HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  8.49 You dishonor me. See 5.23.

  8.50 Seeking someone’s glory is closely related to honoring them (v. 49). God seeks Jesus’ glory by granting eternal life to those who keep his word (v. 51). See also 5.41–44; 7.18; 12.43.

  8.51 See 5.24; 11.25–26; see also Deut 30.15–20.

  8.53 Are you greater? Cf. 4.12.

  8.55 You do not know him. See v. 19; note on 7.28.

  8.56 There is no reference in Genesis to Abraham’s vision of the Messiah. Heb 11.13 refers to Abraham’s understanding of God’s promises, and Heb 11.19 takes the binding of Isaac (Gen 22) as a prototype of resurrection. Similar traditions may be at work here. On Isaiah, cf. Jn 12.41.

  8.57 Not yet fifty years old. This does not mean that Jesus was near fifty (Lk 3.23 suggests that he was in fact in his thirties), only that he was too young to have known Abraham.

  8.58 I am. See note on 8.24.

  8.59 On the attempt to stone Jesus, see 10.31; note on 7.30. Hid himself. See also 7.1, 10; 11.54; 12.36.

  John 9

  A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

  1As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4Wea must work the works of him who sent meb while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”(which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

  The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

  13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

  18The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesusc to be the Messiahd would be put out of the synagogue. 23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

  24So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

  Spiritual Blindness

  35Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”e 36He answered, “And who is he, sir?f Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38He said, “Lord,g I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

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  a Other ancient authorities read I

  b Other ancient authorities read us

  c Gk him

  d Or the Christ

  e Other ancient authorities read the Son of God

  f Sir and Lord translate the same Greek word

  g Sir and Lord translate the same Greek word

  9.1–41 The blind man in this story may represent the Christian community in its struggle with the synagogue authorities (see Introduction). Like the Samaritan woman in 4.1–42, but unlike the sick man in 5.2–15, the blind man increasingly recognizes Jesus’ identity (vv. 11, 17, 33, 38). The question of who is a sinner also runs through the entire chapter (see vv. 2–3, 16, 24–25, 31–33, 34, 41).

  9.2 Cf. 5.14. Punishment of children for their parents’ sins is spoken of in Ex 20.5; 34.7; Ps 109.13–15; Isa 65.6–7. In Ezek 18, on the other hand, the idea is condemned.

  9.3 He was born blind, not actually in the Greek text of Jesus’ reply. The point seems to be not to find a cause or a purpose for the man’s blindness but to present it as an occasion for doing God’s works of healing (see 4.34; 5.17–21, 36; 10.32–38; 14.10–12; 17.4).

  9.4–5 The works of him who sent me. See 4.34. Day, night, light. See note on 8.12. Night…when no one can work. On one level, this refers to the end of Jesus’ own life (v. 5), but the use of we (v. 4) extends it to Jesus’ followers, who do even greater works than he (14.12) in the time available to them. See also 11.9–10; 12.35–36.

  9.6 See also Mk 8.23.

  9.7 The pool of Siloam was fed by the waters of the spring Gihon running beneath the city of Jerusalem through a tunnel built by King Hezekiah (see 2 Kings 20.20; 2 Chr 32.30; Isa 22.11). Remains of the pool have been discovered recently in Jerusalem.

  9.12 Cf. 5.12–13.

  9.13–17 On controversies over healing on the sabbath, see note on 5.1–18; see also 7.21–24.

  9.16 Divided. See note on 7.12.

  9.17 He is a prophet. See note on 6.14–15.

  9.18–23 The blind man’s parents betray him to a fate they themselves fear; see also Lk 12.53; 21.16.

  9.18 The Jews, here the same as the Pharisees in vv. 13–17, i.e., the synagogue authorities (see Introduction).

  9.22 Afraid of the Jews. See note on 7.13. Jewish Christians were not put out of the synagogue until after Jesus’ lifetime, perhaps the 80s CE; see 12.42; 16.2; Introduction.

  9.24–34 The blind man’s fearlessness is comparable to Jesus’ own (see 18.19–24; cf. 18.15–18, 25–27).

  9.24 Give glory to God, a command to tell the truth (Josh 7.19) but also related to ideas about martyrdom (see 21.19; note on 12.23). This man is a sinner. Cf.v. 16.

  9.29 Where he comes from. See 8.14; note on 7.27–29.

  9
.31 God does not listen to sinners. See Pss 34.15; 66.18; Prov 15.29; Jas 5.16; 1 Jn 3.21–22.

  9.34 Born entirely in sins. Cf. vv. 2–3.

  9.35–41 Cf. 5.14–18.

  9.37 See also 4.26.

  9.38 Worshiped him, i.e., bowed down before him.

  9.39 I came into this world for judgment. See 5.22, 27, 30; cf. 3.17; 8.15–16; 12.47. So that those…become blind. See also 12.39–40; Isa 6.9–10; Isa 35.5–6; 42.6–7, 16–20; Mt 11.25; 19.30.

  9.41 If you were…sin. Cf. vv. 2–3; see also 15.22–24.

  John 10

  Jesus the Good Shepherd

  1“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

  7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

  11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takesa it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

  19Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” 21Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

  Jesus Is Rejected by the Jews

  22At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah,b tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.c 30The Father and I are one.”

  31The Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” 33The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” 34Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law,d ‘I said, you are gods’? 35If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled—36can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. 38But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understande that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

  40He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. 41Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42And many believed in him there.

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  a Other ancient authorities read has taken

  b Or the Christ

  c Other ancient authorities read My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand

  d Other ancient authorities read in the law

  e Other ancient authorities lack and understand; others read and believe

  10.1–21 Jesus is apparently still speaking to the Pharisees (see 9.40).

  10.1–5 This is the closest thing to a parable in the Gospel of John. It seems to present a highly realistic picture of Palestinian sheepherding in ancient times, and it hints at a plotline. The “parable” focuses first on the gate (vv. 1–2) and then on the shepherd (vv. 3–5). For another possible parabolic image, see ch. 15.

  10.1 Sheepfold, an enclosure, often with stone walls, where several shepherds could bring their flocks for safety at night.

  10.3–4 Cf. Num 27.17.

  10.6 They did not understand. Cf. Mt 13.13–15; Mk 4.11–12.

  10.7–18 The explanation, like the “parable” itself, focuses first on Jesus as the gate (vv. 7–10) and then on Jesus as the shepherd (vv. 11–18).

  10.8 Leaders of anti-Roman revolutionary movements, who sometimes made messianic claims (see note on 6.14–15), were occasionally called bandits.

  10.10 I came that they may have life, a characteristic statement of Jesus’ mission as John presents it; see v. 28; see also 3.16–17;4.14; 5.21–29; 6.35; 11.25–26.

  10.11–13 Cf. the good shepherd and the hired hand with OT images of God or the Messiah as good shepherd and Israel’s leaders as bad shepherds (Jer 23.1–6; Ezek 34.1–16, 23–24; see also Isa 40.10–11; Zech 11.4–17). See Jn 21.15–17; Acts 20.28–29.

  10.11 The good shepherd lays down his life. Cf. 1 Sam 17.34–35. On the significance of this expression in John, see note on 15.13.

  10.14–15 On the parallel between God’s relationship to Jesus and Jesus’ relationship to the disciples, see 14.20; 15.9–10; 17.21;20.17.

  10.16 Other sheep, probably the Gentiles; see 7.35; 11.52; 12.20–21, 32. I must bring them. Cf. Ezek 34.11–13. Listen to my voice. See vv. 3–5, 27; 18.37. One shepherd. Cf. Ezek 34.23; 37.24.

  10.17 The Father loves me. See 15.10.

  10.18 No one takes it from me. See note on 8.21–22; see also 15.13; 18.4–8; 19.28–30.

  10.19 On the division among the Jews, see note on 7.12.

  10.20 Demon. See note on 7.20.

  10.21 Open the eyes of the blind, the healing in ch. 9.

  10.22–39 Jesus’ last controversy with “the Jews” in John. As elsewhere, this debate reflects the beliefs of the Christian community in its conflict with the synagogue authorities (see Introduction).

  10.22 The last indication of time was in 7.37. The festival of the Dedication (Hebrew Hanukkah) takes place in December. It commemorates the rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabeus in 164 BCE (1 Macc 4.36–59; see “Jewish Festivals in the Gospel of John,” p. 1820).

  10.23 Portico of Solomon, a covered walkway on the eastern side of the temple area. There were similar porticoes around the other three sides of the Court of the Gentiles, a rectangular area that surrounded the sanctuary itself.

  10.24 If you are the Messiah. See 4.25–26; 7.25–31, 40–44; 9.22;11.27; 12.34.

  10.25 I have told you. Jesus has not explicitly told the Jews that he is the Messiah (though see 4.26; see also 8.25, text note d). He has, h
owever, spoken of the works that attest his identity (5.36). You do not believe. See 6.36.

  10.27 Hear my voice. See vv. 3–4, 16; 18.37.

  10.29 On those given by the Father, see note on 6.35–40; 6.44–45; 17.2, 6, 9, 12.

  10.30 The Father and I are one. See v. 38; see also 1.1; note on 14.10. On the other hand, 14.28; 20.17 suggest the Father’s superiority to Jesus.

  10.31 See 8.59; note on 7.30.

  10.32 Many good works from the Father. See v. 25; see also 4.34; 5.20; 9.4.

  10.33 In the other Gospels the accusation of blasphemy against Jesus appears at his trial (e.g., Mk 14.64). Making yourself God. See 5.18.

  10.34 Jesus quotes Ps 82.6. Law, used loosely for the Jewish scriptures in general; also in 12.34; 15.25.

  10.36 Sanctified. See 17.17–19.

  10.37 The works of my Father. See notes on 10.25; 10.32.

  10.38 On works and belief, see 14.10–11, which also speaks of Jesus being in the Father and vice versa, as do 14.20; 17.21.

  10.39 See note on 7.30; 7.44.

  10.40–42 Jesus withdraws, as in 7.1; 8.59; 11.54; 12.36.

  10.40 Where John had been baptizing earlier, i.e., Bethany across the Jordan (1.28), not John’s later location at Aenon (3.23).

  10.41 Everything that John said. See 1.19–34; 3.27–30.

  John 11

  The Death of Lazarus

  1Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,a “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarusb was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.