You men go [on] up to the festival, but I am not going up yet [Note: Although "yet" appears in only a few manuscripts, it seems to be the proper idea here], because my time has not yet come. [See verse 6].

So, six days before the Passover Festival [began], Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. He was the man Jesus [had] raised from the dead.

To purify

Now there were six clay water jars there, used by the Jews for ceremonial washings [i.e., for hands, utensils, etc.]. Each one held from

While doing this, they [i.e., the Jews] found out that I had undergone the rites of purification in the Temple. There was no crowd and no commotion. But certain Jews from [the province of] Asia

So, a person should examine himself [first] and then he should eat the bread and drink from the cup.

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a [burnt] heifer's ashes sprinkled on people who had been [ceremonially] defiled, could purify them so as to make them [ceremonially] clean on the outside,

Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinful people [i.e., this is an exhortation to repent of moral and spiritual corruption], and purify your hearts, you double-minded people.

General references

Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. [Note: This was the annual Jewish festival commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses' leadership].

Now the time for the Jewish Passover Festival was getting close.