The guards answered, "No one has ever spoken like this man."

"Does our law pass judgment on a man before first hearing from him and learning what he did?"

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.

So, Jesus stood up [again] and said to her, "[My dear] woman, where are the men? Did not any of them [stay to] condemn you?"

So, Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of man [i.e., to crucify Him], then you will know that I am [the Messiah] and that I do not do anything on my own authority, but I speak [only] those things that the Father has taught me.

But instead, you are trying to kill me, a man who has [only] told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this [kind of thing].

As Jesus was walking along He saw a man [who had been] blind from birth.

His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, did this man sin or was it his parents' [sin] that caused him to be born blind?"

After He had said this, He spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then He put the mud on the man's eyes

and said to him, "[Now] go and wash in the pool of Siloam (which means "sent"). So, the man left and washed [in the pool], and [when he] returned, [he was] able to see.

Then the neighbors, who had seen the man begging previously, said, "Is not this the man who [used to] sit there and beg?"

Other people said, "[Yes], that is him," while [still] others said, "No, [it is not]; he [just] looks like him." The man said, "I am the one, [all right]."

He answered, "That man called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes; then He said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash [yourself].' So, I went and washed and my sight was [miraculously] restored."

Then the people said to the man, "Where is he?" "I do not know," he replied.

[So], they brought the man, who had been blind, to the Pharisees.

Now it was the Sabbath day when Jesus had made the mud and restored the man's sight.

Some of the Pharisees then said, "The man who did this is not from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath day. But other people said, "How could a man who is a sinner do such [miraculous] signs?" And the people were divided among themselves [over the issue].

So, they said to the [former] blind man again, "What do you have to say about the man, since [you say] he restored your sight?" The man replied, "He is a prophet."

But these Jews [i.e., Pharisees] did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight back until they called his parents

So, they called the [former] blind man a second time, and said to him, "Give honor to God [Note: In Jewish idiom this phrase meant "Tell the truth." See Josh. 7:19]; we know this man is a sinner."

He answered them, "I just told you, but you would not listen. Why should I tell you again? Do you men want to become his disciples, too?"

We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not [even] know where he came from."

The man replied, "Is not that strange! You do not know where he came from and yet he restored my sight! [Note: The next sentence may be the beggar stating the Pharisees' argument. See verse 24].

It has never been heard of, since the world was created, that anyone has restored sight to a man born blind.

Unless this man came from God, he would not be able to do anything [like this]."

[When] Jesus heard that they had thrown the beggar out, He found him and asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of man?"

And the man said, "Lord, I believe." And he knelt in front of Jesus [i.e., in reverence].

Many of them said, "This man is dominated by an evil spirit; he is crazy, why listen to him?"

The Jews answered Him, "We are not stoning you for a good deed, but for your abusive speech [i.e., about God], and because you are claiming to be God, even though you are [only] a man."

Many people came to Him and were saying, "It is true that John did not perform any [miraculous] signs, but everything he said about this man was true."

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

But others of them said, "Could not this man, who restored sight to a blind person, have kept Lazarus from dying?"

Jesus said, "You people, take the stone away." [But] Martha, the dead man's sister, said to Jesus, "Lord, his body is decomposing by now, for he has been dead four days."

[Immediately] the man who had died came out [of the cave] with his hands and feet [still] wrapped in bandages, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to his Jewish friends, "Unwrap him and let him go."

So, the leading priests and the Pharisees assembled the Council [Note: This was the Jewish governing body called "the Sanhedrin"] and said, "What should we do, for this man is performing many [miraculous] signs?

And you are not taking into consideration that it would be profitable to you for one man to die for the people, so that the entire nation would not be destroyed."

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.

"Why was this perfume not sold for a large sum of money [Note: The amount here was equivalent to three hundred days of a farm laborer's pay, or over $20,000 in 1994] and [then] the money given to poor people?"

Now he did not say this because he cared about poor people, but because he was in charge of the money bag, and being a thief, he used to steal from it.

So, the Pharisees were saying among themselves, "Look, you men are getting nowhere [in this situation]. See, the [whole] world has gone after him."

Then Jesus said to [all of] them, "The time has come for the Son of man to be glorified [i.e., by His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension].

Then the crowd replied to Him, "We have heard from [the writings of] the law of Moses that the Christ will live forever; so how can you say, 'The son of man must be lifted up [i.e., to die]?' Who is this son of man?"

For some of them thought, since Judas was in charge of the [money] bag, that Jesus was telling him, "Buy whatever we need for the [Passover] meal," or that he was [being told] to give [money] to poor people [from it].

Then after Judas left, Jesus said, "Now the Son of man is [being] glorified [Note: Being "glorified" involved Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. The first step of this had now begun]. And God is [being] glorified through the Son's life.

Jesus replied to him, "Have I been with you men all this time, and [still] you do not know me, Philip? The person who has seen me, has [also] seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

After a little while [longer] the world will not see me anymore, but you men will see me. Because I [will continue to] live, you will live also.

The person who does not love me will not obey my teaching. And the message you are hearing is not mine, but belongs to the Father, who sent me.

I command you to do these things so that you will [demonstrate your] love for one another. [Note: Or this may mean that His command was to love one another, as in verse 12].

And you will give testimony about me [also], because you men have been with me from the beginning [of my ministry]."

[Jesus continued], "I have told you these things so that you men would not fall away [i.e., from the faith].

So, they [again] said, "What does He mean by saying, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about."

So, you men also will experience grief [i.e., over my suffering and death], but I will see you again and your hearts will be glad. And no one will take away your joy.

I have revealed your name [i.e., your power and character] to the men you gave me out of the world [i.e., the apostles]. They belonged to you, but you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word.

And everything I have belongs to you, and what you have belongs to me; and I am honored through these men.

And [now] I am coming to you, for I will not be in the world any longer, yet these men are [still] in the world. Holy Father, protect them by [the power of] your name which you have given me. May these men be one, as we are.

Righteous Father, the world does not know you but I know you, and these men know that you sent me.

Since Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to Him, He went out and said to them, "Who are you men looking for?"

Jesus said to them, "I [already] told you that I am [He]; so if you are looking for me, let these men [i.e., the apostles] go."

[He said this] so the words He had spoken [previously] would be fulfilled [See 17:12], "I did not lose any of those men you [i.e., God] gave me."

They led Him to Annas first [Note: This man was a former head priest. See Luke 3:2], for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was head priest that year.

Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was profitable for one man to die for the people. [See 11:50].

So, the slave-girl gatekeeper asked Peter, "Are you not one of this man's disciples, too?" "[No], I am not," Peter replied.

One of the head priest's slaves, who was a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the orchard with him?"

So, Pilate went outside to them and asked, "What charge do you bring against this man?"

The Jewish authorities answered Pilate, "If this man were not guilty of wrongdoing, we would not have turned him over to you."

They shouted out again, "[No], not this man. [We want] Barabbas!" [Note: Ironically, Barabbas' name means "son of the father"]. Now Barabbas was a robber.

So, Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Then Pilate said to the [assembled] Jewish authorities, "Look, [here is] the man!"

After [hearing] this, Pilate tried to release Jesus, but the Jews shouted out, "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar's. Everyone who claims to be a king [i.e., as they had accused Jesus of doing. See 18:37] is in opposition to Caesar."

There they crucified Him, along with two other men, one on each side with Jesus in the middle.

So, the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first [criminal] and then of the other man crucified with Jesus.

Nicodemus, the man who first came to Jesus one night, also went with him [i.e., to claim Jesus' body]. He brought about a seventy-five pound mixture of myrrh and aloes [i.e., aromatic spices used for embalming].

[When] Peter saw this disciple, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what will happen to this man?"

For [Jesus had said, Matt. 3:11], "John immersed you [men] in water but [this time] you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit, and [it will happen] in just a few more days."

And while they gazed up into the sky as He ascended, suddenly two men wearing white clothing appeared beside them

and said, "You men from Galilee, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus who was received up from your presence into the sky will return in the same way you saw Him go there."

These men continued in united prayer [for the kingdom to come? See 1:6; Matt. 6:10] along with [certain] women, Mary the mother of Jesus and His [half-] brothers.

(Now this man [Judas] paid for [in a sense] a [burial] field with the reward money he had received for his sinful act [of betraying Jesus, See Matt. 27:3-10]. [Then, some time after Judas hanged himself, See Matt. 27:5] he fell down headlong, [his swollen body] bursting so that his intestines gushed out.

This incident became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem so that the [burial] field purchased with the reward money became known as "Akeldama" [an Aramaic word] which means "Field of Blood.")

And so they presented two men [for consideration]: Joseph, called Barsabbas (and also called Justus) and Matthias.

Then they prayed, "Lord, you know the inner thoughts of all men, so show us which one of these two men should be selected

Being so amazed and astounded [at something so unusual happening], they exclaimed, "Look! are not all these men who are speaking from [the country of] Galilee?

And they were amazed and perplexed [over this] and began saying to one another, "What does all this mean?"

For these men [i.e., the twelve apostles] are not drunk as you suppose, since it is only nine o'clock in the morning. [Note: The use of Jewish time calculations are employed in this verse].

God said that 'in the last days [of the Jewish nation?] I will pour out My Holy Spirit upon all people [i.e., both Jews and Gentiles], and your sons and daughters will speak out [in prophecies] and your young men will see [supernatural] visions, and your old men will have [supernatural] dreams.

[In that day] the sun will become dark and the moon will [appear] as blood. [This will all happen] before the great and wonderful day when the Lord comes. [Note: Some view these last two verses as a reference to events occurring at the end of time. See Matt. 24:29-30].

"You people of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus from Nazareth was a man whom God [demonstrated] His approval of by powerful deeds, miracles and [supernatural] signs which He accomplished through Jesus in your very presence --- and you all know this!

Yet, He was handed over to you so that, by lawless men [i.e., the Romans], He was put to death by crucifixion. Now this was all done in harmony with God's full pre-knowledge and [divine] purpose.

They sold their belongings and property and divided [the money] among all [the believers] according to each one's need.

[On their way] they met a certain man who had been crippled from birth. Every day he had been carried [by friends] and placed at the "Beautiful Gate" [as it was called] of the Temple [enclosure] where he begged for money from those entering the Temple.

When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple he asked them [also] for money.

Peter looked directly at the man and, together with John, said [to him], "Look [at me]."

And the man responded, expecting to receive some coins from them.

But instead, Peter said, "I do not have any money [i.e., silver or gold], but I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus from Nazareth [i.e., by His authority], get up and walk."

And Peter took him by his right hand and lifted him up. Immediately the man's feet and ankles became strong [enough to walk on].

And they recognized him as the same person who had sat at the "Beautiful Gate" of the Temple begging for money, and they were filled with wonder and amazement over what had happened to him.

And as this [former] crippled man stayed close beside Peter and John, all the people rushed toward them at "Solomon's Portico" [Note: This was a large covered area, with rows of columns, on the side of the Temple enclosure], completely astonished [at what had happened].

And when Peter saw [the crowd assembling] he gave this explanation: "Men of Israel, why are you so shocked at [what happened to] this man? And why are you gazing at us, as though it were by our power or godly qualities that we caused him to walk?

And by [means of] the name [of Jesus], that is, by faith in the [power of His] name, this [crippled] man, whom you now see and know, was healed. Yes, it is the faith that comes through Jesus that is responsible for this man's perfect health, as you now all see.

But many of the people who heard the message [of God] believed [in Jesus] and the number of men [alone] came to be about five thousand.

And when these men had Peter and John brought before them, they asked, "By whose authority or in what name have you done this thing [i.e., healed the crippled man]?"