John's Story (25 page)

¹⁵
Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

¹⁶
Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”

Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

¹⁷
They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸
But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.
¹⁹
And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

²⁰
His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
²¹
but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.”
²²
His parents said these
things
because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed
that
He
was
Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
²³
Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴
So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”

²⁵
He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner
or not
I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶
Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

²⁷
He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear
it
again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

²⁸
Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples.
²⁹
We know that God spoke to Moses;
as for
this
fellow,
we do not know where He is from.”

³⁰
The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!
³¹
Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
³²
Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.
³³
If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

³⁴
They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.

True Vision and True Blindness

³⁵
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
a

³⁶
He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

³⁷
And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

³⁸
Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

³⁹
And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

⁴⁰
Then
some
of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

⁴¹
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

Jesus the True Shepherd

10
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
²
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
³
To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
⁴
And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
⁵
Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
⁶
Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

⁷
Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
⁸
All who
ever
came before Me
a
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
⁹
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
¹⁰
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have
it
more abundantly.

¹¹
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
¹²
But a hireling,
he who is
not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
¹³
The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
¹⁴
I am the good shepherd; and I know My
sheep,
and am known by My own.
¹⁵
As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
¹⁶
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock
and
one shepherd.

¹⁷
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
¹⁸
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

¹⁹
Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.
²⁰
And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”

²¹
Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

²²
Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
²³
And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
²⁴
Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.
²⁶
But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
a
²⁷
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
²⁸
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
²⁹
My Father, who has given
them
to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch
them
out of My Father’s hand.
³⁰
I and
My
Father are one.”

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
³²
Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

³³
The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

³⁴
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law,
‘I said, “You are gods”’
?
a
³⁵
If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
³⁶
do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
³⁷
If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
³⁸
but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe
a
that the Father
is
in Me, and I in Him.”
³⁹
Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

The Believers Beyond Jordan

⁴⁰
And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.
⁴¹
Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
⁴²
And many believed in Him there.

The Death of Lazarus

11
Now a certain
man
was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
²
It was
that
Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
³
Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

⁴
When Jesus heard
that,
He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
⁶
So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.

⁷
Then after this He said to
the
disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸
The
disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”

⁹
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
¹⁰
But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
¹¹
These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

¹²
Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
¹³
However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴
Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
¹⁵
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

¹⁶
Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
¹⁸
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles
a
> away.
¹⁹
And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰
Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
²¹
Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
²²
But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
²⁶
And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸
And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
²⁹
As soon as she heard
that,
she arose quickly and came to Him.
³⁰
Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was
a
in the place where Martha met Him.
³¹
Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
a

³²
Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
³⁴
And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵
Jesus wept.
³⁶
Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷
And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”