# verses

text:
Amazement gripped them all and they kept glorifying God; they were also filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” <n>Their initial reaction was favorable, but then Jesus went and ate with tax collectors, and that was too much for them.</n> 


text:
<i> Enter Levi (Matthew)</i> After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, “Follow me!”


text:
Then Levi made a great banquet for Him at his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them.


text:
<i> The Pharisees have a problem</i> Well the scribes and Pharisees complained about them to His disciples, saying, “How can you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?!”


text:
So Jesus reacted and said to them: “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, just those who are sick.


text:
Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but yours keep eating and drinking?”


text:
So He said to them: “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?


text:
But days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; <i>then</i> , in those days, they will fast.”


text:
<i> New wine X old wineskins</i> Then He also told them a parable: “No one puts a patch from a new garment on an old one; otherwise, both the new makes a tear and that from the new does not match the old.


text:
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst those skins and will itself be spilled and the skins wasted.


text:
Rather, new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. <n>I take it that the Lord is saying that a church that has become an ‘old wineskin’ cannot be renewed—any attempt to introduce ‘new wine’ will only result in division and bitterness. Bearers of ‘new wine’ should just start a new congregation. The truth stated in verse 39 is one of the factors. Less than 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and both are preserved” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
Further, no one having drunk old <i>wine</i> immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better’.”


text:
<i> Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath</i> Now it happened on a second-first <n>That’s what the Text says. No doubt everyone at that time knew just what was intended, but in the meantime we have lost the necessary cultural information.</n> Sabbath that He was passing through the grain fields, and His disciples began to pick and eat the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.


text:
But some of the Pharisees said to them, <n>By now the Pharisees had ‘spies’ following Jesus wherever He went.</n> “Why are you doing that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”


text:
So in answer to them Jesus said: “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:


text:
how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and even gave it to those with him—that which only the priests are allowed to eat?”


text:
Then He said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath!” <n>Now that was something that they were not prepared to assimilate. They used the Sabbath as an instrument to dominate the people, and Jesus was threatening to deprive them of that instrument. Mark 2:27 preserves an added comment: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath”. Man needs one day of rest in seven, but it is not intended as a ‘straitjacket’.</n> 


text:
<i> He heals on the Sabbath</i> Now it happened on a different Sabbath that He entered the synagogue and began to teach. Well there was a man there whose right hand was shriveled;


text:
so the scribes and the Pharisees started watching, to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against Him.


text:
But He knew their thoughts and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in the center”. So he got up and stood.


text:
Then Jesus said to them: “I will ask you something: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”


text:
And when He had looked around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” So he did that, and his hand was restored, as sound as the other. <n>Perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “as sound as the other” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
<i> The rejection</i> But they were filled with rage, <n>Filled by whom, or what? Only someone controlled by Satan could become furious over a good deed like that.</n> and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.


text:
<i> Choosing the Twelve</i> Now it happened in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and He continued all night in prayer to God. <n>Presumably He was making sure that He made the correct selection of twelve, taken from a larger group of followers. He certainly knew why He was including the Iscariot.</n> 


text:
When it was day He called His disciples, and from them He chose twelve, whom He also named apostles:


text:
<i> A sermon on a level place <n>Although similar to the ‘sermon on the mount’ recorded by Matthew, this is clearly a different time and place. During His ministry the Lord doubtless repeated His basic concepts over and over.</n> </i> Then He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, also from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases,


text:
So the whole crowd kept trying to touch Him, because power was going out from Him and was healing all. <n>The crowd would be constantly shifting, because those who were healed would back off to make room for others.</n> 


text:
<i> Blessings</i> Then He raised His eyes toward His disciples and said: “Blessed are you poor, because the Kingdom of God is yours.


text:
Blessed are you who hunger now, because you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, because you will laugh.


text:
Blessed are you whenever men hate you, and whenever they exclude you and heap insults on you and trash your name as ‘malignant’, for the Son of Man’s sake.


text:
Rejoice in that day and skip about! Because your reward really is great in Heaven; for that is how their fathers treated the prophets.


text:
Woe to you who are full! because you will go hungry. Woe to you who are presently laughing! because you will mourn and weep.


text:
Woe, when all men speak well of you; for that is how their fathers treated the <i>false</i> prophets!


text:
<i> Instructions</i> “Further, to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you;


text:
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. <n>People who do these things are being used by Satan; they need to be delivered, and this is done in the spiritual realm.</n> 


text:
To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; <n>Do not use physical violence to respond to physical violence—but we can use our spiritual authority. Animals must resort to force, but Adam was given dominion over the animals, which presumably was not exercised with physical force—we should not lower ourselves to the animal level; but Satan tries to trick us into doing so. If someone lashes out in anger, turning the other cheek should shame him.</n> and from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold the tunic as well.


text:
Give to everyone who asks of you; <n>Presumably this does not refer to professional beggars (2 Thessalonians 3:10), but to someone overtaken by adversity who needs temporary help, someone you know who is part of the community.</n> and from him who takes away your things, do not demand them back.


text:
Yes, like you want people to treat you, that is just how you must treat them. <n>This is the so-called ‘golden rule’—if everyone did this the world would be a better place.</n> 


text:
Also, if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.


text:
And if you do good to those doing good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do the same.


text:
And if you lend to those from whom you expect to get it back, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners’, to receive an equal value back.


text:
<i> Be compassionate</i> “So, love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; <n>I take the point to be that the behavior described indicates that the person already is a ‘son’ of the Most High. As it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, we do good works because we are saved, not in order to become so.</n> because <i>He</i> is kind toward the ungrateful and wicked.


text:
So be compassionate, even as your Father is compassionate. <n>Only if you have the Holy Spirit can you even come close to following the Father’s example.</n> 


text:
<i> We get what we give</i> “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.


text:
Give and it will be given to you: a good measure—pressed down and shaken together and running over—will they deposit in your lap. <n>‘they’ refers to human beings, not to God.</n> Because with the same measure that you use it will be measured back to you.”


text:
Then He told them a parable: “Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will they not both fall into a ditch?


text:
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. <n>This is an important point; it takes time to become ‘fully trained’. No one becomes like Jesus in a hurry.</n> 


text:
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank that is in your own eye? <n>Even a speck in the eye is very uncomfortable, making it hard to use that eye. An eye with a ‘plank’ would be useless, totally blind, so in effect Jesus is repeating the question, “Can a blind man guide?” On the other hand, a ‘plank’ is so large that one can grab it and remove it without sight.</n> 


text:
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye’, when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.


text:
<i> A tree is known by its fruit</i> “Now no good tree produces rotten fruit, not does a rotten tree produce good fruit


text:
—each tree is known by its own fruit: people do not gather figs from thorn bushes, nor do they pick a bunch of grapes from a bramble.


text:
The good man produces the good out of the good treasure in his heart, and the malignant man produces the malignant out of the malignant treasure in his heart; because his mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart. <n>This whole paragraph is really about people, not plants, thus the term ‘rotten’.</n> 


text:
<i> Two foundations</i> “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I say? <n>This is presumably one of the questions that will be on the Final Test.</n> 


text:
he is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the bedrock. When a flood occurred, the torrent burst upon that house but could not shake it, because it was founded on the bedrock. <n>Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “because it was built well”, instead of “because it was founded on the bedrock” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). If the bedrock refers to the Lord Jesus and His teaching, then this alteration is bad.</n> 


text:
But he who heard and did nothing <n>Notice the change in tense: ‘hears and does’ changes to ‘heard and did nothing’. The second person heard the Truth, but rejected it, and so is without excuse.</n> is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”


text:
<i> The faith of a centurion</i> Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.


text:
So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to come and rescue his slave.


text:
And when they came to Jesus they started pleading earnestly with Him, saying that the one for whom He would do this was worthy,


text:
So Jesus went with them. But when He was no longer far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him: “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.


text:
 In fact I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. Just say a word and my servant will be healed;


text:
 because I also am a man placed under authority, <n>He was part of a chain of command, with people both above and beneath him. Whereas he had military authority, he understood that Jesus had spiritual authority—all He had to do was speak. So how about us?</n> having soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does.”


text:
Well upon hearing these things Jesus marveled at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith!” <n>If Jesus were here today, He could say the same thing about almost all churches.</n> 


text:
When those who were sent returned to the house they found that the slave who had been sick was well.


text:
<i> A widow’s son raised</i> Now it happened on the next day that He went to a town called Nain, and many of His disciples went with Him, also a large crowd.


text:
But as He approached the town gate, mercy, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; a large crowd from the town was with her.


text:
When the Lord saw her He had compassion on her <n>She needed compassion; her situation was desperate.</n> and said to her, “Don’t cry!”


text:
And advancing He took hold of the bier and the bearers stood still. Then He said, “Young man, to you I say, get up!” <n>Jesus was always specific when He brought someone back from the dead, so as not to empty the graveyard.</n> 


text:
Fear took hold of all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”


text:
And this report about Him went throughout Judea, as well as all the surrounding region. <n>Nain is in Galilee, but besides the surrounding region the report of this particular miracle made it to Judea as well.</n> 


text:
And summoning a certain two of his disciples, John sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are you the Coming One, or should we look for another?” <n>John was puzzled and disillusioned. If Jesus was the Messiah, why was he, John, in prison? Why didn’t Jesus set up His Kingdom and deliver John? Everyone was looking for the Messianic Kingdom to be set up forthwith (see 19:11).</n> 


text:
When the men had come to Him, they said: “John the Baptizer has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the Coming One, or should we look for another?’”


text:
Well in that very hour He healed many from diseases and torments and malignant spirits, and to many blind He granted sight.


text:
So in answer Jesus said to them: “Go and report to John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind regain sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, dead are raised, the poor are evangelized. <n>“The poor are evangelized”—what the poor (and everyone else) need most is salvation and a new life, not a free distribution of wealth.</n> 


text:
<i> And</i> , blessed is he who does not take offense at me!” <n>Jesus was not meeting John’s expectations, and the same thing happens to us, from time to time, but we had better keep the proper perspective.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus praises John</i> Now when John’s messengers had departed, He began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to observe, a reed being shaken by the wind?


text:
But what did you go out to see, a man clothed in soft garments? Really, those with gorgeous apparel and living in luxury are in palaces.


text:
This is he about whom it is written: ‘Take note, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you’. <n>See Malachi 3:1.</n> 


text:
Further, I tell you that among those born of women there is no greater prophet than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.” <n>I find this statement to be puzzling; is John not part of the Kingdom? If John is not, then none of the O.T. saints is either.</n> 


text:
(When all the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism.


text:
But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) <n>John’s baptism was based on repentance, but self-righteous people would consider that they didn’t need it.</n> 


text:
<i> Inconsistency of the Pharisees</i> “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and to what are they similar?


text:
They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not cry’.


text:
Because John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’


text:
The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Just look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’


text:
Still, by all her children wisdom is justified.” <n>In other words, the Pharisees were not children of ‘wisdom’.</n> 


text:
<i> A lesson in forgiveness</i> Then one of the Pharisees invited Him to eat with Him, <n>This was not a friendly invitation.</n> so He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined.


text:
But then, a woman in the town who was a sinner, when she found out that He was reclining in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster flask of perfume,


text:
and as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, <n>He was reclining on a ‘couch’ with His head in toward the table, so His feet were ‘available’.</n> she began to wet His feet with her tears and kept wiping them with the hair of her head; and she kept kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. <n>This is a moving picture. She was ashamed and distressed, because of what she was, but she desperately wanted to change, and she saw in Jesus the way out.</n> 


text:
Now as the Pharisee who had invited Him observed this, he was saying to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him, including what sort of woman she is—because she is a sinner!” <n>Evidently the woman was well known to the locals.</n> 


text:
So Jesus reacted by saying to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you”. And he said, “Teacher, say on”.


text:
And when they had no way to repay, he freely forgave them both. Now tell me, which of them will love him more?”


text:
So Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one to whom he forgave more”. And He said to him, “You have judged correctly”.


text:
Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon: “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.


text:
For this reason, I say to you, her many sins have been forgiven, because she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”


text:
Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go into peace.” <n>That’s what the Text says, ‘into’ not ‘in’—from then on her life would be different, one characterized by peace. She got what she so desperately wanted.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus takes the offensive Women provide for Jesus</i> Now it happened after this that He started going around town by town, village by village, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God, and the twelve were with Him;


text:
also certain women who had been healed of malignant spirits and infirmities: Mary (the one called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had gone out;


text:
and Joanna the wife of Chuza, an official of Herod; and Susanna, and many others—these were providing for Him <n>The Greek manuscripts are divided between ‘him’ and ‘them’, which in practice would amount to the same thing—since He would not eat alone, any providing would have to include the twelve.</n> from their substance.


text:
<i> Parable of the soils</i> Now when a large crowd had gathered, with people coming to Him from town after town, He spoke by a parable:


text:
“A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed some fell along the road and it got trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.


text:
The rest fell into the good ground, and growing up it produced fruit a hundredfold.” Upon saying these things He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”


text:
So He said: “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest <i>only</i> in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand’. <n>See Isaiah 6:9. The Lord plainly states that He used parables so that people would not understand. It follows that doctrine should never be based on a parable—however, if the parable is explained, the explanation may be used.</n> 


text:
Those along the road are those who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, in order that they not be saved, having believed. <n>The Lord here states a terrible truth: Satan has access to the human mind. See also 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.</n> 


text:
Those on the rock ledge are the ones who, whenever they hear, receive the word with joy; yet these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of testing fall away. <n>Note that with the exception of those along the road all the seeds germinate—there is life.</n> 


text:
Now that which fell into the thorns: these are the ones who heard, yet as they go they are choked by cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.


text:
But that on the good ground: these are the ones who having heard the word with a noble and good heart, hold on to it and produce fruit with perseverance.”


text:
<i> All will be exposed</i> Upon saying these things He called out: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear! <n>Most (if not all) versions omit “Upon saying these things He called out: He who has ears to hear let him hear!” following 45% of the Greek manuscripts. I follow the best line of transmission, which is part of the 55% here. Jesus was calling attention to what He was about to say.</n> No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but he sets it on a lamp stand, so that those who come in may see the light.


text:
Further, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nor anything concealed that will not be made known and come into the open.


text:
So be careful <i>how</i> you hear: <n>Spiritual growth is like going up an incline on a bicycle with no brakes; if you stop pedaling, you start going backwards. Either we grow, or we start losing what we have. There is no standing still. So be careful <b>how</b> you hear!</n> Because whoever has, to him <i>more</i> will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”


text:
<i> Relationships redefined</i> Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and they could not get near Him because of the crowd.


text:
And it was told Him by some saying, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you”.


text:
But in answer He said to them, “My mother and my brothers are these, the ones who hear the word of God and do it!” <n>Our primary commitment should be to Christ and His Kingdom, not to our physical family. There are times when the Kingdom ‘trumps’ family.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus stills a storm</i> Now it happened on one of those days that He got into a boat with His disciples; and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake”. So they launched out.


text:
But as they sailed He fell asleep. A windstorm descended on the lake, and they were being swamped and were in jeopardy.


text:
So they came and awakened Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves of water—and they stopped, and there was a calm! <n>Agitated water does not calm down immediately, even if the cause stops, so there was a double miracle here—Jesus undid the consequences of the wind.</n> 


text:
So He said to them, “Where is your faith?” <n>In other words, He is telling them that they could, and should, have done something about it themselves.</n> But being terrified they marveled, saying to each other: “Who can this be? <n>This puzzles me; after all the miracles they had seen, they still wonder who Jesus is! Well, maybe controlling nature is in a ‘higher league’ than controlling sickness and demons.</n> Because He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!”


text:
<i> Jesus handles demon infestation</i> Then they sailed to the district of the Gadarenes, <n>The eclectic text currently in vogue, following just 4 Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, reads ‘Gerasenes’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.).</n> which is opposite Galilee.


text:
Well when He stepped out on the land, a certain man of that town met Him, who had had a demon for a long time—he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but among the tombs.


text:
When he saw Jesus he gave a yell, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice he said: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? <n>The disciples may not have known who Jesus was, but the demons did!</n> I beg you, don’t torment me!”


text:
Because He had commanded the unclean spirit to get out of the man (it had seized him many times—he would be bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard; then bursting the bonds he would be driven by the demon into deserted places).


text:
Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” <n>I assume that Jesus knew the demon’s name without asking, so why did He ask? I would say that He wanted it to be part of the Record, to teach us that demon infestation can and does occur.</n> And he said, “Legion” (because many demons had gone into him).


text:
And he <n>The boss demon does most of the talking, representing his cohort.</n> kept imploring Him that He would not order them to go away into the Abyss. <n>The Text has ‘the Abyss’, presumably the same one mentioned in Revelation 20:3. The demons knew something that most of us don’t.</n> 


text:
Now a herd of <i>many</i> pigs was feeding there on the hillside; and they started begging Him that He would allow them to go into those; so He gave them permission.


text:
Then the demons exited the man and entered the pigs—and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned! <n>I very much doubt that the demons engineered that reaction; it would have been counterproductive, leaving them without a ‘home’. Animals often show more good sense than do humans, and they may have preferred death to demons. (And I suppose it is possible that Jesus Himself commanded the action, since pork was proscribed for God’s people.)</n> 


text:
Well when the herders saw what had happened they ran away and reported it in the town and in the countryside.


text:
So they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus; they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. <n>With good reason; a supernatural power was at work, obviously.</n> 


text:
Then the whole multitude from the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, because they were overcome by fear. <n>The loss of all those pigs was a severe economic blow.</n> So He got into the boat and returned. <n>And He never went back; they had their chance.</n> 


text:
Now the man from whom the demons had gone out had started begging Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,


text:
“Return to your house and recount how much God has done for you”. So he went his way and proclaimed all over town how much Jesus had done for him. <n>‘How much God’ becomes ‘how much Jesus’, which amounts to the same thing. The man witnessed to such good effect that many in that area believed.</n> 


text:
<i> A desperate father</i> Now it happened, when Jesus returned, that the crowd welcomed Him, because they were all waiting for Him. <n>If you go around doing what Jesus did, you become public property.</n> 


text:
And then, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue; he fell down at Jesus’ feet and started begging Him to come to his house,


text:
because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.<i> A desperate woman</i> Now as He was going, the crowds were pressing against Him.


text:
 And a woman—suffering with a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent her whole livelihood on physicians, but could not be healed by any—


text:
 approaching from behind touched the border of His garment; and immediately the flow of her blood stopped!


text:
 So Jesus said, “Who touched me?” <n>He was referring to a purposeful touch.</n> When all denied it, Peter and those with him said: “Master, the people are pressing against you and crowding in, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” <n>Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
 Now when the woman saw that she could not hide, she came trembling, and falling down before Him she told Him in the presence of all the people <n>That wasn’t easy.</n> the reason why she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately.


text:
 So He said: “Courage, daughter, your faith has healed you. Go into peace.” <n>Again, ‘into’ not ‘in’. Her life was now going to be different.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus raises a dead girl</i> While He was still speaking, here came someone from the synagogue ruler’s house, saying to him: “Your daughter has died. Don’t bother the teacher.”


text:
But upon hearing it Jesus reacted by saying to him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe and she will be healed”.


text:
When He arrived at the house, He allowed no one to go in except Peter, John, James, the father of the child, and her mother.


text:
Now all were weeping and mourning for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping”.


text:
So He put them all outside, and <n>Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “put them all outside, and” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> grasping her hand He called, saying, “Child, arise!”


text:
Then her spirit returned, and she got right up! And He directed that she be given something to eat. <n>Nothing like being practical!</n> 


text:
Her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened. <n>Of course that would be difficult, because all the people who knew the girl had died would see her going about normally, and would want an explanation.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus sends out the Twelve</i> Then He called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, <n>“over all the demons”—evidently, during their tour no demon resisted them, which contrasts with 9:40.</n> and to cure diseases;


text:
And He said to them: “Take nothing for the journey—neither staffs <n>Perhaps 15% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘staffs’ as singular, to be followed by most modern versions. In Matthew 10:10 it is 5%. But to put the singular here and in Matthew contradicts Mark 6:8, where all texts have “only a staff”. In Luke and Matthew the vast majority of the Greek manuscripts read “neither staffs”, which does not contradict Mark—the case of the staffs is analogous to that of the tunics; they were to take only one, not several.</n> nor knapsack nor bread nor money, neither have two tunics apiece.


text:
But as many as do not receive you, when you depart from that town, shake off even the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”


text:
<i> Herod is troubled</i> Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all the things being done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,


text:
But Herod said, “John I beheaded; so who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he started trying to see Him. <n>But apparently he never succeeded until the very end, and even then only thanks to Pilate (23:6-12).</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus feeds about 5,000 men</i> When the Apostles returned they reported to Him all that they had done. Then He took them and withdrew privately to a deserted place belonging to a town called Bethsaida. <n>Instead of “a deserted place belonging to a town called Bethsaida”, 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have “a town called Bethsaida” (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Problem: the eclectic text currently in vogue, along with the modern versions that follow it, has Jesus and company going into the town of Bethsaida, but in verse 12 the disciples say they are in a deserted area; thus a contradiction is introduced. The eclectic text here is also at variance with itself in the parallel passages. In Matthew 14:13 all texts have Jesus going to a deserted place, and in verse 15 the disciples say, “the place is deserted . . . send the crowd away to the towns.” In Mark 6:31-32 all texts have Him going to a deserted place, and in verse 35 the disciples say it is a deserted place, etc. So the eclectic text not only makes Luke contradict himself, but sets him against Matthew and Mark—and this on the basis of only half a percent of the manuscripts!But there is more to the story. From the parallel accounts it appears that He embarked at Capernaum. From John 6:23 we learn that the destination was near Tiberias. Capernaum and Tiberias are both on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, but there is a large bay between them; so they went over several miles of water. The crowd was not about to let Jesus get away. Mark makes clear that they ran along the shore—the faster runners stayed even with the boat and were waiting on the shore when the boat put in. The others were spread out behind for several miles (like in a marathon) and kept arriving. Any late starters would see the stragglers and could easily follow the action. Apparently He immediately started to heal the sick and went on to teach (Matthew14:14, Mark 6:34). But just where was it? John says it was near Tiberias, but Luke 9:10 says it was “a deserted place belonging to a town called Bethsaida”. I assume that the place was indeed near Tiberias but did indeed belong to Bethsaida—either it had been deeded to the town somehow or the family that owned it was based in Bethsaida. Any near neighbors couldn’t use it, so it was basically untouched—a great place for a picnic. After the feeding, Mark 6:45 says that “He made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida”. So why did Jesus send the disciples to Bethsaida? Perhaps it was to give an accounting to the owner of the place where the multitude was fed—15,000 people can make quite a mess. (I suspect that Jesus had permission to use the place when He wanted to get away, but no one had foreseen such a crowd as that.) From Matthew and Mark I gather that from Bethsaida Jesus went directly to Genesaret, spending the minimum time necessary in Bethsaida.</n> 


text:
But the crowds, being aware, followed Him. So He received them and started speaking to them about the Kingdom of God, and He cured those who needed healing.


text:
Now when the day began to decline, the Twelve approached and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go to the surrounding villages and their farms, lodge and find food; because we are in a deserted place here”.


text:
But He said to them, “You feed them!” <n>Please, with what?! The only way the disciples could have obeyed this command would be by a miracle similar to what Jesus proceeded to perform. But they weren’t up to it. Are we?</n> So they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd”


text:
(there were about five thousand <i>men</i> ). But He said to His disciples, “Make them recline in groups of fifty!”


text:
Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.


text:
So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the pieces they left were taken up. <n>The collecting was probably done by others, and in any case that leftover bread was used by others.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus ministers on the basis of His impending death “You are the Christ!”</i> Now it happened, as He was alone praying, that the disciples joined Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say I am?”


text:
In answer they said, “John the Baptizer, but others say ‘Elijah’, while others that one of the ancient prophets has arisen”.


text:
Then He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?” In answer Peter said, “The Christ <n>Since they were speaking Hebrew, he said ‘Messiah’.</n> of God!”


text:
saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.”


text:
<i> To gain is to lose, to lose is to gain</i> Then He said to everyone: “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, <n>Some 13% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘daily’, as in most versions.</n> and follow me.


text:
Because whoever desires to ‘save’ his life will lose it, but whoever ‘loses’ his life for my sake, <i>he</i> will save it. <n>What the Lord is talking about is the potential one’s life represents. The only way not to throw away or waste your life is to live for the Kingdom.</n> 


text:
Yes, whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of Him, whenever He comes in the glory—His, and the Father’s, and of the holy angels.


text:
However, I tell you truly: there are some standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God!”


text:
<i> Peter, John and James see the ‘Kingdom’</i> Now about eight days after these words, it happened that He took along Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.


text:
they appeared in glory and were explaining His ‘departure’, that He was about to bring to fruition in Jerusalem.


text:
Now Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; but becoming fully awake, they saw His glory, and the two men who stood with Him.


text:
Then it happened: as they were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus: “Master, it is good for us to be here” and “Should we make three shelters: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah?” <n>So how did Peter know who they were?</n> —not knowing what he was saying.


text:
But as he was saying this a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they became afraid as they entered the cloud.


text:
And a <b>Voice</b> <n>Peter never forgot that VOICE (2 Peter 1:16).</n> came out of the cloud, saying: “This is my beloved <n>Instead of ‘beloved’, perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘chosen’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> Son. Listen to Him!”


text:
When the Voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. (They kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.) <n>Jesus commanded them not to mention anything until after the resurrection (Mark 9:9).</n> 


text:
<i> A violent demon</i> Now it happened on the next day, when they came down from the mountain, <n>They spent a night up there.</n> that a large crowd met Him.


text:
And then, a man from the crowd called out, saying: “Teacher, I beg you, look upon my son, for he is my only begotten.


text:
And oh, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams, and it convulses him with foaming, and it hardly departs from him, destroying him!


text:
Then in answer Jesus said: “O unbelieving and perverse <n>Why “perverse”? To reject the truth and the evidence is to be perverse. This word was presumably directed to the disciples, who should have known better by now. So how about us—are we living on the basis of the truth and the evidence? Really?</n> generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you (pl)? Bring your (sg) son here!”


text:
But while he was still coming the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.


text:
Everyone was amazed at the majesty <n>Why ‘the majesty’? I don’t know.</n> of God.<i> Jesus foretells His death, again</i> But while all were marveling at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples,


text:
 “Let these words sink into your ears, because the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men”. <n>Moses and Elijah had delivered the game plan, and Jesus immediately starts warning the disciples.</n> 


text:
 But they did not understand this saying; indeed it was concealed from them, <n>Concealed by whom? Presumably not by God, as attested by the immediately following argument.</n> in order that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about it.


text:
<i> He who is least will be great</i> Then an argument started among them as to which of them would be the greatest.


text:
So Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their heart, took a little child and had him stand beside Him,


text:
and said to them: “Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives Him who sent me. Further, he who is least among all of you, he will be great.”


text:
<i> John changes the subject</i> Then John reacted by saying, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us”.


text:
So Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid, because he who is not against us is for us.” <n>Instead of ‘us is for us’, perhaps 20% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘you is for you’.</n> 


text:
<i> A Samaritan village</i> Now it happened, as the days for His Ascension approached, that He set His face to go to Jerusalem,


text:
and He sent messengers ahead of Him. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for Him.


text:
Well, when His disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and consume them, just like Elijah did?” <n>About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “just like Elijah did” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
Further, the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save.” <n>Some 27% of the Greek manuscripts omit “saying: ‘You do not know of what sort of spirit you are. Further, the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save’”, to be followed by most modern versions. The 73% includes the best line of transmission, which I follow.</n> And they went to another village.


text:
<i> The cost of discipleship</i> Now as they journeyed on the road, it happened that someone said to Him, “Lord, <n>Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “Lord” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> I will follow you wherever you go”.


text:
So Jesus said to him, “The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head”. <n>Jesus does not offer comfort and a ‘good time’.</n> 


text:
Then He said to another, “Follow me!” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father”.


text:
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God”. <n>Dear me, how unfeeling! Those who are not committed to Christ and His Kingdom are as good as dead, and a true disciple of Jesus must not allow himself to be held back by such. Of course such an attitude will not be understood by the ‘dead’, but the disciple needs to side with the Kingdom.</n> 


text:
And another also said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first allow me to bid farewell to those who are at my house”. <n>If you go back to say goodbye, they will cry and carry on and do all they can to make you change your mind.</n> 


text:
But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to ‘the plow’ and looks back is suitable for the Kingdom of God”. <n>Again, the Lord is calling for total commitment.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus sends out the Seventy</i> Now after these things, the Lord appointed seventy <n>Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, add “two” (as in NIV, LB, TEV, etc.), (also in verse 17).</n> others also, and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He Himself was about to go.


text:
Then He said to them: “The harvest is indeed great, but the workers are few; therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest that He may send out workers into His harvest.


text:
Remain in that same house, eating and drinking what they offer, because the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.


text:
‘Even the dust of your town that clings to us we wipe off against you. Nonetheless know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near to you.’


text:
<i> Jesus gives the example</i> “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! Because if the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.


text:
“He who listens to you listens to me, and he who rejects you rejects me; <n>To represent Christ is a great privilege, but also a great responsibility.</n> but he who rejects me rejects Him who sent me!”


text:
<i> The Seventy return and report</i> Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”


text:
So He said to them: “I watched Satan fall like lightning out of heaven. <n>A most interesting comment! Clearly Jesus is referring to a time before His incarnation—He knew He was Jehovah the Son.</n> 


text:
Take note, I am giving <n>Instead of ‘am giving’, perhaps 2.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘have given’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.)—a serious error. Jesus said this perhaps five months before His death and resurrection, addressing the seventy (not just the twelve). The Lord is talking about the future, not the past; a future that includes us!</n> you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, <n>The Lord gives us the authority to “trample snakes and scorpions”. Well now, to smash the literal insect, a scorpion, you don’t need power from on High, just a slipper (if you’re fast you can do it barefoot). To trample a snake I prefer a boot, but we can kill literal snakes without supernatural help. It becomes obvious that Jesus was referring to something other than reptiles and insects. I understand Mark 16:18 to be referring to the same reality—Jesus declares that certain signs will accompany the believers (the turn of phrase virtually has the effect of commands): they will expel demons, they will speak strange languages, they will remove ‘snakes’, they will place hands on the sick. (“If they drink . . .” is not a command; it refers to an eventuality.) But what did the Lord Jesus mean by ‘snakes’?In a list of distinct activities Jesus has already referred to demons, so the ‘snakes’ must be something else. In Matthew 12:34 Jesus called the Pharisees a ‘brood of vipers’, and in 23:33, ‘snakes, brood of vipers’. In John 8:44, after they claimed God as their father, Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil”. And 1 John 3:10 makes clear that Satan has many other ‘sons’. In Revelation 20:2 we read: “He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is a slanderer, even Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years.” If Satan is a snake, then his children are also snakes. So then, I take it that our ‘snakes’ are human beings who chose to serve Satan, who sold themselves to evil. I conclude that the ‘snakes’ in Luke 10:19 are the same as those in Mark 16:18, but what of the ‘scorpions’? Since they also are of the enemy, they may be demons, in which case the term may well include their offspring, the humanoids [see my paper, “In the Days of Noah”]. I am still working on the question of just how the removal is done.</n> and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all may harm you.


text:
However, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” <n>Yes indeed, nothing compares to having your name written in heaven!</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus worships His Father</i> In that same hour Jesus exulted in His spirit <n>Most versions capitalize ‘Spirit’ and just over 3% of the Greek manuscripts state overtly, ‘the Holy Spirit’, but I take it that Jesus exulted in His own spirit.</n> and said: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to ‘infants’. Yes, Father, because it pleased you to do so.”


text:
And turning to the disciples He said: <n>Some 10% of the Greek manuscripts omit “And turning to the disciples He said” (as in most versions), which confuses the quote. Jesus changes from addressing His Father to addressing the disciples.</n> “All things have been entrusted to me by my Father; also, no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, <i>and</i> to whomever the Son may choose to reveal Him.”


text:
Then turning to His disciples privately He said: “Blessed are the eyes that are seeing the things that you see;


text:
for I say to you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you are seeing but did not, and to hear what you are hearing but did not.”


text:
<i> How to inherit eternal life</i> And then, a certain lawyer stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”


text:
In answer he said: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and, your neighbor as yourself.” <n>See Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18—to include the ‘neighbor’ he had to quote from a different book.</n> 


text:
<i> The good Samaritan</i> By way of reply Jesus said: “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and as it chanced he ran into robbers, who after having stripped and wounded him, departed, leaving him half dead.


text:
Now by coincidence a certain priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.


text:
So too, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, <n>The priest maintained his distance, but the Levite at least went close to the man for a better look, but then did nothing about it.</n> and passed by on the other side.


text:
But a certain Samaritan, <n>The Lord’s choice of a ‘Samaritan’ was doubtless deliberate, since the Jews looked down on them.</n> as he traveled, came by there, and upon seeing him was moved with compassion;


text:
and going to him he bound up his wounds, applying oil and wine. Then he placed him on his own mount, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.


text:
On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and should you spend more, I will repay you when I return’.


text:
He said, “The one who showed mercy on him”. So Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise!” <n>Anyone who has been hit with a calamity is a candidate for ‘neighbor’. What with floods, tornados, earthquakes, etc. there are plenty of candidates.</n> 


text:
<i> Martha and Mary</i> Now it happened as they traveled that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.


text:
Well Martha was distracted with much serving; so coming up she said: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Do please tell her to help me!”


text:
but only one is needed. <n>Apparently Martha was preparing a major meal, and the Lord told her that something simple would be fine. Although we may sympathize with Martha, Jesus defended Mary.</n> However, Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”


text:
<i> A model prayer</i> Then it happened, when He finished praying in a certain place, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples”.


text:
So He said to them: “Whenever you pray, say: Our Father who is in the heavens, your name must be reverenced. Your Kingdom must come. Your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven.


text:
Also, forgive us our sins, because we also forgive everyone indebted to us. <i>And</i> , do not lead us into testing, but deliver us from the evil one.” <n>Most modern versions, following a mere 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, seriously truncate this prayer by omitting: “Our . . . who is in the heavens . . . . Your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven . . . . but deliver us from the evil one.” Some versions, like NIV and NASB, have a footnote saying that “some manuscripts” add this material. How can any honest person use ‘some’ to refer to 99% (1,600 X 16)? ‘The evil one’ refers to Satan.</n> 


text:
<i> A request at midnight</i> Then He said to them: “Who among you will have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,


text:
and he will answer from within and say, ‘Don’t bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give to you’?


text:
I say to you, even if he will not get up and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as many as he needs.


text:
“So I say to you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.


text:
Because everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. <n>I take it that the Lord is speaking generically here; He is not promising a 100% success rate.</n> 


text:
And which father among you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if <n>Just four known Greek manuscripts (0.2%) omit “bread will give him a stone? Or if” (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish?


text:
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” <n>Does this apply to true believers who have the indwelling Holy Spirit? Did this ‘rule’ change at Pentecost? If not, how does it apply to us today?</n> 


text:
<i> A divided house</i> Then He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. As a result, when the demon had gone out the mute spoke! And the crowds marveled.


text:
But some of them said, “It’s by Beelzebul, <n>The familiar spelling ‘Beelzebub’ was presumably brought over from the Latin, since all the Greek manuscripts have ‘Beelzebul’ (with variations).</n> the ruler of the demons, that he casts out demons”.


text:
But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against itself falls.


text:
So if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?—since you say I cast out demons by Beelzebul!


text:
Further, if I am casting out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.


text:
But when someone stronger than he attacks, he overcomes him, takes away all his armor in which he trusted, and distributes his spoils.


text:
“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. <n>Notice that the Lord does not allow for neutrality; either you are for Him, or against Him. Even what we do is not neutral; if we are not gathering, we are scattering.</n> 


text:
<i> An empty house</i> “Whenever an unclean spirit goes out from a man, <n>The Lord does not say why the spirit left. If it had been expelled by someone who knew how to send it to the Abyss, it could not comeback.</n> it passes through waterless places seeking rest; and not finding any it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came out’.


text:
Then it goes and picks up seven other spirits, more malignant than itself, and they go in and live there; so the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” <n>Although we certainly have the authority to expel demons from people, if the person we help does not then commit himself to Jesus, he remains an empty house, vulnerable to something worse.</n> 


text:
<i> True blessedness</i> And then, as He was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!”


text:
But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” <n>Since the Text declares the Virgin Mary to be blessed, Jesus was not denying that blessedness. To hear and obey God’s Word is even more blessed.</n> 


text:
<i> Jonah is a sign</i> Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say: “This is a malignant generation. It keeps wanting a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.


text:
The queen of the South will be raised up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.


text:
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and they will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. <n>Notice that Jesus declares Himself to be greater than Solomon and Jonah (a king and a prophet).</n> 


text:
<i> Light inside the body</i> “No one, having lit a lamp, puts it in hiding or under a basket, but on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.


text:
The lamp of the body is the eye. <n>Of course we have two eyes, but the Text has “eye” in the singular. I take it that the reference is to the way we interpret what we see (which is our real ‘eye’)—two people, one pure and one vile, observing the same scene will give very different interpretations to it. ‘malignant’ means aggressively evil. Someone with a malignant mind will give an evil interpretation to everything he sees, and in consequence his being will be filled with unrelenting darkness. Cf. Titus 1:15.</n> Therefore, whenever your ‘eye’ is good, your whole body is illuminated. But when it is malignant, your body also is darkened.


text:
If then your whole body is full of light, not having any part dark, the whole will be illuminated, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”


text:
<i> Jesus derides scribes and Pharisees</i> Now as He spoke, a certain Pharisee invited Him to eat with him. So He went in and reclined.


text:
But the Pharisee, noticing that He did not first wash before the meal, was critical. <n>The leaders had already rejected Jesus and were planning to kill Him, so He knew this was not a friendly invitation. He accepted the invitation with the clear purpose to provoke a confrontation.</n> 


text:
So the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of greed and malignancy.


text:
Nevertheless, give what is possible as alms; then indeed all things are clean to you. <n>At first glance this statement seems difficult, but because they were filled with greed, for them to give away as much as possible would represent a major change in their values.</n> 


text:
“But woe to you Pharisees! You tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. <i>These</i> it was necessary to do, without leaving those undone.


text:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! <n>Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.)</n> You are like unperceived graves, that people walk on without knowing it.”


text:
<i> Jesus derides lawyers</i> Then one of the lawyers reacted and said to him, “Teacher, by saying these things you insult us also!”


text:
So He said: “Woe to you lawyers also! You load men down with burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.


text:
Thereby you witness to and approve of the deeds of your fathers; because they indeed killed them, while you build their tombs.


text:
Also, because of this ‘the wisdom of God’ <n>In 1 Corinthians 1:24 Paul refers to Christ as ‘the wisdom of God’. In Matthew 23:34 Jesus said, “I send you prophets”, so here Jesus may be referring to Himself as ‘the wisdom of God’.</n> said: ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute’,


text:
so that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,


text:
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation!


text:
Woe to you lawyers! You have taken away the key of knowledge; <n>Hosea 4:6 reads, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge . . . . Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Notice the awful price paid by the children! Are today’s ‘doctors of the law’ not guilty of the same thing?</n> you yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering!” <n>They were really perverse. If they didn’t want to go in themselves, that was their choice; but to try to stop others was really perverse!</n> 


text:
Well when He had said these things to them, <n>Instead of “Well when He had said these things to them”, perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “and when He left there” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.)</n> the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge Him on vehemently and to cross-examine Him about many things,


text:
lying in wait for Him, trying to catch Him in something He might say, so that they might accuse Him. <n>Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “so that they might accuse Him” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.)</n> 


text:
<i> Beware of hypocrisy</i> Meanwhile, when a crowd of thousands <n>That’s what the Text says, ‘thousands’.</n> had converged, so that they were stepping on each other, He began to speak first to His disciples: “Guard yourselves from the ‘yeast’ of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.


text:
Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the ear behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.


text:
<i> Don’t fear assassins</i> “Further, I say to you, my friends: do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.


text:
Rather, I will advise you whom you should fear—fear Him who after He kills has authority to cast into Gehenna; <n>‘Gehenna’ was a euphemism for Hell, or the Lake of Fire. One’s eternal destiny is far more important than a premature physical death.</n> yes indeed, fear Him!


text:
Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? <n>The Greek term here is <i>assaria</i>.</n> Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.


text:
Even the hairs of your head are all numbered! So do not be afraid; you are far more valuable than sparrows!


text:
<i> You confess Christ, He’ll confess you</i> “Also I say to you, whoever claims me before men, the Son of Man will also claim him before the angels of God.


text:
But whoever disclaims me before men will be disclaimed before the angels of God. <n>Revelation 21:8 includes the ‘cowardly’ among those destined for the Lake of Fire. When persecution comes for being a Christian, the cowardly will cave in and disclaim the Lord.</n> 


text:
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it can be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven.


text:
Now whenever they bring you before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what you will answer, or what you should say.


text:
<i> Beware of materialism</i> Then someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me”.


text:
Then He said to all, “Keep alert and guard against covetousness, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” <n>Christians who live in materialistic societies tend to forget this important truth.</n> 


text:
<i> Parable of a rich fool</i> Then He told them a parable, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man produced well.


text:
And he reasoned within himself saying, ‘What shall I do, because I have no place to store my crops?’


text:
Then he said: ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my produce and my goods.


text:
And I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and enjoy yourself!’


text:
But God said to him: ‘Stupid! This very night your life is being taken back from you; <n>‘taken back’—we have our life on loan, like a trust, and an accounting will be required.</n> then who will get the things you have prepared?’


text:
Just like that <n>“Just like that” = “Stupid!”</n> is he who accumulates treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”


text:
<i> The mentality of the Kingdom</i> Then He said to His disciples: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will wear.


text:
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storeroom nor barn, and God feeds them. You are far more valuable than the birds!


text:
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; I say to you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of these.


text:
So if God so clothes the grass that today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into an oven, how much more you, O little-faiths!


text:
Rather, concentrate on the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be provided for you. <n>Note that what is promised is just the basics—food, drink, covering. Everything we invest in the Kingdom will be on deposit in heaven.</n> 


text:
Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make for yourselves ‘purses’ that will not wear out, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where a thief cannot approach, nor a moth destroy.


text:
Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. <n>There is the crucial question: Where is your treasure?</n> 


text:
and you yourselves like men waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding celebration, so that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.


text:
Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find watching when he comes. Assuredly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them recline, and will come and serve them. <n>He is doubtless in a very good mood, and for his servants to have stayed awake for hours when they wanted to be in bed, just so they could receive him when he came—he probably figures they need some refreshment.</n> 


text:
And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those slaves.


text:
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not allowed his house to be broken into.


text:
Therefore you also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” <n>Everyone who has predicted a date so far has had to eat humble pie. But being ready all the time is a different matter. The trouble is, it’s hard to stay ‘ready’ all the time.</n> 


text:
Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, are you directing this parable to us, or to everyone?” <n>The Lord’s answer is indirect, but it includes everyone.</n> 


text:
So the Lord said: “Who then is the faithful and prudent steward whom his master will place over his household to give them the food allowance at the right time?


text:
I tell you truly that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. <n>He was director of food services; if he proved faithful and competent there, he would be made general director.</n> 


text:
But if that servant should say in his heart, ‘My master won’t come for a while’, and should begin to hit the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,


text:
the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers. <n>What is involved here is two deaths: physical (cut in two) and spiritual—the ‘portion’ of unbelievers is the Lake of Fire.</n> 


text:
“That servant who knew his master’s will, but neither got ready nor did according to that will, will be beaten with many blows.


text:
But he who did not know, yet did things worthy of blows, will be beaten with few. <n>Note that even sins done in ignorance are punished. However, the more one knows, the more severe the punishment.</n> Everyone to whom much has been given, from him much will be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him much more will be asked.


text:
<i> Christ causes division</i> “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!


text:
Do you imagine that I came to provide peace on the earth? Not at all, I tell you, but rather division.


text:
Because from now on there will be five in one house divided: three against two and two against three.


text:
Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” <n>This is precisely true.</n> 


text:
<i> Discern the time</i> Then He also said to the crowds: “Whenever you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, ‘A rainstorm is coming’, and so it does.


text:
Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky and of the earth, so how can you not discern this time?


text:
<i> Pay your debts on time</i> “When you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, <n>The point seems to be that the ‘adversary’ has exhausted all other means of getting his money back; which would indicate a serious flaw in the character of the ‘debtor’.</n> lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the bailiff, and the bailiff throw you into prison.


text:
<i> Repent or perish</i> Now at that time there were some present who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Herod had mixed with their sacrifices.


text:
So in answer Jesus said to them: “Do you suppose that those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?


text:
Or those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them; do you suppose they were worse offenders than all others living in Jerusalem?


text:
Not at all, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish!” <n>We never know when a tornado or earthquake may come our way; the best thing is to walk with God, and thus not have to fear a sudden exit.</n> 


text:
<i> Parable of a barren fig tree</i> Then He told this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.


text:
So he said to the gardener: ‘Look, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down; just why must it waste the soil?’


text:
But in answer he said to him, ‘Sir, let it be this year also, until I dig around it and apply fertilizer,


text:
in case it produces fruit—but if not, then cut it down’.” <n>The Lord’s use of ‘three years’ is doubtless deliberate; He may well have been referring to His own ministry in Israel. In that event the owner would be the Father, and He Himself would be the gardener. The three years of public ministry He had already spent had not produced the desired fruit.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus heals a woman bound by Satan</i> Now as Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath,


text:
He saw a woman there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years—she was bent over and could not straighten up.


text:
So He called her over <n>In a synagogue the women were separated from the men, so He called her over to the men’s side.</n> and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity!”


text:
But the ruler of the synagogue reacted with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he said to the crowd, “There are six days in which one should work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath”. <n>Of course the woman had not come to be healed; she came to worship God. It was the Lord’s initiative.</n> 


text:
So the Lord answered him and said: “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water?


text:
So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan <n>By using the enemy’s proper name, Jesus is declaring that it was actually Satan who was behind the problem.</n> kept bound during eighteen long years, be freed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”


text:
When He said these things all His adversaries were put to shame, while all the crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.


text:
<i> Two parables</i> Then He said: “What is the Kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?


text:
It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden; and it grew and became a sizable tree, and the birds of the air perched on its branches.”


text:
It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”


text:
<i> Jesus ministers (mainly) in Perea</i> He was traveling through various towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.


text:
<i> The narrow gate</i> Then someone said to Him, “Lord, are the ones being saved few?” So He said to them:


text:
“Exert yourselves to enter through the narrow gate, because many, I say to you, will try to enter and not manage it.


text:
When once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ and in answer he will say to you, ‘I don’t know you; where are you from?’


text:
But he will say: ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ <n>The Lord is stating plainly that there are many who think they are in the Kingdom, but actually are not.</n> 


text:
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves being thrown out.


text:
They will even come from the east, the west, the north and the south, and recline in the Kingdom of God.


text:
<i> A word for Herod</i> On that same day some Pharisees approached saying to Him, “Get out of here and go away, because Herod wants to kill you”. <n>Those Pharisees may just have been trying to scare Jesus. The metaphor ‘fox’ was doubtless understood by His hearers, but we have since lost the relevant cultural information.</n> 


text:
He said to them: “Go tell that ‘fox’, ‘Take note, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third I will be perfected’.


text:
Nevertheless I must keep going today and tomorrow and the day following, because it is not credible that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem!


text:
<i> Jesus laments over Jerusalem</i> “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, she who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!


text:
So then, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you that you will definitely not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” <n>See Psalm 118:26. John 10:22-39 probably happened between verses 33 and 34 here. That ‘Feast of Dedication’ would have fallen on a Monday, December 17, 29. Here Jesus leaves Jerusalem, to return only at the ‘triumphal entry’.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus heals a man with dropsy</i> Then it happened, when He entered the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they were watching Him closely.


text:
And then, there in front of Him was a man who had dropsy! <n>It seems scarcely credible that such a person could have gotten in there by accident. The Pharisees were desperately looking for some way to accuse Him.</n> 


text:
Then He addressed them saying, “Which of you, if a son <n>Instead of ‘son’, some 26% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘donkey’ (as in TR, AV, NKJV). The 74% includes the best line of transmission, which I follow.</n> or an ox falls into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”


text:
<i> A lesson about humility</i> Then He told a parable to those who were invited, having observed how they kept trying for the best places, saying to them:


text:
“Whenever you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not recline in the place of honor, in case someone more honorable than you has been invited by him;


text:
then he who invited you both will come and say, ‘You, give this man place!’ and then, with shame, you start to take the lowest place. <n>Of course; everyone else has been trying for the best place he can get, so by that time the only one left is the lowest!</n> 


text:
Rather, whenever you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’. Then you will have honor in the presence of your fellow guests.


text:
Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” <n>This truth is repeated several times in Scripture.</n> 


text:
Then He said directly to His host: “Whenever you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.


text:
and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you—you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” <n>You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.</n> 


text:
<i> An unusual banquet</i> Well when one of the fellow-recliners heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who will eat dinner <n>Instead of ‘dinner’, perhaps 20% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘bread’.</n> in the Kingdom of God!” <n>Now there you have a nice, safe, pious-sounding statement! I suppose he was trying to change the subject.</n> 


text:
And at meal time he sent his slave to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready’.


text:
But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him: ‘I bought a field, and I need to go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’


text:
Another said: ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’


text:
So that slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame’.


text:
Then the master said to the slave: ‘Go out to the roads and hedges <n>Hedges were used to delimit fields, and there would often be a path along the outside of the hedge. First the slave was sent into the city, then out to the countryside.</n> and make people come in, so that my house may be filled.


text:
For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet!’” <n>Perhaps 45% of the Greek manuscripts add, “for many are called, but few chosen”.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus defines discipleship</i> Now large crowds were traveling with Him, and turning He said to them:


text:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.


text:
“Further, which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and calculate the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?


text:
This so he does not lay a foundation without being able to finish, and all who see it begin to ridicule him,


text:
“Or what king, going to engage another king in battle, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand?


text:
“So likewise, any of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple. <n>Notice that three times Sovereign Jesus says, “cannot be my disciple”, and the ‘cannot’ is a strong negative. Jesus demands first place in our lives and hearts—above family, material things, our very selves.</n> 


text:
It is fit for neither soil nor fertilizer; it is thrown out. <n>We followers of Christ are supposed to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in this world. To abdicate these functions is to become useless, and to be thrown out. ‘Neutrality’ is not a valid option.</n> He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”


text:
<i> Parable of a lost sheep</i> Then all the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were getting close to Him to hear Him.


text:
Well the Pharisees and the scribes started complaining, saying, “This man welcomes ‘sinners’ and eats with them”.


text:
“What man among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not abandon the ninety-nine in the wild <n>Notice that the 99 are left in the wild, not a sheepfold. So what happens if a wolf comes upon the 99 while the shepherd is off looking for the stray? I confess that I never liked this parable, for that reason.</n> and go after the lost one until he finds it?


text:
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!’


text:
I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who have no need of repentance. <n>If God prefers sinners, what’s the point of being righteous? I suppose the point to be that no one is so righteous that they need no repentance. Since we are all sinners, we all need to repent—and when we do so, God is happy.</n> 


text:
<i> Parable of a lost coin</i> “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?


text:
And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I lost!’


text:
Just so, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” <n>God rejoices in the presence of the angels.</n> 


text:
And the younger one said to the father, ‘Father, give me the appropriate share of the estate’. So he divided the property between them.


text:
Not many days later the younger son, having converted it all, journeyed to a distant country; and there he squandered his wealth living dissolutely.


text:
But when he had spent it all, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need.


text:
Then he went and attached himself to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.


text:
He would gladly have filled his stomach with the carob pods <n>I suppose those pods were not edible for a human being, or he could doubtless have managed a few.</n> that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. <n>Besides the economic crisis, he was a foreigner, and a stupid one at that. Why throw good money after bad?</n> 


text:
But when he came to himself he said: ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, while I am dying of hunger!


text:
I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,


text:
“So he got up and went to his own father. But while he was still a good ways off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion—he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him!


text:
Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son’.


text:
But the father said to his slaves: ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.


text:
because this son of mine was dead and came to life; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.


text:
“Now his older son was in the field; and as he came approaching the house he heard music and dancing.


text:
He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him back safe and sound’.


text:
But in answer he said to the father: ‘Just look at how many years I have been serving you without ever transgressing your commandment; yet you never gave me even a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.


text:
But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ <n>The older brother’s attitude really wasn’t all that unreasonable. Why should the younger son be rewarded for his irresponsible conduct? The father was celebrating the recovery, not the irresponsibility. The fatted calf was for a special occasion, and the older son’s faithful service was routine. However, he probably did get a young goat, after that.</n> 


text:
But it was right that we celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and came to life; he was lost and is found.’”


text:
<i> Parable of a stupid steward</i> Then He said further to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager, who was accused to him of wasting his goods.


text:
So he called him in and said to him: ‘What is this I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be manager.’


text:
Then the manager said within himself: ‘What shall I do? My master is taking the management away from me. I don’t have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg


text:
—I know what I’ll do, so that whenever I am removed from the management they may receive me into their houses.’


text:
And he said, ‘A hundred baths of olive oil’. So he said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty’.


text:
Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat’. So he said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty’.


text:
The master even ‘commended’ the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. The sons of this age are shrewder in their own generation than the sons of the Light. <n>According to the value system of the world it is ‘smart’ to take advantage of other people, but those who follow the Light must be different. Of course the master’s ‘commendation’ was sarcastic, since the dishonest manager still lost his job.</n> 


text:
<i> A bit of irony</i> “I even say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that whenever you fail, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings! <n>The use of sarcasm is not rare in the Bible, and here the Lord is clearly being sarcastic: getting into the eternal dwellings does not depend on ‘buying’ friends down here; it depends on pleasing the Owner up there. Notice the reaction of the Pharisees in verse 14.</n> 


text:
He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.


text:
If therefore you have not been faithful with the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the genuine? <n>Monetary value is the ‘very little’, and spiritual value is the ‘much’, the ‘genuine’.</n> 


text:
No servant can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” <n>Verse 13 declares a terribly important truth. To embrace the world’s value system (humanism, relativism, materialism) is to reject God. Materialistic ‘Christians’ are really serving mammon.</n> 


text:
<i> The Law will not fail</i> Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were also listening to all these things, and they were ridiculing Him.


text:
So He said to them: “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. That which is exalted among men is an abomination before God. <n>There won’t be any abomination in heaven—‘abomination’ is a strong term; do pause and ponder!</n> 


text:
The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the Kingdom of God is being proclaimed, and every one is trying to force his way into it. <n>No one gets into the Kingdom on his own terms.</n> 


text:
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. <n>Now there you have a plain statement!</n> 


text:
<i> A rich man and beggar Lazarus <n>The Text does not state that this is a parable, so most probably it is not.</n> </i> “Now there was a certain rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.


text:
just wanting to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table—why even the dogs would come and lick his sores! <n>In fact the dogs were doing him a favor, since canine saliva is good for sores.</n> 


text:
In due time the beggar died and was carried away to Abraham’s bosom by the angels. “The rich man also died and was buried. <n>Note the contrast. Of course the beggar’s body had been buried, but the person was taken to Paradise. Here we have an explicit statement of angelic activity, which, however, is absent from the rich man.</n> 


text:
 And in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance, and Lazarus very close to him. And being in torment,


text:
 he called out, saying, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; because I am tormented by this flame!’


text:
 But Abraham said: ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus had bad things; but now <i>he</i> <n>The best line of transmission (30% of the Greek manuscripts here) has the emphatic pronoun ‘he’, rather than ‘here’.</n> is being comforted, and you tormented.


text:
 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can anyone from there cross over to us.’ <n>Several things in this account invite comment. Hades (Greek), or Sheol (Hebrew), is the ‘halfway house’ where departed spirits await the final judgment, but the results of that judgment are already known, since the saved are already separated from the lost. There is a chasm separating the two sides that cannot be crossed, but evidently one side can see and hear the other (the ‘dead’ are conscious and have feeling). People in prison who are waiting for their trial are already suffering. Strangely, the rich man still thinks he is more important than the beggar, since he wants the beggar to serve him—he still holds to the values that condemned him.</n> 


text:
 because I have five brothers, so that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment’. <n>I find it interesting that he was concerned for his brothers; we can’t say, “Better late than never”, since it made no difference.</n> 


text:
 So he said to him, ‘Oh no, father Abraham—if someone from the dead should go to them, they will repent!’


text:
 He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone should rise from the dead’.” <n>Abraham states a disquieting reality: people who reject God’s written revelation are self-condemned.</n> 


text:
<i> Don’t offend, forgive</i> Then He said to the disciples: “Things that cause people to fall are bound to come, but woe to him through whom they do come!


text:
It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to fall. <n>What is worse than a horrible, premature physical death? Spiritual death. Whoever destroys the faith of a ‘little one’ is self-condemned.</n> 


text:
Watch out for yourselves: if your brother sins against you, <n>Perhaps 4.5% of the Greek manuscripts omit “against you” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), which changes the meaning of the verse.</n> rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.


text:
Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in that day returns, saying, ‘I repent’, you must forgive him.” <n>Dear me, that could get ‘old’! But the Lord is emphatic; we must forgive!</n> 


text:
So the Lord said: “If you had <n>The manuscripts are evenly divided between ‘had’ and ‘have’; I follow the best line of transmission.</n> faith like a mustard seed <i>has</i> , <n>What kind of “faith” might a mustard seed have? Albeit so small, it reacts without question to the climactic circumstances, and grows to remarkable proportions. If we reacted similarly, without question, to the Holy Spirit’s promptings, our spiritual ‘climactic circumstances’, we should indeed move mountains, literally.</n> you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea’, and it would obey you.


text:
<i> The thanks a slave gets</i> “And which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline to eat’?


text:
Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and gird yourself and serve me until I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?


text:
Does he thank that slave because he did the things commanded? I guess not! <n>About 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “I guess not!” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
So likewise you, whenever you have done everything you were told to do, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves, because we have only done what we were supposed to’.” <n>If we were really committed to the master’s project, we would do more.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus cleanses ten lepers</i> Now as He was traveling toward Jerusalem, He went along between Samaria and Galilee.


text:
And paying attention He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests”. It happened that as they went they were cleansed!


text:
Then He said to him, “Get up and go; your faith has made you well.” <n>In all probability the priests would not have wanted to deal with a Samaritan, in any case, so the Lord just sends him on his way, relieving him of that duty.</n> 


text:
<i> The coming of the Kingdom</i> Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said: “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation;


text:
nor will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ because indeed the Kingdom of God is within you.” <n>They were probably thinking of the Messianic Kingdom, that will indeed have a concrete starting point, but the Lord does not give them that information. He does go on to say to the disciples that the onset will be sudden.</n> 


text:
Then He said to the disciples: “Days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. <n>I suppose He is referring to His physical presence among them.</n> 


text:
Because just like the lightning that lights the whole sky when it flashes, so also will the Son of Man be in His day.


text:
They were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.


text:
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building—


text:
but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.


text:
“In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to get them; and likewise he who is in the field, let him not turn back.


text:
- - - <n>Perhaps 20% of the Greek manuscripts have verse 36: “Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left”. I would say that this paragraph deals with the Rapture. In that event, Jesus is addressing those who are left behind, but who had expected to go. I believe that immediately after the Rapture the forces of evil will be unleashed to take complete control. Anyone who is going to refuse the ‘mark’ had better head for the hills.</n> 


text:
They reacted by saying to Him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where there is a carcass, there will the vultures also be gathered.” <n>A spiral of vultures in the air can be seen at quite a distance, and indicates a carcass on the ground.</n> 


text:
<i> Parable of a persistent widow</i> And then He told them a parable, the point being that one needs to always pray and not lose heart,


text:
But there was a widow in that town, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary’.


text:
And for a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God nor regard man,


text:
yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will defend her, so that her endless coming doesn’t wear me out!’”


text:
And will not God get justice for His elect who are crying out to Him day and night, indeed being patient with them?


text:
I tell you that He will get justice for them quickly. <n>God’s ‘quickly’ doesn’t always seem that ‘quick’ to us.</n> However, when the Son of Man comes, will He actually find <i>the</i> faith on the earth?” <n>The Text clearly has ‘the faith’, referring to the sum of Truth that makes up the biblical Faith. The Lord’s question is precisely to the point. Aside from the generalized apostasy that characterizes ‘Christian’ churches today, how many ‘conservative’ pastors are genuinely committed to the objective authority of the biblical Text?</n> 


text:
<i> Parable of a Pharisee and a publican</i> Then He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised the rest:


text:
The Pharisee stood and started praying to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like all the rest—robbers, unjust, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.


text:
The tax collector, staying a good ways off, did not even venture to look up to heaven, but started beating on his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’


text:
I say to you that this one went back home justified rather than that one; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”


text:
<i> You enter the Kingdom like a child does</i> Then they even started bringing their babies to Him, that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuke them.


text:
But Jesus summoned them and said: “Allow the little children to come to me, and do not hinder them; because the Kingdom of God is of such.


text:
I tell you assuredly, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God the way a little child does <n>To render ‘as a little child’ misses the point; obviously an adult can be saved. A little child believes literally and completely.</n> will by no means enter it.”


text:
<i> An upright, rich ruler</i> A certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”


text:
So Jesus said to him: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. <n>Jesus is not denying that He is good, but the man is not addressing Him as God. Had the man done so, there would have been no objection.</n> 


text:
You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and your mother’.”


text:
Well upon hearing these things <n>From the parallel account in Matthew 19:16-22 we learn that the man actually said more than is recorded here.</n> Jesus said to him, “You still lack one thing: sell all you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”


text:
<i> Riches tend to keep people out of the Kingdom</i> When Jesus saw that he became sad, He said: “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God!


text:
It is actually easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle <n>Jesus refers to a literal camel and a literal needle, which of course is “impossible with men”, as He goes on to say in verse 27.</n> than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!”


text:
So He said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God,


text:
<i> Jesus declares His coming death and resurrection—third time</i> Then He took the Twelve aside and said to them: “Take note, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be fulfilled:


text:
and they will scourge and kill Him. And on the third day <n>Referring to the time between Jesus’ death and resurrection, Luke (and Matthew and Mark) has ‘(on) the third day’; but Mark also has ‘after three days’, while Matthew also has ‘three days and three nights’; John has ‘in three days’. Due to these seeming differences, there are those who insist that Jesus died on Thursday, not Friday, or even on Wednesday. There is general agreement that the resurrection happened on Sunday. Both ‘(on) the third day’ and ‘in three days’ allow for a Friday crucifixion, as the Church has generally understood. In John 20:26 we read, “after eight days” Jesus appeared to the disciples again, with Thomas present; this was the next Sunday, so only seven days had elapsed—Jews (and Brazilians) include the day at both ends. So ‘after three days’ also allows for a Friday crucifixion. I take it that ‘three days and three nights’ was an idiomatic expression synonymous with ‘after three days’. So Jesus died on a Friday.</n> He will rise again.”


text:
But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know what was being said.


text:
<i> A blind man near Jericho</i> Then it happened, as He approached Jericho, <n>Luke has Jesus approaching Jericho, while Matthew and Mark have Him leaving it. In Jesus’ day there were two Jerichos, the old one that had been rebuilt, and a new one, about a kilometer away. What better place to beg than between the two towns? Jesus had left the old Jericho and was going toward the new one.</n> that a certain blind man was sitting alongside the road begging.


text:
So they told him that Jesus the Natsorean <n>That’s right, ‘Natsorean’, not Nazarene. The reference is to Isaiah 11:1—Jesus was the ‘Branch-man’, the Messiah, as the blind man clearly understood, since he addressed Him as ‘Son of David’.</n> was passing by.


text:
Those who led the way started reproving him, to shut him up; but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”


text:
And immediately he did! and he followed Him, glorifying God. And all who witnessed it gave praise to God.


text:
<i> Zacchaeus</i> He entered and started passing through Jericho. <n>This would be the new Jericho.</n> 


text:
And running on ahead he climbed up into a sycamore tree, in order to see Him, since He was about to pass by there.


text:
And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because today I must stay at your house”. <n>Jesus called him by name. How did He know that? Might that have contributed to the man’s conversion?</n> 


text:
But when they saw it, they all started complaining, saying, “He has entered to lodge with a sinful man!”


text:
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Indeed, Lord, I herewith give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I restore fourfold”. <n>The man knew his Bible; see Exodus 22:1.</n> 


text:
So Jesus said about him, “Today salvation has happened in this house, <n>Yes indeed, that was a complete change of direction!</n> in that he also is a son of Abraham;


text:
<i> Parable of a despised king</i> Now as they heard these things, He continued with a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they were supposing that the Kingdom of God was on the verge of being revealed. <n>This seems to have been a fixation in their minds that kept them from understanding the Lord’s repeated warnings that He was about to be killed.</n> 


text:
So He said: “A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and return.


text:
He called ten of his slaves, gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Conduct business until I come’.


text:
But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us’.


text:
It happened that he did receive the kingdom, and upon returning he ordered that those slaves to whom he had given the money be called to him, to know who had gained what by trading.


text:
He said to him: ‘Super, you good slave! Because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities!’


text:
Then a different one came, saying: ‘Master, here is your mina, that I kept laid away in a piece of cloth


text:
—I feared you because you are a hard man, removing what you did not place, and reaping what you did not sow.’


text:
So he said to him: ‘I will judge you out of your own mouth, you wicked slave! You knew that I am a hard man, removing what I didn’t place, and reaping what I didn’t sow.


text:
Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, and upon coming I would have collected it with interest?’


text:
And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to him who has the ten minas’.


text:
‘Indeed I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given; <n>There is a sense in which blessing is earned; the more you do, the more you get.</n> but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.


text:
But as for those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!’” <n>The man had accepted the description given by the third slave, and here he demonstrates that he really is a ‘hard’ man, but don’t forget that he rewarded the faithful slaves. And don’t forget Revelation 19:15!</n> 


text:
<i> The last week The ‘Triumphal Entry’</i> Having said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.


text:
When He drew near to Bethsphage <n>Some 44% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘Bethphage’ (as in most versions), but the 56% includes the best line of transmission, which I follow.</n> and Bethany, at the mountain called ‘of Olives’, it happened like this: He sent two of His disciples,


text:
saying: “Go to the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no man ever yet sat. Untie and bring it.


text:
<i> Rejoicing and praising</i> Then, as He was approaching the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,


text:
saying: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! <n>See Psalm 118:26.</n> Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”


text:
<i> A sour note</i> Some of the Pharisees said to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”


text:
In answer He said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the very stones would cry out!”


text:
saying: “If you, yes you, especially in this your day, had known the things pertaining to your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.


text:
Yes, the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you; indeed they will surround you and hem you in on every side.


text:
And they will raze you, and your children within you, to the ground—they will not leave in you one stone upon another—all because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”


text:
<i> Jesus cleanses the temple</i> And upon entering the temple He began to drive out those who were selling and buying in it, <n>Comparing the parallel accounts, this happened the next day. Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and buying in it” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
saying to them, “It is written: ‘My house is a house of prayer’, <n>See Isaiah 56:7.</n> but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’!” <n>See Jeremiah 7:11.</n> 


text:
And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes, as also the leaders of the people, were trying to destroy Him,


text:
<i> Jesus’ authority questioned</i> Now it happened on one of those days, as He was teaching and evangelizing the people in the temple, that the priests <n>Some 16% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘high priests’ (as in most versions).</n> and scribes came to Him with the elders


text:
and addressed Him, saying, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things; or who is he who gave you this authority?”


text:
So they reasoned among themselves, saying: “If we say, ‘From heaven’, he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’


text:
But if we say, ‘From men’, all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”


text:
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” <n>Well, of course, they knew that both John and Jesus were of God—they just didn’t want to repent and change their way of life.</n> 


text:
<i> Parable of some perverse tenants</i> Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to farmers, and went away on a long journey.


text:
At the proper time he sent a slave to the farmers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers flogged him and sent him away empty-handed.


text:
Again he sent a different slave; so they flogged him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.


text:
Then the owner of the vineyard said: ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; hopefully they will respect him when they see him.’ <n>Presumably this would never occur in real life, but the Lord was aiming this directly at them, knowing what they would do to Him and what the Owner would do to them.</n> 


text:
But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying: ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, so that the inheritance may become ours.’


text:
So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the owner of the vineyard do to them?


text:
He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others.” Having heard it they said, “May it never be!”


text:
Then He looked directly at them and said: “What then is this that is written: ‘A stone that the builders rejected, the same became the cornerstone’? <n>See Psalm 118:22.</n> 


text:
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it should fall—it will crush him!” <n>Those are our two options: fall on Jesus and be broken, or be crushed in judgment.</n> 


text:
The chief priests and the scribes wanted to lay hands on Him right then, but they were afraid <n>For ‘they were afraid’, some 35% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘they feared the people’ (as in most versions).</n> —they knew He had spoken this parable against them.


text:
<i> To Caesar, Caesar’s; to God, God’s</i> Keeping a close watch on Him, they sent spies, who pretended to be innocent, so that they might latch on to some thing He said, so as to hand Him over to the power and the authority of the governor.


text:
So they questioned Him, saying: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and you do not show favoritism but teach the way of God in truth. <n>They were really almost too obvious.</n> 


text:
But He perceived their craftiness and said to them: “Why are you testing me? <n>Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “Why are you testing me?” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
So He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”.


text:
They were unable to latch on to His word in front of the people; and marveling at His answer they kept silent.


text:
<i> Sadducees deny resurrection</i> Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, approached and questioned Him,


text:
saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s married brother dies childless, then his brother should take the widow and produce offspring for his brother.


text:
then the second took the widow and <i>he</i> died childless; <n>Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “the widow and he died childless” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had her?” <n>Whenever someone comes up with a hypothetical situation, be careful; there is probably a hidden agenda.</n> 


text:
but those who are considered worthy <n>“Those who are considered worthy”—an interesting concept!</n> to attain to that age, to the resurrection from among the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage.


text:
Because they cannot die anymore, <n>If no one dies, there is no need to produce new generations.</n> being like angels—they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.


text:
But that the dead are raised, Moses indeed revealed about the Bush when he recorded: ‘The LORD , the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’. <n>See Exodus 3:6.</n> 


text:
<i> Is the Christ David’s Son?</i> Then He said to them: “How is it that they say that the Messiah <n>The Greek Text has ‘Christ’, but since they were speaking Hebrew, the Lord certainly said ‘Messiah’.</n> is David’s Son?


text:
“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts;


text:
who ‘devour’ widows’ houses, and for a show make long prayers. These will receive more severe judgment.”


text:
because all these others put in gifts for God out of their abundance, but she, out of her destitution, put in all she had to live on.” <n>It is a fact of life; people who are poor are often more generous, more willing to share, than those who are rich. But in this case the widow was probably calling out to God for help.</n> 


text:
<i> Jerusalem will be destroyed</i> Then, as some were admiring the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said,


text:
“These things that you see—the days will come in which not one stone will be left upon another that will not be thrown down.” <n>This was fulfilled in 70 A.D.</n> 


text:
<i> The Olivet Discourse</i> So they asked Him, saying: “Teacher, so when will these things be?” and “What will be the sign when these things are about to happen?”


text:
So He said: “Be careful, so as not to be deceived, because many will come in my name saying: ‘I am’ and ‘The time is at hand’. Therefore do not go after them.


text:
But whenever you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; because these things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”


text:
<i> Things will get bad, really bad</i> Then He said to them: “Nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.


text:
And there will be severe earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful events and great signs from heaven.


text:
But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of my name.


text:
because I will give you a mouth and wisdom such that all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or withstand. <n>This was true of Stephen; they couldn’t answer him, so they killed him.</n> 


text:
You will be betrayed even by parents and relatives, friends and ‘brothers’; and they will put some of you to death.


text:
And you will be hated by all because of my name. <n>This is already happening around the world. Those who defend biblical values are hated.</n> 


text:
(Not even one hair of your head will be wasted <n>I have to take this by faith. We have to work and war by faith, since we are often not allowed to see the results. I take it that the Lord is assuring us that nothing we do for Him will be wasted. But we must ‘hang in there’.</n> 


text:
<i> Jerusalem will be destroyed</i> “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation is at hand.


text:
Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let those who are in the city get out, and let those who are in the country not enter her.


text:
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those nursing babies in those days! There will be great distress in the land, and wrath to this people.


text:
Yes, they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. <n>Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. and was ‘trampled by Gentiles’ until 1967, when it returned to the control of Israel. So now the things mentioned in verse 25 and following can happen at any time.</n> 


text:
<i> Christ will return to the earth</i> “There will be signs in sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, at the roaring and tossing of the sea; <n>‘the sea’ is sometimes used as a metaphor for the human population.</n> 


text:
men fainting from fear and expectation of the things coming on the inhabited earth—because the powers of the heavens will be shaken. <n>See Revelation 12:7-12.</n> 


text:
Now when these things begin to happen, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”


text:
<i> Parable of the fig tree</i> Then He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.


text:
I tell you assuredly, this generation <n>‘this generation’ has received various interpretations. Personally I suppose it refers to the generation that was alive in 1967 (by now everyone in that ‘generation’ is at least 45 years old).</n> will certainly not pass away until all has happened.


text:
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. <n>Sovereign Jesus declares that His words have eternal validity, and are therefore on a par with God’s written revelation.</n> 


text:
<i> Watch and pray</i> “But keep a watch on yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and cares of life, and that Day come upon you suddenly.


text:
So be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy <n>Instead of ‘counted worthy’, less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘be able’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> to escape all these things <n>If ‘to escape all these things’ refers to the Rapture, then only those who are ‘counted worthy’ will go up.</n> that are about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”


text:
<i> His daily routine</i> In the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called ‘of Olives’.


text:
<i> Judas joins the plot against Jesus</i> Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called ‘Passover’, drew near.


text:
And the chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to kill Him, because they feared the people. <n>The trouble was that the people were being so impressed by Jesus that they felt threatened.</n> 


text:
Then Satan entered Judas <n>Note that Judas acted under satanic inspiration.</n> (the one surnamed Iscariot), who was numbered among the Twelve.


text:
So he went off and conferred with the chief priests and officers about how he might betray Him to them.


text:
<i> The last night Preparation for the last Passover</i> Then came the day of unleavened bread, in which it was necessary to kill the Passover lamb.


text:
He said to them: “Note, upon entering the city a man carrying a jar of water <n>This would presumably be rather unusual, since fetching water was normally done by women.</n> will meet you; follow him into the house which he enters.


text:
Then you must say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you: Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’


text:
He himself will show you a large upper room, <n>Obviously this had all been arranged ahead of time. The owner was doubtless a believer, and the large upper room was presumably chosen with a view to the use that would be made of it later, as well.</n> all furnished; make preparations there.”


text:
<i> They eat the Passover</i> When the hour had come, He reclined, and the twelve <n>A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “twelve” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.).</n> apostles with Him.


text:
And taking a cup He gave thanks and said: “Take this and share it among yourselves. <n>This ‘cup’ was not part of the ‘Lord’s Supper’; I don’t know what the purpose may have been.</n> 


text:
I tell you further that I will not drink again <n>To suck a swallow or two from a sponge would not qualify as ‘drinking’.</n> of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.”


text:
<i> Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper</i> Then, after the meal, He took bread, gave thanks, broke and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me”.


text:
To be sure, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” <n>Judas had crossed the line of no return.</n> 


text:
<i> Wanting to be ‘the greatest’ is not a valid option</i> Now there had actually been a discussion among them as to which of them seemed to be greater.


text:
So He said to them: “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors’.


text:
But not so with you—rather let the greater among you become as the younger, and he who leads as he who serves.


text:
Who is greater, the one reclining or the one serving? Is it not the one reclining? Yet I am among you as the one who serves.


text:
However, you are those who have continued with me in my trials. <n>The gentle reproof is tempered with a word of appreciation.</n> 


text:
so that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom; also you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel!” <n>Then the twelve tribes must still exist! God knows who and where they are. I wonder who will take the Iscariot’s place.</n> 


text:
<i> Peter will deny Him</i> Then the Lord said: <n>A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “Then the Lord said” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> “Simon, Simon! Indeed Satan has asked for you (pl) so as to sift you like wheat.


text:
But I have prayed for you (sg) so that your faith not fail completely; <n>The Lord prayed for Peter, but evidently not for the Iscariot.</n> so you, when you have recovered, strengthen your brothers.”


text:
So He said, “I say to you, Peter, no rooster can crow today before you deny three times that you know me!” <n>This was the second warning; the first is recorded in John 13:37-38.</n> 


text:
<i> “Buy a sword”</i> Then He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” And they said, “Nothing”.


text:
So He said to them: “But <i>now</i> , he who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword must sell his garment and buy one. <n>If you are obviously armed, this tends to slow down those who would otherwise attack you or take advantage of you.</n> 


text:
Because I say to you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was classed with the lawless’; <n>See Isaiah 53:12.</n> and because the things concerning me have an end.”


text:
<i> Gethsemane</i> Then going out He went to the Mount of Olives, as His custom was, and His disciples followed Him.


text:
saying, “Father, if you would just remove this cup from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done!”


text:
And being in anguish He prayed with total concentration; <n>I believe that Hebrews 5:7 refers to this moment. To transpire blood is normally fatal, so Jesus came close to dying there in the garden. But He had to get to the cross, so the Father sent an angel to strengthen Him.</n> then His sweat became like clots of blood, falling to the ground. <n>The eclectic Greek text currently in vogue places verses 43-44 within double brackets (based on 1.3% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality), thereby denying that Luke wrote them. These verses contain important information that should not be questioned on such a feeble basis.</n> 


text:
<i> Betrayal and arrest</i> But while He was still speaking—wow, a crowd; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them! He approached Jesus to kiss Him (he had given them this sign, “Whomever I kiss, it is he”). <n>Some 45% of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission (that I follow), have, “he had given them this sign, ‘Whomever I kiss, it is he’”. Every other version I have seen follows the 55%.</n> 


text:
When those who were around Him saw what was about to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”


text:
But Jesus reacted by saying, “Allow at least this!” and touching his ear He healed him. <n>We know it was Peter (John 18:10), and if the Lord hadn’t healed that ear, things would probably have been nastier for Peter in the ‘courtyard’.</n> 


text:
Then Jesus said to the chief priests, officers of the temple, and elders who had come against Him: “Have you come out with swords and clubs as against a bandit?


text:
When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour; even the authority of the darkness!” <n>This was Satan’s hour, being part of the Father’s Plan.</n> 


text:
<i> Peter denies Jesus</i> Then they seized, took and brought Him to the house of the High priest, with Peter following at a distance.


text:
Now when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.


text:
Then a certain servant girl, seeing him sitting by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man also was with him”.


text:
After a little while another saw him and said, “You also are one of them”. But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”


text:
Then after about an hour had passed, another started insisting, “Surely this fellow also was with him, because he is a Galilean”.


text:
But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster <n>Instead of ‘a’ rooster, perhaps 3% of the manuscripts have ‘the’ rooster (as in TR, AV, NKJV).</n> crowed.


text:
And the Lord turned and looked directly at Peter; <n>I take it that here the Lord broke the Satanic spell, and Peter could think normally again.</n> then Peter remembered the Lord’s word, how He had said to him, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times”.


text:
And having blindfolded Him they would hit His face and <n>Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “they would hit His face and” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.).</n> ask Him, saying: “Prophesy! Who was it who struck you?”


text:
<i> Crucifixion day Jesus judged by the Council</i> As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes, came together and brought Him before their council, saying,


text:
“If you are the Messiah, tell us”. But He said to them: “If I tell you, you simply will not believe.


text:
Then they said: “What further testimony do we need? We ourselves have heard it from his mouth!” <n>They were condemning Him for blasphemy, but to do that they had to reject the obvious truth that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.</n> 


text:
And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, <n>This was a plain lie.</n> declaring himself to be Christ, a king”.


text:
So Pilate questioned Him, saying, “Are you the king of the Jews?” In reply He said to him, “You said it!”


text:
Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man”. <n>It is necessary to read the parallel passages to get a fuller picture of what happened.</n> 


text:
But they insisted, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee even to here.”


text:
<i> Jesus taken to Herod</i> When Pilate heard ‘Galilee’, <n>Perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “Galilee” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> he asked if the man was a Galilean.


text:
Upon learning that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.


text:
Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was really pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see Him, having heard so many things about Him; and he was hoping to see some miracle performed by Him.


text:
He questioned Him with many words, but He gave him no answer. <n>Herod was irrelevant; it was Pilate who had the authority to crucify.</n> 


text:
Then Herod and his soldiers, after ridiculing and mocking Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.


text:
(That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other—previously having been at odds with each other.) <n>An interesting ‘fringe benefit’.</n> 


text:
<i> Pilate sentences Jesus</i> Then Pilate, having called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,


text:
said to them: “You have brought this man to me as one who misleads the people, and yet, having examined him in your presence, I have found no guilt in this man as to those things of which you accuse him.


text:
Further, neither did Herod (for I sent you on to him); <n>Instead of “for I sent you on to him”, some 12% of the manuscripts have ‘for he sent him back to us’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> indeed, nothing deserving of death has been done by him.


text:
(It was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast.) <n>About 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit verse 17 entirely (as in NIV, NASB, LB, [TEV], etc.).</n> 


text:
Then Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, <n>Comparing the accounts it is very clear that Pilate wanted no part of killing Jesus, but when they said “you are not Caesar’s friend” he was beaten.</n> addressed them again.


text:
For the third time he said to them: “But what evil has this man done? I have found no reason for death in him. I will therefore flog and release him.”


text:
But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified! And their voices, especially of the chief priests, <n>A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “especially of the chief priests” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> prevailed.


text:
He released the one who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for; but he delivered Jesus to their will.


text:
<i> Jesus is crucified</i> Now as they led Him away, they conscripted a certain Simon of Cyrene (coming in from a field), and put the cross on him to carry it behind Jesus. <n>Whether or not Simon was already a disciple at this moment (he may have been prepared), he evidently became one. It appears that Jesus was having trouble carrying His cross.</n> 


text:
A considerable crowd of people followed Him, including women who were also mourning and lamenting Him.


text:
So Jesus turned to them and said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; rather weep for yourselves and for your children.


text:
Because indeed, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, even the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ <n>For Jews to say this, things would have to get really bad.</n> 


text:
Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ <n>See Hosea 10:8.</n> 


text:
When they arrived at the place called ‘The Skull’, they crucified Him there; also the criminals, one on His right, the other on His left.


text:
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”; <n>The eclectic text currently in vogue (following less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality) places within double brackets the first half of verse 34: “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’”. In this way they deny that Luke wrote it, surely a perverse proceeding.</n> while they were dividing up His clothes by casting a lot.


text:
Meanwhile the people stood looking on. And especially the rulers among them were sneering, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if such is the Christ, the chosen of God!”


text:
In fact, above Him there was a written notice, in Greek, Latin and Hebrew letters: <n>A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew letters” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. <n>The soldiers were just going along with the ‘game’; after all, His stated crime was that He was ‘the king of the Jews’.</n> 


text:
Then one of the hanged criminals started berating Him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!”


text:
But the other reacted and rebuked him, saying: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are under the same condemnation?


text:
And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds; but this man did nothing wrong.”


text:
Then he said to Jesus, “Please remember me, Lord, <n>Instead of “to Jesus, ‘Please remember me, Lord’”, perhaps 3% of the manuscripts have ‘Jesus, remember me’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), which seriously weakens the man’s statement.</n> when you come in your kingdom”. <n>I find this statement to be impressive: the man is declaring that Jesus is the Messiah and will indeed inaugurate His Kingdom. Evidently the man knew the Bible; and his request was honored!</n> 


text:
Jesus said to him, “I tell you assuredly, today you will be with me in Paradise.” <n>For Jesus to say ‘today’, He knew the man would die before sundown, so He knew the man’s legs would be broken—otherwise he would most likely have lasted well into the night, which would have been ‘tomorrow’.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus dismisses His spirit</i> Now it was about the sixth hour, and darkness came upon the whole land until the ninth hour.


text:
Then, after giving a loud shout, Jesus said, “Father, it is into your hands that I will commit my spirit”. And having said this, He breathed His last. <n>Both Matthew and John state overtly that Jesus dismissed His spirit. In John 10:17-18 He had declared that no one could kill Him, He would lay down His own life. The cross did not kill Jesus, as the centurion recognized (see the next note).</n> 


text:
<i> Various reactions</i> Well upon seeing what had happened, the centurion glorified God, saying, “Certainly this man was righteous!” <n>Any centurion would be a hardened soldier, who had seen no end of crucifixions. He knew that a cross killed by asphyxiation. Hanging from the hands, with the arms stretched out, pushes the diaphragm against the lungs so you can’t breathe. Nailing the feet was a sadistic procedure to prolong the agony—even though painful, the victim would push up so he could get a breath, until finally too worn out to do so. Breaking the legs would put an end to that expedient, and the person died within a few minutes, asphyxiated. Someone who is dying asphyxiated does not shout. Since Jesus gave a loud shout, but then immediately died, the centurion knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the cross had not killed Jesus (later, when Joseph asks for the body, Pilate is surprised that Jesus could already be dead). But who can just tell his spirit to leave? Putting two and two together, the centurion concluded that Jesus was a supernatural being. Just so!</n> 


text:
And the whole crowd that had gathered for the spectacle, when they saw what actually happened, went away beating their breasts. <n>This was a cultural expression of sorrow and distress.</n> 


text:
But all His acquaintances, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.


text:
<i> Jesus’ body is buried</i> Now then, there was a man named Joseph, a good and righteous man, a Council member


text:
(but he had not agreed with their counsel and action), from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was waiting for the Kingdom of God:


text:
Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock, where no one had ever been laid. <n>Obviously the tomb had been prepared beforehand, and was a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9, “He made His grave . . . with the rich at His deaths [plural]”. Nicodemus was already there with a hundred pounds of spices (John 19:39).</n> 


text:
The women who had come with Him from Galilee followed along, and they saw the tomb and how His body was placed there. <n>That is, they saw where the body was taken, but did not see inside, and obviously didn’t know about the 100 pounds of spices.</n> 


text:
Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.


text:
<i> Resurrection Day “He is not here, but is risen!”</i> Then on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb carrying the spices they had prepared, along with some others. <n>A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “along with some others” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that wow, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.


text:
Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them: “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?


text:
saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again’.”


text:
And they remembered His words. <n>These were the women who had been providing for Jesus for some time, and they doubtless heard much of His teaching, including this statement.</n> 


text:
<i> The women report</i> Then they returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the Eleven, and to all the rest.


text:
They were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them, who told these things to the apostles.


text:
But their words seemed to them like nonsense, and they disbelieved them. <n>They had already been ‘burned’, their hopes dashed, and were not in a hurry to be ‘taken in’ again.</n> 


text:
(But Peter had gotten up and run to the tomb, and stooping down he saw the linen strips lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.) <n>According to John’s account, this had already happened earlier, so Luke gives it out of sequence.</n> 


text:
<i> The ‘Emmaus’ incident</i> And then that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles <n>Literally, ‘sixty stadia’.</n> from Jerusalem.


text:
And then, as they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself came up and started going with them.


text:
So He said to them, “What words are these that you are exchanging with one another as you walk, and are gloomy?” <n>Instead of “. . . walk, and are gloomy?” a mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have “. . . walk? And they stood gloomy.” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are you the only one living in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have happened there in these days?”


text:
He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him: “The things concerning Jesus the Natsorean, how the man was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,


text:
and how the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him.


text:
And we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel! Further, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.


text:
and not finding his body, they came saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.


text:
And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but him they <n>‘they’—they knew that John had gone with Peter.</n> didn’t see.”


text:
Then He said to them: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the Prophets have spoken!


text:
And beginning from Moses, and then all the Prophets, He explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. <n>He declares Himself to be the Messiah. I do wish that explanation had been recorded!</n> 


text:
Then they approached the village where they were going, and He made as though He would keep going. <n>And He would have, if they hadn’t restrained Him.</n> 


text:
But they constrained Him, saying, “Stay with us, because it is toward evening, and the day is far spent”. So He went in to stay with them.


text:
And then, as He was reclining with them, He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.


text:
Then their eyes were opened <n>They had been supernaturally hindered from recognizing Him, up to that point.</n> and they recognized Him; and He became invisible to them.


text:
They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked to us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”


text:
<i> The two report</i> So they got up forthwith and returned to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven gathered together; also those with them,


text:
who said, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” <n>There were others in the room besides the Eleven, some near the door. So when the two burst in, all exited with their news, the others ‘prick their balloon’—“Oh, we already know about that”. Has human nature changed?</n> 


text:
Then they described what happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.


text:
<i> Jesus appears to the Eleven</i> As they were saying these things, indeed, Jesus <n>A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “Jesus” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> Himself stood in their midst, and He said to them, “Peace to you”.


text:
Look at my hands and feet; it is I myself! Feel me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”


text:
But as they were still disbelieving and marveling, because of the joy, He said to them, “Do you have any food here?”


text:
So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. <n>Less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and some honeycomb” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
And taking it He ate in their presence. <n>It is easy to criticize them for being so slow to believe, but would we have done any better? Note that Christ’s glorified body, that could just pass through a wall, was palpable—it had flesh and bones (but perhaps not blood). The food that He ate presumably did not go through a normal process of digestion.</n> 


text:
Then He said to them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything that is written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.” <n>The Lord recognizes the three divisions of the Old Testament.</n> 


text:
And He said to them: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary <n>A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and thus it was necessary” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,


text:
and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, <n>The Gospel is for all nations.</n> beginning from Jerusalem.


text:
Take note, I am sending the Promise of my Father upon you; but you must stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”


text:
<i> Jesus ascends to Heaven</i> He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them.


text:
and they were continually in the temple, praising and <n>A mere handful (0.4%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “praising and” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> blessing God. Amen. <n>Some 50% of the Greek manuscripts have a colophon that says, “published fifteen years after the ascension of Christ”. For 50% of the MSS to have this information probably means that the tradition is ancient. If this information is correct, then Luke was ‘published’ in 45/46 AD. The same sources have Matthew published seven years earlier (38/39) and Mark five years earlier (40/41), while John was ‘published’ thirty-two years after the ascension, or 61/62 AD. Not only were the authors eyewitnesses of the events, but many others were still alive when the Gospels appeared. They could attest to the veracity of the accounts, but could also be the source of textual variants, adding tidbits here and there, or ‘correcting’ something that they remembered differently.</n> 


text:
<i> Prologue</i> In the beginning was the Word, <n>In the beginning (of this world, or perhaps this universe) He already existed. But why the ‘word’? If we take the word as the basic unit of verbal communication, and even representing that communication, then we have an important figure. Jehovah the Son in human form becomes the ultimate communication of God to the human race.</n> and the Word was with God, <n>The idea seems to be that He was face to face with God (the Father), in His presence. Actually, the Text has “the God”—since the Greeks had any number of gods, the New Testament writers usually refer to Jehovah as the God. In verse 2 the Text also has “the God”.</n> and the Word was <b>God</b>. <n>The New World Translation (of the JWs) renders “a god”. They defend their choice because the noun ‘God’ occurs without the definite article, and the absence of the article in Greek has the effect of the indefinite article in English—hence ‘a god’. However, another frequent use of the absence of the definite article (in Greek) is to emphasize the quality inherent in the noun—in this case ‘<b>God</b>’. Grammatically, the construction is ambiguous, so those who wish to deny the deity of Christ will naturally translate ‘a god’. Since John will himself make perfectly clear that Christ is very God, we take it that he is here emphasizing that inherent quality. A faithful translator will attempt to reflect the meaning intended by the author, so I would say that the New World Translation is not faithful here. But there is a further consideration. If John had used the definite article we would have an equation (in Greek)—the Word = the God—which would do away with the Trinity. So John could not write ‘the God’; he will quote Christ Himself making very clear that the Father and the Son are distinct persons.</n> 


text:
All things came to be by Him; that is, apart from Him not even one thing that has come into being came to be. <n>This passage, along with Hebrews 1:10 and Col 1:16, makes clear that although the Trinity was doubtless involved in the creation of this planet it was Jehovah the Son who was the primary agent.</n> 


text:
In Him was <i>life</i> , and the life was the light of mankind. <n>In what sense can ‘the life’ be ‘the light’? In John 8:12 the Lord said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of the life.” Only as we participate in the life that Christ offers do we have access to the light. Without His life we walk in the darkness.</n> 


text:
Now the Light shines in the darkness, <n>The word here translated “darkness”, and another closely related word, are frequently used of both physical and moral/spiritual darkness. The latter is associated with Satan’s kingdom, in fact characterizes it, while the light characterizes Christ’s kingdom. Presumably the “darkness” here is moral/spiritual—Satan’s kingdom.</n> and the darkness has not overcome it. <n>To this day: in Matthew 5:14 Jesus said to His disciples, “You are the light of the world”—as long as there are followers of Jesus here, there is moral/spiritual light in the world.</n> 


text:
the true Light which illumines everyone who comes into the world. <n>In what sense can we say that everyone is “illumined” since we are all born sinners and most people die lost? Perhaps the answer lies in Romans 1:19-20. One of the expressions of the Life is the material creation that surrounds us—everyone has the light of the creation; there must be an incredibly intelligent and powerful Cause, and since we are persons He must be more so. We also believe that each human being is born with a conscience.</n> 


text:
But, as many as did receive Him, <n>‘Receive’, not ‘accept’—if you ‘accept’ something it is inferior, or is offered by someone who is socially inferior; superior people or things are ‘received’. If you merely ‘accept Jesus’ that Jesus can’t save you; he is less than you are.</n> to <i>them</i> He gave the right to become children of God, <n>No one is born a child of God; you may become one by receiving Christ. Presumably ‘receiving’ is a conscious act. Each of our two children did this when four years old.</n> to those who believe into His name: <n>Never does the Text read ‘believe in’ (Greek <i>εν </i>) Jesus or His name; always it reads ‘believe into’ (Greek <i>εις </i>). People believe in Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the goodness of man, or whatever, but it makes no difference in their lives. Many millions of people say they ‘believe in Jesus’, but it makes no difference in their lives either. You have to believe into Him—commitment and identification are involved. As Jesus Himself said in John 6:53-56, you have to “eat” His flesh and “drink” His blood. If you eat something your body assimilates it, it becomes part of you.</n> 


text:
who were begotten, not by blood, nor by the desire of the flesh, nor by the will of a man, <n>“The will of a man” seems obvious enough—many, perhaps most, people are born because a man decides he wants children. “The desire of the flesh”—many others are born because a man and a woman are carried away by physical attraction, whether or not they are planning to have a child. “By blood”—the best sense I can make out of this is to assume that it refers to levirate marriage; a man fertilizes his brother’s childless widow to produce an heir for that brother, precisely because of the blood relationship between them.</n> but by <i>God</i> . <n>For a human being to be begotten physically a man must implant the seed of life, and to be begotten spiritually God must implant the seed of the Life.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus—the Only-begotten</i> So the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we observed His glory, glory of an Only-begotten, from the Father, full of grace and truth.


text:
John testified about Him and called out saying, “<i> This</i> is He of whom I said, ‘The One coming after me is now ahead of me, because He existed before I did’.”


text:
Because the Law was given through Moses; <n>Why “because”? What does the Law have to do with verse 16? We are not accustomed to associate the Law with grace, but as a revelation from God to men would it not be a manifestation of His grace? Of course the Son of God incarnate was a much greater manifestation of that grace—“grace upon grace”.</n> the grace and the truth came through Jesus Christ. <n>“The life”, “the light”, “the grace”, “the truth”—these things the Lord Jesus Christ offers us. In contrast Satan offers death, darkness, hate and the lie. Hey, I don’t know about you, but I’m with Jesus!</n> 


text:
No one has ever seen God. The Only-begotten Son, <n>Instead of “the only begotten son” (as in over 99.5% of the Greek manuscripts), some five manuscripts (of inferior quality, objectively so) have “an only begotten god,” while another two (also inferior) have “the only begotten god”. Since the absence of the definite article (in Greek) can have the effect of emphasizing the inherent quality of the noun, the second reading could be rendered “only begotten god”—this alternative has appealed to many evangelicals who see in it a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ. But if the God-part of the Christ was begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary, then He is not eternally pre-existent; and in that event Christ couldn’t be God the Son, one of the three persons of the Trinity. Notice the precision in Isaiah 9:6—“unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given.” Jehovah the Son was given, not born. But in any case, why follow seven manuscripts of demonstrably inferior quality against 1,700? The original and therefore true reading is certainly “the only begotten Son”.</n> who exists in the bosom of the Father, <i>He</i> has interpreted <i>Him</i> . <n>Instead of “interpret” one could render ‘explain’, ‘describe’, ‘give a report about’, . . . I connect this statement to verse 1—the Word shows us who the Father really is.</n> 


text:
<i> John the Baptizer performs his office</i> Now this is John’s testimony, when the Jews <n>John uses “the Jews” to refer to the religious leaders, the hierarchy.</n> sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”


text:
He confessed, he did not deny but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” <n>“Christ” in Greek is a translation of the Hebrew “Messiah”. The people were looking for the Messiah.</n> 


text:
So they asked him, “What then, are you Elijah?” And he says, “I am not.” <n>Note that John declares that he is not Elijah. The point of their question relates to Mal. 4:5, where Elijah is the forerunner of the Messiah. But the context in Malachi is the second coming, not the first. John performed the function at the first coming that Elijah, literally, will perform at the second. John came “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17—the angel Gabriel cites Malachi), but was not Elijah.</n> “Are you ‘the Prophet’?” <n>“The Prophet” is presumably a reference to Deut. 18:15—the Jews figured that this prophecy refers to the Messiah, and so do we.</n> “No,” he answered.


text:
So they said to him, “Who are you?—so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”


text:
He said, “I am ‘the voice of one calling out: “Make the LORD ’s road straight in the wilderness”,’ just as the prophet Isaiah said.” <n>The reference is to Isaiah 40:3. Hebrew poetry, and prose, makes heavy use of parallel or synonymous statements. From the context in Isaiah it seems clear that “in the wilderness” goes with the verb “make straight”, not “call out”. But why a straight road in the wilderness? Any road facilitates the movement of people and goods, but a straight road through accidented terrain is a major asset. John was the voice, but it was the people who had to make the road. So how about us? Are we supposed to be making such a road, and if so, how?</n> 


text:
So they asked him saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor ‘the Prophet’?”


text:
These things happened in Bithabara, <n>Some 65% of the Greek manuscripts read “Bethany” instead of the familiar “Bethabara” (I follow the best line of transmission in reading ‘Bithabara’), but in either case we don’t know the precise location. However, many Bible maps place ‘Bethabara’ near Jericho, on the west side of the river, but the Text states plainly that it was “across the Jordan” (= on the east side). A combination of such maps plus the true reading sets up a contradiction or error in the text.</n> across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.


text:
<i> “Behold the Lamb of God!”</i> The next day John sees Jesus coming toward him and says, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! <n>A tremendous statement! The Sacrifice to end all sacrifices is now physically present in the world.</n> 


text:
This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is now ahead of me, because He existed before I did.’


text:
I did not know Him; but so that He should be revealed to Israel, that is why I came baptizing with water.”


text:
And John testified saying, “I observed the Spirit coming down like a dove out of heaven, and He rested upon Him. <n>John does not record the baptism of Jesus, as such, but we know from the other Gospels that this incident took place at that baptism. Nor does John record Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in the wilderness. In general, John does not repeat information available in the other Gospels.</n> 


text:
Now I did not know Him, <n>This is curious. John and Jesus were related, and their mothers were close, so it seems improbable that they would never have met as boys or youths. Perhaps John means as the Messiah—until His baptism Jesus gave no overt demonstration that He was the Messiah.</n> but He who sent me to baptize with water, <i>He</i> said to me <n>Notice that the Baptizer affirms that God spoke to him directly, in audible or distinguishable words, which he quotes. God spoke like that 2000 years ago, and He continues to do so.</n> ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting—this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ <n>In John’s baptism the substance used for the ritual was water; in Christ’s baptism the substance used is the Holy Spirit. In John’s baptism the person got wet but then dried off, so presumably the real point of the exercise was a spiritual transaction; how much more, then, in Christ’s baptism. I am inclined to link Christ’s baptism (He is the agent) with John 4:13-14 and 7:38-39. “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that <b>I</b> will give him will never ever thirst; rather, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life’” (4:13-14). “Jesus stood up and called out saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. The one believing into me, just as the Scripture has said, out from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ (Now He said this about the Spirit, whom those believing into Him were going to receive, in that the Holy Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)” (7:37-39). In other words, when Jesus baptizes you, you are regenerated, you receive a new nature, you receive the Holy Spirit.</n> 


text:
So I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” <n>That’s what he said, “the Son of God,” which here probably means there’s only one. John clearly identifies and presents the Messiah to the populace. He performed his office.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus begins His public ministry</i> Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples.


text:
So turning and observing them following <n>Presumably Jesus waited for them to catch up, so He was observing them during that time. His purpose in passing by there was precisely to attract those two men (so I imagine) and He was doubtless aware when they started out after Him.</n> Jesus says to them, “What do you want?” So they said to Him, “Rabbi” (which translated means ‘Teacher’), “where are You staying?”


text:
He says to them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where He was staying, and stayed with Him that day—it was about the tenth hour. <n>This is significant. John uses Roman time, so this is 10 a.m. Which means that Jesus spent most of the day with just those two men.You had better believe they were talking the whole time. Jesus knew they would be two of His disciples and was already investing in them—to such good effect that the next day they bring in two more. The Text does not clarify whether or not they spent the night as well.</n> 


text:
He first finds his own brother Simon and says to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated ‘Christ’).


text:
And he led him to Jesus. Looking at him Jesus said, “You are Simon, the son of Jonah; <n>The Text says, “the son of Jonah”. Since Peter obviously had at least one brother, he was not an only son. Perhaps we should understand that Peter was the firstborn. Perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts (of inferior quality) read “John” for “Jonah” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> you will be called Cephas” (which is translated ‘Stone’). <n><i>Cephas</i> is Aramaic for ‘stone’; <i>petros</i> is Greek for ‘stone’. The name ‘Peter’ is a transliteration into English of <i>petros</i>, but since ‘peter’ doesn’t mean ‘stone’ in English, to put ‘Peter’ in verse 42 misses the point.</n> 


text:
<i> Nathanael</i> The next day He decided to go to Galilee, so He finds Philip <n>I can’t prove it, but I suspect that Philip was the second man, of John’s disciples, who spent the day with Jesus. If so, it seems unlikely that he and Andrew spent the night with Jesus, because in that event Jesus wouldn’t have to “find” him.</n> and says to him, “Follow me.”


text:
Philip finds Nathanael and says to him, “We have found the One of whom Moses in the Law—and also the prophets—wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Natsareth.” <n>The Hebrew spelling of the town’s name comes over into English as ‘Natsareth’, not ‘Nazareth’. This is crucial to a correct understanding of Matthew 2:23.</n> 


text:
So Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of <i>Natsareth</i> ?” Philip says to him, “Come and see!” <n>“Come and see.” “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” In the final analysis you have to decide for yourself. Check it out.</n> 


text:
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and says about him, “<i> There</i> , a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”


text:
Nathanael says to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”


text:
In answer Nathanael says to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” <n>Wow, that was a real switch—from disdainful doubt in verse 46 to faith and submission in verse 49. What caused the change? A mature fig tree’s branches reach to the ground and form a curtain—there is a clear space around the trunk that is cool and private [I have been there]. It was a great place to be alone with God. But for Jesus to see Nathanael there (there were probably hills in between as well) meant that He was supernatural. That statement convinced Nathanael that he was looking at the Messiah, and he immediately declared allegiance.</n> 


text:
Jesus answered and said to him, “You believe because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater than these.” <n>The demonstrative pronoun is plural but ambiguous as to gender. Since I would expect the singular (presumably it was the single statement that caused Nathanael’s belief) the plural leaves me in doubt. Is it greater things or people, or both?</n> 


text:
And He says to him, “I tell you (pl) most assuredly, later on you will see the heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” <n>So far as I know, we have no record of when this took place, but no doubt it did. Jesus addressed Nathanael in particular, “He says to him”, but used the plural, “ye”, about seeing the heaven opened. “The Son of Man” appears to be a phrase coined by the Lord Jesus to refer to Himself; actually it is “the son of the man”, which doesn’t make very good sense in English (at first glance, but if “the man” refers to pristine Adam and “the son” to an only pristine descendent, it makes great sense). It seems to indicate a perfect human prototype, like Adam was before the fall—the human side of the God-man.</n> 


text:
<i> water into wine</i> On the third day <n>Counting from when? 1:19-28 happened on one day; 1:29-34 happened the next (2nd) day; 1:35-42 happened the next (3rd) day; 1:43-51 happened the next (4th) day. So the third day here must count from the last day mentioned (1:43-51), although it could (and in Jewish thought probably did) include it. The wedding started that day, but such weddings often lasted several days (and the wine would run out toward the end, if it did). Jesus and His disciples (four?) probably had about an 80-mile walk, 55 miles up the Jordan valley (relatively smooth and straight) and 25 of rougher terrain. Since they did all their traveling on foot, and were therefore used to it, they could easily make the distance in two days.</n> a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there.


text:
Now both Jesus and His disciples had been invited to the wedding. <n>The disciples had been invited in their own right, before they were disciples.</n> 


text:
Jesus says to her, “What’s that to you and me, woman? <n>Jesus was not being disrespectful; this was a normal form of address.</n> My time hasn’t come yet.” <n>I conclude from 1:43 that Jesus was at that wedding on purpose, and probably had an idea of what would happen. Perhaps He was testing His mother’s faith, and maybe her determination. However, as He declares, He was not yet ready to really go public—He would do that in Jerusalem, as recorded in 2:13-25. He would start with a bang, right in the Temple!</n> 


text:
His mother says to the servants, “Do whatever He may tell you.” <n>Mary was evidently in a position to issue orders. [Could it possibly be that the bride was one of Jesus’ half-sisters?]</n> 


text:
(Now there were six stone waterpots set there, according to the purification rites of the Jews, containing 20 or 30 gallons each.)


text:
Jesus says to them, “Fill the pots with water.” So they filled them to the brim. <n>That was a lot of water!</n> 


text:
Well, when the master of ceremonies tasted the water <n>Wine has color and smell, as well as flavor—I wonder at what point the water took on those characteristics. Perhaps it was only as the servant handed the goblet to the master, so that the servants had drawn and carried ‘water’; they obeyed what seemed to them to be a strange order.</n> —that had become wine, and he didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew)—he calls the bridegroom


text:
and says to him, “Everybody serves the good wine first, then, when people are intoxicated, the inferior. <i>You</i> have kept the good wine until now!”


text:
This, the first of the miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee and revealed His glory; <n>Jesus “revealed His glory”. In what sense? As Jehovah the Son He was the Creator of this world. Transforming water into wine was an act of creation. The chemical components that distinguish wine from water had to be created on the spot, and mixed with the water. This “first miraculous sign” was simply tremendous—it revealed Jesus as Creator. However, although presumably all the guests drank of this new wine, being tipsy they may not have realized what went on. Only the disciples, the servants, and of course Mary, knew what had really happened. Apparently this miracle was not broadcast at that time—like Jesus said, not yet. (Neither Matthew, Mark nor Luke were there, but John, the author of this Gospel, probably was; in which case we have an eyewitness account [John and James were partners with Peter and Andrew; so since Peter and Andrew were invited they probably were too].)</n> and His disciples believed into Him.


text:
After this He went down to Capernaum—He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples—but they did not stay there many days. <n>The next verse tells us that the Passover was near. The Passover was one (probably the most important) of the three festivals during the year when every God-fearing male had to present himself at the temple in Jerusalem. Often the whole family would go, so perhaps the whole group mentioned in verse 12 went on to Jerusalem. Jesus had just come up from Judea, only to turn around and go back, which gives us some indication of the importance of the wedding in Cana. That Joseph is not mentioned at all leads one to suspect that he had died by now.</n> 


text:
<i> The first cleansing of the Temple—Passover, 27 AD</i> Now the Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.


text:
When He had made a scourge out of cords, He drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; <n>The impression I get is that it was mainly the animals that He drove, not the people; in the next verse He commands the dove-sellers to remove them, presumably still in the cages.</n> and as for the moneychangers, He overturned the tables and scattered the coins.


text:
And to the dove-sellers He said, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s House into a marketplace!”


text:
So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do you show us, since you do these things.” <n>The commerce going on in the Temple was crooked, and was under the direction of the religious leaders. What Jesus did was an affront, a direct challenge to their authority. He got their attention! From this moment on they knew about Jesus! What He did was so unexpected, so outrageous, that the Jews didn’t know how to react. Maybe some were just a little afraid He might be the Messiah. (And just maybe a few of them had been there 18 years before and listened to a certain twelve-year-old boy.)</n> 


text:
Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, <n>The Lord gives an unexpected meaning to “this temple”, but both are literal, and this prophecy was literally fulfilled. This is not an isolated example of prophecy having a double meaning. Matthew 2:15 cites Hosea 11:1 (Cf. Exodus 4:22)—Hosea 11:1 is a statement of historical fact, to which Matthew assigns a prophetic intent which was literally fulfilled; Jesus is literally God’s Son and He literally spent time in literal Egypt. Matthew 1:23 cites Isaiah 7:14—within its context Isaiah 7:14 had to have an immediate fulfillment, which came through Isaiah’s wife, Isaiah 8:3-4, 8; the more important fulfillment was also literal—Immanuel (‘God with us’, literally) was born of a literal virgin.</n> and in three days I will raise it.” <n>Since Jesus was referring to His own body, once He was dead how could He do this? His spirit didn’t die, and at the right moment returned to the body and raised it, uniting with it once again.</n> 


text:
So the Jews said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and <i>you</i> will raise it in three days?!”


text:
Therefore, when He was raised from among the dead His disciples remembered that He had said this; so they believed the Scripture <n>What Scripture was that? I don’t know. However, one could also translate as follows: “They believed the Scripture, even the word that Jesus had spoken”—which would equate His word with Scripture. More precisely, the Lord’s statement in verse 19 was repeated as an accusation three years later, as recorded in Matthew 26:61 and 27:40, and Matthew’s Gospel had already been circulating as Scripture for decades when John wrote. If this line of reasoning is correct, then John is calling Matthew ‘Scripture’! (Of course there was an interval of a number of years between the resurrection and the writing of Matthew’s Gospel, but perhaps some didn’t ‘remember’ until they saw it written down.)</n> and the word that Jesus had spoken.


text:
Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed into His name, observing the signs that He was doing. <n>I take it that it was at this point that the Lord really began to heal on a large scale. He forced the religious leaders to take notice of Him in more ways than one. Nicodemus refers to these signs.</n> 


text:
But as for Jesus Himself, He did not entrust Himself to them, <n>I would suggest that our Lord offers us an important example here: He did not entrust Himself to just anybody, even believers. He will command His followers to keep on forgiving those who sin against them, especially ‘brothers’. To forgive does not equal to trust!</n> because <i>He</i> knew all <i>men</i> 


text:
and that He had no need that anyone should testify about man, because He Himself knew what was in man. <n>As Creator He would indeed know what was in man.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus and Nicodemus</i> Now there was a man among the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.


text:
The same went to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come as a teacher from God, because no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”


text:
Jesus answered and said to him, <n>He doesn’t waste time with the compliment but goes directly to a serious theological question.</n> “Most assuredly I say to you, unless someone is begotten from above <n>The basic meaning of the Greek word here, <i>ανωθεν </i>, is ‘from up/above’. A lot of people who say that they have been ‘born again’ have never been begotten from above. ‘Begotten’ refers to the cause; ‘born’ refers to the result—I take it that the Lord is talking about the cause.</n> he is not able to see <n>Is ‘see’ just a synonym for ‘enter’ in verse 5, or is a difference intended?</n> the kingdom of God.”


text:
Nicodemus says to Him, “How can a man be begotten, being old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”


text:
Jesus answered: “Most assuredly I say to you, unless someone is begotten by water <n>Why ‘water’? Some have understood this to refer to water baptism, but it seems more likely to me that it refers to the Word (see Ephesians 5:26, John 15:3, John 17:17). As it says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”</n> and Spirit he is not able to <i>enter</i> the kingdom of God.


text:
That which has been begotten by the flesh is flesh, and that which has been begotten by the Spirit is spirit. <n>In 1:13 it is “begotten by God”, here “begotten by the Spirit”, in 3:3 and 7 “begotten from above”—I take it that the expressions are synonymous. Without God’s direct participation no one is saved.</n> 


text:
The wind blows where it wishes, and you (sg) hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who has been begotten by the Spirit.” <n>Notice that the Lord is saying here that it is <b>we</b> who are to be unpredictable, like the wind, or the Spirit (“comes” and “goes” are in the present tense). If you are really under the control of the Spirit you will do unexpected things, just like He does. We all know of types of Christian that are rigid, totally predictable—the Lord Jesus Christ says that such ‘Christians’ have not been begotten by the Spirit. A word to the wise . . . .</n> 


text:
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” <n>His philosophical orientation was based on keeping the Law, on human responsibility. Jesus introduces the divine factor, declaring it to be indispensable.</n> 


text:
Jesus answered and said to Him: “You are <i>the</i> teacher of Israel, <n>The Lord used the definite article with ‘teacher’, which I understand to mean that Nicodemus was the number one teacher at that time.</n> yet you don’t understand these things?


text:
Most assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify to what we <n>Why “we”? Jesus begins the verse with “I” and begins verse 12 with “I”; so to whom does the “we” refer? Is it the ‘plural of majesty’, as some say? Perhaps He is including one or both of the other members of the Trinity—actually, it is probably the Father; see 12:49-50. (This is early in His public ministry and He does not yet have a recognized group of disciples traveling with Him.)</n> have seen, but you (pl) do not receive our testimony. <n>He had doubtless been teaching, as well as performing miracles, during those days.</n> 


text:
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I should tell you the heavenly?


text:
No one has gone up into Heaven except the One who came down out of Heaven—the Son of Man, who is in Heaven. <n>About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “who is in Heaven” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Presumably those copyists couldn’t figure out how Jesus could be on earth and in Heaven at the same time, so they altered the Text. But let’s stop and think about what this verse says—Jehovah the Son came down out of Heaven all right, but when did He go up? If “the Angel of Jehovah” in the O.T. was Jehovah the Son, as I believe, then He had been back and forth many times. In John 5:19 Jesus said that He could only do what He saw the Father do—so when and how could Jesus see the Father? Even though Jehovah the Son was in the human body of Jesus Christ, evidently there was some sense in which He was also in Heaven; He existed there. Well, that’s what 1:18 says, “who exists in the bosom of the Father.”</n> 


text:
Also, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, <n>See Numbers 21:8-9. Once bitten, the only way to avoid an early death was to look at the bronze snake. Similarly, the only way to avoid wasting your life is to believe into Jesus.</n> just so the Son of Man must be lifted up,


text:
so that everyone who believes into Him should not be wasted <n>Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “should not be wasted but” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The phrase is repeated in verse 16, but this is a conversation between two Jews and it is standard Hebrew procedure to repeat things. But why do I render “be wasted” instead of “perish”? Well, what do you think “perish” means? It can’t mean ‘to die’, because Christians die. It can’t mean ‘to suffer’, because Christians suffer, etc. Although the Greek verb here, <i>απολλυμι </i>, is used in contexts of decay, loss, ruin, destruction, death, I take it that the core idea is ‘waste’—the potential of a person or thing is wasted, does not come to fruition. The potential that your life represents, the reason why you exist, can only be realized if you believe into Jesus—otherwise you will be wasted.</n> but should have eternal life.


text:
Because God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes into Him should not be wasted but should have eternal life. <n>The opposite of ‘eternal life’ is not ‘non-eternal life’, it is ‘eternal death’. But ‘death’ does not mean ‘cease to exist’—the human spirit, the image of the Creator, is immortal, it exists forever. There are but two destinies for the human being—unending life or unending death. The central idea in ‘death’ is separation; physical death means the spirit is separated from the body; spiritual death means the spirit is separated from the Creator, forever. The essence of ‘life’ is to be in communion with the Creator, so we can start enjoying our eternal life right here, right now.</n> 


text:
For God did not send His Son into the world in order to condemn the world, <n>The world was already condemned; the Son came to offer a way out.</n> but so that the world might be saved through Him.


text:
The one believing into Him is not condemned, but the one not believing has already been condemned, <n>Since we are sinners by inclination and by choice, we are already under condemnation; the only way out is to believe into the Lord Jesus.</n> because he has not believed into the name <n>“Believe into the name” = “believe into Him”; a person’s name represents that person.</n> of the only begotten Son of God.


text:
“Now this is the <i>basis for</i> the condemning, that the Light has come into the world, <n>The light makes itself available, comes into our area, but we must take the initiative to go to that light.</n> but the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were malignant.


text:
For whoever practices evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light so that his deeds may not be exposed.


text:
But whoever does the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they are done in God.”


text:
<i> John the Baptizer testifies again</i> After these things Jesus, with His disciples, went into the Judean countryside, and there He spent time with them <n>Again, He was investing in those men (not yet the full twelve).</n> and baptized.


text:
Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salem, because there was plenty of water there. <n>To this day there is plenty of water in the Aijalon valley, some 15-20 miles WNW of Jerusalem—perhaps that’s where it was. I take it that Jesus and John were in the same area, at this point.</n> And <i>people</i> were coming and being baptized,


text:
So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the One who was with you across the Jordan, about whom you have testified—well, here He is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to Him!”


text:
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘<b>I</b> am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of Him.’


text:
He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and hears him, has great joy at the bridegroom’s voice. So this my joy has been fulfilled.


text:
“He who comes from above is above all; he who is from the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from Heaven <n>“From above” = “from heaven”.</n> is above all.


text:
For He whom God sent speaks God’s words, because God does not give the Spirit by measure. <n>The Text doesn’t have “to Him”, but in the context that is presumably to be understood. To the Son the Father gave the Spirit in full measure, but not to us—at least not in the same sense.</n> 


text:
The one believing into the Son has eternal life, but the one disobeying <n>The Text has “disobeying”, not ‘disbelieving’. ‘Believing into’ has to do with commitment, with identification, with relationship. If you enter into a relationship with the Sovereign of the Universe, He’s the <b>Boss</b>. Either you obey or bad things start to happen to you.</n> the Son will not see the life, but the wrath of God will remain upon him.” <n>There are differing opinions about where the Baptizer’s speech ends—the rest would then be a commentary by the author, John. The verbs in the present tense in verse 32 tip the decision in favor of the Baptizer—John would have had to use a past tense. I take it that the Baptizer’s speech goes through verse 35, at least. Verse 36 could be an editorial comment by John, but I see no reason in the Text for taking the verse away from the Baptizer.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus and the Samaritans</i> Now when Jesus knew that the Pharisees <n>The ‘Judean’ in 3:25-26 was probably a Pharisee.</n> had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John”


text:
He left Judea and went away into Galilee. <n>This was a tactical withdrawal. I take it that Matthew 4:12 refers to the same withdrawal. Between John 3:36 and 4:1 the Baptizer was imprisoned. If the Pharisees knew something it would not be long before Herod knew it. It was not part of the Plan for Jesus to have to deal with Herod at this juncture.</n> 


text:
Now He needed to go through Samaria; <n>He could have gone up the coast and avoided most of the mountains, but He “needed” to go through Samaria. Probably because the Father told Him to—it was harvest time in Sychar.</n> 


text:
so He comes to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.


text:
Now Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, being worn out from the journey, sat as He was by the well. It was about 6 p.m. <n>Since John elsewhere always uses Roman time, I assume that he does so here as well. The Text has “the sixth hour”. Many versions put “noon”, which reflects Jewish time. But the Text says Jesus was worn out, which agrees better with a full day’s walk than with a half day’s walk. The distance between Salem and Sychar was probably about 35 miles, as the crow flies, but since the whole distance was over accidented terrain, the walking distance would be a good deal more. They had walked some 50 miles in twelve hours. Like the Text says, He was tired! And He was hot and thirsty. John emphasizes that as a human being He felt the full effects of the day.</n> 


text:
So the Samaritan woman says to Him, “How can <i>you</i> , being a Jew, ask a drink from <i>me</i> , being a Samaritan woman?” (for Jews do not associate with Samaritans).


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


text:
The woman says to Him: “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep; so where do you get this living water?


text:
You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”


text:
but whoever drinks of the water that <i><b>I</b></i> will give him will never ever thirst; <n>Here again the Lord gives a double meaning to a word—in verse 13 He uses “thirst” in a physical sense, but in verse 14 the sense has to be spiritual, since Jesus Himself experienced physical thirst. In verse 15 the woman sees only the physical sense. I personally do not find the spiritual meaning to be transparent. I have been serving the Lord for many years, but still experience spiritual thirst. I have to keep drinking.</n> rather, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life.” <n>That’s what the Text says, “into eternal life”. Eternal life is a quality of life, more precisely a life in communion with the Father. The picture is not necessarily of a geyser, water spouting up, but there has to be a constant flow. As our capacity increases the flow should also increase.</n> 


text:
The woman answered and said, “I don’t have a husband.” Jesus says to her: “You stated correctly that you don’t have a <i>husband</i> ,


text:
because you have had five husbands, and the one you have <i>now</i> is no husband of yours. You spoke the truth there!” <n>Dear me! Would you say that Jesus was making a special effort not to hurt her feelings? But He knew what He was doing, as verse 29 makes clear.</n> 


text:
Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, while you (pl) say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.”


text:
Jesus says to her: “Woman, believe me, a time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.


text:
You [Samaritans] worship what you do not know; we [Jews] worship what we do know, because the salvation is from the Jews. <n>Quite so. The Lamb of God is a Jew, and the Old Testament canon came through the Jewish people (see Rom. 3:2). For that matter, most (if not all—Luke [?]) of the New Testament was written by Jews as well.</n> 


text:
But the time is coming, in fact now is, when the genuine worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Really, because the Father is looking for <b>such</b> people to worship Him. <n>The Father “is looking” for those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. It may be that we have here a window on the reason why God created a race such as ours—persons in His image with the capacity to <b>choose</b>. God “is looking” for something, which means He doesn’t have it, at least not automatically. I take it that He wants to be appreciated for who He is, but to have meaning such appreciation can’t come from robots—it has to be voluntary. So He created a type of being with that capacity, but He had to take the risk that such a being would choose not to appreciate Him.Unfortunately, most human beings make the negative choice, and with that negative choice come all sorts of negative consequences. Ever since Adam humans are born with an inclination toward sin, so for someone to choose to appreciate God is definitely not automatic, nor even easy. No one can reasonably accuse God of having ‘stacked the deck’ in His own favor—He seems to have done just the opposite. If a human being, against his natural inclination, chooses to appreciate God, then He receives what He is looking for. “In spirit and truth” presumably means that it can’t be faked, can’t be forced, can’t be merely physical, can’t be merely emotional (though both body and emotions can and often will be utilized).</n> 


text:
The woman says to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When <i>He</i> comes He will explain everything to us.”


text:
Jesus says to her, “I am He, the one who is talking with you.” <n>As recorded in the four Gospels, this is the first time Jesus declares bluntly that He is the Messiah, and He does it to a woman, and a Samaritan one at that! That woman had had her ups and downs, but was no dummy; that the people of the town listened to her indicates that she had influence. Jesus knew what He was doing.</n> 


text:
<i> The disciples</i> At that point His disciples arrived, and they were amazed that He was talking with a woman; yet no one said, ‘What do you want?” <n>A number of versions capitalize the ‘You’, as if the question would have been directed to Jesus, but it seems more likely to me that this first question would have been to the woman.</n> or “Why are You talking with her?”


text:
So the disciples started saying to one another, “Could someone have brought Him <i>something</i> to eat?”


text:
Jesus says to them: “<i> My</i> food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to complete His work. <n>The Lord was totally committed to the Father’s will and game plan; His daily life revolved around it (it was His ‘food’). In His excitement at seeing the plan for Sychar unfold He forgot His physical hunger.</n> 


text:
Don’t you say, ‘There are four months before the harvest comes’? Well I say, Look! Lift your eyes and observe the fields; they are white for harvest already!


text:
Now he who reaps receives pay and gathers fruit into eternal life, <n>That’s what the Text says, “into eternal life”. Sure, Jesus is talking about harvesting souls, gathering them into the Kingdom—when someone is born from Above everyone who participated in the process is glad.</n> so that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.


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


text:
<i> The Samaritans</i> Now many of the Samaritans from that city believed into Him because of the word of the woman, testifying that “He told me everything I ever did!”


text:
So when the Samaritans came to Him they urged Him to stay with them; and He did stay there two days.


text:
and they kept saying to the woman, “It’s not just because of what you said that we believe, because we ourselves have heard <i>Him</i> , <n>As the italics indicate, “Him” isn’t in the Text; perhaps the addition confuses the picture. What do you suppose the disciples were doing during those two days? I bet the Samaritans were eager to hear all that they could about Jesus, what He had said and done—they kept the disciples busy!</n> and we know that this One is truly the Messiah, <n>About 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “the Messiah” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> the Savior of the world!” <n>All right! They got the message!</n> 


text:
(For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet does not have honor in his own country.) <n>I believe that the episode recorded in Luke 4:16-30 took place between verses 43 and 45 here, and verse 44 is an echo of Luke 4:24. From Sychar Jesus went directly to Natsareth, was rejected there, and proceeded to Cana. Verse 45 is a summary statement, after the fact. [Of course He was born in Bethlehem, Judea, but I doubt that He is referring to it as ‘his own country’.]</n> 


text:
So when He came into Galilee the Galileans welcomed Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem, at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.


text:
<i> Jesus heals at a distance</i> So Jesus went again to Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. Now there was a certain royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum.


text:
When this man heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, <n>The man was asking Jesus to make an emergency hike of some 25 miles (unless he was mounted and had brought an extra horse for Jesus; but He probably wasn’t used to riding). Evidently he figured that the healer had to be physically present.</n> for he was about to die.


text:
So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you won’t believe!” <n>Again, Jesus isn’t exactly ‘polite’.</n> 


text:
Jesus says to him, “Go; your son lives.” Well the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and off he went.


text:
So he inquired of them the hour in which he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” <n>It is virtually certain that the official and his slaves used Roman time, in which case the cure took place at 7 p.m. It couldn’t be 7 a.m. because the man would have met his slaves before noon and they would have said ‘today’, not ‘yesterday’ (v. 52). It couldn’t be Jewish time for a similar reason—if Jesus healed at 1 p.m. the man would have met his slaves before sundown and they would have said ‘today’. The man probably walked (unless he was mounted, but at night the horse would be held to a walk) during at least part of the night; the slaves would have started out at dawn; they probably met at a point much closer to Capernaum than to Cana.</n> 


text:
So the father knew that it was at the exact hour in which Jesus told him, “Your son lives.” Both he himself and his whole household believed.


text:
Again, coming out of Judea into Galilee, Jesus performed this second miraculous sign. <n>That is, He healed at a distance, just by His thought. Curiously, He was in Cana for both of them.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus returns to Jerusalem—Passover, 28 AD</i> After these things there was the <n>The manuscript evidence is badly divided here, between ‘the feast’ and ‘a feast’—I take it that the best evidence is on the side of the definite article. In that event the feast was the Passover (with the other alternative it could still be the Passover), the second during Christ’s public ministry; one and a half years are behind Him and there are two to go. For events between the first two Passovers see Mark 1:14-2:17, Luke 4:14-5:39 and Matthew 4:12-8:4.</n> feast of the Jews, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.


text:
<i> The pool of Bethesda</i> Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool called Bethesda, <n>Fully 99% of the Greek manuscripts read the familiar ‘Bethesda’, and this name is attested by the 1st century Copper Scroll from Qumran. The so-called ‘critical text’ (UBS and N-A) serves up the pitiful ‘Bethzatha’, following two Greek manuscripts, א (fourth cent.) and 33 (tenth cent.) (as in TEV, RSV, Jer., etc.). The UBS editors have introduced an historical error into their text on the flimsiest of evidence.</n> in Hebrew, which has five porches. <n>The pool is a rectangle (it’s still there), so it has four sides—so where was the fifth porch? Across the middle, dividing the pool into two smaller ones. Instead of ‘porch’ one could use ‘portico’, ‘cloister’, ‘colonnade’—a covered walkway.</n> 


text:
In them a large number of sick people were lying—blind, lame, paralyzed—waiting for the moving of the water;


text:
because an angel would go down from time to time into the pool and stir up the water <n>The angel, whether good or bad, would presumably be invisible to the people, so this information must have been revealed to John.</n> —then the first one to get in after the stirring of the water became well of whatever disease that was holding him. <n>About 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit the last clause of verse 3 and all of verse 4 (as in NIV, NASB, LB, [TEV], etc.). But obviously all those people wouldn’t stay there (in discomfort) day in and day out, year in and year out, if nothing was happening. Obviously people got healed, and verse 7 makes clear that it had to do with the stirring of the water—so why didn’t those manuscripts omit verse 7 as well? The UBS editions do us a considerable disservice by following a very small minority of manuscripts and making the angel “of the Lord”. Since angels can be good or fallen, it seems most likely to me that the angel involved was fallen. A capricious, occasional healing condemned all those people to added suffering (being at the pool instead of the comfort of home), including the frustration and despair of those who never made it (like the man Jesus healed). A sadistic procedure is just like Satan.</n> 


text:
Seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been sick a long time, Jesus says to him, “Do you want to get well?”


text:
The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to throw <n>That’s right, “throw”. Hey, where a split second could make the difference no one is going to stand on ceremony—when the water started to move there would be a mad scramble; people would be thrown at the water, literally. (The demons would really enjoy themselves, seeing ‘the image of God’ humiliated in that way.)</n> me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming another gets in before me.”


text:
But that day was a Sabbath, so the Jews said to the one who had been healed, “It’s the Sabbath! You aren’t allowed to carry the pallet.”


text:
But the man who was cured didn’t know who it was, because Jesus had disappeared, there being a crowd in the place. <n>Let’s stop and think about what Jesus did here. There were probably hundreds of sick people there—why did He only heal <b>one</b> of them? And why did He disappear into the crowd before the man could find out who He was? And why did He do this on a Sabbath? I think it was all deliberate—He wanted to provoke the Jews. He chose a Sabbath; He chose a man who had a pallet, but who had no slave or other helper; He commanded (yes, commanded) the man to carry the pallet; He got out of the way so the Jews would have the man to themselves. In this way He set up a confrontation, as we will see below. [In passing we may note that if ever there was a ‘divine healer’ it was the Lord Jesus, and yet He did not empty out this ‘hospital’. Maybe divine healers aren’t supposed to empty hospitals.]</n> 


text:
After these things Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Don’t sin any more, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” <n>The Lord seems to be implying that the former sickness was the result of sin.</n> 


text:
<i> the Jews want to kill Jesus</i> So because of this the Jews began persecuting Jesus and trying to kill Him, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. <n>The last recorded events before John 5:1 are in Luke 5:12-39. The healing of the paralytic had impressed the Jews, but then Jesus immediately went and ate with publicans; and verses 36-39 were against what the Jews represented. Here in John Jesus challenges their authority over the Sabbath.</n> 


text:
But Jesus answered them, “Until now, my Father works, I also work.” <n>Not only does Jesus not run and hide, He ‘ups the ante’—He claims to be God, as the Jews understood perfectly well (and which in their mind called for the death penalty).</n> 


text:
So because of this they wanted to kill Him all the more, because He was not only breaking the Sabbath but was even saying that God was His own Father, making Himself equal with God!


text:
<i> Jesus addresses the Jews He affirms His equality with the Father</i> Then Jesus answered and said to them: “Most assuredly I say to you, the Son is not able to do anything from Himself, except something He sees the Father doing; because whatever things <i>He</i> does, precisely these the Son also does.


text:
For the Father loves <n>To my surprise the verb here is <i>φιλεω </i>, not <i>αγαπαω </i>—the Father is emotionally attached to the Son. Well, since we have emotions God must have had them first. God affirms that He has soul (Isaiah 42:1, Matthew 12:18, Hebrews 10:38).</n> the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing; and He will show Him <i>greater</i> works than these, so that you may marvel.


text:
Now just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, just so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.


text:
so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. <n>Of course someone who does not honor the Father will not honor the Son either.</n> Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. <n>I take it that the Lord Jesus is saying that monotheistic people (Jews, Muslims) who claim to honor the Father, but do not honor the Son, are not really doing so.</n> 


text:
<i> the Son is the just Judge</i> “Most assuredly I say to you that the one listening <n>Most versions render ‘hear’ instead of ‘listen’, both here and in the next verse, but from the context it seems clear that Jesus is not talking about sound striking the eardrum; He’s talking about acting on the basis of what is heard.</n> to my word and believing on Him who sent me has eternal life; he will not go into judging but has moved out of the death into the life. <n>“The death” refers to Satan’s kingdom; “the life” to Christ’s kingdom (and they are the only alternatives in this world).</n> 


text:
“Most assuredly I say to you that a time is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will live. <n>It seems clear that the picture here is different from that in verses 28-29. Here Jesus says “now is”, so He is not talking about future judgment; so the dead here are spiritually dead, and those who listen to Him receive spiritual life. In verse 28 the reference is to the physically dead, who are raised to face the final judgment.</n> 


text:
Because just as the Father has life in Himself just so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;


text:
furthermore He gave Him the authority to pass judgment, because He is <b>Son of Man</b>. <n>We as human beings will be judged by another human being, someone who knows what it’s like.</n> 


text:
Do not marvel at this, because a time is coming in which all those in the graves will hear His voice


text:
and will come out—those who did good things into the resurrection of life, <n>Notice again the emphasis on doing, because what you do reflects what you <b>really</b> believe, and what you really believe is what you are—and you can’t kid God.</n> but those who practiced evil things into the resurrection of condemnation.


text:
I am not able to do anything from myself. As I hear, I judge, and my judging is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me.


text:
<i> four witnesses to Jesus</i> “If I testify about myself my testimony is not valid. <n>According to the Law at least two witnesses were required, so if Jesus had only His own word it would not be enough, would not be valid (even though He told the truth).</n> 


text:
There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony that He gives about me is true. <n>I take it that this witness must be the Father, since in verse 34 Jesus discounts John the Baptist.</n> 


text:
Yet I do not accept the testimony from a man; but I say these things so that you may be saved. <n>Since Jesus has three supernatural witnesses—the Father, His own works and the Scriptures—He doesn’t need John. I don’t believe Jesus was angry with John or otherwise dissatisfied with his testimony; it’s just that the Jews had already rejected John’s testimony about Jesus (as they had rejected Jesus Himself). As He says, He would like for them to come around and be saved, so He organizes His argument in that attempt.</n> 


text:
But I have a greater testimony than John’s, because the works that the Father gave me to complete—the very works that I am doing—they testify about me that the Father has sent me. <n>Nicodemus recognized this.</n> 


text:
“Further, the Father who sent me has Himself testified about me. You have neither heard His voice nor seen His form at any time.


text:
Nor do you have His word abiding in you, <n>The Lord declares their spiritual bankruptcy. For a religious leader to have never heard God’s voice is pretty poor, but much worse is to study God’s Word without its ever finding a place in your heart.</n> because you do not believe on the very one whom <i>He</i> sent.


text:
You examine the Scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life, yet they are the very ones that testify about me.


text:
But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. <n>Jesus had proved that He was the Messiah, but He threatened everything that they stood for.</n> 


text:
Rather I have come to know you, <n>That’s what the Text says, “I have come to know”—presumably He is referring to knowledge gained by observation; they have clearly demonstrated in His presence that in fact they don’t have God’s love.</n> that you do not have the love of God in you.


text:
I have come in my Father’s name and you do not receive me; should another come in his own name, <i>him</i> you will receive. <n>Might this be a prophetic reference to the Antichrist?</n> 


text:
How <i>can</i> you believe, who receive glory from men <n>Here I follow what I consider to be by far the best line of transmission, although attested by less than 30% of the Greek manuscripts.</n> and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? <n>This is serious! Apparently one’s attitude toward glory affects his ability to believe. If the approval of people is more important to you than the approval of God, you probably won’t believe into Jesus.</n> 


text:
“Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. <b>Moses</b> is the one who accuses you, on whom you have set your hope.


text:
But since you don’t believe his <i>writings</i> , how will you believe my sayings?” <n>The Lord is affirming the inspiration and authority of Moses’ writings; in effect He places them on a level with His own word, for which He claims eternal authority (Luke 21:33).</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus is back in Galilee <n>Almost a whole year has elapsed between chapters 5 and 6 here. For the events that transpired during that period see Luke 6:1-9:10, Mark 2:23-6:31 and the corresponding accounts in Matthew.</n> </i> After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, or Tiberias. <n>From the parallel accounts it appears that He embarked at Capernaum. (Matthew informs us that He had just heard of the Baptizer’s ignominious death and wanted to get away—perhaps to grieve and assimilate the news.) From John 6:23 we learn that the destination was near Tiberias. Capernaum and Tiberias are both on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, but there is a large bay between them; so they went over several miles of water.</n> 


text:
And a huge crowd was following Him because they had seen His signs that He kept performing on the sick. <n>The crowd was not about to let Jesus get away. Mark makes clear that they ran along the shore—the faster runners stayed even with the boat and were waiting on the shore when the boat put in. The others were spread out behind for several miles (like in a marathon) and kept arriving. Any late starters would see the stragglers and could easily follow the action. Apparently He immediately started to heal the sick and went on to teach (Matthew 14:14, Mark 6:34). But just where was it? John says it was near Tiberias, but Luke 9:10 says it was “a deserted place belonging to a town called Bethsaida”. [Less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have “into a town called Bethsaida” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), which makes Luke contradict himself (verse 12 says it was a deserted place) as well as the parallel accounts.] I assume that the place was indeed near Tiberias but did indeed belong to Bethsaida—either it had been deeded to the town somehow or the family that owned it was based in Bethsaida. Any near neighbors couldn’t use it, so it was basically untouched—a great place for a picnic.</n> 


text:
So Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down there with His disciples. <n>Comparing the other accounts, I take it that they had already spent quite a bit of time on the beach, and the afternoon was wearing away. Since verse 6 says He knew what He was going to do, I assume it was a deliberate move to get the crowd up where there was grass so they could sit down in relative comfort.</n> 


text:
(Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.) <n>I frankly don’t see what connection this information has with the story, but it does give us a time frame.</n> 


text:
<i> Food for 15,000 <n>Why 15,000? Well, Matthew 14:21 says plainly that there were about 5,000 men besides women and children. In any crowd what is there usually most of? Since the context was not one of war (where there would be mostly men) I imagine there were at least 15,000 people there (like mothers with sick children).</n> </i> Then, raising His eyes and observing that a huge crowd was coming toward Him, Jesus says to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread so that these folks may eat?” <n>According to the other three accounts, the disciples had already suggested to Jesus that He send the people away to the surrounding towns to buy food. But let’s stop and think. How many bread stores would a village have, and how much bread would a store still have on hand at 5 p.m.? If they could have gone to every store within a radius of 30 miles, I doubt that they would have found even 10,000 loaves available. The Lord’s question shows that their suggestion was really a cop-out.</n> 


text:
Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread <n>How much bread can you buy with the wages for 200 days of manual labor? Probably an awful lot of it. But the crowd was so huge that Philip figured that even that much wouldn’t do it. [If a day’s wage would buy 50 small loaves, for instance, that would make 10,000 loaves—more people than bread.]</n> wouldn’t be enough for them, so that each of them could receive a little.”


text:
“There’s a little boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two small fish, but what are they for so many?”


text:
Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was plenty of grass in the place; so the men sat down, about five thousand in number.


text:
Then Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples <n>Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit the reference to the disciples here and have Jesus distributing directly to the crowd (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), making John contradict the other three Gospels.</n> to those who were reclining; so too with the fish, as much as they wanted.


text:
So when they were full He says to His disciples, “Collect the leftover fragments so that nothing be wasted.” <n>Notice the care that nothing be wasted. A common human reaction would be, ‘easy come, easy go’—since Jesus can make more any time He wants, why worry. But no, the Lord doesn’t look at it that way.</n> 


text:
So they collected and filled twelve baskets <n>They were large baskets, probably borrowed from the fishing boats (see verse 23).</n> with fragments from the five barley loaves that were left over from those who had eaten.


text:
Now then, having seen the miraculous sign that Jesus performed the men said, “This One really is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”


text:
So Jesus, perceiving that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, <n>Only John records this information, plus what is given from verse 22 on. I take it that at least up to verse 40 Jesus is basically dealing with the ‘king-makers’.</n> withdrew up the mountain again by Himself, alone.


text:
and getting into the boat they started to go across the sea toward Capernaum. Well it had been dark for a while and Jesus had not come to them. <n>This statement puzzles me. The author was in that boat. Did they really expect Jesus to come to them over the water? How? Evidently they didn’t expect Him to come walking.</n> 


text:
Then, after they had rowed some three or four miles, <n>The Text actually says ‘twenty-five or thirty stadia’. In Matthew 14:24 over 99% of the Greek manuscripts have them “in the middle of the sea”. If you draw a line from Tiberias to Bethsaida (see Mark 6:45) and put an X at four miles you will be in the middle of the widest part of the sea. Matthew further informs us that the wind was contrary and that Jesus came between 3 and 6 a.m. (the 4th watch). They had been on the water at least nine hours and most probably rowing most of that time. They were tired!</n> they see Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat; and they were afraid.


text:
But He said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid!” <n>Only Matthew records that Peter also took a little walk.</n> 


text:
Then they wanted to receive Him into the boat, <n>They were ready for some help.</n> and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. <n>They were still some four miles from Bethsaida, so here we have another remarkable miracle—Jesus transported the boat those four miles instantaneously. There have been repeated references to crossing the sea, so the reading of the so-called ‘critical text’ in Luke 9:10 that places the feeding of the 5,000 in the town of Bethsaida is patently ridiculous. What would motivate the editors to print such a ridiculous reading in their text?</n> 


text:
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea, <n>These were men who stayed on the scene; I assume that they bedded down on the grass right there, waiting for Jesus to come down from the mountain—these were decision makers, and they still wanted to make Jesus king.</n> having seen that there was no other boat there except the one into which His disciples had entered, <n>Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “except the one into which His disciples had entered” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> and that Jesus had not gotten into the boat with His disciples but only His disciples had gone away—


text:
although other boats had come from Tiberias, <n>The point seems to be that only one boat came with Jesus, so when it left there was no other at His disposal. The boats from Tiberias doubtless returned home for the night (the town was not far and the owners would prefer to sleep in their beds).</n> near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks—


text:
so when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats <n>How many people could those boats carry? Probably less than a hundred, but these were special people who had stayed on the scene for a reason.</n> and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. <n>From Matthew and Mark I gather that from Bethsaida Jesus went directly to Gennesaret; verse 59 makes clear that the men found Him in Capernaum, which was close by. So why did Jesus send the disciples to Bethsaida? Perhaps it was to give an accounting to the owner of the place where the multitude was fed—15,000 people can make quite a mess. (I suspect that Jesus had permission to use the place when He wanted to get away, but no one had foreseen such a crowd as that.)</n> 


text:
When they found Him on another side <n>There is no definite article with ‘other side’, since it was just across the bay, not the other side of the lake.</n> of the sea they said to Him, “Rabbi, when <n>“When”, not “how”. Sure, they knew that Jesus could have taken a back trail through the hills and made it on foot without difficulty.</n> did you get here?”


text:
<i> The Bread of Life</i> Jesus answered them and said: “Most assuredly I say to you, you are not seeking me because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the bread and were filled. <n>He doesn’t answer their question but goes to the heart of their problem—they want to make Him king for purely materialistic reasons. Certain kinds of people like free food; or maybe most people do; or maybe almost everybody does.</n> 


text:
Do not work for the food that wastes away but for the food that endures into life eternal, which the Son of Man will give you; <n>Jesus will give the Life, but they have to work for the food that endures into that Life. So how do we “work for the food”? Most people have to work so as to have food to maintain their physical health and strength, and there are clear biblical strictures against laziness, so our Lord’s statement presumably has to do with priorities. ‘Making a living’ should not be our top priority; like Jesus our top priority should be to do the Father’s will (Hebrews 10:7, John 4:34). What we build in ‘gold, silver, precious stones’ (1 Corinthians 3:12) will indeed “endure into” life eternal.</n> because on <i>Him</i> God the Father has set His seal.”


text:
So they said to Him, “What should we do so that we may work the works of God?” <n>I don’t think they listened very well; they answered according to their own ideas.</n> 


text:
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe into the One whom He sent.” <n>If we want to serve or please God, the first step is to believe into Jesus. After we belong to Jesus we have the privilege of participating in God’s works.</n> 


text:
So they said to Him, “Well then, what sign are you going to do so we may see and believe you? <n>These guys are hard to believe—they had seen Jesus multiply the bread and fish; how much more of a sign did they want? They had been so impressed that they wanted to make Him king. But instead of offering free food Jesus is now demanding commitment; so they start to backpedal.</n> What are you going to perform?


text:
Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, just as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from Heaven to eat’.”


text:
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from Heaven, but my Father gives you the <i>true</i> bread from Heaven.


text:
Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” <n>This seems to be a bit of a change in attitude. They are vacillating.</n> 


text:
So Jesus said to them: “I am the bread of the life. Whoever comes to me will <i>never</i> hunger and whoever believes into me will <i>never</i> thirst.


text:
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will <i>not</i> throw out; <n>“All that” is in the neuter gender and presumably includes more than people; but does it exclude people? “The one who” refers only to people.</n> 


text:
because it is not to do my own will that I have come down out of Heaven, but the will of the One who sent me.


text:
Now this is the will of the Father who sent me, that I should lose nothing out of all that He has given me, but should raise it <n>The manuscript evidence is badly divided here, but I take it that the best line of transmission has “it” rather than “him” (neuter rather than masculine)—in the preceding clause, “nothing out of all” is definitely neuter. The ‘problem’ is the verb “raise”—if it is taken as raising the dead then the direct object should be masculine. But “raise” is much more general in use, being used for erecting a building, lifting something up, etc. There is a contrast between verse 39 (things) and verse 40 (people). Verse 39 joins other passages that indicate that during the Millennium the earth will be restored to conditions reminiscent of Eden (cf. Romans 8:19-22).</n> up at the last day.


text:
Again this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who ‘sees’ the Son and believes into Him may have eternal life, and <i><b>I</b></i> will raise him up at the last day.” <n>Since only His contemporaries could see Jesus physically, everyone else has to ‘see’ Him spiritually. But in verse 36 the Lord says that even though they were seeing Him physically, they weren’t believing—so even for the contemporaries the ‘seeing’ had to be spiritual. Jesus Himself will raise up His followers.</n> 


text:
Then the Jews <n>I take it that up to verse 40 Jesus has been interacting with the ‘king makers’. The “Jews” here probably represent the ruling hierarchy—since Jesus was in the synagogue there were others present besides the ‘king makers’.</n> started complaining about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of Heaven.”


text:
And they were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? <n>I wonder why they refer to Joseph’s parents.</n> So how can he say, ‘I have come down out of <i>Heaven</i> ’?”


text:
No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, <n>As Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus (see note at 3:6), without God’s direct participation, no one is saved. But see the next verse.</n> and I will raise him up at the last day.


text:
It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who listens and learns from the Father comes to me. <n>In verse 44 Jesus emphasizes God’s sovereignty; here He emphasizes human responsibility. We can “listen and learn”, and then “come”. But in what sense is everyone “taught by God”? Everyone has the light of creation and is born with a conscience, at least. Perhaps there are other ways that God ‘teaches’.</n> 


text:
(Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God—<i> He</i> has seen the Father.)


text:
Most assuredly I say to you: the one believing into me <n>About 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “into me” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.). But the object of one’s belief is of the essence; it is impossible to live without believing in something, so everyone believes. The reading of the so-called ‘critical text’ opens the door to universalism.</n> has eternal life.


text:
I am the bread of the life. <n>Since the Lord is obviously not claiming to be a loaf of literal bread, this is a figure of speech, a metaphor. Bread was their staff of life; they couldn’t live without it. Jesus is our spiritual ‘staff of life’; we can’t live spiritually without Him.</n> 


text:
Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they died. <n>I take it that this statement is in response to theirs in verse 31.</n> 


text:
This is the bread that comes down out of Heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. <n>Verse 49 presumably refers to physical death, while verse 50 refers to spiritual death.</n> 


text:
<i> <b>I</b></i> am the living bread which came down out of Heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. Actually, the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give on behalf of the life of the world.”


text:
<i> Chew flesh, drink blood</i> At that the Jews started quarrelling among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?!”


text:
So Jesus said to them: “Most assuredly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you do not have life within yourselves.


text:
Whoever chews <n>The verb here is different from the “eat” in verse 53. The verb here would typically be used of a cow munching fodder, but fodder is usually crunchy, so the munching is noisy. Because “munch” suggests noise, I have rendered “chew”. In verse 56 chewing is linked to abiding, something we need to do every day. </n> my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.


text:
Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds <n>This is the same verb rendered “chew” above.</n> on me will live because of me.


text:
This is the bread that came down out of Heaven. Whoever feeds on this bread of mine will live forever (in contrast to your fathers who ate the manna and died).” <n>Many of those who died in the wilderness died in rebellion against God, so the “died” here may refer to spiritual death as well.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus loses many followers</i> Therefore, upon hearing this many from among His disciples said, “This word is hard! Who is able to hear it?”


text:
So Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, “Does this offend you?


text:
The Spirit is the One who makes alive; the flesh does not benefit anything. The words that I speak to you are spirit, are life.


text:
But there are some among you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the start who they were who didn’t believe, and who was betraying Him.)


text:
And He said, “That is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.” <n>Verse 54 emphasizes human responsibility; verse 65 emphasizes divine sovereignty.</n> 


text:
Further, we have come to believe and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” <n>Perhaps 0.5% of the Greek MSS, of inferior quality, read “the Holy One of God” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
He said to them, “Did I myself not choose you twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” <n>The root meaning of “devil” is ‘slanderer’; presumably Judas was a human being, so Jesus was not calling him a literal demon.</n> 


text:
He was referring to Judas Iscariot, <i>son</i> of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.


text:
<i> Passover, 29 AD</i> After these things Jesus continued to move about in Galilee, <n>All of chapter six took place in Galilee, so why make a point of Jesus’ continuing there? 6:4 says that the Passover was near, but 7:2 says that the Feast of Tabernacles was near—that’s six months later. As a God-fearing male Jesus had to go to Jerusalem for the Passover, so He must have gone, although none of the Gospels records it. I take it that He went without calling attention to Himself, and returned immediately to Galilee, for the reason given in the second half of the verse.</n> since He did not wish to move about in Judea because the Jews were wanting to kill Him. <n>Between 6:71 and 7:2 six months elapsed. For events that occurred during that period see Matthew 15:1-18:35, Mark 7:1-9:50 and Luke 9:18-50.</n> 


text:
So His brothers said to Him: “Leave here and go up into Judea so your disciples also <n>These would have to be dwellers in Judea who were not following Jesus around. Since His statement about eating His flesh, the number of hangers-on was drastically reduced, giving the impression that He was losing popularity in Galilee.</n> may see the works that you are doing,


text:
because no one does anything in secret while he actually wants to be in evidence. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world!”


text:
For not even His brothers were believing into Him. <n>Well now, those brothers weren’t very nice, were they? I take it that they knew very well that the hierarchy was plotting to kill Jesus (it seems to me obvious that the Jews had researched Jesus’ past and family, and had doubtless been working on His brothers), so they were trying to send Him to His death. With friends like that who needs enemies?</n> 


text:
So Jesus says to them: “<i> My</i> time isn’t here yet, but <i>your</i> time is always available. <n>I assume that He meant that they could repent and believe into Him at any time.</n> 


text:
The world can’t hate you, but does hate me, because I testify about it that its works are malignant. <n>If we raise the standard of biblical values in the public arena, calling a spade a spade, the world will hate us too—try it and see!</n> 


text:
You guys go up to this feast; I’m not going up yet <n>Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “yet” (as in NASB, TEV, RSV, etc.). The reading of the so-called ‘critical’ text has the effect of ascribing a falsehood to Jesus, since He did in fact go to the feast (and doubtless knew what He was going to do). Among the 99% are P66,75 and B—since the UBS editors usually attach the highest value to P75 and B, isn’t it strange that they reject them in this case?</n> to this feast, because my time has not yet fully come.”


text:
So upon saying these things to them He stayed on in Galilee. <n>That is, His brothers started out on their way to Jerusalem and Jesus stayed behind, for the moment.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus leaves Galilee—the last six months of His public ministry</i> Now when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He too went up, not openly but in secret like.


text:
And there was a lot of murmuring about Him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He is good”; others were saying, “On the contrary, he’s deceiving the people.”


text:
<i> Jesus teaches in the Temple</i> Now when the feast was already half over Jesus went up into the temple and started to teach.


text:
And the Jews were marveling saying, “How is this man learned, not having been educated?” <n>That is, He had never been to a recognized theological seminary, rabbinical school, or whatever. But He knew more than they did! (Which of course was hard for them to swallow.)</n> 


text:
So Jesus answered them and said: “What I teach is not mine, but His who sent me. <n>Jesus is evidently aware of what they are saying or thinking, since He addresses it.</n> 


text:
If anyone wants to do His will, <n>If we want to <b>do</b> we will know. The Lord didn’t say, if we just want to know—we have to be committed to obey before we know what the order is. Once we are committed to obey, it’s in God’s own interest to talk to us.</n> he will know concerning the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.


text:
Someone who speaks on his own is seeking his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him, <i>He</i> is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.


text:
<i> Moses versus the Jews</i> “Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law! Why do you want to kill me?”


text:
The crowd answered and said, “You <i>must</i> have a demon! Who wants to kill you?” <n>The ‘crowd’ is made up of common people who aren’t in the know with a sprinkling of Pharisee types, the bosses. Jesus is really addressing the bosses, but the common people don’t get it.</n> 


text:
<i> Consider</i> this: Moses gave you circumcision (not that it comes from Moses but from the patriarchs), <n>It started with Abraham, 430 years before Moses.</n> and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.


text:
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a whole man <n>The Lord seems to be contrasting circumcision, which involves only a small part of the body, with His healing, which involved the whole body.</n> well on the Sabbath? <n>Hey, the last healing on a Sabbath in Jerusalem, as recorded by John, happened a year and a half ago! In fact, none of the four Gospels records any activity by Jesus in Jerusalem during the year and a half since John 5. Jesus seems to be implying that they are still mad about that! In a memory contest between Pharisees and elephants the Pharisees would win hands down.</n> 


text:
<i> public opinion divided</i> Now some of the Jerusalemites were saying: “Isn’t this the man they’re wanting to kill?


text:
Yet look! He’s speaking openly and they’re saying nothing to Him. Could it be true that the rulers know that this is really the Christ?


text:
On the other hand, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ comes nobody knows where He is from.” <n>If no one could know where the Messiah came from, how come the rulers were able to tell Herod that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem? The people had bought into a false idea. Verses 25-27 presumably record bits from various speakers.</n> 


text:
So Jesus called out in the temple, teaching and saying: “You do know me, and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the One who sent me is true, whom you do not know.


text:
I <i>do</i> know Him because I am from Him, and <i>He</i> sent me.” <n>The Lord is very emphatic about His heavenly origin. Of course the Jews want to be rid of Him because He most definitely is not fitting into their scheme of things. I take it that there is divine intervention at work so they are not able to arrest Him.</n> 


text:
Now many of the crowd were believing into Him, and they were saying, “Whenever the Christ comes He won’t perform more signs than these which this man has done, will He?”


text:
The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about Him, so the Pharisees and the chief priests sent operatives to arrest Him.


text:
You will look for me and not find me; also, where I am <i>you</i> cannot come.” <n>“Where I am”—that’s what the Text says. I imagine that the idea is the same as in John 3:13, “who is in Heaven”. He has just said in verse 33 that He’s going back to Heaven. So, He’s telling those Jewish leaders that they can’t go to Heaven!</n> 


text:
So the Jews said among themselves: “Where does this fellow intend to go that we won’t find him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he?


text:
What word <i>is</i> this that he spoke, ‘You will look for me and not find me; also, where I am <i>you</i> cannot come’?”


text:
<i> the last day of the Feast</i> Now on the last and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood up and called out saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.


text:
The one believing into me, just as the Scripture has said, out from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” <n>Just where does the Scripture say this, and why “rivers” (pl.); wouldn’t one be enough? Reference Bibles will give a variety of suggestions, none of which really fit. I personally believe that the reference is to Ezekiel 47:1-12, and most especially to verse 9 where the Hebrew text has two rivers (or torrents). Living water takes life and health wherever it goes. The secret of that water is given in verse 12: “their water flows from the sanctuary” (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19).</n> 


text:
(Now He said this about the Spirit, whom those believing into Him were going to receive, in that the Holy Spirit had not yet been <i>given</i> because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)


text:
Others were saying, “This One is the Christ!” Others were saying, “Surely the Christ isn’t coming out of <i>Galilee</i> , is He?


text:
Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ comes out of the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” <n>I smell a rat. In verse 27 they claimed that no one knew where the Christ was coming from; now here they say it’s Bethlehem. I suspect that there were people planted in the crowd whose job it was to create confusion, and they felt no obligation to tell the truth.</n> 


text:
<i> the operatives are empty-handed</i> Then the operatives came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “<i> Why</i> haven’t you brought Him?”


text:
They answered and said to him: “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? Search and see that no prophet has ever arisen out of Galilee.” <n>A bit of an overstatement—Jonah was from Gath Hepher of Zebulon, north of Natsareth (2 Kings 14:25).</n> 


text:
So each one went to his own house. <n>Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts omit 7:53-8:11, including most of the early ones; but that means that 85% contain it, including the Latin tradition that dates from the 2nd century. Assuming (for the sake of the argument) that the passage is spurious, how could it ever have intruded here, and to such effect that it is attested by some 85% of the MSS? Let’s try to read the larger passage without these verses—we must go from 7:52 to 8:12 directly. Reviewing the context, the chief priests and Pharisees had sent officers to arrest Jesus, to no avail; a “discussion” ensues; Nicodemus makes a point, to which the Pharisees answer:(7:52) “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”(8:12) Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world . . . .”What is the antecedent of “them”, and what is the meaning of “again”? By the normal rules of grammar, if 7:53-8:11 is missing then “them” must refer to the “Pharisees” and “again” means that there has already been at least one prior exchange. But, 7:45 makes clear that Jesus <b>was not there</b> with the Pharisees. Thus, UBS [the ‘critical’ text] introduces an aberration. And yet, Metzger claims that the passage “interrupts the sequence of 7.52 and 8.12 ff.” (p. 220)! To look for the antecedents of 8:12 in 7:37-39 not only does despite to the syntax but also runs afoul of 8:13—“the Pharisees” respond to Jesus’ claim in verse 12, but “the Pharisees” are somewhere else, 7:45-52 (if the Pericope is absent).Metzger also claims that “the style and vocabulary of the pericope differ noticeably from the rest of the Fourth Gospel”—but, wouldn’t the native speakers of Greek at that time have been in a better position than modern critics to notice something like that? So how could they allow such an “extraneous” passage to be forced into the text? I submit that the evident answer is that they did not; it was there all the time. I also protest their use of brackets here. Since the editors clearly regard the passage to be spurious they should be consistent and delete it, as do NEB and Williams. That way the full extent of their error would be open for all to see. Unfortunately, NIV, NASB, NRSV, Berkeley and TEV also use brackets to question the legitimacy of this passage.But why was the story omitted? Leading church father and theologian, Augustine (about A.D. 430), answers: “Certain persons of little faith, or rather enemies of the true faith, fearing, I suppose, lest their wives should be given impunity in sinning, removed from their manuscripts the Lord’s acts of forgiveness toward the adulteress, as if He who said ‘sin no more’ had granted permission to sin.” (See Augustine, “Adulterous Marriages” [2.7] trans. by Charles T. Huegelmeyer, in <i>Saint Augustine: Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects</i> [New York: Fathers of the Church, 1955], p. 107.) [I took this material on Augustine from <i>Living Water: The Gospel of John—Logos 21 Version</i>, Absolutely Free Incorporated, p. 74.]</n> 


text:
<i> The Light of the world at work</i> Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. <n>There is a basic three-way split in the manuscript attestation for these twelve verses (7:53-8:11)—the three major groups represent three lines of transmission that are both ancient and independent. It follows that where two agree against one, the two presumably retain the original reading. In these verses there are 25 places where two groups agree against one, six others where 2½ agree against ½, and just one place where each of the three major groups has its own reading. It happens that one of the three groups is always in the majority (in the 31 places), so it is the only one that is always right in those 31 places—so in the one place where there is a three-way split I follow that group, because it has the best credibility quotient.</n> 


text:
And at dawn He went again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; so sitting down He started to teach them.


text:
<i> a dirty deal</i> Then the scribes and the Pharisees bring to Him a woman caught in adultery; and placing her in the center


text:
Now in our law Moses commanded that such women are to be stoned; <n>According to Leviticus 20:10 <b>both</b> the man and the woman were to be executed—so where is the man? This was obviously a put-up job; if they got her “in the act” the man was probably one of them. Those guys were dirty!</n> so what do <i>you</i> say?”


text:
They said this to test Him, so that they might have an accusation against Him. But stooping down <n>Recall that He is sitting, so He just bends forward so as to reach the ground.</n> Jesus began to write on the ground with His finger, taking no notice.


text:
 But since they kept on asking Him, straightening up He said to them, “Let the one without sin among you throw the first stone at her.”


text:
 And stooping down again He continued writing on the ground. <n>A small minority of the manuscripts completes the verse with “the sins of each one of them”. I, for one, would like to know what Jesus wrote, and I wouldn’t be surprised if He wrote just that, but I take it that John did not record that phrase.</n> 


text:
 Now upon hearing <i>this</i> , and being convicted by their conscience, they began to go out one by one, starting with the older ones down to the least. So only Jesus was left, with the woman in the center. <n>The center of what? The center of the crowd—the accusers had all left, but the crowd wasn’t going any place! They hadn’t seen a show like this for a long time!</n> 


text:
So straightening up, and not seeing anyone except the woman, Jesus said to her, “Where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”


text:
So she said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; <n>Jesus wasn’t even a witness, and it required at least two witnesses to condemn; so of course He couldn’t condemn her. But He makes clear that He doesn’t condone her behavior.</n> go, and from now on don’t sin any more.”


text:
<i> Jesus dialogs with the Pharisees</i> Then Jesus spoke to them again, <n>“Them” refers to the crowd, and “again” means that He resumes His teaching after having been so rudely interrupted. The interruption occupies verses 3-11, so we are referred back to verse 2.</n> saying, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows <i>me</i> will <i>not</i> walk around in the darkness, <n>“The darkness” = Satan’s kingdom.</n> but will have the light of the life.”


text:
Jesus answered and said to them: “Even though I testify about myself, my testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. <n>An interesting argument—why would His knowing His origin and destination validate His witness? I imagine that He is really referring to His identity; as God His witness is always valid.</n> But <i>you</i> do not know where I come from or where I am going.


text:
Yet even if I do judge, my judging is valid, in that I am not alone <i>in judging</i> , but I and the Father who sent me <i>are together</i> .


text:
Then they said to Him, “Where is your father?” <n>Their question is reasonable. Since Jesus is adducing His Father as a witness they want to know where they can find Him, to confirm the witness. But Jesus does not give a direct answer.</n> Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me you would also know my Father.”


text:
Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, while teaching in the temple; yet no one arrested Him, because His time had not yet come. <n>Supernatural intervention is implied.</n> 


text:
<i> “you will die in your sins”</i> Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where <i><b>I</b></i> am going you cannot come.” <n>I wonder if the Lord isn’t referring to two future stages, short and long range. Since there are still six months to go until His death, He will go away from Jerusalem (He divided those six months between Judea and Perea) and they will be looking for Him, to kill Him. That’s the short range. Long range—since they will not repent they will die lost and so not go to Heaven.</n> 


text:
So the Jews said, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” <n>But of course they could kill themselves too, and would die sooner or later in any case, so they would be together in Hades (on that hypothesis).</n> 


text:
He said to them: “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.


text:
That’s why I told you that you will die in your sins, because if you do not believe that I am, <n>Most versions supply a ‘He’, making the phrase “I am He”; but the Text just has “I am”. Any Jew would immediately think of Jehovah calling Himself ‘I am’. Having just said that He was from above, and not of this world, it seems to me clear that Jesus is claiming to be Jehovah—but they don’t want to get the point.</n> you will die in your sins.” <n>To “die in your sins” is to be spiritually lost. If they don’t recognize Him as the Messiah, they are lost. They have already seen more than enough evidence, but have rejected it; since Jesus knows that they aren’t going to turn around, He states that they are lost. (Here it is ‘sins’ [pl] while in verse 21 it is ‘sin’ [sg]; if a difference is intended I don’t know what it is.)</n> 


text:
So they said to Him, “Who <i>are</i> you?” And Jesus said to them: “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.


text:
I have many things to say and to judge about you, but He who sent me is true, and what I myself have heard from Him—these things I say to the world.” <n>Again, Jesus links His teaching directly to the Father.</n> 


text:
They did not understand that He was speaking to them about the Father. <n>But they should have—their blind spot may have been the result of supernatural interference. (In 5:17-18 they had already understood that He was making Himself equal with God.)</n> 


text:
Then Jesus said to them: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am <n>With the supernatural darkness from 12:00 to 3:00, the earthquake, and later the report of the guards at the tomb, they would know for sure that they had crucified the Messiah. But they would not (perhaps could not) repent. Their doom was sealed.</n> and that I do nothing from myself; but just as my Father has taught me, these things I speak.


text:
And the One who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, because I always do the things that please Him.” <n>Presumably if we always did the things that please the Father He wouldn’t leave us alone either. I suspect that when we choose to do wrong the Father lets us fend for ourselves.</n> 


text:
So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed Him: “If you abide in my word, you really are my disciples; <n>So what happens if we don’t abide in His Word? And how can you abide in something that doesn’t exist (for you)? There are still thousands of languages spoken in the world that do not have even one verse of the Bible translated into them. How can speakers of such languages be true disciples of Jesus?</n> 


text:
and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.” <n>Free from what? Free from self, free from sin.</n> 


text:
They answered and said to Him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?” <n>The ones who were believing were sprinkled throughout the crowd, but Jesus’ opponents were still in the front row. I assume from verse 37 that it is the opponents who speak here in verse 33.</n> 


text:
Jesus answered them: “I tell you most assuredly that everyone committing sin is a slave of sin. <n>Apart from Jesus Christ every human being is a slave of sin. The only way out is to become a slave of Jesus Christ. The only true freedom available in this life is through submission to Him.</n> 


text:
Now the slave does not remain in the household forever; the son does remain forever. <n>A son becomes part of the genealogical record, a slave does not. Some versions capitalize “Son” here (as in the next verse), but I take it that Jesus is making a generic statement. However, in vs. 36 it must be “Son”, because “make you free” is plural, referring to His hearers.</n> 


text:
I know that you are descendants of Abraham, but you are wanting to kill me because my word finds no place in you. <n>Their hearts were closed against His message. He was demanding a change of world view.</n> 


text:
On my part, I speak what I have observed with my Father, while on your part you do what you have observed with your father.” <n>Jesus has affirmed several times that He could observe the Father, but in what sense could the Jews observe Satan? Our Lord’s statement makes me curious. Perhaps the Jews were doing what they saw Satan doing (rather than seeing him physically).</n> 


text:
<i> “your father is the devil”</i> They answered and said to Him, “Our father is Abraham!” Jesus says to them: “If you were children of Abraham you would do the works of Abraham,


text:
but now you are wanting to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. This <i>sort of thing</i> Abraham did not do!


text:
You do the works of your father.” Then they said to Him, “<i> We</i> were not born of fornication; <n>The Jews had doubtless done exhaustive research on Jesus. They knew that He was born within six months after the wedding of Joseph and Mary, and that He was born full size. [Recall that Jesus had been rejected by the people of Natsareth, so there were plenty of people who would be happy to ‘spill the beans’.] Assuming, as they did, that the father was human, whether Joseph himself or someone else, Jesus would be the result of fornication. So they here throw that information in Jesus’ face.</n> we have one Father—God.” <n>Since Jesus has rejected their claim to Abraham, they now claim God!</n> 


text:
So Jesus said to them: “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came forth from God and I am here. <n>As John will write later, “he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20). So anyone who loved the Father (not having seen Him) would certainly love the Son who was physically present and visible.</n> Further, I have not come on my own, but <i>He</i> sent me.


text:
Why don’t you understand what I say?—because you are not able to <i>really</i> hear my word. <n>Their ‘father’ had blinded their minds (2 Corinthians 4:4). Those Jewish leaders were “sons of disobedience” if there ever were any, and Satan is actively at work in such people (Ephesians 2:2).</n> 


text:
You are of your father the devil, <n>1 John 3:8 makes clear that in fact Satan has lots of other ‘children’.</n> and it is the desires of your father that you want to do. <i>He</i> was a murderer <n>They want to murder Jesus, showing thereby that they are worthy sons of their father.</n> from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. <n>If there is no truth in Satan then I conclude that it is impossible for him to tell the whole, undistorted truth. He may tell a partial truth, etc., but always with the intent to deceive.</n> Whenever he speaks the lie he speaks from his own things, because he is a liar and the father of <i>lying</i> . <n>So whenever we tell a lie we are doing Satan’s thing. And whenever we accept a lie (like evolutionism, Marxism, Freudianism, humanism, relativism, etc.) we give Satan a foothold in our minds, which he usually turns into a stronghold.</n> 


text:
Which of you convicts me of sin? <n>I suppose that the point here is that if they could point to any sin in His life this would raise a question about His character, and therefore about His credibility. But since they can’t, His character is above question; so they should believe Him.</n> So if I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?


text:
The one who is of God hears God’s words; that’s why you do <i>not</i> hear, because you are not of God.”


text:
So the Jews answered and said to Him, “We say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon <n>A lot of people heard Jesus say that the leaders were not of God but of the devil. They didn’t want to swallow that in silence but they couldn’t refute Him either, so they resort to ‘ad hominum’ argument.</n> —are we wrong?”


text:
Jesus answered: “<i> <b>I</b></i> do not have a demon; rather, I honor my Father, while you dishonor me.


text:
Most assuredly I say to you, if anyone should keep my word he will never ever see death.” <n>The Lord is unusually emphatic here. He is evidently referring to spiritual death, but the Jews took it as referring to physical death. Notice that He said “keep my word”—again the emphasis is on commitment and obedience.</n> 


text:
<i> “before Abraham was, I AM”</i> So the Jews said to Him: “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died and so did the prophets; yet <i>you</i> say, ‘If anyone should keep my word he will never ever taste death’!


text:
Surely you aren’t greater than our father Abraham, who died? <n>Of course He was greater than Abraham, but they were wearing spiritual blinders.</n> And the prophets are dead. Who do you make yourself out to be?”


text:
Jesus answered: “If I glorify myself my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’. <n>They have been refusing to understand repeated hints, so here Jesus makes a flat statement: His Father is God, Jehovah.</n> 


text:
Yet you have not known Him, but I do know Him. And if I should say that I don’t know Him I would be a liar just like you (pl); <n>Their father is a liar; they are liars. Rather than being conciliatory, Jesus is definitely aggressive. If any of them are to be saved they have to start on the basis of abject surrender.</n> but I do know Him and I keep His word.


text:
Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see my day; <n>What day was that? I suppose He is referring to the time that He, Jehovah the Son (the Angel of Jehovah), paid Abraham a personal visit. From the Record it is clear that Abraham knew very well that he was talking with Jehovah. Don’t you know that was the highpoint in Abraham’s life! Hey, just stop and think about what happened.</n> yes, he saw it and rejoiced.”


text:
So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, <n>This statement intrigues me. Jesus was thirty-three, and they had researched His past, so why did they say ‘fifty’? Could it be that Jesus looked older than He was? I wonder if the heavy pressures of His life style and ministry did not take a toll on His physical body, making Him prematurely gray, as it were.</n> and you have seen Abraham?!”


text:
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM!” <n>Here Jesus is openly, unmistakably claiming to be Jehovah. They are obliged to get the point, and not wanting to acknowledge Him they pick up stones. At this point to argue, as some have done, that Jesus was merely a good, moral man won’t wash. Either He was God, as He claimed; or He was a charlatan, a megalomaniac; or He was demonized. The Jews at that time took the third option; I take the first.</n> 


text:
Then they picked up stones to throw at Him; <n>Since certain situations demanded a stoning, there were doubtless piles of ammunition placed strategically around the temple premises.</n> but Jesus was concealed <n>The familiar “hid Himself” is not the best rendering here. Jesus did not try to hide behind a pillar, or whatever. Obviously they would have seen Him and started stoning. He became invisible and simply walked out, passing right through the middle of them. About half a percent of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “going through the middle of them; yes, that’s how He got away” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The 99.5% are doubtless correct, and supply an important detail.</n> and went out of the temple, going through the middle of them; yes, that’s how He got away!


text:
And His disciples asked Him saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, in that he was born blind?” <n>Wait a minute—if being born blind was the result of the man’s own sin (as they suggest), when did he commit it? In any case, Jesus rejects their basic premise.</n> 


text:
Jesus answered: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but so that the works of God might be displayed in him. <n>Wow! Did you get that? Jesus is saying that it was part of the Plan—the man was born blind so that the Messiah could come along years later and give him sight. (Does that fit anywhere in your theology?)</n> 


text:
I <n>Perhaps half a percent of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “we” for “I” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Virtually the same handful of manuscripts also has “Him who sent us” (in this verse), but none of the versions mentioned goes along—a curious proceeding.</n> must accomplish the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.


text:
While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” <n>In Matthew 5:14 Jesus said to His disciples, “You are the light of the world”—so as long as we are here there is light, and so it isn’t night yet. We had better get on with accomplishing the Father’s works.</n> 


text:
<i> the man is healed</i> Upon saying these things He spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the blind man’s eyes. <n>How unhygienic! The dirt in the street or road would be mixed with manure and all sorts of other contaminants, and human saliva is worse than a dog’s. So why did Jesus do it? I don’t know. Apparently it was part of His game plan to use a variety of procedures. There are cultures today where the shamans use saliva to heal, and to them this incident is especially significant.</n> 


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


text:
Then the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind started saying, “Isn’t this the man who sat begging?”


text:
He answered and said: “A man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed, I saw!”


text:
(Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.) <n>7:37 says “the last day of the feast,” which was Tuesday, Oct. 17, 29 (I believe). Chapter 8 took place the next day, Wednesday. Here we are told that the healing of the blind man happened on a Saturday. Since we are still in Jerusalem (vs. 7—Siloam is there), it may well have been the first Saturday after the events of chapter 8.</n> 


text:
So once again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. So he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” <n>The man’s answer is almost rude in its brevity. I don’t think he liked the Pharisees.</n> 


text:
Then some of the Pharisees said, “This man can’t be from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” <n>Of course they were defining the terms—it was the rules they had imposed on the Sabbath that weren’t being kept.</n> Others were saying, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them.


text:
So they address the blind man again, “What do <i>you</i> say about him, in that he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” <n>He is being cautious. I conclude from the context that he believed Jesus to be the Messiah, but like his parents he was aware of the risk involved (v. 22).</n> 


text:
However the Jews did not believe concerning him that he was blind and received sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had received sight.


text:
And they asked them saying, “Is this your son, whom <i>you</i> say was born blind? How then does he now see?”


text:
but by what means he now sees we don’t know, or who opened his eyes <i>we</i> don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”


text:
His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, because the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ he would be barred from the synagogue.


text:
So they summoned the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, “Give glory to God! <i>We</i> know that this man is a sinner.”


text:
So <i>he</i> answered and said, “That He is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I <i>do</i> know, that having been blind I now see!” <n>Beautiful!</n> 


text:
So they said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” <n>The poor Jews are in a pickle. The fact of an extraordinary work of creation (giving sight where there never was any) won’t go away, yet they refuse to acknowledge the obvious explanation. [Sort of like the ‘scientists’ of our day who refuse to acknowledge the Creator.]</n> 


text:
He answered them: “I already told you and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? <i>You</i> don’t want to become His disciples too, do you?”


text:
They reviled him and said: “<i> You</i> are that fellow’s disciple, but <i>we</i> are Moses’ disciples.


text:
We know that God spoke to Moses; but this fellow—we don’t know where he’s from.” <n>Not precisely true.</n> 


text:
The man answered and said to them: “Why, this is remarkable—you don’t know where He is from; yet He opened my eyes!


text:
Now we know that God doesn’t listen to sinners; <n>He knew his Bible—Psalms 66:18.</n> but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, to him He listens.


text:
Since time began it was never heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. <n>Jesus had already restored sight to many blind people, but evidently this was the first instance of giving sight to one born blind, congenitally blind. No one challenged the man’s statement. The man’s argument here is very strong; irrefutable, in fact.</n> 


text:
They answered and said to him, “You were totally born in sins, and you are teaching <i>us</i> ?” And they expelled him. <n>The Pharisees here demonstrate their moral and intellectual bankruptcy. They couldn’t answer the man, he had bested them fair and square, so they resort to the cowardly tactic of expelling him. (“Totally born in sins”—like the disciples, the Pharisees figured there was a lot of sin involved, for the man to be born blind.)</n> 


text:
Jesus heard that they had expelled him, and finding him He said to him, “Do you believe into the Son of God?” <n>Less than 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “Man” instead of “God” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> 


text:
And Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see, and those who ‘see’ may become blind.” <n>The Lord makes a general statement: those without sight receive it; those with sight lose it. So what did He mean? I don’t know; it acts like a riddle.</n> 


text:
And some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words and said to Him, “<i> We</i> aren’t blind too, are we?”


text:
Jesus said to them, “If you were ‘blind’ you would not have sin. But now you say, ‘We see’, so your sin remains.” <n>The Pharisees were self-righteous, they claimed to have spiritual sight; so they wouldn’t acknowledge their sin, and so it remained. But how does being blind equal not having sin? Presumably He can’t be referring to physical blindness, since blind people do sin. But does being spiritually blind equal a passport to heaven? In that event we should leave the heathen alone—forget trans-cultural missions. But the Lord Himself commands us to go throughout the world, preaching the Gospel to every person. Perhaps the point is to acknowledge spiritual blindness and come to Jesus for light. Perhaps this line of thought gives us a handle on the ‘riddle’ inverse 39.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus the Shepherd a true shepherd</i> “Most assuredly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.


text:
But he who enters by the door is a shepherd <n>“A shepherd”—the fold was communal, so the sheep belonged to a variety of shepherds. That’s why each one had to call his own sheep by name (v. 3). The doorkeeper would know all the shepherds.</n> of the sheep.


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


text:
And whenever he takes out his own sheep he goes ahead of them, <n>He ‘leads’, not ‘drives’. Going out they need to be lead; only the shepherd knows where they are going.</n> and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.


text:
But they will <i>not</i> follow a stranger; rather they will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”


text:
<i> the Door</i> Then Jesus addressed them again: “Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.


text:
All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, <n>Although some 50% of the Greek manuscripts (also the three ancient versions) omit “before me”, we are virtually obliged to understand this, in any case, since presumably Jesus means pretending to be the Messiah. Gamaliel refers to two possible candidates in Acts 5:36-37.</n> but the sheep did not listen to them. <n>Any true servants of God, such as Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25-38), would not be taken in by an imposter.</n> 


text:
I am the door. If anyone enters <i>by me</i> , he will be saved, <n>Jesus is the doorway, the only means of access into eternal life, a truth He will emphasize again in John 14:6.</n> and will go in and out and find pasture. <n>What does a sheep want? Protection and pasture. These Jesus offers, but since people are more complex than sheep, He offers abundant life.</n> 


text:
The thief comes only in order to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. <n>The original thief is Satan. “The thief comes” VS “I have come”—since Jesus contrasts “the thief” with Himself, that thief is presumably Satan. Jesus calls him a murderer and liar in John 8:44. A thief is usually a liar as well, and vice versa.</n> I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.


text:
<i> the Good Shepherd</i> “I am the good shepherd. <n>Here Jesus changes the figure—as the good shepherd He really cares about the sheep, to the point of dying for them.</n> The good shepherd lays down his life on behalf of the sheep.


text:
But the hired man, not being the shepherd and not owning the sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep, and runs away; and the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.


text:
I also have other sheep, that are not of this fold; <n>“This fold” presumably refers to Israel, so the “other sheep” would be Gentiles. Paul develops this theme in Ephesians 2:11-22.</n> I must bring <i>them</i> also, and they will listen to my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd.


text:
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. <n>This is important! The cross did not kill Jesus; He dismissed His spirit—see John 19:30 and Matthew 27:50. In Mark 15:39 the loud shout followed immediately by death convinced the centurion. He had seen many crucifixions and was doubtless hardened to it. He knew that a person on a cross dies from asphyxiation. The weight of the body pushes the diaphragm against the lungs and you can’t breathe. Nailing the feet was a sadistic procedure that prolonged the agony—rather than die they would push against the nail to get a breath. Finally, when too weak to do that they would die for lack of air. (That’s why they broke the legs of the two thieves; they then died within a few minutes.) Obviously, if you are dying without air you can’t shout! The centurion knew that the cross hadn’t killed Jesus. But what mere human can just tell his spirit to leave? 2 + 2 = 4. Jesus had to be the Son of God.</n> I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This command I have received from my father.” <n>The whole procedure was part of the Plan. An ordinary human being can kill himself, all right, but cannot change his mind later and come back. To Jesus the Father gave the ability to re-unite spirit and body—presumably a unique occurrence.</n> 


text:
Others were saying, “These aren’t the sayings of someone who is demonized. A demon can’t open blind people’s eyes, can it?” <n>So they thought, but on the basis of what happens in Spiritist and Satanist circles, it appears that if a demon causes blindness (which they can), the same or a stronger one can remove it. </n> 


text:
<i> “My sheep hear my voice”</i> Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem; <n>Chapter 8 happened on Oct. 18, 29 (I think). Chapter 9 and 10:1-21 presumably happened shortly after. Here in 10:22 it is Dec. 17, 29—two months later. I suppose that Luke 10:1-14:24 occurred during those two months; which means that the seventy were sent out during the last six months of the Lord’s earthly ministry. Their target was interior Judea, in contrast to the twelve, whose target was Galilee.</n> and it was winter.


text:
And Jesus was walking about in the temple, <n>It was probably cold and He was walking to stay warm.</n> in Solomon’s porch.


text:
Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”


text:
Jesus answered them, “I did tell you, and you don’t believe. <n>Quite right. Their ‘suspense’ was pretended; they simply didn’t want to acknowledge Him. So they twist and squirm.</n> The works that I do in my Father’s name—these testify concerning me.


text:
But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep, just like I told you. <n>When was that? Probably two months before, as recorded earlier in this chapter.</n> 


text:
And I give them eternal life, and they will never ever be wasted; and no one will snatch them out of my hand. <n>Being snatched is one thing; jumping out is another. If you don’t want to go to Heaven, you won’t. Jesus puts it very plainly in John 15:6, “If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch . . .” ‘Abiding’ is up to us; we aren’t forced to do it. If we choose not to, we’re out.</n> 


text:
My Father, who has given <i>them</i> to me, is greater than all; <n>About 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts (with variations), of inferior quality, read “What my Father has given me is greater than all” (as in TEV, etc.).</n> and no one is able to snatch out of my Father’s hand.


text:
Therefore the Jews picked up stones <n>The temple courts were paved and presumably swept with some regularity. So how come there were stones lying around? I imagine there were piles of stones, of the right size and strategically placed, precisely for moments like this one. (If stoning serious offenders is an obligation, you need to be prepared.)</n> again to stone Him.


text:
Jesus answered them: “Many good works I have shown you from my father. For which one of them are you stoning me?”


text:
The Jews answered Him saying, “It’s not for a good work that we are stoning you, but for blasphemy; precisely because <i>you</i> , being a man, make yourself God!”


text:
Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? <n>The reference is to Ps. 82:6, where the speaker is God (v. 1). Jesus calls the Psalms ‘law’.</n> 


text:
If He called them ‘gods’ to whom the Word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken <n>The Lord inserts this as an aside, but it is an important statement in itself—Scripture cannot be broken. If we build our lives on God’s Word we have a secure foundation, one that cannot be shaken. (Your faith in that Word may be shaken, but not the Word itself.)</n> —


text:
do you say ‘You are blaspheming’ to the One the Father sanctified and sent into the world because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?


text:
But if I <i>am</i> doing <i>them</i> , even though you don’t believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him.” <n>The Lord is still appealing to them to repent, to change direction.</n> 


text:
So they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped from their hand. <n>See John 8:59 and Luke 4:30, where Jesus used supernatural means to avoid a premature death. Presumably this is a third instance.</n> 


text:
<i> The last three months</i> He went away again across the Jordan, to the place where John was baptizing at first; and He remained there.


text:
And many came to Him and said, “Though John didn’t perform any sign, everything John said about this man was true.”


text:
And many <i>of the people</i> there believed into Him. <n>We are back in Bithabara (see John 1:28). Although people came to John from all over, presumably the local residents, because of the convenience, would have made up a large percentage of the crowd. They heard John say, “Behold the Lamb of God!” This may be the first time that Jesus came back to this spot, and He may have stayed there for a bit. So they got their chance.</n> 


text:
<i> Lazarus of Bethany</i> <n>I take it that the events recorded in Luke 14:25-18:17, or most of the ministry in Perea, occurred between 10:42 and 11:1, here.</n> Now a certain man, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha, was sick.


text:
(It was the Mary who [later] <n>John is writing many years after the fact. Mary became identified by her famous deed, which actually took place several weeks after the raising of Lazarus, and is recorded in chapter 12.</n> anointed the Lord with myrrh and wiped His feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus was sick.)


text:
<i> Jesus lets Lazarus die on purpose</i> Upon hearing it Jesus said, “This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”


text:
(Now Jesus loved <n>Here the verb is <i>αγαπαω </i>; in verse 3 it is <i>φιλεω </i>.</n> Martha and her sister and Lazarus.)


text:
So, when He heard that he was sick He stayed where He was two more days! <n>And how long had it taken the messengers to find Him? Perhaps a day or two.</n> 


text:
Then after this He says to the disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” <n>They are in Perea, on the eastern side of the Jordan.</n> 


text:
The disciples say to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and you’re going back there?”


text:
Jesus answered: “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.


text:
But if anyone walks in the night he does stumble, because the light is not in him.” <n>”The light is not in him”—I take it that here in verse 10 Jesus refers to spiritual darkness and light, because no one has sunlight inside him. With God’s light inside, Jesus was not going to stumble, regardless of the time of day.</n> 


text:
Having said these things He says to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going in order to awaken him.”


text:
And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn’t there, so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” <n>“Let’s go to him”—would you say that about a corpse? Jesus knows what He’s going to do.</n> 


text:
Then Thomas (called Twin) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s us go too, so that we may die with Him.” <n>Thomas has received negative ‘press’, off and on, but his heart was in the right place.</n> 


text:
So when Jesus had come, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. <n>Four days—that seems like quite a bit. In verses 11 and 14 Jesus makes clear that Lazarus had died before He left Perea. Someone in a hurry could make the distance in one day. I can’t prove it, but I imagine that the events recorded in Luke 18:18-19:27 (and the parallel passages in Matthew and Mark) occurred between verses 16 & 17, here. Jesus probably spent a night at Zacchaeus’ house (see Luke 19:5), doing the climb (of over 3,000 vertical feet) from Jericho to Jerusalem the next morning. The Lord deliberately took His time, delayed His arrival.</n> 


text:
and many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.)


text:
Then Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, <n>Since Jesus stopped outside the village (v. 30), I wonder how Martha got the word. Perhaps Jesus sent one of the disciples, but there may have been a lookout watching the road.</n> went to meet Him; but Mary remained sitting at home. <n>Mary was quite possibly unhappy with Jesus. It was obvious that He had not come when called, or He would have arrived several days sooner. She would conclude that He just didn’t care that much. Since Jesus acted deliberately, it is clear that the Plan involved making the sisters go through that emotional suffering. We need to fix firmly in our minds that belonging to Jesus does not mean a free ride—we too may suffer precisely because of the outworking of God’s Plan. After all the discussion is over, we have two options: rebel or submit.</n> 


text:
<i> Martha</i> Then Martha said to Jesus: “Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.


text:
Jesus said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes into me, though he may die, will live;


text:
and everyone who both lives and believes into me will never ever die. <n>The verb ‘die’ in verse 25 refers to physical death, in verse 26 it refers to spiritual death.</n> Do you believe this?”


text:
She says to Him, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One coming into the world.”


text:
<i> Mary</i> Having said these things she went and called her sister Mary, saying privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling you!”


text:
Then the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, when they saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”)


text:
Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, upon seeing Him she fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here my brother wouldn’t have died!” <n>I see a significant contrast between the sisters. Both of them say the same thing, but in a different tone. Mary is given over to her grief, she has no hope. Martha goes on to declare her confidence in Jesus; she still has hope.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus is troubled</i> So when Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. <n>Why? What troubled Him? He would not be inconsistent with Himself and His commitment to the Father’s will, the Plan. Seeing Mary’s despair, perhaps He felt distress at the suffering the Plan was causing—He did not enjoy the fact that He was responsible for that suffering.</n> 


text:
Jesus wept. <n>The verb rendered ‘wept’ is really ‘shed tears’, different from the verb in verse 33, which is often associated with mourning. Jesus wasn’t mourning, knowing what He was about to do. So why did He weep? Perhaps He was empathizing with their grief. But I imagine that their hopeless perspective also troubled Him—their view of death was inadequate.</n> 


text:
But some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have also kept this one from dying?”


text:
Then, groaning within Himself again, Jesus arrived at the tomb.<i> Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead</i> It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.


text:
 Jesus says, “Remove the stone!” Martha, the sister of the deceased, says to Him, “Lord, he already stinks; it’s been four days!” <n>That’s just what she said. Hey, at that moment Martha wasn’t thinking about how it would read 2,000 years later! She reacted instinctively and blurted it out. Being a practical person she wanted to avoid further distress.</n> 


text:
 Jesus says to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” <n>When had He said that? The Text doesn’t say, but I imagine it was during their earlier conversation—to me it is obvious that they said more than is recorded. In any event, we have here an important declaration. Have you seen the glory of God lately?</n> 


text:
 Then they took away the stone from where the deceased was lying. Jesus raised His eyes and said: “Father, I thank You that You heard me. <n>He is saying in so many words that He and the Father had already talked about the plan of action.</n> 


text:
 <i>I</i> know that You always hear me, but I spoke for the sake of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that You sent me.” <n>He was talking out loud on purpose, so that the people around would hear what He said.</n> 


text:
 Upon saying these things He shouted with a loud voice, <n>That’s what the Text says. Of course to shout is to use a loud voice, so the point seems to be that He really put His lungs into it—you could have heard Him a mile away! Well, Lazarus heard Him in Hades, which is in the middle of the earth somewhere (Matthew 12:40, Eph. 4:9). Yes, but, couldn’t He have done it with a whisper? I suppose so. So why did He yell? I don’t know; I wasn’t there. However, there may have been some symbolism involved—the longer one is dead the harder it is to bring him back.</n> “Lazarus, come out!” <n>As someone has said, if the Lord hadn’t specified ‘Lazarus’ He might have emptied the graveyard!</n> 


text:
 And out the deceased came! Bound hand and foot with bandages, <n>He must have come jumping out like a kangaroo—with his feet tied he couldn’t walk. It must have been an interesting sight.</n> and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus says to them, “Loose him and let him go.” <n>Would you have wanted to be the first one to start untying? I bet it was Martha. Notice that Jesus didn’t do what they could do; removing the stone and unwrapping Lazarus was up to them.</n> 


text:
<i> the reaction</i> So many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed into Him.


text:
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council <n>There is no definite article with ‘council’, so I doubt that it was the full Sanhedrin; they would not want Nicodemus, or any others who were sympathetic to Jesus, to be there.</n> and said: “What can we do? Because this man performs many miraculous signs,


text:
if we let him <i>go on</i> like this everybody will believe into him; and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation!” <n>This was their ‘hidden agenda’. Jesus had more than substantiated His claim to be the Messiah, but they did not want the political consequences of installing Him.</n> 


text:
Nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us <n>For “us” perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, read “you” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV etc. [LB omits]). Since this is a prophecy, the difference is significant.</n> that one man should die on behalf of the people, rather than the whole nation perish!”


text:
(Now he did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die on behalf of the nation; <n>The ‘nation’ in question would be the Jewish nation. I find it interesting that God would choose to speak through Caiaphas. He was not the real high priest (who was Annas) but reflected a Roman imposition whereby the Jews had to name a new one every year, and that year it was Caiaphas. Maybe from God’s point of view Annas was worse.</n> 


text:
and not only on behalf of the nation, but also to gather into one all the scattered children of God.) <n>The actual terms of the prophecy seem to be limited to the one nation, so I take it that verse 52 is an added application offered by John.</n> 


text:
So from that day on they <i>really</i> plotted to kill Him. <n>They have been wanting to kill Him for some time, but at this point it becomes <b>top</b> priority.</n> 


text:
<i> A tactical withdrawal</i> Therefore Jesus no longer moved about openly among the Jews, but went away from there into the country near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and He stayed there with His disciples. <n>The time available was probably not more than two weeks, if that. It was a last bit of rest before the final storm, but the Lord doubtless took advantage of the opportunity to teach the disciples, without the distraction of the crowds.</n> 


text:
<i> The Passover is near</i> Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many from the country went up to Jerusalem before the Passover in order to purify themselves.


text:
So they were looking for Jesus, <n>I think this refers back to verse 53—it is the leaders who are conversing among themselves.</n> and as they stood in the temple they were saying to each other, “What do you think—that he won’t come to the feast at all?”


text:
Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had together issued an edict that if anyone knew where He was he should report it, so they could arrest Him.


text:
<i> The last week Mary anoints Jesus’ feet <n>This incident must not be confused with the one recorded in Matthew 26:6 and Mark 14:3. Here Mary anoints His feet on Saturday (March 30, 30), while in Matthew and Mark an unidentified woman anoints His head on Wednesday (April 3, 30). The houses are also different.</n> </i> Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was (the deceased whom He raised from the dead).


text:
So they gave a dinner for Him there—Martha was serving, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.


text:
Then Mary, bringing a pound of pure oil of nard, very costly, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped His feet with her hair! And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.


text:
<i> Judas has a problem</i> Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son (who was about to betray Him), said,


text:
“Why wasn’t this oil sold for 300 denarii <n>300 denarii represented one year’s wages for a working man (manual labor); it was indeed an expensive offering.</n> and given to the poor?”


text:
(Now he didn’t say this because the poor mattered to him, but because he was a thief and had the money-box; and used to pilfer what was put in it.) <n>This is an editorial comment offered after the fact. Obviously they all trusted Judas at the time or they wouldn’t have made him treasurer, and if he was caught the purse would go to someone else. In fact, John may have received this information by divine revelation.</n> 


text:
<i> Lazarus is a problem</i> Then a large crowd of the Jews learned that He was there; and they came, not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.


text:
<i> The Triumphal Entry</i> The next day a large crowd that had come to the feast, <n>If they had “come” to the feast, they were not local residents. As Matthew 21:10 makes clear, the locals didn’t know what was going on.</n> when they heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem,


text:
took branches from palm trees and went out to meet Him. And they started shouting: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD !” <n>This is a quote from Psalm 118:26, where “the Lord” is Jehovah.</n> “King of Israel!” <n>Comparing the parallel accounts, we get a better idea of the variety of expression: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Hosanna in the highest!” “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the LORD!” “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”</n> 


text:
(Now His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him, and they had done them to Him.) <n>Presumably the Holy Spirit was involved in this—John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 2:13. The ‘remembering’ would not necessarily have been immediate or automatic.</n> 


text:
So the crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.


text:
So the Pharisees said among themselves: “You can see that you’re not making any difference! Just look, the world has gone off after Him!”


text:
<i> Some Greeks</i> Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. <n>It is difficult to know just when this episode occurred; as I compare all four accounts, I doubt that it happened as part of the triumphal entry. It seems more likely to me that it happened the next day, after the cleansing of the temple. The atmosphere would be tense, and as non-Jews (even though converts to Judaism) they were keeping a low profile; so they act indirectly.</n> 


text:
So these men approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him saying, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” <n>They weren’t asking to look at Him from a distance; they could manage that without help. They wanted to talk with Him.</n> 


text:
Philip goes and tells Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. <n>The two men were brothers, but I get the impression that Andrew was the dominant one. Philip didn’t act on his own, and apparently it was Andrew who did the talking.</n> 


text:
But Jesus answered them saying: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. <n>The impression one gets is that Jesus did not address the Greeks directly, but I wonder if they didn’t sort of tag along and thus were within earshot. We know that the Lord could read thoughts, and so He would know what they really wanted—I assume that what they wanted did not fit in the Plan at that point. However, if the Greeks were within range, verses 24-26 would be for them just as much as for anyone else.</n> 


text:
Most assuredly I say to you, if a grain of wheat, having fallen into the ground, doesn’t die, it remains alone; <n>Once a seed is planted, if it doesn’t germinate it rots, and is wasted. How this applies to us is developed in the next verse.</n> but if it dies it bears a lot of fruit. <n>Jehovah the Son had ‘fallen to the ground’ some 34 years before, but now He was going to die—the ‘fruit’ is still being produced!</n> 


text:
The one ‘loving’ his life will waste it, and the one ‘hating’ his life, in this world, will preserve it into eternal life. <n>To understand what the Lord is saying here, let’s go to the parallel passage in Luke 9:23-25. “If anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross each day and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. For what will it profit a man to gain the whole world but waste or forfeit himself?” What does the Lord mean when He speaks of losing one’s “life”? One does not lose one’s soul for love of Christ. Nor is the reference to being killed. Rather, Jesus has in mind the life we live, the accumulated results of our living. All that I have done up to this moment plus all that I will yet do until overtaken by death or the rapture of the Church, whichever happens first—that is the “life” that is at risk (in my own case).Let’s look at our Lord’s words a little more closely. There seems to be a contradiction here—if you lose, you save; if you want to save, you lose. How can it work? The following context helps us out. In verse 26 Jesus explains verses 24-25 in terms of His second coming. The parallel passage, Matthew 16:27, is clearer. “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father, with His angels, and then He will repay each according to his deeds.” Christ was thinking of the day of reckoning. In other words, “we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10) and “each of us will give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive his due according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). I understand that 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 is referring to the same occasion, the day of reckoning. After declaring that Jesus Christ is the only foundation, Paul speaks of different materials that one might use in building on it: “gold, silver, precious stones” or “wood, hay, straw”. (Although the primary interpretation of this passage presumably has to do with the performance of teachers and leaders in the church, I believe it clearly applies to the daily life of each believer as well.) The point is, our deeds will be tested by fire. If fire has any effect upon gold or silver it is only to purify them, but its effect on hay and straw is devastating! Okay, so what?Let’s go back to the beginning. God created the human being for His glory; to reflect it and contribute to it. I suppose we may understand Psalm 19:1 and Isaiah 43:7 in this way, at least by extension. But Adam lost this capacity when he rebelled against God. For this reason the sentence that weighs against our race is that we “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But the Son came into the world to restore our lost potential. Ephesians 1:12 and 14 tell us that the object of the plan of salvation is “the praise of His glory” (see also 2 Corinthians 1:20). And 1 Corinthians 10:31 puts it into a <b>command</b>: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Now then, the point of all this is not to ‘ruin’ our lives, to take all the ‘fun’ out of them (as many seem to think). God isn’t being arrogant, unreasonable, too demanding. Quite the contrary—He is just trying to save us from throwing away our lives. Sure, because the glory of God is eternal (Psalm 104:31), and when I do something for His glory, that something is transformed and acquires eternal value—it becomes “gold, silver, precious stones”. Works done for the glory of God will go through the fire without harm. On the other hand, what is done with a view to our own ambitions and ideas is “straw”. We all know what fire does to straw!So there it is. To be a slave of Christ means to live with reference to the Kingdom; it means to do everything for the glory of God. In this way the slave “saves” his life because he will be building it with “gold and silver”, which will pass through the fire at the judgment seat of Christ without loss. In contrast, the believer who refuses to be a slave of Jesus builds his life with “hay and straw”, which will be consumed by the fire—and so he “loses” his life; he lived in vain; the potential that his life represented was wasted, thrown away. What a tragedy!</n> 


text:
If anyone would serve <i>me</i> , let him follow <i>me</i> ; and where <b><i> I</i> </b> am, <i>my</i> servant will be too. <n>If we want to be where Jesus is, we need to stick close to Him. (Well, you know, that’s really kind of obvious, but how many of us do it?)</n> Further, if anyone serves <i>me</i> , the Father will honor him. <n>Each underlined pronoun corresponds to an emphatic pronoun in the Original Text. What the Lord did here was quite unusual; in other places He emphasized one pronoun, but not five in a row, and especially with all five referring to Himself! So what was He trying to tell us? I take it that He is telling us to focus on HIM, his person and our relationship to Him. He needs to be <b>number one</b>, without competition. He is talking about total commitment, but not without recompense—“the Father will honor him.”</n> 


text:
<i> A Voice out of Heaven</i> “Now my soul is distressed, and what should I say—‘Father, rescue me from this hour’? But this is why I came to this hour—


text:
‘Father, glorify your name!’” Then a Voice came out of Heaven, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again!”


text:
So the crowd that was standing by and listening said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” <n>It seems clear that the bystanders did not hear the words, at least not to distinguish them; they heard the Voice, which must have been impressive (they compared it to thunder). A similar thing happened on the road to Damascus; only Paul understood the words.</n> 


text:
<i> Now</i> is the judgment of this world; <i>now</i> the ruler of this world will be thrown out. <n>“Thrown out” as ruler of this world; upon Christ’s victory through the cross and the resurrection Satan was deposed. Satan continues to carry on as if he were still the ruler, but he is acting on the basis of bluff and usurpation. If Christ is now the true and legitimate ruler of this world, why is Satan allowed to carry on? The Father is ‘seeking’ those who will worship Him in spirit and truth, not because it’s easy or convenient. So there has to be testing, there has to be an adverse context; so no one can claim that God is ‘buying votes’ (which was Satan’s allegation about Job).</n> 


text:
(Now He said this to indicate by what kind of death He was about to die.) <n>Again, although our Lord was literally ‘lifted up’, His intended meaning would not be immediately obvious to His hearers.</n> 


text:
The people answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah remains forever; and so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who <i>is</i> this Son of Man?” <n>I find it interesting that the people were evidently equating ‘Son of Man’ with the Messiah, which was precisely correct; but what Jesus was saying didn’t match their expectations.</n> 


text:
Then Jesus said to them: “The Light will be with you just a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness doesn’t overtake you; <n>Since most people did their traveling on foot, they would understand this principle very well—you need to make as much distance as you can while there is light.</n> the one who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going.


text:
While you have the Light, <n>Presumably He was referring to His physical presence among them.</n> believe into the Light, so that you may become sons of light.” <n>By believing into Jesus they would become ‘sons of light’—they would live according to the values of the Kingdom of light, not those of the Kingdom of darkness.</n> Jesus said these things, and going away He was hidden from them.


text:
<i> An editorial comment</i> Although He had performed so many signs in their presence, they were not believing into Him;


text:
so that the word spoken by Isaiah the prophet should be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what we heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD <i>really</i> been revealed?” <n>The reference is to Isaiah 53:1. Many years ago (over 40) I did an exegesis of this passage for my Hebrew professor at Dallas Seminary. The section really begins at 52:13—in verses 13-15 Jehovah describes the suffering of the Messiah. In verses 1-3 the people of Israel try to justify or explain why they rejected Him; you can almost hear them whine: “Who would have believed what was reported to us? And to whom has the arm of Jehovah <i>really</i> been revealed?” (They argue that the way in which the Messiah was presented was unexpected, unreasonable, unacceptable.) The word usually rendered ‘report’ (in v. 38), <i>ακοη </i>, refers to something you hear, not something you say.</n> 


text:
“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, <n>Both Matthew (13:15) and Paul (Acts 28:27) also quote Isaiah 6:10, and they agree with the LXX; they give the impression that the people did it to themselves, rather than being a judicial act of God. What is involved is a different vowel pointing for the consonants of the main verbs. Since the original text had no vowel pointing, and both sets of pointings are possible and legitimate, we are looking at an option of the translator or interpreter. I imagine that both sides of the ambiguity are true, much as in the case of Pharaoh—during the first five plagues he hardened his own heart, after that God hardened his heart.</n> lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their hearts and should turn around, and I would heal them.”


text:
Isaiah said these things when <n>Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, read “because” instead of “when” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).</n> he saw His glory <n>Wait a minute! Whom did Isaiah see? John is talking about Jesus, so when did Isaiah see Jesus? The quote in verse 40 is from Isaiah 6:10. The quoted words were spoken by Jehovah, verse 8, the One who was sitting on the throne, verse 1. In verse 5 Isaiah says of Him, “my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”. So John is affirming that the One on the throne was Jehovah the Son. I love it!</n> and spoke concerning Him.


text:
Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed into Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, so they wouldn’t be expelled from the synagogue; <n>To be barred from the synagogue was to be excommunicated, and in consequence to be socially ostracized.</n> 


text:
for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. <n>This is bothersome. In Matthew 10:32 the Lord Jesus said, “whoever confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in the heavens.” So what happens if you don’t confess? Like the rulers here who were ‘secret believers’. But in verse 33 the Lord goes on to say, “whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in the heavens.” Is there a difference between denying and keeping quiet? Proverbs 29:25 says, “the fear of man brings a snare.” Writing to the Laodicean church the glorified Christ said, “because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). If confessing is to be ‘hot’, and denying is to be ‘cold’, then keeping quiet is to be ‘lukewarm’. All in all it looks like the odds are in favor of confessing (see Luke 12:4-5). (See note at 5:44.)</n> 


text:
<i> The last public word</i> Jesus called out and said: “The one believing into me believes not into me but into Him who sent me.


text:
I, Light, <n>In verses 35 and 36 He has already referred to Himself as “the Light”—here there is no article, so I take it that He is emphasizing the quality inherent in the noun.</n> have come into the world so that everyone who believes into me will not remain in the darkness. <n>Again, ‘the darkness’ refers to Satan’s kingdom.</n> 


text:
Also, if someone hears my words and doesn’t believe, I don’t judge him; because I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. <n>This refers to His first advent. At His second advent He will indeed judge.</n> 


text:
The one who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken, that’s what will judge him on the last day; <n>“Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” If the Bible exists in your language and you know how to read (or you know someone who can read), then you could have learned Jesus’ sayings. Claiming that you didn’t know won’t hack it.</n> 


text:
because I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me, <i>He</i> gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.


text:
And I know that His command is eternal life. So whatever I say, I say it just like the Father told me.” <n>In John 5:19 Jesus affirms that he only did what He saw the Father do. Here He affirms that He only said what He heard the Father say. Although the Father and the Son are distinct persons, as Jesus repeatedly made clear, His identification with the Father was so complete that to see Him was to see the Father, to believe into Him was to believe into the Father (verses 44-45).</n> 


text:
<i> The last night</i> Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world He loved them to the end. <n>This appears to be a cover statement, introducing the rest of the book. What Jesus would do in the upper room, in the garden, on the cross, after the resurrection, were expressions of His love for His own. His love took Him through to ‘the end’, the last consequence—nothing was left undone. How could He return to the Father if He didn’t do all that had to be done? He had been sent to recover all that the first Adam had lost, and He did!</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus washes the disciples’ feet</i> And after supper <n>Less than 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, read ‘during’ supper (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), which confuses the account. There was an ordinary meal, and then the Passover ritual itself. The meal was basically over, but they couldn’t proceed with the ritual because they were ceremonially unclean—their feet hadn’t been washed (they were dirty from the dust of the road).</n> (the devil already having put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him), <n>This editorial aside seems to interrupt the flow of the narrative, but John does this sort of thing in other places as well. However, it furnishes important background information for verse 27.</n> 


text:
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into His hands, <n>The Plan depended on Him, was “in His hands”. For Him to know that He was “going to God” (end of vs.) meant that He knew He was going to win.</n> and that He had come from God and was going to God,


text:
He gets up from the meal and lays aside His garments, <n>The Text has ‘garments’, plural, so the rendering ‘robe’ doesn’t seem to fit. I gather that Jesus stripped down to a loincloth, or basic underclothing, which is what a servant might wear. Since He was about to perform the duty of a servant (that should have been there, but wasn’t), it was a graphic symbolism.</n> and taking a towel He tied it around Himself.


text:
Then He poured water into the basin <n>Yes, ‘the’ basin. When the Lord sent some disciples to prepare the room, they would not only have to be sure that there were thirteen couches, properly arranged [they did not sit on chairs, they reclined on couches, with their heads in toward the table, and so their feet would stick out—just right for washing], but also see to a basin, water and a towel, so that the necessary ceremonial washing could be performed. So this was ‘the’ basin that had been placed there on purpose.</n> and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel with which He was wrapped. <n>Normally there would have been a servant there to perform the duty of washing feet, but I assume that the Lord had given instructions not to have one. There was an ongoing dispute among them as to who was the greatest (Luke 22:24), so naturally none of them was prepared to take the place of the servant. They could eat the meal with dirty feet, as they did, but not the Passover. I imagine that the situation began to get uncomfortable—it was time to proceed with the ritual, but first someone had to wash feet, and no one was offering. So finally Jesus Himself gets up.</n> 


text:
<i> Simon Peter</i> So He comes to Simon Peter, and <i>he</i> <n>The pronoun is emphatic. The picture seems to be that Jesus had already done several pairs of feet, whose owners had submitted in silence. But now it’s Peter’s turn and he can’t take it (maybe he had a more tender conscience than the others).</n> says to Him, “Lord, <b><i> you</i> </b> wash <i>my</i> feet?!”


text:
Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you don’t understand now, but you will know [by experience] after this.” <n>The Lord makes an important distinction here—He advises Peter that he doesn’t understand what is going on, as Peter proves the next time he opens his mouth, but in the future his knowledge on this subject will have been gained by experience.</n> 


text:
Peter says to Him, “You will never <i>ever</i> wash my feet!!” <n>Peter loses it; his answer is totally without restraint.</n> Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”


text:
Simon Peter says to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” <n>Peter continues to demonstrate that he’s not understanding, but his heart’s in the right place. Faced with the possibility of being cut off from the Lord, he swings to the other extreme—now he wants a bath.</n> 


text:
Jesus says to him: “One who is bathed has no need except to wash his feet, but is clean all over. And you (pl) are clean, but not all of you.”


text:
<i> Jesus explains His action</i> So when Jesus had washed their feet and put His garments back on, He reclined again and said to them: “Do you know what I have done to you?


text:
Because I have given you an example, so that you also should do just as I did to you. <n>First, we have the physical example of washing feet—those communities that practice foot-washing have more basis for doing so than the rest of us have for not doing so (foot-washing can be an important spiritual exercise).Second, we have the spiritual reality behind the example. The crucial point is in verse 10, “One who is bathed has no need except to wash his feet.” Anyone who has been “washed in the blood of the Lamb” has had his bath. But walking on the paths of life we get our feet dirty, we sin, and sin breaks our fellowship with God—you can’t go into the living room with dirty feet. We need the blood of Christ for our daily cleansing, upon which depends our fellowship and communion with Him—as He said to Peter, “If I do not wash [not ‘bathe’] you, you have no part with me.” I regard Philippians 2:5-8 as a parallel passage: He took the form of a slave (v. 7), and His ‘work’ took Him to the cross, where He shed His blood, upon which both our salvation [bath] and daily walk [washing] depend.</n> 


text:
Most assuredly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his owner, neither is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.


text:
If you understand these things, you are blessed if you do them. <n>We have here a condition of fact—the Lord is assuming that they understand; it follows that it is not enough to understand—we must do, in order to be blessed.</n> 


text:
I do not speak concerning all of you—I know whom I chose. But let the Scripture be fulfilled: “The one eating bread with me lifted up his heel against me.” <n>The reference is to Psalm 41:9.</n> 


text:
I am telling you <i>now</i> before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am.


text:
Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives Him who sent me.”


text:
<i> The traitor is identified <n>This is the second time; for the first see Matthew 26:21-25, Mark 14:18-21 and Luke 22:21-23.</n> </i> Having said these things, Jesus was distressed in His spirit and testified saying, “Most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me!”


text:
So the disciples started looking at each other, at a loss as to whom He meant. <n>The way I used to think about Judas, I would have expected that the others would immediately suspect who it was, and start looking at him out of the corner of their eye. But no, they were clueless—no one thought of Judas! Which tells me that up to that moment he had conducted himself in an exemplary way; in fact, they trusted him so much that he was the treasurer.</n> 


text:
Now one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining beside Jesus’ bosom. <n>They were reclining on their sides, propped up on their left elbows (unless someone was left handed). So John was next to Jesus, with his back to Jesus’ bosom. In order to put his question, he leaned back until his shoulder touched Jesus’ chest (he would have to rest his weight there), and in that way he was looking up at Jesus.</n> 


text:
Jesus answers, “It is the one to whom I will give the piece of dunked bread.” And dunking the bread He gives it to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son.


text:
And after the sop, <i>then</i> Satan entered into him. <n>As we know from verse two, Satan had already planted the idea in Judas’ head/heart, but at this point he enters the man—Judas wasn’t just demonized, he was satanized! Evidently Satan required permission to do this, and giving the sop was the signal; Jesus gave him the go-ahead. Obviously Satan had to be there, in that upper room! (If he was in that upper room, why can’t he be in your church? Any Judases in your church?) I take it that Satan entered Judas to make sure that he would carry through with the plan.</n> Whereupon Jesus says to him, “What you’re doing, do quickly!” <n>Although to the disciples it would appear that Jesus was addressing Judas, I rather suspect that He was actually addressing Satan, since it was Satan who would now control the man’s thoughts. He orders him to get on with it; that’s right, Jesus gave Satan an order, and Satan obeyed.</n> 


text:
Since Judas had the moneybox, some supposed that Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.) <n>This is instructive—even though Jesus had just said that it was Judas, the others just couldn’t believe it.</n> 


text:
So having received the sop, immediately he went out. And it was night. <n>Commentators like to wax eloquent on this statement. It was literally night, perhaps about 9 p.m., but it was also spiritually ‘night’—Satan’s finest hour.</n> 


text:
<i> A new commandment</i> When he had gone out Jesus says: <n>The verb is in the present tense; I get the impression that as soon as the door clicked behind Judas the Lord started speaking.</n> “<i> Now</i> the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in Him.


text:
Since God has been glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him with Himself, and He will do so presently. <n>Actually, ‘do so’ stands for ‘glorify Him’, that is repeated from the previous clause.</n> 


text:
“Little children, I am with you <i>just</i> a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where <b><i> I</i> </b> am going you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.


text:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you <n>The Law says to love your neighbor as yourself; Grace says to love as Christ loves—clearly a higher standard!</n> —that you also love one another.


text:
<i> Jesus warns Peter <n>This is the first warning. The second is recorded in Luke 22:31-34, which I would place after John 16:15, toward the end of the proceedings in the upper room. Both the context and the content of the warning differ from John. The third warning, in two parts, is recorded in Matthew 26:31-35 (1st part) and Mark 14:27-31 (2nd part). The first two warnings happened in the upper room, the third after they had left it.</n> </i> Simon Peter says to Him, “Lord, where are you going?” <n>Peter didn’t hear the ‘new commandment’; he was stuck on the prior statement. (This sort of thing happens during sermons all the time. So if the preacher says something unexpected, he had better stop and explain or he loses his audience.)</n> Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but later you will follow me.” <n>I imagine that the Lord is referring to Hades, in the first instance (referring to physical death), but then also to Heaven. It is not part of the Plan for Peter to die just yet (in fact, he was delivered from prison in a supernatural way to avoid a premature death—Acts 12:6-11), but of course he will die and go to Heaven later on.</n> 


text:
Jesus answered him: “You will lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly I say to you, no rooster can crow until you have denied me three times!” <n>The emphasis here is on the obligatory absence of any cockcrow until Peter has denied [at least] three times. There is no definite article with ‘rooster’, so it is “a rooster”; the negative is double, therefore emphatic, “absolutely not”. If you have lived where there were a number of roosters, you know that one or another can sound off at any time, and some one of them will crow almost on the hour throughout the night, while at dawn they put on a chorus. It was probably somewhere around 9 p.m. when Jesus issued this warning, and Peter’s first denial probably happened at least five hours later. For not a single rooster to crow anywhere within earshot during that time required supernatural intervention—which is why I render “no rooster can crow” (if an angel can close lions’ mouths [Daniel 6:22], closing roosters’ beaks would be a cake walk).</n> 


text:
<i> The Way, the Truth, the Life</i> “Do not let your (pl) heart be distressed; you believe into God and you believe into me. <n>A Greek verb is ambiguous in the 2nd person plural between Indicative and Imperative, and since that form occurs in both clauses here, there are four possibilities—Ind. Ind., Ind. Imp., Imp. Ind., Imp. Imp. The choice is up to the translator, which is why you will find differences among the versions at this point. We have already been told, in John 6:64, that Jesus knew who didn’t believe; it follows that He also knew who did. He knew that the eleven believed, so it seems more likely to me that He spoke in the Indicative. He is appealing to them to be consistent with their belief.</n> 


text:
In my Father’s house are many dwellings <n>‘House’ and ‘dwelling’ translate different words. I suppose that “my Father’s house” is a synonym for Heaven.</n> (otherwise I would have told you). <n>You can find quite a variety of interpretations and translations of this clause. I assume that the Lord had certainly given them teaching on the subject of Heaven; He here assures them that if their expectations were false He would have warned them. I take it that over 95% of the Greek manuscripts do not have “that” introducing the next clause.</n> I am going away to prepare a place for you.


text:
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. <n>He wants us. We are important to Him. So much so that before He created our race, He had determined to pay the price for our redemption—1 Peter 1:19-20.</n> 


text:
<i> Thomas’ question</i> Thomas says to Him, “Lord, we <i>don’t</i> know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” <n>Peter wasn’t the only one who hadn’t figured it out.</n> 


text:
Jesus says to him: “<b><i> I</i> </b> am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one goes to the Father except through me. <n>Jesus answers both questions: He is the way, and He is going to the Father. The only way that any human being, including Adam and Eve and all the Old Testament saints, can go to the Father is on the basis of the shed blood of the Lamb of God.</n> 


text:
If you had known me, you would have known my Father as well; <n>The Lord is saying that up to that moment the disciples hadn’t really gotten the point—they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, all right, but didn’t understand the Messiah’s relationship to the Father. But as a result of the immediately coming events, culminating with the advent of the Holy Spirit, they will understand.</n> from now on you both know Him and have seen Him.”


text:
Jesus says to him: “Such a long time I’ve been with you, and you haven’t known me, Philip? <n>It sounds like Jesus is a little disappointed. They are slow pupils.</n> He who has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?


text:
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own; rather it is the Father who dwells in me who does the works. <n>Notice again the close connection between saying and doing—“I speak . . . the Father does”. If, like Jesus (John 12:49-50), we only speak what the Father says, He will act on the basis of our word too.</n> 


text:
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or else, believe me because of the works themselves. <n>This is basically the same appeal He had already made to the Pharisees.</n> 


text:
<i> “Greater works than these”</i> “Most assuredly I say to you, <n>“Most assuredly” is actually “amen, amen”—rendered “verily, verily” in the AV. Only John registers the word as repeated, in the other Gospels it is just “amen”. In the contemporary literature we have no example of anyone else using the word in this way. It seems that Jesus coined His own use, and the point seems to be to call attention to an important pronouncement: “Stop and listen!” Often it precedes a formal statement of doctrine or policy, as here.</n> the one believing into me, he too will do the works that I do; <n>This is a tremendous statement, and not a little disconcerting. Notice that the Lord said, “will do”; not ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’, ‘if you feel like it’; and certainly not ‘if the doctrine of your church permits it’! If you believe you <b>will do!</b> The verb ‘believe’ is in the present tense, 2nd person singular; if you (sg) are believing you will do; it follows that if you aren’t doing it’s because you aren’t believing. 2 + 2 = 4. Doing what? “The works that I do.” Well, Jesus preached the Gospel, He taught, He cast out demons, He healed all sorts and sizes of sickness and disease, He raised an occasional dead person, and He performed a variety of miracles (water to wine, walk on water, stop a storm instantaneously, transport a boat several miles instantaneously, multiply food, shrivel a tree—and He implied that the disciples should have stopped the storm and multiplied the food, and He stated that they could shrivel a tree [Peter actually took a few steps on water]). So how about us? The preaching and teaching we can handle, but what about the rest? I once heard the president of a certain Christian college affirm that this verse obviously couldn’t mean what it says because it isn’t happening! Well, in his own experience and in that of his associates I guess it isn’t. But many people today cast out demons and heal, and I personally know someone who has raised a dead person. Miracles are also happening. So how about me? And you?</n> in fact he will do greater works than these, <n>Well now, if we cast out demons, heal and perform miracles, isn’t that enough? Jesus wants more, He wants “greater things” than those just mentioned. Notice again that He said “will do”, not maybe, perhaps, or if your church permits. But what could be ‘greater’ than miracles? This can’t refer to modern technology because in that event such ‘greater things’ would not have been available to the believers during the first 1900 years. Note that the key is in the Lord’s final statement (in vs. 12), “because I am going to my Father”. Only if He won could He return to the Father, so He is here declaring His victory before the fact. It is on the basis of that victory that the ‘greater things’ can be performed. Just what are those ‘greater’ things?


text:
Further, whatever you (pl) may ask in my name, <n>In v. 12 the verb ‘will do’ is singular, both times, so it has to do with the individual. Here, ‘you may ask’ is plural, reminiscent of Matthew 18:19-20. To ask “in Jesus’ name” is to ask something Jesus would ask, or is asking (remember John 12:49-50)—notice that the purpose is to glorify the Father (or more precisely, that the Father be glorified in/through the Son), not to satisfy any selfish wish we may have.</n> that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.


text:
Also, <n>I take it that v. 16 is parallel to v. 13, and both are tied to v. 12.</n> I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, <n>Greek has two words for ‘another’, another of the same kind and another of a different kind. Here it is another of the same kind—being two members of the Trinity, the Son and the Holy Spirit are definitely of the ‘same’ kind!</n> so that He may stay with you throughout the age <n>Strictly, ‘into the age’; ‘age’ is singular, and for the meaning ‘forever’ we would expect the plural, ‘into the ages’. I doubt that the Lord is promising that the Holy Spirit will remain in us (see next verse) throughout eternity, just during this age. During this age we need the Holy Spirit in us to counteract the ‘flesh’ or fallen nature; in Heaven we will be free of all contaminants.</n> 


text:
—the Spirit of the Truth, <n>That’s what the Text says, ‘the’ Truth. The Holy Spirit represents the Truth, whereas Satan represents ‘the lie’ (John 8:44).</n> whom the world is unable to receive, <n>1 John 5:19 says that the whole world ‘lies in the wicked one’; Satan exercises control over it. The world is controlled by ‘the lie’ and thus is incapable of receiving the truth. Just try speaking out against relativism, humanism, abortion, homosexualism, materialism, permissiveness, etc. and see how the world reacts.</n> because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you <i>do</i> know Him, because He is staying with you and will be in you. <n>“Will be in you”, presumably a prophetic reference to Pentecost and after. During this age the Holy Spirit resides in the true believer.</n> 


text:
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you [shortly]. <n>I assume that the reference is to His appearances during forty days (Acts 1:3) after His resurrection. They saw Him die on Friday and saw Him alive on Sunday, so they weren’t ‘without’ Him very long. Pentecost was fifty days after Passover; the Ascension was at least forty days after the Resurrection; so the interval between Ascension and Pentecost was only 7-8 days. Indeed, He did not leave them orphans.</n> 


text:
In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live you also will live. <n>“I live”, present tense. As the I AM who is Life, at any moment throughout eternity (past or future) He can say, “I live”. As “the resurrection and the life” He can guarantee our future life.</n> 


text:
In that day <n>What ‘day’ is that? I assume that it refers back to v. 16, to the coming of the Helper. With the indwelling Holy Spirit they will have a better understanding of the relationships.</n> you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.


text:
The one who has my commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves me. Now the one who loves me will be loved by my Father; and I will love him, and reveal myself to him. <n>The Lord gives an important insight on spiritual growth, here: our love → our obedience → His love → His self revelation. Can you love someone you don’t know? Perhaps in theory, but not really. The more you know someone the more you love him/her (especially if they’re nice). As we come to know the Lord we grow to love Him, which translates into obedience, which leads Him to reveal Himself to us, which increases our knowledge of Him, which increases our love for Him, which increases our obedience, which increases His self revelation, which increases our knowledge, love, obedience, and so on. It is an upward spiral which takes us ever closer to Him.</n> 


text:
<i> Judas’ question</i> Judas (not the Iscariot) says to Him, “Lord, just how is it that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and <i>not</i> to the world?”


text:
Jesus answered and said to him: “If anyone loves me he will keep my word. So my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. <n>Like, wow—did you get that? We have always been taught (correctly) that the Holy Spirit indwells the true believer, but here the Lord says that the Father and the Son can be at home with us as well. That’s all three persons of the Trinity! There is a condition, however—we must keep Jesus’ word, which is really the Father’s (next verse). The indispensable evidence that we love God is to obey His word; this stimulates His love in return. There is evidently some sense in which we influence the manifestation of His love, at least. The answer to Judas’ question is that the ‘revealing’ is one on one, and is triggered by one’s obedience. So the world is out.</n> 


text:
The one who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words; <n>In v. 23 “my word’ is singular, here “my words” is plural; I take it that these phrases are being used interchangeably.</n> further, the word which you hear is not <i>mine</i> but the Father’s who sent me.


text:
<i> The Teacher, the peace; the Father, the enemy</i> “I have spoken these things to you while being with you.


text:
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, <i>He</i> will teach you all things and remind you of everything I said to you. <n>We understand that this activity of the Holy Spirit would be especially prominent during the writing of the Gospels. They complement but do not contradict one another.</n> 


text:
“Peace I leave with you, <i>my</i> peace I give to you; it’s not like the world gives that I give to you. <n>The world can offer peace of a sort, for a time, with a price tag, but it’s an illusion.</n> Do not let your heart be distressed or intimidated. <n>Satan will certainly use the world to try to intimidate and distress us, but how we react is up to us. We can decide to “let the peace of God rule in our hearts” (Col. 3:15).</n> 


text:
“You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming <i>back</i> to you.’ If you loved me you would have been glad that I said, ‘I am going to the Father’, because my Father is greater than I. <n>How does that work? Well, if you really love someone you are more concerned for their well-being than you are for your own. For Jesus to return to the Father would certainly be better for Him. (And because He sent the Holy Spirit it also became better for them and for us.)</n> 


text:
“I will no longer talk much with you, because the ruler of the world is approaching; <n>Like Jesus said a few hours later to the soldiers in the garden, “this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). Satan was ‘approaching’ to do his thing, to perform his part in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus (the ‘legal’ implications of which make an important subject in themselves).</n> actually, he has <i>nothing</i> in me. <n>This is <b>important</b>! Satan had absolutely no hold on Jesus. At no time had Jesus done anything that could give Satan a finger hold or toehold in His life. Whenever we sin we give Satan such a hold—and the oftener we repeat a given sin the stronger that hold becomes, until it becomes a stronghold. If we confess and reject the sin, such a hold can be broken, through the power of the Holy Spirit.</n> 


text:
Rather, I habitually do just as the Father commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. <n>Jesus proved His love for the Father by obeying Him, giving us the example.</n> “Get up, let’s leave here. <n>Some have concluded that they left the upper room at this moment, but I take it that 18:1 states that it was only at that point that they actually left. We must not interpret the Text according to ‘western’ culture; in Brazil (for example) it is bad form for a visitor to leave before at least two false starts. You start making noises at least half an hour before you actually have to leave. The disciples may well have stood up at that point, but I take it that chapters 15-17 still took place in that room—once they were out walking it would be difficult for all of them to hear Him, and I assume that the Lord certainly wanted all of them to hear clearly.</n> 


text:
<i> The true vine</i> “I am the vine, the true one, <n>There is emphasis on “true”, which implies a contrast with the false one. I suppose that Jesus may have been referring to Jeremiah 2:21: “Yet I had planted you [Israel, see v. 4] a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?” For a similar idea see Isaiah 5:1-7.</n> and my Father is the vinedresser.


text:
Any branch in me which does not produce fruit He lifts up, <n>The Greek verb here covers a considerable semantic area. The familiar ‘takes away’ is one of its basic meanings, but ‘lifts up’ is another of its meanings and makes better sense here (the cutting off comes in v. 6). People plant (or buy) vineyards because they want grapes, and you can’t have grapes without branches, so you don’t destroy them without reason. When it’s blossom time you go down the rows looking for any branches that the wind and rain have knocked down—a branch on the ground won’t produce.You lift them up, shake off the dirt and fasten them up, to give them a chance. I take it that’s the picture here—if we have fallen the Father picks us up, brushes us off and gives us another go. Of course if we never produce, then we’re suckers, and He goes ‘snip’ (v. 6).</n> and every one producing fruit He prunes, so that it may produce more fruit. <n>I understand that a given stretch of vine or branch only produces grapes once, it is only the new growth that produces grapes, so if you want to increase production you must cut the vine back.</n> 


text:
You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. <n>Jesus had been ‘pruning’ those disciples for two years or more.</n> 


text:
Abide in me and I in you. <n>From the way this is stated I conclude that although this ‘abiding’ is a two-way street, it actually depends on us. That is, as we abide in Him He will abide in us—He won’t stop first; only if we stop abiding in Him will He stop abiding in us.</n> Just as a branch is incapable of producing fruit by itself, except it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.


text:
“I am the vine, and you are the branches. The one who abides in me and I in him, he is the one who produces much fruit, because apart from me you are incapable of doing anything. <n>We seem to have a hard time getting this through our heads, but our Lord is very clear—all our activism is fruitless. If we wish to produce fruit for Christ’s Kingdom we <b>MUST</b> abide in Him.</n> 


text:
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown out, like a branch, and dries up; well they gather such and throw them into the fire, and he is burned up. <n>That’s what the Text says, ‘he’ is burned. The direct object of ‘gather’ and ‘throw’ is plural (referring to what normally happens to dead branches), but the subject of ‘be burned’ is singular. The ‘he’ must refer back to the beginning of the verse, to the one who does not abide in Christ. Few figures of speech fit in every detail. Of course an actual branch cannot just decide to jump out of its vine or tree; an outside force must cut or break it off. But we have volition—verbs like ‘abide’ or ‘remain’ clearly imply that the choice is up to us; we can indeed decide to leave our Vine, we can stop believing. Notice again the sequence of events, “if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown out”—a branch that is ‘abiding’ is not thrown; only if you choose to leave will you be thrown. I am a theologian (ThM) and am well aware that people tend to buy into a theological system, or doctrinal package, and they then impose that system on the Bible—if some passage doesn’t fit they do whatever damage may be necessary to that passage to make it ‘fit’. But I am also a linguist (PhD), and I know that human language is governed by rules—to disobey those rules is a form of lying, and God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), so if in interpreting the Bible you disobey those rules you make a liar out of God, which isn’t very smart! In this passage the Lord Jesus Christ gives instruction that is perfectly plain. If the Word of Christ says one thing and your doctrinal package says another, then you had better stop and think. Which holds more authority for you, which are you going to follow, the Word of Christ or your doctrinal package? If you choose the latter, you are an idolater—to place your church’s doctrine above the Word of God is a form of idolatry. Idolatry isn’t nice.</n> 


text:
If you abide in me and my sayings <n>The Greek word is <i>ρημα </i> not <i>λογος </i>, if a distinction is intended I suppose the emphasis here would be on the content of what He taught.</n> abide in you, you will ask whatever you desire and it will happen for you.


text:
My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit; and you will become disciples <i>to me</i> . <n>The pronoun is dative, not genitive, so to render ‘my’ disciples is not precise; since Jesus obviously could have used the genitive if that was what He wanted to say, then the choice of the dative is significant. In my own experience, not a few have said in my hearing that they were my disciples; I smiled and said ‘Thank you’, but seldom did I want to claim them (for varying reasons). I take it that here the Lord is saying that He will claim us as His disciples as we produce much fruit.</n> 


text:
<i> We love</i> “Just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you; <n>Wow!</n> abide in my love.


text:
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, <n>“Abide in my love” is a command, not an option, and the way we do it is by obeying Him. I take it that ‘my love’ refers to His loving us, so again He is saying that our obedience triggers the manifestation (at least) of His love, in an ongoing relationship. We have probably all heard of ‘unconditional love’, but I wonder if they really know what they’re talking about. It may be that God offers us His love without prior condition, but to enter into that love we have to believe into Jesus, which involves commitment on our part. Love that is not reciprocated becomes frustrated love.</n> just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.


text:
I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. <n>I take it that ‘my joy’ is not exactly the same as ‘your joy’. I can often tell when God is happy with me, and when He isn’t, and it’s directly tied to the level of my obedience. I take it that His joy remaining in us refers to His being happy with us; of course the only way our joy can be full is if He is indeed happy with us (because of our obedience).</n> 


text:
This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. <n>Comparing this command with verse 9 it appears that we are to love just like God loves! Help! How can we manage that? Well,maybe that’s why we need the Helper—only under the control of the Holy Spirit can I love as God does.</n> 


text:
No one has greater love than this, that someone should lay down his life for his friends. <n>That’s how Jesus proved His love for us.</n> 


text:
“I no longer call you slaves, because a slave doesn’t know what his owner is doing; rather I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I heard from my Father. <n>We can be ‘horses’ (Psalm 32:9), slaves or friends. A ‘horse’ is a Christian who does his own thing, who doesn’t listen to God—He has to use pain to get his attention. A slave listens, and obeys, but the owner doesn’t necessarily explain the big picture, the dream, the plan. With a friend you share your dream, the big idea. Jesus offers us the privilege of being friends, but there is one little detail—you can’t be a friend without being a slave! I take it that’s the point of verse 14.</n> 


text:
It wasn’t you who chose me but I who chose you, and I appointed you so that you should go and produce fruit, and that your fruit should endure, so that whatever you may ask the Father in my name He may give you.


text:
These things I command you so that you love one another. <n>I understand the Text to be saying that our loving one another is the intended result of the commands, not their content.</n> 


text:
If you were of the world, the world would be fond of its own. <n>The Greek verb is <i>φιλεω </i>, not <i>αγαπαω </i>. Actually, there is little, if any, <i>αγαπη </i> love in the world.</n> So because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, that’s why the world hates you. <n>If the world doesn’t hate you, perhaps you should stop and take stock. Why not? Are you just like them? Nothing about you challenges their lifestyle?</n> 


text:
Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his owner.’ <n>See Matthew 10:24.</n> If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.


text:
Now they will do all of these things to you because of my name, in that they do not know the One who sent me.


text:
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be having sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.


text:
If I hadn’t done among them the works that no one else has done, they would not be having sin; but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. <n>Presumably the Lord is not saying that they were sinless; I take it He is referring to a particular sin—they rejected the full light that He brought, and are now overtly hating Him and the Father. Before Jesus ministered among them, they claimed that they loved God, and maybe actually thought that they did, but the Light exposed what they really were.</n> 


text:
However, this was so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without cause.’ <n>This statement may be found in Psalm 35:19 and 69:4. Verses 9 and 21 of Psalm 69 are also applied to Christ in the NT. Notice that Jesus calls the book of Psalms ‘your law’.</n> 


text:
“Now when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of the Truth who proceeds from the Father, <i>He</i> will testify concerning me.


text:
And you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. <n>It is after the coming of the Helper that they will testify. In fact, they pretty much stayed in hiding until He came, but then they became bold as lions.</n> 


text:
“I have spoken these things to you to avoid your being caused to stumble <n>Suffering and persecution causes some Christians to doubt God, and even to rebel against Him, and Jesus doesn’t want that to happen to them.</n> 


text:
—they will excommunicate you; indeed, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering God service! <n>Like Saul of Tarsus—he thought he was serving God by persecuting the Christians (see Acts 23:1).</n> 


text:
Now I have told you these things so that when the time comes you may remember that I told you about them; I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you.


text:
<i> What the Helper will do</i> “Now then, I am going away to Him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’


text:
Nevertheless I am telling you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Helper will not come to you, but if I do go I will send Him to you. <n>Jesus could only be physically present in one place at a time. The Holy Spirit can be in all believers all around the world all the time—clearly to our advantage.</n> 


text:
first about sin, because they don’t believe into me; <n>Since to believe into Jesus is the only cure for sin, to reject Him is the ultimate sin—you lock yourself into the consequences = spiritual death.</n> 


text:
then about righteousness, because I am going away to my Father and you will no longer see me; <n>The resurrection was the proof that the Father accepted the sacrifice of the Lamb (Romans 4:25, he “was raised <b>because</b> of our justification”)—having committed no sin of His own, Jesus could pay for ours. If He had committed sin on His own, He could not return to the Father.</n> 


text:
then about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. <n>If the big cheese has been judged, then no one under him will escape.</n> 


text:
“I still have many things to say to you but you can’t bear it now. <n>We have no record that He told them those things during the 40 days before His Ascension, so it may have been left for the Spirit to do (v. 13).</n> 


text:
However, when He, the Spirit of the Truth, has come, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. <n>Whenever the Son spoke, it was really the Father speaking (12:50); the same is true of the Holy Spirit. The Trinity works together.</n> He will also communicate to you the things that are coming.


text:
All that the Father has is mine; <n>Wow!</n> that’s why I said that He takes from what is mine and will communicate it to you.


text:
<i> Sorrow to joy</i> “In just a little you won’t see me, and in another little you will see me, because I am going to the Father.”


text:
Then some of His disciples said among themselves “What is this that He’s telling us, ‘In just a little you won’t see me, and in another little you will see me,’ and because ‘I am going to the Father’?”


text:
So they said: “What is this ‘little’ that He mentions? We don’t know what He’s talking about.” <n>With hindsight it appears that the first ‘little’ referred to the less than 24 hours before His burial, when He would be hidden from view. The second ‘little’ would refer to the forty days between resurrection and ascension, during which they did indeed see Him.</n> 


text:
Well Jesus knew that they were wanting to question Him and said to them: “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘In just a little you won’t see me, and in another little you will see me’?


text:
Most assuredly I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become grieved, <n>This refers to the first ‘little’—upon His death they will <b>really</b> be grieved.</n> but your grief will be turned into joy. <n>This refers to the second ‘little’—upon His resurrection there will be joy.</n> 


text:
When a woman gives birth she has pain, because her time has come; but when the child is born she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.


text:
So in your turn you are now experiencing grief, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.


text:
In that day <n>Perhaps the ‘day’ here is different from the one in 14:20; and yet, even after seeing the risen Lord, they still got discouraged. By the sea shore Peter still asked Him a question, so maybe the ‘day’ is the same as in 14:20. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit that gave them joy that could not be stolen.</n> you will not question me about anything.” Most assuredly I say to you that whatever you ask the Father in my name He will give you.


text:
 Until now you have not asked anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.


text:
<i> figures of speech</i> “I have told you these things using figures of speech, but a time is coming when I will no longer talk to you with figures of speech; rather I will tell you plainly about the Father.


text:
In that day you will ask in my name; I do not say to you that I will request the Father on your behalf,


text:
because the Father Himself is fond of you, <n>The verb is <i>φιλεω </i>, not <i>αγαπαω </i>.</n> in that you have become fond of me and have believed that I came forth from God.


text:
I did come forth from the Father and have come into the world. I am leaving the world again <n>Jehovah the Son had visited this world many times during the O.T. period. During the 33+ years of incarnation He changed His abode (John 1:14).</n> and am going to the Father.”


text:
<i> Now</i> we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. <n>They seem to be implying that before He was confused and needed help; their questions made Him think things through, or some such thing. But now He finally got it sorted out! (If it weren’t so pitiful it would be humorous.)</n> By this we believe that you came forth from God.” <n>I frankly don’t understand the disciples’ reasoning here. How about all His miracles, etc. etc.?</n> 


text:
Listen, an hour is coming, actually it has already arrived, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and you will leave <i>me</i> alone. <n>It happened that very night.</n> Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.


text:
I have spoken these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; <n>Just so. Any system dominated by Satan will be oppressive, for everybody, but his special malice will be directed at those who serve Christ.</n> but take heart, I have conquered the world!” <n>Yes, amen! I take it that the ‘world’ here refers to the world system controlled by Satan. Jesus did indeed conquer it. He lived within that system for 33 years without ever succumbing to it, without ever being tainted by it. Since He conquered the world, we can too! So let’s take heart!</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus prays</i> Jesus spoke these things, <n>I take it that ‘these things’ is cataphoric, referring forward to the content of the prayer.</n> raising His eyes to Heaven and saying:<i> for Himself</i> “Father, the hour has come! Glorify Your Son, so that Your Son also may glorify You,


text:
 just as You gave Him authority over all humanity, so that He will give eternal life to all those whom You have given Him. <n>Here is a clear statement of divine participation in our salvation. The whole process is under the authority of the Father.</n> 


text:
 Now eternal life is this: that they may know You, <n>I take it that the reference here is to experiential knowledge. ‘Eternal life’ refers mainly to a quality of life (more than longevity), and that quality is defined by relationship with the Father. The person who conceives of God as a distant, detached authority figure doesn’t really know Him.</n> the only true God, and the One whom You sent—Jesus Christ. <n>This is the first recorded time that the Lord used this title, ‘Jesus Christ’ (in Matthew 16:20 there is ‘Jesus, the Christ’—as in over 95% of the Greek manuscripts). He did so when He could also say, “I have finished the work that You have given me to do” (next verse) (He still had a few hours to go, but is declaring His victory). In Acts and the epistles the title is very frequent—it affirms that Jesus is the Messiah. Also, what happens to those who only ‘know’ the Father, but not the Son?</n> 


text:
 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You have given me to do. <n>The older I get, finishing ‘the work You have given me to do’ looms larger and larger in my mind.</n> 


text:
 So now, Father, You glorify me by Your side with the glory that I had along with You before the world existed! <n>As it says in 1 Peter 1:19-20, the Lamb, with His blood shed, was foreknown before the foundation of the world. Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:10 and John 1:3, 10 make clear that the Son was the primary agent in the creation of this planet. So Jehovah the Son is both Creator and Lamb—before He created He knew that man would rebel and He Himself would have to pay the terrible ransom. From our Lord’s statement here I get the impression that as soon as the Son started dealing with this planet He gave up some of His glory. So now He’s asking to have it back. Ephesians 1:20-21 makes clear that the Father granted His request, the Son is back where He was before. And He took us with Him (Eph. 2:6)! Thank You, Lord!! Also, our Lord’s statement here goes against any ‘Gnostic’ type view that has Jesus beginning as an inferior being and working up through successive levels of perfection, or what have you.</n> 


text:
<i> for the Apostles</i> “I have revealed Your name <n>“Your name” = “You”; a person’s name represents that person. This is very clear in John 3:18. Jesus revealed the Father to the world.</n> to the men whom You have given me out of the world. They were <i>Yours</i> and You gave them to me, and they have kept Your word.


text:
because I have given them the sayings which You have given to me; and they have received and known for sure that I came forth from You, <n>Over and over again the Lord returns to the theme of their knowing and believing where He came from, His divine origin. So this must be important! Someone who doesn’t believe that Jesus is God cannot be a true Christian.</n> and they have believed that You sent me.


text:
I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given me, because they are yours.


text:
Now I am no longer in the world, yet these are in the world, and I am coming to You.” Holy Father, keep them in Your name which You have given to me, so that they may be one just as we are.


text:
 While I was with them in the world I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You gave me, and not one of them was lost except the son of perdition, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled. <n>This is perhaps the clearest of a very few passages in the Bible that might be said to indicate what has been called ‘double predestination’ or ‘preterition’, that is, that someone is predestined to be lost. In Hebrew usage (Jesus, a Jew among Jews, was presumably speaking Hebrew here) a ‘son’ of something is characterized by that something; so a ‘son of perdition’ is characterized by lostness; the Scripture in question would be part of the Old Testament and hence written long before the person was born.</n> 


text:
 But now I am coming to You, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have <i>my</i> joy made full in them. <n>Although He was addressing the Father, Jesus evidently did so out loud—precisely so that the disciples would hear, with a view to joy.</n> 


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


text:
I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. <n>“The evil one” is Satan. Satan got one of the twelve, but must not get any more of them.</n> 


text:
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. <n>He repeats what He just said in vs. 14, so it must be important. Jesus was not of this world because He literally came from Heaven, which could not be said of those disciples. But in the context of vs. 15 the reference is probably to the ‘world’ dominated by Satan, the system. Their allegiance is no longer to Satan’s system.</n> 


text:
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, <n>To ‘sanctify’ something to God means to separate/dedicate/consecrate it for His exclusive use. While on earth Jesus concentrated His attention and energies on a single goal, to execute the Plan, the Father’s will. To the extent that we pay attention to the Truth, we will do the same.</n> so that they also may be sanctified in truth.


text:
<i> for all believers</i> “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe into me through their word;


text:
that they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in me and I in You; that in Us they also may be one, so that the world may believe that You sent me.


text:
In fact, the glory that You gave to me I have given to them, <n>What ‘glory’ was that? In Romans 3:23 I imagine that the ‘glory’ of God has to do with His essence, His character. The new ‘man’ or nature that a regenerated person receives is related to that essence/character. It is that nature in common that makes us ‘one’. However, since most Christians seldom allow the new nature to control them, in practice we don’t see all that much unity.</n> so that they may be one just as We are one:


text:
I in them and You in me, so that they may be perfected into one; also so that the world may know that You sent me and have loved them just as You have loved me. <n>Tremendous!</n> 


text:
“Father, those whom You have given to me, I desire that they also may be with me where I am, so that they may observe <i>my</i> glory, which You have given me, because You loved me before the founding of the world.


text:
Righteous Father! Indeed the world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent me.


text:
Yes, I have made Your name known to them and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” <n>Here is the ‘spiral’ again; the more we know, the more we love, the more we obey, . . .</n> 


text:
<i> Betrayal and arrest</i> Having said these things Jesus went out with His disciples across the Kidron ravine, where there was a garden which He and His disciples entered.


text:
Now Judas, the one betraying Him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with His disciples.


text:
So Judas, having received the detachment <i>of soldiers</i> and operatives from the chief priests and Pharisees, he arrives there with lanterns, torches and weapons.


text:
<i> Jesus knocks the soldiers down with His word</i> Then Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to Him, went forward and said to them, “Who are you looking for?”


text:
They answered Him, “Jesus the Natsorean.” Jesus says to them, “I am he.” (Now Judas, His betrayer, was also standing with them.)


text:
So when He said to them, “I am he,” they went backward and fell to the ground. <n>Have you ever tried to imagine this scene? Try imagining that you are one those soldiers, and the person you’ve been sent to arrest knocks you down, just with his word! So are you going to want to try anything against him, really? Hey, I think I’d get up and run away as fast and as far as I could! I see two miracles here: 1) He knocked them down with His word; 2) He obliged them to stay there and get on with their job, because it was the appointed time for Him to be taken, tried and crucified. He made it perfectly clear that He was in control of the situation.</n> 


text:
Jesus answered: “I told you that I am he. So if it’s <i>me</i> you’re looking for, allow these men to go;”


text:
so that the word that He spoke might be fulfilled, “Of those you have given me I did not lose even one.” <n>I take it that the Iscariot had not been given to Him by the Father, at least in the sense of 17:6—“They were Yours and You gave them to me.” Presumably the Iscariot never belonged to the Father.</n> 


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


text:
So Jesus said to Peter: “Sheathe the sword! <n>We know from Luke 22:51 that Jesus healed the ear, or Peter could have been in trouble.</n> The cup that the Father has given me, must I not drink it?”


text:
<i> To Annas first</i> Then the detachment, the captain and the operatives of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.


text:
They took Him to Annas first, because he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, <n>The bigger reason was that Annas was the real high priest, according to the Law (the office of high priest was for life). He was the power behind the throne, so to say. Caiaphas was the political high priest, for purposes of dealing with Rome.</n> who was high priest that year. <n>A careful look at the parallel accounts makes clear that all of Peter’s denials took place at Caiaphas’ palace, as also all the recorded questionings, etc. So between verses 13 and 15 Jesus is taken to Caiaphas (see v. 24).</n> 


text:
(Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.)


text:
<i> Peter denies Jesus</i> Now Simon Peter kept following Jesus, as also the other disciple. Well that disciple was known to the high priest, <n>Annas is never referred to as the high priest by John, so this is Caiaphas.</n> so he went into the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus.


text:
But Peter was <i>left</i> standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper (f), and brought Peter in.


text:
So the servant girl, the doorkeeper, says to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” <n>Everyone there, including the girl, knows that John belongs to Jesus, so her question is perfectly natural, without malice—she assumes that Peter must also. Notice that Peter denies right in front of John! Don’t you know that John kept his eye on Peter from that moment on!</n> He says, “I am not!”


text:
Now the servants and operatives had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing there warming themselves. So Peter stood with them and warmed himself.


text:
<i> Caiaphas interrogates Jesus</i> Then the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching.


text:
Jesus answered him: “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in synagogue and temple, where the Jews always congregate, and I have spoken nothing in secret.


text:
Why do you question me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them. Sure, they know what I said.”


text:
But upon His saying these things one of the operatives standing by slapped Jesus saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”


text:
(Annas had sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.) <n>The eclectic text, following a very small minority of the Greek manuscripts, reads “then Annas sent . . .”, creating a conflict with the parallel passages (perhaps 1% read “but Annas sent/had sent . . .”). The use of parenthetical comments, or historical/cultural asides, is standard procedure for John; for a partial list see: 1:44, 2:6, 4:2,9,44, 6:4,64, 7:50, 9:14, 11:2,18-19,30-31, 12:1,6,16, 13:2,11,28-29 (there are at least a dozen more). I take it that verse 24 here is just one more instance; it’s as if at this point John realizes that the reader could think that the proceedings were still going on at Annas’ house.</n> 


text:
<i> Peter again</i> Well Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You aren’t one of His disciples too, are you?” <n>We don’t know what John was doing all this time, except that he was right there in that compound; I think it perfectly likely that he would talk to Peter from time to time. They knew that John was a disciple, but did not know Peter. Also, the windows of the house were doubtless open (no air conditioning), so they probably heard Caiaphas ask about His disciples. Actually, Luke 22:61 says Jesus turned and looked at Peter, so the window had to be open, and Jesus was near the window but with His back to it. Since Caiaphas was presumably facing Jesus he was also facing the open window and his voice would certainly carry out to the patio. Their question was not unreasonable.</n> So he denied it and said, “I am not!”


text:
One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had sliced, says, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?” <n>Now here we have a little malice; you can imagine the intonation in the man’s voice! Peter goes into a cold sweat. I bet he was wishing he was someplace else. (I wonder if he was still wearing his sword.)</n> 


text:
So Peter denied again, and immediately a rooster crowed. <n>In keeping with his usual procedure, John records three denials by Peter that are not mentioned by the other Evangelists, and I would say that the rooster crow here is the first of the two (Mark 14:68, 72). A close comparison of all the details surrounding the denials (who provoked it, in what terms, when, where, Peter’s response) shows that there had to be a minimum of six, more likely eight, denials—3/4 before the first rooster crow, 3/4 before the second. Peter was being satanized (Luke 22:31), and it took a look from the Lord to break the spell (Luke 22:61).</n> 


text:
<i> Crucifixion day Jesus taken to Pilate</i> Then they lead Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they would not be defiled but could eat the Passover. <n>Aren’t these guys cute? They are perpetrating a totally illegal and immoral plot, but they think they’re squeaky clean, no problem—but to set foot in the Praetorium, now that would be dirty! If your values are twisted, you are twisted.</n> 


text:
So Pilate went out to them <n>It seems to me obvious that the hierarchy had made a deal with Pilate; he was waiting. Hey, you don’t go marching up to the Governor’s headquarters at six a.m. and demand a hearing; and there’s no indication that Pilate came out in his pajamas. He was up, dressed and waiting.</n> and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”


text:
In reply they said to him, “If he were not an evil-doer we would not have handed him over to you.” <n>Their answer seems a bit petulant. I gather that the deal they thought they had with Pilate included that he would just take Jesus and condemn Him. Pilate’s attitude takes them by surprise.</n> 


text:
So Pilate said to them, “<i> You</i> take him and judge him according to your law.” So the Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to execute anyone.” <n>Pilate was rubbing salt in their wound, reminding them that they were a subjugated people—he knew they wanted to kill Him, so when he tells them to judge Him he forces them to acknowledge their subjugation. (Roman governors were probably not appointed on the basis of being nice.)</n> 


text:
This was to fulfill the statement that Jesus made, indicating what sort of death He was about to die. <n>Jesus had to die on a cross, but crucifixion was a Roman procedure, not Jewish—they would probably have stoned Him.</n> 


text:
<i> Pilate and Jesus</i> Then Pilate went back into the Praetorium, called Jesus and said to Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”


text:
Pilate answered Him: “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your own nation, that is, the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”


text:
Jesus answered: “<i> My</i> kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my subjects would fight so that I not be delivered to the Jews; but <i>now</i> my kingdom is not from here.” <n>But one day, probably quite soon now, it will be.</n> 


text:
So Pilate said to Him, “You <i>are</i> a king then?” Jesus answered: “As you say, I am a king; for this I was born. And for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone who is of the Truth hears my voice.”


text:
Pilate says to Him, “What is truth?” <n>Apparently the question was rhetorical; he didn’t wait for an answer.</n> <i>Barabbas</i> Upon saying this he went out to the Jews again and says to them: “I find no crime in him at all.” <n>Comparing John with Luke 23:4-12 it appears that between verses 38 and 39 here Jesus was sent to Herod.</n> 


text:
 “Now we <n>I here follow the best line of transmission, although representing only some 20% of the manuscripts. Upon reflection this reading looks correct—how could the Jews have a custom that placed an obligation on their conquerors?</n> have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover; so do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?”


text:
And the soldiers twisted a crown out of [poisonous] thorns and put it on His head; they also threw a purple robe around Him


text:
<i> “Behold the Man!”</i> Pilate then went out again and says to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no crime in him at all.” <n>Pilate’s reasoning is not obvious to me, unless the normal procedure would be to get on with the execution. But Pilate isn’t happy and is looking for a way out; he had received a message from his wife in the meantime (Matthew 27:19).</n> 


text:
Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe; and <i>Pilate</i> says to them, “Look at the man!”


text:
Well when the chief priests and the operatives saw Him they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!” Pilate says to them, “<b>You</b> take and crucify him, because I find no crime in him.”


text:
The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he made himself ‘Son of God’!”


text:
<i> Pilate and Jesus, again</i> Hey, when Pilate heard this statement he was more afraid than ever! <n>And not without reason. The conversation recorded in 18:33-37 would certainly have impressed Pilate and left him troubled. Then his wife added fuel to the fire. And now this. Pilate was not a religious type, presumably, but Jesus was impressive! Pilate was in over his head, and knew it.</n> 


text:
So back into the Praetorium he went and says to Jesus, “<b>Where</b> are you from?” But Jesus didn’t answer him.


text:
So Pilate says to Him: “Aren’t you speaking to <b><i> me</i> </b>? Don’t you know that I have authority to crucify you and authority to release you?”


text:
Jesus answered: “You would have no authority over me at all if it hadn’t been given to you from Above. <n>Pilate represented the Roman empire, the greatest temporal power at that time (whose ruler was supposedly divine), but Jesus calmly affirms that there is a higher power and that He represents that higher power—and Pilate believed Him! Pilate wanted no part of killing Jesus, and really tried to avoid it, but the Jews did an end run.</n> Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”


text:
<i> The Jews best Pilate</i> From that moment Pilate really tried to release Him; but the Jews kept shouting, saying: “If you release this fellow you are no friend of Caesar’s! Whoever makes himself a king is opposing Caesar!” <n>Tilt! The Jews got him where the hair was short! Pilate owed his position to Caesar’s good graces, and simply could not afford to do something that could be construed (even with a little twisting) as treason. He’s beaten and knows it.</n> 


text:
Well, upon hearing this statement Pilate led Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat, in a place called ‘Stone Pavement’, while in Hebrew ‘Gabatha’, <n>This action signaled that he had reached a decision and was about to give the verdict.</n> 


text:
(now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; <n>If the Jews were still preparing for the Passover, then Jesus and His disciples observed it a day early—which must have seemed strange to the disciples.</n> the hour was about six a.m.) <n>The Text says “the sixth hour”, which in Roman time is six a.m. If it were Jewish time it would be noon, which won’t work here. Actually it says ‘around’ or ‘about’ six—I assume that it was a little after the hour.</n> and he says to the Jews, “Look at your king!”


text:
But they shouted, “Out! Out! Crucify him!” Pilate says to them, “Shall I crucify your <i>king</i> ?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” <n>Ah, Pilate gets his pound of flesh. He doubtless knew a bit about Jewish culture and religion, including their messianic hopes. In effect the Jews here deny the Messiah—Caesar is their only king! Pilate rescued this bit of satisfaction out of a bad deal.</n> 


text:
So then he handed Him over to them to be crucified.<i> Jesus is crucified</i> So they took Jesus and lead Him away.


text:
 And carrying His cross He went out to the place called ‘Skull’, which in Hebrew is called ‘Golgotha’;


text:
 Now Pilate had also written a notice, and put it on the cross; and the inscription was: JESUS THE NATSOREAN THE KING OF THE JEWS.


text:
 So many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; further, it was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin! <n>Comparing the other Gospels, the full inscription was, ‘This is Jesus the Natsorean, the King of the Jews’. To put all of that in three languages would require a board of fair size. But why did Pilate use three languages? One would have been enough (it was customary to put the crime over the victim’s head). I take it that Pilate was <b>not</b> happy, having been bested by the Jews; and as I’ve said above, I think he was personally convinced that Jesus was a king. By putting ‘this is the king of the Jews’ he was making a statement, one that virtually any literate person would be able to read, given the three languages.</n> 


text:
 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but that the fellow said, ‘I am the king of the Jews’.”


text:
 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written!” <n>The chief priests have gotten all they’re going to get out of Pilate; he was making a statement, but he was also getting back at them a little bit.</n> 


text:
<i> Psalm 22:18 is fulfilled</i> Now when the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took His clothes and made four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took His tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.


text:
So they said among themselves, “Let’s not rip it, but toss for it, <i>to see</i> whose it will be,” so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast a lot.” That’s why the soldiers did these things. <n>John seems to be affirming a cause/effect relationship. The centurion could have claimed the tunic, or whatever, but casting a lot had been prophesied.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus provides for His mother</i> Now Jesus’ mother and her sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing by His cross.


text:
So Jesus, seeing His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He says to His mother, “Woman, there is your son!”


text:
Then He says to the disciple, “There is your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. <n>Notice that Jesus is still perfectly lucid. As Mary’s oldest son, He was responsible for her well-being (we understand that Joseph was gone by now), so He passes that responsibility over to the Apostle John; and John accepts it.</n> 


text:
<i> The shout of victory</i> After this, knowing that everything was now accomplished so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus says, “I’m thirsty!”


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


text:
Then, when He had received <n>From the word ‘received’ it appears that He did swallow some. Since sour wine was not used at the Passover, this does not conflict with the Lord’s statement in the upper room (Matthew 26:29) that He would not drink of “this product of the vine”. All four Evangelists mention the sour wine. There was evidently a pot/vessel full of it (the soldiers were in for many hours of vigil and that was what they drank). The mocking offer mentioned in Luke 23:36 happened before the darkness; the other three accounts after. The offer recorded in Matthew 27:48 and Mark 15:36 was triggered by Jesus’ cry, “My God, my God, . . .” The one in John 19:29-30 by His saying, “I’m thirsty.” I venture to suggest that there was an interval between His despairing cry and His statement—after the cry He may have lapsed back into silence for a bit; He was trying to make contact with the Father. It may be that the sour wine sort of ‘wet His whistle’ so He could let out His shout of victory.</n> the sour wine, Jesus said, “Paid in full!!” <n>Matthew, Mark and Luke all affirm that Jesus gave a great shout, but without giving the content. I take it that John supplies that information, although he doesn’t mention that it was a shout. “<i>Τετελεσται </i>”—that was what they wrote on bills and promissory notes when they were paid off = ‘paid in full’. When something is shouted the individual sounds can be distorted, but John was right there and could read His lips, if necessary. It was a shout of victory: “We did it!” “Finished!” “Paid in full!”</n> And bowing His head He dismissed His spirit. <n>That’s right—the cross didn’t kill Jesus, He just told His spirit to leave. In John 10:17-18 he was very clear: no one could take His life from Him, but He could lay it down (please see the note at John 10:18).</n> 


text:
<i> A soldier spears His side</i> Now then, because it was Preparation Day, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews requested Pilate that their legs might be broken and they be removed.


text:
Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with Him.


text:
And the one who saw has testified, <n>John, the author of this Gospel, was right there (verses 25-26), so he could see very clearly what came out of Jesus’ side—that the blood had separated was a clear sign of physical death. (I guess we don’t need to know, really, just how the separation came about, whether by purely natural processes or with supernatural intervention; in any case John is emphatic about what he saw.)</n> and his testimony is true (yes, he knows he is telling the truth), so that you may believe.


text:
Because these things happened so that the Scripture should be fulfilled: “Not a bone of His will be broken.”


text:
<i> Jesus is buried</i> After these things Joseph, the one from Arimathea (being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews), requested Pilate that he might remove the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave permission. So he came and removed Jesus’ body.


text:
Now Nicodemus also came (the one who at first came to Jesus by night), bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. <n>Do you suppose they just ‘happened’ to have a hundred pounds of expensive spices lying around? Almost certainly everything had been prepared before hand, including the tomb, on purpose. These men had doubtless received specific instructions and were waiting in the wings to perform their part.</n> 


text:
Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen strips, with the aromatic spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.


text:
Now at the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. <n>Isaiah 53:9 affirms that the Messiah would have a rich man’s burial, and He did—a brand new tomb (rather large), and a hundred pounds of expensive spices. The body of an executed criminal would normally be treated ignominiously, and I imagine that was what the high priests intended, but the Father made sure that the Son received an honorable burial.</n> 


text:
<i> Resurrection Day The empty tomb</i> Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, while it’s still dark, and sees that the stone has been removed from the tomb.


text:
So she runs and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we <n>“we”—presumably Magdalene is referring to the other women who were with her, as in the parallel accounts.</n> don’t know where they put Him!” <n>Pure supposition—she had not looked in the tomb; she jumped to a conclusion.</n> 


text:
Well the two started running together, and the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first.


text:
Then following him comes Simon Peter and went into the tomb; and he sees the linen strips lying there,


text:
and the facecloth that had been on His head not lying with the linen strips, but folded up in a separate place.


text:
<i> John sees and believes</i> So then the other disciple went in too, the one who got to the tomb first; and he saw and believed. <n>What did John ‘see’ that made him ‘believe’? He saw the linen strips ‘lying’, that is, in the form of the body, only there was no body inside them! If someone had stolen the body, as Magdalene supposed, they would have taken the wrapped package (much easier to carry) and there would have been no linen strips. If someone had unwrapped the body there would have been a mound of linen strips and spices piled up (how much cloth would it take to wrap up a hundred pounds of spices?). No, Jesus simply passed through the cloth, as He would later pass through the wall, leaving the package like a mummy or empty cocoon. When John saw that he understood that the only possible explanation was resurrection.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus appears first to Magdalene</i> Well Mary stood outside at the tomb, crying. <n>When the disciples took off running, of course Magdalene followed them back to the tomb. But she was winded, and could not keep up with them (actually, in that culture women probably seldom ran, so she would really be out of breath, but she was not about to be left out of the action, either). The Jerusalem at that time probably covered a relatively small area; it was probably no more than half a mile from the house to the tomb, if that, so she may have arrived as they were leaving; if not they would pass her on the road.</n> Then, while she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb.


text:
And she sees two angels <n>How did John know they were angels? He had just been there and knew there were no human beings around (the guards were presumably gone before the two got there). The angels were in white, but probably not shining, or Magdalene would have been shaken out of her despair. She was so locked in to her sorrow that not even seeing the wrappings collapsed without the body sank in.</n> in white, sitting one at the head and one at the feet of where the body of Jesus had lain.


text:
And they say to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She says to them, “Because they removed my Lord, and I don’t know where they put Him.”


text:
And upon saying this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, yet didn’t know that it was Jesus.


text:
Jesus says to her: “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing that He was the gardener, says to Him, “Sir, if you carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will remove Him.”


text:
Jesus says to her: “Stop clinging to me, <n>That’s what the Text says. I take it that Magdalene was an emotive person, capable of sudden ‘ups’ and ‘downs’. From the way the Lord pronounced her name she knew who it was; from deep sorrow she swings to a transport of joy and impulsively throws her arms around Him. Hey, she is <b>not</b> thinking of how this is going to read 2000 years later; in fact, she’s not thinking at all, just feeling.</n> for I have not yet ascended to my Father; <n>The causal connection here seems difficult to us—what did His not having ascended have to do with it? Various suggestions have been offered. My guess is as follows: Magdalene had not heard the teaching in the Upper Room, more precisely, John 16:7. “I am telling you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Helper will not come to you, but if I go I will send Him to you.” She had just gotten her Master back and was not about to turn Him loose—she was feeling, not thinking. But Jesus had to ascend so He could send the Helper, which would be better for everybody. She wants to hang on to Him, but He tells her to stop; the old relationships are gone, everything is now new. (Within a very few minutes He will allow the other women to hold His feet, so mere physical contact is not the problem; in fact, He will later invite the disciples to touch Him.)</n> but go to my brothers <n>He doesn’t just reprimand her, He gives her something to do. But just who are the “brothers”? Since the angel had told the other women to tell the disciples, I am inclined to imagine that the Lord sends her to His half brothers.</n> and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father—my God and your God.’”


text:
Mary Magdalene goes to the disciples, reporting that she had seen the Lord and He had said these things to her.


text:
<i> Disciples commissioned</i> Then at evening on that first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle, and He says to them, “Peace to you!”


text:
And upon saying this He showed them His hands and His side. Well, the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord!


text:
So Jesus said to them again: “Peace to you! <n>This is what He said “again”, having already said it (vs. 19).</n> Just as the Father sent me, I also send you.” <n>This is tremendous! In my own experience (as a missionary, son of missionaries), I have seldom heard a missionary challenge based on John 20:21. The champion is Matthew 28:19-20, ‘the great commission’, followed by Mark 16:15 and perhaps Acts 1:8; but John 20:21? “Just as . . . so also”—Jesus is sending us just like the Father sent Him. So how did They do it? The Father determined and the Son obeyed: “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7). And what was that will? To destroy Satan (Hebrews 2:14) and undo his works (1 John 3:8). Since Jesus did indeed defeat Satan (Col 2:15, Eph. 1:20-21, etc.) what is left for us is the undoing of his works.</n> 


text:
Upon saying this He breathed on them and said: “Receive Holy Spirit! <n>There is no definite article with “Holy Spirit” and I hesitate to add it. Perhaps we should try thinking of ‘Holy Spirit’ as a proper name.</n> 


text:
To whomever you forgive the sins, <n>This is a literal rendering, but I hesitate to change it. The primary reference is presumably to the sins of that person, but it is sometimes necessary to pronounce forgiveness for sins of past generations (see 2 Sam. 21:1-14).</n> they are forgiven to them; to whomever you retain, they have been retained.” <n>That’s what the Text says, “have been”. The idea seems to be that sins are already retained (as soon as a sin is committed it is on the account); Jesus gives them the prerogative to change that situation, undoing the retaining, as it were.</n> 


text:
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the nail prints in His hands and put my finger into the nail prints, and put my hand into His side, I will <b><i> not</i> </b> believe!” <n>Thomas is very emphatic. Jesus is dead and his hopes are too!</n> 


text:
Well after eight days <n>Their method of calculation included the day from which the count was made, so this is the next Sunday.</n> His disciples were inside again, and Thomas with them. The doors were locked [again]; Jesus came and stood in the middle, and said, “Peace to you!”


text:
Then He says to Thomas: “Bring your finger here and perceive my hands; bring your hand and put it into my side; <n>Since Jesus hadn’t been there to hear Thomas, how did He know what he had said? We know the answer, but it delivered a knock-out punch to Thomas. Evidently he did not try to touch Jesus, but without further ado said, “My Lord and my God!”</n> don’t be unbelieving but believing!”


text:
Jesus says to him: “Because you have observed me, you have believed. Blessed are those who believe without seeing!” <n>This blessing includes us.</n> 


text:
<i> Why this book</i> Now then, Jesus actually performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, that are not written in this book;


text:
but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life through His Name.


text:
<i> Epilogue Breakfast on the beach</i> After these things Jesus, risen from the dead, revealed Himself to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He did it like this:


text:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called Twin), Nathanael (from Cana of Galilee), Zebedee’s sons <n>Recall that they were James and John (the author of this Gospel).</n> and two others of His disciples were together.


text:
Simon Peter says to them, “I’m going fishing.” They say to him, “We’re coming with you.” Off they went and got right into the boat, and that whole night they caught nothing.


text:
Well when daybreak had now come Jesus stood on the beach; however the disciples didn’t know that it was Jesus.


text:
Then Jesus says to them, “Boys, you don’t have any food, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” <n>You can bet they’re not feeling like making small talk.</n> 


text:
So He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find.” So they did, <n>I find it interesting that they apparently obeyed without question—there was something about that voice.</n> and now they were unable to haul it in because of the multitude of fish!


text:
Then that disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” Upon hearing that it was the Lord, Simon Peter tied on his outer garment (for he was stripped) and plunged into the sea.


text:
But the other disciples came in the little boat dragging the net with the fish (for they were not far from the land, but about 100 yards).


text:
Then, as they stepped onto the land they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish lying on it, and bread.


text:
Simon Peter got up <n>That’s what the Text says. Well, what do you suppose he did when he got to land, since he obviously got there well before the others. From verse 12 I gather that Peter hadn’t ventured to speak. He’s wet and therefore cold, and there’s a fire. I bet he went straight to the fire and squatted down to warm himself, but he’s too embarrassed to attempt a conversation. So he welcomes a chance to do something and jumps up when Jesus asks for fish.</n> and dragged the net onto the land, full of one hundred and fifty-three large fish [!]; and <i>although</i> being so many, the net was not torn. <n>Like, wow! They were evidently special fish, all large. But why 153? I don’t know. The whole thing is supernatural, including the net not tearing.</n> 


text:
Jesus says to them, “Come have breakfast!” Well not one of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are you?”—knowing that it was the Lord.


text:
This was already a third time <n>This would presumably be the first appearance in Galilee.</n> that Jesus appeared to His disciples after He was raised from among the dead.


text:
<i> Jesus reinstates Peter</i> So, when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” <n>My first impression was that Jesus asked if Peter loved Him more than the others did, but Peter’s answer doesn’t seem to fit with that idea. My next impression would be that Jesus asked if Peter loved Him more than he loved the fish (and therefore, fishing), but His use of <i>αγαπαω </i> doesn’t seem to fit. The only other option that I see would be that Jesus asked if Peter loved Him more than he loved his colleagues.</n> He says to Him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I’m fond of you.” <n>Jesus uses <i>αγαπαω </i>; Peter uses <i>φιλεω </i>.</n> He says to him, “Feed my lambs.”


text:
He says to him again, a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” <n>Notice that He omits ‘more than these’, so the question has been weakened.</n> He says to Him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I’m fond of you.” He says to him, “Shepherd my sheep.”


text:
The third time He says to him, “Simon, son of Jonah, are you <b>fond</b> of me?” Peter was grieved in that the third time He said to him, “Are you fond of me?” <n>Now Jesus weakens His question still further, using Peter’s verb—He is probing Peter. But the repeated command to feed His sheep indicates that Peter is being reinstated.</n> and said to Him: “Lord, you know all things. You <b>know</b> that I’m fond of you!” Jesus says to him: “Feed my sheep.


text:
Most assuredly I say to you, when you were younger you used to get dressed and walk where you wished; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you don’t wish.”


text:
(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) And upon saying that He says to him, “Follow me!” <n>The first time He said this to Peter had been 3½ years before, also on the shore of that lake [could it have been the same spot?]. Jesus renews His call.</n> 


text:
<i> About the author</i> But turning around Peter sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following (that’s the one who reclined on His chest at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who is betraying you?”).


text:
So this saying spread among the brothers, <n>“The brothers”—this became a common way to refer to the Christian community.</n> that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him [Peter] that he [John] would not die, <n>But John was the last of the Apostles to die, close to A.D. 100.</n> but, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”


text:
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things, and who wrote them; and we know that his testimony is true.


text:
Indeed, there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I don’t suppose that even the whole world <n>The world that he knew would not include the Americas, nor all of Africa or Asia, and perhaps not even all of northern Europe (presumably).</n> could contain the books that would be written! Amen.


text:
<i> Opening considerations A link to Luke</i> The first account I prepared, Theophilus [God-lover], <n>Since in addressing Luke to Theophilus the author added the honorific ‘honorable’ or ‘excellent’, this was presumably a specific man, but I would like to think that the two books are also addressed to all lovers of God.</n> concerned all that Jesus began to do and to teach <n>Why “began”? Presumably because this book will relate what He continued to do and teach, through the Apostles. He is still at work in our world, through us.</n> 


text:
until the day in which He was taken back, <n>Jehovah the Son was given (John 3:16) to this earth for thirty some years, then He was taken back.</n> after He had given commandment, by Holy Spirit, <n>There is no definite article with “Holy Spirit”, and I hesitate to add it. Perhaps we should try thinking of ‘Holy Spirit’ as a proper name.</n> to the apostles whom He had chosen;


text:
to whom He also showed Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing evidences, appearing to them during forty days and speaking of things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. <n>I get the impression that the Lord did a lot more appearing and teaching during those 40 days than has been recorded.</n> 


text:
And being together He directed them not to go away from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, <n>Luke is repeating what he wrote in Luke 24:49, which in turn refers to John 14:16 and 26 (from Jn. 14:31 it appears that what Jesus did started with the Father).</n> “which you heard from me;


text:
John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with Holy Spirit not many days from now”. <n>The grammar requires that the material within quotation marks be handled as a direct quote, even though it’s a bit awkward, in English.</n> 


text:
<i> Jesus returns to Heaven</i> Well then, being together <n>The reference is to verse 4, which refers to Lk. 24:49-50, which informs us that Jesus led them out to Bethany; so they had assembled in the city. A certain Greek particle is used in both verse 1 and verse 6, making them grammatically parallel; verses 1-5 refer to the former account, verse 6 begins the present account.</n> they asked Him saying, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?” <n>Messiah and kingdom are closely linked in their minds. Jesus is the Messiah, now victorious over death, so where is the Kingdom? Jesus does not question the fact implicit in their question, but tells them that the <b>time</b> is classified information.</n> 


text:
So He said to them: “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has placed within His own authority.


text:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be witnesses to me <n>A very small minority of Greek manuscripts (perhaps 2%), of inferior quality, read ‘my witnesses’ instead of ‘witnesses to me’. To my mind, at least, there is a significant difference in meaning—to be a witness <b>to</b> Jesus involves being like Him (Mt. 10:25) and doing like Him (Jn. 14:12).</n> —both in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and even to the last <i>part</i> of the earth.” <n>There is a strategy here: ‘both . . . and . . . and’ = simultaneously. If you stay in your ‘Jerusalem’ until you win everyone, you’ll never get to the world (there are many people who don’t want God, period, so they will never be won). ‘Judea’ and ‘Samaria’ are treated as a unit, grammatically, so we have our town, our country and the world. “Last” is an adjective used as a noun, so we must supply ‘part’ or ‘place’, or else render ‘end’; note that the word is singular. I take it that no part of the world is to be left unreached.</n> 


text:
Upon saying these things, as they watched, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.


text:
And as they were staring into the sky, while He was going, suddenly two men in white clothing <n>I wonder if these were the same two angels who officiated at the empty tomb.</n> stood beside them;


text:
and they said: “Men of Galilee, <n>Why do the angels emphasize that the men are from Galilee? The ‘men’ refers only to males, so presumably they were the Eleven.</n> why do you stand gazing up into the sky? This very Jesus who is being taken up from you into the sky, He will come <i>again</i> in the precise manner that you observed Him going into the sky.” <n>The angels are emphatic; the return is going to be just like the departure. I take it that the Lord will return with the same glorified human body, visibly, come out of a cloud, and His feet will touch down at the same spot where they left (see Mt. 24:30, “coming on the clouds”, and Zech. 14:4, “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives”).</n> 


text:
They then returned to Jerusalem from the mount called ‘of Olives’, which is near Jerusalem (a Sabbath day’s journey). <n>Generally understood to be about 1,000 yards or 3/5 of a mile; just under a kilometer.</n> 


text:
<i> A replacement for Judas Iscariot</i> When they had entered [the city] they went up into the upper room <n>Probably the same one that was used for the last Passover, since the Text has ‘the upper room’. Both Mark 14:15 and Luke 22:12 inform us that the room was ‘large’, as it would have to be to hold 120 people (see verse 15 below).</n> where they were staying; namely Peter and James, John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas of James. <n>Since there was more than one James, Simon and Judas, the last three require an added description. The Text presents the names in pairs, and so have I.</n> 


text:
All these were continuing with one purpose in prayer and petition, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. <n>The reference is to His half brothers, presumably including at least James and Jude.</n> 


text:
Well in those days Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples <n>A very small minority of the Greek manuscripts [3%], of inferior quality, read ‘brothers’ for ‘disciples’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The original Eleven are now called apostles (vs. 2), and the 120 who were there are called disciples.</n> (the number of people assembled there was about 120) and said:


