Category: John

[8:21] Again Jesus said to them, “I will go away; you will look for me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot go where I am going.”

[8:22] So the Jewish authorities said, “He says that we cannot go where he is going. Does this mean that he will kill himself?”

[8:23] Jesus answered, “You belong to this world here below, but I come from above. You are from this world, but I am not from this world.

[8:24] That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I Am Who I Am’.”

[8:25] “Who are you?” they asked him. Jesus answered, “What I have told you from the very beginning.

[8:26] I have much to say about you, much to condemn you for. The one who sent me, however, is truthful, and I tell the world only what I have heard from him.”

[8:27] They did not understand that Jesus was talking to them about the Father.

[8:28] So he said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that ‘I Am Who I Am’; then you will know that I do nothing on my own authority, but I say only what the Father has instructed me to say.

[8:29] And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”

[8:30] Many who heard Jesus say these things believed in him.

[8:31] So Jesus said to those who believed in him, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples;

[8:32] you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

[8:33] “We are the descendants of Abraham,” they answered, “and we have never been anybody's slaves. What do you mean, then, by saying, ‘You will be free’?”

[8:34] Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave of sin.

[8:35] A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever.

[8:36] If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free.

[8:37] I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are trying to kill me, because you will not accept my teaching.

[8:38] I talk about what my Father has shown me, but you do what your father has told you.”

[8:39] They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” “If you really were Abraham's children,” Jesus replied, “you would do the same things that he did.

[8:40] All I have ever done is to tell you the truth I heard from God, yet you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like this!

[8:41] You are doing what your father did.” “God himself is the only Father we have,” they answered, “and we are his true children.”

[8:42] Jesus said to them, “If God really were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own authority, but he sent me.

[8:43] Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message.

[8:44] You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.

[8:45] But I tell the truth, and that is why you do not believe me.

[8:46] Which one of you can prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, then why do you not believe me?

[8:47] He who comes from God listens to God's words. You, however, are not from God, and that is why you will not listen.”

[8:48] They asked Jesus, “Were we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you?”

[8:49] “I have no demon,” Jesus answered. “I honor my Father, but you dishonor me.

[8:50] I am not seeking honor for myself. But there is one who is seeking it and who judges in my favor.

[8:51] I am telling you the truth: whoever obeys my teaching will never die.”

[8:52] They said to him, “Now we know for sure that you have a demon! Abraham died, and the prophets died, yet you say that whoever obeys your teaching will never die.

[8:53] Our father Abraham died; you do not claim to be greater than Abraham, do you? And the prophets also died. Who do you think you are?”

[8:54] Jesus answered, “If I were to honor myself, that honor would be worth nothing. The one who honors me is my Father—the very one you say is your God.

[8:55] You have never known him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his word.

[8:56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see the time of my coming; he saw it and was glad.”

[8:57] They said to him, “You are not even fifty years old—and you have seen Abraham?”

[8:58] “I am telling you the truth,” Jesus replied. “Before Abraham was born, ‘I Am’.”

[8:59] Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.

[9:1] As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind.

[9:2] His disciples asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents' sin?”

[9:3] Jesus answered, “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him.

[9:4] As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me; night is coming when no one can work.

[9:5] While I am in the world, I am the light for the world.”

[9:6] After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man's eyes

[9:7] and told him, “Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam.” (This name means “Sent.”) So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.

[9:8] His neighbors, then, and the people who had seen him begging before this, asked, “Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?”

[9:9] Some said, “He is the one,” but others said, “No he isn't; he just looks like him.” So the man himself said, “I am the man.”

[9:10] “How is it that you can now see?” they asked him.

[9:11] He answered, “The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see.”

[9:12] “Where is he?” they asked. “I don't know,” he answered.

[9:13] Then they took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.

[9:14] The day that Jesus made the mud and cured him of his blindness was a Sabbath.

[9:15] The Pharisees, then, asked the man again how he had received his sight. He told them, “He put some mud on my eyes; I washed my face, and now I can see.”

[9:16] Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this cannot be from God, for he does not obey the Sabbath law.” Others, however, said, “How could a man who is a sinner perform such miracles as these?” And there was a division among them.

[9:17] So the Pharisees asked the man once more, “You say he cured you of your blindness—well, what do you say about him?” “He is a prophet,” the man answered.

[9:18] The Jewish authorities, however, were not willing to believe that he had been blind and could now see, until they called his parents

[9:19] and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind; how is it, then, that he can now see?”

[9:20] His parents answered, “We know that he is our son, and we know that he was born blind.

[9:21] But we do not know how it is that he is now able to see, nor do we know who cured him of his blindness. Ask him; he is old enough, and he can answer for himself!”

[9:22] His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, who had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue.

[9:23] That is why his parents said, “He is old enough; ask him!”

[9:24] A second time they called back the man who had been born blind, and said to him, “Promise before God that you will tell the truth! We know that this man who cured you is a sinner.”

[9:25] “I do not know if he is a sinner or not,” the man replied. “One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see.”

[9:26] “What did he do to you?” they asked. “How did he cure you of your blindness?”

[9:27] “I have already told you,” he answered, “and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you, too, would like to be his disciples?”

[9:28] They insulted him and said, “You are that fellow's disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.

[9:29] We know that God spoke to Moses; as for that fellow, however, we do not even know where he comes from!”

[9:30] The man answered, “What a strange thing that is! You do not know where he comes from, but he cured me of my blindness!

[9:31] We know that God does not listen to sinners; he does listen to people who respect him and do what he wants them to do.

[9:32] Since the beginning of the world nobody has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a person born blind.

[9:33] Unless this man came from God, he would not be able to do a thing.”

[9:34] They answered, “You were born and brought up in sin—and you are trying to teach us?” And they expelled him from the synagogue.

[9:35] When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

[9:36] The man answered, “Tell me who he is, sir, so that I can believe in him!”

[9:37] Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him, and he is the one who is talking with you now.”

[9:38] “I believe, Lord!” the man said, and knelt down before Jesus.

[9:39] Jesus said, “I came to this world to judge, so that the blind should see and those who see should become blind.”

[9:40] Some Pharisees who were there with him heard him say this and asked him, “Surely you don't mean that we are blind, too?”

[9:41] Jesus answered, “If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still guilty.”

[10:1] Jesus said, “I am telling you the truth: the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

[10:2] The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

[10:3] The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.

[10:4] When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.

[10:5] They will not follow someone else; instead, they will run away from such a person, because they do not know his voice.”

[10:6] Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he meant.

[10:7] So Jesus said again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep.

[10:8] All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

[10:9] I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture.

[10:10] The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.

[10:11] “I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep.

[10:12] When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.

[10:13] The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep.

[10:16] There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

[10:17] “The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again.

[10:18] No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”

[10:19] Again there was a division among the people because of these words.

[10:20] Many of them were saying, “He has a demon! He is crazy! Why do you listen to him?”

[10:21] But others were saying, “A man with a demon could not talk like this! How could a demon give sight to blind people?”

[10:22] It was winter, and the Festival of the Dedication of the Temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem.

[10:23] Jesus was walking in Solomon's Porch in the Temple,

[10:24] when the people gathered around him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? Tell us the plain truth: are you the Messiah?”

[10:25] Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you would not believe me. The deeds I do by my Father's authority speak on my behalf;

[10:26] but you will not believe, for you are not my sheep.

[10:27] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

[10:28] I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me.

[10:29] What my Father has given me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father's care.

[10:30] The Father and I are one.”

[10:31] Then the people again picked up stones to throw at him.

[10:32] Jesus said to them, “I have done many good deeds in your presence which the Father gave me to do; for which one of these do you want to stone me?”

[10:33] They answered, “We do not want to stone you because of any good deeds, but because of your blasphemy! You are only a man, but you are trying to make yourself God!”

[10:34] Jesus answered, “It is written in your own Law that God said, ‘You are gods.’

[10:35] We know that what the scripture says is true forever; and God called those people gods, the people to whom his message was given.

[10:36] As for me, the Father chose me and sent me into the world. How, then, can you say that I blaspheme because I said that I am the Son of God?

[10:37] Do not believe me, then, if I am not doing the things my Father wants me to do.

[10:38] But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, you should at least believe my deeds, in order that you may know once and for all that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father.”

[10:39] Once more they tried to seize Jesus, but he slipped out of their hands.

[10:40] Jesus then went back again across the Jordan River to the place where John had been baptizing, and he stayed there.

[10:41] Many people came to him. “John performed no miracles,” they said, “but everything he said about this man was true.”

[10:42] And many people there believed in him.

[11:1] A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, became sick. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. (

[11:2] This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.)

[11:3] The sisters sent Jesus a message: “Lord, your dear friend is sick.”

[11:4] When Jesus heard it, he said, “The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.”

[11:5] Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

[11:6] Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.

[11:7] Then he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

[11:8] “Teacher,” the disciples answered, “just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you; and are you planning to go back?”

[11:9] Jesus said, “A day has twelve hours, doesn't it? So those who walk in broad daylight do not stumble, for they see the light of this world.

[11:10] But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light.”

[11:11] Jesus said this and then added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up.”

[11:12] The disciples answered, “If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well.”

[11:13] Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep.

[11:14] So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,

[11:15] but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him.”

[11:16] Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us all go along with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!”