John's Story

by Jerry B. Jenkins

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

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

  He said, “He is a prophet.”

  18But 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. 19And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

  20His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but 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.” 22His 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. 23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

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

  25He 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.”

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

  27He 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?”

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

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

  34They 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

  35Jesus 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

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

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

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

  39And 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.”

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

  41Jesus 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. 2But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

  Jesus the Good Shepherd

  7Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All who ever came before Mea are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10The 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. 12But 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. 13The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16And 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. 18No 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.”

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

  21Others 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

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

  25Jesus 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. 26But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.a 27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29My 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. 30I and My Father are one.”

  Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

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

  33The 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.”

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

  The Believers Beyond Jordan

  40And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” 42And 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. 2It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

  4When 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.”

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

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

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

  9Jesus 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. 10But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

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

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

  16Then 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

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

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

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

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

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

  27She 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

  28And 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.” 29As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but wasa in the place where Martha met Him. 31Then 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

  32Then, 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.”

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

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

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

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

  Lazarus Raised from the Dead

  38Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

  Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

  40Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.a And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

  The Plot to Kill Jesus

  45Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

  49And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50nor do you consider that it is expedient for usa that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” 51Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

  53Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. 54Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

  55And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” 57Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.

  The Anointing at Bethany

  12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead,a whom He had raised from the dead. 2There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

  4But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5“Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denariia and given to the poor?” 6This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

  7But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kepta this for the day of My burial. 8For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

  The Plot to Kill Lazarus

  9Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

  The Triumphal Entry

  12The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

  “Hosanna!

  ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’a

  The King of Israel!”

  14Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:15

  “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”a

  16His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

  17Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

  The Fruitful Grain of Wheat

  20Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

  22Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

  23But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a g
rain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

  Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross

  27“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify Your name.”

  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

  29Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

  30Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

  34The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

  35Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.