Part 34

The woman said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. From where would you get that living water? Art Thou greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his cattle?

Jesus answered, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I give will never thirst. The water that I give will be a well of water springing up in him into everlasting life. The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water so I do not thirst and never have to come here to draw it. Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come back. The woman answered, I have no husband.

Jesus said to her, You say rightly when you say, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands. He who is with you now is not your husband. In that you speak truly. The woman said to Him, Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men should worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour will come when you will not worship the Father in this mountain or at Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know because salvation comes from the Jews.

But the hour comes, and is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father seeks such people to worship Him. God is a Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

The woman said to Him, I know that a Messiah comes who is called Christ. When He comes He will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I am He who is speaking with you. At this time His disciples came back. They marvelled that He talked with the woman. Yet no one asked, Why do you talk to her?

The woman then left her waterpot and went on her way. When she was back in the city she said, Come, see a man who told me all the things I have ever done. Is not this the Christ? Then the people left the city and came to Him.

Meanwhile His disciples said, Master, eat. But Jesus said to them, I have food to eat that you know not of. At this, the disciples questioned eachother, has any man brought Him something to eat? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to complete His work. Do you not say, There are still four months until the harvest? Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields. They are ready to harvest right now. He who reaps now receives wages and gathers fruit for life eternal, so that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. Herein is the truth of the saying: One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap where you have not toiled. Others have done the labor and you are sharing the benefits.

Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the woman's testimony. When they went to meet Him, they besought Him to stay with them. Jesus remained there two days. Many more believed because of His own word. They said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of what you said but because we have heard Him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.

Then He went into Galilee, where He found the truth in the saying: a prophet has no honor in his own country. When He came into Galilee, they received Him after having seen all the things that He did at the Passover feast in Jerusalem because they were there also.

Jesus returned to Cana of Galilee where He turned the water into wine. There was a nobleman of Capernaum, whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus left Judea and was in Galilee, he went there to Him and besought Him to come down and heal his son who was near death. Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. The nobleman said to Him, Sir, come before my child dies.

Jesus said to him, Go thy way. Thy son lives. The man believed the word of Jesus and he went on his way. As he was going along, his servants met him and said, Thy son lives. Then he inquired at what hour the son began to mend. They said, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father knew that this was the same hour in which Jesus said to him, Thy son lives. And he believed, and his whole house believed. This is the second miracle Jesus did when He came to Galilee from Judaea.

5. After this there was a feast of the Jews. Jesus went up to Jerusalem. At Jerusalem, by the sheep market, there is a pool with five decks called Bethesda. On these platforms lay many who are blind, crippled, and infirm. They wait for the moving of the water. At a certain season, an angel goes into the pool and stirs it. Whoever first steps in is healed of disease.

There was a man who had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been in that condition such a long time, He said to him, Wilt thou be made whole? The sick man answered, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. Jesus said to him, Rise. Take up your bed and walk. Immediately the man was made whole. He picked up his mat and walked. This was on the sabbath day.

The Jews said to the man who was cured, It is the sabbath day. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered and said, He who made me whole said to me, Take up your bed and walk. Then they asked him, Who was it who said to you, Take up you bed and walk? But the man who was healed did not know who it was because Jesus left the crowd that had gathered there.

Afterward Jesus found the man in the temple and said, Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more lest a worse thing comes to you. Then the man left and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. Therefore, the Jews persecuted Jesus. They wanted to slay Him because He had done this on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered and said to them, My Father works now, so I work.

Now the Jews wanted all the more to kill Him because He not only had broken the sabbath but He also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal to God. Jesus addressed this and said, The Son can do nothing of Himself except what He sees the Father do. Whatever the Father does, the Son does the same. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all the things that He Himself does. And He will show Him even greater works than these. Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to whom He will. The Father judges no man, but has turned over all judgment to the Son. This is so all men honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Verily, I say to you, He who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has everlasting life and will not be condemned but will pass from death to life. I tell you, The hour is coming, and is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. Those who hear will live, for as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given the Son life in Himself. The Father has given Him authority to exercise judgment because He is also the Son of man.

Marvel not at this because the hour is coming in which all who are in graves will hear His voice and come forth. Those who have done good will go to the resurrection of life. Those who have done evil will go to the resurrection of condemnation.

I can do nothing on my own. I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me.

If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of me; and I know that his witness of me is true. You sent for John and he gave testimony to the truth. Though I do not require testimony from man, I say this so you may be saved. He was a burning and a shining light and you were willing, for a time, to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John. The works that the Father has given me to complete are a testimony on my behalf. Furthermore, the Father Himself has borne witness of me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His shape and you do not have His word abiding in you because you do not believe the one He sent.

You search the scriptures and think that in them you have eternal life. They testify of me. Yet you will not come to me for that life! I do not require praise from men but I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in my Father's name and you do not receive me. But if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

How can you believe when you only value honors from eachother and do not seek the honor that can come only from God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. The one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you trust. If you really believed Moses you would believe me because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how can you believe my words?

6. After these things Jesus went across the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. A large crowd followed Him because they saw the miracles He did on those who were diseased. Then Jesus took His disciples up into a mountain. It was near the time of Passover.

When Jesus saw the large crowd, He said to Philip, How can we buy food for them to eat? He said this to test Philip because Jesus Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, All of the bread we could get would not be enough for everyone in this crowd to take even a little. One of Jesus' disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish. But what are they among so many?

Jesus said, Have the men sit down on the grass. So the men, about five thousand, sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves. When He had given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to those who were seated. Then Jesus did the same thing with the fish. When all were filled, He said to His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is wasted. The disciples filled twelve baskets with the leftover fragments of the five barley loaves.

Those who saw the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is truly that prophet that is supposed to come into the world. When Jesus sensed they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him a king, He went into the mountains.

It was now evening. the disciples went down to the sea and got in a boat to go to Capernaum. It grew dark and a great wind began to stir up the sea. When they had rowed a few miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat. They were afraid. But He said to them, It is I. Be not afraid. As they welcomed Him into the boat, they were immediately at the land where they were heading.

The next day, the people who stood on the opposite shore saw that there was no other boat there, except the one His disciples entered. They knew that the disciples left alone and Jesus did not go with them. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks. When all these people saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they took boats to Capernaum to look for Him.