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

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew's and Peter's home town. [Note: This town was on the northwest shore of Lake Galilee, a few miles from Capernaum].

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].

Then on the third day [i.e., since Jesus' conversation with Nathaniel. See 1:47], a wedding took place in Cana in Galilee. [Note: This was a small town near Nazareth]. Jesus' mother was there

After this incident, Jesus, His mother, His [half-] brothers and His disciples went down to Capernaum [i.e., located on the north shore of Lake Galilee] and stayed there a few days.

And no one has gone up to heaven except the One who has come down from heaven, [even] the Son of man. {{Most translations do not contain the added words "who is in heaven"}}.

So, He arrived at the Samaritan town called Sychar, which was near the piece of property that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

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

(Now Jesus' disciples had gone away to town to buy some food).

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?"

So, the woman left her water jar and went back into town and told the people [there],

[So], the people went out from the town and came to where Jesus was.

I sent you [disciples] to harvest [a crop] that you did not work on; other people have done the work and you have reaped the results of their work." [Note: This is probably an allusion to the preliminary work of preaching done by John, the Immerser, with results occurring under the preaching of the apostles].

So, when He got to Galilee, the people there welcomed Him, for they had also gone to the [Passover] Festival in Jerusalem and had seen everything He had done there during the festival.

When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Him and begged Him to come down [to Capernaum] and heal his son who was about to die.

The government official replied, "Sir, [please] come down [to Capernaum] before my child dies."

For an angel of the Lord came down to the pool [from heaven] at certain times and stirred up the water. Then the first person to enter the pool after the water became choppy was healed from whatever disease he had."}}

The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I do not have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but [just] when I am about to enter [it] someone else goes down [into the water] before me."

and they will come out [i.e., in the general resurrection on the last day]. Those who had done what was good will be raised [from the dead] to [never ending] life; and those who had done what was evil will be raised [from the dead] to judgment [i.e., to be condemned].

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?"

Then when evening came, His disciples went down to the lake

(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).

For the bread God gives is the One [see verse 35] who comes down from heaven, and [He] gives [spiritual] life to the world."

For I have come down from heaven to do what God, who sent me, wants me to do, not what I want to do.

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'?"

[But] this is the bread that has come down from heaven [i.e., Jesus is referring to Himself], so that a person who eats of it [i.e., believes in Jesus] will not die [spiritually].

I am the living bread who came down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. Yes, and the bread that I will give [him] is my physical body, [so] that the world can have [never ending] life."

This is the bread that came down from heaven [i.e., Jesus is referring to Himself]. [It is] not like [the bread] our forefathers ate and [then] died. The person who eats this bread will live forever."

But many people in the crowd believed in Him, saying, "When the Messiah does come, will he perform more [miraculous] signs than this man has done?"

Does not Scripture say [Micah 5:2] that the Christ will come as the descendant of King David, and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"

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.

Now in the law, Moses required us to stone such people [to death], so what do you say [should be done with her]?"

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.

Then He stooped down again and wrote [something else] on the ground.

Now a certain man named Lazarus, from Bethany, became sick. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. [See 11:18].

Then Thomas, which means, "The Twin," said to his fellow disciples, "Let us go too, so we can die with Him." [i.e., by being stoned to death with Jesus. See 11:8].

So, when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went [out to the edge of town. See verse 30] to meet Him, but Mary [just] sat at home [i.e., probably grief-stricken].

(Now Jesus had not yet arrived in town, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him [i.e., probably on the road near the edge of town]).

So, when Mary arrived at where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet and said, "Lord, if [only] you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When many of Mary's Jewish friends, who had come to console her, saw what Jesus had done, they believed in Him.

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

So, Jesus stopped traveling publicly among the Jews [in Judea], but left there and went to a district near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, where He remained with His disciples. [Note: Ephraim was a small town about

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but after Jesus received splendor [in heaven], then they remembered that these things had been written about Him [in Scripture] and that people had done such things to Him.

"God has blinded their eyes [of understanding] and closed their minds. If He had not done so, they would [be able to] see with their eyes and understand with their minds and turn [to God] so He could heal them [spiritually]."

So, after Jesus had washed His disciples' feet and put His [outer] clothing back on, He reclined again [at the dinner table] and said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you?

For I have set an example for you, so that you should do as I have done for you.

If you remain in [fellowship with] me and my teaching remains in your hearts, [you can] ask for whatever you want, and it will be done for you.

"Just as the Father has loved me, [so] I have also loved you. You should continue to receive [or, respond to] my love. [Note: The next verse tells how this can be done].

If I had not performed the [miraculous] deeds among them which no one else had done, they would not be guilty of sinning. But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.

Now when Jesus had said to them, "I am [He]," they [all] moved backward and fell to the ground. [Note: This appears to have been done by some miraculous power].

Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own people and the leading priests turned you over to me. What have you done?"

Then when Pilate heard [them say] this, he brought Jesus outside [again] and sat down on the judge's bench at a place called 'The Stone Pavement,' but in the Hebrew language is called 'Gabbatha.'

He stooped down and looked inside [the cave-like tomb] and saw the linen cloths lying there [i.e., these were wrappings used to hold embalming spices against the body], but he did not go in.

but Mary [from Magdala] was standing outside of the cave-like tomb crying. While she was [still] crying she stooped down to look in the tomb,

Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not ascended to the Father yet [Note: Apparently Jesus was discouraging Mary from embracing Him in worship as was done in Matt. 28:9, and thereby causing a delay of when the rest of the disciples would learn of His resurrection], but go to my brothers and tell them [I said] 'I am [about] to ascend to my Father and to your Father, and to my God and your God.'"

But one of the twelve apostles, named Thomas, [and also] called "The Twin," was not with them when Jesus came.

But these [signs] are written down so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that when you believe [this], you will have [never ending] life in His name [i.e., through His person and work].

Simon Peter; Thomas, called "The Twin;" Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee; the sons of Zebedee [i.e., James and John] and two other disciples of Jesus were [all] together [at the lake].

This is the disciple who is giving testimony about these things and has written them down, and we know his testimony is true.

And Jesus did many other things; if every one of them were written down, I do not think the world would hold [all] the books that would be written.