer of the Son. During His earthly ministry, Jesus had guided, guarded, and taught His disciples, but now He was going to leave them. The Spirit of God would come to them and dwell in them.

Catalyst

Note the repetition of the word love throughout John’s description of the Last Supper. If we treasure God’s Word and obey it, then the Father and the Son will share their love with us and make their home in us. The phrase “make our home” in is related to the “Father’s home” in .

When the sinner trusts Christ, he is born again, and the Spirit immediately enters his body and bears witness that he is a child of God. The Spirit is resident and will not depart. But as the believer yields to the Father, loves the Word, prays, and obeys, there is a deeper relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Salvation means we are going to heaven, but submission means that heaven comes to us!

Our experience with God ought to go deeper and deeper, and it will as we yield to the Spirit of truth and permit Him to teach us and guide us. If we love God and obey Him, He will manifest His love to us in a deeper way each day.

Jesus had been rejected by His own people, so He could not manifest Himself to them. In fact, it was an act of mercy that He did not manifest Himself to the world, because that would have meant judgment. He has revealed Himself to His church and left the church in the world to be a witness of God’s love. He is patiently waiting, still giving lost sinners opportunity to repent and be saved (). One day He will return (), and the world will behold Him.

One of the best ways to ease a troubled heart is to bathe it in the love of God. When you feel like an “orphan,” let the Spirit of God reveal God’s love to you in a deeper way. Charles Spurgeon said, “Little faith will take your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.” Your heart can become a “heaven on earth” as you commune with the Lord and worship Him.

Go to the

People in the world walk by sight and depend on the externals, but Christians walk by faith and depend on the eternals. The Spirit of God teaches us the Word and guides us (not drags us!) into the truth. He also reminds us of what He has taught us so that we can depend on God’s Word in the difficult times of life.

The world bases its peace on its resources, while God’s peace depends on relationships. To be right with God means to enjoy the peace of God. The world depends on personal ability, but the Christian depends on spiritual adequacy in Christ. In the world, peace is something you hope for or work for, but to the Christian, peace is God’s wonderful gift, received by faith. Unsaved people enjoy peace when there is an absence of trouble; Christians enjoy peace in spite of trials because of the presence of power, the Holy Spirit.

, Here the Lord named our great spiritual enemy—the devil, the ruler of this world. Jesus overcame Satan (), and therefore the devil has no claim on Him. There is no point in Jesus Christ where the devil can get a foothold. Since we are “in Christ,” Satan can get no foothold in the believer’s life, unless we permit it. Neither Satan nor the world can trouble our hearts if we are yielded to the “peace of God” through the Holy Spirit.

This is the seventh and last of the “I AM” statements of Christ recorded in the gospel of John. However, Jesus did not stop with this image, but He went on to call His followers “My friends” (v. ). These two words for believers—branches and friends—reveal both our privileges and our responsibilities. As branches, we have the privilege of sharing His life, and the responsibility of abiding. As friends, we have the privilege of knowing His will, and the responsibility of obeying.

Of itself, a branch is weak and useless. It is good for either bearing or burning, but not for building (see ). The branch cannot produce its own life; it must draw that life from the vine. It is our communion with Christ through the Spirit that makes possible the bearing of the fruit. The sooner we as believers discover that we are but branches, the better we will relate to the Lord, for we will know our own weakness and confess our need for His strength.

Our heavenly Father is never nearer to us than when He is pruning us. Sometimes He cuts away the dead wood that might cause trouble, but often He cuts off the living tissue that is robbing us of spiritual vigor. Pruning does not simply mean spiritual surgery that removes what is bad. It can also mean cutting away the good and the better so that we might enjoy the best. Yes, pruning hurts, but it also helps. We may not enjoy it, but we need it.

There are special evidences of salvation, and they are unmistakably clear when believers “abide” in Christ. For one thing, when you are abiding in Christ you produce fruit (v. ). What that “fruit” is, we will discuss later. Also, you experience the Father’s “pruning” so that you will bear more fruit (v. ). The believer who is abiding in Christ has his prayers answered (v. ) and experiences a deepening love for Christ and for other believers (vv. , , ). He also experiences joy (v. ).

This abiding relationship is natural to the branch and the vine, but it must be cultivated in the Christian life. It is not automatic. Remaining in Christ demands worship, meditation on God’s Word, prayer, sacrifice, and service—but what a joyful experience it is! Once you have begun to cultivate this deeper communion with Christ, you have no desire to return to the shallow life of the careless Christian.

Catalyst

There are actually three different vines found in Scripture: the past vine, the future vine, and the present vine.

The past vine was the nation of Israel (see ; ; ; ; ). In an act of wonderful grace, God “transplanted” Israel into Canaan and gave the nation every possible benefit. “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?” God asked (). If ever a nation had everything it needed to succeed, it was Israel. But the vine produced wild grapes! Instead of practicing justice, it practiced oppression; instead of producing righteousness, it produced unrighteousness and cries of distress from the victims (). God had to deal with the nation Israel and chasten it, but even that did not produce lasting results. When God’s own Son came to the vineyard, they cast Him out and killed Him ().

There is also a future harvest, “the harvest of the earth” described in . This is the Gentile world system ripening for God’s judgment. Believers are the harvest of heaven, but the unsaved are “the harvest of the earth.” The unsaved depend on this world for their sustenance and satisfaction, while believers depend on Jesus Christ. The “harvest of the earth” will be cut down and destroyed when Jesus Christ returns (, ).

The present vine is our Lord Jesus Christ, and, of course, the vine includes the branches. He is “the true vine,” that is, “the original of which all other vines are a copy.” As Christians, we do not live on substitutes! The symbolism of the vine and branches is similar to that of the head and the body: We have a living relationship to Christ and belong to Him.

Go to the

A true branch, united with the vine, will always bear fruit. Not every branch bears a bumper crop, just as not every field has a bumper harvest (, ), but there is always fruit where there is life. If there is no fruit, the branch is worthless and it is cast away and burned. I do not believe our Lord is teaching here that true believers can lose their salvation, for this would contradict what He taught in and .

Several times in John’s Gospel you will find Jesus speaking about the Father’s love for Him. We so emphasize God’s love for the world and the church that we forget that the Father loves the Son. Because the Father does love the Son, He has put all things into the Son’s hand () and has revealed all things to the Son (). The Father loved the Son before the foundation of the world (); He loved the Son when the Son died on the cross (). The amazing thing is believers today can personally experience that same love ().

As a friend of God, Abraham shared God’s secrets (; ; ). It is this kind of a relationship that Jesus described when He called His disciples “friends.” It was certainly a relationship of love, both for Him and for each other. The friends of the King could not compete with each other for attention or promotion. They were a part of the “inner circle,” not to promote themselves, but to serve their King. What a rebuke this must have been to the selfish disciples, who often argued over who was the greatest!

, These verses summarize what it means to be a friend of the King of kings. It is a humbling experience, for He chose us and we did not choose Him. We must keep this in mind lest we become proud and presumptuous. It means that we keep our ears open and listen to what He says to us.

Keep in mind that Christian love is not basically a “feeling”; it is an act of the will. The proof of our love is not in our feelings but in our actions, even to the extent of laying down our lives for Christ and for one another (). Jesus laid down His life for both His friends and His enemies ()! While the emotions are certainly involved, real Christian love is an act of the will. It means treating others the way God treats us.

This section is tied together by two important themes: the opposition of the world against the church, and the ministry of the Spirit to and through the church. Our Lord had been talking about love (, ), but now He is talking about hate, and He uses the word seven times. It seems incredible that anyone would hate Jesus Christ and His people, but that is exactly what the situation is today—some of that hatred comes from religious people. In a few hours, the religious leaders of Israel would be condemning their Messiah and crying out for His blood.

We should begin by clarifying what Jesus means by “the world,” because the term is used in Scripture in at least three different ways. It can mean the created world (“the very world He created”—), the world of humanity (“For God loved the world so much”—), or society apart from God and opposed to God (“The world cannot receive Him”—). We sometimes use the phrase “the world system” to define this special meaning.

Our Lord had openly taught His disciples that one day persecution would come. He mentioned it in the Sermon on the Mount (, ) and in His “commissioning sermon” when He sent out the disciples to minister (). In His sermon denouncing the Pharisees, Jesus openly said that they would persecute and kill God’s servants (, ), and there was a similar warning given in His prophetic message on the Mount of Olives (). Christians can stand and withstand in the midst of the world’s hatred because of the special ministries of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Shepherd and we are the sheep, and when the world attacks the Shepherd, it affects the sheep (). He is the Master (Teacher) and we are the disciples, the learners. But it is encouraging to know that when God’s people are persecuted, our Lord enters into their suffering, for He is the head of the body and we are the members. He feels the persecution of the church. “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?” (). Anything that the enemy can do to us has already been done to Jesus Christ, and He is with us as we suffer.

The world is spiritually ignorant and blind. If you had asked the religious leaders in Jerusalem if they knew the God they were seeking to defend, they would have said, “Of course we know Him! Israel has known the true God for centuries!” But Jesus said that they did not know the Father and, therefore, they could not know the Son (see ). The religious leaders knew a great deal about Jehovah God and could quote chapter and verse to defend their doctrines, but they did not personally know God.

How does the Holy Spirit encourage believers when they are experiencing the hatred and opposition of the world? It is primarily through the Word of God. For one thing, the Spirit reminds us that this opposition is clearly expressed by various writers in the Scriptures. In , Jesus quoted and . The Word assured Him that the hatred of the world was not because of anything He had done to deliberately incite such opposition. We today can turn to passages like ; ; , ; and . We also have the encouraging words of our Lord found in the Gospels.

It is important to note that the Spirit comes to the church and not to the world. This means that He works in and through the church. The Holy Spirit does not minister in a vacuum. Just as the Son of God had to have a body in order to do His work on earth, so the Spirit of God needs a body to accomplish His ministries, and that body is the church. Our bodies are His tools and temples, and He wants to use us to glorify Christ and to witness to a lost world.

When a lost sinner is truly under conviction, he will see the folly and evil of unbelief; he will confess that he does not measure up to the righteousness of Christ; and he will realize that he is under condemnation because he belongs to the world and the devil ().

It is essential that we see that the work of the Spirit of God is never divorced from Jesus Christ or the Word of God. The Holy Spirit “will testify all about Me” (); “He will bring Me glory” (). People who claim that the Spirit of God led them to do things contrary to the example of Christ or the teaching of the Word are mistaken and are being led astray by Satan. Jesus is the truth (), and the Word is truth (), and the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth.” Where the Holy Spirit is at work, there must be truth.

The teaching of the Spirit through the apostles was not different from the teaching of the Spirit through Jesus Christ. The same Holy Spirit communicated the truths found in the four Gospels, the Epistles, and the Book of Revelation, and He also wrote the history and doctrine found in Acts. It is the ministry of the Spirit to enrich us with the treasures of God’s truth. He enlightens us with God’s truth and enriches us with God’s treasures. The Word of God is a rich mine of gold, silver, and precious jewels (; ).

We do not study the Word of God to order to “argue religion” with people, or to show off our grasp of spiritual things. We study the Word to see Jesus Christ, to know God better, to glorify Him in our lives. As we witness in this hostile world, the Spirit uses the Word He has taught us, and we share Jesus Christ with the lost. It is our job to witness; it is the Spirit’s job to convict.

The principle is simply this: God brings joy to our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation. His illustration of the woman giving birth makes this clear. The same baby that caused the pain also caused the joy. In birth, God does not substitute something else to relieve the mother’s pain. Instead, He uses what is there already but transforms it. And so it is in the Christian life: God takes seemingly impossible situations, adds the miracle of His grace, and transforms trial into triumph and sorrow into joy.

The world today does not want Jesus Christ or His church. The world is rejoicing while we are suffering, longing for our Lord to return. In fact, all of creation “groans and labors with birth pangs” because of sin, awaiting His return (). While the immediate application may have been to the sorrowing hearts of the disciples, the ultimate application is to all of God’s people as they await the coming of Jesus Christ. To us, it seems like a long wait, but God does not measure time as we do (see ). But while we are waiting, we must deal with our trials and hurts on the basis of transformation and not substitution, if we expect to mature in the Christian life.

Jesus explained that there would be a new situation because of His resurrection and ascension. Because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, He would no longer speak to them in terms that demanded spiritual insight for their understanding. He would speak to them plainly and reveal the Father to them.

Jesus assured them that a day would soon come when they would not ask Him questions. Instead, they would pray to the Father and He would meet their needs. This was the promise that they desperately needed to believe: that the Father loved them and would hear their requests and meet their needs. While Jesus was on earth, He met all the needs of His disciples. Now He would return to the Father, but the Father would meet their needs. Here is the wonderful promise and privilege of prayer.

When you read the Book of Acts, you discover that the early church depended on prayer. They believed the promises of God and asked God for what they needed. It would do all of God’s people good if they reviewed regularly what Jesus taught about prayer in this Upper Room discourse.

This is the summary and climax of the Upper Room message. Why did He give this message? So that the disciples might have peace in a world of tribulation. Note the contrast between “in Me” and “in the world.” In Christ there is peace; in the world there is tribulation. This is the position we need to claim: we are in Christ, and therefore we can overcome the world and all of its hatred.

As we review this section, we can see how these three explanations our Lord gave all fit together. He revealed a wonderful principle—God transforms sorrow into joy. But this principle will not work in our lives unless we believe His promise and pray. God has ordained that His work is accomplished through believing prayer. But we will not be able to pray effectively if we do not claim our position as conquerors in Jesus Christ.

The progression of thought in this prayer is not difficult to discover. Jesus first prayed for Himself and told the Father that His work on earth had been finished (vv. ). Then He prayed for His disciples, that the Father would keep them and sanctify them (vv. ). He closed His prayer by praying for you and Me and the whole church, that we might be unified in Him and one day share His glory (vv. ).

No matter what events occurred later that evening, this prayer makes it clear that Jesus was and is the Overcomer. He was not a “victim”; He was and is the Victor! “Be of good cheer,” He had encouraged His disciples; “I have overcome the world” (). The word “world” is used nineteen times in this prayer, so it is easy to see the connection between the prayer and . If you and I will understand and apply the truths revealed in this profound prayer, it will enable us to be overcomers too.

Jesus was preparing Himself for the sufferings that lay ahead. As He contemplated the glory that the Father promised Him, He would receive new strength for His sacrifice (). But He also had His disciples in mind (). What an encouragement this prayer should have been to them! He prayed about their security, their joy, their unity, and their future glory! He also prayed it for us today, so that we would know all that He has done for us and given to us, and all that He will do for us when we get to heaven.

The word “glory” is used eight times in this prayer, so it is an important theme. He glorified the Father in His miracles (; ), to be sure, but He brought the greatest glory to the Father through His sufferings and death (see ; , ). From the human point of view, Calvary was a revolting display of man’s sin, but from the divine point of view, the cross revealed and magnified the grace and glory of God.

Jesus also taught His disciples that God—the great “I AM”—was their heavenly Father. The word “Father” is used fifty-three times in , and 122 times in John’s Gospel! In His messages to the Jews, Jesus made it clear that the Father sent Him, that He was equal to the Father, and that His words and works came from the Father. It was a clear claim to deity, but they refused to believe.

One of the ministries of the Son was to reveal, or manifest, the Father (). The Greek word translated “manifested” means, “to unfold, to lead, to show the way.” Jesus did not instantly manifest the Father in a blaze of blinding glory, because His disciples could not have endured that kind of experience. Gradually, by His words and His deeds, He revealed to them the nature of God, as they were able to bear it ().

, God keeps His own. Our safety depends on the nature of God, not our own character or conduct. When He was on earth, Jesus kept His disciples and they could depend on Him. “Those whom You gave Me I have kept” (v. ). If the Savior, in a limited human body, could keep His own while He was on earth, should He not be able to keep them now that He is glorified in heaven? He and the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, are surely able to guard and secure God’s people!

We have the fellowship of the church: “that they may be one as We are.” The New Testament knows nothing of isolated believers; wherever you find saints, you find them in fellowship. Why? Because God’s people need each other. Jesus opened His Upper Room message by washing the disciples’ feet and teaching them to minister to one another.

Catalyst

How does the Word of God enable us to overcome the world? To begin with, it gives us joy (), and this inward joy gives us the strength to overcome (). We commonly think of Jesus Christ as “a Man of sorrows” (), and indeed He was; but He was also a person of deep abiding joy. is the very heart of this prayer, and its theme is joy!

The Word not only imparts the joy of the Lord, but it also assures us of His love (). The world hates us, but we are able to confront this hatred with God’s own love, a love imparted to us by the Spirit through the Word. The world hates us because we do not belong to its system (, ) and will not be conformed to its practices and standards (). The Word reveals to us what the world is really like; the Word exposes the world’s deceptions and dangerous devices.

The Word of God not only brings us God’s joy and love, but it also imparts God’s power for holy living (). The burden of our Lord’s prayer in vv. was security, but here it is sanctity, practical holy living to the glory of God. We are in the world but not of the world, and we must not live like the world. True sanctification (being set apart for God) comes through the ministry of the Word of God.

Go to the

God has provided the divine resources for us to glorify Him and be faithful. We have His Word (vv. , ), and His Word reveals to us all that we have in Jesus Christ. The Word gives us faith and assurance. We have the Son of God interceding for us (v. ; ; ). Since the Father always answers the prayers of His Son (, ), this intercessory ministry helps to keep us safe and secure.

God’s truth has been given to us in three “editions.” His Word is truth (v. ); His Son is the truth (); and His Spirit is the truth (). We need all three if we are to experience true sanctification, a sanctification that touches every part of our inner person. With the mind, we learn God’s truth through the Word. With the heart, we love God’s truth, His Son. With the will, we yield to the Spirit and live God’s truth day by day. It takes all three for a balanced experience of sanctification.

Here our Lord focuses our attention on the future. He begins to pray for us who live today, for the whole church throughout all ages. He has already prayed about security and sanctity; now the burden of His prayer is unity. He is concerned that His people experience a spiritual unity that is like the oneness of the Father and the Son. Christians may belong to different fellowships, but they all belong to the Lord and to each other.

One of the things that most impresses the world is the way Christians love each other and live together in harmony. It is this witness that our Lord wants in the world so that the world may believe that He was sent by His Father (v. ). The lost world cannot see God, but they can see Christians, and what they see in us is what they will believe about God. If they see love and unity, they will believe that God is love. If they see hatred and division, they will reject the message of the gospel.

, Jesus declares the importance of truth and love in the church. Believers know God’s name (nature) and even share in that divine nature. Jesus makes it clear that truth and love must go together (see ). It has well been said that truth without love is brutality, but love without truth is hypocrisy. The mind grows by taking in truth, but the heart grows by giving out love. Knowledge alone can lead to pride (), and love alone can lead to wrong decisions (see , ). Christian love must not be blind!

The private ministry of our Lord with His disciples has now ended, and the public drama of redemption is about to begin. Man will do his worst, and God will respond with His very best. “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” ().

Human history began in a garden (.), and the first sin of man was committed in that garden. The first Adam disobeyed God and was cast out of the garden, but the Last Adam () was obedient as He went into the garden. In a garden, the first Adam brought sin and death to mankind, but Jesus, by His obedience, brought righteousness and life to all who will trust Him.

The name for the garden was Gethsemane (see ), which means “oil press.” Even today there are ancient olive trees in Gethsemane, though certainly not the ones that were there in Jesus’ day. The olives would be picked and put into the press for their oil. What a picture of suffering! So our Lord would go through the “oil press” and the “winepress” () and taste our judgment for us. “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” ().

Knowing what would happen, Jesus went to the garden in obedience to the Father’s will. From the other Gospels, we know He left eight of the men near the entrance, and took Peter, James, and John and went to another part of the garden to pray (; ). His human soul longed for the kind of encouragement and companionship they could give Him at this critical hour, but alas, they went to sleep! It was easy for the men to boast about their devotion to Christ, but when the test came, they failed miserably. Before we judge them too severely, however, we had better examine our own hearts. When we are “pressed,” do we obey or run away?

Jesus was in full control; He knew what would happen (see , , ; ). Judas expected some kind of deception, so he arranged to identify Jesus by kissing him (, ). But Jesus shocked both Judas and the arresting officers by boldly presenting Himself to them. He had nothing to fear and nothing to hide; He would willingly lay down His life for His sheep. Furthermore, by surrendering to the officers, Jesus helped to protect His disciples. He kept them safe not only spiritually (, ) but also physically.

In the garden that night, you would find both grace and guilt. Peter was guilty of resisting God’s will. Judas was guilty of the basest kind of treachery. The mob was guilty of rejecting the Son of God and treating Him as though He were the lowest kind of criminal.

, If Jesus had the power to stun an armed mob, He could have saved Himself from arrest, trial, and death. But He willingly submitted! And He did it for us! It is a sad thing when well-meaning but ignorant Christians take up the sword to “defend” the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter hurt Malchus, something no believer should do. Peter hurt the testimony of Christ and gave the false impression that His disciples hate their enemies and try to destroy them.

Peter’s sword symbolizes rebellion against the will of God. Peter should have known that Jesus would be arrested and that He would willingly surrender to His enemies (; , ; ). Peter made every mistake possible! He fought the wrong enemy, used the wrong weapon, had the wrong motive, and accomplished the wrong result. He was openly resisting the will of God and hindering the work that Jesus came to accomplish. While we admire his courage and sincerity, it was certainly a demonstration of zeal without knowledge.

Jesus was able to accept the cup because it was mixed by the Father and given to Him from the Father’s hand. He did not resist the Father’s will, because He came to do the Father’s will and finish the work the Father gave Him to do. “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (). Since the Father had mixed and measured the contents of the cup, Jesus knew He had nothing to fear.

We do not know who the other disciple was who went with Peter into the courtyard of the home of the high priest. It was probably John, though it is difficult to understand how a fisherman could be acquainted with the high priest and his household. Was this “other disciple” possibly Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea? They would certainly have access to this home.

The crowing of the cock was assurance to Peter that Jesus was totally in control of the situation, even though He was bound and being harassed by the authorities. By controlling one bird, Jesus affirmed His sovereignty. According to , God gave man authority over the fish, the birds, and the animals. Peter had seen Jesus exercise authority over the fish (; ) and the animals (), but now he recognized His authority over the birds.

When Jesus confessed clearly that He was the Christ, the council found Him guilty of blasphemy and therefore, according to their law, worthy of death. However, it was necessary for the council to meet early the next morning and give their verdict, since it was not considered legal to try capital cases at night.

, It was customary for the Roman governor to be in Jerusalem during Passover in case there were any outbursts of Jewish nationalism. John includes here an ironic detail about the story. The religious leaders did not hesitate to condemn an innocent man, but they were careful not to be defiled by walking on Gentile ground! It would be tragic to be ceremonially defiled during the seven days of Passover.

If Pilate had a Roman king in mind, then Jesus could be considered a rebel. If the governor was thinking about a Jewish kind of king, then political matters could be set aside. It is interesting that Pilate called Jesus “king” at least four times during the trial, and even used that title for the placard He hung on the cross.

Jesus not only told Pilate of His origin, He also explained His ministry: to bear witness unto the truth. His was a spiritual kingdom of truth, and He won people to His cause not through force but through conviction and persuasion. He spoke the truth of God’s Word, and all who were His people would respond to His call (see ; ). Rome’s weapon was the sword; but our Lord’s weapon was the truth of God, the sword of the Spirit ().

The people were persuaded by the chief priests and elders (), whose religious convictions did not motivate them toward justice and equity. National feelings always increased during Passover, and a vote for Barabbas was a vote against Rome. Even though Jesus had been a popular figure among the people, many of them no doubt were disappointed that He had not led a popular uprising to overthrow Rome.

The Jews had mocked His claim to be a prophet (, ), and now the Gentiles mocked His claim to be a king. The verb tenses in the Greek text in indicate that the soldiers repeatedly came to Him, mocked Him, and slapped Him.

, The failure of Pilate’s plan teaches us an important lesson: It takes more than human sentiment to bring the lost sinner to salvation. There is a view of the Atonement called “the moral influence theory” that would fit right into the governor’s approach. It states that the realization of our Lord’s sufferings moves the heart of the sinner so that he turns from sin and begins to love God. It is purely subjective and has no bearing on the holiness of God or the importance of satisfying divine justice.

The cross involves much more than an exhibition of innocent suffering. On that cross, the Son of God paid the price for the sins of the world and thereby declared the love of God and defended the holiness and justice of God. We are not saved by feeling pity for Jesus. We are saved by repenting of our sins and trusting Jesus, the sinless substitute.

Why did Jesus not answer Pilate’s question? Because He had already answered it (, ). It is a basic spiritual principle that God does not reveal new truth to us if we fail to act on the truth we already know. Furthermore, Pilate had already made it clear that he was not personally interested in spiritual truth. All he was concerned about was maintaining peace in Jerusalem as he tried to expedite the trial of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus was referring to Caiaphas, the corrupt high priest who had long before determined that Jesus must die (). Caiaphas knew the Scriptures and had been given every opportunity to examine the evidence. He had willfully closed his eyes and hardened his heart.

From the human standpoint, the trial of Jesus was the greatest crime and tragedy in history. From the divine viewpoint, it was the fulfillment of prophecy and the accomplishment of the will of God. The fact that God had planned all of this did not absolve the participants of their responsibility. In fact, at Pentecost, Peter put both ideas together in one statement ().

It was customary for the criminal to carry his cross, or at least the crossbeam, from the hall of judgment to the place of execution. Jesus began the mile-long walk carrying His cross, but He was relieved by Simon of Cyrene, whom the Roman soldiers “drafted” to do the job ().

Modern executions are usually carried out in almost clinical privacy, but Jesus was nailed to a cross and hung up for everyone to see. It was Passover season and there were thousands of visitors in the city. The place of execution was outside the city where many people would pass. Jesus was a well-known figure, so His arrest and condemnation would be topics for discussion. It was natural for people to gather and watch the grim scene.

Crucifixion probably had its origin among the Persians and Phoenicians, but it was the Romans who made special use of it. No Roman citizen could be crucified, though there were exceptions. This mode of capital punishment was reserved for the lowest kind of criminals, particularly those who promoted insurrection. Today, we think of the cross as a symbol of glory and victory, but in Pilate’s day, the cross stood for the basest kind of rejection, shame, and suffering. It was Jesus who made the difference.

The fact that this sign was written in Hebrew (Aramaic), Greek, and Latin is significant. For one thing, it shows that our Lord was crucified in a place where many peoples and nations met, a cosmopolitan place. Hebrew is the language of religion, Greek of philosophy, and Latin of law, and all three combined to crucify the Son of God. But what He did on the cross, He did for the whole world.

Jesus assured His mother of His love, and He gave His beloved disciple, who sat next to Him at dinner, to be her adopted son and to care for her. If at that moment John took Mary away from the scene and took her home, we do not know. We do know that He cared for her and that she was among the believers in the Upper Room as they awaited Pentecost (). Even while He was performing the great work of redemption, Jesus was faithful to His responsibilities as a son. What an honor it was for John to take His Lord’s place in Mary’s life!

When an artist completed a picture, or a writer a manuscript, He or she might say, “It is finished!” The death of Jesus on the cross “completes the picture” that God had been painting, the story that He had been writing, for centuries. Because of the cross, we better understand the ceremonies and prophecies in the Old Testament. In John’s Gospel, you find a number of pictures of our Lord’s death: the slaying of the lamb (); the destroying of the temple (); the lifting up of the serpent (); the shepherd laying down his life for the sheep (); and the planting of the seed in the ground (). These pictures make it clear that Jesus’ death was not an accident; it was a divine appointment. He was not murdered in the strictest sense: He willingly gave His life for us. His death was an atonement, not just an example. He actually accomplished the work of redemption on the cross.

, It is remarkable that the Roman soldiers did not do what they were commanded to do—break the victims’ legs—but they did do what they were not supposed to do—pierce the Savior’s side! In both matters, they fulfilled the very Word of God! The bones of the Passover lamb were not to be broken (; ; and see ), so our Lord’s bones were protected by the Lord. His side was to be pierced (; ), so that was done by one of the soldiers.

We have already met Nicodemus in our study of chapters . Note that each time he is named, he is identified as the man who came to Jesus by night (.; ). But the man who started off with confusion at night (ch. ) ended up with open confession in the daylight! Nicodemus came out of the dark and into the light and, with Joseph, was not ashamed to publicly identify with Jesus Christ.

The resurrection is an essential part of the gospel message () and a key doctrine in the Christian faith. It proves that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (; ) and that His atoning work on the cross has been completed and is effective (, ). The empty cross and the empty tomb are God’s “receipts” telling us that the debt has been paid. Jesus Christ is not only the Savior, but He is also the Sanctifier () and the Intercessor (). One day He shall return as Judge (, ).

The glorious truth of the resurrection was not understood immediately by even His closest followers. It gradually dawned on these grieving people that their Master was not dead, but alive! And what a difference it made when the full realization of His resurrection took hold of them! For Mary Magdalene it meant moving from tears to joy (), for the ten disciples it meant going from fear to courage (vv. ); and for Thomas it meant moving from doubt to assurance (vv. ).

, It is significant that the first witnesses of the resurrection of Christ were believing women. Among the Jews in that day, the testimony of women was not held in high regard. “It is better that the words of the law be burned,” said the rabbis, “than be delivered to a woman.” But these Christian women had a greater message than that of the law, for they knew that their Savior was alive.

Peter arrived and impulsively went into the tomb, just as we would expect him to do. He also saw the linen wrappings lying there empty and the cloth for the head carefully rolled and lying by itself. Grave robbers do not carefully unwrap the corpse and then leave the grave clothes neatly behind. In fact, with the presence of the spices in the folds of the clothes, it would be almost impossible to unwrap a corpse without damaging the wrappings. The only way those linen wrappings could be left in that condition is if Jesus passed through them as He arose from the dead.

Mary’s weeping was the loud lamentation so characteristic of Jewish people when they express their sorrow (, ). There is certainly nothing wrong with sincere sorrow, because God made us to shed tears, and weeping is good therapy for broken hearts. The sorrow of the Christian, however, must be different from the hopeless sorrow of the world (), because we have been born again into a living hope.

All He had to do was to speak her name, and Mary immediately recognized Him. His sheep recognize His voice, and He calls them by name (). Apparently Mary had turned away from Jesus, for when He spoke her name, she had to turn back to look at Him again. What a blessed surprise it was to see the face of her beloved Master!

Our Lord personally never used the phrases “our Father” or “our God.” His relationship to the Father was different from that of the disciples, and He was careful to make that distinction. We say “our Father” and “our God” because all believers belong to the same family and have an equal standing before God. He reminded Mary and the other believers that God was their Father and that He would be with the Father in heaven after His ascension.

Mary not only shared the fact of His resurrection and that she had seen Him personally, but she also reported the words that He had spoken to her. Again, we see the importance of the Word of God. Mary could not transfer her experience over to them, but she could share the Word, and it is the Word that generates faith (). The living Christ shared His living Word ().

Our Lord rested in the tomb on the Sabbath and arose from the dead on the first day of the week. Many people sincerely call Sunday “the Christian Sabbath,” but Sunday is not the Sabbath day. The seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, commemorates God’s finished work of creation (). The Lord’s Day commemorates Christ’s finished work of redemption, the “new creation.” God the Father worked for six days and then rested. God the Son suffered on the cross for six hours and then rested.

The change from the seventh day to the first day was not effected by some church decree; it was brought about from the beginning by the faith and witness of the first believers. For centuries, the Jewish Sabbath had been associated with law: six days of work, and then you rest. But the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, is associated with grace: First there is faith in the living Christ, then there will be works.

The believers would receive the baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost and be empowered for ministry (, ; ). Apart from the filling of the Spirit, they could not go forth to witness effectively. The Spirit had dwelt with them in the person of Christ, but now the Spirit would be in them ().

The wounds meant more than identification; they also were evidence that the price for salvation had been paid and man indeed could have peace with God. The basis for all our peace is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He died for us, He arose from the dead in victory, and now He lives for us. In our fears, we cannot lock Him out! He comes to us in grace and reassures us through His Word.

It is an encouragement to us to know that the Lord had a personal interest in and concern for “Doubting Thomas.” He wanted to strengthen his faith and include Him in the blessings that lay in store for His followers. Thomas reminds us that unbelief robs us of blessings and opportunities. It may sound sophisticated and intellectual to question what Jesus did, but such questions are usually evidence of hard hearts, not of searching minds.

, There was no need for John to describe every miracle that our Lord performed; in fact, he supposed that a complete record could never be written (). The life and ministry of Jesus Christ were simply too rich and full for any writer, even an inspired one, to give a complete record. But a complete record is not necessary. All of the basic facts are here for us to read and consider. There is sufficient truth for any sinner to believe and be saved!

The Lord had instructed His disciples to meet Him in Galilee, which helps to explain why they were at the Sea of Galilee, or Sea of Tiberias (; ; ). But John did not explain why Peter decided to go fishing, and Bible students are not in agreement in their suggestions. Some claim that he was perfectly within his rights—that he needed to pay his bills and the best way to get money was to go fishing. Others believe that Peter had been called from that kind of life () and that it was wrong for him to return.

It was John who first realized that the stranger on the shore was their own Lord and Master. It was John who sat next to the Lord at the table () and who stood by the cross when his Lord suffered and died (). It is love that recognizes the Lord and shares that good news with others: “It is the Lord!”

Now we can understand why Jesus had so many fishermen in the disciple band. Fishermen know how to work. They have courage and faith to go out into deep waters. They have much patience and persistence, and they will not quit. They know how to cooperate with one another, and they are skilled in using the equipment and the boat. What examples for us to follow as we seek to “catch fish” for Jesus Christ!

Peter and his Lord had already met privately and no doubt taken care of Peter’s sins (; ), but since Peter had denied the Lord publicly, it was important that there be a public restoration. Sin should be dealt with only to the extent that it is known. Private sins should be confessed in private, public sins in public. Since Peter had denied his Lord three times, Jesus asked him three personal questions. He also encouraged him by giving a threefold commission that restored Peter to his ministry.

In spite of his faults and failures, Peter did indeed love the Lord, and he was not ashamed to admit it. The other men were certainly listening over Peter’s shoulder and benefiting from the conversation, for they too had failed the Lord after boasting of their devotion. Peter had already confessed his sin and been forgiven. Now he was being restored to apostleship and leadership.

Sheep need feeding and leading, and that is the task of the spiritual shepherd. It is an awesome responsibility to be a shepherd of God’s flock ()! There are enemies that want to destroy the flock, and the shepherd must be alert and courageous (). By nature, sheep are ignorant and defenseless, and they need the protection and guidance of the shepherd.

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd (), the Great Shepherd (, ), and the Chief Shepherd (). Pastors are “under-shepherds” who must obey Him as they minister to the flock. The most important thing the pastor can do is to love Jesus Christ. If he truly loves Jesus Christ, the pastor will also love His sheep and tenderly care for them. The Greek word for “sheep” at the end of means “dear sheep.” Our Lord’s sheep are dear to Him and He wants His ministers to love them and care for them personally and lovingly.

When a person has settled the matter of death, then he is ready to live and to serve! Our Lord’s own death is a repeated theme in John’s gospel: He knew that His “hour” would come, and He was prepared to obey the Father’s will. We as His followers must yield ourselves—just as He yielded Himself for us—and be “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (, ), “already [being] poured out as a drink offering” () if it is the will of God. Peter’s death would not be a tragedy; it would glorify God.

Three years had passed, and yet here were Jesus and Peter, standing by the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus was still telling Peter the same thing: “Follow Me” (see ). The three years had been a series of lessons for Peter, and his performance had been far less than perfect. Yet for us who are following in Jesus’ footsteps centuries later, Peter’s struggles and Jesus’ patience offer a great deal of comfort. We are very much like Peter. We desperately need the same kind of patience and forgiveness that Peter received from Jesus. Fortunately, Jesus has promised to be just as present and available to us!

Jesus did not say that John would live until He returned, nor did He say that John would die before He returned. As it was, John lived the longest of all the disciples and did witness the Lord’s return when he saw the visions that he recorded in the Book of Revelation.

, As he had already done in , , John recognized how brief his account was in comparison with all that could have been written. And yet this was enough. John’s objective wasn’t to tell us everything but to tell us enough so that we “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” ().

John 1

1:1

1:1 []

1:2

1:3 [, ]

1:4 []

1:4 ; ;

1:5 []

1:5 Or overcome

1:6

1:7 ;

1:7 []

1:8 ;

1:9

1:9 Or That was the true Light which, coming into the world, gives light to every man.

1:10

1:11 ; []

1:11 That is, His own things or domain

1:11 That is, His own people

1:12

1:13 []

1:14

1:14 [; ; ]

1:15

1:15 []

1:16 [; ]

1:16 NU-Text reads For.

1:17 []

1:17 [; ]

1:17 [; ; ]

1:18

1:18 NU-Text reads only begotten God.

1:19

1:20

1:21 ,

1:23

1:26

1:27

1:28

1:28 NU-Text and M-Text read Bethany.

1:29

1:29 []

1:31

1:32

1:33 ; ;

1:34

1:36

1:37 ,

1:40

1:42

1:42 NU-Text reads John.

1:43 ; , ; ,

1:44

1:45

1:45 []

1:45

1:46 , ,

1:47 ;

1:49

1:51

1:51 NU-Text omits hereafter.

John 2

2:1 []

2:1

2:4

2:4 , , ;

2:6 []

2:9

2:11

2:11 []

2:12

2:12 ;

2:13

2:14 ,

2:16

2:17

2:17 NU-Text and M-Text read will eat.

2:17

2:18

2:19 ;

2:21 [; ]

2:22

2:22 NU-Text and M-Text omit to them.

2:23 []

2:24

2:25

John 3

3:2 ;

3:2 ,

3:2 []

3:3 []

3:5 []

3:6

3:8

3:9 ,

3:11 []

3:11 ;

3:13

3:13 NU-Text omits who is in heaven.

3:14

3:14 ; ;

3:15

3:15 NU-Text omits not perish but.

3:16

3:16 []

3:17

3:18 ; , ;

3:19 [, ]

3:20 ,

3:21

3:22 ,

3:23

3:23 ,

3:24 ;

3:26 , , ,

3:26 ; ;

3:27 , ;

3:28

3:29 []

3:29

3:30 []

3:31 ;

3:31

3:32 ;

3:33

3:34 ;

3:34

3:35 []

3:36 , ;

3:36

John 4

4:1 ,

4:5

4:9

4:10 []

4:10 ;

4:14 [, ]

4:14 ,

4:15 , ; ,

4:19 , ;

4:20

4:20 ,

4:21

4:22 []

4:22 [; , ]

4:23 []

4:23

4:23 []

4:24

4:25

4:25 ,

4:26 ,

4:29

4:34 ,

4:34 [; ; ]

4:35

4:36

4:37

4:38 []

4:39

4:41

4:42

4:42 NU-Text omits the Christ.

4:44

4:45 , ;

4:45

4:46 ,

4:48

John 5

5:1

5:2 , ;

5:2 NU-Text reads Bethzatha.

5:4 NU-Text omits waiting for the moving of the water at the end of verse , and all of verse .

5:8

5:9

5:10 ,

5:13 ;

5:14

5:16 ;

5:16 NU-Text omits and sought to kill Him.

5:17 [; ]

5:18 ,

5:18

5:19 ; ; ; ;

5:20

5:20 []

5:21 []

5:22 []

5:23

5:24 , ;

5:24 []

5:25 []

5:26

5:27 [; ]

5:27

5:28 []

5:29

5:30

5:31

5:32 []

5:33 [, , , ]

5:35

5:36

5:36 ; ;

5:36 ;

5:37

5:39 ;

5:39

5:40 [; ]

5:41

5:44

5:44 []

5:45

5:46 ,

5:47 ,

John 6

6:1

6:1 ;

6:2 ; ; ; ; ;

6:4

6:5

6:7 ,

6:8

6:9

6:11 NU-Text omits to the disciples, and the disciples.

6:14

6:15 []

6:16

6:19

6:19 Literally twenty-five or thirty stadia

6:20 ,

6:22 NU-Text omits that and which His disciples had entered.

6:24

6:27

6:29 []

6:30 ;

6:31

6:31 , ; ;

6:31 ; ;

6:32 ,

6:34

6:35 ,

6:35 ;

6:35 ,

6:36 , ;

6:36

6:37

6:38

6:39 ; ;

6:40 , ; ; , ,

6:42

6:44

6:44 [; , ]

6:45

6:45 M-Text reads hears and has learned.

6:46

6:47 [, ]

6:47 NU-Text omits in Me.

6:48 ,

6:49 ,

6:50 ,

6:51

6:52 ; ;

6:53

6:54 ; ,

6:55 NU-Text reads true food and true drink.

6:56 [; , ]

6:58

6:60

6:62 ; ,

6:63

6:63 [; ]

6:64

6:64 , ;

6:65 , ,

6:66

6:68

6:69

6:69 NU-Text reads You are the Holy One of God.

6:70

6:70 []

6:71 ; ,

6:71

John 7

7:1 ; , ; ,

7:1 That is, the ruling authorities

7:2

7:3

7:5 ;

7:5

7:6 ;

7:7 []

7:7

7:8

7:8 NU-Text omits yet.

7:11

7:12 ;

7:12

7:13 [; ; ]

7:14 ;

7:15

7:16

7:16 NU-Text and M-Text read So Jesus.

7:17 ;

7:18

7:18 []

7:19

7:20 ,

7:22

7:23 , ,

7:24

7:25 ;

7:26

7:26 NU-Text omits truly.

7:27

7:28

7:28 ;

7:29

7:29 NU-Text and M-Text omit But.

7:30

7:30 , ; ;

7:31

7:33

7:33 []

7:33 NU-Text and M-Text omit to them.

7:34

7:34 []

7:35

7:37

7:37 []

7:38

7:38 ; ; ;

7:39

7:39 ; ;

7:39 NU-Text reads who believed.

7:39 NU-Text omits Holy.

7:40 ,

7:40 NU-Text reads some.

7:41 ;

7:42

7:42 ,

7:43

7:44

7:46

7:50 , ;

7:50 NU-Text reads before.

7:51 , ;

7:52 [, ]

7:52 NU-Text reads is to rise.

7:53 The words And everyone through sin no more () are bracketed by NU-Text as not original. They are present in over 900 manuscripts.

John 8

8:2 ;

8:2 M-Text reads very early.

8:4

8:4 M-Text reads we found this woman.

8:5

8:5 M-Text reads in our law Moses commanded.

8:5 NU-Text and M-Text read to stone such.

8:5 M-Text adds about her.

8:6

8:6 NU-Text and M-Text omit as though He did not hear.

8:7

8:7 M-Text reads He looked up.

8:9

8:9 NU-Text and M-Text omit being convicted by their conscience.

8:10 NU-Text omits and saw no one but the woman; M-Text reads He saw her and said.

8:10 NU-Text and M-Text omit of yours.

8:11 []

8:11 NU-Text and M-Text add from now on.

8:12 ; ;

8:12

8:13

8:14 ;

8:15

8:15 [; ; ]

8:16

8:17 ;

8:18

8:19

8:20 ,

8:20 ;

8:20

8:21 ;

8:21

8:23

8:24

8:24 []

8:25

8:26

8:26 ;

8:28 ; ;

8:28 []

8:28 ,

8:28

8:29

8:29 ;

8:29 ; ;

8:30 ; ;

8:31 [, ]

8:32 [, ; ]

8:32 [, , ]

8:33 []

8:34

8:35

8:36

8:37

8:38 [; , ; , ]

8:38 NU-Text reads heard from.

8:39

8:39 []

8:40

8:41

8:42

8:42 ; ,

8:42

8:43 []

8:44

8:44 ,

8:44 [, ]

8:44 []

8:47

8:48 ;

8:49

8:50 ;

8:51 ;

8:52 ;

8:52

8:53 ;

8:54 ,

8:54

8:54 NU-Text and M-Text read our.

8:55 ,

8:55 []

8:56

8:58

8:59 ;

8:59

8:59 NU-Text omits the rest of this verse.

John 9

9:2

9:3

9:4 [; , ; ]

9:4 , ;

9:4 NU-Text reads We.

9:5 [, ; ; ; , ]

9:6 ;

9:7

9:8 NU-Text reads a beggar.

9:9 NU-Text reads “No, but he is like him.”

9:11 ,

9:11 NU-Text omits the pool of.

9:16 ;

9:16 , ;

9:17 [; ]

9:22

9:24

9:29

9:29 []

9:29 , ;

9:30

9:31

9:33 ;

9:34

9:35

9:35 ;

9:35 NU-Text reads Son of Man.

9:37

9:38

9:39 [; , ; ]

9:39 ;

9:40 []

9:41 ,

John 10

10:3

10:5 []

10:8 M-Text omits before Me.

10:9 []

10:11

10:12 ,

10:14

10:15

10:15 [; ]

10:16 ;

10:16

10:17

10:17 []

10:18 [; ]

10:18 [; ; ; , ]

10:19 ;

10:20

10:21 []

10:21 , , ,

10:23 ;

10:25 ;

10:25

10:26 []

10:26 NU-Text omits as I said to you.

10:27 ,

10:29

10:29 [, , , ]

10:30 ,

10:31

10:33

10:34

10:35 ,

10:35

10:36

10:36 ,

10:36

10:37 ;

10:38

10:38 ,

10:38 NU-Text reads understand.

10:39 ,

10:40

10:41 [, ; ; ]

John 11

11:1 ,

11:2

11:6

11:8 ;

11:9 ;

11:9

11:10

11:11

11:16 ;

11:18 Literally fifteen stadia

11:22 [; ]

11:24 []

11:25 ; , ,

11:25

11:27

11:30 NU-Text adds still.

11:31 ,

11:31 NU-Text reads supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

11:32

11:35

11:37 ,

11:38 ,

11:40 [, ]

11:41 NU-Text omits from the place where the dead man was lying.

11:42 ;

11:44

11:45 ; ; ,

11:46

11:47

11:49

11:50

11:50 NU-Text reads you.

11:52

11:52 []

11:53

11:54 , ;

11:54

11:55 ; ;

11:55 , ; ,

11:56

11:57

John 12

12:1 ,

12:1 NU-Text omits who had been dead.

12:2 ;

12:3

12:4

12:5 About one year’s wages for a worker

12:6

12:7 NU-Text reads that she may keep.

12:8

12:9 ,

12:10

12:11 ;

12:12

12:13 ,

12:13

12:14

12:15 ;

12:15

12:16

12:16 ;

12:16 []

12:18

12:19 ,

12:20

12:20 ,

12:21 , ;

12:23

12:24

12:25

12:26 []

12:26 ;

12:27 [, ]

12:27

12:28 ;

12:30

12:31 []

12:32 ;

12:32 []

12:33 ;

12:34

12:35 [; ; ]

12:35

12:35 []

12:36

12:37

12:38

12:40 ,

12:40

12:41

12:41 NU-Text reads because.

12:42 ;

12:43 ,

12:44

12:44 [, , ; , ]

12:44 []

12:45 []

12:46 , ; ; ,

12:47

12:47 NU-Text reads keep them.

12:48 []

12:48 ,

12:49

12:50 ;

John 13

13:1

13:1 ;

13:1

13:2

13:2 NU-Text reads And during supper.

13:3

13:3 ;

13:4 []

13:6

13:7 ;

13:7

13:8 []

13:10 []

13:11 ;

13:13 ,

13:14

13:14 []

13:15 []

13:16

13:17 []

13:18 ;

13:18

13:18 NU-Text reads My bread.

13:18

13:19 ;

13:20

13:21

13:23 ; ; ,

13:25 NU-Text and M-Text add thus.

13:26 , ;

13:27

13:29

13:31

13:31 []

13:32

13:33 ; ;

13:33 [; ]

13:34

13:35

13:36 ; ;

13:36

13:37

13:38

John 14

14:1 [; , ]

14:2 ,

14:2 Literally dwellings

14:2 NU-Text adds a word which would cause the text to read either if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? or if it were not so I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

14:3 []

14:5

14:6 [; , ]

14:6 [, ; ; ]

14:6 []

14:6

14:6 []

14:7

14:9

14:10 ; ,

14:10 ;

14:11 ;

14:12

14:13

14:14 NU-Text adds Me.

14:15

14:15 NU-Text reads you will keep.

14:16

14:17 [; ]

14:17 []

14:18 []

14:18 [, ]

14:19 ,

14:19 []

14:20 ;

14:21

14:22

14:23 ;

14:24

14:26

14:26 ;

14:27 []

14:28 ,

14:28

14:28 []

14:28 NU-Text omits I said.

14:29

14:30 []

14:31 ;

John 15

15:2

15:2 []

15:2 Or lifts up

15:3 [; ]

15:4 []

15:5

15:6

15:7

15:7 ;

15:7 NU-Text omits you will.

15:8 []

15:8

15:9 ;

15:10

15:11

15:12

15:13

15:14 [; ]

15:15

15:16 ; ;

15:16 []

15:16 ; ,

15:18

15:19

15:20

15:21 ;

15:22 ;

15:22 []

15:23

15:24

15:25 ; ;

15:25

15:26

15:27

John 16

16:1

16:2

16:3 ;

16:3 NU-Text and M-Text omit to you.

16:4 NU-Text reads their.

16:5 ; ; ;

16:6 [, ]

16:7

16:8 ; ,

16:9

16:10

16:11

16:11 []

16:12

16:13 []

16:13

16:14

16:15

16:15 NU-Text and M-Text read He takes of Mine and will declare it to you.

16:16 ; ; ; ; ;

16:16

16:20

16:20 ,

16:21 ; ;

16:22

16:23

16:24

16:25

16:27 [, ]

16:27

16:28 , ; , ,

16:30

16:32 ,

16:32

16:33 []

16:33

16:33 NU-Text and M-Text omit will.

John 17

17:1

17:2

17:2 , ; , ,

17:2 M-Text reads shall.

17:3 ,

17:3

17:4

17:4 ;

17:4

17:5

17:6

17:8

17:8 ; ,

17:8 ,

17:9 []

17:10

17:11

17:11 []

17:11

17:11 NU-Text and M-Text read keep them through Your name which You have given Me.

17:12

17:12 ;

17:12 NU-Text omits in the world.

17:12 NU-Text reads in Your name which You gave Me. And I guarded them; (or it;).

17:14

17:15

17:17 []

17:17 , ,

17:18 ;

17:19 []

17:20 NU-Text and M-Text omit will.

17:21 []

17:21 ; ,

17:22

17:22 []

17:23 []

17:24 []

17:24

17:25

17:25 ; ;

17:25 ; , , , ,

17:26

John 18

18:1 ,

18:1

18:2 ;

18:3

18:4 ; , ;

18:5

18:9 [; ]

18:10

18:11 ;

18:13

18:14

18:15

18:15 M-Text reads the other.

18:16

18:17

18:20

18:20 NU-Text reads where all the Jews meet.

18:21

18:22

18:24

18:25

18:27

18:28

18:28 ;

18:29

18:32 ;

18:32 ; ; ,

18:33

18:36

18:36 [; ]

18:37 [; ]

18:37

18:37 []

18:37 ;

18:38 ,

18:39

18:40

John 19

19:1 ;

19:3

19:3 NU-Text reads And they came up to Him and said.

19:4 ,

19:6

19:7

19:7 NU-Text reads the law.

19:9

19:11 []

19:11

19:12

19:13

19:14

19:15 []

19:16

19:16 NU-Text omits and led Him away.

19:17 ,

19:17

19:18

19:19

19:23

19:24

19:25

19:26 ; ; , ,

19:26

19:27 ;

19:28

19:28 M-Text reads seeing.

19:29 ; ,

19:30

19:31

19:31 [; ];

19:34 [, ]

19:35

19:35 []

19:36 [; ];

19:36 ; ;

19:37 , ; ;

19:37

19:38

19:38 [; ; ]

19:39 , ;

19:39

19:40 ,

19:42

19:42 ,

John 20

20:1

20:1 , ;

20:2 ,

20:2 ; ; , ,

20:3

20:5

20:7

20:8 ,

20:9

20:11

20:14

20:16

20:16 NU-Text adds in Hebrew.

20:17

20:17 ;

20:17

20:18 ,

20:18 NU-Text reads disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” . . . .

20:19

20:19 ;

20:19 NU-Text omits assembled.

20:20

20:20 ,

20:21 ,

20:23 ;

20:24

20:27

20:29

20:29 NU-Text and M-Text omit Thomas.

20:30

20:31

20:31 , ;

John 21

21:1

21:2

21:3 NU-Text omits immediately.

21:4

21:5

21:6 , ,

21:7 ;

21:12

21:14 ,

21:15

21:15 NU-Text reads John.

21:16

21:16 NU-Text reads John.

21:17 , ;

21:17 NU-Text reads John.

21:18 ,

21:19 ,

21:19 [; ]

21:20 ;

21:20

21:22 [; ; , ]

21:24

21:25

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