Bible in 90 Days
20 So this is what they did to catch Jesus. They sent people to ask him difficult questions. These people pretended to be honest, but they wanted to deceive Jesus. They wanted to make him say something wrong. Then they would take him to the ruler of the city to punish him. 21 So these people went to Jesus. They said, ‘Teacher, everything that you say and everything that you teach is right. We know that. You teach everyone the same true message about what God wants us to do. You do not say something different to an important person to make him happy. 22 So tell us your answer to this question: Should we pay our taxes to the Roman ruler, Caesar? Is it right to give that money to him, or not?’
23 Jesus knew that those men were not really honest. They wanted to make him say the wrong thing. 24 So he said to them, ‘Show me a coin. Tell me, whose picture is on this coin? Whose name is on it?’ 25 The men replied, ‘It is Caesar's picture and Caesar's name.’ Jesus then said to them, ‘So you should give to Caesar the things that belong to him. And give to God the things that belong to God.’
26 So the Jewish leaders could not make Jesus say anything wrong. They were very surprised at his answer to their question. They could not say anything more against him. All the people who were there saw this.
The Sadducees ask Jesus a question
27 Then some of the Sadducees came to see Jesus. The Sadducees do not believe that anyone becomes alive again after they die.
28 They wanted to ask Jesus a question. ‘Teacher,’ they said to him, ‘Moses wrote this in the Bible for us: “A man may die and leave a wife but no children. Then that man's brother must marry the woman. Then their children will be called the children of the brother who died.” 29 But once there were seven brothers. The oldest brother married a woman. Then he died before they had any children. 30 So the second brother married this woman. But he also died without children. 31 Then the third brother married the woman. The same thing happened to all seven brothers. They all died but they had no children. 32 After all this, the woman also died. 33 You teach that one day dead people will become alive again. So, on that day, whose wife will the woman be? She had married all seven of those brothers.’
34 Jesus answered them, ‘Men and women who are alive on earth are the ones who get married. 35 But God has chosen some people to live again with him. He will raise them up after they have died. Those people will not marry. They will not have husbands or wives, 36 and they cannot die any more. This is because they will live as the angels live in heaven. They are children of God. He has made them alive again to live with him. 37 It is true that God makes dead people become alive again. Moses showed us this in his report about the bush in the wilderness. He told us that our Lord God is the God of Abraham. He is the God of Isaac. And he is the God of Jacob.[a] 38 But God is not the God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are alive. For God, all people continue to be alive.’
39 Some of the teachers of God's Law agreed with Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘that was a very good answer.’ 40 After that, they were all afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.
The Messiah is someone that King David calls his Lord
41 Jesus said to them, ‘Why do people say that the Messiah will be King David's son? 42 David himself said this in the book called Psalms:[b]
“The Lord God said to my Lord,
Sit at my right side until I win against your enemies.
43 Then you will be able to put your feet on them.”
44 You see here that David calls the Messiah his Lord. So can you really say that the Messiah is David's son?’
Jesus speaks against the teachers of God's Law
45 All the people were listening to Jesus. Jesus then said to his disciples, 46 ‘Be careful not to do the same as the teachers of God's Law. They want people to think that they are important. So they walk about in beautiful long clothes. They like people to praise them in the market place. They choose to sit in the best seats in the meeting place. They like to sit in the most important places at special meals. 47 They take things away from women after their husbands have died, even their houses. Then they pray for a long time so that other people will praise them. Because they do these things, God will punish those men much more than other people.’
Jesus talks about people who give things to God
21 Then Jesus looked up and saw something that was happening in the temple. There was a box for money there. Many rich people were putting their gifts of money into the box.
2 Then he saw a woman coming there. Her husband had died and she was very poor. She put two small coins that had only a little value into the box. 3 ‘Let me tell you this,’ Jesus said. ‘This poor woman has put a better gift into the box than all the other people have put in there. 4 All those rich people have plenty of money. They only gave a small part of that. But this woman has almost nothing. She put everything that she had into the box. That money was what she needed to live.’
Jesus talks about things that will happen
5 Some of Jesus' disciples were talking about the temple. They spoke about the many beautiful stones in the walls. They also spoke about the many gifts to God that people had put there. 6 Jesus said to them, ‘You can see all these beautiful things now. But a day is coming when enemies will completely destroy it all. Not even one stone will remain on top of another stone.’
7 ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘When will all these things happen? What will show us that they will soon happen?’
8 Jesus replied. ‘Be careful! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe them. Many people will say that they have come on my behalf. They will say, “I am the Messiah.” They will say, “Now is the time!” Do not agree with those people. 9 You will hear about wars and people fighting each other. Do not be afraid. Those things must happen first, but the end of everything will not happen immediately.’
10 Jesus then said to them, ‘People from one country will attack the people from another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies. 11 The ground will shake, so that people will be afraid. In many different places, people will be hungry, with no food. Diseases will go from one person to another. Many people will die. Things will also happen in the sky that will frighten people.
12 But before all those things happen, people will take hold of you. They will do bad things to you and give you pain. They will take you to the leaders in their meeting places and they will keep you in prisons. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples. 13 This will be the time to tell them the good news about me. 14 So prepare your minds. You must decide not to think about how to answer the questions of kings and rulers. Wait until that time comes. 15 I will give you the right words to speak at that time. I will help you to be wise. The people who are against you will not be able to argue with you. They will just be quiet. 16 Even your parents and other people in your family will take hold of you. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. They will even kill some of you. 17 Everybody will hate you because you are my disciples. 18 But your life will be safe with me. You will not lose even one hair from your head. 19 Yes, you will have true life, if you remain strong.
20 One day you will see Jerusalem with armies all around it. Then you will know that enemies will soon destroy that city. 21 People in Judea must then run away to the hills to hide. People that are inside the city must leave it. People that are outside in the fields must not go back into the city. 22 This is when God will punish Israel's people. Then all the things will happen that his servants wrote about in the Bible. 23 That will be a very bad time for women who are soon to have a baby! It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies! Yes, very bad things will happen to all the people of this country. God will be very angry with the people who live here. 24 At that time, enemies will fight God's people and kill many of them in war. They will take some of them away as prisoners to live in all the other countries. They will not be free to return home. People that are not Jews will destroy Jerusalem. They will rule here until it is time for them to stop.’[c]
25 ‘You will see strange things happen to the sun and to the moon and to the stars. Down on earth, things that happen will make people in many countries very afraid. The sea will move up and down and make a lot of noise. There will be great storms. 26 These things will frighten people because they do not understand them. The powerful things in the sky will shake. People will be very afraid about what will happen next in the world. They will become very weak and fall to the ground. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man. He will come in a cloud. He will have great power and bright glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, stand up. And look up, because God will then save you very soon.’
29 Then Jesus told them a story to explain this future time. He said, ‘Think about fig trees and other trees as well. 30 When you see new leaves on a tree, you know that summer will come soon. Nobody needs to tell you that. 31 In the same way, you will see these strange things happening. Then you will know that God will soon begin to rule in his kingdom.
32 I tell you this: The people who are alive now will not all die until all these things happen. 33 One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.
34 But be careful, and watch how you live. Do not eat or drink too much. Do not waste your time like that. Do not waste time by having troubles in your mind about your life. If you do, that day will surprise you. It will come when you are not looking. 35 It will surprise everyone who lives on all the earth. 36 So watch all the time! Continue to pray that you will be strong. Then you will be safe through all these things! You will stand in front of the Son of Man and you will not be afraid.’
37 Every day Jesus was teaching people in the temple. Each night he went out of the city and he stayed on the hill that is called the Mount of Olives. 38 Each morning he returned to the temple. All the people were going there early in the morning to hear him.
Judas agrees to catch Jesus
22 The Passover festival when the Jews eat flat bread was coming soon.[d]
2 The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law wanted to kill Jesus. They were talking together about how they could do this. It was difficult because they were afraid of the people.
3 Then Satan began to live inside Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. 4 He went to the leaders of the priests and he talked with them. The police that worked at the temple were also there. Judas told them how he could give Jesus to them secretly. 5 They were very happy and they promised to give him some money to do this. 6 So Judas said that he would do it. Then he waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus. He wanted to do it when the crowd was not there with Jesus.
Jesus eats his last meal with his apostles
7 The day came for Jewish people to eat the meal of flat bread which has no yeast in it. They had to kill a young sheep for the Passover meal on that day. 8 So Jesus said to Peter and John, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us to eat. Then we can all come and eat it.’ 9 They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the meal?’
10 Jesus replied, ‘Listen. When you go into the city, a man will meet you. He will be carrying a jar of water. Follow him until he goes into a house. 11 You must then say to the master of that house, “Our Teacher sends this message to you: ‘Where is the room for visitors? I will eat the Passover meal there with my disciples.’ ” 12 The man will then show you a large room upstairs. It will have all that you need in it. Prepare the Passover meal there for us all.’
13 So Peter and John went into the city. They found everything that Jesus had told them about. So they prepared the Passover meal.
14 When it was time to eat the meal, Jesus arrived. He sat down with his apostles to eat it. 15 He said to them, ‘I have wanted very much to eat this Passover meal with you. It has to happen before I die. 16 I tell you this: I will not eat another Passover meal in this world. Now it is a picture. But when God begins to rule in his kingdom, then this meal will become real. I will eat it again then.’
17 Then Jesus took a cup and he thanked God for the wine. ‘Take this cup,’ he said to them. ‘Each of you drink some wine from it. 18 I tell you this. I will not drink wine again until God begins to rule in his kingdom.’
19 Then he took a loaf of bread and he thanked God for it. He broke the bread into pieces and he gave some of it to each of them. He said, ‘This is my body. I am giving it to save you. When you eat this meal from now on, remember me.’[e]
20 After supper, Jesus took a cup of wine and did the same thing. He said to the disciples, ‘This cup shows the new promise that God makes because of my death. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. I will do that for you. 21 But look! The person who will give me to the rulers is sitting at the table with me. He is eating the same food as I am. 22 The Son of Man must die in the way that God says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies.’
23 The 12 apostles asked each other, ‘Who is the man that would do this thing?’
Jesus tells who is most important
24 Then the apostles began to argue among themselves. They were arguing about which of them seemed to be the most important. 25 Jesus said to them, ‘Kings of other countries use great authority over their people. Leaders of those countries want people to say good things about them. 26 You must not be like that. The most important person among you must become like the least important person. The person who is your leader must become like your servant. 27 Tell me, which person is the more important one? Is it the person who sits at the table to eat? Or is it the servant that puts out the meal for him? Yes, it is the person who sits at the table. But I am here to be your servant.
28 You have never left me. You have been by my side when trouble came to me. 29 So now I tell you that you will rule with me. My Father has said that I will rule with him in his kingdom. I also say to you that you will rule with me. 30 In my kingdom you will sit at my table. You will eat and drink with me. You will sit like kings on thrones. You will judge the people of the 12 tribes of Israel.’
Jesus tells Peter what will happen
31 Jesus then said, ‘Simon, Simon, be careful to listen to me! Satan has asked to have authority over you all. He will shake you as a farmer shakes seeds.[f] 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that you will continue to believe in me. And this is what you must do: When you have turned back to me, you must help your brothers to be strong again.’
33 But Simon replied, ‘Master, I am ready to go to prison with you. I am even ready to die with you!’ 34 Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you this, Peter. Very soon, you will say that you do not know me. You will say that three times before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning.’
35 Jesus then asked the disciples, ‘When I sent you out without a purse, a bag or shoes, did you need anything?’ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘nothing.’
36 ‘Now it is different,’ he said. ‘If you have a purse or bag, you should take it with you. If you do not have a sword, sell your coat. Use the money to buy one. 37 I tell you this: Long ago people wrote in the Bible what must happen to me. It says, “People will think that he is a wicked person.” And this must happen to me soon, so that it becomes true.’
38 The disciples said, ‘Look, Master, we have two swords here.’ Jesus replied, ‘That is enough.’[g]
Jesus prays on the Mount of Olives
39 Jesus left the city. He went to the Mount of Olives. This is what he usually did. His disciples went with him. 40 When they arrived there he said to them, ‘Ask God to help you, so that you do not want to do wrong things.’
41 Then he went away from them about as far as you can throw a stone. He went down on his knees and he prayed, 42 ‘Father, if you want, you can save me from this time of great pain. But I do not ask you to do what I want. Do what you want to do.’
43 Then an angel came to him from heaven. The angel made him stronger. 44 Jesus began to have troubles in his mind. He prayed again even more strongly. His sweat became like blood and it fell to the ground.[h]
45 Then Jesus finished praying and he stood up again. He returned to the disciples. He saw that they were sleeping. They were very weak and tired because they were so sad. 46 ‘You should not be sleeping,’ he said. ‘Get up and pray! Ask God to help you, so that you do not want to do wrong things.’
The soldiers catch Jesus
47 While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd of people came towards him. Judas led the crowd to that place. He was one of the 12 apostles. He came near to Jesus to kiss him. 48 Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, why do you want to kiss me, the Son of Man? You are helping my enemies to take hold of me!’
49 The people near to Jesus saw what was happening. They asked him, ‘Lord, should we use our swords to fight?’ 50 One of them hit the servant of the leader of the priests. He cut off the servant's right ear. 51 ‘That is enough!’ Jesus said. He then touched the man's ear and made him well again.
52 Then Jesus spoke to the people that had come to take hold of him. They were the leaders of the priests, and the leaders of the police in the temple. Other important Jews were also there. He said to them, ‘You have come here with swords and heavy sticks. Do you really think that I am leading people to fight against our country's rulers? 53 No! But I was with you every day in the yard of the temple. You did not try to take hold of me then. But now really is the time and the place for you to work. Now it is a bad dark time, when the Devil has authority.’
Peter says that he does not know Jesus
54 Then they took hold of Jesus. They took him away and they brought him to the house of the leader of the priests. Peter was following them, but he did not go near Jesus. 55 People lit a fire in the yard of the house and they sat round it. Peter went and he sat with them. 56 A girl who worked there then saw Peter in the light from the fire. She looked carefully at him and she said, ‘This man also was a friend of Jesus.’ 57 Peter replied, ‘Woman, that is not true! I do not even know him.’
58 After a short time, someone else looked at him. ‘You also are one of their group,’ he said. Peter replied, ‘Man, I am not one of them.’
59 After about an hour, another man said, ‘I am sure that this man was a friend of Jesus. He also is from Galilee.’ 60 Peter replied, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’ While Peter was still speaking, a cockerel sang loudly. 61 Then the Lord Jesus turned round and he looked at Peter. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: ‘You will say tonight that you do not know me. You will say it three times before the cockerel sings in the morning.’
62 Then Peter went out of the yard and he wept a lot.
The soldiers laugh at Jesus and they hit him
63 The men that were holding Jesus were laughing at him. They hit him many times. 64 They covered his eyes with a cloth and they said to him, ‘Show us that you are a prophet. Tell us who hit you!’ 65 And they said many other bad things against him.
The Jewish leaders ask Jesus questions
66 When it became day, the Jewish leaders met together. The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law were at the meeting. Then other men brought Jesus to stand in front of them. 67 They asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah? If you are, tell us.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do tell you, you will not believe me. 68 I could also ask you a question. But if I do that, you will not answer me. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be sitting in the most important place. He will be sitting at the right side of the Most Powerful God.’
70 ‘So, are you the Son of God?’ they all said. Jesus replied, ‘You say that I am.’
71 Then they said, ‘We do not need anyone else to speak against this man. We ourselves have heard what he has said about himself.’
Pilate asks Jesus questions
23 All the people at the meeting stood up to leave. They took Jesus to stand in front of Pilate.[i] 2 Then they all started to tell Pilate that Jesus had done bad things. They said, ‘We found this man when he was telling our people wrong things. He said that we must not pay taxes to the Roman government. He also said that he himself is the Messiah, that is, a king.’
3 Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘You have said it.’
4 Pilate then said to the leaders of the priests and to all the crowd of people, ‘I cannot find any reason to say that this man is guilty.’ 5 But they continued to speak strongly to him. They said, ‘He makes the people angry and ready to fight against the government. He has taught these bad things everywhere in Judea. He started in Galilee and now he has come to Jerusalem.’
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked if Jesus came from Galilee. 7 He discovered that he was from the country where Herod ruled. So Pilate sent Jesus to stand in front of Herod. Herod was also in Jerusalem at that time.[j]
Herod asks Jesus questions
8 Herod was very happy to see Jesus. He had heard about him and he had wanted to meet him for a long time. He wanted to see Jesus do something to show God's power. 9 He asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus did not answer any of them. 10 The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law stood there. They were shouting out that Jesus had done many bad things. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers started to laugh at Jesus. They were saying things to make him feel bad. They put a beautiful coat on him. Then they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That same day, Herod and Pilate became friends. Until then, they had not liked each other.
Pilate and the Jewish leaders argue about Jesus
13 Pilate then told the leaders of the priests, the leaders of the Jews and the people to come back to him. 14 He said to them, ‘You brought this man to me. You said that he was causing the people to fight against their rulers. Listen! I have asked him some questions in front of you. But I have not found that he has done anything wrong. 15 Herod also did not find that he had done anything wrong. That is why he has sent him back to me. You can see this. He has not done anything bad that means he ought to die. 16 So I will just punish him. I will command a soldier to hit him with whips. Then I will let him go.’
17 [Pilate usually let one person go free out of the prison at Passover time.][k]
18 But the crowd all shouted together, ‘Take this man away and kill him! We want Barabbas to go free.’
19 Barabbas had fought against the Roman rulers in Jerusalem. He had also killed somebody. That is why the rulers had put him in prison. 20 But Pilate still wanted to let Jesus go. So he spoke to the crowd again. 21 But they continued to shout. They were shouting, ‘Kill him on a cross, kill him on a cross.’[l]
22 Pilate asked them the same question for the third time. ‘Why should I kill him? What wrong things has he done? You want me to say that he should die. But I have not found anything wrong that would cause me to say that. So I will punish him. I will command my soldiers to hit him with a whip. Then I will let him go.’
23 But they continued to shout at Pilate, ‘Kill him on a cross.’ They continued to shout very much. So, in the end, 24 Pilate did what they wanted. 25 They had asked Pilate to let Barabbas go free out of the prison. He was the man that had caused the Jewish people to fight against the Roman rulers. He had also killed somebody. He was the man that Pilate let go free. As for Jesus, Pilate commanded the soldiers to take him away. He let the people do to him what they wanted.
They kill Jesus on a cross
26 So the soldiers took Jesus away, to go to the place where they would kill him. On the way, they took hold of a man called Simon. This man was from the town of Cyrene. He was coming in from outside the city. The soldiers took the cross that Jesus was carrying on his shoulders. They made Simon carry it instead as he walked behind Jesus.
27 A very large crowd of people were following Jesus. There were many women among them. They were crying with loud voices. They were weeping and crying because they were very sad. 28 So Jesus turned round and he said to them, ‘You women that live in Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Instead, cry for yourselves and for your children. 29 Listen! Days will come when people will say, “It is better for those women that could not have babies. Those women that never had babies to feed are the happy ones!” 30 People will begin to say, “It would be better if we were dead.” They will ask the mountains to fall on top of them. They will ask the hills to cover them up. 31 There is much trouble and pain now. But much worse things will happen! Now the fire burns slowly. But soon it will be like a fire that quickly burns dry wood!’[m]
32 The soldiers also took two other men out of the prison. These men had done bad things. The soldiers would kill them and Jesus together. 33 They took them to the place that is called ‘The Skull’. There they fixed Jesus to a cross to die. They also fixed the two bad men to crosses. One of these men was on the right side of Jesus. The other was on his left side.
34 Jesus said, ‘Father, these people do not know what they are doing. So please forgive them.’
The soldiers then picked up Jesus' clothes for themselves. They played a game to decide who would receive each piece of his clothes. 35 The people stood there and they were watching. The Jewish leaders were laughing at Jesus. They said, ‘He saved other people, did he? Then he should save his own life! Then we will know that he is really the Messiah, the man that God has chosen.’
36 The soldiers also laughed at him. They came up to him and they offered him cheap wine to drink. 37 They said, ‘If you are really the King of the Jews, save your own life.’
38 There was also a notice fixed at the top of the cross. It said, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
39 One of the bad men on a cross at the side of Jesus started to insult him. He shouted, ‘You say that you are the Messiah, don't you? Then save your own life and save our lives too!’
40 But the bad man on the other cross told him that he should be quiet. He said, ‘You should be more afraid of God. We will die here, as well as him. 41 We two men have done very bad things. So it is right that we should die. But this man has not done anything wrong.’ 42 Then the man said to Jesus, ‘Remember me, Jesus, when you start to rule in your kingdom.’ 43 Jesus replied, ‘I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.’
Jesus dies
44 It was now about midday. The whole country became dark for three hours. 45 The sun did not give any light. Then the curtain inside the temple tore into two parts. 46 Then Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Father, I give my spirit to you.’ After he shouted this, he died.
47 There was a captain of the soldiers there. When he saw what had happened, he praised God. He said. ‘I am sure that this man had not done anything wrong.’
48 A very big crowd had come together to watch the men die. They saw what had happened. Then they began to go home. They were very sad, and they were hitting their own bodies with their hands. 49 The friends of Jesus were there. The women that had come with him from Galilee were also there. They were all standing a long way away. They also saw what happened to him.
Joseph buries Jesus
50 A man called Joseph was also there. He was one of a special group of important Jewish leaders.[n] He was a good man that wanted to do right things. 51 He was from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He had not agreed with the other leaders that Jesus should die. He was waiting for God to begin to rule his people in his kingdom.
52 So Joseph went to see Pilate. He asked Pilate for the dead body of Jesus. Pilate agreed to this. 53 Joseph then went to the place where Jesus died. He took the dead body down from the cross. He put a piece of linen cloth around the body. Then he put the body into a large hole in the rock. People had made that hole to put dead bodies in, but it was the first time that anyone had used it.[o]
54 This all happened on the day before the Jewish day of rest. It was nearly time for the Jewish day of rest to begin.[p]
Jesus becomes alive again
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph. They saw the place where the hole in the rock was. They also saw Joseph put Jesus' body into the empty hole. 56 Then they returned to the house where they were staying in Jerusalem. They prepared spices and oil that had a beautiful smell. On the Jewish day of rest they obeyed God's Law and they did not work.
24 Very early on the first day of the week, they went to the place where Joseph had put Jesus' dead body. They took with them the spices that they had prepared. 2 They arrived there. They found that someone had rolled the big stone away from the hole. 3 They went inside the hole in the rock, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus there. 4 They did not understand this at all. But while they were thinking about it, two men appeared. Their clothes shone brightly like lightning. These men came and stood beside them. 5 So the women became very afraid and they went down low with their faces on the ground.
The men said to the women, ‘This is a place to bury dead people. You should not be looking here for someone who is alive. 6 Jesus is not here. He has become alive again! Remember what he said to you, while he was still with you in Galilee. 7 He said, “It is necessary that someone should give the Son of Man into the power of bad men. They will kill him on a cross. But three days later he will become alive again.” ’
8 Then the women remembered the words that Jesus had said in Galilee. 9 They left the hole where Jesus' body had been. They went to the 11 apostles. They told them what had happened. They also told all the other people who were there. 10 It was Mary from Magdala, Joanna, James' mother Mary, and other women who were with them that told the news about Jesus to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe what the women said. They thought that it was just a silly story. 12 But Peter got up and he ran to the hole in the rock. He bent down and he looked inside. He saw only the pieces of linen cloth that they had put around Jesus' body. There was nothing else. So he went home again. He could not understand what might have happened.
Jesus shows himself to two disciples
13 Later on that same day, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village. The village was called Emmaus. It was about 11 kilometres from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 While they were talking like this, Jesus himself came near to them. He started to walk along with them. 16 They saw him, but for some reason they did not recognize him. 17 Jesus asked them, ‘What are you talking about while you walk along the road?’
They stood still and they seemed sad. 18 One of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘Many things have happened in Jerusalem in the last few days. Are you the only visitor here that does not know about it?’ 19 Jesus asked them, ‘What things have happened?’
They replied, ‘The things that happened to Jesus who was from Nazareth. He was a prophet from God. He did many great things and he spoke powerful messages. God showed that his message was true. All the people believed him. 20 Then the leaders of the priests and our rulers took hold of him. They gave him to the Roman ruler. They said that he had done bad things and that he ought to die. So they killed him by fixing him to a cross. 21 But before that we had hoped that he would save the people of Israel. We hoped that he would make us free again.
There are other things too. Today is the third day since Jesus died. 22 After all this happened, some women in our group surprised us. Early this morning, they went to the place where Joseph had put him. 23 But they did not find his body there. So they returned to us and said, “Some angels appeared to us. They have told us that Jesus is alive.” 24 So some people from our group went to the place where his body had been. They found everything just the same as the women had said. But they did not see Jesus.’
25 Jesus then said to them, ‘How silly you are! You are very slow to believe everything that God's prophets said long ago. 26 You should have known that the Messiah had to die. Only then would he return to heaven and show how great and powerful he is.’ 27 Jesus then began to explain to them what Moses and all God's prophets had taught. He showed them what they wrote in the Bible about himself.
28 Then they came near to the village that the disciples were going to. It seemed that Jesus would continue his journey. 29 But they wanted him to stop there. They said to him, ‘Please stay in our home with us. It is getting late, and it will soon be night.’
So Jesus went into their house to stay with them. 30 He sat down to eat with them. He took the bread and he thanked God for it. He broke it into pieces and he gave some to them. 31 Their eyes became clear and they recognized him. But then he disappeared, and they could no longer see him. 32 They said to each other, ‘When he talked to us, it was like a fire that was burning inside us. We felt it while we were walking along the road. We also felt it when he was explaining God's message in the Bible.’
33 Immediately they got up and they returned to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 apostles and other people who were with them. 34 The people there told the two disciples, ‘It is true! The Lord Jesus is alive again. He has appeared to Simon!’
35 Then the two disciples spoke to the whole group. They told what had happened to them on the road to their village. They told how they recognized Jesus when he broke the bread into pieces in their home.
Jesus appears to the group
36 While they were still speaking like that, Jesus himself stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’
37 But the whole group was very surprised and afraid. They thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38 Jesus said to them, ‘You should not be so afraid. You seem to have trouble in your minds about what you are seeing. 39 Now look at my hands and my feet. It is really me! Touch me. Then you will know that I am not a spirit. A spirit does not have a body with skin and bones. You can see that I have a real body.’
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 This was such good news, they were very happy. But they could still not really believe it. So he asked them, ‘Do you have anything that I could eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of fish that they had cooked. 43 While they were watching, he took it and he ate it.
44 Then he said to them, ‘I told you about these things while I was still with you. Everything that God's servants wrote about me in the Bible had to happen. Moses wrote about me in his book of God's Law. The prophets also wrote about me. The book called Psalms also tells about me. And now it has become true.’
45 Then he helped them to understand God's message in the Bible. 46 He told them, ‘This is what it says there: The Messiah had to die. Then, after three days, he had to rise up and become alive again. 47 People in every country of the world must hear God's message. They must stop doing wrong things and change how they live. When they do this, God will forgive them. He will forgive all the bad things that they have done. People need to tell this message about the Messiah in Jerusalem first, then tell people in other countries. 48 You are the people who have seen what has happened here. You must tell other people about it. 49 Now listen! I will send to you the gift that God my Father has promised to give to you. You must stay here in the city until this happens. Then the power of God will come from heaven and it will cover you.’
Jesus goes up to God in heaven
50 Then Jesus led the group of his disciples out of the city. They all went to a place near the village called Bethany. He held up his hands towards them all. He asked God to be good to them. 51 While he was praying for them like that, he went up away from them. God lifted him up to heaven. 52 The disciples praised Jesus for his great power. Then they returned to Jerusalem and they were all very happy. 53 All the time they were in the temple and they were praising God.
The Word became human
1 In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God. The Word was God.[q] 2 He was with God from the beginning. 3 God made all things through the Word. God did not make anything without him. 4 It is the Word who caused everything to live. Because of this, he has brought light to all people. 5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark cannot put out the light.[r]
6 God sent a man to bring his message. His name was John.[s] 7 He came to tell people about the light. God wanted everyone to believe in the one who is the light. 8 John himself was not that light. God sent him to tell people about the light. 9 The true light gives light to every person. That light was now coming into the world.
10 The Word was now in the world. God had made the world through him. But the people in the world did not know who he was. 11 He came to his own place, but his own people did not accept him. 12 Some people did accept him and they believed in him. He gave authority to those people to become God's children. 13 They did not become God's children in the usual human way. They were not born because some people wanted to have children. They were not born because of what any man decided. No! They were born from God.
14 The Word became a man. He lived among us. We saw his great glory. He has the glory of the Father's one true Son. He is full of God's grace and truth.
15 John told people about the Word. He shouted, ‘This is the man that I told you about. He comes after me. But he is greater than I am. He was already there before I was born.’ 16 The Word is full of everything that we need. We have all received one good thing after another good thing. 17 God gave his Law to us through Moses. But Jesus Christ brought God's grace and his truth to us. 18 Nobody has ever seen God. But God's only Son has shown God to us. He is very near to the Father, and he himself is God.
John the Baptist is not the Messiah
19 The Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John, ‘Who are you?’[t] 20 John did not refuse to answer. He said, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ 21 So they asked him, ‘So who are you? Are you Elijah?’ John said, ‘No, I am not.’ They asked, ‘Are you the Prophet?’ John answered, ‘No.’
22 Then they said, ‘Tell us who you are. We must say something to the people who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ 23 He said, ‘I am the voice of somebody shouting in the wilderness:
“The Lord will come soon.
Make a straight path for him to follow.”
That is what the prophet Isaiah said a long time ago.’[u]
24 The men who came to ask these questions were Pharisees. 25 They said to John, ‘You say that you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet. So why do you baptize people?’ 26 John replied, ‘I baptize people with water. But there is someone here among you that you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me. I am not good enough even to undo his shoes for him.’
28 All these things happened at a place east from the Jordan River. It was a village called Bethany. John was baptizing people there.
29 The next day, John saw Jesus, who was coming towards him. John said, ‘Look! Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of people in the world.[v] 30 This is the man that I told you about. I told you, “He comes after me, but he is greater than I am. He was already there before I was born.” 31 I did not know him. But I had to show Israel's people who he was. That is why I am baptizing people with water.’
32 Then John told them, ‘I saw God's Spirit come down from heaven. He came down like a dove and he stayed on Jesus. 33 I would not have known who Jesus was. But God had sent me to baptize people with water. And God told me, “You will see the Spirit come down. He will stay on someone. That is the person who will baptize people with my Holy Spirit.” 34 Now I have seen this. So I can tell you that this is God's Son.’
Jesus' first disciples
35 John was standing there again the next day, with two of his disciples. 36 He saw Jesus, who was walking past them. John said, ‘Look! Here is the Lamb of God.’ 37 When the two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned round. He saw that they were following him. He asked them, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi (which means “Teacher”), where are you staying?’ 39 Jesus replied, ‘Come with me and you will see.’ So they went with him. They saw where he was staying. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. And they stayed with him that day.
40 Andrew was one of the two disciples who had followed Jesus. They had heard what John had said about Jesus. Andrew was Simon Peter's brother. 41 The first thing that Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon. Andrew said to Simon, ‘We have found the Messiah.’ (‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ’ mean the same.) 42 Then he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and he said, ‘You are Simon, John's son. Your name will be Cephas.’ This name is the same as Peter, which means ‘rock’.
43 The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He met Philip, and Jesus said to Philip, ‘Follow me.’ 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, came from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip went to find Nathanael. He told Nathanael, ‘We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the book of God's Law. The prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus, who is Joseph's son, from Nazareth.’ 46 Nathanael said, ‘I did not think that anything good could come from Nazareth!’ Philip replied, ‘Come and see.’
47 Jesus saw Nathanael, who was coming towards him. Jesus said, ‘Here is a completely honest man. That is what a person from Israel should really be like.’ 48 Nathanael asked, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you before Philip asked you to come. I saw you when you were under the fig tree.’ 49 Nathanael said, ‘Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.’ 50 Jesus said to him, ‘I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. Now you believe me because I told you that. But you will see much greater things than that.’ 51 And Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you this: You will see heaven open. You will see God's angels. They will be going up and they will be coming down on the Son of Man.’[w]
The marriage at Cana
2 Two days after that, there was a marriage party. It was in the town of Cana, in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. 2 People had asked Jesus and his disciples to come to the party too. 3 When people had drunk all the wine, Jesus' mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ 4 Jesus replied, ‘Woman, why do you tell me this? It is not my time yet.’ 5 His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you to do.’
6 There were six big pots there. People had used stone to make them. Each pot could contain about 100 litres of water. The water was there so that the Jews could wash themselves in the way that their special rules taught. 7 Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the pots with water.’ So they filled the pots to the top. 8 Then he said, ‘Now take some of the water from the pots and give it to the master of the party.’ So they did that. 9 The master of the party tasted the water. The water had now become wine! The master did not know where the wine had come from. But the servants who had given it to him knew about it. Then the master asked the new husband to come to him. 10 The master said to him, ‘Everyone else brings out the best wine first. When people have had plenty to drink, then they give people cheaper wine. But you are different. You have kept the best wine until now.’
11 Jesus did this first miracle at Cana, in Galilee. In this way, Jesus showed how great and powerful he was. And his disciples believed in him.
Jesus goes to the temple
12 After this, Jesus went to a town called Capernaum. His mother, his brothers and his disciples went with him. They stayed there for a few days.[x]
13 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. So Jesus went to Jerusalem.[y] 14 He went into the yard of the temple. There he found people who were selling cows, sheep and doves. Other people were sitting at tables to change coins for people. 15 So Jesus made a whip from some pieces of rope. Then he made all the people leave the temple quickly, with the sheep and the cows. He threw onto the ground all the coins of the men who changed money. He turned their tables over. 16 He said to the people who sold birds, ‘Take them out of here! Do not make my Father's house into a market!’ 17 His disciples remembered what it says in the Bible: ‘My love for your house burns inside me like a fire.’[z]
18 Then the Jews asked Jesus, ‘What is your authority to do this? Do a miracle to show us that you really do have authority.’ 19 Jesus answered them, ‘If you destroy this house of God, I will build it up again in three days.’ 20 The Jews replied, ‘People have worked for 46 years to build this house. But you say that you will build it again in three days!’ 21 But the house that Jesus was speaking about was his own body. 22 The disciples remembered this when Jesus had become alive again after his death. They remembered that he had said this. Then they believed what the Bible taught. They also believed the words that Jesus had spoken.
23 While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, he did many miracles.[aa] Many people saw these miracles that showed he was from God. As a result, they believed in Jesus. 24 But Jesus himself did not trust the people. He knew what all people are really like. 25 He did not need anyone to tell him what people are like. He knew already what was really in each person.
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a Pharisee called Nicodemus. He was one of the Jewish leaders. 2 He came to speak with Jesus at night. He said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we know that God has sent you to us. We have seen the miracles that you are doing. Nobody could do these things unless God was with him.’ 3 Jesus replied, ‘I tell you this: Unless a person is born from above, they cannot understand the kingdom of God.’ 4 Nicodemus asked, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot return into his mother's body. He cannot be born a second time.’ 5 Jesus explained, ‘I tell you this: Unless a person is born by water and by God's Spirit, he cannot come into the kingdom of God. 6 People give birth to what is human. But God's Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 I said to you, “You must be born from above.” What I said should not surprise you. 8 When someone is born by God's Spirit, it is like the wind that blows. The wind blows wherever it chooses to blow. You can hear it. But you do not know where it came from or where it is going.’
9 Nicodemus asked, ‘How can this happen?’ 10 Jesus replied, ‘You are an important teacher of people in Israel. You ought to understand these things! 11 I tell you this: We speak about things that we know. We tell you about what we have seen. But even then, you people do not believe our message. 12 I have told you about things that happen in this world. And you do not believe me. But now I am telling you about things that happen in heaven. So I do not think that you will ever believe me about those things. 13 The Son of Man came down from heaven. Nobody else has gone up to heaven except him. 14 Long ago Moses lifted up the metal snake in the wilderness to save his people.[ab] In the same way, people must lift up the Son of Man on a cross. 15 As a result, everyone who believes him will be able to live for ever with God. 16 God loved the people in the world so much that he gave his one and only Son to save them. As a result, everyone who believes in the Son will not die. Instead, they will live for ever with God.’
17 God did not send his Son into the world because he wanted to punish people. He sent his Son to save the people in the world from punishment. 18 God will not punish anyone who believes in his Son. But if people refuse to believe in the Son, God has already decided that he must punish them. They have not believed in God's one and only Son. 19 God's Son has brought light into the world. But some people did not love the light. They loved the dark instead. That was because they were doing evil things. That is why God has decided to punish those people. 20 Everyone who does evil things hates the light. A person like that will not come to the light because he is afraid. He does not want the bad things that he has done to show clearly. 21 But anyone who does what is true will come to the light. The light will show clearly that he has been doing what is right. Everyone can see that he has been obeying God.
Jesus and John the Baptist
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the country places in Judea. Jesus stayed there with his disciples for some time, and they baptized people there. 23 John was also baptizing people. He was at a place called Aenon, near Salim, because there was a lot of water there. People were coming to him and John was baptizing them. 24 (This happened before the rulers put John in prison.) 25 John's disciples began to argue with a certain Jew about some Jewish rules. Those rules told people how they should wash properly. 26 The disciples then came to John. They said to him, ‘Teacher, remember the man, Jesus, that you spoke to us about. He was with you on the other side of the Jordan River. Now he is baptizing people and everyone is going to him.’
27 John replied, ‘A man can receive only what God gives to him, nothing else. 28 You yourselves will remember that I said, “I am not the Messiah, but God sent me to prepare things for the Messiah.”[ac] 29 When a man marries a wife, she belongs to him. The man's special friend listens carefully. He wants to know when the man will arrive. That friend is very happy when he hears the man's voice. I am like that friend, so I am completely happy now. 30 Jesus must become greater, but I must become less important.
31 The one who comes from above is greater than all things. A person who comes from the earth belongs to the earth. A person like that speaks only about things that belong to the earth. But the one who comes from heaven is greater than all things. 32 He tells people about the things that he has seen. He tells about what he has heard. But people do not believe his message. 33 Anyone who does believe his message agrees that God is true. 34 The one that God has sent speaks God's words. God has given his Spirit to fill that person completely. 35 The Father loves the Son. He has given his Son authority over all things. 36 Anyone who believes in the Son has life with God for ever. But anyone who refuses to obey the Son will never have life with God. God will continue to be angry with people like that.’
Jesus talks to a woman from Samaria
4 The Pharisees heard the news that many people were joining Jesus' group of disciples. They heard that Jesus was baptizing more disciples than John was baptizing. 2 But really Jesus himself did not baptize anyone. It was only Jesus' disciples who baptized people. 3 Jesus discovered what the Pharisees were thinking, so he left Judea. He returned to Galilee. 4 On his way, he had to go through Samaria.
5 He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near to the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son, Joseph, many years earlier. 6-8 Jacob's well was there. Jesus was tired after his journey and he sat down by the well. It was about midday. His disciples had gone to buy food in the town. A woman from Samaria came to the well to get some water. Jesus said to her, ‘Please give a drink to me.’ 9 The woman from Samaria said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a woman from Samaria. Why would you ask me to give you a drink?’ (The Jews usually do not talk to people who come from Samaria.)[ad]
10 Jesus answered the woman, ‘You do not know what God could give to you. I asked you to give a drink to me. But you do not know who I am. If you did know, you would have asked me to give a drink to you. Then I would have given to you water that gives life.’ 11 The woman said, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where can you get this water that gives life? 12 Jacob, our ancestor, gave this well to us. He, his sons and his sheep, goats and cows all drank its water. Are you saying that you are greater than Jacob?’ 13 Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks water from this well will get thirsty again. 14 But I can give people a different kind of water. Everyone who drinks that kind of water will never get thirsty again. The water that I give them will become like a well inside them. That well will continue to provide water that gives them life for ever with God.’ 15 The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give this water to me. Then I will never get thirsty again. And I will not have to continue to come here so that I can get water.’
16 Jesus said to her, ‘Go and fetch your husband. Then return here.’ 17 The woman replied, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say, “I have no husband.” 18 It is true that you have had five husbands. And now you live with a man who is not your husband. What you have said is completely true.’ 19 The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped God on this mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the right place to worship.’[ae]
21 Jesus said to her, ‘Believe me, woman. Soon you will not worship the Father either on this mountain or at Jerusalem. 22 You people from Samaria do not know the one that you worship. But we Jews do know him, because God's salvation comes from among the Jewish people. 23 But people will soon have a new way to worship the Father. Yes, that time has already come. Those people who really want to worship the Father will worship him in their spirits, in a true way. The Father looks for people who will worship him like that. 24 God is spirit. People who worship him must worship from their spirits in a true way.’
25 The woman said to Jesus, ‘I know that the Messiah will come. He is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ 26 Jesus said to her, ‘I, who am speaking to you, am he.’
The disciples return
27 At this moment, Jesus' disciples returned. They were surprised to see that Jesus was talking to a woman. But none of them asked him, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you talking to her?’ 28 Then the woman left her water pot and she returned to the town. She said to the people there, 29 ‘Come and see a man who has told me everything about myself. He told me all the things that I have ever done! He must be the Messiah!’ 30 So they left the town and they went to find Jesus.
31 While that was happening, the disciples said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, eat something.’ 32 But he said to them, ‘I have food that I can eat. But you do not know about it.’ 33 So the disciples asked each other, ‘Could someone have brought food to him?’ 34 Jesus said to them, ‘My Father has sent me. I must do the things he wants me to do. I must finish the work that he has given to me to do. That is my food. 35 You often say, “It is still four more months until the plants in the farmers' fields will be ready for the harvest.” But I say that you should open your eyes. Look at the fields. The plants are ready for the harvest now. 36 The workers are already bringing in the fruit and their master is paying them. As a result, people are receiving life for ever with God. So the person who plants the seeds will be very happy. And the person who brings in the fruit will also be very happy. Both of them will be happy together. 37 You also say, “One person plants the seeds and another person brings in the fruit.” Now you can see that this is true. 38 I have sent you to bring people to me like a harvest of fruit. You did not do the work to prepare that fruit. Other people did that hard work. Now you have brought in the fruit that they worked for. That makes you happy.’
39 Many of the people who lived in that town in Samaria heard the woman's story. She had said to them, ‘He told me all the things that I have ever done!’ Because of this, they believed in Jesus. 40 So when these people came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them. So he stayed there for two days. 41 Many more people believed in Jesus when they listened to his own words. 42 The people said to the woman, ‘Now we believe in him because we ourselves have heard him. We do not believe only because of what you told us. He really is the man that God has sent to save the world. We know that now.’
Jesus makes an officer's son well
43 After those two days in Samaria, Jesus left there and he went to Galilee. 44 Jesus himself had said earlier, ‘When a prophet of God visits his own town, the people there will not accept him.’ 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the people there were happy to see him. They had been in Jerusalem at the Passover festival too. They had seen all the things that Jesus had done there.
46 Jesus visited Cana again. This was the town in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. A certain man who was one of the king's officers was there. This officer had a son who was at his home in Capernaum. His son was very ill. 47 The officer had heard the news that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea. So he went to Jesus and asked him to go to Capernaum. His son was dying. So he asked Jesus strongly to make his son well again.
48 Jesus said to him, ‘You people want me to do great miracles that will surprise you. Unless you see these great miracles, none of you will ever believe my message.’ 49 The king's officer said to Jesus, ‘Sir, come with me now before my child dies.’ 50 Jesus replied, ‘Go home. Your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus had said. He started to go home. 51 While he was on the way, his servants met him. They told him, ‘Your child is now well. He will live.’ 52 He asked them, ‘At what time did he start to get well?’ They told him, ‘It was yesterday afternoon, at one o'clock. Then his body was no longer hot.’ 53 Then the father remembered. He knew it was the time when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So the man and all his family believed in Jesus.
54 This was the second miracle that Jesus did after he returned from Judea to Galilee.
Jesus makes a man able to walk
5 Some time after that, Jesus went to Jerusalem, because it was time for one of the Jewish festivals.
2 There is a pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Its name in the Jewish language is Bethesda. Round the pool, there is a building with five places that have a roof over them. 3 A large number of sick people were lying in these places. Some of them were blind. Some of them could not walk properly. Some of them could not move their legs or their arms. [[af] They were waiting for when the water started to move. 4 An angel would go down into the pool at certain times and move the water about. When that happened, all the sick people tried to get into the pool. The first person who got into the water became well, whatever his illness was.]
5 One man who was lying there had been ill for 38 years. 6 Jesus saw this man. He knew that the man had been ill like this for a very long time. So he asked the man, ‘Do you want to get well?’ 7 The sick man said, ‘Sir, I do not have anyone who will help me. I need somebody who will put me into the pool. When the water starts to move, I try to get in. But someone else always gets in before me.’ 8 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ 9 The man became well immediately. He picked up his mat and he walked.
The day when this happened was a Jewish day of rest.[ag] 10 Because of this, the Jewish leaders spoke to the man that Jesus had made well. They said to him, ‘You must not carry your mat on our day of rest. You are not obeying the rules.’ 11 The man replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.” ’ 12 So they asked him, ‘Who is this man? Who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ 13 The man did not know who had made him well. Jesus had gone away and joined the crowd that was there.
14 Some time after that, Jesus found the man in the temple. Jesus said to him, ‘See, you have become well. Stop doing wrong things. If you do not stop, something worse may happen to you.’ 15 Then the man went to the Jewish leaders. He told them that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 The Jewish leaders were angry because Jesus had made a man well on their day of rest.[ah] As a result, they began to cause a lot of trouble for Jesus. 17 But Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is still working, and I too must work.’ 18 Because Jesus said this, the Jewish leaders became really angry. They wanted even more to kill him. Jesus not only worked on the day of rest. He was also calling God his own Father, so he was making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: The Son can do nothing by himself. He sees what the Father does, and he can do only those same things. What the Father does, the Son also does. 20 The Father loves the Son. He shows the Son all the things that he himself does. And the Father will show the Son even greater things to do than these. Those greater things will surprise you even more than what you have already seen. 21 The Father raises dead people to make them alive again. In the same way, the Son gives life to whoever he chooses. 22 More than that, the Father does not judge anyone. He has given authority to the Son, so that the Son will judge all people. 23 Then all people will respect the Son as a great person. They will respect him in the way that they respect the Father. The Father sent the Son. So if people refuse to respect the Son, it shows that they do not respect the Father either.
24 I tell you this: Everyone who hears my message should believe in the Father who sent me. If they believe in me, they will have life for ever with God. God will not say that they are guilty. They are no longer under the power of death. Instead, they have life with God.
25 I tell you this: A time will soon come when those who are dead in their spirits will hear the voice of the Son of God. Yes, it is that time already. Those people who hear that message will receive true life. 26 The Father himself can give people life. In the same way, he has given authority to the Son to give people life. 27 The Father has also given authority to the Son to judge people. That is because I am the Son of Man. 28 Do not be surprised by this. There will be a time when all the dead people will hear the Son's voice. 29 They will come out from under the ground. Those people who have done good things will rise from death and they will live with God. Those people who have done evil things will also rise from death. But they will rise so that God can punish them as guilty people.’
The Father shows who Jesus really is
30 Then Jesus said, ‘I can do nothing by myself. I hear what the Father says to me. Then, because of what he says, I judge people. So I judge in a way that is fair. I am not trying to do what I want for myself. The Father sent me, and I want to do what he wants. 31 If I say great things about myself, nobody would know that my words are true. 32 But there is someone else who speaks about me. I know that what he says about me is true. 33 You have sent your people to ask John about me. What he has told you about me is true. 34 I do not need any man to speak on my behalf. But I am telling you this to help you. Then God will be able to save you. 35 John was like a light that shone brightly. For a certain time, you enjoyed the light that he gave.
36 But it is not only John who shows who I am. There are other things that show it more strongly. My Father has given work to me so that I could finish it. These are the things that I do, and they show who I am. They show clearly that the Father has sent me. 37 Also, the Father himself has spoken about me. You have never heard his voice. And you have never seen his shape. 38 I am the one that he has sent. You do not receive his message because you do not believe in me. 39 You study carefully what the Bible teaches. You think that those books will give you life with God. And it is true, those books do speak about who I am. 40 But then you refuse to come to me so that you may have life with God!
41 I do not think that it is important for people to praise me. 42 But I know what kind of people you are. I know that you do not really love God. 43 I have come with my Father's authority, but you do not accept me. But if someone else comes with his own authority, then you will accept him. 44 You like to praise each other. That makes you happy. But what about God himself? You do not try to do good things so that he will praise you. That is why you will never believe in me.
45 But I will not have to tell the Father that you are guilty. No, it is Moses who will do that. You think that Moses is the one who will show that you are right. But he is the one who will show that you are guilty. 46 Moses wrote about me. So, if you had really believed Moses, you would believe me. 47 But you do not believe what Moses wrote.[ai] So you will never believe what I say.’
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