Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



But when the Festival was already half over, Jesus went up to the Temple and commenced teaching. The Jews were astonished. "How does this man know anything of books," they said, "although he has never been at any of the schools?" Jesus answered their question by saying, "My teaching does not belong to me, but comes from Him who sent me. read more.
If any one is willing to do His will, he shall know about the teaching, whether it is from God or originates with me. The man whose teaching originates with himself aims at his own glory. He who aims at the glory of Him who sent him teaches the truth, and there is no deception in him. Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not a man of you obeys the Law. Why do you want to kill me?" "You are possessed by a demon," replied the crowd; "no one wants to kill you." "One deed I have done," replied Jesus, "and you are all full of wonder. Consider therefore. Moses gave you the rite of circumcision (not that it began with Moses, but with your earlier forefathers) If a child is circumcised even on a Sabbath day, are you bitter against me because I have restored a man to perfect health on a Sabbath day? Do not form superficial judgements, but form the judgements that are just." Some however of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is not this the man they are wanting to kill? But here he is, speaking openly and boldly, and they say nothing to him! Can the Rulers really have ascertained that this man is the Christ? And yet we know this man, and we know where he is from; but as for the Christ, when He comes, no one can tell where He is from." Jesus therefore, while teaching in the Temple, cried aloud, and said, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. And yet I have not come of my own accord; but there is One who has sent me, an Authority indeed, of whom you have no knowledge. I know Him, because I came from Him, and He sent me." On hearing this they wanted to arrest Him; yet not a hand was laid on Him, because His time had not yet come. But from among the crowd a large number believed in Him. "When the Christ comes," they said, "will He perform more miracles than this teacher has performed?" The Pharisees heard the people thus expressing their various doubts about Him, and the High Priests and the Pharisees sent some officers to apprehend Him. So Jesus said, "Still for a short time I am with you, and then I go my way to Him who sent me. You will look for me and will not find me, and where I am you cannot come." The Jews therefore said to one another, "Where is he about to betake himself, so that we shall not find him? Will he betake himself to the Dispersion among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? What do those words of his mean, 'You will look for me, but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come'?" On the last day of the Festival--the great day--Jesus stood up and cried aloud. "Whoever is thirsty," He said, "let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, from within him--as the Scripture has said--rivers of living water shall flow." He referred to the Spirit which those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not bestowed as yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. After listening to these discourses, some of the crowd began to say, "This is beyond doubt the Prophet." Others said, "He is the Christ." But others again, "Not so, for is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture declared that the Christ is to come of the family of David and from Bethlehem, David's village?" So there was a violent dissension among the people on His account. Some of them wanted at once to arrest Him, but no one laid hands upon Him. Meanwhile the officers returned to the High Priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why have you not brought him?" "No mere man has ever spoken as this man speaks," said the officers. "Are *you* deluded too?" replied the Pharisees; "has any one of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this rabble who understand nothing about the Law are accursed!" Nicodemus interposed--he who had formerly gone to Jesus, being himself one of them. "Does our Law," he asked, "judge a man without first hearing what he has to say and ascertaining what his conduct is?" "Do you also come from Galilee?" they asked in reply. "Search and see for yourself that no Prophet is of Galilaean origin." So they went away to their several homes;


where there was a man with a shrivelled arm. And they questioned Him, "Is it right to cure people on the Sabbath?" Their intention was to bring a charge against Him. "Which of you is there," He replied, "who, if he has but a single sheep and it falls into a hole on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Is not a man, however, far superior to a sheep? Therefore it is right to do good on the Sabbath." read more.
Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." And he stretched it out, and it was restored quite sound like the other.

Once He was teaching on the Sabbath in one of the synagogues where a woman was present who for eighteen years had been a confirmed invalid: she was bent double, and was unable to lift herself to her full height. But Jesus saw her, and calling to her, He said to her, "Woman, you are free from your weakness." read more.
And He put His hands on her, and she immediately stood upright and began to give glory to God. Then the Warden of the Synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured her on a Sabbath, said to the crowd, "There are six days in the week on which people ought to work. On those days therefore come and get yourselves cured, and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord's reply to him was, "Hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his bullock or his ass from the stall and lead him to water? And this woman, daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan had bound for no less than eighteen years, was she not to be loosed from this chain because it is the Sabbath day?" When He had said this, all His opponents were ashamed, while the whole multitude was delighted at the many glorious things continually done by Him.

The man went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had restored him to health; and on this account the Jews began to persecute Jesus--because He did these things on the Sabbath. His reply to their accusation was, "My Father works unceasingly, and so do I." read more.
On this account then the Jews were all the more eager to put Him to death--because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also spoke of God as being in a special sense His Father, thus putting Himself on a level with God.

In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. This led Jesus to ask the lawyers and Pharisees, "Is it allowable to cure people on the Sabbath?" They gave Him no answer; so He took hold of the man, cured him, and sent him away. read more.
Then He turned to them and said, "Which of you shall have a child or an ox fall into a well on the Sabbath day, and will not immediately lift him out?"

"One deed I have done," replied Jesus, "and you are all full of wonder. Consider therefore. Moses gave you the rite of circumcision (not that it began with Moses, but with your earlier forefathers) If a child is circumcised even on a Sabbath day, are you bitter against me because I have restored a man to perfect health on a Sabbath day? read more.
Do not form superficial judgements, but form the judgements that are just."


"As for me," replied Jesus, "I have spoken openly to the world. I have continually taught in some synagogue or in the Temple where all the Jews are wont to assemble, and I have said nothing in secret.

They came again to Jerusalem; and as He was walking in the Temple, the High Priests, Scribes and Elders came to Him and asked, "By what authority are you doing these things? and who gave you authority to do them?" "And I will put a question to you," replied Jesus; "answer me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. read more.
John's Baptism--was it of Heavenly or of human origin? Answer me." So they debated the matter with one another. "Suppose we say, 'Heavenly,'" they argued, "he will ask, 'Why then did you not believe him?' Or should we say, 'human?'" They were afraid of the people; for all agreed in holding John to have been really a Prophet. So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." "Nor do I tell you," said Jesus, "by what authority I do these things."

But, while teaching in the Temple, Jesus asked, "How is it the Scribes say that the Christ is a son of David? David himself said, taught by the Holy Spirit, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I have made thy foes a footstool under thy feet.' "David himself calls Him 'Lord:' how then can He be his son?" And the mass of people found pleasure in listening to Jesus. read more.
Moreover in the course of His teaching He said, "Be on your guard against the Scribes who like to walk about in long robes and to be bowed to in places of public resort, and to occupy the best seats in the synagogues and at dinner parties, and who swallow up the property of widows and then mask their wickedness by making long prayers: these men will receive far heavier punishment." Having taken a seat opposite the Treasury, He observed how the people were dropping money into the Treasury, and that many of the wealthy threw in large sums. But there came one poor widow and dropped in two farthings, equal in value to a halfpenny. So He called His disciples to Him and said, "In solemn truth I tell you that this widow, poor as she is, has thrown in more than all the other contributors to the Treasury; for they have all contributed out of what they could well spare, but she out of her need has thrown in all she possessed--all she had to live on."

Day after day I used to be among you in the Temple teaching, and you never seized me. But this is happening in order that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.'

Afterwards Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him, "You are now restored to health. Do not sin any more, or a worse thing may befall you." The man went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had restored him to health; and on this account the Jews began to persecute Jesus--because He did these things on the Sabbath. read more.
His reply to their accusation was, "My Father works unceasingly, and so do I."

But when the Festival was already half over, Jesus went up to the Temple and commenced teaching. The Jews were astonished. "How does this man know anything of books," they said, "although he has never been at any of the schools?" Jesus answered their question by saying, "My teaching does not belong to me, but comes from Him who sent me. read more.
If any one is willing to do His will, he shall know about the teaching, whether it is from God or originates with me. The man whose teaching originates with himself aims at his own glory. He who aims at the glory of Him who sent him teaches the truth, and there is no deception in him. Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not a man of you obeys the Law. Why do you want to kill me?" "You are possessed by a demon," replied the crowd; "no one wants to kill you." "One deed I have done," replied Jesus, "and you are all full of wonder. Consider therefore. Moses gave you the rite of circumcision (not that it began with Moses, but with your earlier forefathers) If a child is circumcised even on a Sabbath day, are you bitter against me because I have restored a man to perfect health on a Sabbath day? Do not form superficial judgements, but form the judgements that are just." Some however of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is not this the man they are wanting to kill? But here he is, speaking openly and boldly, and they say nothing to him! Can the Rulers really have ascertained that this man is the Christ? And yet we know this man, and we know where he is from; but as for the Christ, when He comes, no one can tell where He is from." Jesus therefore, while teaching in the Temple, cried aloud, and said, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. And yet I have not come of my own accord; but there is One who has sent me, an Authority indeed, of whom you have no knowledge.

and Jesus was walking in the Temple in Solomon's Portico, when the Jews gathered round Him and kept asking Him, "How long do you mean to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us so plainly." "I have told you," answered Jesus, "and you do not believe. The deeds that I do in my Father's name--they give testimony about me. read more.
But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them the Life of the Ages, and they shall never, never perish, nor shall any one wrest them from my hand. What my Father has given me is more precious than all besides; and no one is able to wrest anything from my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Again the Jews brought stones with which to stone Him. Jesus remonstrated with them. "Many good deeds," He said, "have I shown you as coming from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" "For no good deed," the Jews replied, "are we going to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God." "Does it not stand written in your Law," replied Jesus, "'I said, you are gods'? If those to whom God's word was addressed are called gods (and the Scripture cannot be annulled) how is it that you say to one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am God's Son'? If the deeds I do are not my Father's deeds, do not believe me. But if they are, then even if you do not believe me, at least believe the deeds, that you may know and see clearly that the Father is in me, and that I am in the Father."