The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASB

New American Standard Bible

THE

CHARLES F. STANLEY

LIFE PRINCIPLES

BIBLE

CHARLES F. STANLEY GENERAL EDITOR

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THE CHARLES F. STANLEY LIFE PRINCIPLES BIBLE

Copyright © 2009 by Charles F. Stanley

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THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO

JOHNDifferent from Matthew, Mark, and Luke—or the Synoptic Gospels—which pres-

ent many of the same stories and sayings of Christ, the Gospel of John presents aunique account about the Savior and distinctive insights into His person as the Son of God.

The writer of this Gospel was the apostle John, who, along with Peter and James,formed Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. Interestingly, John never refers to himself by name, butalways calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20, 24).

John’s account goes further back in time than any of the other Gospels, when the pre- incarnate Jesus, known as “the Word,” created the universe (John 1:1–3). John thus high-lights the glory of Christ as the Son of God: from His mission as the “Lamb of God”(1:29, 36); to His requirements for and the nature of salvation (3); to His extensive in-struction and prayer for believers during the Passover (13–17); and to the role of the HolySpirit to “teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you”(14:26; also 16:13, 14; 20:21, 22).

John mentions “life” 47 times, emphasizing that “in Him was life, and the life was theLight of men” (John 1:4). He also wrote that “whoever believes will in Him have eternallife” (3:15)—focusing a great deal on the importance of appropriating the salvation Jesusoffers by faith. John uses the word “Father” 126 times to refer to God and connects thisterm of affection with the divine love relationship that we can experience with Him.

John includes an extended eyewitness description of the Upper Room meal andrecords several events leading up to the Resurrection, the climactic proof that Jesus is whoHe claimed to be—the Son of God.

The Greek title of the fourth Gospel, Kata Ioannen, means “According to John.”Ioannes is derived from the Hebrew name Johanan,“Yahweh has been gracious.”Theme: John clearly states his theme and purpose:“These have been written so that you may believe thatJesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believingyou may have life in His name” (20:31).Author: John, “the disciple Jesus loved.”Time: John was the last of the four canonical Gospelsto be written. It was likely composed between A.D. 80and 100. By then, the rest of the New Testament(other than John’s writings), had been completed. It iswidely believed that John wrote his Gospel in his oldage while living in Ephesus in Asia Minor, where heserved as the leader of the local church.Structure: John’s Gospel is not just chronological instructure, but it also has topical elements: the incarna-tion of the Word and the inauguration of His ministry(1:1—2:11); Christ’s message and work (2:13—12:50); His specific instruction to the disciples duringthe Passover and prayer for believers (13—17); andHis trial, crucifixion, and resurrection (18—21).

As you read John, watch forthe life principles that playan important role in thisbook:30. An eager anticipation of theLord’s return keeps us livingproductively. See John 5:29; page1232.9. Trusting God means lookingbeyond what we can see to whatGod sees. See John 6:6; 20:29;pages 1232; 1257.24. To live the Christian life is toallow Jesus to live His life in andthrough us. See John 10:10;15:1–8; pages 1240; 1248.26. As children of a sovereignGod, we are never victims of ourcircumstances. See John 19:11;page 1254.

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The Deity of Jesus Christ

1IN the beginning was the Word, and theWord was with God, and the Word was

God.2 He was in the beginning with God.3 All things came into being through Him,and apart from Him nothing came into beingthat has come into being.4 In Him was life, and the life was the Lightof men.5 The Light shines in the darkness, and thedarkness did not acomprehend it.

The Witness John6 There bcame a man sent from God, whosename was John.7 He came as a witness, to testify about theLight, so that all might believe through him.8 He was not the Light, but he came to tes-tify about the Light.9 There was the true Light cwhich, cominginto the world, enlightens every man.10 He was in the world, and the world wasmade through Him, and the world did notknow Him.11 He came to His down, and those who wereHis own did not receive Him.12 But as many as received Him, to them Hegave the right to become children of God,even to those who believe in His name,13 who were born, not of blood nor of thewill of the flesh nor of the will of man, but ofGod.

The Word Made Flesh14 And the Word became flesh, and dweltamong us, and we saw His glory, glory as ofthe only begotten from the Father, full ofgrace and truth.15 John *testified about Him and cried out,saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He whocomes after me has a higher rank than I, forHe existed before me.’”16 For of His fullness we have all received,and grace upon grace.

17 For the Law was given through Moses;grace and truth were realized through JesusChrist.18 No one has seen God at any time; theonly begotten God who is in the bosom of theFather, He has explained Him.

The Testimony of John19 This is the testimony of John, when theJews sent to him priests and Levites fromJerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”20 And he confessed and did not deny, butconfessed, “I am not the Christ.”21 They asked him, “What then? Are youElijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you theProphet?” And he answered, “No.”22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, sothat we may give an answer to those who sentus? What do you say about yourself?”23 He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING INTHE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OFTHE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”24 Now they had been sent from the Phar-isees.25 They asked him, and said to him, “Whythen are you baptizing, if you are not theChrist, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”26 John answered them saying, “I baptize einwater, but among you stands One whom youdo not know.27 “It is He who comes after me, the thong ofwhose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”28 These things took place in Bethany be-yond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming tohim and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God whotakes away the sin of the world!30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘Afterme comes a Man who has a higher rank thanI, for He existed before me.’

J O H N 1 : 1 1224

aOr overpower bOr came into being cOr which enlightensevery person coming into the world dOr own things,possessions, domain eThe Gr here can be translated in, with or by

� 1:1 — In the beginning was the Word, and theWord was with God, and the Word was God.

T here had been 400 years of silence since God had spoken through His prophet Malachi. As

happens with any prolonged time of quiet, the people’sears strained for a word. So God sent the Word. But first, He readied the world for the gospel. Under the in-fluence of Alexander the Great, Greek—the language ofscience, medicine, and philosophy—made communica-tion much easier than it had ever been. Also, because of the roads and general peace (Pax Romana) of theRoman Empire, missionaries could travel everywhere with less difficulty. Finally, with all the Jews scatteredthroughout the Roman Empire, evangelists had manysynagogues from which to preach the Good Newsthroughout the known world.

� 1:14 — We saw His glory, glory as of the only be-gotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is far more than just a great teacher or a mightyprophet; in fact, He is “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). Jesus

is “the exact representation” of God’s nature because He isGod Himself (Heb. 1:3). Whatever Jesus does, He does withgrace. Whatever He says, He says in truth. If you want tounderstand what God is like, look to Jesus (John 1:18; 14:9).

� 1:29 — “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes awaythe sin of the world!”

A ll the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadowed whatJesus Christ would do on the Cross. Here, John rightly

identified Jesus as our Passover Lamb (Ex. 12), who willinglypaid our sin-debt in full (1 Cor. 5:7). God “made Him whoknew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might be-come the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

L I F E L E S S O N S

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31 “I did not recognize Him, but so that Hemight be manifested to Israel, I came baptiz-ing ain water.”32 John testified saying, “I have seen theSpirit descending as a dove out of heaven,and He remained upon Him.33 “I did not recognize Him, but He who sentme to baptize ain water said to me, ‘He uponwhom you see the Spirit descending and re-maining upon Him, this is the One who bap-tizes in the Holy Spirit.’34 “I myself have seen, and have testified thatthis is the Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts35 Again the next day John was standingwith two of his disciples,36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and*said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”37 The two disciples heard him speak, andthey followed Jesus.38 And Jesus turned and saw them follow-ing, and *said to them, “What do you seek?”They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translatedmeans Teacher), where are You staying?”39 He *said to them, “Come, and you willsee.” So they came and saw where He wasstaying; and they stayed with Him that day,for it was about the btenth hour.40 One of the two who heard John speakand followed Him, was Andrew, SimonPeter’s brother.41 He *found first his own brother Simonand *said to him, “We have found the Mes-siah” (which translated means Christ).42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked athim and said, “You are Simon the son of John;you shall be called Cephas” (which is trans-lated Peter).43 The next day He purposed to go intoGalilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *saidto him, “Follow Me.”44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of thecity of Andrew and Peter.45 Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him,“We have found Him of whom Moses in theLaw and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus ofNazareth, the son of Joseph.”46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any goodthing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said tohim, “Come and see.”47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and*said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, inwhom there is no deceit!”48 Nathanael *said to Him, “How do Youknow me?” Jesus answered and said to him,“Before Philip called you, when you wereunder the fig tree, I saw you.”

49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You arethe Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Be-cause I said to you that I saw you under thefig tree, do you believe? You will see greaterthings than these.”51 And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say toyou, you will see the heavens opened and theangels of God ascending and descending onthe Son of Man.”

Miracle at Cana

2ON the third day there was a wedding inCana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus

was there;2 and both Jesus and His disciples were in-vited to the wedding.3 When the wine ran out, the mother ofJesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.”4 And Jesus *said to her, “Woman, whatdoes that have to do with us? My hour has notyet come.”5 His mother *said to the servants, “What-ever He says to you, do it.”6 Now there were six stone waterpots setthere for the Jewish custom of purification,containing twenty or thirty gallons each.7 Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpotswith water.” So they filled them up to thebrim.8 And He *said to them, “Draw some outnow and take it to the cheadwaiter.” So theytook it to him.9 When the headwaiter tasted the waterwhich had become wine, and did not knowwhere it came from (but the servants who haddrawn the water knew), the headwaiter*called the bridegroom,10 and *said to him, “Every man serves thegood wine first, and when the people havedrunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine;but you have kept the good wine until now.”11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did inCana of Galilee, and manifested His glory,and His disciples believed in Him.12 After this He went down to Capernaum,He and His mother and His brothers and Hisdisciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple13 The Passover of the Jews was near, andJesus went up to Jerusalem.14 And He found in the temple those whowere selling oxen and sheep and doves, andthe money changers seated at their tables.

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� 2:5 — “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Jesus’ mother did not understand everything her Sonsaid or did, but she understood enough to know that it

was always wise to do what He said. It still is.


aThe Gr here can be translated in, with or by bPerhaps 10 a.m.(Roman time) cOr steward

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15 And He made a scourge of cords, anddrove them all out of the temple, with thesheep and the oxen; and He poured out thecoins of the money changers and overturnedtheir tables;16 and to those who were selling the dovesHe said, “Take these things away; stop mak-ing My Father’s house a place of business.”17 His disciples remembered that it was writ-ten, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign doYou show us as your authority for doing thesethings?”19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this tem-ple, and in three days I will raise it up.”20 The Jews then said, “It took forty-sixyears to build this temple, and will You raise itup in three days?”21 But He was speaking of the temple of Hisbody.22 So when He was raised from the dead,His disciples remembered that He said this;and they believed the Scripture and the wordwhich Jesus had spoken.23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at thePassover, during the feast, many believed inHis name, observing His signs which He wasdoing.24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrustingHimself to them, for He knew all men,25 and because He did not need anyone totestify concerning man, for He Himself knewwhat was in man.

The New Birth

3NOW there was a man of the Pharisees,named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;

2 this man came to Jesus by night and saidto Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have comefrom God as a teacher; for no one can do these

signs that You do unless God is with him.”3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly,truly, I say to you, unless one is born again hecannot see the kingdom of God.”4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can aman be born when he is old? He cannot entera second time into his mother’s womb and beborn, can he?”5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you,unless one is born of water and the Spirit hecannot enter into the kingdom of God.6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘Youmust be born again.’8 “The wind blows where it wishes and youhear the sound of it, but do not know where itcomes from and where it is going; so is every-one who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can thesethings be?”10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are youthe teacher of Israel and do not understandthese things?11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak ofwhat we know and testify of what we haveseen, and you do not accept our testimony.12 “If I told you earthly things and you donot believe, how will you believe if I tell youheavenly things?13 “No one has ascended into heaven, but Hewho descended from heaven: the Son of Man.14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in thewilderness, even so must the Son of Man belifted up;15 so that whoever abelieves will in Himhave eternal life.

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� 2:17 — “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”

Instead of being surprised and confused at Jesus’ ac-tions, the disciples immediately recalled Psalm 69:9

about the coming Messiah. The disciples would not havebeen able to remember this text if they were not already fa-miliar with it. For God to use His Word to encourage andinstruct us, we have to spend time in it. Then we have con-firmation He is uniquely at work in and around us.

� 2:22 — When He was raised from the dead, His disci-ples remembered that He said this; and they believed.

Sometimes we hesitate to spend time in God’s Word be-cause we don’t feel as though we’re getting anything

out of it. But often a text does not “click” in our mindsuntil some time later.

� 3:5 — “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit hecannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

As a Pharisee, Nicodemus belonged to the mostprominent religious group in Israel and was a highly

respected teacher. He observed all of the laws of cleanlinessand piety, yet Jesus told Nicodemus that it’s not enough for

one just to be physically clean—water is not enough fortrue purification. Rather, a person’s nature also needs to becleansed—or sanctified—by the indwelling presence of theHoly Spirit (Rom. 8; 1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 5:7).� 3:7 — “You must be born again.”

W hat did Jesus mean about being “born again”? Thenew birth is an instantaneous spiritual experience,

which occurs when the Holy Spirit leads a person to under-stand that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to provide forgive-ness for their sins. We are born again the moment weaccept that Jesus Christ is the only One who can redeem usand we confess Him as our Savior and Lord (Rom. 10:9). � 3:12 — “If I told you earthly things and you do notbelieve, how will you believe if I tell you heavenlythings?”

Sometimes our idea of heaven is distorted because wethink of it in our earthly terms. Yet heaven is a place for

those who love the Lord—where everything revolves aroundHis majesty, power, glory, and presence (Rev. 19:1–7). Everyperson there will praise and worship Him. If someone refusesto honor and serve Him here on earth, they won’t likeheaven at all. In fact, they’ll be completely out of place there.


aOr believes in Him will have eternal life

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16 “For God so loved the world, that He gaveHis only begotten Son, that whoever believesin Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.17 “For God did not send the Son into the

world to judge the world, but that the worldmight be saved through Him.18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; hewho does not believe has been judged al-

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Unclean but UnblemishedJOHN 3:1–21

It all started at night, whenNicodemus, a Pharisee and “a ruler of theJews” (John 3:1) came to the Light (v.21). Nicodemus makes three appearancesin the Book of John (3:1–21; 7:50–52;19:39–42), and by the third time, we seethat the truth Jesus planted in his hearthad powerfully taken root. AlthoughJesus had been condemned by Nicode-mus’s colleagues (Luke 23:13–24), it nolonger made a difference to him. Heknew Jesus was the true Messiah—thehope of Israel and the world.

How do we know he arrived at thisdecision? Because normally the bodies ofthose who had been crucified were thrownon the trash heap of the city. Yet afterChrist was removed from the Cross,Joseph of Arimathea claimed His body,prepared it for burial, and then placed Himin a brand new tomb. Nicodemus wasright beside Joseph. He brought myrrhand aloes and assisted in Christ’s burial(John 19:38–41). It is believed that thespices used for the Lord’s burial were those

N I C O D E M U S

� 3:14 — “As Moses lifted up the serpent in thewilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

Jesus is referring to the account in Numbers 21. The peo-ple of Israel faithlessly complained against the Lord, and

He sent poisonous serpents as a judgment. Many of themdied. When the Israelites finally repented, the Lord toldMoses to set a serpent on a staff so that everyone wholooked at it could live. In the same way, those who face thepenalty of death can look upon Christ’s sacrifice on theCross and receive eternal life.

� 3:16 — “God so loved the world, that He gave Hisonly begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shallnot perish, but have eternal life.”

W hat does it mean to believe in Jesus? Does it meanthat intellectually you agree with the fact that He

was born in Bethlehem of a virgin and that He is a greatteacher? Yes, but there’s even more to it than that. To havefaith in Jesus Christ means to believe that He is God (John1:1; 10:30; 14:9) and that He saves you by His crucifixion(Eph. 2:8, 9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5). If you continue to be-lieve that you can somehow earn your salvation, you havenever been truly born again. However, when you truly placeyour faith in Him, you receive His gift of eternal life (John6:40; 17:3).

� 3:17, 18 — “God did not send the Son into theworld to judge the world, but that the world mightbe saved through Him. He who believes in Him is notjudged; he who does not believe has been judged al-ready.”

W hile Jesus says that all judgment has been committedto Him (John 5:22), He assures us that He did not


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personally belonging to Nicodemus. In-stead of saving them for his own burial, hegave them to Jesus as an offering of loveand devotion. John 19:39 tells us thesespices weighed “about a hundred pounds,”which would have been the amount usedto bury a great king—not merely a goodman or a simple teacher. Nicodemus ac-knowledged that Jesus is the Son of Godand treated Him with great respect.

We also know that according to theLaw of Moses, no priest was to “defilehimself for a dead person” (Lev. 21:1) be-cause touching the deceased body wouldmake him unclean. Yet that also did notmatter to Nicodemus, because he realizedthat in his new eternal life, he was com-pletely unblemished (John 3:16).

Today, Nicodemus’s example stillteaches us. We learn from him that Jesusis always there for us, night or day. Welearn that in God’s perfect timing, He willanswer our most confounding questions.We learn that regardless of our status,nothing is more important than the life ofChrist within us. And we learn that nomatter how great our sacrifice, it cannever compare to Christ’s sacrifice for us.

See the Life Principles Index for further study:12. Peace with God is the fruit of oneness with

God.

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ready, because he has not believed in thename of the only begotten Son of God.19 “This is the judgment, that the Light hascome into the world, and men loved the dark-ness rather than the Light, for their deedswere evil.20 “For everyone who does evil hates theLight, and does not come to the Light for fearthat his deeds will be exposed.21 “But he who practices the truth comes tothe Light, so that his deeds may be mani-fested as having been wrought in God.”

John’s Last Testimony22 After these things Jesus and His disciplescame into the land of Judea, and there He wasspending time with them and baptizing.23 John also was baptizing in Aenon nearSalim, because there was much water there;and people were coming and were being bap-tized—24 for John had not yet been thrown intoprison.25 Therefore there arose a discussion on thepart of John’s disciples with a Jew about pu-rification.26 And they came to John and said to him,“Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jor-dan, to whom you have testified, behold, He isbaptizing and all are coming to Him.”27 John answered and said, “A man can re-ceive nothing unless it has been given himfrom heaven.28 “You yourselves are my witnesses that Isaid, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have beensent ahead of Him.’29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom;but the friend of the bridegroom, who standsand hears him, rejoices greatly because of thebridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine hasbeen made full.30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.31 “He who comes from above is above all,he who is of the earth is from the earth andspeaks of the earth. He who comes fromheaven is above all.32 “What He has seen and heard, of that Hetestifies; and no one receives His testimony.

33 “He who has received His testimony hasset his seal to this, that God is true.34 “For He whom God has sent speaks thewords of God; for He gives the Spirit withoutmeasure.35 “The Father loves the Son and has givenall things into His hand.36 “He who believes in the Son has eternallife; but he who does not obey the Son willnot see life, but the wrath of God abides onhim.”

Jesus Goes to Galilee

4THEREFORE when the Lord knew that thePharisees had heard that Jesus was mak-

ing and baptizing more disciples than John2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptiz-ing, but His disciples were),3 He left Judea and went away again intoGalilee.4 And He had to pass through Samaria.5 So He *came to a city of Samaria calledSychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacobgave to his son Joseph;6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus,being wearied from His journey, was sittingthus by the well. It was about athe sixth hour.

The Woman of Samaria7 There *came a woman of Samaria todraw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me adrink.”8 For His disciples had gone away into thecity to buy food.9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said toHim, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask mefor a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?”(For Jews have no dealings with Samari-tans.)10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If youknew the gift of God, and who it is who saysto you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would haveasked Him, and He would have given you liv-ing water.”11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing

J O H N 3 : 1 9 1228

come to earth to judge us but to save us. What that meansis that we are already forgiven. When we place our faith inJesus, we are accepting that He has already fully and suc-cessfully taken our punishment upon Himself. But thosewho reject Jesus as Savior also reject His provision and mustbear the full penalty of their sins (Mark 16:16; John 5:24;Heb. 2:2, 3; 2 Thess. 1:8, 9).

� 4:9 — “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for adrink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews haveno dealings with Samaritans.)

Men in biblical times did not generally speak towomen in public. Also, the woman at the well was

a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew—two groups who didn’thave anything to do with each other because the Jews be-lieved the Samaritans had been tainted by the pagan na-tions among them (Deut. 7:1–6; 2 Kin. 17:24–31). ButJesus talked to her. Why? Because He never discriminates;rather, He wants all people to know Him and be saved (2 Pet. 3:9).

� 4:10 — “You would have asked Him, and He wouldhave given you living water.”

E ven when God asks us to do certain things, it’s really aninvitation to receive greater things from Him. Jesus

asked the woman for a drink of water so He could offer herliving water.


aPerhaps 6 p.m. Roman time or noon Jewish time

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to draw with and the well is deep; where thendo You get that living water?12 “You are not greater than our father Jacob,are You, who gave us the well, and drank of ithimself and his sons and his cattle?”13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Every-one who drinks of this water will thirst again;14 but whoever drinks of the water that Iwill give him shall never thirst; but the waterthat I will give him will become in him a wellof water springing up to eternal life.”15 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me

this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come allthe way here to draw.”16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husbandand come here.”17 The woman answered and said, “I haveno husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You havecorrectly said, ‘I have no husband’;18 for you have had five husbands, and theone whom you now have is not your husband;this you have said truly.”19 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceivethat You are a prophet.

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A N S W E R STO LIFE’S

QUESTIONSHow can I know if my worshippleases God?

JOHN 4:5–26

Have you ever wondered if yourworship pleases God? Perhaps you’ve readabout the Old Testament regulations for theMosaic sacrificial system and have wonderedwhat you’re required to do now that Jesus hasfulfilled the Law. It’s important to rememberthat whenever you worship, God’s priority isyour heart (1 Chr. 28:9; Ps. 51:17; Joel 2:13).

But what exactly does that mean? Whatcharacterizes a heart that is lovely to the Lord?Jesus tells us, “True worshipers will worship theFather in spirit and truth; for such people theFather seeks to be His worshipers. God isSpirit, and those who worship Him mustworship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23, 24).The heart that is led by God’s Spirit and filledwith His truth is pleasing to Him—and theonly one actually equipped to really adore Him.

Jesus was unimpressed by those whodisplayed their “devotion” in a pompous, attention- getting manner. Their worship wasnot characterized by love for Him and thedesire to do His will; rather, they weremotivated by their own fleshly agendas andgoals. Therefore, He instructed us, “When youpray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; forthey love to stand and pray in the synagoguesand on the street corners so that they may beseen by men. Truly I say to you, they have theirreward in full. But you, when you pray, go intoyour inner room, close your door and pray toyour Father who is in secret, and your Father

who sees what is done in secret will rewardyou” (Matt. 6:5, 6).

Authentic service to God begins with thewholehearted trust that nothing escapes Hisloving and sovereign eye (Heb. 6:10; 11:6) andthat He assumes full responsibility for ourneeds when we obey Him. This was illustratedone day when, sitting in the temple, Jesuswatched the people who presented theirofferings. Some rich people put large amountsinto the treasury, making quite a scene. Then apoor widow put in what amounted to one cent.Jesus told His disciples, “Truly I say to you,this poor widow put in more than all thecontributors to the treasury; for they all put inout of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty,put in all she owned, all she had to live on”’(Mark 12:43, 44).

Are you noticing what is important to theLord? It’s not the size of your offering thatmatters; it is the trust of your heart to giveeverything you are and dedicate everything youhave to Him. It is not the beauty of yourpraising, giving thanks, singing, praying, orgiving financially that moves Him; it’s yourmotivation—your true feelings of love andadoration for the Lord.

As you prepare to worship God in spiritand in truth, examine the reason you areapproaching His throne. Is it to further yourgoals or to experience His loving presence? Is itto get something you want or to give Him yourutmost devotion? As Philippians 3:3 instructs,“Worship in the Spirit of God and glory inChrist Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”It will not only satisfy your being but will alsobuild intimacy in your relationship with Him.See the Life Principles Index for further study:

1. Our intimacy with God—His highest prior-ity for our lives—determines the impact ofour lives.

12. Peace with God is the fruit of oneness withGod.

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20 “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain,and you people say that in Jerusalem is theplace where men ought to worship.”21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, anhour is coming when neither in this mountainnor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.22 “You worship what you do not know; weworship what we know, for salvation is fromthe Jews.23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, whenthe true worshipers will worship the Father inspirit and truth; for such people the Fatherseeks to be His worshipers.24 “God is spirit, and those who worshipHim must worship in spirit and truth.”25 The woman *said to Him, “I know thatMessiah is coming (He who is called Christ);when that One comes, He will declare allthings to us.”26 Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”27 At this point His disciples came, and theywere amazed that He had been speaking witha woman, yet no one said, “What do Youseek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?”28 So the woman left her waterpot, and wentinto the city and *said to the men,29 “Come, see a man who told me all the thingsthat I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”30 They went out of the city, and were com-ing to Him.31 Meanwhile the disciples were urgingHim, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”32 But He said to them, “I have food to eatthat you do not know about.”33 So the disciples were saying to one an-other, “No one brought Him anything to eat,did he?”34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do thewill of Him who sent Me and to accomplishHis work.35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet fourmonths, and then comes the harvest’? Behold,I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on thefields, that they are white for harvest.36 “Already he who reaps is receiving wagesand is gathering fruit for life eternal; so thathe who sows and he who reaps may rejoicetogether.37 “For in this case the saying is true, ‘Onesows and another reaps.’

38 “I sent you to reap that for which youhave not labored; others have labored andyou have entered into their labor.”

The Samaritans39 From that city many of the Samaritansbelieved in Him because of the word of thewoman who testified, “He told me all thethings that I have done.”40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus,they were asking Him to stay with them; andHe stayed there two days.41 Many more believed because of His word;42 and they were saying to the woman, “It isno longer because of what you said that we be-lieve, for we have heard for ourselves and knowthat this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”43 After the two days He went forth fromthere into Galilee.44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophethas no honor in his own country.45 So when He came to Galilee, theGalileans received Him, having seen all thethings that He did in Jerusalem at the feast;for they themselves also went to the feast.

Healing a Nobleman’s Son46 Therefore He came again to Cana ofGalilee where He had made the water wine.And there was a royal official whose son wassick at Capernaum.47 When he heard that Jesus had come outof Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and wasimploring Him to come down and heal hisson; for he was at the point of death.48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you peoplesee signs and wonders, you simply will notbelieve.”49 The royal official *said to Him, “Sir, comedown before my child dies.”50 Jesus *said to him, “Go; your son lives.”The man believed the word that Jesus spoketo him and started off.51 As he was now going down, his slavesmet him, saying that his son was living.52 So he inquired of them the hour when hebegan to get better. Then they said to him,“Yesterday at the aseventh hour the fever lefthim.”

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� 4:23 — “True worshipers will worship the Father inspirit and truth.”

God is Spirit—His divine nature is pure and holy. He is ab-solutely worthy of our worship. However, we should

never address Him in the way the world shows its adora-tion—trying to earn His favor and making sacrifices Henever asked for. Instead, the Lord actively seeks men andwomen who will eagerly worship Him according to thetruth of Scripture and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

� 4:42 — “It is no longer because of what you saidthat we believe, for we have heard for ourselves andknow that this One is indeed the Savior of theworld.”

E ach of us has to make the faith our own. Our faith inthe truth and power of the gospel must be deeply per-

sonal, genuine, and an authentic expression of our hearts(Rom. 10:9).


aPerhaps 7 p.m. Roman time or 1 p.m. Jewish time

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53 So the father knew that it was at thathour in which Jesus said to him, “Your sonlives”; and he himself believed and his wholehousehold.54 This is again a second sign that Jesus per-formed when He had come out of Judea intoGalilee.

The Healing at Bethesda

5AFTER these things there was a feast ofthe Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheepgate a pool, which is called in HebrewBethesda, having five porticoes.3 In these lay a multitude of those whowere sick, blind, lame, and withered, [await-ing for the moving of the waters;4 for an angel of the Lord went down atcertain seasons into the pool and stirred upthe water; whoever then first, after the stir-ring up of the water, stepped in was madewell from whatever disease with which hewas afflicted.]5 A man was there who had been ill forthirty-eight years.6 When Jesus saw him lying there, andknew that he had already been a long time inthat condition, He *said to him, “Do you wishto get well?”7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I haveno man to put me into the pool when thewater is stirred up, but while I am coming, an-other steps down before me.”8 Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up yourpallet and walk.”9 Immediately the man became well, andpicked up his pallet and began to walk.

Now it was the Sabbath on that day.10 So the Jews were saying to the man whowas cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not per-missible for you to carry your pallet.”11 But he answered them, “He who made mewell was the one who said to me, ‘Pick upyour pallet and walk.’”12 They asked him, “Who is the man whosaid to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?”13 But the man who was healed did notknow who it was, for Jesus had slipped awaywhile there was a crowd in that place.14 Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple

and said to him, “Behold, you have becomewell; do not sin anymore, so that nothingworse happens to you.”15 The man went away, and told the Jewsthat it was Jesus who had made him well.16 For this reason the Jews were persecut-ing Jesus, because He was doing these thingson the Sabbath.17 But He answered them, “My Father isworking until now, and I Myself am working.”

Jesus’ Equality with God18 For this reason therefore the Jews wereseeking all the more to kill Him, because Henot only was breaking the Sabbath, but alsowas calling God His own Father, making Him-self equal with God.19 Therefore Jesus answered and was say-ing to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Soncan do nothing of Himself, unless it is some-thing He sees the Father doing; for whateverthe Father does, these things the Son alsodoes in like manner.20 “For the Father loves the Son, and showsHim all things that He Himself is doing; andthe Father will show Him greater works thanthese, so that you will marvel.21 “For just as the Father raises the dead andgives them life, even so the Son also gives lifeto whom He wishes.22 “For not even the Father judges anyone,but He has given all judgment to the Son,23 so that all will honor the Son even as theyhonor the Father. He who does not honor theSon does not honor the Father who sent Him.24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hearsMy word, and believes Him who sent Me, haseternal life, and does not come into judgment,but has passed out of death into life.

Two Resurrections25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is com-ing and now is, when the dead will hear thevoice of the Son of God, and those who hearwill live.26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself,even so He gave to the Son also to have life inHimself;

1231 J O H N 5 : 2 6

� 5:6 — “Do you wish to get well?”

Sometimes our troubles and infirmities become such apart of our lives and identity that we have difficulty let-

ting them go and allowing God to handle them. Have youbeen holding on to a painful experience or problem? Youmust choose to let it go. God offers you His healing, sothere are no more excuses. You must decide what is moreimportant to you—getting better or having a reason to say,“Woe is me.”

� 5:18 — The Jews were seeking all the more to killHim, because He . . . was calling God His own Father,making Himself equal with God.

Instead of being joyful to have God in their presence,His opponents became angry and murderous because

of their jealousy and desire for power. How do you react toGod’s presence? Do you rejoice that He is with you andobey His commands, or do you struggle with Him for con-trol? You’ll never lose by obeying God, but you may forfeiteverything by standing against Him, so choose wisely.


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aEarly mss do not contain the remainder of v 3, nor v 4


27 and He gave Him authority to executejudgment, because He is the Son of Man.28 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour iscoming, in which all who are in the tombs willhear His voice,29 and will come forth; those who did thegood deeds to a resurrection of life, those whocommitted the evil deeds to a resurrection ofjudgment.30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative.As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just,because I do not seek My own will, but thewill of Him who sent Me.31 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testi-mony is not true.32 “There is another who testifies of Me, andI know that the testimony which He givesabout Me is true.

Witness of John33 “You have sent to John, and he has testi-fied to the truth.34 “But the testimony which I receive is notfrom man, but I say these things so that youmay be saved.35 “He was the lamp that was burning andwas shining and you were willing to rejoicefor a while in his light.

Witness of Works36 “But the testimony which I have is greaterthan the testimony of John; for the workswhich the Father has given Me to accom-plish—the very works that I do—testify aboutMe, that the Father has sent Me.

Witness of the Father37 “And the Father who sent Me, He has tes-tified of Me. You have neither heard His voiceat any time nor seen His form.38 “You do not have His word abiding in you,for you do not believe Him whom He sent.

Witness of the Scripture39 “aYou search the Scriptures because youthink that in them you have eternal life; it isthese that testify about Me;

40 and you are unwilling to come to Me sothat you may have life.41 “I do not receive glory from men;42 but I know you, that you do not have thelove of God in yourselves.43 “I have come in My Father’s name, andyou do not receive Me; if another comes in hisown name, you will receive him.44 “How can you believe, when you re-ceive glory from one another and you donot seek the glory that is from the one andonly God?45 “Do not think that I will accuse you be-fore the Father; the one who accuses you isMoses, in whom you have set your hope.46 “For if you believed Moses, you would be-lieve Me, for he wrote about Me.47 “But if you do not believe his writings,how will you believe My words?”

Five Thousand Fed

6AFTER these things Jesus went away tothe other side of the Sea of Galilee (or

Tiberias).2 A large crowd followed Him, becausethey saw the signs which He was performingon those who were sick.3 Then Jesus went up on the mountain, andthere He sat down with His disciples.4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews,was near.5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes andseeing that a large crowd was coming to Him,*said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread,so that these may eat?”6 This He was saying to test him, for HeHimself knew what He was intending to do.7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundredbdenarii worth of bread is not sufficient forthem, for everyone to receive a little.”8 One of His disciples, Andrew, SimonPeter’s brother, *said to Him,9 “There is a lad here who has five barley

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aOr (a command) Search the Scriptures! bThe denarius wasequivalent to a day’s wages

� 5:29 — “Those who did the good deeds to a resur-rection of life, those who committed the evil deeds toa resurrection of judgment.”

E very person who has ever lived will one day stand be-fore God at the judgment, either to receive rewards for

their Spirit-empowered activity and faith in Christ, or to re-ceive condemnation for self-focused behavior. An eager an-ticipation of the Lord’s return keeps us living productively.

� 5:30 — “I do not seek My own will, but the will ofHim who sent Me.”

W e have the wonderful opportunity to glorify the Lordwith our lives (1 Cor. 6:20)—to walk in His footsteps

(Eph. 5:1, 2) and resemble Him in our characters (Gal. 5:22,

23). This begins by asking whether we seek after our owngoals or the will of God. As believers, we’ve been called toallow Jesus to live His life through us so that others can besaved—and that’s just what we must do.

� 6:6 — This He was saying to test him, for He Him-self knew what He was intending to do.

T he disciples learned firsthand that God is greater thanthe needs of 5,000 people, and this gave them confi-

dence that they could trust Him for their own daily needs.Likewise, at times, the Lord will set a seemingly impossibletask before us to test us and see whether we react in fearor faith. This is because He is training us to have faith inHim, and trusting Him means looking beyond what we cansee and do to what He is able to accomplish.


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loaves and two fish, but what are these for somany people?”10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”Now there was much grass in the place. Sothe men sat down, in number about five thou-sand.11 Jesus then took the loaves, and havinggiven thanks, He distributed to those whowere seated; likewise also of the fish as muchas they wanted.12 When they were filled, He *said to Hisdisciples, “Gather up the leftover fragmentsso that nothing will be lost.”13 So they gathered them up, and filledtwelve baskets with fragments from the fivebarley loaves which were left over by thosewho had eaten.14 Therefore when the people saw the signwhich He had performed, they said, “This istruly the Prophet who is to come into theworld.”

Jesus Walks on the Water15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were in-tending to come and take Him by force tomake Him king, withdrew again to the moun-tain by Himself alone.16 Now when evening came, His discipleswent down to the sea,17 and after getting into a boat, they startedto cross the sea to Capernaum. It had alreadybecome dark, and Jesus had not yet come tothem.18 The sea began to be stirred up because astrong wind was blowing.19 Then, when they had rowed about threeor four miles, they *saw Jesus walking on thesea and drawing near to the boat; and theywere frightened.20 But He *said to them, “It is I; do not beafraid.”21 So they were willing to receive Him intothe boat, and immediately the boat was at theland to which they were going.22 The next day the crowd that stood on theother side of the sea saw that there was noother small boat there, except one, and thatJesus had not entered with His disciples intothe boat, but that His disciples had goneaway alone.23 There came other small boats fromTiberias near to the place where they ate thebread after the Lord had given thanks.24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus wasnot there, nor His disciples, they themselves

got into the small boats, and came to Caper-naum seeking Jesus.25 When they found Him on the other sideof the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when didYou get here?”

Words to the People26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly,truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not becauseyou saw signs, but because you ate of theloaves and were filled.27 “Do not work for the food which per-ishes, but for the food which endures to eter-nal life, which the Son of Man will give toyou, for on Him the Father, God, has set Hisseal.”28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shallwe do, so that we may work the works ofGod?”29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This isthe work of God, that you believe in Himwhom He has sent.”30 So they said to Him, “What then do Youdo for a sign, so that we may see, and believeYou? What work do You perform?31 “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilder-ness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUTOF HEAVEN TO EAT.’”32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I sayto you, it is not Moses who has given you thebread out of heaven, but it is My Father whogives you the true bread out of heaven.33 “For the bread of God is athat whichcomes down out of heaven, and gives life tothe world.”34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always giveus this bread.”35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;he who comes to Me will not hunger, and hewho believes in Me will never thirst.36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me,and yet do not believe.37 “All that the Father gives Me will come toMe, and the one who comes to Me I will cer-tainly not cast out.38 “For I have come down from heaven, notto do My own will, but the will of Him whosent Me.39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, thatof all that He has given Me I lose nothing, butraise it up on the last day.40 “For this is the will of My Father, that

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aOr He who comes

� 6:37 — “The one who comes to Me I will certainlynot cast out.”

T his is the basis of eternal security—Jesus will never re-ject the one who authentically believes in Him. You

cannot earn your salvation (Eph. 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5), so nei-ther can you lose it once you accept Christ as your Savior(John 5:29; 10:28, 29). On the Cross, Jesus literally becameyour Sin-Bearer and gave you His righteousness in return (2 Cor. 5:21). This is a permanent, eternal transaction thatcannot be undone.


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everyone who beholds the Son and believes inHim will have eternal life, and I Myself willraise him up on the last day.”

Words to the Jews41 Therefore the Jews were grumblingabout Him, because He said, “I am the breadthat came down out of heaven.”42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, theson of Joseph, whose father and mother weknow? How does He now say, ‘I have comedown out of heaven’?”43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Do notgrumble among yourselves.44 “No one can come to Me unless the Fa-ther who sent Me draws him; and I will raisehim up on the last day.45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEYSHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone whohas heard and learned from the Father, comesto Me.46 “Not that anyone has seen the Father, ex-cept the One who is from God; He has seenthe Father.47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believeshas eternal life.48 “I am the bread of life.49 “Your fathers ate the manna in thewilderness, and they died.50 “This is the bread which comes down outof heaven, so that one may eat of it and notdie.51 “I am the living bread that came downout of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, hewill live forever; and the bread also which Iwill give for the life of the world is My flesh.”52 Then the Jews began to argue with oneanother, saying, “How can this man give usHis flesh to eat?”53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I sayto you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son ofMan and drink His blood, you have no life inyourselves.54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks Myblood has eternal life, and I will raise him upon the last day.

55 “For My flesh is true food, and My bloodis true drink.56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks Myblood abides in Me, and I in him.57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I livebecause of the Father, so he who eats Me, healso will live because of Me.58 “This is the bread which came down outof heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; hewho eats this bread will live forever.”

Words to the Disciples59 These things He said in the synagogue asHe taught in Capernaum.60 Therefore many of His disciples, whenthey heard this said, “This is a difficult state-ment; who can listen to it?”61 But Jesus, conscious that His disciplesgrumbled at this, said to them, “Does thiscause you to stumble?62 “What then if you see the Son of Man as-cending to where He was before?63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the fleshprofits nothing; the words that I have spokento you are spirit and are life.64 “But there are some of you who do notbelieve.” For Jesus knew from the beginningwho they were who did not believe, and whoit was that would betray Him.65 And He was saying, “For this reason Ihave said to you, that no one can come to Meunless it has been granted him from the Fa-ther.”

Peter’s Confession of Faith66 As a result of this many of His discipleswithdrew and were not walking with Himanymore.67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do notwant to go away also, do you?”68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, towhom shall we go? You have words of eternallife.69 “We have believed and have come to knowthat You are the Holy One of God.”70 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not

J O H N 6 : 4 1 1234

� 6:44 — “No one can come to Me unless the Fatherwho sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up onthe last day.”

W ho took the initiative in your salvation? You mayhave confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior; how-

ever, to do so was not initially your idea. The Lord created alonging within you for His love and presence and alloweddifficulty to enter your life so that you would open up toHim. God took the initiative and you chose to cooperatewith Him—which is the very definition of the Christian life.

� 6:67 — “You do not want to go away also, do you?”

Jesus did not try to talk unwilling disciples into stayingwith Him, nor did He make things easier for them so

that they would reconsider their relationship to Him. Hewants eager followers who understand the cost of follow-ing Him.

� 6:68 — “Lord, to whom shall we go? You havewords of eternal life.”

T imes come for all of us when a life of faith in Christseems more difficult than we expected. Here is the

question each of us must answer: Where else can we go?Jesus alone promises us eternal life. And although weface troubles for a little while here on earth, because ofHim, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthyto be compared with the glory that is to be revealed tous” (Rom. 8:18).


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choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you isa devil?”71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Is-cariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going tobetray Him.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

7AFTER these things Jesus was walking inGalilee, for He was unwilling to walk in

Judea because the Jews were seeking to killHim.2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast ofBooths, was near.3 Therefore His brothers said to Him,“Leave here and go into Judea, so that Yourdisciples also may see Your works which Youare doing.4 “For no one does anything in secret whenhe himself seeks to be known publicly. If Youdo these things, show Yourself to the world.”5 For not even His brothers were believingin Him.6 So Jesus *said to them, “My time is notyet here, but your time is always opportune.7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hatesMe because I testify of it, that its deeds areevil.8 “Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not goup to this feast because My time has not yetfully come.”9 Having said these things to them, Hestayed in Galilee.10 But when His brothers had gone up to thefeast, then He Himself also went up, not pub-licly, but as if, in secret.11 So the Jews were seeking Him at thefeast and were saying, “Where is He?”12 There was much grumbling among thecrowds concerning Him; some were saying,“He is a good man”; others were saying, “No,on the contrary, He leads the people astray.”13 Yet no one was speaking openly of Himfor fear of the Jews.14 But when it was now the midst of thefeast Jesus went up into the temple, andbegan to teach.15 The Jews then were astonished, saying,“How has this man become learned, havingnever been educated?”16 So Jesus answered them and said, “Myteaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.17 “If anyone is willing to do His will, he willknow of the teaching, whether it is of God orwhether I speak from Myself.

18 “He who speaks from himself seeks hisown glory; but He who is seeking the glory ofthe One who sent Him, He is true, and there isno unrighteousness in Him.19 “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yetnone of you carries out the Law? Why do youseek to kill Me?”20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon!Who seeks to kill You?”21 Jesus answered them, “I did one deed,and you all marvel.22 “For this reason Moses has given you cir-cumcision (not because it is from Moses, butfrom the fathers), and on the Sabbath you cir-cumcise a man.23 “If a man receives circumcision on theSabbath so that the Law of Moses will not bebroken, are you angry with Me because Imade an entire man well on the Sabbath?24 “Do not judge according to appearance,but judge with righteous judgment.”25 So some of the people of Jerusalem weresaying, “Is this not the man whom they areseeking to kill?26 “Look, He is speaking publicly, and theyare saying nothing to Him. The rulers do notreally know that this is the Christ, do they?27 “However, we know where this man isfrom; but whenever the Christ may come, noone knows where He is from.”28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teach-ing and saying, “You both know Me and knowwhere I am from; and I have not come of My-self, but He who sent Me is true, whom you donot know.29 “I know Him, because I am from Him,and He sent Me.”30 So they were seeking to seize Him; andno man laid his hand on Him, because Hishour had not yet come.31 But many of the crowd believed in Him;and they were saying, “When the Christcomes, He will not perform more signs thanthose which this man has, will He?”32 The Pharisees heard the crowd mutteringthese things about Him, and the chief priestsand the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.33 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little whilelonger I am with you, then I go to Him whosent Me.34 “You will seek Me, and will not find Me;and where I am, you cannot come.”35 The Jews then said to one another,“Where does this man intend to go that we

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� 7:5 — Not even His brothers were believing in Him.

Jesus’ younger brothers had grown up with Him inNazareth, and while they might have heard about His

extraordinary birth, they did not believe in Him until afterthe Resurrection. Only then did they come to faith.

� 7:30 — They were seeking to seize Him; and noman laid his hand on Him, because His hour had notyet come.

Several times Jesus’ opponents wanted to take Him byforce or eliminate Him, but God did not permit any of

their plans to succeed until they fit His timing. His sovereignwill controls all of history.


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will not find Him? He is not intending to go tothe Dispersion among the Greeks, and teachthe Greeks, is He?36 “What is this statement that He said, ‘Youwill seek Me, and will not find Me; and whereI am, you cannot come’?”37 Now on the last day, the great day of thefeast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me anddrink.38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripturesaid, ‘From his innermost being will flowrivers of living water.’”39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whomthose who believed in Him were to receive;for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesuswas not yet glorified.

Division of People over Jesus40 Some of the people therefore, when theyheard these words, were saying, “This cer-tainly is the Prophet.”41 Others were saying, “This is the Christ.”Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ isnot going to come from Galilee, is He?42 “Has not the Scripture said that the Christcomes from the descendants of David, andfrom Bethlehem, the village where Davidwas?”43 So a division occurred in the crowd be-cause of Him.44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, butno one laid hands on Him.45 The officers then came to the chief priestsand Pharisees, and they said to them, “Whydid you not bring Him?”46 The officers answered, “Never has a manspoken the way this man speaks.”47 The Pharisees then answered them, “Youhave not also been led astray, have you?48 “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has be-lieved in Him, has he?49 “But this crowd which does not know theLaw is accursed.”50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before,being one of them) *said to them,51 “Our Law does not judge a man unless itfirst hears from him and knows what he isdoing, does it?”52 They answered him, “You are not alsofrom Galilee, are you? Search, and see that noprophet arises out of Galilee.”53 [aEveryone went to his home.

The Adulterous Woman

8BUT Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2 Early in the morning He came again

into the temple, and all the people were com-ing to Him; and He sat down and began toteach them.3 The scribes and the Pharisees *brought awoman caught in adultery, and having set herin the center of the court,4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this womanhas been caught in adultery, in the very act.5 “Now in the Law Moses commanded us tostone such women; what then do You say?”6 They were saying this, testing Him, sothat they might have grounds for accusingHim. But Jesus stooped down and with Hisfinger wrote on the ground.7 But when they persisted in asking Him,He straightened up, and said to them, “Hewho is without sin among you, let him be thefirst to throw a stone at her.”8 Again He stooped down and wrote on theground.9 When they heard it, they began to go outone by one, beginning with the older ones,and He was left alone, and the woman, whereshe was, in the center of the court.10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her,“Woman, where are they? Did no one con-demn you?”11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said,“I do not condemn you, either. Go. From nowon sin no more.”]

Jesus Is the Light of the World12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying,“I am the Light of the world; he who followsMe will not walk in the darkness, but willhave the Light of life.”13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You aretestifying about Yourself; Your testimony isnot true.”14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even ifI testify about Myself, My testimony is true,for I know where I came from and where I amgoing; but you do not know where I comefrom or where I am going.15 “You judge according to the flesh; I amnot judging anyone.

J O H N 7 : 3 6 1236

� 7:37 — “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me anddrink.”

Because God made us for an intimate relationship withHimself, our deepest needs cannot be met anywhere

else but in Him. Jesus offers the only satisfaction for spiri-tual thirst.

� 8:11 — “From now on sin no more.”

Jesus is gracious and merciful, but He never ceases to beholy. He calls us to a life of holiness and obedience to

His Father, and He gives us the spiritual resources we needto walk in righteousness.


aLater mss add the story of the adulterous woman, numberingit as John 7:53-8:11

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16 “But even if I do judge, My judgment istrue; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Fa-ther who sent Me.17 “Even in your law it has been written thatthe testimony of two men is true.18 “I am He who testifies about Myself, andthe Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”

19 So they were saying to Him, “Where isYour Father?” Jesus answered, “You knowneither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me,you would know My Father also.”20 These words He spoke in the treasury, asHe taught in the temple; and no one seizedHim, because His hour had not yet come.

1237 J O H N 8 : 2 0

A N S W E R STO LIFE’S

QUESTIONSWhat does it mean to be set freein Christ?

JOHN 8:1–36

The scribes and Pharisees were intent ontrapping Jesus, so they brought Him a womanwho had been caught in the act of adultery andsaid, “Teacher, this woman has been caught inadultery, in the very act. Now in the LawMoses commanded us to stone such women;what then do You say?” (John 8:4, 5).

Instead of being ensnared by their words,Jesus turned the situation into an opportunityto teach the crowd about His liberating love in action. He said, “He who is without sinamong you, let him be the first to throw astone at her . . . Woman, where are they? Didno one condemn you? . . . I do not condemnyou, either. Go. From now on sin no more”(John 8:7, 10, 11). The woman walked awayforgiven, free, and saved from certain doom.

A little later, Jesus proclaimed: “If youcontinue in My word, then you are trulydisciples of Mine; and you will know the truth,and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31,32). Consider these verses the believer’semancipation proclamation. In verses 34–36,Jesus explains: “Truly, truly, I say to you,everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.The slave does not remain in the house forever;the son does remain forever. So if the Sonmakes you free, you will be free indeed.” Howare we liberated to live in Christ?� Through Jesus’ death on the Cross and

resurrection, we are freed from the penaltyof sin. Like the woman caught in adultery,we are no longer condemned for what we’vedone. Christ pays our sin- debt in full so thatwe can be reconciled to the Father (Rom.5:10; 6:23; Col. 1:19–22).

� We are released from the power of sin. Oursin nature no longer dominates us—leadingus from one unsatisfying and destructivetransgression to another. Rather, we are freeto seek and know God through the powerand presence of His Holy Spirit (Rom.8:2–17). Jesus told the woman, “Go. Fromnow on sin no more” (John 8:11), not as aterrible requirement for earning Hisforgiveness, but as a declaration of what ispossible when we follow Him (1 Cor.6:11–20).

� We are liberated from the purpose of sin.James 1:15 tells us, “When sin isaccomplished, it brings forth death.” The goalof our iniquity is usually to exalt ourselves ormeet our own needs, but the outcome isalways ruination. Perhaps this woman wasseeking love, acceptance, or security, yet shewas obviously going about getting it in thewrong way—destroying herself and herdignity. However, Christ sets us free tobecome everything God created us to be toHis honor and glory (John 10:10; Eph. 2:10).

� We are unshackled from the personality ofsin. To the scribes and the Pharisees, thiswoman would always be known by the name“sinner,” and perhaps that is how shethought of herself as well. However, whenJesus comes into our lives, we are no longerknown for our iniquities. Rather, we arerecognized as belonging to the One who hascovered our iniquities with His blood. Ourtransgressions are no longer our identitybecause Christ makes us into a new creation(Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:17).

What can you do to begin living in thefreedom Jesus purchased for you on the Cross?There is no formula for discovering the richnessof His truth. But by obeying and trusting inHim, you’ll be on the road to the liberated lifeHe designed for you.

See the Life Principles Index for further study:21. Obedience always brings blessings.5. God does not require us to understand His

will, just obey it, even if it seems unreason-able.


21 Then He said again to them, “I go away,and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin;where I am going, you cannot come.”22 So the Jews were saying, “Surely He willnot kill Himself, will He, since He says,‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”23 And He was saying to them, “You arefrom below, I am from above; you are of thisworld, I am not of this world.24 “Therefore I said to you that you will diein your sins; for unless you believe that I amHe, you will die in your sins.”25 So they were saying to Him, “Who areYou?” Jesus said to them, “What have I beensaying to you from the beginning?26 “I have many things to speak and to judgeconcerning you, but He who sent Me is true;and the things which I heard from Him, theseI speak to the world.”27 They did not realize that He had beenspeaking to them about the Father.28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Sonof Man, then you will know that I am He, andI do nothing on My own initiative, but I speakthese things as the Father taught Me.29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He hasnot left Me alone, for I always do the thingsthat are pleasing to Him.”30 As He spoke these things, many came tobelieve in Him.

The Truth Will Make You Free31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews whohad believed Him, “If you continue in Myword, then you are truly disciples of Mine;32 and you will know the truth, and the truthwill make you free.”33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’sdescendants and have never yet been en-slaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘Youwill become free’?”34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I sayto you, everyone who commits sin is the slaveof sin.35 “The slave does not remain in the houseforever; the son does remain forever.36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will befree indeed.37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descen-dants; yet you seek to kill Me, because Myword has no place in you.38 “I speak the things which I have seenwith My Father; therefore you also do thethings which you heard from your father.”39 They answered and said to Him, “Abra-

ham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If youare Abraham’s children, do the deeds ofAbraham.40 “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, aman who has told you the truth, which I heardfrom God; this Abraham did not do.41 “You are doing the deeds of your father.”They said to Him, “We were not born of forni-cation; we have one Father: God.”42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceededforth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but Hesent Me.43 “Why do you not understand what I amsaying? It is because you cannot hear Myword.44 “You are of your father the devil, and youwant to do the desires of your father. He wasa murderer from the beginning, and does notstand in the truth because there is no truth inhim. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaksfrom his own nature, for he is a liar and thefather of lies.45 “But because I speak the truth, you do notbelieve Me.46 “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? IfI speak truth, why do you not believe Me?47 “He who is of God hears the words ofGod; for this reason you do not hear them, be-cause you are not of God.”48 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Dowe not say rightly that You are a Samaritanand have a demon?”49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dis-honor Me.50 “But I do not seek My glory; there is Onewho seeks and judges.51 “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keepsMy word he will never see death.”52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we knowthat You have a demon. Abraham died, andthe prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyonekeeps My word, he will never taste of death.’53 “Surely You are not greater than our fatherAbraham, who died? The prophets died too;whom do You make Yourself out to be?”54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, Myglory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifiesMe, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’;55 and you have not come to know Him, butI know Him; and if I say that I do not knowHim, I will be a liar like you, but I do knowHim and keep His word.

J O H N 8 : 2 1 1238

� 8:32 — “You will know the truth, and the truth willmake you free.”

How does the truth set us free? Because through it,the Lord breaks the bonds of enslavement that sin

has over us (John 8:36; Rom. 7:14–25; 8:2, 20, 21). Heshows us how to become everything we were created to beand to embrace every blessing that is ours because of ourposition in Him (Eph. 1). He also guides us in living the verybest life possible—one that gives us joy and glorifies Him(John 16:13–15; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1).


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56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see Myday, and he saw it and was glad.”57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yetfifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say toyou, before Abraham was born, I am.”59 Therefore they picked up stones to throwat Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out ofthe temple.

Healing the Man Born Blind

9AS He passed by, He saw a man blind frombirth.

2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi,who sinned, this man or his parents, that hewould be born blind?”3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that thisman sinned, nor his parents; but it was so thatthe works of God might be displayed in him.4 “We must work the works of Him whosent Me as long as it is day; night is comingwhen no one can work.5 “While I am in the world, I am the Lightof the world.”6 When He had said this, He spat on theground, and made clay of the spittle, and ap-plied the clay to his eyes,7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool ofSiloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he wentaway and washed, and came back seeing.8 Therefore the neighbors, and those whopreviously saw him as a beggar, were saying,“Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?”9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still oth-ers were saying, “No, but he is like him.” Hekept saying, “I am the one.”10 So they were saying to him, “How thenwere your eyes opened?”11 He answered, “The man who is calledJesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, andsaid to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I wentaway and washed, and I received sight.”12 They said to him, “Where is He?” He*said, “I do not know.”

Controversy over the Man13 They *brought to the Pharisees the manwho was formerly blind.

14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day whenJesus made the clay and opened his eyes.15 Then the Pharisees also were asking himagain how he received his sight. And he saidto them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and Iwashed, and I see.”16 Therefore some of the Pharisees weresaying, “This man is not from God, becauseHe does not keep the Sabbath.” But otherswere saying, “How can a man who is a sinnerperform such signs?” And there was a divi-sion among them.17 So they *said to the blind man again,“What do you say about Him, since Heopened your eyes?” And he said, “He is aprophet.”18 The Jews then did not believe it of him,that he had been blind and had received sight,until they called the parents of the very onewho had received his sight,19 and questioned them, saying, “Is this yourson, who you say was born blind? Then howdoes he now see?”20 His parents answered them and said, “Weknow that this is our son, and that he wasborn blind;21 but how he now sees, we do not know; orwho opened his eyes, we do not know. Askhim; he is of age, he will speak for himself.”22 His parents said this because they wereafraid of the Jews; for the Jews had alreadyagreed that if anyone confessed Him to beChrist, he was to be put out of the synagogue.23 For this reason his parents said, “He is ofage; ask him.”24 So a second time they called the manwho had been blind, and said to him, “Giveglory to God; we know that this man is a sin-ner.”25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sin-ner, I do not know; one thing I do know, thatthough I was blind, now I see.”26 So they said to him, “What did He do toyou? How did He open your eyes?”27 He answered them, “I told you alreadyand you did not listen; why do you want tohear it again? You do not want to become Hisdisciples too, do you?”

1239 J O H N 9 : 2 7

� 8:56 — “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see Myday, and he saw it and was glad.”

T he Jewish identity is based on the fact that they areAbraham’s descendants (John 8:33, 39), and therefore

heirs to all of God’s promises to him (Gen. 12:1–3). YetJesus demonstrates that the Jews were not living as theirforefather would because Abraham acknowledged God,had faith in Him, and obeyed Him (John 8:39, 40). In otherwords, Abraham would have acknowledged that Jesus isthe Messiah.

� 8:58 — “Before Abraham was born, I am.”

Jesus is God in the flesh. Here, He calls Himself by the di-vine name, “I AM” (Ex. 3:14; Is. 42:8; 43:10, 13), and

affirms that He existed long before Abraham lived. Why isthis important? Because the Jews continued to cling to menand issues that were temporary, instead of the Son of God,who is eternal.

� 9:3 — “It was so that the works of God might bedisplayed in him.”

It is always dangerous to assume that some sin is toblame for a physical ailment. In this case, Jesus said that

God designed the man’s blindness to provide a platform fordemonstrating His glory.


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28 They reviled him and said, “You are Hisdisciple, but we are disciples of Moses.29 “We know that God has spoken to Moses,but as for this man, we do not know where Heis from.”30 The man answered and said to them,“Well, here is an amazing thing, that you donot know where He is from, and yet Heopened my eyes.31 “We know that God does not hear sinners;but if anyone is God-fearing and does Hiswill, He hears him.32 “Since the beginning of time it has neverbeen heard that anyone opened the eyes of aperson born blind.33 “If this man were not from God, He coulddo nothing.”34 They answered him, “You were born en-tirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” Sothey put him out.

Jesus Affirms His Deity35 Jesus heard that they had put him out,and finding him, He said, “Do you believe inthe Son of Man?”36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that Imay believe in Him?”37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seenHim, and He is the one who is talking with you.”38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And heworshiped Him.39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I cameinto this world, so that those who do not seemay see, and that those who see may becomeblind.”40 Those of the Pharisees who were withHim heard these things and said to Him, “Weare not blind too, are we?”

41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind,you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘Wesee,’ your sin remains.

Parable of the Good Shepherd

10“TRULY, truly, I say to you, he who doesnot enter by the door into the fold of the

sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is athief and a robber.2 “But he who enters by the door is a shep-herd of the sheep.3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and thesheep hear his voice, and he calls his ownsheep by name and leads them out.4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goesahead of them, and the sheep follow him be-cause they know his voice.5 “A stranger they simply will not follow,but will flee from him, because they do notknow the voice of strangers.”6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke tothem, but they did not understand what thosethings were which He had been saying tothem.7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly,I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.8 “All who came before Me are thieves androbbers, but the sheep did not hear them.9 “I am the door; if anyone enters throughMe, he will be saved, and will go in and outand find pasture.10 “The thief comes only to steal and killand destroy; I came that they may have life,and have it abundantly.11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shep-herd lays down His life for the sheep.12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shep-herd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees

J O H N 9 : 2 8 1240

� 9:30 — “Here is an amazing thing, that you do notknow where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.”

T he healed man may have been born without sight, butthe Pharisees were blinded by their own pride, jeal-

ousy, and sin (John 9:41). It is a terrible thing to think weknow better than God because it shows that pride is deeplyrooted in our hearts. We must always be careful to ac-knowledge the Lord’s work around us, because if we refuseto obey Him, we, too, will become blinded to His matchlesspresence by our sin.

� 10:9 — “I am the door; if anyone enters throughMe, he will be saved, and will go in and out and findpasture.”

T here is only one door to heaven. Jesus is not one routeamong several to an intimate relationship with God,

but the only way. Some may think, “That is very narrow-minded.” However, it was the greatest mind, the most pro-found wisdom, and the deepest thoughts that ever existedthat implemented the plan of how you and I would be rec-onciled to God and have a home in heaven. The Lord, whocreated us is the One who decides how we can knowHim—and that way is through Jesus Christ.

� 10:10 — “I came that they may have life, and haveit abundantly.”

Do you know how Jesus gives us abundant life? Hedoes so by giving us Himself! You could have all the

money, relationships, wealth, and power, but you wouldstill have a deep sense of emptiness because life isn’tfound in these things. The only One who can truly satisfyyou is Jesus Christ. To live the abundant Christian life is toallow Jesus to live His life through us. His love motivatesand empowers us, so we obey Him out of joy and thank-fulness.

� 10:11 — “I am the good shepherd; the good shep-herd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Jesus willingly gave His life to save ours, so how can wethink He would ever keep back from us anything that

would truly benefit us or allow anything in our lives thatdoesn’t have some eternal purpose (Rom. 8:32)? Instead,we must always remember that He is the Good Shepherd.He has all of our problems, pressures, and provisions underHis control, and nothing we face is ever too difficult for Himto handle. So cast your cares upon Him because you can besure that He will help you.


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the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep andflees, and the wolf snatches them and scattersthem.13 “He flees because he is a hired hand andis not concerned about the sheep.14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know Myown and My own know Me,15 even as the Father knows Me and I knowthe Father; and I lay down My life for thesheep.16 “I have other sheep, which are not of thisfold; I must bring them also, and they willhear My voice; and they will become oneflock with one shepherd.17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, be-cause I lay down My life so that I may take itagain.18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but Ilay it down on My own initiative. I have au-thority to lay it down, and I have authority totake it up again. This commandment I re-ceived from My Father.”19 A division occurred again among theJews because of these words.20 Many of them were saying, “He has ademon and is insane. Why do you listen toHim?”21 Others were saying, “These are not thesayings of one demon-possessed. A demoncannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”

Jesus Asserts His Deity22 At that time the Feast of the Dedicationtook place at Jerusalem;23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking inthe temple in the portico of Solomon.24 The Jews then gathered around Him, andwere saying to Him, “How long will You keepus in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell usplainly.”25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and youdo not believe; the works that I do in My Fa-ther’s name, these testify of Me.26 “But you do not believe because you arenot of My sheep.27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I knowthem, and they follow Me;28 and I give eternal life to them, and theywill never perish; and no one will snatch themout of My hand.29 “aMy Father, who has given them to Me,

is greater than all; and no one is able tosnatch them out of the Father’s hand.30 “I and the Father are one.”31 The Jews picked up stones again to stoneHim.32 Jesus answered them, “I showed youmany good works from the Father; for whichof them are you stoning Me?”33 The Jews answered Him, “For a goodwork we do not stone You, but for blasphemy;and because You, being a man, make Yourselfout to be God.”34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not beenwritten in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’?35 “If he called them gods, to whom theword of God came (and the Scripture cannotbe broken),36 do you say of Him, whom the Fathersanctified and sent into the world, ‘You areblaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son ofGod’?37 “If I do not do the works of My Father, donot believe Me;38 but if I do them, though you do not be-lieve Me, believe the works, so that you mayknow and understand that the Father is inMe, and I in the Father.”39 Therefore they were seeking again toseize Him, and He eluded their grasp.40 And He went away again beyond the Jor-dan to the place where John was first baptiz-ing, and He was staying there.41 Many came to Him and were saying,“While John performed no sign, yet every-thing John said about this man was true.”42 Many believed in Him there.

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

11NOW a certain man was sick, Lazarusof Bethany, the village of Mary and her

sister Martha.2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lordwith ointment, and wiped His feet with herhair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying,“Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “Thissickness is not to end in death, but for the

1241 J O H N 1 1 : 4

aOne early ms reads What My Father has given Me is greaterthan all

� 10:30 — “I and the Father are one.”

In this verse, Jesus proclaimed His unity of nature andequality in the Godhead (Deut. 6:4). Based on His asser-

tion, we must make a decision: either we believe He really isGod, or we must reject everything He says—there is nomiddle ground. As believers, we know that there is onlyone God and that He is three Persons—Father, Son, andHoly Spirit. We also know that everything Jesus said is ab-solutely true because He is the truth (John 14:6).

� 11:4 — “This sickness is not to end in death, but forthe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glo-rified by it.”

Jesus did not mean that Lazarus would not die—he did(John 11:14)—but that he would not end in death.

When Jesus is involved, death does not have the final vic-tory. As the Lord of life, He has triumphed over the graveeternally for all who trust in Him (Rom. 6:8, 9; 1 Cor.15:54–57).


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glory of God, so that the Son of God may beglorified by it.”5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sisterand Lazarus.6 So when He heard that he was sick, Hethen stayed two days longer in the placewhere He was.7 Then after this He *said to the disciples,“Let us go to Judea again.”8 The disciples *said to Him, “Rabbi, theJews were just now seeking to stone You, andare You going there again?”9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelvehours in the day? If anyone walks in the day,he does not stumble, because he sees the lightof this world.10 “But if anyone walks in the night, hestumbles, because the light is not in him.”11 This He said, and after that He *said tothem, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep;but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.”12 The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, ifhe has fallen asleep, he will recover.”13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, butthey thought that He was speaking of literalsleep.14 So Jesus then said to them plainly,“Lazarus is dead,15 and I am glad for your sakes that I wasnot there, so that you may believe; but let usgo to him.”16 Therefore Thomas, who is called Didy-mus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us alsogo, so that we may die with Him.”17 So when Jesus came, He found that hehad already been in the tomb four days.18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, abouttwo miles off;19 and many of the Jews had come toMartha and Mary, to console them concern-ing their brother.20 Martha therefore, when she heard thatJesus was coming, went to meet Him, butMary stayed at the house.21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, ifYou hadbeen here, my brother would not have died.22 “Even now I know that whatever You askof God, God will give You.”23 Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will riseagain.”

24 Martha *said to Him, “I know that he willrise again in the resurrection on the last day.”25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrectionand the life; he who believes in Me will liveeven if he dies,26 and everyone who lives and believes inMe will never die. Do you believe this?”27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have be-lieved that You are the Christ, the Son of God,even He who comes into the world.”28 When she had said this, she went awayand called Mary her sister, saying secretly,“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”29 And when she heard it, she *got upquickly and was coming to Him.30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the vil-lage, but was still in the place where Marthamet Him.31 Then the Jews who were with her in thehouse, and consoling her, when they saw thatMary got up quickly and went out, they fol-lowed her, supposing that she was going tothe tomb to weep there.32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesuswas, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, sayingto Him, “Lord, if You had been here, mybrother would not have died.”33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping,and the Jews who came with her also weep-ing, He was deeply moved in spirit and wastroubled,34 and said, “Where have you laid him?”They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”35 Jesus wept.36 So the Jews were saying, “See how Heloved him!”37 But some of them said, “Could not thisman, who opened the eyes of the blind man,have kept this man also from dying?”38 So Jesus, again being deeply movedwithin, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave,and a stone was lying against it.39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha,the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord,by this time there will be a stench, for he hasbeen dead four days.”40 Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to youthat if you believe, you will see the glory ofGod?”41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus

J O H N 1 1 : 5 1242

� 11:14, 15 — “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for yoursakes that I was not there, so that you may believe.”

Jesus was glad that He was not present with them atLazarus’s death because it provided Him the perfect

opportunity to mature their faith and teach them aboutHis resurrection power. God is far more concerned withgrowing our trust in Him and deepening our relationshipwith Him than with making us comfortable. Adversitycan be a bridge to a deeper relationship with the Lord, ifwe will trust that He can work every detail of our lives—

even the bad ones—together for good (Rom. 8:18, 28; 2 Cor. 4:16–18).

� 11:37 — “Could not this man, who opened the eyesof the blind man, have kept this man also fromdying?”

Y es, Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying, but inHis wisdom, He chose to do something far better. He

did not spare His friends’ great grief because it benefitedthem more in the end to witness His power over death(Rom. 8:18).


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raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank Youthat You have heard Me.42 “I knew that You always hear Me; but be-cause of the people standing around I said it,so that they may believe that You sent Me.”43 When He had said these things, He criedout with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”44 The man who had died came forth, boundhand and foot with wrappings, and his facewas wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *saidto them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”45 Therefore many of the Jews who came toMary, and saw what He had done, believed inHim.46 But some of them went to the Phariseesand told them the things which Jesus haddone.

Conspiracy to Kill Jesus47 Therefore the chief priests and the Phar-isees convened a council, and were saying,“What are we doing? For this man is perform-ing many signs.48 “If we let Him go on like this, all men willbelieve in Him, and the Romans will comeand take away both our place and our nation.”49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was highpriest that year, said to them, “You knownothing at all,50 nor do you take into account that it is ex-pedient for you that one man die for the peo-ple, and that the whole nation not perish.”51 Now he did not say this on his own ini-tiative, but being high priest that year, heprophesied that Jesus was going to die for thenation,52 and not for the nation only, but in orderthat He might also gather together into onethe children of God who are scattered abroad.53 So from that day on they planned to-gether to kill Him.54 Therefore Jesus no longer continued towalk publicly among the Jews, but went awayfrom there to the country near the wilderness,into a city called Ephraim; and there Hestayed with the disciples.55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near,and many went up to Jerusalem out of thecountry before the Passover to purify them-selves.56 So they were seeking for Jesus, and weresaying to one another as they stood in thetemple, “What do you think; that He will notcome to the feast at all?”57 Now the chief priests and the Phariseeshad given orders that if anyone knew whereHe was, he was to report it, so that they mightseize Him.

Mary Anoints Jesus

12JESUS, therefore, six days before thePassover, came to Bethany where

Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from thedead.

2 So they made Him a supper there, andMartha was serving; but Lazarus was one ofthose reclining at the table with Him.3 Mary then took a pound of very costlyperfume of pure nard, and anointed the feetof Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; andthe house was filled with the fragrance of theperfume.4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples,who was intending to betray Him, *said,5 “Why was this perfume not sold for athreehundred denarii and given to poor people?”6 Now he said this, not because he wasconcerned about the poor, but because he wasa thief, and as he had the money box, he usedto pilfer what was put into it.

1243 J O H N 1 2 : 6

aEquivalent to 11 months’ wages

Worship as You WorkJOHN 11:19–44

After Jesus raised her brotherLazarus from the dead, Martha finally un-derstood the awesome power of Christ.She knew that nothing she could do wouldever honor Him sufficiently—yet she alsorealized that He would gladly receive any-thing done for Him out of a heart of gen-uine devotion (John 11:19–44).

God invites you to use your gifts toexpress praise to Him, especially if youuse them with a grateful, joyful heart. If,however, they become your avenue forseeking acceptance and prestige—as withMartha at the beginning (Luke10:38–42)—then they can become asource of bitterness and resentment. Youractions can either proclaim Christ or seekyour own advancement. You can use yourtalents with an attitude of praise or an at-titude of self- promotion.

As you express your gifts today, con-sider your testimony. Will you serve outof praise to Him? Will you choose workor worship?See the Life Principles Index for further study:

4. The awareness of God’s presence energizesus for our work.

15. Brokenness is God’s requirement for maxi-mum usefulness.

M A R T H A


7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep ait for the day of My bur-ial.8 “For you always have the poor with you,but you do not always have Me.”9 The large crowd of the Jews then learnedthat He was there; and they came, not for Je-sus’ sake only, but that they might also seeLazarus, whom He raised from the dead.

10 But the chief priests planned to putLazarus to death also;11 because on account of him many of theJews were going away and were believing inJesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem12 On the next day the large crowd who hadcome to the feast, when they heard that Jesuswas coming to Jerusalem,13 took the branches of the palm trees andwent out to meet Him, and began to shout,“Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THENAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.”14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it;as it is written,15 “FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’SCOLT.”16 These things His disciples did not under-stand at the first; but when Jesus was glori-fied, then they remembered that these thingswere written of Him, and that they had donethese things to Him.17 So the people, who were with Him whenHe called Lazarus out of the tomb and raisedhim from the dead, continued to testify aboutHim.18 For this reason also the people went andmet Him, because they heard that He had per-formed this sign.19 So the Pharisees said to one another,“You see that you are not doing any good;look, the world has gone after Him.”

Greeks Seek Jesus20 Now there were some Greeks amongthose who were going up to worship at thefeast;21 these then came to Philip, who was fromBethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him,saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”22 Philip *came and *told Andrew; Andrewand Philip *came and *told Jesus.23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “Thehour has come for the Son of Man to be glori-fied.24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain ofwheat falls into the earth and dies, it remainsalone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 “He who loves his life loses it, and he whohates his life in this world will keep it to lifeeternal.

J O H N 1 2 : 7 1244

� 12:16 — These things His disciples did not under-stand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, thenthey remembered that these things were written ofHim.

E ven though it took the disciples a long time to un-derstand the meaning and significance of Scripture,

when understanding finally came, it never left them, and it gave them the strength to continue despite greathardship.


aI.e. the custom of preparing the body for burial

A Life Devoted to GodJOHN 12:1–8

Each time we look at the life ofMary of Bethany through the window af-forded us in the Gospels, we find her atthe feet of Jesus (Luke 10:39; John11:32; 12:3). In Mary, Jesus discerned aheart of devotion and true love for thethings of God (Luke 10:42).

Mary accepted Jesus’ words when Hespoke of His death and resurrection, andshe applied them to her life by humblingherself before God and desiring only toserve the Lord. Her attitude marked heras a woman mighty in spirit—and you,too, can have this trait when you commityourself to Christ.

Ask the Lord to make you aware ofanything that keeps you from sitting atHis feet in wholehearted devotion. Prayfor the Holy Spirit to give you a deeplove for God’s Word. This is what Marycherished—the Word of God spoken toher. And it can be your greatest source ofcomfort and hope as well.See the Life Principles Index for further study:

1. Our intimacy with God—His highest pri-ority for our lives—determines the impactof our lives.

12. Peace with God is the fruit of oneness withGod.

M A R Y O FB E T H A N Y

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26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me;and where I am, there My servant will be also;if anyone serves Me, the Father will honorhim.

Jesus Foretells His Death27 “Now My soul has become troubled; andwhat shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from thishour’? But for this purpose I came to thishour.28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voicecame out of heaven: “I have both glorified it,and will glorify it again.”29 So the crowd of people who stood by andheard it were saying that it had thundered;others were saying, “An angel has spoken toHim.”30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice hasnot come for My sake, but for your sakes.31 “Now judgment is upon this world; nowthe ruler of this world will be cast out.32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth,will draw all men to Myself.”33 But He was saying this to indicate thekind of death by which He was to die.34 The crowd then answered Him, “We haveheard out of the Law that the Christ is to re-main forever; and how can You say, ‘The Sonof Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son ofMan?”35 So Jesus said to them, “For a little whilelonger the Light is among you. Walk whileyou have the Light, so that darkness will notovertake you; he who walks in the darknessdoes not know where he goes.36 “While you have the Light, believe in theLight, so that you may become sons of Light.”

These things Jesus spoke, and He wentaway and hid Himself from them.37 But though He had performed so manysigns before them, yet they were not believingin Him.38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah theprophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BE-LIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARMOF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?”39 For this reason they could not believe, forIsaiah said again,40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARD-ENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEEWITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR

HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.”41 These things Isaiah said because he sawHis glory, and he spoke of Him.42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers be-lieved in Him, but because of the Phariseesthey were not confessing Him, for fear thatthey would be put out of the synagogue;43 for they loved the approval of men ratherthan the approval of God.44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He whobelieves in Me, does not believe in Me but inHim who sent Me.45 “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.46 “I have come as Light into the world, sothat everyone who believes in Me will not re-main in darkness.47 “If anyone hears My sayings and does notkeep them, I do not judge him; for I did notcome to judge the world, but to save the world.48 “He who rejects Me and does not receiveMy sayings, has one who judges him; theword I spoke is what will judge him at the lastday.49 “For I did not speak on My own initiative,but the Father Himself who sent Me has givenMe a commandment as to what to say andwhat to speak.50 “I know that His commandment is eternallife; therefore the things I speak, I speak justas the Father has told Me.”

The Lord’s Supper

13NOW before the Feast of the Passover,Jesus knowing that His hour had come

that He would depart out of this world to theFather, having loved His own who were in theworld, He loved them to the end.2 During supper, the devil having alreadyput into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son ofSimon, to betray Him,3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had givenall things into His hands, and that He had comeforth from God and was going back to God,4 *got up from supper, and *laid aside Hisgarments; and taking a towel, He girded Him-self.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet5 Then He *poured water into the basin,and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to

1245 J O H N 1 3 : 5

� 12:32 — “I, if I am lifted up from the earth, willdraw all men to Myself.”

Jesus says that He draws all peoples to Himself. We areto represent Him as well as we can and allow Him to

live through us, but we can never convert anyone. It isChrist’s responsibility to cause faith to take root in humanhearts, not ours.

� 13:5 — He poured water into the basin, and beganto wash the disciples’ feet.

As the Passover (Ex. 12) and His sacrifice on the Crossapproached, Jesus took every opportunity to teach

His disciples about what He was about to accomplish andhow they were to proceed after He was resurrected. In oneof the most humbling and beautiful displays of servantleadership, the Lord knelt and began to cleanse the disci-ples’ feet—a task reserved for the lowliest slave in thehouse. As believers, we are to be humble as our Savior is—in love, we gently lead others to the Cross, where they canbe washed clean of all their sins.


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wipe them with the towel with which He wasgirded.6 So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said toHim, “Lord, do You wash my feet?”7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What Ido you do not realize now, but you will un-derstand hereafter.”8 Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You washmy feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do notwash you, you have no part with Me.”9 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, thenwash not only my feet, but also my hands andmy head.”10 Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathedneeds only to wash his feet, but is completelyclean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”11 For He knew the one who was betrayingHim; for this reason He said, “Not all of youare clean.”12 So when He had washed their feet, andtaken His garments and reclined at the tableagain, He said to them, “Do you know what Ihave done to you?13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and youare right, for so I am.14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher,washed your feet, you also ought to wash oneanother’s feet.15 “For I gave you an example that you alsoshould do as I did to you.16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is notgreater than his master, nor is one who is sentgreater than the one who sent him.17 “If you know these things, you areblessed if you do them.18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know theones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripturemay be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HASLIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’19 “From now on I am telling you before itcomes to pass, so that when it does occur, youmay believe that I am He.20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receiveswhomever I send receives Me; and he who re-ceives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal21 When Jesus had said this, He becametroubled in spirit, and testified and said,“Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you willbetray Me.”22 The disciples began looking at one an-

other, at a loss to know of which one He wasspeaking.23 There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom oneof His disciples, whom Jesus loved.24 So Simon Peter *gestured to him, and*said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He isspeaking.”25 He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom,*said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”26 Jesus then *answered, “That is the one forwhom I shall dip the morsel and give it tohim.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He*took and *gave it to Judas, the son of SimonIscariot.27 After the morsel, Satan then entered intohim. Therefore Jesus *said to him, “What youdo, do quickly.”28 Now no one of those reclining at thetable knew for what purpose He had said thisto him.29 For some were supposing, because Judashad the money box, that Jesus was saying tohim, “Buy the things we have need of for thefeast”; or else, that he should give somethingto the poor.30 So after receiving the morsel he went outimmediately; and it was night.31 Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus*said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, andGod is glorified in Him;32 if God is glorified in Him, God will alsoglorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Himimmediately.33 “Little children, I am with you a littlewhile longer. You will seek Me; and as I saidto the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where Iam going, you cannot come.’34 “A new commandment I give to you, thatyou love one another, even as I have lovedyou, that you also love one another.35 “By this all men will know that you areMy disciples, if you have love for one another.”36 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, whereare You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go,you cannot follow Me now; but you will fol-low later.”37 Peter *said to Him, “Lord, why can I notfollow You right now? I will lay down my lifefor You.”38 Jesus *answered, “Will you lay down yourlife for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a roosterwill not crow until you deny Me three times.

J O H N 1 3 : 6 1246

� 13:17 — “If you know these things, you are blessedif you do them.”

Knowing and doing are two separate things. Jesusreserves His blessing not merely for those who

know His will, but for those who do it as well. Genuinefaith always leads to godly action, and we know thatwhatever He leads us to do for His name’s sake, He will

use powerfully for His glory, even if we can’t yet see how(Phil. 1:6).

� 13:35 — “By this all men will know that you are Mydisciples, if you have love for one another.”

T he method Jesus gave us to preach His message to theworld is through love. The world does not know we

are His disciples through correct doctrine or big buildings,but through our love for one another.


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Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14“DO not let your heart be troubled;abelieve in God, believe also in Me.

2 “In My Father’s house are many dwellingplaces; if it were not so, I would have told you;for I go to prepare a place for you.3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I willcome again and receive you to Myself, thatwhere I am, there you may be also.4 “And you know the way where I amgoing.”5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do notknow where You are going, how do we knowthe way?”6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and thetruth, and the life; no one comes to the Fatherbut through Me.

Oneness with the Father7 “If you had known Me, you would haveknown My Father also; from now on youknow Him, and have seen Him.”8 Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us theFather, and it is enough for us.”9 Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so longwith you, and yet you have not come to knowMe, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen theFather; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Fa-ther, and the Father is in Me? The words thatI say to you I do not speak on My own initia-tive, but the Father abiding in Me does Hisworks.11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father andthe Father is in Me; otherwise believe becauseof the works themselves.12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believesin Me, the works that I do, he will do also; andgreater works than these he will do; becauseI go to the Father.13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that willI do, so that the Father may be glorified in theSon.

14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, Iwill do it.15 “If you love Me, you will keep My com-mandments.

Role of the Spirit16 “I will ask the Father, and He will giveyou another Helper, that He may be with youforever;17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the worldcannot receive, because it does not see Him orknow Him, but you know Him because Heabides with you and will be in you.18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I willcome to you.19 “After a little while the world will nolonger see Me, but you will see Me; because Ilive, you will live also.20 “In that day you will know that I am inMy Father, and you in Me, and I in you.21 “He who has My commandments andkeeps them is the one who loves Me; and hewho loves Me will be loved by My Father, andI will love him and will disclose Myself tohim.”22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord,what then has happened that You are going todisclose Yourself to us and not to the world?”23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If any-one loves Me, he will keep My word; and MyFather will love him, and We will come to himand make Our abode with him.24 “He who does not love Me does not keepMy words; and the word which you hear isnot Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.25 “These things I have spoken to you whileabiding with you.26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whomthe Father will send in My name, He willteach you all things, and bring to your re-membrance all that I said to you.

1247 J O H N 1 4 : 2 6

aOr you believe in God

� 14:2 — “I go to prepare a place for you.”

In the Jewish culture, it was customary for a young manto prepare a house for his bride-to-be. At an unspeci-

fied time, the bridegroom would return to fulfill the mar-riage covenant with his wife and take her to their newhome. As the Bride of Christ—the church—we know thatJesus is preparing an everlasting home for us in heaven.And one day, He will return to claim us and take us to thewonderful place He has created for us to love and worshipHim for the rest of eternity (John 14:3; Rev. 19:7–9;21:9–27).

� 14:6 — “I am the way, and the truth, and the life;no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

T he truth is very narrow—the only way someone cancome to the Father is through Jesus, who lived a com-

pletely sinless life, in thought, word, and deed.

� 14:9 — “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

In Jesus, we have more than just a representation oftheological attributes. He is God in the flesh, and when

we gaze upon Him, we behold our Lord.

� 14:23 — “If anyone loves Me, he will keep Myword; and My Father will love him, and We will cometo him and make Our abode with him.”

W e love and obey Jesus by depending on His power toenable us to do what He calls us to do. An intimate

relationship with Him leads to willing, devoted, joyful obedi-ence, and the deeper our intimacy with Him, the greaterthe impact our lives will have for His kingdom.

� 14:26 — “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Fa-ther will send in My name, He will teach you all things,and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

Jesus mentions all three Persons of the Godhead here—the Father; Himself, the Son; and the Holy Spirit. The

three Persons of the Trinity are equal, divine, and share thesame attributes. Yet understand, we do not worship three


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27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I giveto you; not as the world gives do I give to you.Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it befearful.28 “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away,and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, youwould have rejoiced because I go to the Fa-ther, for the Father is greater than I.29 “Now I have told you before it happens,so that when it happens, you may believe.30 “I will not speak much more with you, forthe ruler of the world is coming, and he hasnothing in Me;31 but so that the world may know that Ilove the Father, I do exactly as the Fathercommanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15“I AM the true vine, and My Father is thevinedresser.

2 “Every branch in Me that does not bearfruit, He takes away; and every branch thatbears fruit, He aprunes it so that it may bearmore fruit.3 “You are already clean because of theword which I have spoken to you.4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branchcannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides inthe vine, so neither can you unless you abidein Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bearsmuch fruit, for apart from Me you can donothing.

6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he isthrown away as a branch and dries up; andthey gather them, and cast them into the fireand they are burned.7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abidein you, ask whatever you wish, and it will bedone for you.8 “My Father is glorified by this, that youbear much fruit, and so prove to be My disci-ples.9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I havealso loved you; abide in My love.10 “If you keep My commandments, you willabide in My love; just as I have kept My Fa-ther’s commandments and abide in His love.11 “These things I have spoken to you sothat My joy may be in you, and that your joymay be made full.

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other12 “This is My commandment, that you loveone another, just as I have loved you.13 “Greater love has no one than this, thatone lay down his life for his friends.14 “You are My friends if you do what I com-mand you.15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for theslave does not know what his master is doing;but I have called you friends, for all thingsthat I have heard from My Father I have madeknown to you.

J O H N 1 4 : 2 7 1248

aLit cleans; used to describe pruning

gods—there is only one God who is expressed in three Per-sons (Deut. 6:4). The Holy Spirit brings to mind Jesus’words, because He is one and the same (1 Cor. 2:10–16).

� 14:27 — “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give toyou; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do notlet your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

T he peace of Jesus “surpasses all comprehension” (Phil.4:7) because its source is Christ Himself. His peace

keeps us from fear and worry because it brings us straightto Him—and teaches us to depend on Him in everythingwe face. And we know that no matter what our circum-stances, the Lord Jesus will sustain us, strengthen us, andenable us to walk through it victoriously.

� 15:2 — “Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes itso that it may bear more fruit.”

W hy does God allow difficulty in the lives of thosewho love and serve Him? Because the believer is like

a branch that receives its nourishment from the LivingVine—Jesus Christ. When we abide in Him, He producesfruit through us. However, sometimes we allow things inour lives that diminish our impact for His kingdom. So Godprunes all the extraneous things that are hindering us so wewill be free to bear a better harvest.

� 15:4 — “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branchcannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine,so neither can you unless you abide in Me.”

T he only way we can play a significant role in the king-dom of God is to allow Jesus to live His life in and

through us. While apart from Him we can do nothing, inHim we can do anything He calls us to do.

� 15:11 — “These things I have spoken to you so thatMy joy may be in you, and that your joy may bemade full.”

T he Word of God, living and growing within us, pro-duces lasting and increasing joy. A lack of joy in a

Christian’s life often can be traced to a lack of concentrateddevotional time in God’s Word or disobedience.

� 15:13 — “Greater love has no one than this, thatone lay down his life for his friends.”

Jesus is the best friend we could ever have. He loves usjust the way we are—He knows everything there is

about us and still accepts us completely. In fact, this is whyHe laid His life down for us on the Cross—so we could be-come acceptable and have an intimate relationship withHim through His sacrificial death (Col. 1:19–22).

� 15:15 — “I have called you friends.”

If we were merely God’s servants, He would just give usorders. However, Jesus wants us to build a relationship

with Him as His friends—loving and fellowshipping withHim and knowing His heart.


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16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you,and appointed you that you would go andbear fruit, and that your fruit would remain,so that whatever you ask of the Father in Myname He may give to you.17 “This I command you, that you love oneanother.

Disciples’ Relation to the World18 “If the world hates you, you know that ithas hated Me before it hated you.19 “If you were of the world, the worldwould love its own; but because you are not ofthe world, but I chose you out of the world,because of this the world hates you.20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Aslave is not greater than his master.’ If theypersecuted Me, they will also persecute you; ifthey kept My word, they will keep yours also.21 “But all these things they will do to youfor My name’s sake, because they do notknow the One who sent Me.22 “If I had not come and spoken to them,they would not have sin, but now they have noexcuse for their sin.23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also.24 “If I had not done among them the workswhich no one else did, they would not havesin; but now they have both seen and hatedMe and My Father as well.25 “But they have done this to fulfill theword that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATEDME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’26 “When the Helper comes, whom I willsend to you from the Father, that is the Spiritof truth who proceeds from the Father, He willtestify about Me,27 and you will testify also, because youhave been with Me from the beginning.

Jesus’ Warning

16“THESE things I have spoken to you sothat you may be kept from stumbling.

2 “They will make you outcasts from thesynagogue, but an hour is coming for every-one who kills you to think that he is offeringservice to God.3 “These things they will do because theyhave not known the Father or Me.4 “But these things I have spoken to you, so

that when their hour comes, you may remem-ber that I told you of them. These things I didnot say to you at the beginning, because I waswith you.

The Holy Spirit Promised5 “But now I am going to Him who sent Me;and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are Yougoing?’6 “But because I have said these things toyou, sorrow has filled your heart.7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your ad-vantage that I go away; for if I do not go away,the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, Iwill send Him to you.8 “And He, when He comes, will convict theworld concerning sin and righteousness andjudgment;9 concerning sin, because they do not be-lieve in Me;10 and concerning righteousness, because Igo to the Father and you no longer see Me;11 and concerning judgment, because theruler of this world has been judged.12 “I have many more things to say to you,but you cannot bear them now.13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes,He will guide you into all the truth; for He willnot speak on His own initiative, but whateverHe hears, He will speak; and He will discloseto you what is to come.14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take ofMine and will disclose it to you.15 “All things that the Father has are Mine;therefore I said that He takes of Mine and willdisclose it to you.

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold16 “A little while, and you will no longer seeMe; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”17 Some of His disciples then said to one an-other, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘Alittle while, and you will not see Me; andagain a little while, and you will see Me’; and,‘because I go to the Father’?”18 So they were saying, “What is this that Hesays, ‘A little while’? We do not know what Heis talking about.”19 Jesus knew that they wished to question

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� 15:16 — “You did not choose Me but I chose you,and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit,and that your fruit would remain.”

Jesus does not want any of us to lead unproductive orunfocused lives. He chose us not only for salvation, but

also to play a significant role in His kingdom. He wantseach of us to fulfill the particular purpose He created usfor (Eph. 2:10).

� 16:13 — “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, Hewill guide you into all the truth.”

In every area of our inadequacy, the Holy Spirit in-dwells us to meet our needs in the way that honors

God (Rom. 8). He draws us to salvation (John 6:44; 1 Cor. 2:6–16; 12:3), regenerates us (Titus 3:5), convictsus of our sinfulness and teaches us to live in the right-eousness of Christ (John 14:26; 16:8), and seals us forredemption (Eph. 4:30). Everything that God calls us to do, the Spirit equips and empowers us to accomplish it(Matt. 10:19, 20; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 2:3–5; 12:4–13; 2 Pet. 1:21).


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If you’ve ever wished you couldimmediately understand God’s willwhen going through a difficult sit-

uation, you’re in good company. We’ve allfaced challenging circumstances that have con-founded us— we’ve had no idea about how toproceed, and we’ve longed for the Lord’sguidance, help, and provision. However, asbelievers, we must understand that the HolySpirit indwells us the moment we accept JesusChrist as our Savior, and He has been given tous as an everlasting promise that God willnever leave us nor forsake us, no matter whathappens (John 14:16–18; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:17; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 1 John4:2, 13).

Although you may be facing a situationthat makes you feel isolated, helpless, or direc-tionless, understand that you’re never alone.The Holy Spirit is with you, to live the life ofChrist through you—helping you face everychallenge in a godly, victorious manner. John16:13, 14 promises, “He will guide you into allthe truth; for He will not speak on His owninitiative, but whatever He hears, He willspeak; and He will disclose to you what is tocome. He will glorify Me, for He will take ofMine and will disclose it to you.”

How does the Holy Spirit help and directyou? He does so in a manner that is:

Practical. The Holy Spirit warns you ofperils ahead and equips you to succeed in the

The Holy Spirit is with you, to live the life of Christ through you.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUTHOW THE HOLY SPIRITGUIDES US

John 16:13

tasks He has assigned to you. He knows exactlyhow much strength, wisdom, resources, andencouragement you need for whatever is ahead.

Personal. He lives inside of you and knowsyou even better than you know yourself. Heunderstands exactly what you require to growin the likeness of Christ, and He enables you tobecome the person the Lord created you to be.

Available. Twenty- four hours a day, 365days a year, the Holy Spirit is there for you. Henever sleeps but is constantly working in andthrough you for your good.

Dependable. There’s no problem you facethat God can’t handle. In fact, not only will theHoly Spirit help you get through yourheartaches, but He will also use your burdensto teach you about the love, wisdom, andpower of God.

Even when you don’t know what to askfor in prayer, the Holy Spirit will intervene foryou (Rom. 8:26–29). Though God’s Wordmay not make sense to you, He will show youwhat it means (1 Cor. 2:12–14). If there issomething within you that is hindering God’swork, He will reveal it to you (John 16:8).When you feel inadequate, He bestows youwith the giftedness you need to live the Chris-tian life (1 Cor. 12:4–11). And in your greatestmoments of weakness and distress, the HolySpirit can energize, encourage, and empoweryou to overcome whatever afflicts you (Rom.5:3–5).

Therefore, don’t hinder the Holy Spirit—He is your Helper, and His guidance is yoursfor the asking. Whenever you need Him, pray,listen, follow His direction, and confidentlyobey His promptings—because you can be surethat He will never lead you astray.

See the Life Principles Index for further study:22. To walk in the Spirit is to obey the initial

promptings of the Spirit.10. If necessary, God will move heaven and earth

to show us His will.

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Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberat-ing together about this, that I said, ‘A littlewhile, and you will not see Me, and again alittle while, and you will see Me’?20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you willweep and lament, but the world will rejoice;you will grieve, but your grief will be turnedinto joy.21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she haspain, because her hour has come; but whenshe gives birth to the child, she no longer re-members the anguish because of the joy thata child has been born into the world.22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but Iwill see you again, and your heart will rejoice,and no one will take your joy away from you.

Prayer Promises23 “In that day you will not question Meabout anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, ifyou ask the Father for anything in My name,He will give it to you.24 “Until now you have asked for nothing inMy name; ask and you will receive, so thatyour joy may be made full.25 “These things I have spoken to you in fig-urative language; an hour is coming when Iwill no longer speak to you in figurative lan-guage, but will tell you plainly of the Father.26 “In that day you will ask in My name, andI do not say to you that I will request of theFather on your behalf;27 for the Father Himself loves you, becauseyou have loved Me and have believed that Icame forth from the Father.28 “I came forth from the Father and havecome into the world; I am leaving the worldagain and going to the Father.”29 His disciples *said, “Lo, now You arespeaking plainly and are not using a figure ofspeech.30 “Now we know that You know all things,

and have no need for anyone to question You;by this we believe that You came from God.”31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now be-lieve?32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father iswith Me.33 “These things I have spoken to you, sothat in Me you may have peace. In the worldyou have tribulation, but take courage; I haveovercome the world.”

The High Priestly Prayer

17JESUS spoke these things; and liftingup His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father,

the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that theSon may glorify You,2 even as You gave Him authority over allflesh, that to all whom You have given Him,He may give eternal life.3 “This is eternal life, that they may knowYou, the only true God, and Jesus Christwhom You have sent.4 “I glorified You on the earth, having ac-complished the work which You have givenMe to do.5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together withYourself, with the glory which I had with Youbefore the world was.6 “I have manifested Your name to the menwhom You gave Me out of the world; theywere Yours and You gave them to Me, and theyhave kept Your word.7 “Now they have come to know that every-thing You have given Me is from You;8 for the words which You gave Me I havegiven to them; and they received them andtruly understood that I came forth from You,and they believed that You sent Me.9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on be-

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� 16:22 — “You too have grief now; but I will see youagain, and your heart will rejoice, and no one willtake your joy away from you.”

Sorrow and happiness are both a part of the human ex-perience, and both depend largely on circumstances.

When we unite ourselves to the risen Christ, however, Hegives us a joy that no obstacle, problem, or situation cantake away.

� 16:24 — “Until now you have asked for nothing inMy name; ask and you will receive.”

T o ask in Jesus’ name means to connect your requestwith His will, plans, purpose, and sovereignty.

� 16:33 — “In the world you have tribulation, buttake courage; I have overcome the world.”

A s Jesus stood ready to face the Cross and defeatthe last foe—death (1 Cor. 15:26)—He encour-

aged the disciples to always have confidence in His abilityto lead them to triumph, which was proven at the Resur-rection. Although it may feel as if your every desire andsecurity has been destroyed, your true hope—the LordJesus—can display His resurrection power in your situa-tion as well. And when He does, you certainly won’t bedisappointed.

� 17:3 — “This is eternal life, that they may knowYou, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Youhave sent.”

Some mistakenly believe that eternal life can only be en-joyed after death. However, Scripture is clear that you

receive it the moment you have faith in the risen JesusChrist and begin a relationship with Him. You don’t just re-ceive the gift of living forever—you are given the awesomeprivilege of having a vibrant, growing relationship with theCreator of all that exists.


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half of the world, but of those whom You havegiven Me; for they are Yours;10 and all things that are Mine are Yours,and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorifiedin them.11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet theythemselves are in the world, and I come toYou. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, thename which You have given Me, that they maybe one even as We are.12 “While I was with them, I was keepingthem in Your name which You have given Me;and I guarded them and not one of them per-ished but the son of perdition, so that theScripture would be fulfilled.

The Disciples in the World13 “But now I come to You; and these thingsI speak in the world so that they may have Myjoy made full in themselves.14 “I have given them Your word; and theworld has hated them, because they are not ofthe world, even as I am not of the world.15 “I do not ask You to take them out of theworld, but to keep them from the evil one.16 “They are not of the world, even as I amnot of the world.17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word istruth.18 “As You sent Me into the world, I alsohave sent them into the world.19 “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, thatthey themselves also may be sanctified intruth.20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, butfor those also who believe in Me through theirword;21 that they may all be one; even as You, Fa-ther, are in Me and I in You, that they also maybe in Us, so that the world may believe thatYou sent Me.

Their Future Glory22 “The glory which You have given Me Ihave given to them, that they may be one, justas We are one;23 I in them and You in Me, that they may beperfected in unity, so that the world mayknow that You sent Me, and loved them, evenas You have loved Me.24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom Youhave given Me, be with Me where I am, so that

they may see My glory which You have givenMe, for You loved Me before the foundation ofthe world.25 “O righteous Father, although the worldhas not known You, yet I have known You; andthese have known that You sent Me;26 and I have made Your name known tothem, and will make it known, so that the lovewith which You loved Me may be in them, andI in them.”

Judas Betrays Jesus

18WHEN Jesus had spoken these words,He went forth with His disciples over

the ravine of the Kidron, where there was agarden, in which He entered with His disci-ples.2 Now Judas also, who was betraying Him,knew the place, for Jesus had often met therewith His disciples.3 Judas then, having received the Romancohort and officers from the chief priests andthe Pharisees, *came there with lanterns andtorches and weapons.4 So Jesus, knowing all the things thatwere coming upon Him, went forth and *saidto them, “Whom do you seek?”5 They answered Him, “Jesus theNazarene.” He *said to them, “I am He.” AndJudas also, who was betraying Him, wasstanding with them.6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” theydrew back and fell to the ground.7 Therefore He again asked them, “Whomdo you seek?” And they said, “Jesus theNazarene.”8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He;so if you seek Me, let these go their way,”9 to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Ofthose whom You have given Me I lost not one.”10 Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew itand struck the high priest’s slave, and cut offhis right ear; and the slave’s name wasMalchus.11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword intothe sheath; the cup which the Father hasgiven Me, shall I not drink it?”

Jesus before the Priests12 So the Roman cohort and the commanderand the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesusand bound Him,

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� 17:24 — “Father, I desire that they also, whom Youhave given Me, be with Me where I am, so that theymay see My glory.”

Hebrews 12:2 tells us, “Jesus . . . for the joy set beforeHim endured the cross.” What was His joy? Fulfilling

the purpose for which He came—to restore our relationshipwith Him and show His glory. In the moments before Hefaced arrest, Jesus prayed for us in the Garden of Gethse-

mane. And because He triumphed on the Cross, not onlyhas He achieved His mission, we can share in His joy as well.

� 18:11 — “The cup which the Father has given Me,shall I not drink it?”

T hree times in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesusprayed that, if it were possible, God would remove

the “cup” of the Cross from Him (Matt. 26:36–46). Hedidn’t, and so now Jesus would let nothing come betweenHim and that cup.


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13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was fa-ther-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priestthat year.14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had ad-vised the Jews that it was expedient for oneman to die on behalf of the people.15 Simon Peter was following Jesus, and sowas another disciple. Now that disciple wasknown to the high priest, and entered withJesus into the court of the high priest,16 but Peter was standing at the door out-side. So the other disciple, who was known tothe high priest, went out and spoke to thedoorkeeper, and brought Peter in.17 Then the slave-girl who kept the door*said to Peter, “You are not also one of thisman’s disciples, are you?” He *said, “I am not.”18 Now the slaves and the officers werestanding there, having made a charcoal fire,for it was cold and they were warming them-selves; and Peter was also with them, stand-ing and warming himself.19 The high priest then questioned Jesusabout His disciples, and about His teaching.20 Jesus answered him, “I have spokenopenly to the world; I always taught in syna-gogues and in the temple, where all the Jewscome together; and I spoke nothing in secret.21 “Why do you question Me? Questionthose who have heard what I spoke to them;they know what I said.”22 When He had said this, one of the officersstanding nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is thatthe way You answer the high priest?”23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spokenwrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly,why do you strike Me?”24 So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphasthe high priest.

Peter’s Denial of Jesus25 Now Simon Peter was standing andwarming himself. So they said to him, “Youare not also one of His disciples, are you?” Hedenied it, and said, “I am not.”26 One of the slaves of the high priest, beinga relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off,*said, “Did I not see you in the garden withHim?”27 Peter then denied it again, and immedi-ately a rooster crowed.

Jesus before Pilate28 Then they *led Jesus from Caiaphas intothe aPraetorium, and it was early; and theythemselves did not enter into the Praetoriumso that they would not be defiled, but mighteat the Passover.29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and*said, “What accusation do you bring againstthis Man?”30 They answered and said to him, “If thisMan were not an evildoer, we would not havedelivered Him to you.”

31 So Pilate said to them, “Take Him your-selves, and judge Him according to your law.”The Jews said to him, “We are not permittedto put anyone to death,”32 to fulfill the word of Jesus which Hespoke, signifying by what kind of death Hewas about to die.33 Therefore Pilate entered again into thePraetorium, and summoned Jesus and said toHim, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

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aI.e. governor’s official residence

“Rabbi” Is Not EnoughJOHN 18:3

Judas Iscariot powerfully reminds usof the horrific possibilities within everyhuman heart. While he called Jesus“Rabbi” (Matt. 26:25, 49), there is norecord that he used the term “Lord.”Sadly, he shows us that we can claim alle-giance to Christ without ever truly believ-ing in Him as our Lord and Savior (Matt.7:22, 23). This is the case with those whobelieve that Jesus was a good teacher butdeny that He is the only way to the Father(John 14:6), or those who profess to knowHim but do so only for their own gain.

Whatever his reason for handing overthe Lord Jesus, we know that sin had soblinded Judas that he could not see the Way,the Truth, and the Life. He pridefully tookmatters into his own hands and later regret-ted all that he had done (Matt. 27:3–5).

Judas’s story of the betrayal still res-onates, not only because of his evil kiss(Luke 22:47, 48) but also because we re-alize the wickedness of our own flesh.How many of us attend church regularlyand give Jesus intellectual assent—but notour hearts? How many call Him King,only as a way to achieve our own thrones?

What kind of kiss do we give the Lord?See the Life Principles Index for further study:

24. To live the Christian life is to allow Jesus tolive His life in and through us.

1. Our intimacy with God—His highest pri-ority for our lives—determines the impactof our lives.

J U D A S


34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this onyour own initiative, or did others tell youabout Me?”35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I?Your own nation and the chief priests deliv-ered You to me; what have You done?”36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not ofthis world. If My kingdom were of this world,then My servants would be fighting so that Iwould not be handed over to the Jews; but asit is, My kingdom is not aof this realm.”37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You area king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctlythat I am a king. For this I have been born,and for this I have come into the world, to tes-tify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truthhears My voice.”38 Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”

And when he had said this, he went outagain to the Jews and *said to them, “I find noguilt in Him.39 “But you have a custom that I releasesomeone for you at the Passover; do you wishthen that I release for you the King of theJews?”40 So they cried out again, saying, “Not thisMan, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was arobber.

The Crown of Thorns

19PILATE then took Jesus and scourgedHim.

2 And the soldiers twisted together a crownof thorns and put it on His head, and put apurple robe on Him;3 and they began to come up to Him andsay, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Himslaps in the face.4 Pilate came out again and *said to them,“Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so thatyou may know that I find no guilt in Him.”5 Jesus then came out, wearing the crownof thorns and the purple robe. Pilate *said tothem, “Behold, the Man!”6 So when the chief priests and the officerssaw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, cru-cify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him your-selves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt inHim.”7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law,

and by that law He ought to die because Hemade Himself out to be the Son of God.”8 Therefore when Pilate heard this state-ment, he was even more afraid;9 and he entered into the bPraetoriumagain and *said to Jesus, “Where are Youfrom?” But Jesus gave him no answer.10 So Pilate *said to Him, “You do not speakto me? Do You not know that I have authorityto release You, and I have authority to crucifyYou?”11 Jesus answered, “You would have no au-thority over Me, unless it had been given youfrom above; for this reason he who deliveredMe to you has the greater sin.”12 As a result of this Pilate made efforts torelease Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “Ifyou release this Man, you are no friend ofCaesar; everyone who makes himself out tobe a king opposes Caesar.”13 Therefore when Pilate heard these words,he brought Jesus out, and sat down on thejudgment seat at a place called The Pavement,but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.14 Now it was the day of preparation for thePassover; it was about the csixth hour. And he*said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”15 So they cried out, “Away with Him, awaywith Him, crucify Him!” Pilate *said to them,“Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priestsanswered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

The Crucifixion16 So he then handed Him over to them tobe crucified.17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He wentout, bearing His own cross, to the place calledthe Place of a Skull, which is called in He-brew, Golgotha.18 There they crucified Him, and with Himtwo other men, one on either side, and Jesusin between.19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put iton the cross. It was written, “JESUS THENAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”20 Therefore many of the Jews read this in-scription, for the place where Jesus was cru-

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aLit from here bI.e. governor’s official residence cPerhaps 6 a.m.

� 18:36 — “My kingdom is not of this world.”

One day Jesus will return to earth “to rule all the nationswith a rod of iron” (Rev. 12:5; see also Ps. 2:9; Rev.

2:27; 19:15). Until then, His kingdom focuses on redeemingthe hearts of the lost.

� 19:11 — “You would have no authority over Me,unless it had been given you from above.”

No one exercises any authority at all in this world unlessthe Lord first gives it to him or her (Prov. 21:1; Dan.

4:17; Rom. 13:1). As children of a sovereign God, we arenever victims of our circumstances.

� 19:15 — The chief priests answered, “We have noking but Caesar.”

T he opponents of Jesus wanted Him dead so badly thatthey confessed Caesar as their only king, thus rejecting

God as their King. No one speaking by the Spirit of the Lordcould ever give total allegiance to a human ruler.


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cified was near the city; and it was written inHebrew, Latin and in Greek.21 So the chief priests of the Jews were say-ing to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of theJews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of theJews.’”22 Pilate answered, “What I have written Ihave written.”23 Then the soldiers, when they had cruci-fied Jesus, took His outer garments and madefour parts, a part to every soldier and also theatunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven inone piece.24 So they said to one another, “Let us nottear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose itshall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture:“THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONGTHEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”25 Therefore the soldiers did these things.

But standing by the cross of Jesus wereHis mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary thewife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and thedisciple whom He loved standing nearby, He*said to His mother, “Woman, behold, yourson!”27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold,your mother!” From that hour the discipletook her into his own household.28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all thingshad already been accomplished, to fulfill theScripture, *said, “I am thirsty.”29 A jar full of sour wine was standingthere; so they put a sponge full of the sourwine upon a branch of hyssop and brought itup to His mouth.30 Therefore when Jesus had received thesour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And Hebowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus31 Then the Jews, because it was the day ofpreparation, so that the bodies would not re-main on the cross on the Sabbath (for thatSabbath was a high day), asked Pilate thattheir legs might be broken, and that theymight be taken away.32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legsof the first man and of the other who was cru-cified with Him;33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that

He was already dead, they did not break Hislegs.34 But one of the soldiers pierced His sidewith a spear, and immediately blood andwater came out.35 And he who has seen has testified, andhis testimony is true; and he knows that he istelling the truth, so that you also may believe.36 For these things came to pass to fulfill theScripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BRO-KEN.”37 And again another Scripture says, “THEYSHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea,being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one forfear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he mighttake away the body of Jesus; and Pilategranted permission. So he came and tookaway His body.39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Himby night, also came, bringing a mixture ofmyrrh and aloes, about a hundred poundsweight.40 So they took the body of Jesus and boundit in linen wrappings with the spices, as is theburial custom of the Jews.41 Now in the place where He was crucifiedthere was a garden, and in the garden a newtomb in which no one had yet been laid.42 Therefore because of the Jewish day ofpreparation, since the tomb was nearby, theylaid Jesus there.

The Empty Tomb

20NOW on the first day of the week MaryMagdalene *came early to the tomb,

while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone al-ready taken away from the tomb.2 So she *ran and *came to Simon Peterand to the other disciple whom Jesus loved,and *said to them, “They have taken away theLord out of the tomb, and we do not knowwhere they have laid Him.”3 So Peter and the other disciple wentforth, and they were going to the tomb.4 The two were running together; and theother disciple ran ahead faster than Peter andcame to the tomb first;

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� 19:26 — When Jesus then saw His mother, and thedisciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said toHis mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

E ven as He died, Jesus showed His deep and genuineconcern for others. He called upon John the Beloved to

care for his mother. “The Son of Man did not come to beserved, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom formany” (Mark 10:45).

� 19:30 — “It is finished!” And He bowed His headand gave up His spirit.

E ach one of us has a sin debt that must be reconciled(Rom. 6:23), yet none of us can pay it because of our

sin nature. So Christ—knowing every sin we would evercommit—took our record of wrongs upon Himself andwiped them all out with His own blood (Matt. 26:28; Rom.3:23–26; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:20; Heb. 9:11–28). It was finishedforevermore! No one can ever condemn us because ourSavior, the Lord Jesus Christ, paid the penalty in full.


aGr khiton, the garment worn next to the skin

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5 and stooping and looking in, he *saw thelinen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.6 And so Simon Peter also *came, follow-ing him, and entered the tomb; and he *sawthe linen wrappings lying there,

7 and the face-cloth which had been on Hishead, not lying with the linen wrappings, butrolled up in a place by itself.8 So the other disciple who had first cometo the tomb then also entered, and he saw andbelieved.9 For as yet they did not understand theScripture, that He must rise again from thedead.10 So the disciples went away again to theirown homes.11 But Mary was standing outside the tombweeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped andlooked into the tomb;12 and she *saw two angels in white sitting,one at the head and one at the feet, where thebody of Jesus had been lying.13 And they *said to her, “Woman, why areyou weeping?” She *said to them, “Becausethey have taken away my Lord, and I do notknow where they have laid Him.”14 When she had said this, she turnedaround and *saw Jesus standing there, anddid not know that it was Jesus.15 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are youweeping? Whom are you seeking?” Suppos-ing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him,“Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell mewhere you have laid Him, and I will take Himaway.”16 Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turnedand *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!”(which means, Teacher).17 Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me,for I have not yet ascended to the Father; butgo to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascendto My Father and your Father, and My Godand your God.’”18 Mary Magdalene *came, announcing tothe disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and thatHe had said these things to her.

Jesus among His Disciples19 So when it was evening on that day, thefirst day of the week, and when the doorswere shut where the disciples were, for fear ofthe Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midstand *said to them, “Peace be with you.”20 And when He had said this, He showedthem both His hands and His side. The dis-ciples then rejoiced when they saw theLord.

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From Doubt to FaithJOHN 20:24–29

The name Thomas is the Hebrewequivalent of the Greek name Didymus,which means “twin.” Thomas reminds usof the similarities between doubt andfaith—both originate from the sameplace: a confrontation with the unknown.Doubt concedes defeat, while faith claimsthe victory.

When Jesus appeared to Thomas,hope became reality. The Resurrection re-newed his confidence in God (John20:24–29) and motivated him to spendthe rest of his life proclaiming the cer-tainty of the risen Christ. Tradition holdsthat Thomas spread the gospel to Indiaand helped dispel others’ disbelief aboutthe Resurrection.

If uncertainties have smothered yourconfidence in the Lord, remember Hispower so evident in the empty tomb. TheCrucifixion was not the end of thestory—and neither is the trial you face.Choose the path of faith and declare thattriumph lies just ahead. Allow Jesus’ res-urrection to strengthen your hope, renewyour certainty, and be your greatest vic-tory.See the Life Principles Index for further study:

9. Trusting God means looking beyond what wecan see to what God sees.

T H O M A S

� 20:12 — She saw two angels in white sitting, one atthe head and one at the feet, where the body ofJesus had been lying.

T hough Mary didn’t realize it, what she was seeing wasthe fulfillment of the Old Testament mercy seat—the

glory of the Lord shone between those two angels (Ex.

25:22). Only, God’s shekinah glory was not being revealedto a priest with an offering. It was being shown to awoman with a broken heart. The forgiveness, guidance,and presence of God—which had previously been accessi-ble to only one man on one day a year (Lev. 16)—is nowavailable to all of us for all eternity (Heb. 2:17; 4:14–16;9:23–28; 10:19–23; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).


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21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace bewith you; as the Father has sent Me, I alsosend you.”22 And when He had said this, He breathedon them and *said to them, “Receive the HolySpirit.23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sinshave been forgiven them; if you retain thesins of any, they have been retained.”24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, calledDidymus, was not with them when Jesus came.25 So the other disciples were saying to him,“We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them,“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of thenails, and put my finger into the place of thenails, and put my hand into His side, I will notbelieve.”26 After eight days His disciples were againinside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came,the doors having been shut, and stood in theirmidst and said, “Peace be with you.”27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Reach herewith your finger, and see My hands; andreach here your hand and put it into My side;and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “MyLord and my God!”29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you haveseen Me, have you believed? Blessed are theywho did not see, and yet believed.”

Why This Gospel Was Written30 Therefore many other signs Jesus alsoperformed in the presence of the disciples,which are not written in this book;31 but these have been written so that youmay believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Sonof God; and that believing you may have lifein His name.

Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee

21AFTER these things Jesus manifestedHimself again to the disciples at the Sea

of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in thisway.

2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didy-mus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, andthe sons of Zebedee, and two others of Hisdisciples were together.3 Simon Peter *said to them, “I am goingfishing.” They *said to him, “We will alsocome with you.” They went out and got intothe boat; and that night they caught nothing.4 But when the day was now breaking,Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples didnot know that it was Jesus.5 So Jesus *said to them, “Children, you donot have any fish, do you?” They answeredHim, “No.”6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on theright-hand side of the boat and you will find acatch.” So they cast, and then they were notable to haul it in because of the great numberof fish.7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved*said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when SimonPeter heard that it was the Lord, he put hisouter garment on (for he was stripped forwork), and threw himself into the sea.8 But the other disciples came in the littleboat, for they were not far from the land, butabout one hundred yards away, dragging thenet full of fish.9 So when they got out on the land, they*saw a charcoal fire already laid and fishplaced on it, and bread.10 Jesus *said to them, “Bring some of thefish which you have now caught.”11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net toland, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, thenet was not torn.

Jesus Provides12 Jesus *said to them, “Come and havebreakfast.” None of the disciples ventured toquestion Him, “Who are You?” knowing that itwas the Lord.13 Jesus *came and *took the bread and*gave it to them, and the fish likewise.

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� 20:21 — “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

T he Father sent His Son into the world to make it possi-ble for sinful men and women to become holy, and

the Son now sends His followers into the world to make itpossible for others to hear about His provision.

� 20:29 — “Blessed are they who did not see, and yetbelieved.”

T homas declared that he must see and touch the Saviorbefore he could believe in the Resurrection. Yet Jesus

said that those who do not need visual evidence of His workand power would be especially blessed. Trusting God meanslooking beyond what we can see to what He sees. This is thevery essence of faith—we don’t see God at work, but wehave confidence in Him anyway. We must actively obey Himand have confidence in His love for us before He will bless us.

� 20:31 — These have been written so that you maybelieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; andthat believing you may have life in His name.

If the Word of God did not have the Lord’s stamp of ap-proval, it would have fallen into obscurity long ago. But

as Isaiah 40:8 assures, “The word of our God stands for-ever.” The Bible is His revelation to us, and through thework of the Holy Spirit, it will continue to accomplish Hispurpose—to lead people to eternal life in Christ (Is. 55:11;Matt. 5:18; Phil. 1:6).

� 21:12 — Jesus said to them, “Come and have break-fast.”

If someone were making up the story, it would seemvery odd to have the resurrected Savior making break-

fast for His awestruck disciples. Yet God is interested inevery detail of our lives, even the mundane ones.


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14 This is now the third time that Jesus wasmanifested to the disciples, after He wasraised from the dead.

The Love Motivation15 So when they had finished breakfast,Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son ofJohn, do you love Me more than these?” He*said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I loveYou.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.”16 He *said to him again a second time,“Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that Ilove You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd Mysheep.”17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon,son of John, do you love Me?” Peter wasgrieved because He said to him the thirdtime, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him,“Lord, You know all things; You know that Ilove You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend Mysheep.

Our Times Are in His Hand18 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you wereyounger, you used to gird yourself and walkwherever you wished; but when you grow old,you will stretch out your hands and someone

else will gird you, and bring you where you donot wish to go.”19 Now this He said, signifying by what kindof death he would glorify God. And when Hehad spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!”20 Peter, turning around, *saw the disciplewhom Jesus loved following them; the onewho also had leaned back on His bosom atthe supper and said, “Lord, who is the onewho betrays You?”21 So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, “Lord,and what about this man?”22 Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to re-main until I come, what is that to you? Youfollow Me!”23 Therefore this saying went out among thebrethren that that disciple would not die; yetJesus did not say to him that he would not die,but only, “If I want him to remain until I come,what is that to you?”24 This is the disciple who is testifying tothese things and wrote these things, and weknow that his testimony is true.25 And there are also many other thingswhich Jesus did, which if they *were writtenin detail, I suppose that even the world itself*would not contain the books that *would bewritten.

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� 21:19 — Signifying by what kind of death he wouldglorify God.

F rom this moment on, Peter knew what kind ofdeath—crucifixion—awaited him. And yet he loved

the Savior who forgave him with such a passion that henever shrank from fulfilling his purpose, even to the very end.

� 21:22 — Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remainuntil I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”

W e are to concern ourselves with what God wants todo in our lives, not to fret about what He might do

in the life of another. We are not to compare or compete—we are to obey. What the Lord does with His other servantsis His business, not ours.


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Documents

The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASB