JOHN  TIME:  c.

 AD 29–33

 AUTHOR: ­Jesus nicknamed John and his  THEME:  John is a great book for new or
brother, James, “sons of thunder” (Mk 3:17). young Chris­tians because it intentionally
John was evidently among the Galileans helps the reader understand the significance
who followed John the Baptist until they of J ­ esus. What becomes increasingly clear
were called to follow J ­ esus at the outset as you read the Gospel of John is that J ­ esus
of his public ministry. These Galileans were does not fit the image of someone who is
later called to become full-time disciples of simply a nice moral teacher. Only a lunatic
the Lord (Lk 5:1–11), and John was among would make the claims he makes for himself
the twelve men who were selected to be unless he was who he said he was. John
apostles (Lk 6:12–16). The author of leaves no room for indecision. Like the
this Gospel is identified only as many ­people ­Jesus encounters in
the disciple “whom J ­ esus loved”  KEY the book, as you read, you must
(Jn 13:23; 19:26; 21:7), but at- VERSES: either reject him or accept him,
tention to detail concerning ge- Jn 20:30–31 and say in the end like Thomas:
ography and Jewish culture in “My Lord and my God” (20:28).
the Gospel lend credibility to the This Gospel is an incredibly pow-
author’s claim to be an eyewitness. erful presentation of ­Jesus.
The strong testimony of the early church
relates this eyewitness to the apostle John.

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 The Gospels and the Early Church 1313    John 1:12

The Word Became Flesh cern­ing that ­light, so that ­through him all ­might

1 In the be­gin­ning was the Word, and the Word be­lieve. 8 He him­self was not the l­ ight; he came
was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He only as a wit­ness to the ­light.
was with God in the be­gin­ning. 3 Through him 9 The true l­ight that ­gives ­light to ev­ery­one
all ­things were made; with­out him noth­ing was was com­ing into the world. 10 He was in the
made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and ­world, and t­ hough the ­world was made t­ hrough
that life was the l­ ight of all man­kind. 5  The ­light him, the ­world did not rec­og­nize him. 11 He came
­shines in the dark­ness, and the dark­ness has not to that ­which was his own, but his own did not
over­come  a it. re­ceive him. 12 Yet to all who did re­ceive him,
6 There was a man sent from God ­whose name
was John. 7 He came as a wit­ness to tes­ti­fy con­ a 5 Or understood   

1:1 In the beginning. Genesis 1:1 starts with the moment light was the beginning of the original creation, when
of creation and moves forward to the creation of hu- believers receive the light, they become part of the new
manity. John 1:1 starts with creation and contemplates creation (2Co 4:3–6).
eternity past. the Word was with God. This suggests a 1:7 as a witness. This phrase means “to testify” or “to
face-to-face relationship. In the ancient world, it was declare.” John uses the word translated witness 33
important that persons of equal station be on the same times as a verb and 14 times as a noun in his Gospel. The
level when seated across from one another. term is particularly important to his purpose, which is to
1:3 Through him all things were made. God the Father record adequate witnesses to ­Jesus as the Messiah so
created the world (Ge 1:1) through God the Son (Col 1:16; that individuals might believe him (20:30–31). believe.
Heb 1:2). All creation was made through him. Thus, he is This word means “to trust.” John uses this verb almost
the Creator God. 100 times in his Gospel to express what must take place
1:4 light of all mankind. This image conveys the concept for a person to receive the gift of eternal life.
of revelation. As the light, ­Jesus Christ reveals both sin 1:11 receive. This means “to receive with favor” and im-
and God to humans (Ps 36:9). Later in this Gospel, Christ plies “welcome.” Instead of a welcome mat, J ­ esus had a
declares himself to be both the life (11:25) and the light door slammed in his face. The themes of rejection and
(8:12). Death and darkness flee when the life and light reception (v. 12) introduced in the prologue (1:1–18) ap-
enter. pear repeatedly throughout the Gospel of John.
1:5 light shines in the darkness. Although Satan and his 1:12 he gave the right. This phrase refers to the legiti-
forces resist the light, they cannot thwart its power. In mate entitlement to the position of children of God. By
short, J­ esus is life and light; those who accept him are believing, undeserving sinners can become full members
“children of light” (12:35–36). Just as the creation of of God’s family.

SON OF MAN
John 1:1

This was ­Jesus’ favorite name for himself. It occurs about 70 times in the Gospels: 30 times in Matthew,
5 in Mark, 25 in Luke, and 10 times in John. It was used in Daniel 7:13–14 and verse 27 as a name of
the coming Messiah. J ­ esus’ use of it to refer to himself may have amounted to a claim that he was the
Messiah.
On the other hand, it suggests that J ­ esus rejoiced in his experience as God in human form, sharing
the life of humankind. He carried the title with him to heaven (Ac 7:56; Rev 1:13; 14:14). Ezekiel was ad-
dressed about 90 times as “son of man” (Eze 2:1,3,6,8, etc.), implying the lowliness of man compared
with God.

ETERNITY AND THE DEITY OF JESUS

John 1:1–3

These verses remind us of the opening words of Genesis. ­Jesus is called God and Creator. John is very
positive that ­Jesus was a personality who existed from eternity, and that he had had a hand in the cre-
ation of the universe. ­Jesus is here called the Word. In Genesis we read again and again, “And God said.”
In John 17:5, J
­ esus is quoted as referring to the glory he had with the Father before the world existed.
Thus ­Jesus is God’s expression of himself to humanity. He is God’s message to us.

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 John 1:13   1314 The Gospels and the Early Church

to t­ hose who be­lieved in his name, he gave the I said, ‘He who c­ omes af­ter me has sur­passed me
­right to be­come chil­dren of God — ​13  chil­dren be­cause he was be­fore me.’ ”) 16 Out of his full­
born not of nat­ur­ al de­scent, nor of hu­man de­ci­ ness we have all re­ceived ­grace in ­place of g­ race
sion or a hus­band’s will, but born of God. al­ready giv­en. 17 For the law was giv­en t­ hrough
14 The Word be­came ­flesh and made his dwell­ Mo­ses; ­grace and ­truth came ­through ­Jesus
ing ­among us. We have seen his glo­ry, the glo­ry ­Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one
of the one and only Son, who came from the Fa­ and only Son, who is him­self God and a is in clos­
ther, full of ­grace and truth. est re­la­tion­ship with the Fa­ther, has made him
15  (John tes­ti­fied con­cern­ing him. He ­cried known.
out, say­ing, “This is the one I spoke about when
John the Baptist Denies Being
the Messiah
19  Now this was ­John’s tes­ti­mo­ny when the
THE INCARNATION Jew­ish lead­ers  b in Je­ru­sa­lem sent ­priests and
John 1:14–18 Le­vites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail
to con­fess, but con­fessed free­ly, “I am not the
Mes­si­ah.”
God became a man in order to win human- 21 They a ­ sked him, “Then who are you? Are
ity to himself. God could have made human you Eli­jah?”
beings with an instinct to do his will, but he He said, “I am not.”
chose rather to give them the power to decide “Are you the Proph­et?”
for themselves their attitude toward their He an­swered, “No.”
Creator. But God is Spirit, and we are hedged 22 Fi­nal­ly they said, “Who are you? Give us an
in by the limitations of a material body and an­swer to take back to ­those who sent us. What
have little conception of what a spirit is. So do you say ­about your­self  ?”
the Creator came to his creatures in the form
a 18 
of one of them to give them an idea of the Some manuscripts but the only Son, who   
b 19  The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews
kind of Being he is. God is like J
­ esus. J
­ esus
is like God. (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel
to those Jewish leaders who opposed ­Jesus; also in 5:10,
15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.   

1:14 The Word became flesh. The Son of God who was found in Exodus 32–34. Moses and the p ­ eople had re-
from eternity became human, with limitations in time ceived grace, but they were in tremendous need of more
and space (Php 2:5–8). This is the doctrine of the in- grace (Ex 33:13).
carnation: God became human. Nothing of the essential 1:18 No one has ever seen God. God is Spirit (4:24) and
nature of deity was lost in this event; we might rephrase is invisible (Col 1:15; 1Ti 1:17) unless he chooses to reveal
became as “took to himself.” John uses the word flesh himself. Humans cannot look at God and live (Ex 33:20).
to refer to the physical nature of humans, not to our sin- However, the Son is in intimate relationship with the
ful disposition. made his dwelling among us. The Greek Father, face-to-face with God (1:1; 6:46; 1Jn 1:2). God
word for tent or dwelling was also used in the Greek Old became visible to human eyes in the man J ­ esus. It is
Testament for the tabernacle, where the presence of through seeing the Son that we see God.
God dwelt. one and only. This means unique, one of a 1:19–20 the Jewish leaders. This refers to the Jewish
kind. leaders or the council (the Sanhedrin), who would be re-
1:16 grace in place of grace. The background of this dou- sponsible for examining anyone thought to be a prophet,
bled term, as well as the use of the term in verse 17, is to see if the person was true or false.

JESUS: THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

John 1:4–13

­ esus said this again and again (8:12; 9:5; 12:46). It is one of the keynotes in John’s writings about
J
­Jesus (1Jn  1:5–7). It means that ­Jesus, as light of the world, is the One who makes clear the meaning
and destiny of human existence.
Verse 6 introduces John the Baptist, who was sent from God, not as the light, but as a witness to the
light. All references to John in this Gospel refer to John the Baptist and not the author.
John’s Gospel emphasizes that membership in God’s family is provided to all who receive him and
believe in his name (v. 12). Salvation is received through God’s grace and never through human works.

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 The Gospels and the Early Church 1315    John 1:41

23 John re­plied in the ­words of Isa­iah the it come down and re­main is the one who will
proph­et, “I am the ­voice of one call­ing in the wil­ bap­tize with the Holy Spir­it.’ 34 I have seen and I
der­ness, ‘Make ­straight the way for the Lord.’ ” a tes­ti­fy that this is ­God’s Cho­sen One.” c
24 Now the Phar­i­sees who had been sent 25 ques­
tioned him, “Why then do you bap­tize if you are John’s Disciples Follow ­Jesus
not the Mes­si­ah, nor Eli­jah, nor the Proph­et?” 1:40-42pp —​Mt 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20; Lk 5:2-11
26  “I bap­tize with  b wa­ter,” John re­plied, “but
35 The next day John was t­ here a ­ gain with two
­among you ­stands one you do not know. 27 He is
of his dis­ci­ples. 36 When he saw ­Jesus pass­ing by,
the one who ­comes af­ter me, the ­straps of ­whose
he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
san­dals I am not wor­thy to un­tie.”
37 When the two dis­ci­ples h ­ eard him say this,
28 This all hap­pened at Beth­an ­ y on the oth­er
they fol­lowed ­Jesus. 38  Turn­ing ­around, ­Jesus
side of the Jor­dan, ­where John was bap­tiz­ing.
saw them fol­low­ing and ­asked, “What do you
John Testifies About ­Jesus want?”
They said, “Rab­bi” (which ­means “Teach­er”),
29 The next day John saw ­Jesus com­ing to­
“where are you stay­ing?”
ward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who
39 “Come,” he re­plied, “and you will see.”
­takes away the sin of the ­world! 30 This is the one
So they went and saw ­where he was stay­ing,
I ­meant when I said, ‘A man who ­comes af­ter me
has sur­passed me be­cause he was be­fore me.’ 31 I and they s­ pent that day with him. It was a ­ bout
my­self did not know him, but the rea­son I came four in the af­ter­noon.
bap­tiz­ing with wa­ter was that he m ­ ight be re­ 40 An­drew, Si­mon Pe­ter’s broth­er, was one of
vealed to Is­ra­el.” the two who h ­ eard what John had said and who
32 Then John gave this tes­ti­mo­ny: “I saw the had fol­lowed ­Jesus. 41  The ­first ­thing An­drew did
Spir­it come down from heav­en as a dove and re­ was to find his broth­er Si­mon and tell him, “We
main on him. 33 And I my­self did not know him, a 23 Isaiah 40:3    b 26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33
but the one who sent me to bap­tize with wa­ter (twice)   c 34  See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the
told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spir­ Son of God.   

1:23 Make straight. When a king traveled, roads were for his master, a scholar shall perform for his teacher, ex-
built so that the royal chariot would not have to travel cept the menial task of loosing his sandal thong.” Thus,
over rough terrain or be stuck in the mud. Isaiah was John was saying that “­Jesus Christ is the living Lord and
saying that before God appeared to manifest his glory, a I am the voice, his servant and slave. Actually, I’m not
voice would be heard, inviting Israel to make straight the even worthy to be his slave.”
way by which God himself would come. 1:29 the Lamb of God. J ­ esus Christ is the Lamb that God
1:24 the Pharisees. The Pharisees were an influential would give as a sacrifice not only for Israel, but for the
sect that numbered about 6,000. As strict interpret- whole world (Isa 52:13—53:12).
ers of the law in Israel, they were extremely zealous for 1:33 the one who will baptize with the Holy ­Spirit.
ritual and tradition. Seven times the New Testament mentions this minis-
1:27 the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to try of J
­ esus. Five are prophetic (Mt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16;
untie. Undoing the shoe strap was the job of a slave. The Ac 1:5); one is historical (Ac 11:16–18); one is doctrinal
Jewish Talmud says, “Everything that a servant will do (1Co 12:13).

JOHN’S TESTIMONY
John 1:19–34

After brief statements about the deity of J ­ esus and his pre-­existence and incarnation, John’s Gospel,
passing over J ­ esus’ birth, childhood, baptism, and temptation, starts with the testimony to the deity of
­Jesus given by John the Baptist to the investigating committee from the Sanhedrin.
The Prophet (v. 21) was a descriptive title of the Messiah and was generally understood as such by
the people in J ­ esus’ day (6:14).
Note John’s profound humility in his devotion to Christ (v. 27)—­he did not consider himself worthy
even to untie J ­ esus’ shoe—­a servant’s job. This is so noteworthy that it is recorded in all four Gospels
(Mt 3:11; Mk 1:7; Lk 3:16). What a powerful statement to the world if all Christians could exhibit the same
humble adoration of the Lord!
Lamb of God (v. 29), a descriptive title of ­Jesus used only here and in v. 36. John is foretelling that
­Jesus will be the sacrifice that atones for the sins of the world.

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 John 1:42   1316 The Gospels and the Early Church

have f­ound the Mes­si­ah” (that is, the C ­ hrist). 48 “How do you know me?” Na­than­a­el asked.
42 And he b ­ rought him to ­Jesus. ­Jesus an­swered, “I saw you w ­ hile you were
­Jesus l­ ooked at him and said, “You are Si­mon ­still un­der the fig tree be­fore Phil­ip ­called you.”
son of John. You will be ­called Ce­phas” (which, 49  Then Na­than­a­el de­clared, “Rab­bi, you are
when trans­lat­ed, is Pe­ter  a ). the Son of God; you are the king of Is­ra­el.”
50 ­Jesus said, “You be­lieve b be­cause I told you
­Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael I saw you un­der the fig tree. You will see great­er
43 The next day ­Jesus de­cid­ed to ­leave for Gal­ ­things than that.” 51 He then add­ed, “Very tru­ly I
i­lee. Find­ing Phil­ip, he said to him, “Fol­low  me.” tell you, c you c will see ‘heav­en open, and the an­
44 Phil­ip, like An­drew and Pe­ter, was from the gels of God as­cend­ing and de­scend­ing on’ d the
town of Beth­sa­i­da. 45 Phil­ip ­found Na­than­a­el and Son of Man.”
told him, “We have ­found the one Mo­ses ­wrote
­about in the Law, and a ­ bout whom the proph­ets ­Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

2
also ­wrote — ​­Jesus of Naz­a­reth, the son of Jo­seph.” On the t­hird day a wed­ding took p ­ lace at
46 “Naz­a­reth! Can any­thing good come from Cana in Gal­i­lee. ­Jesus’ moth­er was ­there, 2 and
­there?” Na­than­a­el asked. ­Jesus and his dis­ci­ples had also been i­n­vit­ed to
“Come and see,” said Phil­ip.
47  When ­Jesus saw Na­than­a­el ap­proach­ing, he a 42 
Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock.   
said of him, “Here tru­ly is an Is­ra­el­ite in whom b 50 Or Do you believe . . . ?    c 51  The Greek is
­there is no de­ceit.” plural.   d 51 Gen. 28:12   

1:42 Cephas. This is the Aramaic word for “rock” in Bethlehem. Furthermore, Nazareth was an obscure
(Mt 16:18). village. Nathanael simply could not fathom that such a
1:45 Nathanael. This name is not mentioned in the Syn- significant person as the Messiah could come from such
optic Gospels. But in every list of the apostles in Mat- an insignificant place as Nazareth.
thew, Mark, and Luke, the name Bartholomew is listed 1:48–49 under the fig tree. In the Old Testament, this
with Philip, as Nathanael is linked with Philip here. It is expression often suggests being safe and at leisure
likely that Nathanael and Bartholomew were the same (1Ki 4:25; Mic 4:4; Zec 3:10).
person. 2:1–2 Cana. This city was about four and a half miles
1:46 Nazareth! Nathanael knew that the Old Testament northwest of Nazareth. ­Jesus’ mother was there, and
prophets had predicted that the Messiah would be born ­Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the

WATER CHANGED INTO WINE

John 2:1–11

Nathanael was from Cana (21:2). He did not have a very high opinion of the neighboring town of Nazareth
(1:46). The marriage, evidently, was in the home of some friend or relative of either ­Jesus or Nathanael.
Woman (v. 4), was a title of respect in the usage of that day. J ­ esus used it again, on the cross, at a
time when there could have been no possible hint of disrespect (19:26). The point of his remark seems
to be: “Suppose the wine is gone—­what have I to do with it? It is not my affair. My time to work miracles
has not yet come.” Perhaps he had just told his mother of the new miraculous powers he had received
by the descent of the Holy Spirit at his baptism. (See note on ­Jesus’ temptation under Mt 4:1–10.) She
saw in the situation an opportunity for him. While he did this miracle at her suggestion, the time (v. 4)
for the general use of his miraculous powers did not come until about four months later, at the official
beginning of his public ministry in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover (v. 13).
Stone water jars (v. 6). The jars held about 20 or 30 gallons each. The six jars together would have
held between 120 and 180 gallons, equivalent to somewhere between 550 and 840 of our wine bottles.
The significance of this miracle is that J­ esus had just submitted himself, for 40 days, to every sugges-
tion Satan was capable of offering as to how he should use his miraculous powers, and he had steadfastly
refused to use them for his own need. Then from the wilderness he went directly to a wedding. And
although he did subsequent miracles largely to relieve suffering, this first miracle was done at a wedding
feast, on a festive occasion. ­Jesus ministered to human joy, making people happy, as if he wanted to an-
nounce right at the beginning of his ministry that the religion which he was now introducing to the world
was not a religion of asceticism, but a religion of natural joy. It was also J­ esus’ blessing on marriage.
Revealed his glory (v. 11) as Creator (1:3,14). The miracle required actual creative power. (See note on
­Jesus’ miracles under Mk 5:21–43.)

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 The Gospels and the Early Church 1317    John 2:14

Stone water jars from the 1st century AD

© 2018 by Zondervan

the wed­ding. 3 When the wine was gone, ­Jesus’ f­ irst and then the cheap­er wine af­ter the ­guests
moth­er said to him, “They have no more wine.” have had too much to d ­ rink; but you have s­ aved
4 “Wom­an, a why do you in­volve me?” ­Jesus re­ the best till now.”
plied. “My hour has not yet come.” 11 What ­Jesus did here in Cana of Gal­il­ee was
5 His moth­er said to the ser­vants, “Do what­ev­ the ­first of the s­ igns t­ hrough ­which he re­vealed
er he t­ ells you.” his glo­ry; and his dis­ci­ples be­lieved in him.
6 Near­by s­ tood six s­ tone wa­ter jars, the kind 12 Af­ter this he went down to Ca­per­na­um with
used by the Jews for cer­e­mo­ni­al wash­ing, each his moth­er and broth­ers and his dis­ci­ples. ­There
hold­ing from twen­ty to thir­ty gal­lons. b they ­stayed for a few days.
7 ­Jesus said to the ser­vants, “Fill the jars with
wa­ter”; so they ­filled them to the brim. ­Jesus Clears the Temple Courts
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and 2:14-16pp —​Mt 21:12,13; Mk 11:15-17; Lk 19:45,46
take it to the mas­ter of the ban­quet.”
13 When it was al­most time for the Jew­ish
They did so, 9 and the mas­ter of the ban­quet
Pass­over, ­Jesus went up to Je­ru­sa­lem. 14 In the
tast­ed the wa­ter that had been ­turned into wine.
tem­ple ­courts he ­found peo­ple sell­ing cat­tle,
He did not re­al­ize ­where it had come from,
­sheep and ­doves, and oth­ers sit­ting at ta­bles
­though the ser­vants who had d ­ rawn the wa­
ter knew. Then he ­called the bride­groom ­aside a 4  The Greek for Woman does not denote any

10 and said, “Ev­ery­one b ­ rings out the c­ hoice wine disrespect.    b 6  Or from about 75 to about 115 liters   

wedding. This suggests that ­Jesus and his disciples es, and after the meal. This “purifying” extended not
were invited because of Mary. Her forwardness in asking only to washing hands but also to washing cups and ves-
­Jesus to help when the wine ran out (v. 3) may indicate sels (Mk 7:3–4).
that she was in some way related to the family holding 2:11 the first of the signs. In the Gospel of John, the
the wedding. miracles of J­ esus are called signs, indicating that they
2:3 They have no more wine. Hospitality during this pointed to his messiahship. This sign signified Christ’s
time was a sacred duty. A wedding feast often lasted for glory—that is, his deity. When J ­ esus transformed water
a week. To run out of wine at such an important event into wine, he demonstrated his power.
would have been humiliating for the bride and groom. 2:13 the Jewish Passover. Every male Jew was required
The family of J­ esus was not wealthy, and it is likely their to go to Jerusalem three times a year—for the Festival
relatives and acquaintances were not either. This may of Passover, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of
have been a “low-budget” wedding feast. Tabernacles (Ex 23:14–19; Lev 23). Jerusalem. The Syn-
2:6 six stone water jars. Each jar held 20–30 gallons, optic Gospels concentrate on ­Jesus’ Galilean ministry.
for a total of 120–180 gallons of the finest wine (v. 10). John focuses on ­Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem.
by the Jews for ceremonial washing. Jewish tradition 2:14 In the temple courts he found ­people selling cattle,
required several kinds of ceremonial washings. Strict sheep and doves. The Synoptic Gospels place the cleans-
Jews washed their hands before a meal, between cours- ing of the temple at the conclusion of J ­ esus’ ministry

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 John 2:15   1318 The Gospels and the Early Church

ex­chang­ing mon­ey. 15 So he made a whip out 19 ­Jesus an­swered them, “De­stroy this tem­ple,
of ­cords, and ­drove all from the tem­ple ­courts, and I will ­raise it ­again in ­three days.”
both ­sheep and cat­tle; he scat­tered the ­coins 20 They re­plied, “It has tak­en for­ty-six ­years
of the mon­ey chang­ers and over­turned t­heir to ­build this tem­ple, and you are go­ing to r­ aise
ta­bles. 16 To ­those who sold ­doves he said, “Get it in t­ hree days?” 21 But the tem­ple he had spo­
­these out of here! Stop turn­ing my Fa­ther’s ken of was his body. 22 Af­ter he was ­raised from
­house into a mar­ket!” 17  His dis­ci­ples re­mem­ the dead, his dis­ci­ples re­called what he had said.
bered that it is writ­ten: “Zeal for your h
­ ouse will Then they be­lieved the scrip­ture and the ­words
con­sume me.”  a that ­Jesus had spo­ken.
18 The Jews then re­spond­ed to him, “What 23 Now ­while he was in Je­ru­sa­lem at the Pass­
sign can you show us to p ­ rove your au­thor­it­ y to
do all this?” a 17 Psalm 69:9   

(Mt 21:12–13), whereas John puts it at the beginning. Ap- the physical building; he was referring to his body, as
parently, ­Jesus cleansed the temple two different times. John emphasizes in verse 21. ­Jesus was speaking of his
The Law of Moses required that any animal offered in death. I will raise it again. Note that J
­ esus did not say, “I
sacrifice be unblemished and that every Jewish male will build it again.” He was referring to his resurrection,
over 19 years of age pay a temple tax (Lev 1:3; Dt 17:1). three days after his death.
As a result, tax collectors and inspectors of sacrificial 2:20 forty-six years. Herod the Great began restoring
animals were present at the temple. However, these of- the temple in 20 BC. The work was not finished at the
ficials would not accept secular coins because they had time of this conversation. In fact, it was not completed
an image of the Roman emperor. To put such coins into until around AD 64 under Herod Agrippa.
the temple treasury was thought to be an offense. Ac- 2:23 many ­people . . . believed in his name. This was
cordingly, merchants and moneychangers set up shop saving faith. John’s purpose in recording ­Jesus’ mir-
and charged high prices for changing currency and for acles was for ­people to believe and have eternal life
sacrificial animals. (20:30–31).
2:19 Destroy this temple. J ­ esus was not talking about

JESUS CLEARS THE TEMPLE AREA

John 2:13–25

Evidently there were two cleansings, three years apart: this one, at the beginning of his public ministry
(note the word “after,” 3:22), the other one at its close, during his last week (Mt 21:12–16; Mk 11:15–18;
Lk 19:45–46). In this cleansing he drove out the cattle; in the other, he drove out the traders. In this
one he called the temple a market; in the other, a “den of robbers.”
The formal opening act of ­Jesus’ public work, which he intended as a sign to the nation that he was
the Messiah (for so it was expected, Mal 3:1–3), was in open and utter defiance of the religious leaders,
whose antagonism was immediately aroused and which, it seems, ­Jesus never cared to pacify. Thus he
began his ministry, and thus he closed it.
There must have been something very majestic in ­Jesus’ personal appearance or in his presence, or,
more likely, it may have been through his miraculous power that a lone stranger, with only a scourge in
his hand, could have cleared and held control of the temple area, so that (the second time) not even a
vessel could be carried through (Mk 11:16). Even the police were cowed into silence.
What was it that was so displeasing to J­ esus in the temple? They were profiteering to such an extent
that the whole service of God had been commercialized and trivialized—­inside the sacred area that had
been dedicated to other purposes. (See also Mt 21:12–17.)
The temple, built by Herod the Great of marble and gold, was magnificent. It was surrounded by four
courts, on lower successive levels: for priests, male Israelites, women, and Gentiles. The temple area
was bordered by covered colonnades, with pillars of whitest marble, each 40 feet high and made of a
single stone. The colonnade on the east was called Solomon’s Portico, or Colonnade, which is where the
traders were. The whole area was surrounded by a massive wall, about one thousand feet on each side,
and was about the size of 25 football fields or four average city blocks.
Miracles (v. 23). Until now, J
­ esus had done only one miracle, in Galilee (2:11; 4:54). But now, along
with the opening of his campaign by the spectacular demonstration in the temple, he performed so many
miracles that many people were ready to accept him as the Messiah. But he knew all too well what they
expected of the Messiah.

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 The Gospels and the Early Church 1319    John 3:16

over Fes­ti­val, many peo­ple saw the ­signs he was 3 ­Jesus re­plied, “Very tru­ly I tell you, no one
per­form­ing and be­lieved in his name. a 24 But can see the king­dom of God un­less they are born
­Jesus ­would not en­trust him­self to them, for again. b ”
he knew all peo­ple. 25 He did not need any tes­ 4 “How can some­one be born when they are
ti­mo­ny ­about man­kind, for he knew what was old?” Nic­o­de­mus ­asked. “Sure­ly they can­not en­
in each per­son. ter a sec­ond time into t­ heir moth­er’s womb to
be born!”
­Jesus Teaches Nicodemus 5 ­Jesus an­swered, “Very tru­ly I tell you, no one

3 Now t­here was a Phar­i­see, a man ­named

Nic­o­de­mus who was a mem­ber of the Jew­
ish rul­ing coun­cil. 2 He came to ­Jesus at ­night
can en­ter the king­dom of God un­less they are
born of wa­ter and the Spir­it. 6 Flesh ­gives ­birth
to ­flesh, but the Spir­it c ­gives ­birth to spir­it. 7 You
and said, “Rab­bi, we know that you are a teach­ ­should not be sur­prised at my say­ing, ‘You d
er who has come from God. For no one c­ ould must be born a ­ gain.’ 8 The wind ­blows wher­ev­er
per­form the ­signs you are do­ing if God were not it pleas­es. You hear its s­ ound, but you can­not
with him.” tell ­where it ­comes from or ­where it is go­ing. So
it is with ev­ery­one born of the Spir­it.” e
9 “How can this be?” Nic­od ­ e­mus asked.
The Seven Signs of John’s Gospel 10 “You are Is­ra­el’s teach­er,” said ­Jesus, “and
do you not un­der­stand ­these ­things? 11 Very tru­
Sign Verses ly I tell you, we s­ peak of what we know, and
(1) Changing water into wine 2:1–11 we tes­ti­fy to what we have seen, but s­ till you
peo­ple do not ac­cept our tes­ti­mo­ny. 12 I have
(2) Healing an official’s son 4:43–54 spo­ken to you of earth­ly ­things and you do not
be­lieve; how then will you be­lieve if I ­speak of
(3) Healing a disabled man at
heav­en­ly ­things? 13 No one has ever gone into
the Bethesda pool 5:1–15
heav­en ex­cept the one who came from heav­
(4) Feeding the 5,000 6:1–14 en — ​the Son of Man. f 14 Just as Mo­ses lift­ed up
the ­snake in the wil­der­ness, so the Son of Man
(5) Walking on water 6:16–21 must be lift­ed up, g 15 that ev­ery­one who be­
lieves may have eter­nal life in him.” h
(6) Healing the man born blind 9:1–12
16 For God so l­ oved the ­world that he gave his
(7) Raising Lazarus from the one and only Son, that who­ev­er be­lieves in him
dead 11:1–44 a 23 Or in him    b 3  The Greek for again also means

Epilogue sign: the miraculous from above; also in verse 7.    c 6 Or but spirit    d 7 The
Greek is plural.    e 8  The Greek for Spirit is the same as
catch of fish 21:1–14
that for wind.    f 13  Some manuscripts Man, who is in
Adapted from Four Portraits, One Jesus by heaven    g 14  The Greek for lifted up also means
MARK L. STRAUSS. Copyright © 2007 by Mark L. Strauss, exalted.    h 15  Some interpreters end the quotation
p. 302. Used by permission of Zondervan. with verse 21.   

2:24 But ­Jesus would not entrust himself to them. The used the Old Testament imagery of “water” and “wind”
word translated entrust is the same Greek word trans- to refer to the work of God from above (Isa 44:3–5).
lated believed in verse 23. There is a play on words here. 3:8 The wind. ­Jesus used the wind as an illustration of
These individuals trusted ­Jesus, but ­Jesus did not en- the work of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word translated
trust himself to them. Spirit also means “wind.” As the wind seemingly blows
3:2 at night. The fact that Nicodemus came to J ­ esus at where it wills, so the Holy Spirit sovereignly works. Like-
night may reveal the timidity of his faith (12:42); how- wise, no one knows the origin or destination of the wind,
ever, his faith was developing (7:50–51; 19:39). but everyone knows it is there. The same is true of the
3:3 unless they are born again. ­Jesus was explaining to Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus that there is more to having a right relation- 3:12 heavenly things. This refers to events like Christ’s
ship with God than being physically born a Jew. The new ascension (6:61–62) and the coming of the Holy Spirit
birth is not physical; rather, it is spiritual (v. 6). It must (16:7).
come by the Spirit of God (v. 5). 3:14 lifted up. Every time these words occur in the Gos-
3:5 born of water and the Spirit. There are several inter- pel of John, there is a reference to J ­ esus’ death (8:28;
pretations of this phrase. (1) ­Jesus was referring to water 12:32,34). as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilder-
baptism (Ac 10:43–47). (2) Water is to be understood as ness. Those who looked at it lived (Nu 21:9). So it is with
a symbol for the Holy Spirit. (3) Water is to be under- the Son of Man (1:51).
stood as a symbol of the Word of God. (4) ­Jesus used 3:16 Belief—Belief involves understanding, knowing, liv-
the phrase “born of water” to refer to physical birth. He ing, and being committed to a relationship with God. How
then used the contrasting phrase “of the Spirit” to re- one does all that is so different from not doing it, it is like
fer to spiritual birth. (5) ­Jesus used the phrase “born of being born again to a new life. Nicodemus had a little
water” to refer to John the Baptist’s baptism. (6) ­Jesus knowledge. What Nicodemus failed to understand was

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 John 3:17   1320 The Gospels and the Early Church

­shall not per­ish but have eter­nal life. 17 For God John Testifies Again About ­Jesus
did not send his Son into the ­world to con­demn 22 Af­ter this, ­Jesus and his dis­ci­ples went out
the ­world, but to save the ­world t­ hrough him. into the Ju­de­an coun­try­side, ­where he ­spent
18 Who­ev­er be­lieves in him is not con­demned, some time with them, and bap­tized. 23 Now John
but who­ ev­er does not be­ lieve ­stands con­ also was bap­tiz­ing at Ae­non near Sa­lim, be­cause
demned al­ready be­cause they have not be­lieved ­there was plen­ty of wa­ter, and peo­ple were com­
in the name of G ­ od’s one and only Son. 19 This is ing and be­ing bap­tized. 24 (This was be­fore John
the ver­dict: ­Light has come into the ­world, but was put in pris­on.) 25 An ar­gu­ment de­vel­oped be­
peo­ple ­loved dark­ness in­stead of ­light be­cause tween some of ­John’s dis­ci­ples and a cer­tain Jew
­their ­deeds were evil. 20 Every­one who does evil over the mat­ter of cer­e­mo­ni­al wash­ing. 26 They
hates the l­ ight, and will not come into the l­ ight came to John and said to him, “Rab­bi, that man
for fear that ­their d­ eeds will be ex­posed. 21 But who was with you on the oth­er side of the Jor­
who­ever lives by the ­truth comes into the ­light, dan — ​the one you tes­ti­fied a ­ bout — ​look, he is
so that it may be seen plain­ly that what they bap­tiz­ing, and ev­ery­one is go­ing to him.”
have done has been done in the ­sight of God. 27 To this John re­plied, “A per­son can re­ceive

the nature of spiritual reality. He was earthbound and gospel. These are merely attempts to conceal a heart in
didn’t understand that J ­ esus and belief are God things. rebellion against God. The ultimate reason p
­ eople do not
He could not get from where he was to where J ­ esus was come to Christ is that they do not want to.
on the road of his understanding. He needed to accept 3:26 They came to John. John the Baptist’s disciples
a new road, namely the one ­Jesus was walking, toward were loyal to him. They were deeply concerned that one
him. J
­ esus draws us to that light, his light. We have to re- of his “disciples,” ­Jesus, was competing with and sur-
spond to it as Nicodemus did over time (Jn 7:50; 19:39). passing him. In their astonishment, they exaggerated the
Belief involves internalizing these truths with our whole predicament, saying, “everyone is going to him.” They
hearts and minds, being born again, letting all of our- were concerned that John was losing his audience to
selves be exposed to, and by, that light. another preacher.
3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light. ­People 3:27 John replied. John the Baptist clarified the re-
offer many excuses for not accepting Christ. Some cite lationship between himself and ­Jesus. First, he talked
the presence of hypocrites in the church. Others claim about himself (vv. 27–29); then he talked about ­Jesus
inability to believe some of the truths about Christ or the (vv. 30–36). John explained that he could not accept

NICODEMUS
John 3:1–21

The cleansing of the temple and the accompanying miracles had made a deep impression on the city.
Nicodemus, an influential man—­a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin—­cautiously sought a private
interview with J ­ esus. He was interested, but he wanted to satisfy himself as to J ­ esus’ claims. To what
extent he believed we do not know. Two years later, he took ­Jesus’ side in the Sanhedrin (7:50–52).
Later still, he and Joseph of Arimathea, another member of the council, buried ­Jesus (19:39). He was a
secret disciple in the formative days of his faith, but later he was willing to openly share with ­Jesus in
the shame of his cross. His coming out of the shadows in the hour of ­Jesus’ humiliation, when even the
Twelve had fled for cover, risking his own life on that final day, is one of the noblest incidents of Scripture.
He surely made up for his original inclination to secrecy, especially considering that he was a member
of the Sanhedrin, right in the very heart of the enemy camp.
The new birth J ­ esus talked about is not merely a metaphor, but an actual reality that results by the
power of the Spirit of God (see Ro 8:1–11). Nicodemus, no doubt, shared the common notion that the
Messiah’s kingdom was to be a political kingdom in which his nation would be freed from Roman domi-
nation. J­ esus tried to tell him of its personal, spiritual nature. This was so different from what was in
Nicodemus’s mind that he did not understand what ­Jesus was talking about. He just could not see how
he, a good man, a genuine Pharisee, one of the rulers of the messianic nation, would not be welcomed
into the messianic kingdom with open arms. He just could not take it in that, instead, he himself, as well
as his ideas, needed to be reconstructed from the ground up.
Must be lifted up (v. 14). This is an announcement at the beginning of J ­ esus’ ministry that the cross
would be his Messianic throne. It is a reference to the brass serpent, to which those who had been bitten
by the poisonous snakes in the wilderness looked up and lived (Nu 21:9), meaning that the new birth into
eternal life, of which Jesus had just been speaking, would come by virtue of his death.

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 The Gospels and the Early Church 1321    John 4:4

only what is giv­en them from heav­

en. 28 You your­selves can tes­ti­fy that I
said, ‘I am not the Mes­si­ah but am sent
­ahead of him.’ 29 The b ­ ride be­longs to
the bride­groom. The ­friend who at­tends
the bride­groom ­waits and lis­tens for
him, and is full of joy when he h ­ ears the
bride­groom’s ­voice. That joy is mine,
and it is now com­plete. 30 He must be­
come great­er; I must be­come less.” a
31 The one who c­ omes from a ­ bove 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 h ­ eard, 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 s­ peaks the ­words of God, for God b
­gives the Spir­it with­out lim­it. 35 The
Fa­ther ­loves the Son and has ­placed
ev­ery­thing in his ­hands. 36  Who­ev­er be­
lieves in the Son has eter­nal life, but
who­ev­er re­jects the Son will not see
life, for G
­ od’s ­wrath re­mains on them.

­ esus Talks With a Samaritan

J
Woman

4 Now ­Jesus ­learned that the Phar­i­sees

had ­heard that he was gain­ing and
bap­tiz­ing more dis­ci­ples than John  — ​
One of the few visible remains of the temple built by 2 al­though in fact it was not ­Jesus who
Herod the Great is a portion of the Western Wall of bap­tized, but his dis­ci­ples. 3 So he left Ju­
the temple platform (also known as the Wailing Wall). dea and went back once more to Gal­i­lee.
The massive blocks of stone in the lower courses are 4 Now he had to go ­through Sa­mar­ia.
Herodian.
a 30  Some interpreters end the quotation with
Elisei Shafer/123RF.com
verse 36.    b 34 Greek he   

the position of supremacy that his disciples wanted to to in this verse: God the Father sent Christ the Son and
thrust upon him because he had not received it from gave him the Holy Spirit without measure.
heaven. 4:1 Now ­Jesus learned. This refers the reader back to
3:29 The friend who attends the bridegroom. John com- 3:22–36. Christ’s success in winning disciples had creat-
pared himself to this person who was appointed to ar- ed jealousy among John’s followers and provoked ques-
range the preliminaries of the wedding, to manage the tions among the Pharisees. Since J ­ esus did not want to
wedding, and to preside at the wedding feast. be drawn into a controversy over baptism at this stage
3:31 The one who comes from above. This is a refer- of his ministry, he left Judea for Galilee (v. 3).
ence to Christ. one who is from the earth. This refers 4:4 he had to go through Samaria. The shortest route
to John the Baptist. John emphasized his earthly ori- from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north went
gin and its limitations. John proclaimed divine truth through Samaria. The journey took three days if one
on earth; J ­ esus, on the other hand, is from heaven and wanted to travel the direct route. The Jews often ­avoided
above all. Samaria by going around it along the Jordan River. The
3:33 has certified. In a society where many could not hatred between the Jews and Samaritans went back to
read, seals were used to convey a clear message, even the days of the exile. Samaria was the region between
to the illiterate. A seal indicated ownership to all and ex- Judea and Galilee. When the northern kingdom was ex-
pressed a person’s personal guarantee. To receive ­Jesus’ iled to Assyria, King Sargon repopulated the area with
testimony is to certify that God is true regarding what captives from other lands. The intermarriage of these
he has sealed. foreigners and the Jews who had been left complicated
3:34 God gives the Spirit without limit. Unlike human the ancestry of the Samaritans. The Jews hated the Sa-
teachers, ­Jesus was not given the Spirit in a limited way maritans and considered them to be no longer “pure”
(Isa 11:1–2). All three persons of the Trinity are referred Jews.

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 John 4:5   1322 The Gospels and the Early Church

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

John 4:1–42

­ esus returned to Galilee through Samaria instead of taking the more common route up the Jordan
J
valley, perhaps out of caution. Samaria was outside the jurisdiction of Herod, who had just imprisoned
John. ­Jesus was merely passing through, and his conversation with the Samaritan woman may seem
only incidental. Yet it is one of the most beautiful and revealing stories in the life of J ­ esus.
The Samaritans were a mixture of the few Israelites who stayed behind when the northern kingdom
was deported by the Assyrians, and people from elsewhere whom the Assyrians, 700 years before
the time of J ­ esus, had brought into what had been the northern kingdom (2Ki 17:6,24,26,29). The Sa-
maritans accepted the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses: Genesis through Deuteronomy). They were
expecting the Messiah to make Samaria, not Jerusalem, his seat of government.
­Jesus was being eyed with suspicion by the rulers of his own nation, but here the despised Samaritans
received him gladly. One of the constantly recurring contrasts in the Gospels is the repudiation of ­Jesus
by the religious leaders of his nation and his acceptance by the outcasts, sinners, and common people.
About noon (v. 6). The woman did not expect to encounter a man at the well at that time, nor did she
expect a Jew to talk to her.
“I . . am he” (v. 26). This is the only time prior to his trial that ­Jesus declared that he was the Messiah.
This visit of ­Jesus laid the groundwork for the hearty reception of the gospel by Samaritans a few
years later (Ac 8:4–8).

5 So he came to a town in Sa­mar­ia ­called Sy­char, the wa­ter I give them will nev­er ­thirst. In­deed,
near the plot of ­ground Ja­cob had giv­en to his the wa­ter I give them will be­come in them a
son Jo­seph. 6  Ja­cob’s well was ­there, and ­Jesus, ­spring of wa­ter well­ing up to eter­nal life.”
­tired as he was from the jour­ney, sat down by 15 The wom­an said to him, “Sir, give me this
the well. It was a ­ bout noon. wa­ter so that I ­won’t get ­thirsty and have to keep
7 When a Sa­mar­i­tan wom­an came to draw wa­ com­ing here to draw wa­ter.”
ter, ­Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a d ­ rink?” 16 He told her, “Go, call your hus­band and
8 (His dis­ci­ples had gone into the town to buy come back.”
food.) 17 “I have no hus­band,” she re­plied.
9 The Sa­mar­i­tan wom­an said to him, “You are ­Jesus said to her, “You are r­ ight when you say
a Jew and I am a Sa­mar­i­tan wom­an. How can you have no hus­band. 18 The fact is, you have had
you ask me for a d ­ rink?” (For Jews do not as­so­ five hus­bands, and the man you now have is not
ci­ate with Sa­mar­i­tans.  a ) your hus­band. What you have just said is ­quite
10 ­Jesus an­swered her, “If you knew the gift of true.”
God and who it is that asks you for a ­drink, you 19 “Sir,” the wom­an said, “I can see that you
­would have a ­ sked him and he ­would have giv­en are a proph­et. 20  Our an­ces­tors wor­shiped on
you liv­ing wa­ter.” this moun­tain, but you Jews ­claim that the ­place
11 “Sir,” the wom­an said, “you have noth­ing to ­where we must wor­ship is in Je­ru­sa­lem.”
draw with and the well is deep. ­Where can you 21 “Wom­an,” ­Jesus re­plied, “be­lieve me, a time
get this liv­ing wa­ter? 12 Are you great­er than our is com­ing when you will wor­ship the Fa­ther nei­
fa­ther Ja­cob, who gave us the well and ­drank ther on this moun­tain nor in Je­ru­sa­lem. 22 You
from it him­self, as did also his sons and his live­ Sa­mar­i­tans wor­ship what you do not know; we
stock?” wor­ship what we do know, for sal­va­tion is from
13 ­Jesus an­swered, “Ev­ery­one who ­drinks this
wa­ter will be ­thirsty ­again, 14 but who­ever ­drinks a 9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used   

4:14 a spring of water welling up to eternal life. ­Jesus 4:20 you Jews claim that the place . . . is in Jerusalem.
desired a drink of water. He then directed the focus of The Jews insisted that the exclusive place of worship
discussion from physical water to spiritual water, point- was Jerusalem. But the Samaritans had set up a rival
ing out the tremendous advantages of the second kind, worship site on Mount Gerizim, which according to their
which is obtained without cost or effort. This water satis- tradition was where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac and
fies completely and eternally. where later on he met Melchizedek.
4:16 Go, call your husband. J­ esus mentioned the wom-
an’s husband in order to expose her sin (v. 18).

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 The Gospels and the Early Church 1323   John

Jesus in Judea and Samaria

Ptolemais G A L I L E E
Bethsaida
Capernaum
Cana Se a o f
Ga l i l e e
Sepphoris
Sea
Tiberias
R.
k
Nazareth Mt. mu
Ta b o r Ya r
Nain
an
ane

Caesarea Scythopolis
1
Pella
err

Salim
S A M A R I A
Aenon
dit

Jo r d a n R .
3
Mt.
Sebaste Eb a l
Me

4
(Samaria) Sychar Ja b b o k R .
Mt.
Ge r i z i m 5

Antipatris
Joppa

A
Bethany on the
other side of
E
J U D E A 7 the Jordan
R

9
8 Jericho
Emmaus Jerusalem
E

Bethany
P

6
Bethlehem Qumran
2

I D U M E A
Gaza Machaerus
De a d
Se a
Arnon
0 10 km. R.
0 10 mi.

● The most important port in the Holy Land in

➊ anointed in the house of Simon the Leper
NT times (Mt 26:6). It was also the scene of the ascension
● The birthplace of Jesus (Mt 2:1; Lk 2:4)
➋ (Lk 24:50–51).
● John the Baptist baptized here (Jn 3:23). Aenon
➌ ● Jesus healed a blind man here at Jericho
➐
was also the probable location of John’s ministry. (Mt 20:29) and called Zacchaeus down from a tree
(Lk 19:1). The Good Samaritan helped a traveler en
● Jesus talked with a Samaritan woman at
➍ route here (Lk 10:30).
Jacob’s well in Sychar (Jn 4:5).
● Most important biblical city. Jesus was crucified
➑
● The mountain referred to by the Samaritan
➎ at Jerusalem as predicted (Mt 16:21; Mk 10:33;
woman at the well as the worship center for the
Lk 18:31).
Samaritans (Jn 4:20–23)
● The resurrected Jesus appeared to two people
➒
● Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead
➏ walking to Emmaus, and he ate with them there
(Jn 11:43–44). Here at Bethany Jesus was
(Lk 24:13).

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 John 4:23   1324 The Gospels and the Early Church

the Jews. 23 Yet a time is com­ing and has now 33 Then his dis­ci­ples said to each oth­er, “Could
come when the true wor­ship­ers will wor­ship some­one have b ­ rought him food?”
the Fa­ther in the Spir­it and in t­ ruth, for they are 34 “My food,” said ­Jesus, “is to do the will of
the kind of wor­ship­ers the Fa­ther s­ eeks. 24 God him who sent me and to fin­ish his work. 35 Don’t
is spir­it, and his wor­ship­ers must wor­ship in the you have a say­ing, ‘It’s ­still four ­months un­til
Spir­it and in truth.” har­vest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at
25 The wom­an said, “I know that Mes­si­ah” the ­fields! They are ripe for har­vest. 36 Even now
(called C ­ hrist) “is com­ing. When he c­ omes, he the one who ­reaps draws a wage and har­vests a
will ex­plain ev­ery­thing to us.” crop for eter­nal life, so that the sow­er and the
26  Then ­Jesus de­clared, “I, the one speak­ing to reap­er may be glad to­geth­er. 37 Thus the say­ing
you — ​I am  he.” ‘One sows and an­oth­er ­reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you
to reap what you have not ­worked for. Oth­ers
The Disciples Rejoin ­Jesus have done the hard work, and you have ­reaped
27 Just then his dis­ci­ples re­turned and were the ben­e­fits of ­their la­bor.”
sur­prised to find him talk­ing with a wom­an. But
no one a ­ sked, “What do you want?” or “Why are Many Samaritans Believe
you talk­ing with her?” 39 Many of the Sa­mar­i­tans from that town
28 Then, leav­ing her wa­ter jar, the wom­an be­lieved in him be­cause of the wom­an’s tes­ti­
went back to the town and said to the peo­ple, mo­ny, “He told me ev­ery­thing I ever did.” 40 So
29 “Come, see a man who told me ev­ery­thing when the Sa­mar­i­tans came to him, they ­urged
I ever did. ­Could this be the Mes­si­ah?” 30 They him to stay with them, and he ­stayed two days.
came out of the town and made ­their way to­ 41 And be­cause of his ­words many more be­came
ward him. be­liev­ers.
31  Mean­while his dis­ci­ples ­urged him, “Rab­bi, 42 They said to the wom­an, “We no lon­ger be­
eat some­thing.” lieve just be­cause of what you said; now we have
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that ­heard for our­selves, and we know that this man
you know noth­ing about.” real­ly is the Sav­ior of the world.”

4:24 God is Spirit . . . must worship in the Spirit and Jew (v. 9), then as a prophet (v. 19), and finally as the
in truth. God is not limited by time and space. When Messiah.
­people are born of the Spirit, they can commune with 4:36 draws a wage. The reaper of a spiritual harvest re-
God anywhere. Spirit is the opposite of what is material ceives wages—that is, fruit that brings joy. In this case,
and earthly. Christ makes worship a matter of the heart. ­Jesus sowed by giving the message to the woman. The
Truth is what is in harmony with the nature and will of disciples were going to reap the harvest that he had
God. The issue is not where a person worships, but how sown.
and whom. 4:42 Savior of the world. This title is used only here and
4:29 everything I ever did. In her excitement, the wom- in 1 John 4:14. The Jews of ­Jesus’ day taught that to ap-
an exaggerated. She did not report what ­Jesus actu- proach God, one first had to be a Jew. By including this
ally told her but what he could have told her. Note the incident in the Gospel, John demonstrates that ­Jesus is
woman’s spiritual journey. She first viewed Christ as a for all p
­ eople of the world.

THE ROYAL OFFICIAL’S SON

John 4:43–54

­ esus was welcomed when he returned to Galilee, but sadly, only for his miraculous works and not
J
as the Messiah. Once in Galilee, he went to Cana, the home of Nathanael and the place where, a year
earlier, J
­ esus had performed his first miracle (Jn 2:1–11). Cana was probably about eight miles north of
Nazareth. Capernaum was 19 miles northeast of Cana. The official was one of Herod’s representatives
in Capernaum. This miracle was performed from a distance of almost 20 miles. ­Jesus did not need to
physically see or touch the child to heal him. In this case it only required faith on the part of the official
for ­Jesus’ miraculous power to be manifested.
Second miraculous sign (v. 54) means the second time a sign was performed in Galilee. He had done
miracles in the meantime in Jerusalem (2:23).
After this miracle, ­Jesus seems to have gone back to Nazareth for a time (Lk 4:16–30). The healing of
the official’s son in Capernaum was what the inhabitants of Nazareth had heard about, and they wanted
­Jesus to repeat it in his own city (Lk 4:23).

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 The Gospels and the Early Church 1325    John 5:6

­Jesus Heals an Official’s Son 53 Then the fa­ther re­al­ized that this was the
43 Af­ter the two days he left for Gal­i­lee. 44 (Now ex­act time at ­which ­Jesus had said to him, “Your
­Jesus him­self had point­ed out that a proph­et son will live.” So he and his ­whole house­hold be­
has no hon­or in his own coun­try.) 45 When he lieved.
ar­rived in Gal­i­lee, the Gal­i­le­ans wel­comed him. 54 This was the sec­ond sign ­Jesus per­formed
They had seen all that he had done in Je­ru­sa­ af­ter com­ing from Ju­dea to Gal­i­lee.
lem at the Pass­over Fes­ti­val, for they also had
been there. The Healing at the Pool
46  Once more he vis­it­ed Cana in Gal­i­lee, ­where
he had t­ urned the wa­ter into wine. And t­ here
was a cer­tain roy­al of­fi­cial ­whose son lay sick at
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
Ca­per­na­um. 47 When this man ­heard that ­Jesus in Ar­a­ma­ic is ­called Be­thes­da a and ­which is sur­
had ar­rived in Gal­i­lee from Ju­dea, he went to round­ed by five cov­ered col­on­nades. 3 Here a
him and ­begged him to come and heal his son, ­great num­ber of dis­abled peo­ple used to lie — ​the
who was c­ lose to death. ­blind, the lame, the par­a­lyzed. [4] b 5 One who was
48 “Un­less you peo­ple see ­signs and won­ders,” ­there had been an in­val­id for thir­ty-­eight ­years.
­Jesus told him, “you will nev­er be­lieve.” 6 When ­Jesus saw him ly­ing ­there and ­learned
49 The roy­al of­fi­cial said, “Sir, come down be­ that he had been in this con­di­tion for a long time,
fore my c­ hild dies.” he ­asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
50 “Go,” ­Jesus re­plied, “your son will live.”
The man took ­Jesus at his word and de­part­ a 2  Some manuscripts Bethzatha; other manuscripts

ed. 51 While he was s­ till on the way, his ser­vants Bethsaida    b 3,4  Some manuscripts include here,
wholly or in part, paralyzed — ​and they waited for the
met him with the news that his boy was liv­ing.
moving of the waters. 4From time to time an angel of the
52 When he in­quired as to the time when his son Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first
got bet­ter, they said to him, “Yes­ter­day, at one in one into the pool after each such disturbance would be
the af­ter­noon, the fe­ver left him.” cured of whatever disease they had.   

4:46 a certain royal official. This was probably someone 5:2 the Sheep Gate. This was a gate in the wall of Je-
who was in the ser­vice of the king. Herod Antipas was rusalem near the temple through which sheep were
technically the tetrarch of Galilee, but he was referred brought for sacrifice.
to as a king.

Model, at the Israel Museum, of the pool of Bethesda

© 2018 by Zondervan

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