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

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Then 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.” ¹⁶ Some 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. ¹⁷ So 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.”

¹⁸ The 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 ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but 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.”  ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

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

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

Get into the Word

1. Why would the disciples ask a question about who sinned in reference to a blind person? How does Jesus respond to the question?

2. What does Jesus say about sin in this exchange? What does he say about his work? Do you think the disciples understood Jesus’ point here?

3. What does Jesus do about the blind man? Why do you think he used the mud rather than just healing directly?

4. What happens next to the man? How do his friends and neighbors react? How do the Pharisees get involved in this situation? What is their main concern? How does the man answer the questions? How would you have responded?

6. Why do the Jews have such a hard time accepting this healing? What are they really trying to discover? How do the man’s parents respond to this miracle? Why do you think they reacted this way?

8. How does the man deal with round two of the questioning? How do the Pharisees respond to this turn of events? 

9. What does Jesus do after the man is sent out from the Pharisees? How does the man respond to Jesus’ question? What does he really need to know?

Get Personal

What do you recall about your first “meeting” with Jesus? Did it involve healing or “fixing” something? Have there been times when your natural sight has made you blind to God’s truth or to God’s actions in your life? How has God helped you to become “blind” so that you might “see” his kingdom? 

9:1. Blind — blindness figures throughout the Bible. Both for compassion and for avoidance as punishment for doing wrong, as in the disciples’ question about who sinned. Blindness often is a symbol of misunderstanding or not seeing and acknowledging the truth about God — or about Jesus as this chapter details.
9:4-5. Night . . . light — Jesus contrasts darkness – with no understanding – with the light of his presence as the Word of God, or full understanding.
9:7. Siloam — this pool provided the sacred water used for the Feast of Tabernacles. Elisha also sent a person to water (the Jordan River) to be healed, [details are in 2 Kings 5:10-14].
9.17. Prophet – the man is correct –

Jesus is the ultimate declaration of who God is. 
9:21. Of age — to testify – 13 for a Jewish male.
9:22. Put out — the synagogue was the center of social as well as religious life. Expulsion would make a person an outcast from the community.
9:25. Know — ultimately this is all we can say as well: “I was not in a relationship with God and now I am in a loving, saving relationship with God – because of Jesus Christ.”
9:39-41. Blind — Jesus uses the term as a metaphor for spiritual blindness – the Pharisees can not understand the truth of God’s kingdom because they can “see” only the things of this world.

8³¹ Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
³³ They 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’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶ So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I 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. ³⁸ I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”

³⁹ They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, ⁴⁰ but 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. ⁴¹ You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.” ⁴² Jesus 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. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. ⁴⁴ You 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.
⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps myword will never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus 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,’ ⁵⁵ though 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. ⁵⁶ Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”^{a  58} Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How does Jesus describe a “disciple?” What are the key characteristics? What is the result of being a disciple?

2. How do the Jewish leaders respond to Jesus’ declaration about freedom? What are they looking at? What prevents them from understanding what Jesus is talking about?

3. Why do the Pharisees rely so much on Abraham? What is the result of this type of faith? What is different than what Jesus is offering?

4. Why is it important to know who our “father” is (vv. 42-45). Why do you suppose Jesus speaks so strongly about the Jews “father” in this exchange?

5. What does Jesus mean when he says anyone who keeps his word won’t see death? How does the crowd react to this? 

6. How does Jesus describe the relationship between himself and Abraham? What is different from the Jews understanding of Abraham?

Get Personal

What are you “free” from today that had bound you in the past? How has God helped you become more free? 

8:31. Believed — For John the term is more than just agreeing that something is true or correct; it is accepting what Jesus says about himself and then acting as if it is true. Paul says the knowledge of God and his work is available to every person, [19; Rom. 1:19-20], but we have to be open to the Holy Spirit to understand and act on this knowledge. 
8:32. Truth — to a Jew, God is “truth,” so Jesus is talking about more than being correct or accurate.
Free — the Greek word means not restrained, controlled or under obligation. Our separation from God – our sin – actually forces us to act consistent with this world. Believing in the truth about Jesus restores our relationship with God and gives us the ability to act consistent with his values.
8:33. Descendants — the Pharisees have it wrong. First, Jesus is talking about spiritual freedom, not an economic or political condition. Second, the Jews were slaves in Egypt and captive servants of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.
8:34. Slave to sin — see Note on 8:32.
8:37. Descendants of Abraham — Jewish tradition said that being a descendant of Abraham all but guaranteed salvation; but Jesus points out the flaw in this teaching.
8:39. Doing what Abraham did — Jesus reminds his Jewish listeners that Abraham was the model for spiritual piety.
8:41. Your father — Jesus tells the Pharisees their true father is devil – “the father of lies.”

8:44. Devil — the Greek word means “false witness” or “accuser,” usually with an evil or harmful intent.
8:48. Samaritan . . . demon — because of the hatred between the two parts of the ancient kingdom (Samaria was the first part of Israel to be conquered, Judea, the other part, was eventually conquered also) even the names became insults. 
8:51. Never see death — Jesus’s declaration here parallels his assertion in v. 32: a person who is now in a positive relationship with God (keeping Jesus’ word) will never be out of that relationship, which is spiritual “death.”
8:52. But the Jews take him literally (and even here they are wrong: Elijah did not die but was taken up into Heaven [2 Kings 2:11]).
8:54. He is our God — Jesus quotes the core Jewish confession, but he calls it empty because they don’t really “know” God as Abraham did.
8:56. Abraham rejoiced — Jesus is referring to God’s promise in Genesis 22:15-18: The irony is that Abraham actually had the faith the Jewish leaders who are now relying on him do not have.
8:58. I am — Jesus uses the most significant description of God the Father for himself [check Exodus 3:14]. Note the use of the present tense [see Note on 8:24]. (The Jews understand this reference as blasphemy and try to stone him.)

8¹² Again 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.” ¹³ Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” ¹⁴ Jesus 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. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I judge no one. ¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. ¹⁷ In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. ¹⁸ I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” ¹⁹ Then 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.” ²⁰ He 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.

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

Get into the Word

1. Why do you suppose Jesus uses the metaphor of light to describe himself? How does this compare with Jesus’ offer of “living water” earlier in this chapter?

2. What is the next argument the teachers and Pharisees bring against Jesus? Why is the number of witnesses important?

3. How does Jesus respond to the challenge about witnesses? How does he demonstrate he is fulfilling even this part of the Law of Moses?

4. Why do the Jews have such a hard time understanding Jesus’ references to where he is going? What point is Jesus making by telling them they will not be able to follow him?

Get Personal

How have you “lifted up” Jesus recently? How has this verified his identity for you – as savior, as Lord, as “living water,” as “the light of (your) world?” How can you lift Jesus up for others?

8:12. Light — the Festival of the Tabernacles also commemorated God’s guidance in the wilderness [check Numbers 9:15-19]. Jesus promises to provide this gift of God just as he did with the water [7:37].
Jesus is also echoing the Old Testament’s use of light as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, as well as of God’s presence. Just as with “the Word,” Jesus is light in all these senses. He is the knowledge of God among us even as he is God in our midst. If we believe what he says and trust the Holy Spirit we will have the “light that leads to life” that only God can provide. John uses a similar image in his first letter: This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all, [1 John 1:5].
8:13. Testimony not valid — the Mosaic law required two witnesses to verify testimony: One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses, [Deut 19:15].
8:15. Human standards — Jesus is clearly distinguishing his work from the work of the Pharisees and teachers: not only did he not come to judge humans, if he would judge it would be according to vastly different standards than the Jews were used to. In fact it’s their human standards that prevent them from seeing Jesus’ true identity.
8:18. One witness . . . the other — Jesus invokes God the Father as his second witness required by the Jewish law.

8:19. Where is your father? — the Pharisees are still thinking about their world: if Jesus’ father is a witness, they want to hear his testimony in court.
Since you don’t know — Jesus makes it clear the Jewish leaders are denying God when they deny his true identity.
8:20. Treasury — the area where peoples’ gifts and offerings were received. John stresses that it is not yet time for Jesus’ death and resurrection.
8:21. Die in your sin — in the singular it usually means separation from God: the Pharisees will physically die because their unbelief keeps them separated from the source of life.
8:24. I am — Jesus uses the same name that God gave Moses for himself: I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you [Exodus 3:14]. Jesus repeats the claim in v. 28.
8:28. Lifted up — there are probably three layers of meaning in Jesus’ use of this phrase. First, the Jews lifted Jesus up onto the cross, where he accomplished his purpose as savior. Second, Jesus was “lifted up” at the resurrection, as the first born and the promise of the new life. Finally, when we lift up Jesus in our faith and testimony we are declaring our knowledge and belief in who he is — and whose we are.
8:30. Believed in him — the irony is that the teachers of the law – the “experts” – could not accept the evidence of Jesus’ identity from their own law; but other people could see and believe.

⁷³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him.
³³ Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴ You will search 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 will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me and you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ On 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, ³⁸ and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

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

⁴⁵ Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” ⁴⁶ The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” ⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? ⁴⁸ Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus 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?” ⁵² They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”

8⁵³ [Then each of them went home,
¹ while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵ Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They 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. ⁷ When 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.” ⁸ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground  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. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What is going on as this section opens? Where is Jesus? Who else is involved? What do the leaders do in response to the crowd’s reactions?

2. Why do you think Jesus tells the Jews he will be leaving? How do the Jews react to this declaration? Why don’t they understand what Jesus is talking about?

3. What does Jesus do on the last day of the festival? Why do you think he did this? How do the people react to his claim? How do you think you would have responded?

4. Why are the people confused about Jesus’ identity? Why are the Jewish leaders so focused on Jesus coming from Galilee? Who tries to redirect their thinking? Does this help?

5. What happens the next day? Where is Jesus? What is he doing? Who interrupts?

6. What do the Jewish teachers ask Jesus? Why is this a gotcha question [see Notes]? How does he finally answer their question? What do the Jews do in response to Jesus’ direction? What does Jesus do regarding the woman?

Get Personal

How has the “living water” Jesus talks about affected your life recently? Have there been times when you’ve looked in the wrong place for Jesus? How has God helped you focus on where he really is?

7:33. “And then . . .” – Jesus prophesies his death and resurrection.
7:38. Living water — Jesus applies Zechariah’s prophecy read each day at the festival to himself: On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, [14:8], as well as Isaiah’s prophecy: For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. [44:3].
7:40. The prophet — the “prophet like [Moses]” from Deut 18:15. The irony is that Jesus is, in fact, the complete prophet – he doesn’t just speak the word of God, he is the Word.
7:41. Galilee . . . Scriptures clearly state — again the Jews demonstrate their ignorance of the Scriptures they claim to understand. Jesus was born in Bethlehem [Micah 5:2], but he grew up in Galilee, which Isaiah foretold: in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. [Isa 9:2].
7:48. Has any one of the authorities — the Pharisees’ pride evidently extends to believing that their “no” votes determine Jesus’ identity.

7:50. Nicodemus — check chapter 3.
7:51. Legal — Mosaic Law required that an accused person must be heard before a verdict or judgment could be declared, [Deut 1:16].
7:52. No prophet — wrong again: Jonah and Elijah were both from the area of Galilee.
7:53-8:11. most scholars believe this story, which may be true, is a later addition, since none of the earliest manuscripts include it.
8:3. Caught in adultery — unlikely unless the man was part of a set-up, (but he was not arrested with the woman as the law requires).
8:5. Stoning — Mosaic Law specified execution of the man and the woman by stoning as the punishment for adultery, [Deut 22:22].
8:6. To test him — Roman law did not allow Jews to execute anyone. If Jesus says she should be killed he goes against Roman law; if he says not to kill her he ignores Mosaic Law.
8:7. Who is without sin — Jewish teaching agreed that everyone has violated the Law at some time.
8:9. Went away — Jesus exposed the Jewish leaders’ true motives and hypocrisy and thereby removed their reason for being there.

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

¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. ¹¹ The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And 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.” ¹³ Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴ About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?” ¹⁶ Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whe-ther the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. ¹⁸ Those 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?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. ²² Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. ²³ If 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? ²⁴ Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

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

Get into the Word

1. Where is Jesus when this section opens? Why is he avoiding Judea? What do Jesus’ brothers suggest about his ministry? What does this tell you about their beliefs?

2. What does Jesus do about his brothers’ suggestion? Why does he not go to Jerusalem right away? What is the situation when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem? Why do you think the crowd was divided in its opinion of Jesus? How does Jesus respond to the crowd? 

3. What does Jesus talk about to make his message and purpose clear? What does he say about the Law? 

4. Why are the people confused about who Jesus is? What difference does where Jesus comes from make about who he is? How does Jesus respond to the crowd’s confusion? What is the crowd’s reaction to Jesus’ statements about his origin? Why do some believe in Jesus?

Get Personal

What is your usual method of verifying what somebody tells you? How does Jesus ask us to test his teaching to determine its validity? How has God demonstrated his reliability in your life recently? 

7:1. Stay out of Judea — Galilee and Judea were separate “states” in Jesus’ time. When John was writing his Gospel Galilee was more open to Christians and the Jews were stronger in Judea.
7:2. Festival of Booths — (literally “tent”) commemorates Israel’s wandering in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt, and lived in tents.
7:3. Jesus’ brothers — though some scholars use “cousins” or “countrymen” or even “step-brothers” (supposedly from an earlier marriage of Joseph), it is clear from Matthew that Jesus had brothers and sisters,[Matt 13:54-58; also check out Mark 3:21, 31-32, and Acts 1:14].
7:4-5. Show yourself – the brothers are actually mocking Jesus because they don’t yet believe him.
7:6. Right time — Jesus is very aware of the the need to do things according to God’s timing.
7:12. Deceiving the crowd — the Mosaic Law mandated that false teachers be put to death: But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the Lord your God, [Deut 13:5].
7:15. Never been taught — the Jews had great respect for the type of “teaching” that comes as a result of long and arduous study, and they ignored or discounted or Jesus’s remarks because he was not so trained.  Matthew records a similar reaction, [7:28-29].
7:20. Demon possessed — a fairly common label for someone acting

strangely. The Jewish leaders also used it (incorrectly) on Jesus [Mark 2:22-30].
7:21. One work — the Jews faulted Jesus for healing on the Sabbath [in 5:1-15], which supposedly violated the commandment to “do no work.” By Jesus’ time the Jews had an elaborate system of “explanations” of the Law that made the commandments more cumbersome than ever. However, Jesus points out that even Moses knew there would be dilemmas with the Law, using the example of circumcising a child (required on a specific day [Gen 17:10-12]) and the Sabbath (required to be without “work”). 
7:24. Appearances . . . right judgment — Jesus distinguishes between surface decisions and those decisions that go to the heart of the matter. Jesus made his decisions – and his declarations – based on how things or actions really are.
7:27. No one will know — the popular tradition was that the Messiah would just appear, which ignored Micah’s prophecy of Bethlehem [5:2].
7:29. I am from him — yet another of Jesus’ declarations about his divinity, which led to another failed attempt to arrest him. This is also another clear statement that Jesus is God’s representative and, according to the cultural view should be accepted as God would be accepted – the irony is the Jews did treat Jesus the same as they treated the Lord: very shabbily.

6³⁰ So 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?
³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Then 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. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ Jesus 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. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ Every-
thing that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; ³⁸ for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And 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. ⁴⁰ This 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.”

⁴¹ Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They 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’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It 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. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I 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.”

⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵ for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This 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.” ⁵⁹ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³ It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But 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. ⁶⁵ And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

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

Get into the Word

1. How is the crowd like the disciples and the woman at the well in its response to Jesus? How would you have reacted if you had heard him explain what “God’s work” really is? How do you react today?

2. What parts of Jewish history does Jesus use to explain his kingdom? Why would the Jews not realize this since Passover is such a prominent part of their religion? In what ways are we still like the Jews in our response to Jesus?

3. Why do the Jews get upset with the answers Jesus gives to their questions? What seems to surprise and offend them? Why?

4. What is Jesus’ central point in vv. 43-51? How does he relate to the God the Jews thought they were worshipping? 

5. What is different about Jesus from what the prophets taught? What is different about Jesus from what happened on the exodus from Egypt?

6. What is the disciples’ response to Jesus message? Why do they find it a “hard teaching?” What do they do about the situation? How do you think you would have reacted?

Get Personal

1. How does God help you get outside of your worldly “box” to look at things the way Jesus taught? Why is it so difficult to see things this way all the time? What generally happens when we see things only from the world’s point of view?

2. Which teachings in this section are “hard” for you? How do you deal with such “hard teachings?” Are you sometimes tempted to turn back as some disciples did or do you stand with Peter and “believe and know” that Jesus has the words of eternal life? 

6:32. Moses didn’t . . . — Jesus corrects the people [check Exodus 16:15-16, and Psalm 78:24-25], and then underscores his point with the contrast between the bread of Moses and the “true bread from heaven,” which is himself. 
6:34. That bread — the crowd is still looking at this world, even after Jesus makes his point explicit.
6:35. Bread of life — Jesus repeats his claim and goes on to describe his purpose on earth and his relationship with the Father.
6:45. Written in the Scriptures — Jesus is referring to Jeremiah: But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” 

the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  [31:31-34].
6:51-58. Living bread . . . my flesh — Jesus is anticipating the Eucharist: He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you,[Luke 22:19-20].
6:68. You have the words that give eternal life — Peter’s confession of belief parallels his declaration in Matthew 16:16, Mark 8:29, and Luke 9:20.

6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ² A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³ Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴ Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵ When 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?” ⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
⁷ Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸ One 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?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹ Then 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. ¹² When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴ When 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.”

¹⁵ When 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.

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

²² The 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. ²³ Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 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.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ Jesus 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. ²⁷ Do 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.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”   NRSV

Get into the word

1. What happens as this chapter opens? Why do you suppose the crowd followed Jesus? What does this say about his ministry?

2. How does Philip react to Jesus’ question about buying bread for the crowd? How does this compare to other responses to Jesus’ remarks about water and bread? How would you have reacted?

3. How does Jesus solve the dilemma of feeding the crowd? How do you suppose the disciples felt as they were giving out the food? How would you have felt? What do you think they did with the twelve baskets of leftovers? Why did Jesus leave the crowd abruptly?

4. Why would the disciples leave for the other shore of the lake without Jesus? What happens when they are in the middle of the lake? How do they react to Jesus’ presence? How would you have reacted?

5. Why did the crowd follow Jesus? What were they really seeking? Do you think they realized what they were doing? How do you think they felt when Jesus told them what God’s “work” actually was? How do you respond?

Get Personal

What picture of who Jesus really is emerges from these two incidents? Does this change your view of Jesus’ power? Of his love? Of his expectations for your life? How does this view of Jesus affect your faith?

6:1. Sea of Galilee — a fresh water lake about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. It is 650 feet below sea level in a valley with steep hills and cliffs on all but the south side, which make it subject to sudden, violent storms. There were several good sized cities, including Tiberias and Capernum around the lake.
6:4. Passover — six months after the Feast of the Tabernacles [see chapter 5].
6:6. Test — rabbis often tested their disciples with questions about an apparently impossible situation. The Greek word means an experience that proves the strength or purity of the tested one – similar to proving the purity of gold or proving one’s faith like Jesus in the wilderness. The focus is how much you grow, not how much you know.
Knew — Jesus has already said he is the one Moses prophesied, now he is going to give the people a sign like God gave during the exodus: “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”[Exodus 16:4-5].
6:7. Six months’ wages — Philip reacts like the disciples in the earlier incident  He tries to compute the worldly cost of feeding the crowd rather than

looking for the spiritual solution Jesus has in mind.
This is one of the few incidents that is recorded in all four Gospels [compare Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, and Luke 9:10-17].
6:14. Prophet — the Jews had been expecting “the Prophet” for more than 1,200 years, but they continued to look for the wrong kind of prophet. But the Old Testament makes it clear that God would send a spiritual leader, not a worldly one.
6:19. Terrified — even though they had just experienced Jesus’ power and love, the disciples now think he is a ghost.
6:20. I am here . . . — literally “I am,” the name God applies to himself with Moses [Exodus 3:14]. Jesus is telling the disciples “God is here.” 
6:21. Immediately — this incident ends with a second miraculous sign, which confirms Jesus’ mastery over this world.
6:26. Very truly — Jesus knows the crowd wants more of the material blessing that Jesus provided the day before.
6:28. Perform the works — actions were the most important to the Jews – following the laws. Jesus tells them the real “work” is to believe, and to seek the spiritual “bread” of a life in relationship with God. Our work is with our heart and minds, not with our hands. And Paul points out in Romans 4:5 that even our belief is a gift from God.

5After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Bethzatha, which has five porticoes. ³ In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵ One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When 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?” ⁷ The 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.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. ¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” ¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. ¹⁴ Later 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.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶ Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” ¹⁸ For 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.

¹⁹ Jesus 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 does, the Son does likewise.
²⁰ The 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. ²¹ Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.
²² The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so 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. ²⁴ Very 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. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; ²⁷ and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and 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. ³² There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. ³³ You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. ³⁴ Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But 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. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form,
³⁸ and 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. ⁴⁰ Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. ⁴¹ I do not accept glory from human beings. ⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How 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? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What is the situation at the beginning of this chapter? What prompts Jesus to question the man? Why did Jesus begin with the question he asked?

2. How does the man first respond to Jesus? What is similar in his answer to the response of the woman at the well [4:11]? 

3. What does Jesus do next? How does the man respond? What problem do the Jews have with this situation? Why did they persecute Jesus? How do you feel about the Jews’ reaction? 

4. How does Jesus respond to the Jews’ accusations about the Sabbath? Do you think this helped the situation or made the Jews more upset? Why?

5. How does Jesus describe the relationship between himself and God the Father? What are the key aspects of this relationship?

6. How does Jesus describe the relationship between himself and those who believe? What makes this so significant to his audience?

7. What claims does Jesus 

make about God? About himself? How did the Jews react? How do you think you would have reacted?

8. How does Jesus verify what he is saying to the Jews? Who does he call as a witness to his truth? Do you think this helped his audience understand and believe?

9. What does Jesus say about the value of studying God’s word? What was wrong with the way the Jews went about studying the Scriptures?

10. Why do you suppose Jesus calls Moses the “accuser” of the Jews? What did Moses say about Jesus?

Get Personal

What is your attitude toward Sunday and worship? How are you looking at “work?” at “worship?” How does your attitude affect your practice of worship or your involvement in other church activities?

5:1. Jewish holy days — John doesn’t specify, but Jewish men were required to celebrate three feasts in Jerusalem: Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.
5:2. Sheep Gate . . . Bethesda — in northeastern Jerusalem. Bethesda means “house of grace,” which is what the man who had been there 38 years experienced, although not as he expected. (Because of the healing associated with the pool many hospitals use the name, Bethesda.)
5:3-4. some translations include: waiting for a certain movement of the water, for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and stirred up the water. And the first person to step down into it afterward was healed – but this is probably a scribe’s later addition to explain the man’s statement in v. 7.
5:7. Someone else . . . — after 38 years of always being in second place, the man is resigned to his situation – he doesn’t even say “yes, but.”
5:14. See, you have been made well — Jesus confirms the man’s physical healing and warns him of his need for spiritual healing. Jesus’ miracles always have a spiritual purpose in John’s writing.
5:17. My Father — unlike the other three Gospels, John puts Jesus’ claim to equality with God much earlier in his ministry, (such a claim was blasphemy, a sin that called for the death penalty according to the Mosaic Law, [Lev 24:15-16]).
5:19-22. Explained — having just claimed to be equal to God, Jesus now describes the relationship between himself and God, the Father – one of love and shared responsibility and authority.
5:22. Has given all judgment to the Son — the Jews understood the idea of delegated authority or “agency,” in which the agent should be treated as if the principal person were present. Jesus

exercises power that God, the Father has given him, and he should be treated – “honored” – as God is [again
in v. 30].
5:24. Has eternal life — literally “the life of the world to come” – Jesus’ promise is for the present time, not some time in the future (as the Jews believed), because believers “has already passed” into life. Paul put it this way: the old life is gone; a new life has begun! [2 Cor 5:17].
5:27. Son of Man — the title is from the prophet, Daniel: I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him, [7:13-14].
5:28. All the dead — Jesus is consistent with Jewish teachings that both the righteous and unrighteous will be raised at the last days.
5:31. Testimony — Jewish law required at least two witnesses to establish guilt, [Deut 17:6-7, 19:15]. Jesus sites John the Baptizer, as well as his teaching and his miracles (“signs”) as witnesses to his identity.
5:39. Scriptures — Jews read the Law as a list of the behaviors that led to eternal life; Jesus says the Scriptures depict his life and death as the means to receive “this life,” (a great example of focusing on the “trees” and totally missing the “forest”).
5:45. Moses — Jesus reminds the Jews that their own leader testified about him, yet they are still not believing: I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account, [Deut 18:18-19].

4²⁷ Just 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?” ²⁸ Then 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, can he?” ³⁰ They left the city and were on their way to him.

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

³⁹ Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word. ⁴² They 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.”

⁴³ When 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). ⁴⁵ When 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.

⁴⁶ Then 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. ⁴⁷ When 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. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”
⁴⁹ The official said to him, Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. ⁵² So 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.” ⁵³ The 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. ⁵⁴ Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What happens when the disciples return? What is foremost on their minds? Why do you think no one asked about the woman? 

2. What does she do? How can you tell she is excited? What effect does her message have on the people in the village?

3. What is your reaction to the conversation Jesus has with the disciples? What is similar about the dialogue with the woman? Why do you think people don’t understand what Jesus is talking about?

4. How do the Samaritans respond to Jesus? What does Jesus do in return? What is the key to their belief in Jesus?

5. Where does Jesus go next? How do the people there respond to Jesus? Why do you think they acted this way?

6. Who comes to Jesus in Cana? Why does he seek Jesus? How does Jesus respond to the man? How does the man react to this? What does Jesus do? What does the man do? What does he do when he gets home?

Get Personal

How are you like the woman? How are you like the disciples? How are you like the Samaritans? How does God help you become one who has “heard for ourselves?”

4:27. Astonished — Jewish men did not talk with women in public [see Note at 4:7].
4:28. Water jar — usually an important household possession, but the woman leaves it to share her news about Jesus.
4:29. Come and see a man — a woman’s testimony was considered inferior and often ignored, but this woman, like Philip [check 1:46] invites the people to see for themselves.
4:32. This conversation is practically an echo of the one Jesus just had with the woman. The disciples do not understand and try to “translate” his references to spiritual food into their world.
4:35. Harvest — the Old Testament uses harvest as a metaphor for God’s judgment [as in Jer 51:33; Joel 3:13], but Jesus uses it to talk about bringing people into God’s kingdom through the Gospel. The spiritual harvest is at hand and the disciples will “reap” the results of Jesus’ and the woman’s planting [v. 38].
4:41. He stayed — pious Jews did not even walk through Samaria, let alone eat and sleep there for two days; but, unlike many Jews, the Samaritans believed Jesus.
4:42. We believe — the Samaritans believe because they responded to the woman’s invitation and then they heard Jesus directly. It works the same way in our time: we invite people to meet Jesus and the Holy Spirit does the real work. (You can compare their reaction to that of Nathaniel in chapter 1.)
Savior of the world — the Samaritans “get it” – Jesus is more than a prophet

or the anointed one, he has a purpose in being here.
4:44. Own country — Jesus was born in Judea but grew up in Galilee, which allows scholars to argue about this verse [check Mark 6:4]. The Galileans welcomed him as a miracle worker (the events during Passover in Jerusalem [v. 2:23]), but they never accepted him as a prophet or Messiah.
4:46. Royal official — probably in the court of Herod Antipas, the ruler who killed John the Baptizer. 
4:49. Sir, come down — even though Jesus brusquely rejects the initial request, the man presses for a response, just as Mary did at the wedding in Cana [v. 2:5].
4:50. Go; your son will live — almost all miracles in Jewish history were accomplished in the presence of the prophet, not from a distance. Jesus does not need to be physically present, he only needs the seeker’s belief that he can accomplish the miracle [as in the Roman officer’s faith in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:2-10].
4:53. The hour — John underscores the point that belief is the critical factor, not where Jesus or the seeker are.
Whole household — Middle Eastern customs gave great authority to the male head of the household [check the reports of Cornelius and Lydia at Acts 10:1-3 and 16:14-15].
4:54. Second sign — for John miracles are important because they show Jesus as Messiah and savior, not just because water becomes wine or a child is healed.

4Now when Jesus 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— ³ he left Judea and started back to Galilee. ⁴ But he had to go through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A 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.) ⁹ The 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.) 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.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but 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.” ¹⁵ The 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.”

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

Get into the Word

1. What prompts Jesus to return to Galilee? Do you think he was concerned about the “competition” with John the Baptist?

2. What is unusual about Jesus’ ending up in Samaria [see notes]? How do you suppose the disciples felt about the trip at this point? How would you have felt?

3. What is the woman’s first reaction to Jesus? Why did she react this way? How do you think you would have reacted?

4. What is Jesus’ message to the woman? Why does she have such difficulty understanding what Jesus is talking about? Why do you think he talked about “living water” with a foreigner before a Jew?

5. What is Jesus’ response when the woman asks for “some of this water?” Why would he bring up her personal life at this point? How does the she respond?

6. What does Jesus say about the correct place to worship? How does the woman react?

Get Personal

How does your relationship with God affect how you worship?

4:4. Samaria — in Jesus’s time Israel was divided into three provinces: Judea, Samaria and Galilee. Samaria was between the other two, so it would be natural for any traveler to go through Samaria to get from Judea to Galilee. But Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried with pagans after the captivity and they were considered outcasts [the Jewish version of this history is in 2 Kings 17:24-31]. Devout Jews took the long way around to avoid even traveling in Samaria.
4:5. Sychar — [also Shechem] figures prominently in Israel’s history. God appeared to Abraham at Shechem on his journey to Canaan, and Abraham built his first altar to God here. Joshua also directed that an altar be built here after the Hebrew people conquered Canaan. Shechem is where Joshua told his fellow Israelites to “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” [Josh. 24:15].
4:6. Jacob’s Well — although the field is mentioned in Genesis [33:17-19], this is the only Biblical reference to Jacob’s Well. Today it is the site of a Greek Christian church.
4:7. Samaritan woman — usually women would get their water later in the day when it was cooler, but this woman came at noon to avoid the other women of the village [check v. 18].
Give me a drink — Jesus breaks at least four Jewish taboos here: Jews did not talk with Samaritans, men did not talk to women they did not know in public, men did not talk with women known to be immoral, and Jews did not eat or drink with Gentiles (or even use their water bucket).
4:10. Living water — Isaiah uses water as a symbol of life: With joy you will draw

water from the wells of salvation, [12:3], he even links water to thirst spiritually as Jesus does: Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy, and eat! [55:1].
4:11-12. You have no bucket — like Nicodemus in the previous chapter, the woman misses Jesus’ metaphor and responds literally, even thinking she would not have to make any more trips to the well [v. 15].
4:19. Prophet — the woman reflects the common belief that prophets could know about others’ lives. She then uses this belief to challenge Jesus about the “correct” place to worship [v. 20]. 
4:22. You worship what you do not know — Jesus confirms the superiority of Jewish teaching. Because the Samaritans used only the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) their knowledge of God and salvation was very limited.
4:24. Worship in spirit and in truth — Jesus says neither location is actually correct. The important thing is how we worship, not where. This should not be a new idea for Jews: Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. [Psalm 32:2].
4:25. Messiah — Samaritans looked for the prophet God promised to Moses:  “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command, [Deut 18:17-18]. 
4:26. I am he — John is the only Gospel author who records Jesus’ declaration that he is the Messiah before his trial. Matthew even records Jesus efforts to prevent such an early disclosure: Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ, [16:20].