Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish

21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Reinstates Peter

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” 20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” 24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
 

We cannot overstate the magnitude of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a cosmic event. What actually happened in the “heavenlies” the moment the risen Christ broke through the eternal shield that separated the first Adam from the last Adam? What was it like in the “spiritual atmosphere” when the resurrection separated the wages of sin (death) from the fruit of perfect righteousness (life)? What was death’s prince (Satan) doing and thinking when this “shield” was penetrated? The power that was manifested at that glorious moment had to be nothing less than 70 billion megatons of spiritual dunamis or dynamite. All of creation knew of it. All of creation trembled and roared in adoration and praise, or in the case of the dark side, in fear and disgust. Whatever it was that was going on at that peculiar moment in time, we know one thing…it was cosmic!

This cosmic event resulted in a cosmic change in the vehicle through which life flowed. The “body” took on a refreshed order. It became inverted. That which was physical first and spiritual second, now became such that the spiritual existed primary to the physical. Instead of the physical going in front of and showing the spiritual, the new “first fruits” body of the resurrected One was such that the spiritual went out in front of, and revealed, the physical. With this new “vehicle”, you see the physical through the spiritual. You do not see the physical until you first see the spiritual.

And so, in Jesus’ resurrected body we get a glimpse of how we who are the “second fruits” will appear in heaven. The prototypical “first fruits” exemplifies how the new “spiritual body” will function. What can we know, prior to heaven, about how we will look when we are there? Will people recognize us? Will we be able to identify our loved ones? Will our bodies still have the same physical limitations that they have now?

Of course, we cannot know the answers to these questions for certain, nor all the nuances and caveats regarding bodily movement, abilities, and appearances. Nevertheless, we do have a preview of this “movie” because we do see a first fruits body: the resurrected body of Christ. Over a period of forty days, Jesus showed up in at least a dozen separate appearances to hundreds of people. What did He look like? How did His body function?

In various instances, what He looked like is a curious matter. At least three times, His disciples did not recognize Him at first. These were ones who spent much time with Him and would certainly know Him when they saw Him. Mary Magdalene saw Him outside His tomb and thought He was the gardener. Then, Jesus called her by name. When He said, “Mary,” it is as if her eyes were opened and she recognized Him (John 20:11-18). In another case, Peter and others were fishing on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus stood on the beach but they did not recognize Him. Then Jesus called out to them addressing them as “children” and telling them to cast their nets to find a catch. They got a huge catch and then recognized Jesus (John 21:1-14). Later, two disciples walked with Him for hours on the Road to Emmaus, and yet, did not recognize Him. When their journey ended, they took the Lord’s Supper together and in the breaking of the bread their eyes were opened (Luke 24:13-35).

In each of the above cases, recognition came in the context of a personal relationship interaction that had spiritual overtones. Mary did not recognize Him until He called her by her name. The disciples who were fishing recognized Him when He addressed them as His children and encouraged them in what represented a very spiritually memorable experience that harkened back to when they first laid eyes on Him: the catching of the fish that represented Jesus’ call and commission on their lives (Luke 5:1-11). The disciples on the Road to Emmaus recognized Him when He broke bread at the table and celebrated with them the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus’ seemingly “inverted” body (the physical subordinate to the spiritual) might explain another curious aspect of His appearances. He physically seems to suddenly “appear” in a room. After the event at the tomb with Mary, “when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19). He then showed them His hands and His side; His physical body. He is there physically, yet He seems to have shown up via a more spiritual mode. This picture is repeated “after eight days” when “Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst” (John 20:26-27).

So what does this mean for us? Jesus’ resurrected body gives us some clues. Might we know others through our spirits? Others may recognize us as our appearance is channeled through our spiritual being. Might we “travel” with less restriction? Will our physical body movement, both in space and time, be more in keeping with our spiritual body? We do not know for sure, but Jesus’ resurrected body may have painted a picture for us. First fruits is an assurance of second fruits!

The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Gardens are very significant settings in the gospel story. It all starts in a garden and, ultimately, ends in a garden while the climax of the story runs through two other gardens. The Garden of Eden is the setting for God’s perfect creation that eventually winds up on the dark side. That same original paradise garden picture from Genesis 2:8-10 is seen in it’s redeemed form (new heavens and new earth) in the book of Revelation (Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:1-2). On the way from garden to garden, the gospel story climbs to it’s summit as it’s Hero works His way through the Garden of Gethsemane and rises up out of the ashes three days later in – you guessed it – a garden!

“Now 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. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there…. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping…she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing Him to be the gardener, she 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 in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means, Teacher)…. Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and that He had said these things to her “(John 19:41-42; John 20:11-18).

The progression of the story is clear. We move from the garden that is deemed to be good only to turn bad, to the garden of redemptive suffering, to the garden of redemptive victory, and end at the garden that is deemed good again. This is the story of the gospel. This is the story of redemption!

In the garden of victory there are new things; first fruits that point to more new things to come. The “first fruits story” is itself a story of the gardens, a story of redemption. The hero in the story, after going out of the scene with a destroyed body, reappears with a new body; a first fruits body. It is somehow different. It is still physical, (John 20:20, 27) but it seems to operate and appear in different ways (John 20:16, 19, 26). Perhaps this new first fruits body can be referred to as a “spiritual body” inasmuch as the spiritual precedes the physical instead of the physical preceding the spiritual.

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,  then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:20-24).

All the gardens and their respective “bodies” are present in this 1 Corinthians trailer of the gospel movie. First we see the original garden where there was, at first, a “very good” body in the form of the initial protagonist named Adam (Genesis 1:31; Genesis 2:20). In this garden, we eventually see a very bad body as seen in the fallen body of Adam after he conspired with the villain of the movie (Genesis 3:13-15). Next, we see the suffering garden where the incarnate sacrificial body was killed. Soon, thereafter, we see the victory garden where that holy body is made alive. This new body is the first fruits of many bodies to come who will find themselves in the very good garden again; a garden that is very good because it abolishes the “badness” associated with the old bodies. 

And so, the scenes of the movie are as follows: Scene 1: The Original Body in the Garden,Scene 2: The Fallen Body in the Garden; Scene 3: The Suffering/Crucified Body in the Garden; Scene 4: The Resurrected Spiritual Body in the Garden; Scene 5: The New Spiritual Bodies in the Garden. It is the greatest movie of all time. It is all about gardens and bodies! The only question that remains is, “What garden will you end up in and what body will you have?”

Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. 4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” 6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” 7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” 23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did. 25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

The Burial of Jesus

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

The events that occurred starting on Thursday evening in the Upper Room and culminating on Friday afternoon at Golgotha all happened within a twenty-four hour period of time. There was a Last Supper, a garden drama, a theatrical trial, and a monumental crucifixion. It was a long day! It was especially long, not because each of those twenty-four hours were longer than normal, but because all of history pointed to and led up to that day. The cross of Jesus Christ stands as the climax of human history!

Who put Jesus on the cross? Theologically speaking, it must first be said that God put Jesus on the cross; God killed Himself. “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10). It was God who first pointed to this “long day” because it was His plan all along (Acts 2:23). It was God’s payment to Himself (Romans 3:25). God handed Himself over to the torturers; “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all….” (Romans 8:32).

Who put Jesus on the cross? Theologically speaking, it may also be said that you and I put Jesus on the cross; my sin and your sin killed Jesus. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Historically speaking, it may be said that the Jews and the Romans put Jesus on the cross. It is clearly the Jews who cried out in the midst of the trial, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” (John 19:15). It is just as clearly Pontius Pilate, the ruling Roman governor of Judea, who “then handed Him over to them to be crucified” (John 19:16).

Question: “Who put Jesus on the cross?” Answer: “God, my sin and your sin, the Jews, and the Romans. In any case, the emphatic question at the trial of Jesus was not one that was framed in this way: “Who put Jesus on the cross? Who or what killed Jesus?” Instead, it was framed in the way that was more in keeping with the particular cultural situation in which the various players found themselves. That situation is best summed up in one word: “authority.” To all involved, it was, more than anything else, an issue of authority.

As Jesus is being tried, the issue of “authority” is placed before Him. His response to Pilate is, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). This trial is a trial over who is in charge. Jesus explains, in a variety of ways, that God is in charge. Yes, the sovereign God who sits on the throne is the same God who will lie on the cross. He will hang Himself there by putting upon Himself all the sin of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21). Most fundamentally, God killed Himself because most overwhelmingly God has first and final authority. It is an issue of authority. “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). It is an issue of the will. “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42-43). 

God killed Himself because of His authority and His will. This is the real question that is being posed at the trial. Pilate struggles with the question and ends up trying to do away with it: “So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, ‘Crucify, crucify!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take Him yourselves and crucify Him’” (John 19:6). At that point in the trial, after Jesus clearly reestablishes the issue as being that of His authority, the Jews respond with their own attempt to pass on the question of authority to another, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar…we have no king but Caesar” (John 19:12, 15).

Who killed Jesus? Who had the authority to do so? This was the real issue that was put on trial. It is the same issue that is the underlying question at each one of our trials: “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). Who is the authority? Who is Lord? Who is Jesus? Is He your God, or not? As it was with that early morning Good Friday trial, there must be a verdict. “So when the Chief Priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, ‘Crucify, crucify!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.’ The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God’” (John 19:6-7).

This was the ultimate issue. Jesus was killed because He claimed to be who He truly was. He died to gain victory over sin’s desire to kidnap that divine claim for itself. Jesus is the ransom that rescues us from ourselves and our false claims. He is the authority. He is God!

Jesus Arrested

18 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” 12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Peter’s First Denial

15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in. 17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.” 18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.” 22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded. 23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter’s Second and Third Denials

25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” 26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Jesus Before Pilate

28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” 30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.” 31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die. 33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” 36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” 38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” 40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover in the Upper Room on Thursday evening. In that place, Jesus washed the disciples feet and instituted the Lord’s Supper (John 13; Matthew 26). He also called out His betrayer who would manifest his disloyalty toward Him later that night: “As they were eating, He said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.’ And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, ‘Surely it is not I, Rabbi?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself’” (Matthew 26:21, 25).

As the narrative begins in John 18, Jesus has just finished praying what is called the “high priestly prayer” (John 17). A main theme of that prayer is His request of the Father regarding His disciples that the Father would “keep them” in His name (John 17:11). Jesus then proclaims that He “guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition” (John 17:12). This is the vibe among the disciples and their Master as things transition late that evening from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane, and eventually later that morning to the cross on Calvary.

Perhaps somewhere around midnight, Judas left the Upper Room (John 13:30) to go meet up with his co-conspirators while Jesus took His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. The garden was just far enough away from the city (about one mile) to be sure to have some privacy away from the activity of the many pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Passover. In route to the garden, they would pass over the Kidron Valley; a name which means “gloomy” in keeping with it’s dark waters stained by the blood that came from the sacrifices made at the Temple. Gethsemane itself means “oil press.” Still to this day, the Garden of Gethsemane is filled with olive trees. This Garden – this “oil press” or “wine press” – would come to symbolize the suffering and judgment that would be necessary to “squeeze out” that which was precious.
As is written in Isaiah, “Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? I have trodden the wine…in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come” (Isaiah 63:2-4).

And so, just hours before going to the cross and shedding His “Kidronish” sacrificial blood, Jesus winds up in a garden; a garden of suffering produced by the dynamic of obedience and submission as that which gains victory over temptation. Temptation does not fall away easily. In this war, Jesus’ suffering was so intense that “being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44). The war of wills – the fight for submission – had to be fought, and so “He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done’” (Luke 22:41-42).

What was lost in the original garden by Adam was regained in the next garden by the last Adam: “So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). That last Adam yields life as it is born through death (John 12:24). Indeed, the cross generates the resurrection. Even as the Garden of Eden (post-Fall) necessitates the Garden of Gethsemane, so too that garden of the “oil press” triumphantly results in the garden that John will later describe in Revelation 21-22 where there will no longer be any sin or death; a garden that looks obviously similar to the original Garden of Eden (pre-Fall).

The war begins in a garden, is fought in a garden, and ends in a garden. This war is a different kind of war. It is a spiritual war. It is not a physical war; not a fight against, or a fight fought with, the structures of this world. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter still did not quite understand this; “then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear…So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?’” (John 18:10-11). The movement from garden to garden is an otherworldly reality. 

Jesus put it this way, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). Jesus wins the war on our behalf by moving us from a garden disaster (Garden of Eden) to a garden fight (Garden of Gethsemane) to a garden victory (new heavens and new earth). And so, all us “gardeners” cry out “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20) as we anticipate the greatest “garden party” ever!

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Prayer is, by it’s very nature, a mystical activity. The creation communicates with the Creator. The limited talks with the limitless; this is impossible to fully understand. It is somewhat of a mystery!

Prayer is, by it’s very nature, a holy activity. The here and now banters back and forth with the One who is beyond, the One who is completely holy or separate. This world interacts with Him who is “otherworldly.” Amazingly incomprehensible. More mystery!

In John 17, Jesus engages in what is often called the “high priestly prayer” – God talking to God, deep calling to deep (Psalm 42:7) – in which we enter in with Him to the depths of mystery and to the heights of holiness. There is no prayer that has ever been prayed in the history of prayer that is more mystical, powerful, and sacred than the high priestly prayer.

What is the context of this prayer? Jesus had just finished a rather lengthy discourse in which He declared that He would be “leaving” and the Spirit would be arriving. He was most likely in the Upper Room with His disciples late Thursday night or on His way to Gethsemane early Friday morning and was only hours away from the cross. It is in this context that He speaks victory to His disciples and then He speaks victory to His Father. “‘These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.’ Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said….” (John 16:33-John 17:1). He spoke “these things” to His disciples and then lifted up His eyes to speak those same things to the Father. The discourse of the Overcomer in John 16 becomes the prayer of the Overcomer in John 17. The high priestly prayer is a prayer of victory!

The word “world” is repeated nineteen times in Jesus’ prayer. Victory over the world is accomplished in the world. Divine victory does not run from the battle, it goes to it. Jesus, the incarnate God, does just that. He comes to us to die for us. His victory is in the world but not of the world. Unlike worldly methods, He fights in the power of weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). He wins in the supremacy of love (John 3:16). The greatest act of love is to die for another (John 15:13). This is how victory will be won; it is the kingdom of God way, not the worldly way. “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm’” (John 18:36).

And so, Jesus prays for His followers that they would remain in the world but not be of the world (John 17:15-16). These followers will fight in the same way Jesus fought and they will win the victory in the same way Jesus won the victory; they will get on their own cross and deny themselves (Luke 9:23). Ultimately, then, Jesus is praying that their self-denial will yield their reception of Him. It is the emptying of themselves that will result in them being filled with the Spirit; the only way they can have victory is by Jesus living the victory through them (Galatians 2:20). This is what he told them – prior to lifting it up in prayer to the Father – when He explained that He would be sending them the Spirit (John 16:7, 14).

In His prayer, Jesus repeats the word “glory” eight times, the word “name” five times, the idea of “give” or “gift” seventeen times, and the phrase “eternal life” seventeen times. Both “glory” and “name” speak of “reputation.” It is God’s reputation that is at stake. It is His glory that Jesus is praying for. Love is the essence of His reputation while “give” is the action of love. And so, Jesus’ prayer is full of allusions to the action of love which will magnify His glory/reputation. All of this has as it’s glorious result “eternal life.” This is what Jesus came for. This is the victory. This is His prayer. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent…even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us” (John 17:3, 21).

This is God’s plan so this is God’s prayer: “I come into the world so the world will know me and live.” Union with God (eternal life) is available for Jesus’ followers and for those who become Jesus’ followers through the multiplication of the word: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21). Jesus prays that all will win!

16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” 31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Way back in 1974 there was a hit song sung by Helen Reddy titled “You and Me Against the World.” The first verse of the song went like this:

You and me against the world
Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world
When all the others turn their back and walk away
You can count on me to stay

Perhaps Helen Reddy got this from the Apostle John. In John 16, there are two major themes. First, there is no way around the fact that the world comes against the Church. Second, it is just as sure that the Holy Spirit comes alongside of the Church. How does the Church advance in the midst of opposition? How do it’s members stay encouraged when the onslaught is so severe and so constant? Jesus’ answer is: “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But 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 go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:5-7).
John’s two major themes are linked together. Yes, the world will be in opposition to the Church but the “Helper” – the “Paraklete” or the “one who comes alongside of” – will be there to comfort and encourage. He is the Holy Spirit!
Whatever the kingdom of God is, the world is the opposite. When the Scripture alludes to “worldliness”, it is speaking about the counterfeit kingdom that is the result of the Fall of man. The Garden of Eden, because of the Fall of Man, no longer stands alone. Now there is a garbage dump that tries to exist alongside of the Garden and constantly tries to pollute it. That “alongside of” attempt is countered by the more powerful “one who comes alongside of”; the “Paraklete”…the Holy Spirit.

This Helper, who is the Comforter and Encourager, is also the Overcomer. Jesus says, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The fact that there is a trash dump vying for turf in your life means that you will experience opposition and tribulation, “but take courage” since the Encourager will come alongside of you and put you in courage.

Opposition and tribulation come from outside of yourself and inside of yourself. Inasmuch as you have the kingdom of God in you, the opposing counterfeit kingdom (worldliness) will fight you from the outside. All kingdom of God residents, however, also have some counterfeit kingdom in them since they are not yet perfected while the trash dump is still in the same neighborhood as the Garden (this will not always be the case as the trash dump someday will be burned to it’s core and only the Garden will again remain, and thus, there will be no more friction, opposition, and tribulation).

It is this “internal opposition” that we need to be more aware of. There is a fight inside of us kingdom dwellers. There is suffering. It is the suffering that is inherent to dying to the worldliness that is still in us; that which is not of faith since “whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). And so, “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). What is this “violence” that the kingdom “suffers” and why is it that “violent men take it by force”? The violence is the same violence and suffering that is implicit in Jesus’ repeated command to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). To deny worldliness (sin) is to crucify the worldliness that is in you (that which is in opposition to the kingdom). That hurts! It is violent and those who are willing to crucify daily – who are violent with themselves/their sin – take the kingdom by force.

Right before Jesus references the “internal opposition”, He also paints a picture of the external opposition: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day” (Luke 9:22). Why does this fight exist? It exists because the world “hates” (repeated by Jesus nine times in John 15-17) the kingdom of God. They are opposites; they are in opposition to each other. So, while the kingdom dweller is fighting his or her own internal battle they are also experiencing the opposition of the world coming at them from the outside. 

The Holy Spirit comes alongside of the kingdom dweller to encourage him or her toward conviction (John 16:8-11). This conviction will fuel both fights: the internal fight to reject sin and the external fight that comes from the worldly system’s love of sin. In each case, it is the Holy Spirit who is the victor. And so, Jesus ends His discourse in which He has just explained how the Spirit will come in His place by declaring, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

The World Hates the Disciples

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

The Work of the Holy Spirit

26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

By the time we arrive at John 15, the gospel writer has already recorded six of Christ’s “I AM” statements. Of course, God is the great “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). John is building his case for the deity of Christ that he began to construct in the very first verse of his gospel (John 1:1). Jesus is the “I AM” and He describes Himself with the use of that name. This chapter opens with the seventh and final statement: “I am the true vine” (v.1). Earlier, He proclaimed “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). He further described Himself by saying, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5), “I am the door” (John 10:7), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11), and “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  He then states, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and now as chapter 15 opens He declares, “I am the true vine” (John 15:1).  

As John offers this final “I AM” statement, He is couching it in the same context as the previous six; Jesus is nothing less than God Himself. Now God is described as a “vine.” For John’s readers, that metaphor would have produced a very clear picture. In fact, Israel herself is regularly portrayed in Scripture as a vineyard (Isaiah 5:7; Jeremiah 12:10). Vineyards were (and still are) pervasive in all regions surrounding Israel. So, when John painted this picture and specified the three major biographical figures involved – the vine, the vinedresser, and the branches – his readers could easily interpret the art.

Who is the vine? The vine is Jesus. What is His function in this scene?

More than anything else, He is the source. Nothing can go forth apart from Him (v.5). If something is going to grow, it must be rooted in the vine. It is out of the vine that the source’s substance flows. That substance is love (v.9)! In the vineyard, the vine is the source of life and the rain that fuels that life is love. John said the same sort of thing earlier: God so loved the world that He gave the vine so that whoever believes in Him will have life (John 3:16). 

There is no other way. To have life, you must believe in the vine. The branch must be connected to the vine and “abide” in it. John uses the word “abide” 10 times in John 15:1-11. In this landscape painting of the vineyard, this is the role of the branch; to abide or to dwell with. Herein, lies the most fundamental picture of our lives. Are we connected to the source? Are we directly associated with the vine? Are we hanging on to Jesus or are we hanging on to other things? Who is our vine? Who is our source? Who is our love? Who do you dwell with? Who do you rely on?

Of the various fruit bearing plants, vines require the most attention; hence, the significance of the “vinedresser” (v.1). The skillful vinedresser works the vineyard. Fruitless branches are removed and fruitful branches are pruned to make them more fruitful. Pruning bears fruit. The progression moves from “no fruit” (v.2a), to “more fruit” (v.2b), to “much fruit” (v.5). There is, of course, an “elephant in the room” (or an “elephant in the vineyard”). There is something that everyone knows is there but nobody wants to acknowledge; something that is painfully obvious. In order for fruit to grow, there must be snipping, cutting, and burning. The vinedresser prunes and then there is growth. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). 

Pruning is caring. It hurts but it is necessary. Pruning is intimacy. The vine dresser is never closer to you than when He is pruning you. Pruning hurts but helps. It may not be enjoyable but it is necessary. God loves us, and so, He prunes us. He prunes us with His Word which is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). So, as one of the actors, do your part in the scene. Abide in the vine. Connect yourself to the Word of God and let that Word prune you so that much more fruit can come from your life.

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.

At this point in the Last Supper, Jesus has now predicted his betrayal by Judas and has also predicted that Peter would soon deny Him. The mood was dark and somber to say the least. The disciples had so much confusion and questions as Jesus continued to pour on the concerning events which would soon take place. It was then that Jesus paused and began to comfort His disciples. He did so by taking their eyes off of this present world and the terrible events about to take place, and instead helped them to refocus on eternity, heaven and the life that is to come. 

Often in our world we become so consumed with the news and events of the day, we too need a reminder to lift our eyes up, focus on Jesus and keep our mind set on eternal things. After all, heaven is our home, and this life is but a vapor - here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus never intended us to have life without trouble, but He promised we could have an untroubled heart even in the midst of a troubled life. It seems that even when Jesus had a troubled heart, His own focus would shift back towards heaven. We see this again in the coming story of Jesus’ interaction with the repentant thief on the cross. In the midst of pain, Jesus turns His focus to His true home. 

The question that followed is probably the most common question throughout all of history. It is essentially this: How do we get to heaven? Jesus answered in a way often quoted but seldom fully understood. Jesus declared that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life, and He promised that no one would spend eternity in Heaven without going through Jesus. This is a bold statement, and one that flies in the face of our current post-modern culture which claims there are many ways, many truths, many forms of life and countless paths that all lead to the destination of eternal connection with God the Father. This is simply not true and it is contradictory to God’s word. If you want to spend eternity in Heaven with God, the only way is through repentance of your sin and placing your hope and trust in Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t tell us that He would show us the way…Jesus declared that He is the Way. Without the Way there is no going; without the Truth there is no knowing; without the Life there is no living. 

Jesus also explained why He was the only way to God because He was and is the perfect representation of God. To know Jesus is to know God. Simply put, if Jesus is not the only way to God, then He is not any way to God. If there are many roads to God, then Jesus is not one of them because He absolutely claimed there was only one road to God, and He Himself was that road. If Jesus is not the only way to God, then He was not a honest man; he was most certainly not a true prophet. He then would either be a madman or a lying devil. There is no middle ground available when it comes to answering the question of who Jesus is. 

Jesus makes a profound declaration when He states that those who are left behind will do greater works than what Jesus had done. Jesus did not mean greater in the sense of more sensational or powerful, but greater in magnitude. Jesus would leave behind a victorious, working family of followers who would expand His kingdom to more people and places than Jesus ever did in His life and ministry. This promise seems impossible at first read; yet after Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost there would be more people converted in one day than what were recorded during Jesus’ entire 3-year ministry. Jesus further explained how these greater works would be possible for His followers. It would be possible because of the Holy Spirit who would soon come. A helper who would be with them and allow them to grow the church with great power and authority. The word “Helper” found in the book of John translates the ancient Greek word “parakletos”. This word has the idea of someone called to help someone else, and it could refer to an advisor, a legal defender, a mediator, or to an intercessor…all of which the Holy Spirit was and still is for us today. The World cannot understand or receive the Spirit, because He is holy and true. The Spirit of Truth is not popular in an age of lies, and the world cannot perceive the Spirit and does not know Him. You simply cannot be full of the truth and full of deception at the same time. 

One other aspect of the Holy Spirit is revealed in the closing verses of this chapter both for the disciples and for us today. Jesus declares that this spiritual advocate which will soon come would fill and indwell God’s people and this the Spirit would continue to teach them and would also bring to mind the remembrance of all the things Jesus had said. This supernatural element of the Holy Spirit is what enabled the Gospels to be written at all. No man, in his own power, would be able to rewrite the entire sermon on the mount if not for supernatural clarity of remembrance given through God’s Spirit. One final gift Jesus would leave His followers is that of peace. In one sense, this was a common thing to say at a departure in that culture. To wish peace (shalom) to others as you left them was common. Jesus took this normal good-bye and filled it with deep strength and meaning. When someone in that ancient culture said peace as they departed, they said it without any special meaning. It was like when we say goodbye. Literally that word means, “God be with you” – but rarely do people really mean it that way. Jesus wanted them to know that when He said peace I leave with you, it wasn’t in the casual, empty way that most people said it. There was power in it, and a tangible promise that would be fulfilled. 

Jesus had no physical inheritance or fortune to leave to His followers in a last will and testament. Yet Jesus gave them two things greater than any fortune: the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and the peace of Jesus Himself. That peace was not only given to the eleven, but made available to all who would follow after Jesus. Even in the midst of trouble and harsh circumstances, we can be filled with the presence and peace of Jesus. It was these two gifts that would be a catalyst for the growth of the early church.

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ 19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” 21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

Jesus knew at this point that the time of His earthly ministry was quickly coming to an end. He would soon become the ultimate passover lamb and give His life for the sins of all humanity…but there were a few final lessons that needed to be given first. On the night before He would be arrested, Jesus and His disciples ate a meal famously known as the Last Supper. All four gospel accounts contain a record of this last supper, but John’s gospel has a different focus during those pivotal final hours before Judas would betray Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. 

It was during this final meal that Jesus got up and began to wash the feet of His disciples. We have the sense that when John wrote this account, many years after the fact he could still remember every detail - the longer time went on after these events, the disciples would have had increasing clarity as to the deep and profound meaning of the humble act which seemed crazy at the time. How could Jesus, soon after the triumphal entry, begin to do the job of the lowest servant in the household? At this critical moment, at this evening before the torture of the cross, Jesus did not think of Himself. He thought about His disciples. Truly, this was loving them to the end. After all, Jesus’ disciples treated Him badly and were about to treat Him even worse, forsaking Him, abandoning Him and denying they even knew Him; yet He loved them.

According to the Jewish laws and traditions regarding the relationship between a teacher and his disciples, a teacher had no right to demand or expect that his disciples (or students) would wash his feet. It was absolutely unthinkable that the Master or Rabbi would wash His disciple’s feet. Luke 22:23 records that the disciples entered the room debating who was greatest. By what He did, Jesus shifted the focus and illustrated true greatness. None of the disciples were interested in washing each other’s feet, but any of them would have gladly washed Jesus’ feet. But they could not wash His without having to be available to wash the others’ feet, and that would have been an intolerable admission of inferiority among their fellow competitors for the top position in the disciples’ hierarchy. So no one’s feet got washed….and everyone ate with dirty feet. What a picture this is of our society today, an urgent climb to the top of the power pyramid and a battle with our fellow man, instead of taking the time to serve and realize what true greatness and influence truly look like. In all of this, Jesus acted out a parable for the disciples instead of just telling a story. Jesus knew actions speak louder than words. So when He wanted to teach the proud, arguing disciples about true humility, He didn’t just say it – He showed it. He showed it in a way that illustrated His whole mission on behalf of His own. Peter would even harken back to this event when he wrote letters to the early Christian church. He instructed them to be “clothed with humility”. Another way of putting this would be to wrap an apron of humility around yourself, which is just what Jesus did. This event remained in Peter’s mind and heart just as it did with John. 

Peter objected to what Jesus was doing. Perhaps Peter thought, “All these other disciples missed the point by letting Jesus wash their feet. He wants us to protest, and proclaim that He is too great, and we are too unworthy, to have Him wash our feet.” So, Peter made this dramatic statement. Peter clearly felt uncomfortable with having Jesus perform such a humble act of service for him. This example of the servant’s heart of Jesus made Peter and the others look proud by comparison. Jesus replied and told Peter that if He did not wash his followers (a nod to salvation), they would have no part with Him; Peter had to accept this from Jesus. Jesus became a pattern for the disciples as well as us. If we do not accept the humble service of Jesus to cleanse us, we will have no part with Him. This foot washing was a powerful lesson in humility but it was more than that. It also shows that Jesus has no fellowship and no deep connection with those who have not been cleansed by Him. We are grateful Jesus did not say, “If you do not have great holiness, you have no part with Me.” We are happy He did not say, “If you are not a Bible expert, you have no part with Me.” Having a part with Jesus begins simply with receiving something from Him, not achieving something ourselves.

Peter then requested to be fully washed. He was still reluctant to let Jesus do as He wanted. Peter wanted to tell Jesus what to do. A moment ago he told his Master He was doing too much; now he tells Him He is doing too little. Jesus – though the servant of all – still was and is God’s appointed leader. He would not allow Peter to dominate this situation and set things on a wrong course. In just a matter of moments, Jesus did battle against two of the most common enemies of Christian service: pride and control. Sometimes even today, we show a servant’s heart by accepting the service of others for us. If we only serve, and refuse to be served, it can be a sign of deeply rooted and well-hidden pride. Man’s humility does not begin with the giving of service; it begins with the readiness to receive it. It is only by having received it first we can truly recognize and walk out the loving, selfless service of Jesus. 

Jesus closes this object lesson by explaining what He did and commanding His disciples to follow in His footsteps. Their greatness would only be achieved by becoming the greatest servant to the coming early church. Jesus didn’t tell them to only serve Him, but to also serve each other, something that went directly against the current theme of competing with each other for recognition. Let this lesson be for us today as it was two thousand years ago. It is easy for us to criticize and look down on those with dirty feet instead of washing them. Every day we need to choose to walk humbly and serve, just as Christ would serve.

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;  see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Jesus Predicts His Death

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. 34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Belief and Unbelief Among the Jews

37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. 42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God. 44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Chapter 12 begins where chapter 11 ended, though some time apart. About a week before Jesus would be arrested and eventually crucified, He came with His disciples to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus for a dinner held in His honor. Almost one-half of John’s gospel is dedicated to this last week of Jesus’ life, known as Holy week. It is as if time slows down during this final week leading up to the crucifixion, and special attention is paid to details otherwise skipped over. 

How strange it must have been for the disciples to once again be in the presence of Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead and was now alive and well and eating dinner with them. What an awe inspiring moment to know that your Rabbi displayed power over even death. In a sacrificial act of love, devotion and gratitude, Mary approached Jesus, poured valuable anointing oil on His feet and wiped His feet with her hair. It wasn’t unusual to wash the feet of a guest, but it was unusual to do it during the meal itself, to use very costly oil of spikenard to do it, and to wipe the feet with her hair. Mary’s gift was not only generous and sacrificial, but also remarkably humble. When a guest entered the home, usually the guest’s feet were washed with water and the guest’s head was anointed with a dab of oil or perfume. Here, Mary used this precious ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus. She considered her precious ointment only good enough for His feet - a task often given to the most lowly slave. Thus, Mary’s action denoted great humility as well as great devotion. In all of this, Mary is a study of devotion to Jesus. The life of Mary is painted for us, in three memorable pictures, in each of which she is at the feet of Jesus. This display may have been what led to Jesus in turn washing the disciples feet in the following chapter, as a showing that He Himself was also a servant to all, as they should be as well. Not only should they follow His example, but Mary’s as well.  

Judas’ objection to the act and the fact Judas would later betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver fall in a reasonable line. Both actions have, as its central theme, the prioritizing of the physical world and physical wealth over the spiritual wealth that was right in front of Him. He was blind to the pure worship that was taking place in front of his eyes.  In the same way that it would be rude to loudly object to funeral expenses at the service for the deceased, so it was inappropriate for Judas or anyone else to put a price on Mary’s love and devotion to Jesus while He was still alive. Judas may also have taken Jesus’ rebuke personally, further spurring his upcoming betrayal. 

We read that the Chief Priests were plotting to find a way to also put Lazarus to death. The Chief Priests were mostly Sadducees, and the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection. Lazarus was a living example of life after death, and having him around was an embarrassment to their theological system. For them, there was only one solution to this embarrassing problem – to put Lazarus to death as well as Jesus. The fact that the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead drew many people to Jesus was another problem for both the Pharisees and Sadducees… It was also the catalyst for the chain of events which would come next, beginning with the triumphal entry.  

There were large crowds in Jerusalem who had come to celebrate the greatest holiday of Judaism – Passover. Many of them came from Galilee and had heard news of this Jesus. When they came, they came with lambs. Jewish law required that the Passover lamb live with the family for at least three days before sacrifice. When Jesus came and went into Jerusalem, lambs for sacrifice would surround Him and everyone else. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that one year a census was taken of the number of lambs slain for Passover and that figure was 256,500. In other words, with numbers this large, lambs must literally be driven up to Jerusalem throughout the entire day. Consequently, whenever Jesus entered the city, He must have done so surrounded by lambs. Imagine Jesus entering the city surrounded by sacrificial lambs, Himself being the greatest and most spotless of them all. 

The people took up palm branches, a symbol of Jewish nationalism since the time of the Maccabees, and cheered Jesus on. The crowd now believed Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, they just didn’t understand what that meant. They looked to Jesus as a political and national savior, but not so much as a spiritual savior. Humans often do this, we see things in the physical realm when Jesus always has His mind set on the spiritual. They greeted Jesus as a king, though ignorant of the nature of His kingship. It would seem that they looked upon Him as a potential nationalist leader, with whose help they might be able to become wholly independent of foreign powers and Roman occupation. The common thought was that one who could summon a dead man back to life would certainly be able to deliver the holy city from the yoke of Caesar.

Jesus demonstrated his true intentions when He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9. He could have rode a war horse, or carried a spear or a rams horn as a call to revolution. Instead, He chose the most lowly and humble mode of transportation as a symbol of peace. The time was drawing near when Jesus would make the ultimate sacrifice for you and I. Even while He rode into Jerusalem to cries of Hosanna, the Pharisees plotted to kill Him, and even one of his own disciples was a part of this plot.

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” 11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” 28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” 49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. 55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

Chapter 11 centers on one of thee most powerful and famous stories in all of the bible. It’s interesting to point out that the other three gospels do not even mention this amazing miracle. This is most likely due to the fact that the other three gospels were written while Lazarus was still alive, (after his resurrection) and the disciples didn’t want to continue to stir up the hatred of the Jews towards Lazarus as a living and walking testimony of the power of the Christ. Later in John, we will see that Lazarus was also a target of their vitriol, so the three early gospels may have been trying to protect him.  

It is obvious in the context of the story that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and cared for that family. What is not so obvious at first read is why Jesus would delay and stay two more days where He was before traveling to Bethany. Jesus foresaw that this coming miracle would set in motion a greater urgency for the Pharisees to arrest and kill Him, which is why Jesus claimed this sickness would ultimately be for the glory of God. He delayed because He knew Lazarus was already dead and to hurry would indicate Jesus was reacting from a fearful and worried position, something not in the nature of Jesus to do. One can only imagine the panicked urging of the disciples, hoping Jesus would hurry back to Bethany. It seems He was also teaching them a lesson in patience, trust and living by God’s timing instead of Man’s.

Jesus returning to resurrect Lazarus on the fourth day was significant. It was a common Jewish belief that grief reaches it’s height on the third day and for three days the spirit of a deceased person hovers about the tomb, if for some reason it may return to the lifeless body. But on the fourth day when the spirit sees it’s former body in decay and countenance changed, it retires and abandons the body. The fourth day represented to the Jewish people in mourning that any hope of resuscitation was abandoned. Regardless of if this belief is true or simply superstition, Jesus was aware of it and He would demonstrate not only His power over life, death and the physical body, but also over the spirit of a human as well. 

When Jesus returned to Judea (specifically Bethany). He was putting Himself and His disciples in great danger because Bethany was very near to Jerusalem and well within the epicenter of the growing plot to have Jesus searched out, arrested and killed. Jesus reminded His followers that there were still twelve hours in a day, a reference to the period of time in which He had work to do before time would come for His arrest. What Jesus was inferring with this statement was to not worry because there was nothing that could be done to them while they worked within God’s timing. 

When Jesus came to the home of Mary and Martha, Martha came to Jesus and honestly stated her disappointment in Jesus’ late arrival. She believed Jesus was able to heal her brother while he was sick yet still alive, but it’s possible she didn’t even consider Jesus was still able to raise Lazarus from the dead after so much time had passed. Martha’s misunderstanding of what Jesus said next led to a great revelation about Jesus. When Jesus stated that Lazarus would indeed rise again, Martha thought it was a general platitude akin to our modern sentiment of, “One day we will see them again in heaven.” But Jesus declares that He is the resurrection and the life. The power to raise the dead at the end of the age is the same power that could raise the dead today. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life, then that also means apart from Him there will be neither resurrection or life. Jesus boldly challenged Martha as He does with each of us today to trust that He was the source of eternal life. Jesus presented Himself as the champion over death. 

While secular humanity in general fears death, the Christian can only fear dying. The believer will never die, but simply make an instant transition from an old life to a new life. I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon on the subject. “Death comes to the ungodly man as a penal infliction, but to the righteous as a summons to his Father’s palace: to the sinner it is an execution, to the saint an undressing. Death to the wicked is the King of terrors: death to the saint is the end of terrors, the commencement of glory.” 

When Jesus continues on and speaks with Mary, she says something very similar to what Martha had first said to Jesus. It was likely that they had spoken this sentiment to each other several times since Lazarus died….If only Jesus had come earlier, my brother would not have died. This phrase is mirrored often in our lives today; “If only God had answered this prayer,” “If only God…” 

It’s interesting to note at this point in the story that as Jesus approaches the tomb, knowing what He will do next, first He weeps and then scripture says Jesus is also troubled and groans in His spirit. There is an important contrast between the tears of Mary and the tears of Jesus. Weeping (the word used for Mary in John 11:33) is a word that describes loud wailing. Wept (the word to describe Jesus’ expression of grief in John 11:35) is another word that indicates a quiet weeping. Jesus was greatly moved in His emotions, but not out of control. Coming to the scene of Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus intensely groaned in the spirit. In the ancient Greek, this phrase literally means, to snort like a horse – implying anger and indignation. It means that Jesus wasn’t so much sad at the scene surrounding the tomb of Lazarus, but it’s more accurate to say that Jesus was angry. Jesus was angry and troubled at the destruction and power of the great enemy of humanity: death. Jesus would soon break the dominating power of death.

After the stone is rolled away, Jesus prays, most likely in the draft of a stench coming from the tomb. Jesus cried with a loud voice and told Lazarus to come forth. Even the dead obey Jesus. It’s a good thing Jesus called Lazarus by namer or else many tombs would have been emptied. Lazarus came forth, shuffling from His grave. Jesus did not miraculously remove the grave-clothes from Lazarus, but He asked attendants to do so. Jesus did what only God could do, and then He looked for Man’s cooperation for the completion of Lazarus’ deliverance. He allows servants to take part in His supernatural workings even today…if you’re willing.

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” 19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” 21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Further Conflict Over Jesus’ Claims

22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. 40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.

A common way to help people understand what you are trying to explain to is use an example, a word picture ,or visual to put the story into a new, more understandable context. Sometimes it works and the listener understands what you are telling them, and sometimes the visual confuses them even more. In chapter 10, Jesus uses the picture of a shepherd and his sheep to explain and simplify His message. This visual would have been one of the most relatable and common sights in the area. Everyone either had sheep of their own or knew people who shepherded sheep. They would have understood each and every reference Jesus made. 

Jesus makes a logical argument for who the real shepherds and who the false shepherds are. Political and spiritual leaders were often called shepherds in the ancient world, but Jesus explained that not everyone among the sheep is a true shepherd; some are like thieves and robbers. One mark of their being a thief and a robber is how they gain entry among the sheep. The idea is that there is a door, a proper way to gain entry and access. Not everyone who stands among the sheep comes that way. Some climb in another way. The religious leaders gained their place among God’s people (the sheep spoken of here) through personal and political connections, through formal education, through ambition, manipulation, and corruption.  A true shepherd comes in the legitimate and designed way: through love, calling, care, and sacrificial service. The Pharisees should have easily picked up on and understood what Jesus was saying had their arrogance and pride not stopped up their ears. 

In the spiritual picture Jesus spoke of, the door for the sheep pen had a doorkeeper – one who watched who came into the pen and who went out. The doorkeeper knows the true shepherd and appropriately grants him access. In towns of that time, sheep from many flocks were kept for the night in a common sheepfold, overseen by one doorkeeper who regulated which shepherds brought and took which sheep. The shepherd calls the sheep by name, showing that the shepherd has a personal connection with the sheep. The shepherd leads the sheep who recognize the shepherds voice, going out ahead of them, providing direction and leadership – without driving or forcing the sheep to follow. It is interesting to note that within the narrative of the Gospel of John, Jesus calls the following ‘sheep’ by name: Philip, Mary of Magdala, Thomas, and Simon Peter; and on each occasion, it is a turning-point in the disciple’s life.

Jesus uses another familiar picture of sheep farming when He explains the significance of the door or sheep gate. Out in the pasturelands for sheep, pens were made with only one entrance. The door for those sheep pens was the shepherd himself. He laid his body across the entrance, to keep the sheep in and to keep out the wolves. The shepherd was in fact the door, and Jesus claimed that this was His role among His own followers. He was not only the shepherd, but the door as well. He was also implying the Pharisees were like wolves, thieves or robbers and Jesus was standing in the way of any advance or threat against His followers. A thief implies deception and trickery, and a robber implies violence and destruction. No matter the threat, Jesus made it known who was standing in each role. 

It’s interesting to note that when a sheep hears the voice, the true voice of their shepherd, they follow without force or coercion; but a thief or robber needs to use something other than the truth to make off with or harm the sheep. They must use deception, manipulation or force. This is how we know who the true shepherds and false shepherds of our world are; are they using clever deception, smooth words or bribes to get people to follow them? If so, then they are not uttering the truth, and they are not to be trusted or followed. 

Jesus makes the ultimate claim for why He is the true shepherd and worthy to be followed. A true shepherd will lay down his life for the flock, something the Pharisees would never think of doing. The people lived to serve the religious leaders, not the other way around. Jesus was turning the common thinking of the day on it’s ear by using a very common picture of the servant role of a shepherd caring for His flock. Jesus declares that He is the good shepherd and foreshadows that He will soon lay His life down for His sheep. A hireling would not lay his life down for the sheep. Why would he if he has no relationship with the sheep? When the wolves are coming, the hireling will simply run away. But the true shepherd would never abandon his sheep, no matter what came for them. The bad shepherd (a hireling) thinks the flock exists for his benefit, but the good shepherd lives and dies for the good of the sheep.

In verse 16, Jesus speaks of other sheep and how those sheep will also follow Him and all will join together as one fold. This was a reference to gentile believers who would soon make up a large part of the early church as the gospel expanded outward. Jesus also makes a prophetic statement when he declares that He would lay His life down only to take it up again. 

After all of these things were said, a similar thing happens to whenever Jesus speaks to a mixed crowd; the crowd becomes further divided. Some believe Him and others claim He is possessed by a demon. Some follow Him and others pick up stones to kill Him. The ultimate dividing line of society, both two-thousand years ago and still today, is this simply question: What will we do with Jesus?  

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. 17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” 18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” 20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Chapter nine opens on a scene that would be familiar to us, even in today’s world. A homeless person on the side of the street holding a sign revealing some disability and reason for needing charity is not a foreign idea. This man in particular must have been verbally declaring that he had been blind from birth, and apparently that call had worked, for he had survived off the 
charity of others up until this point. The knowledge of his condition from birth prompted a genuine question from the disciples.

It was a widely held belief among Jewish culture that suffering, pain and physical defects were the result of sin. They were partially right; the fact that we live in a fallen world is what ultimately has led to all pain, disease, suffering and disability. Had sin not entered into the world, we would still be living in the perfect, harmonious and healthy way that God intended from creation. However, we are feeling the effects of sinful choices made hundreds and even thousands of years ago. To think that this man’s blindness is the punishment or result only because of his own sin, some sin he would commit in the future, or the sin of his parents was both short-sighted and lacking in compassion. When Jesus responds to the question, He declares something amazing about the nature of God in heaven by revealing that even this man’s blindness was in the plan of God so that the works of God should be revealed in him. While blindness and all disease and disability was and is not part of God’s original plan, God in his sovereignty has now adopted these things into His purpose. God declares his own greatness in using whatever happens, whether good or bad, to accomplish His divine purpose. God shows His authority over evil by using it’s effects for His own glory. 

Jesus shifts the conversation to one of urgency and action. Instead of focusing on the man only as a theological problem needing to be talked about and debated, Jesus moves to actually make a lasting impact on the situation and teach a more valuable lesson to His disciples. This move to action reminds me of a quote by Charles Spurgeon:  “It is ours, not to speculate, but to perform acts of mercy and love, according to the tenor of the gospel. Let us then be less inquisitive and more practical, less for cracking doctrinal nuts, and more for bringing forth the bread of life to the starving multitudes.” 

Jesus understood that opportunities for service don’t last forever. Jesus also knew healing this man on the Sabbath would bring greater opposition from the religious leaders who already wanted to silence and kill Him. Yet His compassion for the man drove Him to healing anyway. Jesus used what was undoubtedly one of His more unusual methods leading to a miracle. We can suppose that Jesus wanted to emphasize at least two things. (1) Just as God used the dust of the ground and clay to do a work of creation in Genesis, so Jesus did a work of creation with dust and clay for this man, creating sight where there wasn’t before. (2) Jesus also found it important to change His methods of healing so one could never make a formula of the methods. The power was in God, not in a method or object. 

In this miracle, Jesus took all the initiative. Jesus came to the blind man; the blind man did not come to Him. Even so, He expected the blind man to respond with faith-filled action. The healing would not happen unless the man responded with those faith-filled, obedient actions of washing in the pool of Siloam. The water for the pool of Siloam came through Hezekiah’s tunnel, a remarkable engineering feat built in Old Testament divided kingdom times. As a blind man, he had to find his way down to pool the of Siloam and down its steps to the pool itself. He likely could think of a dozen reasons why this was a fool’s errand, but he chose to go and be washed in faith and obedience, because Jesus told him to (and because there was mud in his eyes). Scripture records that he came back seeing: This is the first time in the Biblical record a person born blind was healed of their blindness. From Genesis to John, no prophet, priest, or apostle ever gave sight to eyes born blind. This was a sign that Jesus was Lord and not just a prophet or priest. Psalm 146:8 declares; “The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.”

Jesus knew in advance that this healing would lead to the stirring up of the Pharisees and increasing pressure towards having Him arrested. But Jesus never allowed Himself to live under threat or in fear. Jesus was never anxious or worried, but always trusted in the Father. News of this miracle would quickly spread around the area and as the influence of Christ grew. His crowds would grow, but so would His opposition. The same is true of the church today, the more we grow and advance in expanding the kingdom of God, the more opposition we will face. The expanding Kingdom of God will encroach on the boundary lines of existing kingdoms and conflict will ensue. This is the nature of the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of man since the fall in the garden. 

As you pursue Jesus and work with urgency and compassion in His name, be prepared for people to resist everything that is of God. Never allow yourself to be intimidated or silenced when it comes to following after Jesus the same way that Jesus was never thwarted in His pursuit of you. This urgent pursuit of compassion and service is God’s plan for your life, since before you were even born.

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” 19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” 22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?” 23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” 25 “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” 27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” 34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.” 39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” 49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” 52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” 54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” 58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Chapter 8 begins with a famous passage where a women caught in the act of adultery is brought before Jesus. It’s an incredible and heart-wrenching story which is valuable to read and study. Often the remainder of the chapter is overshadowed by the events of the beginning of this chapter. Instead of focusing on this well-known story, I want to shift our attention to the interesting conversation Jesus had with a mixed crowd of believers and Pharisees. There are many well-known individual verses in this section, but most people who quote those verses have no idea of the context surrounding them.

Jesus first directs a bold statement to those who have recently begun to follow and believe in Him. He offers them a next step, a movement from simply being believers to becoming disciples. Those who would become His disciples are described as those who abide in His Word. To abide means to live in, to dwell in and to make your home in His word. Many people find their identity in their physical home, it is reflection of who they are, and this is exactly what Jesus means with this word. We are to find our identity in the Word - which is Jesus Christ Himself. The end result of this movement is that you would know the truth, and by knowing the truth you would be set free. What does truth set you free from? From lies, deception and the bondage that always results from those believing those lies. There is nothing like the freedom we can have in Jesus. No money can buy it, no status can obtain it, no works can earn it, and nothing can match it. It is a tragic thing that not every Christian experiences this freedom, which can never be found except by abiding in God’s word and walking as a true disciple of Jesus.

Some of the more religious people listening to Jesus speak reply by making an absurd claim. They claim they don’t need the freedom Jesus offers because they are not, and have never been, in bondage. Anyone with a grasp of history (which they had) would have seen this claim to be false and ridiculous. The Jewish people had been in bondage under Egypt, the Philistines, and Babylon, Persia, and Syria. Even in that very moment they were in bondage and occupation by the Roman empire. This was clearly a willful disregard of their own history, a statement born of pride.

Jesus could have refuted their statement, but instead artfully shifts the conversation to focus on the spiritual aspects of sin and what a lifestyle of sin leads to. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin; Sin in this passage is in a verb tense indicating a habitual, continual action. The person in habitual sin becomes a slave to that sin and slavery to sin is the worst kind of slavery, because there is no escape from our self. Wherever you go, there you are. A Son must set us free, and the Son of God sets us free and brings us back into the household of God. This is where Jesus asserts His authoritative role into the conversation; He is the Son who desires to set all men free from the bonds of sin. If we are set free from our slavery to sin – set free by a Son, and set free by abiding in Jesus’ word and being His disciple – then we are free indeed, having a true freedom found only in being connected to the living Word of God. The slave of sin cannot by himself change his status. He cannot convert or liberate himself, nor can he be converted by any fellow-sinner. The liberator from our bondage must come from outside the ranks of enslaved humanity.

While many of the Pharisees who oppose Jesus focus on their physical descendancy from Abraham, Jesus once again turns to the spiritual realm and claims that they are really offspring of their father the Devil who is deceiving them and blinding their hearts with lies and deception. What a bold and potentially dangerous thing to say! Their rejection of the word of Jesus proved they were not like Abraham, and that they did not have the true and complete freedom that comes from abiding in His word.

The pharisees attempt to discredit Jesus by claiming that, unlike them, Jesus is an illegitimate child. They most likely were aware of who Jesus was and the mystery surrounding his birth. They would use whatever they could to try to discredit His message in the crowded setting, even referring to Him as a bastard with no real authority. Soon after, they would accuse Jesus of being Samaritan and being possessed by a demon. More lies from desperate men. Jesus speaks directly to the identity of His heavenly Father as well as the parentage of the Pharisees. Their father was the devil because they were attempting to do exactly what the devil does: steal, kill and destroy through lies, manipulation and deception. Satan is a deceiver from the beginning, whose first victim was himself. The Pharisees, desperate to discredit Jesus and find a way to entrap and arrest Him, jump on anything Jesus says. Jesus is aware of what they are attempting to do, but will not shy away from revealing who He is. The fuse is lit when Jesus says this statement: “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” 

The Pharisees would have been very familiar with what Jesus was saying, which is why they pick up rocks to stone Him. These were the words that God Himself spoke to Abraham from the burning bush. God revealed Himself as the great I Am. Jesus was declaring that He and His Father in Heaven were one. Jesus was also the great I AM and equal to His Father in Heaven. With this dramatic phrase, Jesus told them that He was the eternal God, existing not only during the time of Abraham, but before unto eternity past. Jesus claimed to be the great I AM, the voice of the covenant God of Israel and the authority even to all the Pharisees hearing His words. This claim gave only two options to the listener and eliminated riding on the fence as a safe option. Either you believed Jesus was from and therefore equal with God in Heaven, or Jesus was blasphemous in his assertion to be equal with God and deserved to die. 

The choice for the Pharisees was easy because their hearts were already pitted against Jesus. They took up stones to kill Him, but Jesus’ hour had not yet come, so they could do nothing. The same ultimatum stands for you and I today. Jesus is either a blasphemous liar or He is who He claimed to be. Which is it?

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him. 6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?” 12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” 16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” 20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

Division Over Who Jesus Is

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” 30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. 33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. 40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” 46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. 47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

A theme that weaves its way though the gospels often unnoticed is one of timing. Jesus brought up this issue of timing many times in His ministry saying things like, “My time has not yet come.” Jesus not only had a plan for what He would accomplish during His life but also when He would fulfill that prophecy or mission. This timing is the reason Jesus was in Galilee at the beginning of chapter 7. The Jewish leaders in the region of Judea hated Jesus and were looking for a way to kill Him. Eventually, they would, but the time for Jesus to be arrested had not yet come; He still had teaching, instruction and miracles yet to come. It was not a lack of courage that made Jesus stay in Galilee, but an awareness of the Father’s perfect timing – and it was not yet the appointed time for Him to be arrested and delivered to the Gentiles.

The entire chapter focuses around a single narrative of Jesus going to the temple in secret during the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is a joyful, week long celebration in September or October when families camped out in temporary shelters to remember God’s faithfulness to Israel in the wilderness on the way from Egypt to Canaan under Moses. That is why this festival is also know as the festival of booths (sukkoth), because, for the full week it lasted, people lived in makeshift booths of branches and leaves according to Leviticus chapter 23.

Jesus would have been easily recognized if He had went to the festival with His usual entourage. There were common people looking for Him and Jewish leaders as well, all seeking out Jesus for very different reasons. In His veiled approach, Jesus was able to enter the city unnoticed and
overhear the people of the city talking about Him in hushed tones. Some claimed Jesus was good, others argued Jesus was a deceiver. The same is true of Jesus today; He is a divider of communities and households, splitting those who pursue truth and those who would pursue self over all else. Everyone has an opinion of Jesus. 

At some point in the festival, Jesus goes into the Temple and begins to teach, garnering an astonished response from the Jewish people who went up to worship on the holy day. They are amazed at the level of knowledge Jesus had and they begin to question His credentials when no falsity of doctrine could be found. Jesus was an eloquent, gifted teacher, but He was not self taught; Jesus was God taught. His authority was not from any man, but from His Father. He actively invited His listeners to examine His teachings according to the Scriptures to see if anything He was saying was not true. Jesus then proceeds to teach and reveal who He is and where His authority comes from using the picture of Moses and the Law. It’s important to note that Jesus was sharing this teaching inside of the temple courts, so those surrounding Him were all Jews who saw themselves as those who followed Jewish law and were very familiar with the life and times of Moses. Jesus bringing up Moses as an example in this place and at this time would not have been mere coincidence. 

At some point in His wise and measured approach, Jesus is confronted by religious leaders in the crowd hoping to derail the teaching with wild accusations. They claim that Jesus has a demon and is trying to trick the people. Jesus had just spoken a hard truth, alleging that some people were seeking to kill Him for breaking the law when in fact it was them who were guilty under the law, not Jesus. This accurate assessment garnered an outburst of accusations back towards Jesus. To claim that Jesus was possessed by a demon is akin to the modern accusations made of Christians as being hateful, intolerant and hypocritical. They are accusations made to shut down conversation, not expand it. The Jewish leaders felt threatened that Jesus would turn the crowd against them, and they worked to end this outpouring of truth as quickly as possible. 

Many of the people who came to town for the festival were not aware the Pharisees were in fact seeking to kill Jesus because He had healed a man on the Sabbath. They thought Jesus was crazy or perhaps paranoid because of His claim that people were trying to kill Him. But those from Jerusalem were aware of the plot against Jesus and they even used that plot to (again) try to discredit Him. The common people were amazed at how Jesus spoke with boldness and authority. Jesus was never afraid or intimidated by the threats against Him.  Again, those who opposed Jesus tried to discredit Him by claiming He could not be the Messiah because they knew where He came from. Popular belief of the time held that the Messiah would appear. The idea was that he was waiting concealed and some day would burst suddenly upon the world and no one would know where he had come from.

Jesus again asserts His divine and heavenly origin and the crowds are split as they are even today. Some believe Him fully as the long awaited Messiah, others believe only that He is a prophet, and others are fueled with hatred and want only to kill Him all the more. In the end, they tried to arrest Jesus, but could not because the timing was not yet right. Jesus still had more to accomplish, but He would soon return to Jerusalem some time later, riding on a donkey over palm branches to cries of “Hosanna”. 

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. 22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Jesus the Bread of Life

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” 41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” 43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell 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 them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

A lot happens in chapter 6 of John. We read about two incredible miracles; the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on the sea of Galilea. Though these are both incredible events that merit a closer look, I want to focus in this short devotional on the final part of this chapter, a section that often gets overlooked because of the fantastic miracles surrounding it. Towards the end of chapter six, Jesus shares an interesting teaching that causes many to become offended and desert him. Let’s take a closer look.

Massive crowds had gathered to listen to Jesus, perhaps out of curiosity rather than authentic seeking hearts. When Jesus departed, they followed after him all the way to the other side of the now calm sea. Keep in mind that these people who followed Jesus to Capernaum were from the same crowd that Jesus fed and the same crowd who wanted to force Jesus to be recognized as an earthly king. 

When they arrive, Jesus says something interesting: “You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” Instead of telling them when and why He came, Jesus told them why they came – because they wanted more food miraculously provided by Jesus. They were following Jesus for purely physical reasons and not for spiritual reasons. Jesus knew they looked to what He could provide them in the physical realm - from food to freedom from Roman occupation. 

Jesus uses what was already on their mind - bread - to switch the conversation back from the physical to the spiritual, something far more valuable. Jesus tells them, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” Jesus made a contrast between material things and spiritual things. It is almost universally true that people are more attracted to material things than spiritual things. A sign that says free money and free food will get a bigger crowd than one that says spiritual fulfillment and eternal life. It takes far more effort and intentionality to see the value of the latter. 

Jesus avoids using the term ‘Messiah’ or any other which would have appealed to the crowds militant aspirations. Instead, He used the term ‘the Son of Man’. The title was not current in their religious or political vocabulary and could therefore bear whatever meaning He chose to put on it. A paraphrase of the people’s questions that follow may sound like this: “Just tell us what to do so we can get what we want from You. We want your miracle bread and for You to be our Miracle King; tell us what to do to get it.” Jesus wants no part of this and launches into a teaching which reveals the true nature of why He came to Earth and what He will do - and not do - while He is here. Jesus tells the people the main thing He wishes for them to do is to believe in Him who God has sent. The same is true of us today. Our top priority in life is not duty, offerings or religious observations, but simply to believe and place our trust and hope in Jesus Christ.  

The conversation turns back to bread. The people may have heard or seen firsthand how Jesus had supernaturally fed them a day earlier and they want to see this miracle again in front of their eyes and have their hunger and curiosity once again satisfied. They also bring up that Moses provided manna in the wilderness. The people wrongly saw Jesus as a second Moses, one who would lead them physically out of oppression and captivity. Jesus recognizes this and flips the conversation back to the spiritual realm. He declares boldly, “I am the bread of life,” essentially telling the people to stop trying to make me into what you want me to be. Instead, see me for who I really am. Jesus tried to lift their minds above earthly and temporal things and on to heavenly realities; to an understanding that He is necessary for spiritual life just as bread is necessary for physical survival.

Jesus then reveals to them why He has come, who He was sent by, and what He will do while He is here. Some of what was said may have been understood, some most likely lost on the audience, but the main takeaway for most listeners is that Jesus had no plans to fit into the box they had prepared for them. He was here to fulfill the will of the Father, not to fulfill the will of people looking for a second Moses. What they wanted, Jesus would not give, and what Jesus offered, they would not receive.

Admiration turns to questions, questions turn to murmurs, these murmurs grow into sharp arguments and willful misunderstandings of Jesus’ words. The words of Christ are twisted and the people claim offense. In the end, scripture says that many desert Jesus. Even some who were not part of the crowd but considered disciples of Christ rejected Him in this moment of hard teaching. Perhaps they had been following Jesus for the wrong reasons, under false pretenses. Once Jesus effectively discouraged every material and earthly motive for following Him, many simply stopped following. Only those who truly saw Jesus for who He was continued to follow Him. 

Oh how the same is true today. Some follow after Jesus for what they think He can provide for them - a miracle, a healing, a blessing, a change of status - but only those who, through relationship, know Jesus will continue to follow him all the days of their life and into eternity.

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. 24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come 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 also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Testimonies About Jesus

31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true. 33 “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study[c] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Chapter five of John begins with an inspiring story of a healing in the city of Jerusalem at the pool of Bethesda. In modern times, this pool has been excavated in the area just north of the temple area, and found to have five porches, just as John said. Every year archaeologists are digging up the past and proving the words of the bible to be accurate. In the time of Jesus, many sick and injured people gathered at this pool in Jerusalem in hope of healing. Perhaps this hope of healing was real, and God honored a release of faith. Or, it may be that this stirring of the water and subsequent healing was merely a hopeful legend; nevertheless, a great multitude of sick people believed it and gathered there. 

We read that this particular sick man has been crippled for 38 years. When Jesus is told this, He asked the man a curious question; “Do you want to get well?” To the reader this may seem like a silly question. Of course the man wants to get well! He’s at the place of healing isn’t he? Who wouldn’t want to get well from whatever is troubling them? But the truth is, people get comfortable and use to their troubles in life, almost to the point where they may miss it - the illness, the disability, the impediment. Think about this: This crippled man surely had friends at the pool area, people to talk to, people who brought him food and water. What would happen if he were healed? Perhaps he would need to find a job, a new place to live and a complete change of life. Each of these changes could be more scary and uncertain than even the disability itself. Jesus was aware of this dynamic so He first asks the man if he wants to be healed. It’s strange to think that people get comfortable in something that we, from the outside, view as bad or unwanted. It happened in the old testament when Moses led the captives out of Egypt. Soon, the Israelites were longing for the slavery and bondage they had left rather than their new found freedom in the wilderness. At least back in Egypt they knew where their next meal was coming from and where they would sleep that night. There can be a comfort and familiarity even in things God never meant for us to endure.

It’s interesting to note how Jesus only chose one man to heal despite the fact that the particular area surrounding the pool was full of people seeking healing. They were intently focused on the pool, waiting for the angel to come down at passover and stir the waters. But there was one amongst them that was far greater than the angels. The ultimate physician and healer was in their midst, if they only had the eyes to look up and see him. A similar thing happens in our world today. People wait when the answer is right in front of them. Some wait for a more convenient season. Some wait for dreams and visions. Some wait for signs and wonders. Some wait to be compelled by the voice of God. Some wait for a revival. Some wait for particular feelings. Some wait for a person of authority and status to show them the way. But the one who is able is always listening and ready to hear the cries of your heart. The time for healing and restoration is now! If only we had the eyes to see and the ears to hear. 

The man looked up at Jesus and answered his question. He took his eyes off the healing pool and onto the Healer. He communicated, in a sense, that it was his desire to be healed. Jesus looked upon this broken man, full of despair and hopelessness but with a small measure of faith, and healed him. If the man had no faith, he would not have been at the pool, and if he had not looked up and acknowledged Jesus, the Messiah may have selected another. Jesus told the man to do three things he could not do: to rise, pick up his bed and to walk. The man would now have a choice, to believe and do the things Jesus told him to do, or to laugh and ignore the request. There must have been something in the eyes of Jesus or in the authority of His voice that caused the crippled man to respond and attempt to stand. The small measure of faith, only the size of a mustard seed, began to grow into something more. It was in his faithful response to the words of Christ that his withered legs were strengthened. The same is true for us today. Healing and wholeness is waiting for those who faithfully respond in obedience to the words of Christ instead of apathetic dismissal. 

The man took up his mat, smelly and dirty as it was, and went away from that place. Oh how it must have felt to walk for the first time in 38 years. The taking of the mat was symbolic of the fact that this was not a temporary healing, it was permanent and the man would never need to return to this place again. A new life awaited him, an uncertain future, but a future full of possibilities that moments earlier had not been available for him. Jesus is our healer even today, if only we would look up and see Him.

1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. 46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” 49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. 54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
 

We read a powerful story of evangelism and conversion in John chapter four. This amazing story is even more powerful when we have a better understanding of the context and cultural aspects at play surrounding this conversation. As with most of Jesus’ stories, it begins with a journey. Jesus travels from Judea to Galilee, passing through Samaria. The scripture even records that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. Anyone with a map of the area could clearly see Jesus did not need to go through Samaria to get to His destination. There were many routes that could have easily avoided the region of Samaria. Most pious Jews often avoided Samaria because there was a deep distrust and hatred between many of the Jewish people and the Samaritans. The Jews claimed that the Samaritans had betrayed them many years earlier during the Old Testament Divided Kingdom era. Most of the Jews in Jesus’ time even despised the Samaritans more than Gentiles – because they were, religiously speaking, “half-breeds” who had a tainted faith which was a mixture of Judaism and false pagan religions of surrounding countries. 

The need was not a physical one, but a spiritual one. Jesus was led to travel to Samaria by His Heavenly Father so that He would have a divine appointment. This is the nature of the God we serve. He sets up divine appointments in our lives and leads us. We choose whether we walk the path God has laid out for us or if we walk the path that we set out before ourselves. But Jesus, as he always did, followed where His heavenly Father led him - To a solitary well. This particular well was where Abram first came thousands of years earlier when he arrived into Canaan from Babylonia and was called by God to become a great nation. (Gen 12:6-8) This was also the place that Jacob returned with his family from his time with Laban. Jacob built an altar to the Lord to re-establish the covenant. The well that was dug in that place was even called Jacob’s well in remembrance not only to Jacob but also to the covenant that had been re-established. 

It was in this very spot that Jesus, weary from long travel and the heat of the noonday sun, asked a lone Samaritan women for a drink of water. What followed was a powerful conversation. 

The request genuinely surprised the women. A Jew did not speak to a Samaritan, much less ask to drink from her cup. It was also known that a Rabbi did not speak to women in public - not even their wives - in the culture of the time. Furthermore, this Samaritan women had come to the well alone in the heat of the day, in an obvious attempt to avoid anyone who would ridicule or look down on her lifestyle. Jesus is unfazed by the mistakes of her past and even her present mistakes. He offers her salvation the same as any other person. This holds true throughout all of time and even today; It doesn’t matter what mistakes you have made, you can find new life and a fresh start in Christ. 

As the conversation progresses, Jesus refers to Himself as the Living Water, a water that if you drink of it, you will never thirst again. Jesus is again using what is around Him to make a spiritual point. The well of water was a source of daily water to satisfy a daily thirst, but Jesus offered something not temporary or fading. The response of the women was logical; “Give me this water.” Jesus then brings the reality of the situation back into focus. There will be something she must do if she wished to attain eternal life with God the Father. She will need to acknowledge the sin in her life and repent of it. Jesus was lovingly presenting the woman with two paths and she would have the free will to choose between the two. She could return to her old life of sin, apathy and selfishness, or she could repent of her sin, turn and instead become a part of the Kingdom of God. Jesus ends the conversation by revealing that He is the Messiah, the one even Samaritans would know and be familiar with from the Old Testament scriptures. 

The Samaritan women left and went back into the city. Scripture records that she left behind her water pots. The symbolism is powerful and clear to the reader. She knew she would soon return to the place where Jesus was. She returned to the people of her city, many of whom despised her, and began to share the gospel with them. She told them of this man Jesus and what He had told her. She immediately went to work sharing the good news of Jesus to any that would hear. She went from sinful outcast to bold evangelist in just a short amount of time. 

In the end, the women’s evangelism was effective. Many came to Christ because of her. It’s amazing to think of how Jesus calls people to join His mission who have a checkered past. Jesus focuses on the plans He has laid out before, not the guilt and shame that marked the road behind you. Even today, pasts marked by shame, guilt and sin can be washed away as people step into a new life, with a new purpose and identity in Christ.

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John Testifies Again About Jesus

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.” 31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus is probably the clearest, most concise and complete explanation of the Gospel of any other chapter in the bible. So much so that it prompted this quote by Charles Spurgeon: “If we were asked to read to a dying man who did not know the gospel, we should probably select this chapter as the most suitable one for such an occasion; and what is good for dying men is good for us all, for that is what we are; and how soon we may be actually at the gates of death, none of us can tell.” 

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, perhaps because he wanted an uninterrupted conversation with this man called Jesus, or out of fear of what his fellow members of the Sanhedrin would think of the questions he would ask. Nicodemus was a man full of half-truths and partial understanding. He tells Jesus that it is known and generally understood that He is a teacher who has come from God. While this is true, it is in no way a complete description of who Jesus is. What Jesus said to Nicodemus next would have been a cultural shattering statement for Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus that, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The current Jewish assumption was that their racial identity - their old birth - and their descendence from Abraham is what assured them a place in God’s Kingdom. In fact, some Rabbis taught that Abraham stood watch at the gates of Hell, just to make sure that none of his descendants accidentally wandered in there. The parallel today would be those who falsely believe that by works, status and religious duties they can earn their place with God in Eternity. 

Jesus made it plain that a man’s first physical birth does not assure him of God’s kingdom; It was only by being spiritually born again that a person could have this assurance. This greek word for ‘again” (anothen) is better translated “from above” and Nicodemus should have understood that Jesus was referring to a spiritual re-birth. Instead, Nicodemus keeps his mind on the physical and asks how this re-birth could be possible. “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Maybe Nicodemus was pretending not to understand, but more likely his questions were genuine. Either way, Jesus shifts the conversation away from the physical and into the spiritual. This is something Jesus did often in his teachings and parables. As humans, we naturally do the opposite; we shift spiritual truths and try to look on them as physical things, but Jesus calls on us to first look at our lives through the lens of the spiritual world, the realm that is eternal and therefore of far greater value.

Jesus was emphatic in explaining to Nicodemus how Man does not need reformation or moral reconditioning, but a radical conversion and spiritual transformation by the Spirit of God. This was a radical thought amongst the Jewish leaders of the time who believed they were already living in the will of God and didn’t need to do anything else besides observing the Torah.  Jesus goes on to tell Nicodemus who He truly is and also why He came to earth. Jesus makes it clear that He can speak authoritatively about things in Heaven, though no one else can, because He is the one who has come down from heaven. Jesus even prophecies about the future when He tells Nicodemus: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The bronze serpent of Exodus was a picture of the judgment of sin, just as Jesus would soon become sin and take on the judgment and punishment that was meant for all men. 

This leads Jesus to say the most well known and quoted verse in all of the bible: John 3:16. Of the 31, 102 verses in the Bible, it may be the single most popular and recited verse in the whole book. A single verse that describes the entire chapter that describes the entire storyline of scripture and history: The redemption and restoration of man. Many Christians don’t even realize that this famous verse is pulled from this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. Even this single statement would have been jarring for Nicodemus. The Jews of that day rarely thought that God loved the world. Many of them thought God only loved Israel. The universal offer of salvation and life in Jesus for all people was revolutionary and would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the religious community.

Nicodemus would have understood Jesus’ reference to Abraham and Issac when He told how the Father, “…gave his only begotten Son” as a sacrifice. Nicodemus would have recognized that Jesus was attempting to explain how He would become the sacrificial lamb that would take on the sins of all the people. The realization of what Jesus was saying in this short conversation must have been stunning. Jesus was revealing Himself to Nicodemus in ways that He wouldn’t even do with His disciples for years. 

In the end, we don’t know what happened to Nicodemus. We read in John 19:39 that Nicodemus assisted in the burial of Jesus, but the spiritual condition of the man was not declared. One thing we do know is that his conversation with Jesus has been the basis of many people surrendering their lives to Christ and being truly born again over the last two thousand years. 

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
 

The second chapter of John begins with the first recorded miracle of Jesus - one that is often read and overlooked. The changing of water into wine is not as flashy as calming a storm, giving sight to a blind man or calling Lazarus from the grave, yet this simple miracle holds great significance if only we have the eyes to see it. The first thing to point out is that Jesus was invited to a wedding. I know it doesn’t seem that important but we can learn a lot about Jesus simply through this invitation. Jesus was always welcome among those having a good time. Jesus didn’t come to spoil or put an end to the good time, and in the Jewish culture of that day a wedding was the best party of all. Jesus not only gives his blessing to celebrations, but with His presence He blesses the wedding and symbol of marriage. 

The fact that the wine had begun to prematurely run out was much more significant in Jewish culture in that day than if something similar happened today. Running out of wine would have been a great dishonor for the host and such an error of planning would have haunted the newly married couple all their lives. There was even a threat of legal action that could be taken against a host who failed to provide adequate gifts or hospitality. It was seen as a disrespectful slight against any guests in attendance. Rabbi’s of the day considered wine to be a symbol of Joy, so to run out of wine would also symbolize to those in attendance that the marriage was doomed for failure and misery. It was surely a stress-filled moment for the host to hear the dreaded news. 

With that cultural context in mind, for Jesus to step in, though He declared it was not yet His time to reveal Himself, was truly a blessing to the host and the newly married couple.  It’s interesting to note that Mary tells the servants to “Do whatever He tells you to do.” This shows that Mary knew and believed in the divine and supernatural nature of her son. The advice given by the mother of Jesus is wise advice that we too should follow.

Jesus could have simply produced wine with the snap of his fingers; he had that power, but He chooses to involve the servants in this miracle. It would be the servants who witnessed the changing of water into wine, something that no doubt would have a profound effect on the course of their lives from that day forward. Jesus tells them to fill the water pots with water. Jesus chose to use what items He had at hand in order to complete the miracle. This is something He does even now, using what is available to accomplish His will. The servants could have filled the pots up halfway. That would have been easier to carry, after-all, the water pots used in ceremonial cleansing were usually 20-30 gallons each and would be very heavy. But, scripture records that the water pots were filled to the brim – with no room to add any more – because Jesus wasn’t going to add something to the water; He was going to transform it. Jesus knew that if the servants shared in the work, then they also shared in the blessing. Keep in mind the servants did not do the miracle. Their efforts alone were completely insufficient. But because of their obedience to Jesus, they shared in the joy of the miracle. The servants were especially blessed because they obeyed without question, and to the fullest.  This means that the miracle would be fulfilled in the greatest measure possible. If they were lazy and only filled the water pots half full, there would have been only half as much wine.

This is a pattern for our faith and obedience even today.  Charles Spurgeon said it like this: “When you are bidden to believe in him, believe in him up to the brim. When you are told to love him, love him up to the brim. When you are commanded to serve him, serve him up to the brim.”

Finally, it’s important to point out that Jesus didn’t make cheap wine. He didn’t do the bare minimum and transform water into low quality wine barely more than grape juice. The master of the feast declared that this was the best wine of the highest quality…even better than the best the hosts had provided.  This is who Jesus is. He provides the best; far better than we could ever do on our own. When we give to Jesus what we have, He will return it to us with His divine stamp. 

“You have kept the good wine until now!” There is a principle behind these words; the principle that for the people of God, those who are in obedience to His son, the best is always yet to come.

The Word became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” 24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him,“Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus 

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael 

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

The Gospel of John opens with a passage that at first read sounds strange if you have no context. The very first verse on its own can even have most readers scratching their heads. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So many questions are raised; When was the beginning? Who or what is this Word? How can the Word be with God and also be God? Why is this being that is God called the Word? What does all of this mean!?

As we read on, we begin to gain clarity as to the answers of these questions. We allow scripture to interpret scripture, which, by the way, is how scripture is supposed to be interpreted. It’s almost like reading scripture like Sherlock Holmes would, with a magnifying glass looking for clues and evidence that help to unravel and answer the most pressing of mysteries and questions in order to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle until we see a clear, whole picture. Just be sure not to deduce theories out of thin air!

John starts out by letting the reader know that when the beginning began, the Word was already there. The Word was not created and had no beginning Himself, because He was already there at the beginning. We later read in Vs 14 that this Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. It’s now clear that this greek word Logos, which is the word for Word, is referring to Jesus Christ Himself. With this in mind, it opens up a whole host of truths related to who Jesus is.

First of all, Jesus was there at the beginning. Many people are led to believe Jesus arrived on the scene in a manger in Bethlehem around the year 0, but that’s only the point when Jesus became flesh. Jesus was already around since the very beginning of time. Jesus was there at Creation, He was there all through the Old Testament, He is here with us now and He will be with us in heaven at the very end of time and for all eternity. That’s a comforting thought, knowing that the same Jesus who was so full of compassion that He gave his life for us is watching over us even now and for all eternity. 

Not only was Jesus there in the beginning with God, but John makes a bold statement by declaring that Jesus was God. They were and are one and the same being. The significance of this would not be lost on the Jewish leaders, as well as greek philosophers and anyone else who had knowledge of Old Testament scripture. To refer to the God of the old testament as the Word was common. Even in Exodus 19:17 we see Moses bringing the people out of camp to meet, “The word of God”. Greek philosophers saw the “logos” as the power that puts sense into the world, making the world orderly instead of chaotic. The logos was the power that set the world in perfect order and kept it going in perfect order. With that in mind, we see that in one simple sentence, John brilliantly lays out who Jesus is to both Jews and Greeks and, in a word, says: “For centuries you’ve been talking, thinking, and writing about the Word (the logos). Now I will tell you who He is. The word is God, and that Word is Jesus.” John met both Jews and Greeks where they were at, and explained Jesus in terms they already would be familiar with and understand.

Not only that, but in just one simple sentence, John brilliantly sets forth one of the most basic foundations of our Christian faith - the Trinity. We need only to follow the logic of John to arrive where he was leading us. Follow along with this thought pattern: There is a Being known as the Word. This Being is God, because He is eternal (In the beginning). This Being is God, because He is plainly called God (the Word was God). At the same time, this Being does not encompass all that God is. God the Father is a distinct Person from the Word (the Word was with God). So, the Father and the Son (the Son is known here as the Word) are equally God, yet distinct in their Person. The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father. Yet they are equally God, with God the Holy Spirit making one God in three Persons.

I’m so grateful that you would join us in reading through the Gospel of John for this 21-day reading plan. It is so important not only to create a daily habit of reading God’s word, but also digging deeper below the surface to study God’s word. This devotional accomplishes both of those things. Not only is the scripture included, but also a thoughtful commentary that will inform, inspire and help you have a greater understanding and clarity of this beloved Gospel.

The goal is to read one chapter of John and the accompanying devotional each day with the final part (Day 21) falling on Easter Sunday. The Gospel of John contains 21 chapters so this works out perfectly and I’m looking forward to reading along with you. Filling up daily on God’s word is one of the best habits you can ever form in your life, and studies show that the common length to form a new habit in your life is…. you guessed it…21-days! It’s amazing what can happen when we read and study God’s word together as a church family. There is a sense that we hold greater unity with each other when we are all of the same mind and focus. The focus of the Gospel of John is Jesus from start to finish, so that’s a great place for us all to set our hearts and minds.

Let’s get started by first taking a look at some background on the book of John to help set the scene and give us a little context for what we will begin reading. Be Blessed!

The gospel of John is unique when compared to the other three gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. John was the fourth and final gospel account written and penned in view of what the previous three accounts had recorded. This is one reason why John’s account of the life of Jesus is, in many ways, different from his fellow disciples Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John purposely leaves out certain aspects of the life of Jesus which are accounted for in the other three, from the birth of Jesus, his baptism, the wilderness temptation, confrontations with demons, parables, the last supper communion, agony in Gethsemane and the Ascension. These withheld stories seem strange at first but make sense when we see the context of who the gospel of John was written to, what the purpose and focus of the book was and how it was set apart purposely from the other three gospel accounts.

 Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the three synoptic gospels. The word synoptic means “see-together” and the first three Gospels present the life of Jesus in a similar format. Matthew, Mark and Luke focus more on what Jesus taught and did while John focused more on who Jesus is and especially His divine origins. John uniquely presents to the reader who Jesus is by highlighting seven signs or miracles of Jesus. Six of these miracles are not mentioned in the first three gospels but were specifically focused on in John. Each of the Gospels also emphasizes a different origin of Jesus. Matthew shows how Jesus came from Abraham through David, demonstrating that He is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.  Mark shows Jesus came from Nazareth, demonstrating how Jesus is a Servant. Luke shows Jesus came from Adam, demonstrating that Jesus is the Perfect Man. John shows throughout, but especially in chapter one, how Jesus came from heaven, demonstrating that Jesus is God. By laying all four gospels on top of each other, we see a more complete and accurate picture of who Jesus really was and is still.

The book of John is a Gospel account written for a specific purpose: that we might believe. A key verse for understanding this is found at the end of the book in John 20:31 ”But 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.” This Gospel has even helped scholarly skeptics come to believe in the authenticity of Christ. The oldest surviving fragment of the New Testament is a portion of John 18, found in Egypt and dating well before A.D. 150, indicating wide circulation by that early date. John doesn’t tell us much about himself in the Gospel record he wrote, but we can put a few things together about him from the Gospel records. His father was Zebedee. John’s mother was Salome, one of those to go to the tomb early on the morning the resurrection of Jesus was discovered. John’s brother was James, a fellow disciple. James was likely the older brother since he is always named first. James and John were partners in a fishing business with Peter. John and his brother James were also given the nickname, “Sons of Thunder.” John was the only disciple (other than Judas) not to be martyred for his faith. John died an old man on the Greek island of Patmos, where he also penned the book of Revelation.

The Gospel of John is a helpful and beloved gospel in understanding who Jesus is. Because of its paradoxical combination of both simplicity and depth, John has been described as, “a pool in which a child may wade and an elephant may swim.”

Are you ready to go swimming!