John 5-6

John 5

¹Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.

³On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.

⁵One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”

⁸Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”

⁹Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day,

¹⁰so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”

¹¹But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹²“Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked.

¹³But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.

¹⁴Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”

¹⁵And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹⁶Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.

¹⁷But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”

¹⁸Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

¹⁹So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

²⁰The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.

²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.

²²Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,

²³so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²⁴Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.

²⁵Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

²⁶For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

²⁷And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

²⁸Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice

²⁹and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

³⁰I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

³¹If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.

³²There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.

³³You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.

³⁴Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved.

³⁵John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.

³⁶But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.

³⁷And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form,

³⁸nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.

³⁹You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,

⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.

⁴¹I do not accept glory from men,

⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.

⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him.

⁴⁴How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope.

⁴⁶If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.

⁴⁷But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

John 6

¹After this, Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias).

²A large crowd followed Him because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick.

³Then Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down with His disciples.

⁴Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.

⁵When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”

⁶But He was asking this to test him, for He knew what He was about to do.

⁷Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.”

⁸One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

⁹“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”

¹⁰“Have the people sit down,” Jesus said. Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.

¹²And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”

¹³So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.

¹⁶When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,

¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them.

¹⁸A strong wind was blowing, and the sea grew agitated.

¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea—and they were terrified.

²⁰But Jesus spoke up: “It is I; do not be afraid.”

²¹Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

²²The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with His disciples, but they had gone away alone.

²³However, some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

²⁴So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him.

²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”

²⁶Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

²⁷Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

²⁸Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

³⁰So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?

³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³²Jesus said to them, “Truly, 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.

³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴“Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.”

³⁵Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.

³⁶But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.

³⁷Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.

³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.

³⁹And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.

⁴⁰For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

⁴¹At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

⁴²They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’”

⁴³“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied.

⁴⁴“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—

⁴⁶not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.

⁴⁸I am the bread of life.

⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.

⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.

⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

⁵²At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.

⁵⁴Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁵⁵For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.

⁵⁶Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.

⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me.

⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁶⁰On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”

⁶¹Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you?

⁶²Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?

⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

⁶⁴However, there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.)

⁶⁵Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.”

⁶⁶From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

⁶⁷So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.

⁶⁹We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”

⁷¹He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.