The Gospel Part 20

The next day John and two of his disciples saw Jesus as He walked. John said, Behold the Lamb of G.o.d! The two disciples heard John speak and followed Jesus. Jesus turned, saw them following, and said to them, What are you looking for? They said, Master, where are you staying? He said to them, Come and see. It was about the tenth hour. They went and saw where He stayed and spent the rest of that day with Him.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. First he found his brother, Simon, and said to him, We have found the Christ, and he brought him to Jesus. When Jesus saw him He said, Thou art Simon the son of John. Thou shalt be called Peter.

A day later, Jesus went into Galilee and found Philip. He said to him, Follow me. Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and said, We have found the one who Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Nathanael said, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming and said, Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile! Nathanael said to Him, How do you know me? Jesus answered, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

Nathanael answered and said to Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of G.o.d.

Thou art the King of Israel.

Jesus said, Because I said I saw you under the fig tree you believe?

You will see greater things than these. You will see heaven open and the angels of G.o.d ascending and descending upon the Son of man!

2. Three days later there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and His disciples were invited to the marriage. When they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. Jesus said, But what am I to do? My hour is not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever He tells you to do, do it.

There were six stone waterpots, used according to the manner of the Jews for purifying. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the pots with water. They filled them to the brim. Then He said to them, Draw out now and carry them to the governor of the feast.

When the governor of the feast tasted the water that was made wine, he called the bridegroom to him and said, At the beginning, every man sets out the good wine, and, when men have drunk well, then he sets out the lesser, but you have kept the good wine until now!

This beginning of miracles Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. He showed forth His glory and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum and took along His mother, brothers, and His disciples. They remained there for a few days.

Since the feast of Pa.s.sover was at hand, Jesus went to Jerusalem. There He found, sitting in the temple, all those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and changers of money. When He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple. He overthrew the tables. He said to those who sold doves, Take these things away. Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. Here His disciples remembered that it was written: The zeal of thine house has eaten me up.

The Jews then said to Him, What sign do you show us for doing this?

Jesus answered, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews said, It took forty-six years to build this temple and you will raise it up again in three days? But Jesus spoke of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said and they recalled the scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

When He was in Jerusalem at the Pa.s.sover feast, many believed in His name when they saw the things He did. But Jesus did not commit or trust Himself to them.

3. There was a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to Him, We know that you are from G.o.d because no man can do the miracles that you do unless G.o.d is with Him. Jesus answered, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of G.o.d. Nicodemus asked, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born?

Jesus answered, Unless one is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of G.o.d. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said, You must be born again. The wind blows and you hear the sound but cannot tell from where it comes or to where it goes. So it is with those born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus said, How can these things be? Jesus answered, Art thou a master of Israel and do not know these things? Verily, I say to you, We speak what we know, testify that we have seen, and you do not accept our witness. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?

No man has ascended up to heaven except He that came down from heaven, the Son of man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

G.o.d so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. G.o.d did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but, that the world, through Him, might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned.

He who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of G.o.d. And this is the condemnation: light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come into the light lest his deeds be exposed.

But whoever lives the truth, comes to the light that his deeds may be shown as a reflection of G.o.d.

After these things Jesus and His disciples went into the land of Judaea. He stayed with them and baptized. John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim. There was an abundance of water, so many people came to be baptized. This was before John was cast into prison.

A question arose between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. They went to John and said, Rabbi, He that was with you beyond Jordan, of whom you testified, baptizes and all men come to Him.

John answered, A man can receive nothing unless it is granted him from heaven. You, yourselves, bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ but that 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. So, my joy is fulfilled. 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. All that He has seen and heard He testifies and no one accepts it.

He who has received His testimony has set to his seal that G.o.d is true, for He whom G.o.d has sent speaks the words of G.o.d because G.o.d gives Him the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.

He who does not believe in the Son will not see life but will see the wrath of G.o.d.

4. When the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though it was not Jesus Himself who baptized but His disciples, He left Judaea and went back to Galilee. He needed to go through Samaria. He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near Jacob's well, the parcel of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jesus, weary from the journey, sat down on the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. His disciples had gone into the city to buy food.

She said to Him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink, a woman of Samaria? The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans? Jesus said to her, If you knew the gift of G.o.d, and who it is who asks for a drink, you would have asked Him for a drink and He would have given you living water.

The woman said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. From where would you get that living water? Art Thou greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his cattle?

Jesus answered, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I give will never thirst. The water that I give will be a well of water springing up in him into everlasting life. The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water so I do not thirst and never have to come here to draw it. Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come back. The woman answered, I have no husband.

Jesus said to her, You say rightly when you say, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands. He who is with you now is not your husband.

In that you speak truly. The woman said to Him, Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men should worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour will come when you will not worship the Father in this mountain or at Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know because salvation comes from the Jews.

But the hour comes, and is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father seeks such people to worship Him. G.o.d is a Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

The woman said to Him, I know that a Messiah comes who is called Christ. When He comes He will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I am He who is speaking with you. At this time His disciples came back.

They marvelled that He talked with the woman. Yet no one asked, Why do you talk to her?

The woman then left her waterpot and went on her way. When she was back in the city she said, Come, see a man who told me all the things I have ever done. Is not this the Christ? Then the people left the city and came to Him.

Meanwhile His disciples said, Master, eat. But Jesus said to them, I have food to eat that you know not of. At this, the disciples questioned eachother, has any man brought Him something to eat? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to complete His work. Do you not say, There are still four months until the harvest? Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields. They are ready to harvest right now. He who reaps now receives wages and gathers fruit for life eternal, so that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. Herein is the truth of the saying: One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap where you have not toiled. Others have done the labor and you are sharing the benefits.

Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the woman's testimony. When they went to meet Him, they besought Him to stay with them. Jesus remained there two days. Many more believed because of His own word. They said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of what you said but because we have heard Him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.

Then He went into Galilee, where He found the truth in the saying: a prophet has no honor in his own country. When He came into Galilee, they received Him after having seen all the things that He did at the Pa.s.sover feast in Jerusalem because they were there also.

Jesus returned to Cana of Galilee where He turned the water into wine.

There was a n.o.bleman of Capernaum, whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus left Judea and was in Galilee, he went there to Him and besought Him to come down and heal his son who was near death. Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. The n.o.bleman said to Him, Sir, come before my child dies.

Jesus said to him, Go thy way. Thy son lives. The man believed the word of Jesus and he went on his way. As he was going along, his servants met him and said, Thy son lives. Then he inquired at what hour the son began to mend. They said, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father knew that this was the same hour in which Jesus said to him, Thy son lives. And he believed, and his whole house believed. This is the second miracle Jesus did when He came to Galilee from Judaea.

5. After this there was a feast of the Jews. Jesus went up to Jerusalem. At Jerusalem, by the sheep market, there is a pool with five decks called Bethesda. On these platforms lay many who are blind, crippled, and infirm. They wait for the moving of the water. At a certain season, an angel goes into the pool and stirs it. Whoever first steps in is healed of disease.

There was a man who had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been in that condition such a long time, He said to him, Wilt thou be made whole? The sick man answered, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. Jesus said to him, Rise. Take up your bed and walk. Immediately the man was made whole. He picked up his mat and walked. This was on the sabbath day.

The Jews said to the man who was cured, It is the sabbath day. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered and said, He who made me whole said to me, Take up your bed and walk. Then they asked him, Who was it who said to you, Take up you bed and walk? But the man who was healed did not know who it was because Jesus left the crowd that had gathered there.

Afterward Jesus found the man in the temple and said, Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more lest a worse thing comes to you. Then the man left and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. Therefore, the Jews persecuted Jesus. They wanted to slay Him because He had done this on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered and said to them, My Father works now, so I work.

Now the Jews wanted all the more to kill Him because He not only had broken the sabbath but He also said that G.o.d was His Father, making Himself equal to G.o.d. Jesus addressed this and said, The Son can do nothing of Himself except what He sees the Father do. Whatever the Father does, the Son does the same. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all the things that He Himself does. And He will show Him even greater works than these. Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to whom He will. The Father judges no man, but has turned over all judgment to the Son. This is so all men honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Verily, I say to you, He who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has everlasting life and will not be condemned but will pa.s.s from death to life. I tell you, The hour is coming, and is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of G.o.d. Those who hear will live, for as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given the Son life in Himself.

The Father has given Him authority to exercise judgment because He is also the Son of man.

Marvel not at this because the hour is coming in which all who are in graves will hear His voice and come forth. Those who have done good will go to the resurrection of life. Those who have done evil will go to the resurrection of condemnation.

I can do nothing on my own. I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me.