More of the Word
...
.
....
...
John Chapter 7 ...
...
Jesus Goes to the Feast of Tabernacles
...
After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea
because the Jews there were waiting to take his life.
2 ... But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers
said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples
may see the miracles you do.
4 ... No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since
you are doing these things, show yourself to the world."
5 ... For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6 ... Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time
for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.
7 ... The world cannot hate you, but it hates me
because I testify that what it does is evil.
8 ... You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up
to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come."
9 ... Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.
10 ... However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also,
not publicly, but in secret.
11 ... Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, "Where
is that man?"
12 ... Among the crowds there was wide-spread whispering about him. Some
said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, he deceives the people."
13 ... But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the
Jews.
...
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
...
14 ... Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple
courts and begin to teach.
15 ... The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning
without having studied?"
16 ... Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own.
It comes from him who sent me.
17 ... If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will
find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
18 ... He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor
for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is
a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
19 ... Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one
of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
20 ... "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to
kill you?"
21 ... Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and
you
are all astonished.
22 ... Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though
actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise
a child on the Sabbath.
23 ... Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath
so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for
healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
24 ... Stop judging by mere appearances, and make
a right judgment."
...
Is Jesus the Christ?
...
25 ... At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't
this the man they are trying to kill?
26 ... Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to
him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ?
27 ... But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one
will know where he is from."
28 ... Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes,
you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but
he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am
from him and he sent me."
30 ... At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him,
because his time had not yet come.
31 ... Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, "When
the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?"
32 ... The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him.
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33 ... Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short
time, and then I go to the one who sent me.
34 ... You will look for me, but you will not find
me; and where I am, you cannot come."
35 ... The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go
that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among
the Greeks, and teach the Greeks"
36 ... What did he mean when he said, 'You will look
for me, but you will not find me,' and
'Where I am, you cannot come'?"
37 ... On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said
in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come
to me and drink.
38 ... Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
39 ... By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were
later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since
Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 ... On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man
is the Prophet."
41 ... Others said, "He is the Christ."
Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee?
42 ... Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's
family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"
43 ... Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
44 ... Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
...
Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders
...
45 ... Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
46 ... "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.
47 ... "You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted.
48 ... "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
49 ... No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law ... there is a curse
on them."
50 ... Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their
own number, asked, "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him
to find out what he is doing?"
52 ... They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you
will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."
53 ... Then each went to his own home.
...
John Chapter 8 ...
...
But Jesus w2ent to the Mount of Olives.
2 ... At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people
gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
3 ... The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught
in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher,
this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
5 ... In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you
say?"
6 ... They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis
for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
7 ... When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to
them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him
be the first to throw a stone at her."
8 ... Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 ... At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older
ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
10 ... Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman,
where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11 ... "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus
declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
...
The Validity of Jesus' Testimony
...
12 ... When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I
am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life."
13 ... The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own
witness; your testimony is not valid."
14 ... Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own
behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I
am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
15 ... You judge by human standards; I pass judgment
on no one.
16 ... But if I do judge, my decisions are right,
because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
17 ... In your own Law it is written that the testimony
of two men is valid.
18 ... I am one who testifies for myself; my other
witness is the Father, who sent me."
19 ... Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"
"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus
replied. "If you knew me, you would know my
Father also."
20 ... He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the
place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his
time had not yet come.
21 ... Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going
away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go,
you cannot come."
22 ... This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says,
'Where
I go, you cannot come'?"
23 ... But he continued, "You are from below; I am
from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
24 ... I told you that you would die in your sins;
if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed
die in your sins."
25 ... "Who are you?"
they asked.
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus
replied.
26 ... "I have much to say in judgment of you. But
he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."
27 ... They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.
28 ... So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the
Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that
I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.
29 ... The one who sent me is with me; he has not
left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.
30 ... Even as he spoke, many put their faith
in him.
...
The Children of Abraham
...
31 ... To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If
you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
32 ... Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free."
33 ... They answered him, "We are Abraham's decendants and have never been
slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"
34 ... Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone
who sins is a slave to sin.
35 ... Now a slave has no permanent place in the
family, but a son belongs to it forever.
36 ... So if the Son sets you free, you will be free
indeed.
37 ... I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet
you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
38 ... I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's
presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.
39 ... "Abraham is our father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham's children," said
Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham
did.
40 ... As it is, you are determined to kill me, a
man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do
such things.
41 ... You are doing the things your own father does."
"We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we
have is God himself."
...
The Children of the Devil
...
42 ... Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father,
you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come
on my own; but he sent me.
43 ... Why is my language not clear to you? Because
you are unable to hear what I say.
44 ... You belong to your father, the devil, and
you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When
he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father
of lies.
45 ... Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe
me!
46 ... Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If
I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?
47 ... He who belongs to God hears what God says.
The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
...
The Claims of Jesus About Himself
...
48 ... The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a
Samaritan and demon-possessed?"
49 ... "I am not possessed by a demon," said
Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor
me.
50 ... I am not seeking glory for myself; but there
is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.
51 ... I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word,
he will never see death."
52 ... At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed!
Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps
your word, he will never taste death.
53 ... Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the
prophets. Who do you think you are?"
54 ... Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory
means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies
me.
55 ... Though you do not know him, I know him. If
I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep
his word.
56 ... Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought
of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
57 ... "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you
have seen Abraham!"
58 ... "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered,
"before
Abraham was born, I am!"
59 ... At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself,
slipping away from the temple grounds.
...
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
...
John Chapter 9 ...