The Word [already] existed in the beginning [of time]. [Note: This is a reference to the preexistence of Jesus. See verse 14]. And the Word was with God and the Word was [what] God [was].

Life existed in Him; and that Life [was what] enlightened mankind [spiritually].

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.

Then he declared openly, without denying it, "I am not the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one]."

So, they asked him [again], "[Then], who are you? We need to take back an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

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]."

So, John gave his testimony, saying, "I have seen the Holy Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and it remained on Him.

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

[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."

and Jesus and His disciples had been invited to it also.

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."

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 when the banquet host tasted the water, which had [now] been turned into wine, he did not know where it had come from. (But the servants who had poured out the water knew [full well]). So, the banquet host called the groom

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].

Now the Jewish Passover Festival was soon [to be held], so Jesus went up to Jerusalem [to attend it].

Then Jesus made a whip out of strands of rope and drove all of the sheep and oxen out of the Temple [area], dumped out the cashiers' money and overturned their tables.

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."

Then Jesus' disciples remembered that it was written [Psa. 69:9], "Enthusiasm for Your [i.e., God's] house [i.e., the Temple] will consume me."

So, the Jews asked Him, "What [miraculous] sign will you show us, since you are doing these things [i.e., disrupting their merchandising activities]?"

Jesus answered them, "[If you] destroy this Temple, I will raise it up in three days."

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.

Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people believed in His name [i.e., in Jesus Himself] when they saw the [miraculous] signs He was doing.

and He did not need anyone to tell Him about mankind, for He Himself knew what was in the hearts of mankind.

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].

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I tell you, a person cannot enter the kingdom of God unless he is born out of water and the Holy Spirit.

The wind blows wherever it wants to, and you can hear the sound of it, without knowing where it came from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born from the Holy Spirit."

Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of the Israelites and [yet] you do not understand these things?

Truly, truly, I tell you, we [i.e., Jesus and His disciples] speak about what we know, and testify about what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony.

If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe [it], how will you believe [it] if I tell you about heavenly things?

For God did not send His Son into the world to be its judge [i.e., to condemn it], but [rather] so that the people of the world could be saved [from condemnation] though Him.

For every person who practices evil things hates the light [of truth] and does not come to it, for fear of having his deeds exposed [as sinful].

But the person who does what is [according to the] truth [i.e., good things] comes to the light so that his deeds may be shown to have been produced by God.

Now John had not yet been thrown into prison.

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].

John replied to them, "A person cannot receive anything, unless it has been given to him from [God in] heaven.

The One who comes from above [i.e., Jesus] ranks over all [others]; but the one who is out of the earth [i.e., of human origin] is [merely] an earthly [being] and he speaks in earthly [ways]. [But] the One who comes from heaven [i.e., Jesus] ranks over all [others].

He testifies concerning what He has seen and heard, but no one accepts His testimony.

He left Judea and returned to Galilee. (Although it was actually His disciples who did the immersing and not Jesus Himself).

[Now to get to Galilee] it required that Jesus travel through Samaria [Note: Samaria was the next country north of Judea].

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

Therefore, the Samaritan woman asked Him, "Why is it that you, being a Jew, would ask a Samaritan woman [like me] for a drink?" (For Jews do not have any fellowship with Samaritans). [Note: The reason for this stemmed from longstanding religious, cultural and ethnic prejudices].

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."

Are you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us this well? He himself and his sons and cattle [all] drank from it."

You [Samaritans] do not [really] know what you worship; we [Jews] know what we worship because salvation is from the Jews [i.e., through Jewish prophets, Jewish Scriptures and a Jewish Messiah].

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 people went out from the town and came to where Jesus was.

Meanwhile Jesus' disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, [have something to] eat."

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]?"

Jesus answered them, "My food is doing what God, who sent me, wants me to, and accomplishing His work.

Are you not [always] saying, 'There are still four months before harvest time comes'? Look, I am telling you [disciples], lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white and ripe for harvest [i.e., people are ready to make a spiritual response].

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."

For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet does not receive honor in his own country. [Note: Jesus' reference here to his "own country" means Judea, while in Matt., Mark and Luke it refers to Nazareth].

Then Jesus returned again to Cana, in Galilee, where He had turned water into wine. There was a government official there whose son was sick at Capernaum [Note: Capernaum was about

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].

Now in Jerusalem there was a pool of water near the Sheep Gate [Note: This was a city gate in the north wall]. It had five porticos [i.e., covered open areas along the outside of the Temple]. In the Hebrew language it was called Bethesda.

Under these porticos a large number of sick, blind, crippled and deformed people were placed {{A few ancient authorities add "to wait for the water [of the pool] to become choppy.

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."}}

And a certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years [Note: He was probably a crippled person].

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."

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 the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

[Then] the man left and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

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.

And He gave His Son authority to carry out judgment [upon mankind] because He is the Son of man [Note: The Greek actually says "a son of man"].

"Do not be surprised at this: The time is coming when all those who are in their graves will hear His voice

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].

"I cannot do anything by my own [authority]. I judge [people] based on what I hear [i.e., from the Father] and my judgment [of them] is just, because I do not look for what I want [to do], but for what He who sent me [i.e., God] wants.

You search through the Scriptures [i.e., the Old Testament], because you think that you will [learn how to] have never ending life by [reading] them. And these Scriptures are what testify concerning me.

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.

Philip answered Him, "Not even two hundred coins' worth of bread would be enough to feed them if everyone ate only a little bit." [Note: The amount here indicated was two hundred days of a farm laborer's pay, or about $14,000 in 1994].

"There is a little boy here who has five [small] loaves of barley bread and two [probably smoked] fish. But what is this amount for [feeding] so many people?"

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."

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.

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, you people are looking for me because you got to eat the loaves of bread and were satisfied and not because you saw [miraculous] signs. [See verse 14].

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?

Our forefathers ate the [supernatural] 'manna' in the desert, as it is written [Neh. 9:15], 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

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.

But I have told you this: You have seen me and yet do not believe [in me].

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

And this is what God, who sent me, wants: That I should not lose any of those persons whom He has given me, but should raise them up [from the dead] on the last day [i.e., the judgment day].

And this is what [else] my Father wants: That every person who sees the Son [i.e., with the eye of faith] and believes in Him should have never ending life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day."

It is written in the prophets [Isa. 54:13], 'And they will all be taught by God.' [So], every person who has heard the Father and learned [from Him] will come to me.

Your forefathers ate the 'manna' in the desert and died.

[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].

Then the Jews [who were assembled in the synagogue. See verse 59] began arguing bitterly with one another, saying, "How can this man give us his physical body to eat?"

So, Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the physical body of the Son of man and drink His blood, you do not have [spiritual] life in yourselves [Note: The references to "body" and "blood" throughout this section allude to taking Jesus' life and teaching into one's heart. See verse 56].

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."

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]?"

Then what if you were to see the Son of man going up [i.e., to heaven] where He was before?