c The Greek word for you here and in verses 21 and 22 is plural
d Gk I am
e Or the Christ
f Or35…the fields are already ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is receiving
g Both instances of the Greek word for you in this verse are plural
4.1–6 This travel story brings Jesus to Samaria for his conversation with the woman at the well.
4.1 On Jesus’ baptizing, see 3.22.
4.4 Had to go through Samaria. Other routes led from Judea to Galilee, but the most direct lay through Samaria.
4.5 Sychar, the OT city Shechem; see Gen 33.18–19; Josh 24.32.
4.6 Jacob’s well is not mentioned in the OT. Noon, in the heat of the day, was an unusual time to draw water.
4.7–26 In her dialogue with Jesus, the woman gains an increasing recognition of who he is (vv. 9, 12, 19, 25).
4.9 Though both Jews and Samaritans were descended from ancient Israel and practiced similar religions, there was long-standing hostility between them. Thus it was also unusual for Jews to buy food (v. 8) from Samaritans.
4.10 Living water. See also 7.37–39. In Hebrew, the term means spring water (see Jer 2.13; Zech 14.8), although a metaphorical sense soon comes into view.
4.11–15 There is a similar dialogue in 6.30–35 contrasting what Jesus gives with what the ancestors had. See also Isa 55.1; Rev 21.6; 22.17.
4.12 Are you greater. See also 8.53.
4.15 The misunderstanding is a common Johannine technique; see notes on 3.4; 7.33–36.
4.16 Husband. Perhaps this subject is raised because, in the OT, the meeting of a man and a woman at a well often leads to marriage; see Gen 24.10–61; 29.1–20; Ex 2.15–21.
4.18 Though it is often suggested, five husbands probably does not refer to the five nations in the anti-Samaritan account in 2 Kings 17.24–41. Neither is an allegorical reading likely, such as that of Augustine, who suggested that the husbands symbolize the five senses.
4.19–20 The woman raises an issue suitable for a prophet to discuss. Our ancestors, i.e., the ancestors of both Jews and Samaritans. You, i.e., the Jews. This mountain. The Samaritans believed that Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, was the place designated by God for worship (see Deut 11.26–30; 27.1–13; Josh 8.30–35). They had once had a temple on the mountain, which was near Sychar (Shechem), where this story takes place.
4.23 John speaks several times of an hour that is coming, and is now here (5.25–29; 16.21, 32). See also notes on 7.30; 12.23; 16.25. Spirit and truth are connected with Jesus and belief in him in John. See 1.14, 17, 33; 3.5–8; 6.63; 7.39; 8.31–32; 14.6; 17.17–19;18.37; 20.22.
4.25 Christ, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. Cf. 1.41.
4.26 I am he. See note on 8.24.
4.27–30 The Samaritans’ movement toward Jesus (vv. 30, 39–40) forms the backdrop for his dialogue with the disciples (vv. 31–38).
4.27 It was against the social customs of that time for a Jewish religious teacher to be speaking with a woman in public.
4.29 He cannot be the Messiah, can he? or “Could he perhaps be the Messiah?”
4.31–38 Jesus has a better food (vv. 32, 34) than the disciples know (see note on 3.4), just as he had a better water than the woman thought (vv. 7–15).
4.34 Food…work. See 6.27–29; see also note on 5.19–20.
4.35–36 The harvest of people that is Jesus’ work (cf. Lk 10.2) includes the Samaritans. The sower planted grain (see Mk 4.3–8) and the reaper harvested it several months later when it was ripe; but the time for this “harvest” has already come.
4.38 Others, perhaps Moses and the prophets, the teachers of the Samaritans, or Christian missionaries.
4.39–42 Now the Samaritan “harvest” is reaped, first through the woman’s testimony, then through direct contact with Jesus. The extent of contacts with Samaritans by Jesus is unclear. Mt 10.5 prohibits the disciples from going to them. Acts 8.4–13 places missionary activity to Samaria in the period of the early church.
4.42 Savior of the world. See 3.17; 12.47; 1 Jn 4.14.
4.43–45 Jesus finally reaches the goal for which he had set out in v. 3.
4.44 See Mk 6.4. Jesus’ own country is Galilee (1.46;7.41–42, 52); the claim that he has no honor there, though the Galileans welcome him (v. 45), may indicate doubts about their enthusiasm based on signs (see note on 2.11).
4.45 Festival. See 2.13, 23.
4.46–54 The story of the healing of the official’s son is comparable to that of the centurion’s servant (which also takes place at Capernaum) in Mt 8.5–13; Lk 7.1–10.
4.46 Cana…water into wine. See 2.1–11. Royal official, presumably in the service of Herod Antipas, the son of King Herod the Great (Mk 6.14; see “The Herods: A Simplified Family Tree,” p. 1672). From Cana to Capernaum was fifteen or twenty miles.
4.48 On signs and beliefs, see 6.30; notes on 2.11; 11.40.
4.50 Your son will live. Cf. 1 Kings 17.23.
4.54 Second sign. See note on 2.11.
John 5
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
1After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrewa Beth-zatha,b which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.c 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a sabbath. 10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared ind the crowd that was there. 14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
The Authority of the Son
19Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Fathere does, the Son does likewise. 20The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. 21Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 22The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
25“Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; 27and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have do
ne evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Witnesses to Jesus
30“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
31“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.
39“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41I do not accept glory from human beings. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God inf you. 43I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
next chapter
* * *
a That is, Aramaic
b Other ancient authorities read Bethesda, others Bethsaida
c Other ancient authorities add, wholly or in part, waiting for the stirring of the water; 4for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well from whatever disease that person had.
d Or had left because of
e Gk that one
f Or among
5.1–7.52 It has sometimes been suggested that ch. 5 belongs after ch. 6. This would make a good connection between ch. 5 and ch. 7, since the retreat in 7.1 would be directly caused by the dispute in ch. 5 (cf. also 7.19–24; 5.16–18). This arrangement would also make Jesus’ travels clearer, since he would still be in Galilee to make the trip mentioned in 6.1. If, however, this were the original arrangement, it would be hard to explain the present order.
5.1–18 Though this miracle story is found only in John, other controversies over healing on the sabbath are found in Mt 12.9–14; Mk 3.1–6; Lk 13.10–17; 14.1–6. See also Jn 7.21–24; 9.13–17.
5.1 Festival, possibly Passover or Pentecost in the spring or the New Year or the Festival of Booths in the fall; or perhaps no specific festival was intended. (See “Jewish Festivals in the Gospel of John,” p. 1820.)
5.2 Sheep Gate, probably a gate in the northern wall of Jerusalem, near the temple (see Neh 3.1). In that area are remains of a double pool, which may be Bethzatha. The pools are surrounded by four porticoes (walkways with columns to support their roofs), and there is a fifth portico between the two pools.
5.3–5 Though v. 4 is striking, it is not found in the best manuscripts (see text note d), and its wording in Greek is unlike the rest of the Gospel of John. Therefore it was probably not originally part of this Gospel.
5.8 Stand up…and walk. See also Mk 2.9, 11; Acts 3.6.
5.10 The Jews, as usual in John, the authorities, not the Jewish people in general; see Introduction. Not lawful. The law has few details about particular activities that are forbidden on the sabbath (see Ex 20.8–11; 31.12–17; 35.2–3; Lev 23.3; Deut 5.12–15); but carrying burdens on the sabbath is opposed in Neh 13.15–21; Jer 17.19–27, and this prohibition was accepted and developed in Jewish tradition.
5.14 Do not sin any more. See also Mk 2.5; Jn 8.11.
5.15 Told the Jews. See also 11.46.
5.17 My Father is still working. Cf. Gen 2.2. Jewish teachers held that God continued to “work” after creation, sustaining the world even on the sabbath.
5.18 To kill him. See 8.58–59; 10.30–39; see also 7.1, 19–20, 25; 8.37–40. Making himself equal to God. A theological claim, rather than breaking the sabbath, is now the heart of the dispute.
5.19–47 Jesus’ first lengthy dispute with the Jewish authorities sets the stage for several more such disputes in chs. 6–10 by laying out themes that will be treated further in those chapters.
5.19–20 Cf. Mt 11.27. On the works of God and Jesus, see vv. 17, 36; see also 3.35; 4.34; 6.28–29;9.3–4; 10.25, 37–38; 14.10–12; 17.4. Be astonished. See v. 28; 7.21; Hab 1.5. Jesus’ defense initially suggests that he is subordinate to the Father, but what he sees the Father doing is no ordinary human observation.
5.21 Raises the dead, i.e., at the resurrection on the last day. See note on 11.24. Gives life. See 6.33–35; 10.10, 28; 11.25; 14.6; 17.2. Jesus thus shares in the fundamental creative work of God, implying his functional equality with God.
5.22 Many Jews and early Christians expected God’s final judgment, like the resurrection of the dead, at the end of time (Mt 12.36–37; Rom 2.1–16; 1 Jn 4.17–18; Rev 20.11–15). Here and in the following verses (vv. 23–30) this work of judgment, like that of resurrection, is transferred to Jesus (see also 3.17–19; 8.15–16; 9.39; 12.47–49).
5.23 Many passages state that to respond to Jesus is to respond to God, who sent him. See 12.44–45; 13.20; 14.7–9; Mt 10.40; Mk 9.37; Lk 10.16.
5.24 John asserts that for the believer eternal life does not wait until the end of time but is given now; see 11.25–26; 1 Jn 3.14; cf. Mk 10.30; Rom 2.5–7; Jude 21.
5.25–29 There may be a reference here to the raising of Lazarus (11.38–44); see also 6.39–40, 54.
5.25 The hour. See note on 4.23.
5.26 The Son…to have life. See also v. 21; 1.3–4.
5.27 Son of Man. See note on 1.51.
5.29 Done good, done evil. See also 3.19–21; Dan 12.2. Resurrection of life, in contrast to v. 24, looks to a future resurrection.
5.30 I can do nothing on my own. See vv. 19–23; 8.15–16; note on 14.10.
5.31 Jewish law did not accept individuals’ testimony about matters that concerned themselves; see also 8.13–18; 1 Jn 5.9.
5.33 See 1.19–28.
5.34 Jesus also explains why things are said in 11.42; 12.30.
5.35 That the Baptist was a lamp is a unique claim, which may recall a traditional saying such as Mt 5.14–16.
5.36 On the testimony of the works, see 10.25, 37–38; also note on 5.19–20.
5.37–38 The reference to the Father’s testimony may mean the Jewish scriptures (vv. 39–40, 45–47), God’s word. Never heard his voice or seen his form. See 1.18; 6.46; see also Ex 20.18–19; 33.18–20.
5.39 You search might also be translated as an ironic command, “Search the scriptures.” In either case, eternal life is not in the scriptures, but in Jesus, to whom they testify.
5.41 Jesus does not seek glory for himself (cf. v. 18) but for God (see vv. 30, 44; 7.18; 8.50, 54; 12.43).
5.42 Love of God, probably love for God.
5.43 In his own name, perhaps like messianic pretenders. Cf. Mt 24.23–25; Mk 13.21–23.
5.45–47 The point here is like that of vv. 39–40; see also Lk 16.29–31.
John 6
Feeding the Five Thousand
1After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.a 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to
test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, “Six months’ wagesb would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so theyc sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles,d they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, “It is I;e do not be afraid.” 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
The Bread from Heaven
22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.f 24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 478
