John gave testimony about Jesus, shouting out, "This person is the one about whom I said, 'He who will come after me ranks above me because He existed before me.'"

No one has ever seen God [i.e., His full splendor], but God, the only conceived [and eventually born Son], who is at the Father's side, has shown us who He is.

He replied, "I am the voice of a man who is calling out in the desert, [urging people to] 'Make the road for the Lord straight,' as Isaiah the prophet said, [Isa. 40:3]."

These things happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River where John was immersing people. [Note: This was a different Bethany from the one just outside of Jerusalem].

On the next day John [the Immerser] saw Jesus approaching him and said, "Look, [there is] the Lamb of God; He [will] take away the sin of the people of the world.

He is the One about whom I said, 'A man will come after me who ranks above me, for He existed before me.'

And I did not recognize Him, but He [i.e., God], who sent me to immerse in water, said to me, 'The one on whom you see the Holy Spirit descending and remaining is the same One who [will] immerse people in the Holy Spirit.'

And when he saw Jesus walking by, he said, "Look, [there is] the Lamb of God!"

Then Jesus turned and saw them following [Him] and said to them, "What are you looking for?" And they answered Him, "Rabbi (which means Teacher), where are you staying?"

Then He said to them, "Come, and you will see." So, they went and saw where He was staying and they stayed with Him that day. It was about ten o'clock in the morning. [Note: Hour designations in this book are being calculated by Roman time, but this would have been

So, Andrew brought Simon Peter to Jesus. [And when] Jesus saw him, He said [to him], "You are Simon, the son of John [Note: Peter's father is called Jonah in Matt. 16:17]; you will be called Cephas (which means Peter [i.e., "a stone." See Matt. 16:18])."

[Then] on the next day He [i.e., Jesus, but some think it refers to Peter or Andrew] decided to travel into Galilee, [and there] He found Philip. Jesus said to Philip, "Become my follower."

[Then] Philip found Nathaniel [i.e., the same as Bartholomew. See Matt. 10:3] and said to him, "We have found Him, the one Moses wrote about in the law; and the prophets [also wrote about Him]. [He is] Jesus from Nazareth, the [step-] son of Joseph."

[As] Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward Him, He said [this] about him, "Look, [there is] a true Israelite, a completely honest man!"

Jesus said to him, "Do you believe [in me just] because I told you, 'I saw you under that fig tree'? You will see [even] greater things than these [happen]."

Then Jesus said to him, "Truly, truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened up and the angels of God going up [from] and coming down on the Son of man" [i.e., probably a reference to angels ministering to Jesus' needs. See Matt. 4:6, 11; Luke 22:43].

Now when they had run out of wine, Jesus' mother said to Him, "They do not have any more wine [left]."

So, Jesus said to her, "[My dear] woman, what do you want me to do [about it]? My time [i.e., to be revealed to people as the Messiah] has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you to do."

Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." So, the servants filled them clear full.

Then He said to them, "Now pour [some of it] out and take it to the banquet host." So, they took some to him,

and said to him, "Everyone sets out the best wine first, and when people have had plenty to drink, he then sets out the poor quality [wine]. But you have kept the best wine until now." [Note: See Barnes Notes and The Gospel of John by Butler for evidence suggesting that this was not intoxicating wine].

He said to those who were selling the pigeons, "Take these things out of here, and quit making my Father's house [i.e., the Temple] a merchandise mart."

But the Jews said, "It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and are you going to rebuild it in three days?"

Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said and they believed the Scriptures and the words Jesus had spoken.

This man went to Jesus one night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we [i.e., speaking of himself and other Jewish leaders] know that you are a Teacher sent from God, for no one could perform these [miraculous] signs that you are doing unless God were with Him."

Jesus said to him, "Truly, truly, I tell you, a person cannot see the kingdom of God [i.e., enter it. See verse 5], unless he is born from above [Note: The words "from above" are also used in verse 31, but in this place they could also mean "again," or "anew" and refer to the source of a person's second birth].

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born [again] after he is [already] old? He cannot enter his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?"

So, do not be surprised that I have said to you, 'You must be born from above." [See note on verse 3].

After this Jesus and His disciples went to the country-[side] of Judea and there they remained and immersed people.

These disciples went to John and said to him, "Rabbi, look, that man who was with you on the east side of the Jordan River [i.e., Jesus], whom you testified about, is immersing people and everyone is going to him." [Note: Actually, it was Jesus' disciples who did the immersing. See 4:2].

You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one] but [rather] that I was sent [by God] ahead of Him.'

Jacob's [spring-fed] well was there so Jesus, tired from His [long] journey, sat down beside the well just as He was [i.e., before doing anything else]. It was about six o'clock in the morning [Note: This would have been

[About then] a Samaritan woman came [to the well] to draw water. Jesus said to her, "[Please] give me a drink."

Jesus answered her, "If you [only] knew the [real] gift of God, and who it is that said to you, '[Please], give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

The woman [then] said to Him, "Sir, you do not have anything to draw [water] with, and the well is deep. Where will you get that living water?

The woman [then] said to Him, "Sir, [please] give me [some of] that water, so that I do not get thirsty [again], or have to come all the way here to draw [water]."

The woman said to Him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus said to her, "You were right when you said, 'I do not have a husband,'

[Then] the woman said to Jesus, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

[Then] the woman said to Jesus, "I know that Messiah is coming ([He is] the One who is called Christ). And when He does come, He will tell us everything."

Just about then Jesus' disciples returned [from town], and were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. [Note: It was not customary for a Jewish male to engage a woman in extended conversation in that day, much less a stranger, and certainly not a Samaritan], yet no one said [to Him], "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking to her?"

But He said to them, "I [already] have food to eat that you do not know about."

So, the disciples said to one another, "No one has brought Him anything to eat [have they]?"

Then many Samaritans from Sychar believed in Jesus because of the testimony of the woman, who said, "He told me everything that I ever did."

When the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Jesus to stay with them, so He remained there for two days.

and they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not just because of what you said, but because we have heard [it] for ourselves and know that this is truly the Savior of the world."

So, Jesus said to him, "None of you people will believe [in me] unless you see [miraculous] signs and wonders, [will you?]."

Jesus said to him, "Go on [home]; your son will live." And the man believed what Jesus said to him and went [home].

Then he asked them what the [exact] time was when his son began to get better. They said to him, "[It was] yesterday at seven o'clock in the morning that the fever left him." [Note: This would have been

So [then], the father realized that it was at that [exact] hour that Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So, he and his entire family believed [in Jesus].

When Jesus saw him lying [there by the pool], and knew that he had been [in that condition] a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to get well?"

[So], Jesus said to him, "Get up; pick up your cot and walk."

So, the Jews said to the man who was healed, "It is not permissible for you to pick up your cot because it is the Sabbath day."

But he replied to them, "The same man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your cot and walk.'"

[Then] they asked him, "Who is this man who said to you, 'Pick up your cot and walk.'?"

Later on Jesus found the man in the Temple, and said to him, "Look, you have been made well; stop sinning or else something worse [i.e., than the handicap you had] will happen to you."

But Jesus said to them, "My Father is continuing to work and I am working."

So, Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son [of God] cannot do anything on His own [i.e., independently of the Father]; but [He does] what He sees His Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does as well.

"Do not think that I will accuse you [of wrongdoing] before the Father; Moses, on whom you have set your hope [i.e., you base your acceptance with God on the promises found in Moses' writings], he is the one who accuses you [i.e., in his writings].

After these things happened Jesus went across to the east side of Lake Galilee, also called Lake Tiberias. [Note: This lake also bore a name honoring the Roman Emperor Tiberias].

Then Jesus went up to a high plateau [Note: This place, northeast of Lake Galilee, is called "The Golan Heights," today] and sat down there with His disciples.

So Jesus, looking up and seeing a large crowd coming to Him, said to Philip [Note: He was one of the apostles, whose home town was at nearby Bethsaida. See 1:44], "Where are we going to buy [enough] bread, so that this crowd can eat?"

Now He said this to test Philip, for He [already] knew what He was going to do.

[Then] one of His disciples, named Andrew, [who was] Simon Peter's brother, said to Him,

And when the people were [all] full, Jesus said to His disciples, "Gather up the broken pieces that are left over so that nothing is wasted."

So, when the people saw the [miraculous] sign that Jesus had performed [i.e., the feeding of the large crowd with such a small amount of food], they said, "Truly, this is the prophet who was to come into the world." [Note: This was probably a reference to the promise made in Deut. 18:15-19].

and got into their boat, and were crossing over [i.e., to the west side of] the lake toward Capernaum. It was dark by now and Jesus had not yet come to them.

But He said to them, "Do not be afraid; it is I."

So, they eagerly took Him into their boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading [i.e., to Capernaum, on the northwest side of the lake].

On the next day the crowd that had stayed on the other [i.e., east] side of the lake realized that there had been only one boat there. They [also] knew that Jesus was not aboard the boat when it left with the disciples in it, but that they had left without Him.

(However, meanwhile, some other [small] boats had come from Tiberias [i.e., a small town on the west side of the lake] near where they had eaten bread after the Lord had given thanks).

So, when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there [i.e., on the east side] they got into the [small] boats and sailed [west] to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

And when they found Him on the other [i.e., west] side, they said to Him, "Rabbi, how did you get here?"

Then the people said to Jesus, "What must we do in order to perform the deeds that God requires?"

And they said to Him, "What kind of a [miraculous] sign will you perform so that we can see it and [then] believe [in] you? What [kind of] deed will you perform?

So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not [really] Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who is [now] giving you the real bread from heaven.

Then they said to Him, "Sir, [please] give us this bread all the time."

So the Jews, [who were assembled in the synagogue. See verse 59] began complaining about Jesus because He had said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus said these things in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

So, when they heard [these things], many of Jesus' disciples said, "This is difficult teaching. Who can listen to it [i.e., and accept it]?"

But Jesus, knowing within Himself that His disciples were complaining about His teaching, said to them, "Does this [teaching] bother you?

Then He said, "This is the reason I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father gives him [the opportunity. See verse 44]."

Therefore, Jesus said to the twelve apostles, "Do you not want to go [with me] either?"

Then Jesus' [half-] brothers said to Him, "You should leave here and go to Judea so your disciples [there] can see the [supernatural] deeds you are performing.

So, Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come [i.e., to be revealed to the world as its Savior], but it is always your time [i.e., they could go to the festival anytime without rousing opposition].

And there was much whispering about Him among the crowds. Some were saying, "He is a good man," [but] others said, "No [he is not], he is [just] deceiving the crowd."

However, no one said anything about Him openly for fear of the Jews.

Some of the people of Jerusalem said [about Jesus], "Is not this person the one they are trying to kill?

As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, He spoke out, and said, "You people [think you] know who I am and where I come from. I have not come on my own authority, but God, who sent me, is true and you do not know Him.

Therefore, Jesus said, "I will be with you for a little while longer, then I will go to the Father who sent me.

Now He said this about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive [See Acts 2:38]. For [at that time] the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet received splendor [in heaven].

When they heard these words some people in the crowd said, "Truly, this man is the prophet." [See note on 1:21].

Others said, "He is the Christ." But [still] others said, "What [do you mean]? The Christ will not come from Galilee, [will he]?

[Now] Nicodemus (being a leading Pharisee, and the one who went to talk to Jesus one night), said to them,

Then early [the next] morning Jesus went into the Temple again. All the people gathered around Him and He sat down and began teaching them.

They said to Jesus, "This woman was caught in the very act of sexual immorality.

They said this to test Him, in order to have a charge to bring against Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote [something] on the ground [i.e., in the dirt] with His finger.

But when they continued asking Him [about the woman], He stood up and said to them, "That person among you who has never sinned should be the first one to throw a stone at her."

And when they heard [what He had said], they [all] left, one at a time, beginning with the oldest men. So, Jesus was left alone with the woman [still standing] there where she was.