John

Authorship, Provenance, and Date of Composition

The Gospel of John relates the story of Jesus as one in which the Word made flesh is sent into the world “from above” to bring life to those who believe in him (1.1–18). The narrative world of the Gospel involves sharp contrasts—above and below, light and dark, spirit and flesh, not of this world/of this world, children of God and children of the devil. It is a world that God loves (3.16), but one that will hate his Son and those who come to believe in him (15.18–25). The Gospel soars with language of love and bites with sharp words of opposition between Jesus and his opponents. Even after centuries of study, readers are still discovering nuances in the symbolic language of this complex Gospel.

Like the other Gospels, this one never names an author. Since at least the late second century ce, tradition has attributed the authorship of the Gospel to Jesus's disciple, John the son of Zebedee, who purportedly wrote the Gospel in Ephesus. Doubts about the accuracy of this tradition have existed since antiquity. Eusebius mentions a different figure, John “the Elder,” living in Ephesus (Hist. eccl. 3.39.3). The conclusion to the Gospel (21.24) points to the memories of the “disciple whom Jesus loved” as a source of its traditions. But the narrative never identifies this figure, although if the “other disciple” in 18.16 is a reference to this same disciple, it may suggest that he is from Jerusalem rather than Galilee. Today most scholars think that Johannine traditions stem from an unidentified follower of Jesus, not one of the twelve disciples. This anonymous disciple developed a group of followers, a “Johannine school,” who were responsible for writing down his witness. This figure was idealized in the community, as the model believer who is called the “beloved disciple” in the Gospel narrative (19.25–27).

Dating the Gospel is complicated by theories that the Gospel was composed in several stages. Scholars generally date the final form of the Gospel to around 90–100 ce. A small papyrus fragment known as P52 (Rylands Library Papyrus 3.457), which contains verses from Jn 18, was initially dated at around 130 ce, which would mean that the Gospel must have been written by the end of the first century. More recently that date has been moved to later in the second century. Furthermore, references to John begin to proliferate in Christian writers only in the second half of the second century. The Gospel was likely written sometime in the late first century or early second century ce. But some scholars continue to argue for an earlier first-century date, at least for an earlier form of the Gospel.

Ephesus continues to be the lead contender for the author's location. Not only does tradition situate it there, but another writing associated with the Johannine corpus, the book of Revelation, is directed toward an audience in Asia Minor (Rev 1.4). Other suggestions include Palestine (especially for those looking for an early provenance) and Alexandria (because the Gospel was popular with Gnostic thinkers living in Egypt).

Literary History

Scholars confront three main puzzles in trying to discern the stages of composition in the Gospel of John. First, what is the relationship between this Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels? Second, apart from the Synoptic Gospels as potential sources, are there other discernible sources behind the Gospel? Third, was the Gospel composed in several stages at different points in the life of a particular “Johannine” community?

For much of the twentieth century, the distinctiveness of the Gospel led scholars to argue that the author did not know any of the Synoptic Gospels but employed an independent source of oral and written traditions which had some overlap with “Synoptic- like” traditions, especially Mark and Luke. More recently, scholars have argued that the evangelist knew one or more of the Synoptic Gospels, but chose to present the story of Jesus in a different form. The Gospel employs elements of the dramatic form to focus attention on the identity of Jesus as God's Son, “the one coming into the world” (1.9; 11.27). Thus the author departs from the narrative form of the other Gospels which depict Jesus as God's anointed Messiah who announces the coming kingdom of God.

Apart from the author's knowledge of written Gospels, the author may also have incorporated a source designated by scholars as the “signs source” (or sēmeia, Gk for “signs”). The Gospel uses the term “signs” for miracles performed by Jesus, and two of them, which are numbered, frame an early section of the narrative (2.11; 4.54). Different assessments of signs appear in the narrative: sometimes they are regarded positively as the basis of faith (2.11; 2.23); at other times seeking signs draws criticism (4.48). Such differences could result from the incorporation of a distinct signs source.

Many scholars think that the Gospel was written in stages, over several decades. In 21.20–23, for instance, we find confusion regarding the death of the Beloved Disciple prior to the second coming of Jesus. That clarification suggests that ch 21 stems from a revision of the Gospel at a later period in the life of the community. Similarly, chs 15–17 may belong to that addition, given the apparent break in the narrative at 14.31. The Johan-nine letters, which share vocabulary and images related to the Gospel, point to further crisis which split the community, although whether this crisis occurred before or after the writing of the Gospel is debated. Some interpreters reject the entire construct of a “Johannine community,” since no external evidence exists for such a community in Ephesus. Moreover, what appear to be awkward textual breaks can be explained as literary devices that were common to Greek drama (see 14.31n.).

Structure and Literary Style

The narrative divides into two main sections. Chapters 1–12 describe Jesus's time in the world during which he performs signs to disclose the true nature of his identity to those who believe. At 13.1, Jesus tells his disciples that his time to return to the Father has come, beginning the second part of Gospel. The remaining chapters include Jesus's farewell meal with the disciples where he prepares them for his departure (13–17), followed by the passion and resurrection narrative (18–20), and an epilogue (21). In addition to relating Jesus's signs, the first part describes increasing conflict between Jesus and his opponents, culminating in the final plan to put Jesus to death (11.53). This decision comes following the raising of Lazarus, which itself points ahead to Jesus's death and resurrection. So also does Mary's anointing of Jesus in Bethany, which anticipates his burial (12.7–8). Thus, chs 11–12 provide the transition from the first half of the Gospel, focusing on Jesus coming into the world and his ministry, to the second part, focused on his glorification and ascent to the Father.

The Gospel contains many distinctive traditions and literary features. For example, the narrative presents Jesus in extended dialogues with other characters along with lengthy discourses about his identity and purpose. Often these exchanges lead to misunderstanding on the part of his conversation partners. See, for example, the scenes with Nicodemus, (3.1–21) and the Samaritan Woman (4.1–42), where Jesus uses words with double meanings that create confusion. Likewise, Jesus's discourses employ symbolic imagery to describe Jesus's identity. That language leads to questions and protests from listeners. Another literary device is the use of “I am” statements. The Johannine Jesus uses the phrase to define himself by way of objects from everyday life such as bread (6.35), light (8.12), door (10.7), good shepherd (10.11), and true vine (15.1). In some cases, the phrase is used more abstractly. Jesus instructs his listener that he is the resurrection (11.25), the way, the truth, and the life (14.6). All of these statements point to the life-giving qualities of the divine savior. In several cases the phrase is used without a direct object (8.28,58), echoing the “I am” theophany of Exodus, where God reveals his name using the first-person form of the verb to be (Ex 3.14). This focus on the identity of Jesus appears also in the Gospel's distinctive description of Jesus's wondrous acts as “signs.” In the Synoptic tradition, Jesus's miracles point to the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. In this Gospel, the signs reveal Jesus's glory and bring people to belief in him.

Irony also appears regularly as a literary device, where characters unknowingly convey theological truths about Jesus. Two prime examples are Caiaphas's declaration about Jesus's death for “the people” (11.49–52), and Pilate's question “What is truth?” as he stands before Jesus who has proclaimed himself as the truth (18.38).

Historical Context and Interpretation

As early as Clement of Alexandria's statement that “John wrote a spiritual gospel” (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.14.7) readers have tended to assume that the Gospel is less historical than the Synoptic Gospels. While assessing the historicity of any Gospel tradition is always complicated, at least some details in John may be closer to the historical context of Jesus than those in the Synoptic accounts. For example, John's narrative has Jesus engaged in a ministry of at least three years compared to the single year in the other Gospels. In John, Jesus attends multiple festivals in Jerusalem, including three annual Passover festivals (2.13; 6.4; 11.55). An active ministry of several years makes more sense in providing time necessary to gather followers and attract the negative attention of Roman leaders. The Gospel of John is also the only one that directly addresses the historical reality of living under Roman occupation (11.48). Other differences in chronology are more difficult to assess. For instance, the Gospel does not have Jesus sharing a Passover meal with the disciples as in the Synoptic Gospels; instead, Jesus's last meal is on the day before Passover. Theological motivations can explain both versions of the timing. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Lamb of God crucified on the day before Passover, the same day that the Passover lambs are slaughtered. In the Synoptic Gospels, the Last Supper is a Passover meal that is transformed into a Eucharistic meal.

Determining the historical circumstances in which the Gospel was written poses other difficult questions. From a Christian perspective, the Gospel of John offers a rich tapestry of symbolic language that presents Jesus as the image and revelation of God in the world. One who knows Jesus, knows God (1.18; 14.9), and one who follows the commandment of Jesus to love others in the community will abide in God's love and have complete joy (15.10). Believers have been granted eternal life and promised a place with the Father and the Son (3.16; 8.51; 14.1–3). But all of this positive imagery is accompanied by its opposite. One who does not believe has already been condemned (3.18). One who does not abide in Jesus “is thrown away like a branch” to wither and burn (15.6). If believers have eternal life, sinners (those who do not believe) will die in their sins (8.24).

This starkly drawn picture may seem clear enough until one confronts the fact that the Gospel regularly labels these nonbelievers as hoi Ioudaioi, “the Jews.” Indeed, a major challenge of understanding the historical context of the Gospel is how to make sense of a narrative that features Jesus in close connection with Jewish traditions and rituals (shown though regular references to the ancestral figures of Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, as well as frequent attendance at Jewish festivals), and also in heated conflict with a group called “the Jews.” Historically, Jesus and all of his disciples were Jewish, so it seems puzzling to hear John's Jesus declare that unbelieving children of Abraham are offspring of the devil (8.39–44). Scholars debate even how to translate the phrase hoi Ioudaioi, since it clearly cannot refer to all Jewish people. Because the Gospel also contrasts a positive response to Jesus in the rural region of Galilee with the increasing hostility of Judeans in Jerusalem, some favor “the Judeans” as the translation of hoi Ioudaioi. Especially given the legacy of violent anti-Semitism in Western history, the problem of translation is a serious one.

One theory about the historical context of the Gospel popular in the late twentieth century explained the hostile use of “the Jews” as the reaction to a formal expulsion of Christ- believers from Jewish synagogues. The theory rested on the Gospel's use of the Gk term aposynagogos (lit.,“out from the synagogue”). It appears three times in the Gospel (9.22; 12.42; 16.2), but nowhere else in ancient Greek literature. In recent years, the notion of a formal expulsion from the synagogue as the historical background for the Gospel has been disproven, since it assumed that a benediction from a later period in Jewish liturgy represented a curse against Jesus's followers. The synagogue expulsion theory also fails to account for evidence from the Gospel narrative. For example, 12.11 refers to voluntary departure from the synagogue rather than expulsion. In some places, “the Jews” is used in neutral ways, as in references to the festival of the Jews that Jesus attends (5.1), or the Jews who gather with Mary and Martha to comfort them (11.19). Indeed, one should also note that Mary and Martha, clearly intimate associates with Jesus, are still associating with the Jews—they have not been “put out of the synagogue.” In other places, the expression “the Jews” is a variation on the negative group opposed to Jesus, “unbelievers” or even “the world.” Generally, when Gospel writers refer to “the Jews” in antagonistic ways, they have religious authorities in mind.

Consequently, some scholars think that references to being driven out of the synagogue may be included in the Gospel to prevent Jesus-believers who had left the synagogue from returning to it again (see 1 Jn 2.19). In this sense, a more accurate description of the circumstances reflected by the rhetoric of the Gospel would see the heated rhetoric flowing both ways. That is, the followers of Jesus may have opted out of the local synagogue in anger over bitter disagreements about the identity of Jesus. These references to being “put out” may reveal little more than the frustrations, anger and pain between otherwise closely interrelated groups. One purpose of the Gospel may have been to reassure and shore up the belief of the community, in light of these tense circumstances (see 20.31, note b).

Colleen Conway

1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life,^a and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.^b

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own,^c and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son,^d full of grace and truth. ¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,^e who is close to the Father's heart,^f who has made him known.

¹⁹This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”^{a 21}And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said,

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”

as the prophet Isaiah said.

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah,^a nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” ²⁸This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”^b

³⁵The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed^c). ⁴²He brought Simon^d to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter^e).

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you,^a you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

2

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. ⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.

¹³The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he was speaking of the temple of his body. ²²After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

The geography of the Gospel of John.

²³When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. ²⁴But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people ²⁵and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

3

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²He came to Jesus^a by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” ³Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”^{b 4}Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.^{c 7}Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You^d must be born from above.’^{e 8}The wind^c blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you^f do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^{g 14}And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^a

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”^a

²²After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. ²³John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized ²⁴—John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵Now a discussion about purification arose between John's disciples and a Jew.^{b 26}They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” ²⁷John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,^c but I have been sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.”^d

³¹The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. ³³Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified^e this, that God is true. ³⁴He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath.

4

Now when Jesus^f learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” ²—although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized—³he left Judea and started back to Galilee. ⁴But he had to go through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

⁷A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)^{a 10}Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” ¹⁷The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” ¹⁹The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you^b say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” ²⁶Jesus said to her, “I am he,^c the one who is speaking to you.”

²⁷Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,^d can he?” ³⁰They left the city and were on their way to him.

³¹Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³²But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” ³⁴Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. ³⁵Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. ³⁶The reaper is already receiving^a wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

³⁹Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹And many more believed because of his word. ⁴²They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

⁴³When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee ⁴⁴(for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet's own country). ⁴⁵When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.

⁴⁶Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you^b see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” ⁵⁰Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. ⁵¹As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. ⁵²So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” ⁵³The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. ⁵⁴Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

5

After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ²Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew^c Beth-zatha,^d which has five porticoes. ³In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.^{e 5}One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” ⁷The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” ⁸Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” ⁹At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. ¹⁰So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” ¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” ¹³Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in^a the crowd that was there. ¹⁴Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. ¹⁷But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” ¹⁸For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.

¹⁹Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father^b does, the Son does likewise. ²⁰The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. ²¹Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. ²²The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.

²⁵“Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; ²⁷and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

³⁰“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

³¹“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³²There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. ³³You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. ³⁴Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶But I have a testimony greater than John's. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. ³⁷And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, ³⁸and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

³⁹“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. ⁴⁰Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. ⁴¹I do not accept glory from human beings. ⁴²But I know that you do not have the love of God in^a you. ⁴³I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

6

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.^{b 2}A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages^c would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they^d sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles,^a they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I;^b do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

²²The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.^{c 24}So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

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

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; ³⁸for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”

⁴¹Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

⁵²The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

⁶⁰When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. ⁶⁵And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

⁶⁶Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”^{a 70}Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” ⁷¹He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot,^b for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

7

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish^c to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. ²Now the Jewish festival of Booths^d was near. ³So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; ⁴for no one who wants^a to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵(For not even his brothers believed in him.) ⁶Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. ⁸Go to the festival yourselves. I am not^b going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

¹⁰But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were^c in secret. ¹¹The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” ¹²And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” ¹³Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning,^d when he has never been taught?” ¹⁶Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. ¹⁷Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. ¹⁸Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

¹⁹“Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?” ²⁰The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?” ²¹Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. ²²Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. ²³If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man's whole body on the sabbath? ²⁴Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

²⁵Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? ²⁶And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?^{e 27}Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah^e comes, no one will know where he is from.” ²⁸Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. ²⁹I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” ³⁰Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah^e comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?”^f

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me and you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, ³⁸and let the one who believes in me drink. As^a the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer's heart^b shall flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit,^c because Jesus was not yet glorified.

⁴⁰When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” ⁴¹Others said, “This is the Messiah.”^d But some asked, “Surely the Messiah^d does not come from Galilee, does he? ⁴²Has not the scripture said that the Messiah^d is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” ⁴³So there was a division in the crowd because of him. ⁴⁴Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

⁴⁵Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” ⁴⁶The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” ⁴⁷Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? ⁴⁸Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” ⁵⁰Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus^e before, and who was one of them, asked, ⁵¹“Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” ⁵²They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”

8

⟦ ⁵³Then each of them went home, ¹while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. ³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, ⁴they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.^{f 9}When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹She said, “No one, sir.”^a And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”⟧^b

¹²Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” ¹³Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” ¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge by human standards;^c I judge no one. ¹⁶Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father^d who sent me. ¹⁷In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. ¹⁸I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” ¹⁹Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²²Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”^{e 25}They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all?^{f 26}I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” ²⁷They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he,^e and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. ²⁹And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” ³⁰As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

³¹Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. ³⁸I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”^a

³⁹They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing^b what Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. ⁴⁴You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”

⁴⁸The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. ⁵¹Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” ⁵²The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ ⁵⁵though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”^{c 58}Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

9

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. ⁴We^d must work the works of him who sent me^e while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, ⁷saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus^a to be the Messiah^b would be put out of the synagogue. ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”^{c 36}He answered, “And who is he, sir?^d Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” ³⁸He said, “Lord,^d I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

10

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. ²The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes^a it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

¹⁹Again the Jews were divided because of these words. ²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” ²¹Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah,^b tell us plainly.” ²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand.^{c 30}The Father and I are one.”

³¹The Jews took up stones again to stone him. ³²Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” ³³The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law,^a ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled—³⁶can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God's Son’? ³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. ³⁸But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand^b that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. ⁴¹Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴²And many believed in him there.

11

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,^c “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶after having heard that Lazarus^d was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” ¹¹After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” ¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶Thomas, who was called the Twin,^e said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus^d had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles^f away, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^a Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,^b the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

²⁸When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵Jesus began to weep. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. ⁴⁶But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. ⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place^c and our nation.” ⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” ⁵¹He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, ⁵²and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. ⁵³So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus^a was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

12

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ²There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. ³Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them^b with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii^c and the money given to the poor?” ⁶(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it^d so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

⁹When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

¹²The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—

  the King of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:

¹⁵“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.

Look, your king is coming,

  sitting on a donkey's colt!”

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. ¹⁷So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.^{e 18}It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. ¹⁹The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

²⁷“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—’Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people^a to myself.” ³³He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. ³⁴The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah^b remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. ³⁷Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. ³⁸This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

“Lord, who has believed our message,

  and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes

  and hardened their heart,

so that they might not look with their eyes,

  and understand with their heart and turn—

and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said this because^c he saw his glory and spoke about him. ⁴²Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. ⁴⁵And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. ⁴⁷I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, ⁴⁹for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

13

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table,^a took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,^b but is entirely clean. And you^c are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. ¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants^d are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. ¹⁸I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread^e has lifted his heel against me.’ ¹⁹I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he.^{f 20}Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

²¹After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” ²²The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. ²³One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; ²⁴Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. ²⁵So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”^g So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.^{h 27}After he received the piece of bread,ⁱ Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” ²⁸Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. ²⁹Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

³¹When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him,^a God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

³⁶Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.” ³⁷Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” ³⁸Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe^b in God, believe also in me. ²In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?^{c 3}And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to the place where I am going.”^{d 5}Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you know me, you will know^e my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If in my name you ask me^f for anything, I will do it.

¹⁵“If you love me, you will keep^g my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,^h to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in^a you.

¹⁸“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” ²²Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

²⁵“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶But the Advocate,^b the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. ²⁸You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. ²⁹And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. ³⁰I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; ³¹but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.

15

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes^c to make it bear more fruit. ³You have already been cleansed^c by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become^d my disciples. ⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

¹²“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants^a any longer, because the servant^b does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

¹⁸“If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world,^c the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants^d are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. ²¹But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

²⁶“When the Advocate^e comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. ²⁷You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

16

“I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. ²They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. ³And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. ⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate^e will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about^f sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; ¹¹about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

¹⁶“A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? ²⁰Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. ²¹When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. ²²So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ²³On that day you will ask nothing of me.^a Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.^{b 24}Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

²⁵“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. ²⁶On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.^{c 28}I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”

²⁹His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! ³⁰Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” ³¹Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³²The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. ³³I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

17

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all people,^d to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them in your name that^a you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost,^b so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.^{c 14}I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.^{d 16}They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,^e so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

²⁵“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

18

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ²Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” ⁵They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.”^f Jesus replied, “I am he.”^g Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶When Jesus^h said to them, “I am he,”^g they stepped back and fell to the ground. ⁷Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”^f8Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he.^a So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” ⁹This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” ¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus. ¹¹Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

¹²So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ¹⁶but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

¹⁹Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²²When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” ²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

²⁸Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters.^b It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters,^b so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” ³¹Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” ³²(This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

³³Then Pilate entered the headquarters^a again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. ³⁹But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

19

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. ³They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. ⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” ⁶When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” ⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹He entered his headquarters^a again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” ¹²From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat^b on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew^c Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” ¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” ¹⁶Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus; ¹⁷and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew^a is called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. ¹⁹Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth,^b the King of the Jews.” ²⁰Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew,^a in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²²Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” ²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. ²⁴So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

“They divided my clothes among themselves,

  and for my clothing they cast lots.”

²⁵And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

²⁸After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. ³⁰When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. ³²Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵(He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows^c that he tells the truth.) ³⁶These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” ³⁷And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

³⁸After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. ³⁹Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴²And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

20

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look^a into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^b “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin^a), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe^b that Jesus is the Messiah,^c the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

21

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. ²Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,^a Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. ³Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. ⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. ⁸But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards^a off.

⁹When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁰Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” ²¹When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” ²²Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” ²³So the rumor spread in the community^b that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”^c

²⁴This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

1–12: Jesus in the world.  

1.1–18: The prologue introduces the major themes of the Gospel: the identity of Jesus as an eternal and preexistent divine agent sent into the world by God, his rejection by many of his own people, and his acceptance by some, who thereby can become children of God. 1: In the beginning (Gen 1.1) affirms the primordial aspect of the Word (Gk logos). Logos is multivalent. In Jewish tradition logos represents God's Wisdom, a creative agent that eternally coexisted with God (Prov 8.27–30; Ps 33.6; Wis 9.1; Sir 43.26). By the first century, God's Wisdom was often equated with Torah. First-century ce Stoic philosophy used logos to reference the ordering, rational principle of the cosmos. 2–4: The Gk pronouns translated he and him could also be rendered it, referring to the logos. 3: Was with God … was God, poetic expression of the relationship between the divine logos and God. It anticipates language of unity with distinction that will describe the relationship between the Father and the Son in the Gospel (5.19,30; 10.30; 14.9). 4–5: Light and life point forward to Jesus's self-definition in the Gospel (8.18; 11.25). In Genesis, the light shined in the primordial darkness. Here the language suggests a combative struggle between light and dark forces, where light prevails. 6–8: Introduction of John, who is not referred to as “the Baptist” in this Gospel. His role is to witness to Jesus (see 1.35–36). Here and elsewhere in the Gospel, the insistence that John is not the Messiah suggests a historic rivalry between followers of John and Jesus (see 1.20,30; 3.22–30; 4.1). 9: True light, cf. Wis 7.26,29. “True” suggests an authentic identity that surpasses earlier expressions of Wisdom (see also 6.32; 15.1). Which enlightens everyone, perhaps alluding to Isa 49.6, but in any case suggesting that the gift of light is available for all. 10–11: Both the world and his own either did not recognize or rejected the light. His own may be all of humanity or the Jewish people. 12–13: The prior statement is immediately qualified. There are some who accepted, believed and were given the opportunity for relationship with God, which was not dependent on human birth or particular bloodlines. 14: Lived, lit., “pitched a tent,” like God's Wisdom (Sir 24.8), or God's presence in the desert tabernacle (Ex 40.34). In the wilderness only Moses was permitted to see God's glory, at which point God announces his grace and mercy (Ex 33.18–19). Jesus conveys the glory of God, along with God's grace and truth. Flesh and glory will be major themes in the Gospel (3.5–7; 6.51–58,63; 13.31–32; 17.1–5). 15: Concerns about John's priority over Jesus are answered by John (see 1.6–8n.). 17: Recognition of Moses's role as lawgiver, alongside the place of Jesus as the revealer. 18: Close to the father's heart (lit., “toward the breast”), connoting Jesus's intimate and abiding relationship with God; cf. 13.23.

1.19–35: John's witness of Jesus and the gathering of disciples. On John, cf. Mt 3.1–17; Mk 1.2–11; Lk 3.1–22. 19: The Jews sent priests and Levites, all three designations represent religious authorities affiliated with the Jerusalem Temple. 20: A negative “confession” that addresses confusion over potentially competing movements (see 1.6–8n.). 21: Reflects a tradition about Elijah's return before the day of judgment (2 Kings 2.11; Mal 4.5). 23: Reinterpretation of Isa 40.3 to refer to the coming Messiah. 27: Untie … his sandal, typically a slave's duty. 28: Bethany across the Jordan, uncertain location, but different from the Bethany in Judea (11.1,18). 29: Lamb of God alludes to the Passover lamb, a symbol of liberation and God's saving acts (Ex 12; cf. Jn 19.36n.). Here the designation is the first of a list of titles and descriptions applied to Jesus in this opening chapter (1.36,38,41,49,51). 29: Was before me, alludes to Jesus as the incarnate preexistent Word described in the prologue. 31: In the Synoptic Gospels, John baptizes for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 3.6; Mk 1.4; Lk 3.3). Here, it is for the revelation of Jesus. 32: The actual baptism of Jesus is not described. 35–37: Lamb of God, see 1.29n. Only in this Gospel do Jesus's first two disciples come from among John's followers. 40: One of the two unnamed disciples with John is now identified, but the other remains anonymous. Perhaps this is the first glimpse in the narrative of the disciple whom Jesus loved (see 13.23; 19.26; 20.2; 21.7,20). 42: Cephas, see note d. 44: Bethsaida, a city on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. 45–46: Witnessing to others about Jesus establishes a pattern for the rest of the narrative (4.29; 20.18). This Gospel does not have a birth story, but the tradition of Jesus's parentage is familiar to the audience; see 6.42. Nazareth, a small village in southern Galilee. 47–51: Praise of Nathaniel as an Israelite with no deceit perhaps refers to Jacob (who was deceitful), given the allusion to Jacob's vision that follows (Gen 28.12). Son of Man, after the series of titles attributed to Jesus, he refers to himself with this designation. While the phrase can simply mean a mortal as in Ezekiel (e.g., 2.1), here it connotes an eschatological figure sent by God (see Dan 7.13–14; Mk 13.26; 14.62 and par.; cf. 1 En. 71.14).

2.1–12: Wedding at Cana. 1: On the third day, temporal reference is unclear, perhaps symbolic rather than literal (see 1.29,35,43 that add up to four days). Jesus's promise of “greater things” (1.50) is soon fulfilled. Cana, a small town in central Galilee, about 8 mi (14 km) north of Nazareth. The mother of Jesus is never referred to by name in John. 4: An unusual way of addressing one's mother, woman links the mother of Jesus to other women in the Gospel; see 4.21; 20.15. What concern … a literal translation of a Hebrew expression that typically signals a refusal (Judg 11.12; 2 Kings 3.13; 2 Chr 35.21). Jesus refers repeatedly to his hour, the time of his death, and also of his glorification (7.30; 8.20; 12.23; 13.1; 17.1). 5: Jesus's mother anticipates Jesus's actions. 6: The large amount of water signals the extravagance of the sign that follows. 11: The author relates Jesus's signs which point to his identity. The disciples witness the glory of Jesus, recalling the words of the prologue (1.14). 12: Capernaum, a city on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

2.13–22: Jesus and the Jerusalem Temple. Cf. Mt 21.12–13; Mk 11.15–18; Lk 19.45–46. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus's actions in the Temple occur at the beginning of the passion narrative and precipitate his death; here the episode occurs early in Jesus's ministry. 13: The first of three annual Passover festivals that Jesus attends (6.4; 11.55). 14–16: Selling animals for sacrifices in the Temple was common practice. Money changers, Roman currency needed to be exchanged for Jewish coinage to pay the Temple tax. Jesus critiques the practice itself, rather than corruption as in the Synoptic versions (cf. Mk 11.17 and par.). Only this Gospel describes Jesus wielding a whip of cords as the supervisor of the market in an ancient city would have done. 17: Memories of the tradition are shaped by scripture and Jesus's death (Ps 69.9). 18: The demand for a sign is a hostile challenge to Jesus's authority. 19: Symbolic prediction of Jesus's death and resurrection. 20: Jesus's comment is misunderstood, a regular occurrence in the Gospel. 22: Jesus's words have a place alongside scripture in the disciples’ memory. 20: Herod the Great began a major expansion to the Temple complex in 20 bce, making it the largest sacred space in the Roman world. 22: The Temple was already destroyed at the time the Gospel was written. Jesus's words suggest that he is the replacement for the Temple.

3.1–21: Jesus speaks with Nicodemus. 1–2: The introduction emphasizes the authoritative status of Nicodemus. A Pharisee, during Jesus's lifetime, this group may have had some popular appeal as people devoted to maintaining obedience to God. They did not, however, have any political power. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 ce, the Pharisees emerged as a dominant group within Judaism with more political power. In this Gospel, they typically represent opposition to Jesus, and the author uses the term interchangeably with “the Jews” (cf. 8.13,33; 9.13–23; see Introduction). Coming by night is symbolically associated with darkness (1.5; 8.12; 12.35,46; 20.1). 3–4: The Gk word anōthen has a double meaning, which leads to confusion; see note b. 5–9: Jesus again uses wordplay (see note c) to describe the status of the believer, leading again to confusion on the part of Nicodemus. 10: The question is sarcastic, undercutting Nicodemus's authority. 13: Son of Man, see 2.51n. 14: Looking at a bronze serpent saved the Israelites from death in the wilderness (Num 21.8–9). Lifted up is a reference to Jesus's crucifixion which is also his glorification (see 8.28; 12.32–34). 16–17: The Son acts as God's agent of salvation. 18–20: Self-condemnation through lack of belief. Light … into the world, see 1.9.

3.22–36: John's testimony continues. 23: The precise locations in Transjordan of Aenon and Salim are uncertain. 24: See Mk 6.14–29. 25: Purification refers to ritual cleansing. 27–28: John rejects the idea of a competing movement with Jesus. See 1.20. 29: Bride, marriage metaphors are frequently used for the relationship between God and God's people (Isa 54.5–8; 62.4–5; Jer. 2.2; Hos 2.16–20; 2 Cor 11.2; Eph 5.25–30; Rev 19.6–8; 21.9–10). Jesus is the bridegroom whose presence brings joy (see 15.11; 16.22; 17.13). 31–35: Jesus is the heavenly agent sent by God, John is the earthly witness. 36: Central claims of the Gospel regarding belief and unbelief in Jesus. Eternal life is granted in the present to the believer. God's wrath, typically associated with the day of judgment.

4.1–42: Jesus speaks with the Samaritan Woman. 4: Samaria was located between Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. Samaritans and Jews differed over religious practices, although both groups considered the Torah as scripture. 5–6: Jacob's well is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible but is traditionally located near ancient Shechem, where Jacob purchased land (Gen 33.19; see also Josh 24.32). 6–7: Meeting women at a well is a common scriptural motif (Gen 24.10–27; 29.1–12; Ex 2.16–21). Noon contrasts with Nicodemus's night meeting (3.2). 7–8: Explanation of Jewish/Samaritan relationships suggests a Gentile readership. 10: Living water refers literally to flowing water and figuratively to the life-giving power of Jesus. 11: Like Nicodemus, the woman misunderstands by adopting a literal meaning of living water (flowing water) rather than Jesus's figurative use 13: Jesus suggests that his gift surpasses that of Jacob. 16–18: Ancient Mediterranean women did not have control over marriage arrangements. The reason for multiple husbands is unexplained, but does not necessarily imply promiscuity. 19–20: The woman recognizes Jesus's insight and raises a theological question. This mountain is Mount Gerizim, once the location of the Samaritan temple. 21–22: Jesus reorients worship away from both Temple traditions, though still maintains the privileged place of his own Jewish tradition. 23: Hour is coming … here. The distinction between future and present reality is collapsed with the presence of Jesus (cf. 5.25). 26: I am (see note c) implying a theophany as in Ex 3.14; Isa 41.4; 43.10; 46.4. This is the first announcement by Jesus himself of his identity as Messiah. 29: Not a full confession of faith, but an effective witness because the people go to Jesus. 27: Men did not typically speak with women in public. 29: Come and see, the woman invites her townsfolk to witness using the same words as Philip to gather disciples (1.46). 31–33: Another example of confusion between literal and figurative language. This time the disciples misunderstand Jesus (see 3.3–19; 4.13–15). 35, 37: The proverbial sayings are not found elsewhere. 38: Others may include the Samaritan woman. 39: The woman's testimony instills belief. 42: Savior of the world, the belief of the Samaritans signals Jesus's saving significance beyond the Jewish people.

4.43–54: Travels and a second sign in Cana of Galilee. 44: See Mt 13.57; Mk 6.4; Lk 4.24. 45: Jesus is welcomed in the region of Galilee, in contrast to the hostility he will experience from “the Jews” when in Judea. 46–54: Jesus performs a long-distance healing of a royal official's son. This second sign results in belief as did the first sign in Cana (2.11). See the similar healing of a Roman centurion's son in Mt 8.5–13; Lk 7.1–20.

5.1–18: Sabbath controversy in Jerusalem. This story parallels the healing and resulting controversy in 9.1–41. 2: A pool with five porticoes has been excavated north of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 5–6: References to the length of illness emphasize the severity of the illness and make the healing more impressive. 9b. Now that day was the Sabbath turns the successful healing story into a controversy story. 10–13: The accusation of Sabbath violation shifts from the man to Jesus. 14: Though illness was typically thought to be punishment for sin, it is unclear whether this is Jesus's intention. The statement may foreshadow the man's response to the healing. 15–16: The man functions as an informant, increasing the opposition against Jesus. (Cf. the response of the healed man in 9.24–34.) 17–18: Jesus's defense results in an additional charge of blasphemy.

5:19–47 Jesus defends himself against accusations. 19–20: God grants Jesus authority; Jesus does not claim it himself. 21: Jesus's power over death will be demonstrated in 11.38–44. 25–29: Son of Man, see 1.51n. The eschatological age is already present in the person of Jesus, who has been given authority to judge by God. This is a rare reference to doing good or evil in the Gospel, where the typical measure is one of belief vs. unbelief in Jesus. 31–38: Jesus's defense continues with the calling of witnesses that can testify on his behalf: John, the works that Jesus does, and the Father. 39–47: Scripture also serves as a witness to Jesus. Moses was traditionally considered to be the author of the Torah.

6.1–15: Another sign: feeding the five thousand. The only miracle story found in all four Gospels; see Mt 14.13–21; Mk 6.32–44; Lk 9.10–17. In this Gospel, the sign leads to conflict and division. 1: To the other side … Sea of Tiberias. The reference to this sea crossing is puzzling given Jesus's location in Jerusalem in the preceding narrative. Such geographical disparities likely did not concern the ancient author or audience. The alternative name for the Sea of Galilee comes from the city of Tiberias located on its southwest shore. Named in honor of the emperor, the city was established as the capital of the region in 24 ce, thus calling attention to the Roman imperial rule of the area. 2: Going up the mountain alludes to the Moses tradition (Ex 19.3; etc.), continuing the theme of the relationship between Jesus and Moses that begins in 5.45–46, and setting the stage for the discourse to follow. 4: Passover of the Jews, the second Passover festival mentioned in the narrative; see 2.13. 6: Unlike Moses, Jesus knows how he will supply food (cf. Num 11.13). 14–15: In first-century Judaism, Moses was regarded as both prophet and king. Deut 18.15–22 relates an expectation that God will raise up a prophet like Moses.

6.16–21: Jesus walks on the sea. Cf. Mt 14.22–27; Mk 6.45–51). 20: It is I, lit., “I am,” words of divine revelation; see 4.26n.

6.22–40: Jesus, the bread from heaven. 24: Capernaum, see 2.12n. 26: Their concern is for material benefits. 27: Food that endures, see 4.32–34. Son of Man, see 1.51n. 28–29: Belief in Jesus as God's divine agent is always central in John (see 5.24; 9.35–35; 11.25–27.). Cf. Mt 25.31–46. 30: Give us this bread, characteristic misunderstanding of Jesus's words, see 4.15,33. 31–32: He gave them bread from heaven, see Ex 16.4–5; Ps 78.24. 35: Recalls similar language about God's Wisdom and surpasses it (see Prov 9.5; Sir 24.21). 39–40: Lose nothing, see 17.12; 18.9. On the last day, the Gospel includes references to a traditional Jewish understanding of resurrection on the last day (see 5.28–29; 28 11.24), and a “realized eschatology” where the resurrection is present in the person of Jesus (5.25; 11.25–26).

6.41–71: Complaints and dissension. 41: As the response to Jesus becomes more hostile, his interlocutors are referred to as the Jews. Echoes of the Exodus narrative continue as the Jews complain; see Ex 16.2; Num 11.1. 45: Isa 54.13. 46: See 1.18. 48–50: Jesus establishes his superiority to Moses. 51–58: A much debated passage that may have allusions to the Eucharist; see 13.21–30n. Others read it in the context of ancient Greek hero cults that feature language about the consumption of a god. 60: Difficult, that is, offensive. Jewish dietary laws forbid the consumption of blood (Lev 17.3; Deut 12.16,23–25). 64, 71: Betray him, see 13.2,11.

7.1–13 Jesus's clandestine return to Jerusalem. 1: The Jews, the religious authorities had already plotted Jesus's death. See 5.18. 2: Festival of Booths, also called Tabernacles, a seven-day fall festival giving thanks for the harvest and commemorating the Exodus from Egypt (Lev 23.39–43; Deut 16.13–15). One of the three pilgrimage festivals to the Temple, it featured water libations as well as lighting of great lights (m. Sukkah 5.2–3). 3–5: Not even … his brothers believed. Mk 3.21,32–35 relates a similar tradition of tension between Jesus and his family. 6–9: Jesus's time, cf. “my hour” in 2.4; 7.30; 8.20; 13.1. 10–13: The crowd illustrates the division caused by Jesus's presence (1.10–13). Some of the crowd is hostile to Jesus, and some defend him. (See 6.22–34; 7.40–44).

7.14–52: Teaching and opposition in Jerusalem. 15: The question is motivated by suspicion, not admiration. 16–18: Jesus defends himself by establishing the source of his knowledge—it is from God. 19: It is Jesus's turn to accuse. 20: Demon, meaning that Jesus is possessed, an ancient explanation for mental illness (see Mk 3.21–22). 22: Moses gave you circumcision, see Gen 17.9–14; Moses was believed to be the author of the Torah. 23–24: Healed … on the Sabbath, 5.1–9. 25–27: A tradition about the mysterious origins of the Messiah (2 Esd 13.26; 1 En. 48.6), cf. 7.40–42. 28: The comment is sarcastic given the repeated statements of uncertainty about Jesus's origins (8.14; 9.29; 19.9). 30: Jesus's preordained hour of death and glorification cannot be altered. 33–36: Jesus's enigmatic language typically produces divided opinions in his audience. The Gospel's typical irony has characters speak truth without knowing it, since Jesus's death will draw the Greeks to him (12.20,32). “The Greeks” may mean either Gentiles or Greek-speaking Jews in the Diaspora (the Dispersion). 37–39: According to rabbinic tradition, the festival's rituals included a water libation ceremony in which water was brought from the pool of Siloam and poured on the altar (m. Sukkah 4.9–10). Jesus transfers the water imagery to the spiritual benefits of belief in him. 38: Not an exact quote of scripture, but see Prov 18.4; Isa 44.3; 58.11. 40–42: Traditionally, the Messiah was to be a Davidic descendent (2 Sam 7.12–12; Pss 89.3–4; 132.11–12) from Bethlehem in Judea (Micah 5.2; see 1.46); but see vv. 25–27n. 50–51: Nicodemus, see 3.1–10. Nicodemus's relationship to Jesus is ambiguous, neither fully supportive nor hostile (see also 19.39). 52: The tension between Galilee and Judea reflects rural/urban tensions. See 4.45n.

8.1–11: Jesus refuses to condemn. This story is not part of the major manuscript tradition for the Gospel, and is likely a later addition. 3: Scribes, another group of Jewish religious authorities, are mentioned only here in John. 6–8: The significant point may be not what Jesus was writing but that he was writing; literacy in the ancient world granted status. Writing with his finger may be an allusion to Ex 31.18; cf. 32.15–16.

8.12–20: Jesus's defense continues. 12: Light of the world. See 1.9. 13: The rest of the chapter employs linguistic patterns of juridical argument. The Pharisees challenge the legal validity of Jesus's defense. 17–18: In your law, Deut 19.15 requires two or three witnesses. Jesus names two: his Father and himself. 20: Jesus's hour determines when he will lay down his life (see 10.18).

21–30: Jesus predicts his death. 22–25: Typical pattern of misunderstanding. The question of Jesus's origins, destination and identity are key themes in the Gospel. 28: Lifted up, see 3.14n. I am he, lit., “I am”; Jesus's death and glorification will reveal his divine identity (see 4.26n; 18.5–6). 28–30: Here the claim to speak only what the Father has taught him leads some of the Jews to believe.

8.31–59: Contest over claims on ancient authority: Jesus and Abraham. 31–32: In spite of the note that some believed, Jesus's conditional comment suggests that the hostility has not abated. 33: Never been slaves, cf. the frequent calls to remember the history of slavery in Egypt (Deut 6.20–21; 15.12–15; 16.12; 24.17–22). 37: See 5.18; 7.1. 44: This harsh rhetoric probably reflects intra-Jewish conflict at the time the Gospel was written (see Introduction and cf. 1 Jn 3.8–11). 48: Samaritan, probably meaning an outsider. Demon, see 7.20n. 56: Abraham rejoiced. The claim is not grounded in a scriptural tradition from Genesis. 58: I am, see 4.26n.

9.1–12: A second Sabbath healing and controversy. 2:Cf. v. 34 and 5.14n. 6: Saliva, cf. Mk 8.23. 7: Siloam, an ancient pool in Jerusalem fed by the Gihon Spring (2 Kings 20.20). Sent echoes the identity of Jesus as one sent by God.

9.13–34: Testimony for and against Jesus. 22: Reference to expulsions from the synagogue in the Gospel of John reflect tensions at the time the Gospel was written, rather than during the life of Jesus. The Gk word aposynagogos, lit., “out of the synagogue,” is not found in any other ancient Greek text (see also 12.42; 16.2). Most scholars now agree that the term does not refer to a formal procedure taken against followers of Jesus in the first century. This term belongs in the same category as the heightened agonistic rhetoric against “the Jews” in 8.12–59. (See further Introduction.)

9.35–41: Belief and unbelief. 35–38: Unlike the man healed in 5.1–15, this man confesses belief in Jesus. 35: Son of Man, see 1.51n. 39: Judgment is based on one's response to Jesus. See 3.17–21. 40: An ironic question posed by Jesus's opponents. The man born blind has come to the light, the Pharisees remain in darkness.

10.1–18: Discourse on the good shepherd. 1–6: Figure of speech, the Gk term (“paroimia”) refers to a proverbial or metaphorical statement. John does not use the Gk term for parable (“parabolē”) for Jesus's teaching, but these verses come closest to the parables found in the Synoptic Gospels. See also 16.25. Here the metaphorical language involves a gate (1–2) and a shepherd (3–4). 7–9: Interpretation of the figure of the gate. Jesus allows access to God. 10–18: Interpretation of the figure of the shepherd. 10: The shepherd is a frequent metaphor for God's care of Israel (Ezek 34.11–23; Isa 40.11; Pss 23.1–4; 78.52–53; 95.7). 11: Lays down his life, Jesus's death is voluntary, making it noble rather than humiliating. 13: A critique of the religious authorities; cf. Ezek 34.1–10. 16: A reference to Gentile believers (17.20–23). 17: Alludes to the crucifixion and resurrection.

10.19–42: Division among the Jews continues. 20: Demon, see 7.20n. 22–24: Dedication, Hanukkah (see 1 Macc 4.36–59). The fourth festival in the Gospel that Jesus attends. Portico of Solomon, a colonnade constructed as part of Herod's Temple construction. 34: Written in your law, meaning the Jewish scriptures in general; the quotation is from Ps 82.6. 40: Across the Jordan, see 3.23.

11.1–44: Dialogue with Martha and Mary and the raising of Lazarus. 2: Mary is known in the tradition for anointing Jesus (12.1–11). Another, probably different pair of sisters named Mary and Martha appear in Lk 10.38–42. 4: Like the man born blind, Lazarus's illness is for God's glory (9.3). 11–15: A familiar pattern of Jesus's language leading to misunderstanding. “Sleep” is a frequent euphemism for death; see Ps 13.3; Acts 7.60, note b; 1 Cor 15,6, note c; 1 Thess 4,13, note d. 19: Here the Jews is used in a neutral way. 24: Martha shares widespread Jewish belief in resurrection on the day of judgment (see Dan 12.2; 2 Macc 7.9). Her confession anticipates the stated purpose of the Gospel (20.31). In the Synoptic Gospels, it is Peter who confesses that Jesus is the Messiah (Mk 8.29). 36–37: The different responses to Jesus anticipate different responses to the raising of Lazarus (see 11.45–46). 38–44: The meaning of the sign has been made clear before it occurs. The actual narration is brief.

11.45–53: Continued plotting against Jesus. 48: The Romans will … destroy, an accurate description of the fear that comes from living under Roman occupation. Our place possibly refers to all of Jerusalem. The Romans destroyed the Temple in August 70 ce. 49–52: Caiaphas unknowingly “prophesies” the truth about Jesus's death. 54: Ephraim, also called Aphairema, was about 12 mi (20 km) north of Jerusalem.

12.1–11: Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus (cf. Mk 14.3–9). 1: Lazarus, see 11.1–4. 3: The Roman pound was 12 oz (327 gm). Nard, an aromatic oil imported from the Himalayan mountains (see Song 1.12; 4.13–14). Jewish burial rituals include anointing the body with perfume. 7: Jesus's defense of Mary suggests that her anointing foreshadows his death.

12.12–36a: Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem for his third and final Passover there. 12–15: Cf. Mt 21.1–9; Mk 11.1–10; Lk 19.28–38. 13: Ps. 118.26. 14: Zeph 3.16; Zech 9.9. 16: These things had been written of him, the scriptures are reinterpreted after the death of Jesus. 19–20: The arrival of the Greeks coinciding with the world has gone after him may refer to the mission to the Gentiles that takes place after Jesus's death (see 7.35–36). 23: The hour has come accounts for Jesus's public entry into Jerusalem compared to his secrecy earlier (cf. 7.6–10). 25: Cf. Mt 10.39; Mk 8.35; Lk 9.24. 27: Save me from this hour, perhaps reflecting traditions where Jesus asks God to “remove this cup” (cf. Mk 14.34–35; see also Jn 18.11). 31: Ruler of this world, Satan, but for the Gospel's first-century audience the phrase would also call to mind the Roman emperor; see 14.30; 16.11. 34: From the law, perhaps a reference to Ps 89.36. 35–36: Light, see 8.12.

12.36b–43. The narrator comments on Jesus's earthly mission. 38: Isa 53.1. 40: Isa 6.10. 42: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus may represent two of these authorities; see 19.38–39. Put out of the synagogue, see 9.22n. and Introduction.

12.44–50: Summary of Jesus's teaching. 44: Jesus cried aloud, as though from offstage, one of the dramatic conventions employed in the Gospel. The verses repeat the central themes of the Gospel and conclude the first part of the narrative (see Introduction).

13–20: Jesus returns to the Father.  

13.1–20: Jesus preparing for his departure. 1–3: The turning point in the Gospel when Jesus's descent into the world shifts toward the ascent back to the father. 4–8: Only this Gospel has Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Common hospitality included an opportunity to wash the dust from one's feet, but the washing itself was typically the task of a slave or a disciple of a teacher. Wrapped himself with a towel, donning the attire of a slave. 12–17: The foot-washing is interpreted as humble service. 18: Ps 41.9. 19: I am he, see 4.26n.

13:21–30: Jesus's betrayer. John's version of the meal does not include the words of institution which became part of the Eucharistic liturgy (but see 6.51–58 for the Johannine version). Their absence raises questions about the degree of John's interest in the sacraments. 23: The first appearance of the mysterious “Beloved Disciple” (see 1.40n. and Introduction). Reclining next to him, lit., “on his breast,” the same language used for intimacy between the Son and Father in 1.18. 28: The claim that no one knew is puzzling given the exchange between Peter and the Beloved Disciple in 13.24. It may indicate that the Beloved Disciple was inserted into the scene as an ideal figure (cf. Mk 14.17–21 and par.). 30: Night, the term carries negative connotations in the Gospel (cf. 3.2,9; 9.4).

13.31–16.33: Jesus's parting words to the disciples. 13.33: See 7.33–34. 34: A new commandment … love one another, suggests an internally focused community; cf. Mt 5.44; Lk 6.26. The commandment is repeated in 15.12–17. 36–38: Lay down my life, although Peter uses the words of Jesus (10.11,15,17), he will falter under pressure (18.15–18,25–27). You will follow afterward, see 21.18–19.

14.1–31: Jesus instructs and comforts his disciples. 5: Though Thomas and Philip also misunderstand Jesus's symbolic language, they ask questions from a position of belief rather than unbelief. 10: I do not speak on my own, a claim Jesus made earlier in the Gospel to defend himself against accusations (7.17; 8.28). Here it is to instruct. 16: The Advocate, Gk “paraklētos” (“paraclete”), designating one who comes to another's aid as a patron or intercessor. Latin translators understood it in the legal sense as an advocate. 26: Elsewhere in the Gospel, references to what the disciples remember serve as evidence for the truth of Jesus's words (2.17–22). 30: Ruler of this world, see 12.31n. 31: Rise, let us be on our way. Seemingly the conclusion to the discourse, but Jesus continues addressing the disciples in chs 15–16, and then prays in ch 17. Only at 18.1 do they actually go somewhere. Some interpreters think that chs 15–17 were added to an earlier version of the Gospel. Others draw a parallel to the literary technique of extending a last testament in Greek literature.

15.1–11: Jesus the true vine. 1–3: Vine is a common metaphor for Israel in the Hebrew Bible, with God in the role as a vinedresser disappointed with the fruit (Ps 80.8–16; Isa 5.1–7; Jer 2.21; Ezek 15.1–6; 17.5–10; 19.10–14; cf. Mk 12.1–12). Pruning and cleansing, see note c. 5–11: Jesus describes the relationship between the Father, Jesus and the disciples. Abiding includes bearing fruit and keeping commandments.

15.12–17: The love commandment repeated (see 13.34). 13: Lay down one's life, the same language Peter used in the context of the love commandment (13.37). 14: Friendship in the ancient Greco-Roman world was a relationship defined by duties and obligations, more than affection.

15.18–16.4a: Sharing in persecution. 15.18–19: If the world hates you, such language of alienation leads some scholars to posit a sectarian community behind the Gospel tradition. Cf. Mt 10.16–23 for similar predictions of persecutions. 20: See 13.16. The disciples’ status means they will experience persecutions as their master has. 25: Pss 35.19; 69.4. 16.2: Put you out of the synagogues, see 9.22n. and Introduction.

16.4b–15: The role of the Advocate (see 14.16). Here the role of the Advocate is primarily as a legal defender who proves the truth of Jesus's identity and mission. 5: None of you ask me, but see 14.5. Another indication that these chapters may have been added between chs 14 and 18. 11: Ruler of this world, see 12.31n.

16.16–25: Suffering and joy of the disciples. 20–22: Ancient Greek writers often employed metaphors of childbirth; see also Rom 8.19–22. Here it refers to the productive pain the disciples will experience before the joy of being in Jesus's presence again. 23–24: Jesus's instructions for petitionary prayer; cf. Mt 21.22; Mk 11.24.

16.25–33: Jesus speaks plainly about his departure. 25: Figures of speech, see 10.1–6 n. Here refers to metaphorical speech such as in 16.21–22. 32: To his own home, see 20.10. I am not alone, cf. Mk 15.34.

17.1–26: Jesus's prayer of petition for his followers. 1–3: A summary of the Gospel's major themes recalling the Prologue; eternal life is available to those who accept Jesus as one sent by God. The hour has come, see 12.23n. 5: Recalls Jesus as preexistent Word (1.1–3,14). 9: Continues the theme of alienation from the world (14.17–19,31; 15.18–19; 16.8). 10–11: Emphasis on mutuality and unity among the believers. 15: The evil one is Satan, but see note d. 16–18: I have sent them into the world. The relationship between the disciples and the world is hostile (see 15.18–10). This Gospel does not narrate a missionary journey by disciples during Jesus's ministry (cf. Mk 6.6–13 and par.) nor is there a “great commission” as in Mt 28.19–20 (cf. Lk 24.47). 20–24: Jesus's prayer of petition extends to the world which remains the object of God's love (3.16).

18.1–12: Jesus is arrested. Cf. Mt 26.35–46; Mk 14.32–52; Lk 22.40–53. 1: Kidron Valley, between the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. The garden is named Gethsemane in the Synoptic Gospels. Here there is no anguish on Jesus's part since he freely enters into his hour (12.27–28). 3: Detachment a sizeable group of Roman soldiers as though anticipating armed resistance (see v. 10). Judas brings both Roman and Jewish authorities. Lanterns, torches and weapons. Johannine irony has Jesus's opposition come in the dark to arrest the light of the world (8.12). 4: Jesus controls his own destiny. 5–6: I am, words of divine revelation; thus, the soldiers are overcome and fall to the ground (cf. 4.26n. and note c). 9: For similar predictions see 6.39; 10.28; 17.12. 10: Malchus, identified by name only in this Gospel. 11: Armed resistance suggests struggle for an earthly reign (see 18.36). Drink the cup, a metaphor for judgment and death (see, e.g., Isa 51.17; Jer 25.15–17; Ezek 23.32–34). Jesus's question, as in 12.27, emphasizes his noble acceptance of his fate (cf. Mk 10.38–39 and par.).

18.13–27: Informal questioning before the Jewish authorities. Cf. Mt 26.57–75; Mk 14.53–72; Lk 22.34–71. John's Gospel does not include a trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin as in the Synoptics. 13: Annas, though deposed as high priest by the Romans in 15 ce, was succeeded by five of his sons and his son-in-law Caiaphas, indicating a powerful family which maintained considerable influence with Roman authorities. 14: See 11.49–50. 15–18: The first of two scenes interwoven with Jesus's trial before Jewish authorities in which Peter explicitly denies his discipleship. 17: Peter's fearful I am not contrasts poignantly with Jesus's “I am” of 18.5. 27: The cock crowed, see 13.38.

18.28–19.16a: Jesus and Pilate. Cf. Mt 26.1–2,11–31; Mk 15.2–20; Lk 23.1–5,13–25. The trial before Pilate follows conventions of ancient Greek drama as Pilate alternates between scenes on the inside and outside. 28: Pilate's headquarters, the official Jerusalem residence of Pilate, the governor of Judea appointed by Rome from 26 ce to 36 ce. The Praetorium (see note b) was located on the west side of Jerusalem. 29–31: Pilate's words highlight the powerlessness of the Jewish authorities under Roman occupation. 32: The kind of death he was to die alludes to crucifixion which only the Romans had the power to inflict; cf. 3.14; 8.28; 12.32. 35: Pilate's sarcastic question may be ironic since the Roman governor will do the bidding of the Jewish authorities. 36: Jesus has continually described himself in otherworldly terms. My followers would be fighting, see 18.10–11. 38: An ironic question to ask of the one who describes himself as the truth (14.16). 39: The custom of releasing a prisoner on Passover is unattested outside the New Testament. 40: Bandit, Gk “lēstēs,” which can also mean a political insurrectionist. 19:1 Flogged, even though Pilate finds no case against him (18.38b; 19.4,6). 5–6: The mock coronation of Jesus seems deliberatively provocative as does Pilate's taunt that the Jews crucify Jesus themselves (see 18.31b). 12: The Jews respond with threats of political blackmail, accusing Pilate of misconduct before higher authorities. 13: Sat, or “seated him” (see note b), in which case Pilate is contributing to the mock coronation scene. Gabbatha occurs only here and likely means “the elevated (place)” in Aramaic. 14: The lambs for the Passover were slaughtered on the day of preparation. 15: No king but the emperor, the Jews demand for Jesus's life leads tragically to their rejection of the reign of God.

19:16b–37. Jesus is crucified. Cf. Mt. 27.32–50; Mk 15.22–37; Lk 23.26–49. 17: Carrying the cross by himself, in contrast to the Synoptic versions where Simon of Cyrene is made to carry it. 19–22: Irony continues as Pilate's instructions for the trilingual placard, no doubt given to further antagonize the Jews, enables anyone who passes by to learn about Jesus's divine kingship. 23–24: The seamless tunic was an undergarment. The quotation is from Ps 22.18. 25b In this Gospel, the women are near the cross, rather than watching “from afar” as in the Synoptic accounts. 25: Tradition varies over the naming of the women at the cross. While Jesus's mother is not named (also the case in 2.1), she is accompanied by two Marys. It is not clear if her sister is also unnamed or whether she is the wife of Clopas. 26–27: A further indication of the special status of the disciple whom Jesus loved (see 1.40 n. and Introduction): he is given care over Jesus's mother and becomes a member of the family (see 13.23n.). 28: Jesus's thirst fulfills Ps 69.21. 29: In Ex 12.21–22, a branch of hyssop (a wild shrub) was dipped in the blood of the Passover lambs to mark the doors of the Hebrews for protection from death. 30: Finished indicates both the end of Jesus life and the completion of his earthly mission. He lays down his own life (10.18). 31–33: Day of Preparation, see 9.14n. Breaking the legs made it impossible to push the body up to forestall the death by asphyxiation that crucifixion entailed. 34: Blood and water are symbolic, perhaps of the slaughtered Passover lamb (see 1.29,36), and the living water of eternal life (4.13–14; 7.37–38). Some scholars see here a reference to the Eucharistic meal and to baptism. 35: He who saw this. Not the writer, but the source of the tradition, the Beloved Disciple (21.24). 36: Ex 12.46 and Num 9.12 of the Passover lamb, see also Ps 34.20; cf. Jn 1.29n. 37: Zech 12.10.

19.38–42: The burial of Jesus. Cf. Mt. 27.57–61; Mk 15.42–47; Lk 23.50–56. 38: Fear of the Jews, cf. 7.13; 12.42; and Introduction. 39: Nicodemus (3.2–10) brings an excessive amount of burial spices. 40–42: The details indicate an honorable burial.

20:1–18 Empty tomb and resurrection appearance to Mary. Cf. Mt 28; Mk 16; Lk 24. 1: First day, Sunday. In this Gospel, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb alone. 2: The other disciple, see 1.40n. and Introduction. 3–10: The footrace and arrival at the tomb indicate a negotiated competition between Peter and the Beloved Disciple in which each gets an opportunity to be first (see 13.23–25; 21.20–22). 8–10: The anticlimactic return to their homes and failure to understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead suggests that only the disciple saw and believed Mary's claim that the tomb was empty (cf. Lk 24.8–11). Or, if the statement refers to resurrection belief, it points to a literary motif of idealizing the Beloved Disciple apart from the narrative events. 14–16: The scene resembles other recognition scenes in ancient Greek literature. Mary recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name (see 10.3). Rabbouni a variant of “rabbi” (1.38; 3.2; 11.28; 13.13). 17: Do not hold on to me, lit., “Don't touch me,” perhaps because Jesus is in a liminal state before returning to the Father. 18: Only Mary is witness to Jesus's revelation. Like the Samaritan woman, she witnesses to others about Jesus.

20.19–29: Resurrection appearances to other disciples. 19: Fear of the Jews, cf. 9.22; 12.42 and Introduction. Peace be with you a traditional Jewish greeting (see Tob 12.17) that takes on additional significance in the Gospel given earlier words of Jesus (14.27; 16.33). 20: Another recognition scene, this time with the disciples (see 20.14–16n). Jesus's hands … feet bearing the wounds of crucifixion are the means of recognition. 21: The disciples follow Jesus's model of being agents sent into the world (see 17.18). 22: Breathed on them, cf. Gen 2.7. Receive the Holy Spirit (cf. 14.15–17,25–26; 15.26) 23: Perhaps related to the tradition in Mt 16.19; 18.18. Alternatively, because in the Greek text sins does not appear in the second half of the statement, the intent could be to emphasize forgiveness and holding on to community members (as in 17.12; 18.9). 24–29: The episode is unique to John's Gospel. Thomas played an equally skeptical role earlier in the narrative (11.16; 14.5). 30: Commonly held to be the original conclusion of the book (see 21.1–25n). Did many other signs, perhaps indicative of the use of an earlier “signs” source. 31: You may come to believe, “you” is plural. The alternative manuscript tradition (see note b) suggests that the purpose of the Gospel is to strengthen the faith of existing believers.

21:1–25. Epilogue. Most scholars see this chapter as a later addition to the Gospel. Because all existing manuscripts contain this final chapter and the chapter shares the same style as the rest of the Gospel, some scholars see the concluding scenes as written by the same author. In either case, the chapter resolves issues related to Peter and the Beloved Disciple. 1: Sea of Tiberias, in Galilee (see 6.1n.). 3: Simon Peter … fishing. John's Gospel did not describe Peter as a fisherman earlier (cf. Mk 1.16–20; Mt 4.18–22; Lk 5.1–10). 6–8: Another recognition scene (see 20.14–16,20). The sign of abundance reveals the presence of the Lord to the Beloved Disciple (see 1.40n. and Introduction) who communicates it to Peter. Compare the similar signs of abundance of wine (2.6–10), bread (6.5–13), and life (10.10). 11: A hundred fifty-three, the symbolic significance of the number is unclear. Perhaps inclusion of the detail is intended to authenticate the witness (see 21.24). 14: The third time, see 20.19–23,26–29. 15–17: Three questions to confirm Peter's loyalty and reverse his three denials of discipleship (18.17,25–27). Feed my lambs suggests Peter's carrying on of Jesus's role as the good shepherd (10.11). 18–19: Like Jesus, Peter's role as shepherd will include laying down his life. His death will glorify God as the death of Jesus did (12.16,23,28; 13.31–32). 20–23: The exchange suggests a rivalry between the Peter and the Beloved Disciple (cf. 20.3–10). 24: The disciple who is testifying likely refers to the Beloved Disciple, distinct from the actual writer. Note the first person “we” to refer to his testimony, as well as the implication that the disciple has already died (v. 23). 25: Second conclusion to the Gospel (see 20:30–31). Books that would be written, a conventional ending; see Eccl 12.12.

^a Or ³through him. And without him not one thing came into being that has come into being. ⁴In him was life

^b Or He was the true light that enlightens everyone coming into the world

^c Or to his own home

^d Or the Father’s only Son

^e Other ancient authorities read It is an only Son, God, or It is the only Son

^f Gk bosom

^a Or the Christ

^b Other ancient authorities read is God’s chosen one

^c Or Christ

^d Gk him

^e From the word for rock in Aramaic (kepha) and Greek (petra), respectively

^a Both instances of the Greek word for you in this verse are plural

^a Gk him

^b Or born anew

^c The same Greek word means both wind and spirit

^d The Greek word for you here is plural

^e Or anew

^f The Greek word for you here and in verse 12 is plural

^g Other ancient authorities add who is in heaven

^a Some interpreters hold that the quotation concludes with verse 15

^b Other ancient authorities read the Jews

^c Or the Christ

^d Some interpreters hold that the quotation continues through verse 36

^e Gk set a seal to

^f Other ancient authorities read the Lord

^a Other ancient authorities lack this sentence

^b The Greek word for you here and in verses 21 and 22 is plural

^c Gk I am

^d Or the Christ

^a Or ³⁵… the fields are already ripe for harvesting. ³⁶The reaper is receiving

^b Both instances of the Greek word for you in this verse are plural

^c That is, Aramaic

^d Other ancient authorities read Bethesda, others Bethsaida

^e Other ancient authorities add, wholly or in part, waiting for the stirring of the water; ⁴for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well from whatever disease that person had.

^a Or had left because of

^b Gk that one

^a Or among

^b Gk of Galilee of Tiberias

^c Gk Two hundred denarii; the denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer

^d Gk the men

^a Gk about twenty-five or thirty stadia

^b Gk I am

^c Other ancient authorities lack after the Lord had given thanks

^d Or he who

^a Other ancient authorities read the Christ, the Son of the living God

^b Other ancient authorities read Judas Iscariot son of Simon; others, Judas son of Simon from Karyot (Kerioth)

^c Other ancient authorities read was not at liberty

^d Or Tabernacles

^a Other ancient authorities read wants it

^b Other ancient authorities add yet

^c Other ancient authorities lack as it were

^d Or this man know his letters

^e Or the Christ

^f Other ancient authorities read is doing

^a Or come to me and drink. ³⁸The one who believes in me, as

^b Gk out of his belly

^c Other ancient authorities read for as yet the Spirit (others, Holy Spirit) had not been given

^d Or the Christ

^e Gk him

^f Other ancient authorities add the sins of each of them

^a Or Lord

^b The most ancient authorities lack 7.53—8.11; other authorities add the passage here or after 7.36 or after 21.25 or after Luke 21.38, with variations of text; some mark the passage as doubtful.

^c Gk according to the flesh

^d Other ancient authorities read he

^e Gk I am

^f Or What I have told you from the beginning

^a Other ancient authorities read you do what you have heard from your father

^b Other ancient authorities read If you are Abraham’s children, then do

^c Other ancient authorities read has Abraham seen you?

^d Other ancient authorities read I

^e Other ancient authorities read us

^a Gk him

^b Or the Christ

^c Other ancient authorities read the Son of God

^d Sir and Lord translate the same Greek word

^a Other ancient authorities read has taken

^b Or the Christ

^c Other ancient authorities read My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand

^a Other ancient authorities read in the law

^b Other ancient authorities lack and understand; others read and believe

^c Gk him

^d Gk he

^e Gk Didymus

^f Gk fifteen stadia

^a Other ancient authorities lack and the life

^b Or the Christ

^c Or our temple; Greek our place

^a Gk he

^b Gk his feet

^c Three hundred denarii would be nearly a year’s wages for a laborer

^d Gk lacks She bought it

^e Other ancient authorities read with him began to testify that he had called … from the dead

^a Other ancient authorities read all things

^b Or the Christ

^c Other ancient witnesses read when

^a Gk from supper

^b Other ancient authorities lack except for the feet

^c The Greek word for you here is plural

^d Gk slaves

^e Other ancient authorities read ate bread with me

^f Gk I am

^g Gk dipped it

^h Other ancient authorities read Judas Iscariot son of Simon; others, Judas son of Simon from Karyot (Kerioth)

ⁱ Gk After the piece of bread

^a Other ancient authorities lack If God has been glorified in him

^b Or You believe

^c Or If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you

^d Other ancient authorities read Where I am going you know, and the way you know

^e Other ancient authorities read If you had known me, you would have known

^f Other ancient authorities lack me

^g Other ancient authorities read me, keep

^h Or Helper

^a Or among

^b Or Helper

^c The same Greek root refers to pruning and cleansing

^d Or be

^a Gk slaves

^b Gk slave

^c Gk were of the world

^d Gk Slaves

^e Or Helper

^f Or convict the world of

^a Or will ask me no question

^b Other ancient authorities read Father, he will give it to you in my name

^c Other ancient authorities read the Father

^d Gk flesh

^a Other ancient authorities read protected in your name those whom

^b Gk except the son of destruction

^c Or among themselves

^d Or from evil

^e Other ancient authorities read be one in us

^f Gk the Nazorean

^g Gk I am

^h Gk he

^a Gk I am

^b Gk the praetorium

^a Gk the praetorium

^b Or seated him

^c That is, Aramaic

^a That is, Aramaic

^b Gk the Nazorean

^c Or there is one who knows

^a Gk lacks to look

^b That is, Aramaic

^a Gk Didymus

^b Other ancient authorities read may continue to believe

^c Or the Christ

^a Gk two hundred cubits

^b Gk among the brothers

^c Other ancient authorities lack what is that to you