Part 33

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? He confessed and did not deny, I am not the Christ. They asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? He said, I am not. Art thou that prophet? He answered, No. Then they said to him, Who art thou that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as was said by the prophet Isaiah. Those sent by the Pharisees asked him, Then why do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elias or that prophet?

John answered, I baptize with water, but one stands among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is above me and whose foot straps I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John was baptizing.

When John saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, After me comes a man who is above me because He was before me. I knew Him not, only that He would be made manifest to Israel. Therefore I came baptizing with water.

John bore record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remain on Him. I knew Him not except the one who sent me to baptize told me, On whomever you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. I saw Him, and now witness that this is the Son of God.

The next day John and two of his disciples saw Jesus as He walked. John said, Behold the Lamb of God! The two disciples heard John speak and followed Jesus. Jesus turned, saw them following, and said to them, What are you looking for? They said, Master, where are you staying? He said to them, Come and see. It was about the tenth hour. They went and saw where He stayed and spent the rest of that day with Him.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. First he found his brother, Simon, and said to him, We have found the Christ, and he brought him to Jesus. When Jesus saw him He said, Thou art Simon the son of John. Thou shalt be called Peter.

A day later, Jesus went into Galilee and found Philip. He said to him, Follow me. Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said, We have found the one who Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming and said, Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile! Nathanael said to Him, How do you know me? Jesus answered, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered and said to Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel.

Jesus said, Because I said I saw you under the fig tree you believe? You will see greater things than these. You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man!

2. Three days later there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and His disciples were invited to the marriage. When they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. Jesus said, But what am I to do? My hour is not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever He tells you to do, do it.

There were six stone waterpots, used according to the manner of the Jews for purifying. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the pots with water. They filled them to the brim. Then He said to them, Draw out now and carry them to the governor of the feast.

When the governor of the feast tasted the water that was made wine, he called the bridegroom to him and said, At the beginning, every man sets out the good wine, and, when men have drunk well, then he sets out the lesser, but you have kept the good wine until now!

This beginning of miracles Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. He showed forth His glory and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum and took along His mother, brothers, and His disciples. They remained there for a few days.

Since the feast of Passover was at hand, Jesus went to Jerusalem. There He found, sitting in the temple, all those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and changers of money. When He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple. He overthrew the tables. He said to those who sold doves, Take these things away. Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. Here His disciples remembered that it was written: The zeal of thine house has eaten me up.

The Jews then said to Him, What sign do you show us for doing this? Jesus answered, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews said, It took forty-six years to build this temple and you will raise it up again in three days? But Jesus spoke of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said and they recalled the scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

When He was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in His name when they saw the things He did. But Jesus did not commit or trust Himself to them.

3. There was a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to Him, We know that you are from God because no man can do the miracles that you do unless God is with Him. Jesus answered, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus asked, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born?

Jesus answered, Unless one is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said, You must be born again. The wind blows and you hear the sound but cannot tell from where it comes or to where it goes. So it is with those born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus said, How can these things be? Jesus answered, Art thou a master of Israel and do not know these things? Verily, I say to you, We speak what we know, testify that we have seen, and you do not accept our witness. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?

No man has ascended up to heaven except He that came down from heaven, the Son of man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but, that the world, through Him, might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned.

He who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation: light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come into the light lest his deeds be exposed. But whoever lives the truth, comes to the light that his deeds may be shown as a reflection of God.

After these things Jesus and His disciples went into the land of Judaea. He stayed with them and baptized. John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim. There was an abundance of water, so many people came to be baptized. This was before John was cast into prison.

A question arose between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. They went to John and said, Rabbi, He that was with you beyond Jordan, of whom you testified, baptizes and all men come to Him. John answered, A man can receive nothing unless it is granted him from heaven. You, yourselves, bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ but that I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So, my joy is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. All that He has seen and heard He testifies and no one accepts it.

He who has received His testimony has set to his seal that God is true, for He whom God has sent speaks the words of God because God gives Him the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. He who does not believe in the Son will not see life but will see the wrath of God.

4. When the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though it was not Jesus Himself who baptized but His disciples, He left Judaea and went back to Galilee. He needed to go through Samaria. He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near Jacob's well, the parcel of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jesus, weary from the journey, sat down on the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. His disciples had gone into the city to buy food.

She said to Him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink, a woman of Samaria? The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans? Jesus said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who asks for a drink, you would have asked Him for a drink and He would have given you living water.