The Book of John

by R. B. Thieme, Jr.

Chapter 1

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all cover a similar period of history, the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Matthew emphasises the Lord Jesus from the standpoint of His kingship, he presents the Gospel of the King. Mark presents the Gospel of the servant. Luke presents the Gospel of the Son of Man, emphasising the humanity of Christ. John presents the Gospel of the Son of God, emphasising the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew talks about the coming of the promised saviour; Mark talks about the life of the powerful saviour; Luke talks about the grace of the perfect saviour; John talks about the possession of a personal saviour. John 20:31 gives the clue for the book.

In the first fourteen verses of the Gospel of John we have information regarding the deity of Christ. Then, in verse fourteen we will suddenly shift and go to the humanity of Christ with emphasis, therefore, on the reason for Christ becoming true humanity. When we get into the last three quarters of this chapter we will study a diary of four days in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we do not begin with the humanity of Christ; we begin with the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore in verses 1 & 2 the pre-existent one. This is actually coverage of the doctrine of the hypostatic union because Christ is undiminished deity; He has all of the divine names and all of the divine titles applied to Him. He is called God, the Mighty God, the great God, God over all, Jehovah, Lord, King of kings, and Lord of lords. He possesses all of the divine attributes. At the same time, after the virgin birth He becomes true humanity. So He is the unique person of the universe, He is God and He is Man in one person forever.

The human author of this book is John the son of Zebedee. It was written in Ephesus in about 90 AD. John did something that no one else has ever been able to do in history. He was able to break through the barriers of time and to move into eternity. He begins in a very simple way in the Greek and yet it is one of the most profound statements ever found anywhere in the Word of God. He begins with the simple phrase e)n a)rxh, which is translated in the KJV “In the beginning.” There is no definite article, and this actually means “in a beginning which was not a beginning,” and therefore in eternity. This is one of the biblical ways of describing something that goes beyond time. Here is the sentence that tells us that long before any creature existed, long before the universe existed, Jesus Christ our saviour actually existed as a member of the Godhead.

The next word is h)n, the imperfect tense of the absolute status quo verb e)imi. It means “in a beginning which was not a beginning.” In other words, “in eternity past” He always existed and there never was a time when He didn’t exist. So the imperfect tense of the absolute status quo verb indicates eternity and an eternally-existent one. Here is one who always existed and there never was a time when he didn’t exist.

There is another verb which we will find in this passage – ginomai. E)imi means absolute status quo; ginomai means to become something that you were not before. The best illustration of the difference between these two words is found in John 8:58 – “Before Abraham was [ginomai]” – before Abraham came into existence, “I am,” i.e. “I keep on existing eternally,” the imperfect tense of e)imi which is eternal existence in the past.

“was with God” – again, the same verb and the same form of the verb h)n.

Verse 2 – “The same was [kept on being] in the beginning with God.” In verse 4, “In him was [kept on existing] life” – same verb. In verse 9, “… was [kept on existing] the true Light” – same verb. Verse 10 – “He was [kept on existing] in the world.” And so time after time we have this same form throughout the book of John, and wherever you find it you see the imperfect tense of the verb for absolute status quo. The imperfect tense is linear aktionsart in past time. Linear aktionsart in past time plus the verb e)imi means to exist eternally. In other words, this verb “was” is saying in effect that Jesus Christ is God. The word “was” indicates eternal life, and anyone who pre-existed eternal life is God.

Then He is given a title – “the Word,” o( Logoj. This is the first title used for the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternally existent One. Logoj was a technical word in Greek philosophy, a term often used for infinity. It was used to indicate the Supreme Mover, the one who was behind everyone, the one who brings order into the human race. The word is used throughout the New Testament for the Lord Jesus Christ. Again in verse 14 He is called the Word. In Colossians 1:18 we have a phrase, “the Word of the cross.” The Greek says, “the Logoj of the cross.” The cross was the lowest principle in the Roman empire. The most disgraceful type of death that anyone could die was crucifixion. So the cross was the lowest and Logoj was the highest, and Jesus Christ is called the Logoj of the cross. In other words, the One who went to the cross was not only true humanity but He was also eternal God.

O( Logoj connotes four things:

 The first principle behind the use of his Greek word is revelation. Jesus Christ is the outward, the visible expression of the world of the invisible. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God the Father. The substance, the essence of the Godhead is invisible but Jesus Christ it its manifestation. Cf. Hebrews 1:1-3. Jesus Christ is the only member of the Godhead who is ever revealed and as we understand Christ we understand the other members of the Godhead. The Father is specifically said to be invisible in John 6:46, as well as John 1:18; 1Timothy 6:16; 1John 4:18. So the first connotation of the word logoj is revelation. Jesus Christ is the revealed member of the Godhead but in order to see Him – we cannot see Him as God – He must become a man, and therefore He became a man. The Logoj is the visible member of the Godhead because He took upon Himself the form of man.

The second connotation of the word Logoj is intelligence. It goes back to the concept of expressing thought. In order to think you must have a vocabulary; you cannot think without a vocabulary, and therefore since logoj means “word” it means the organization of words into thought. It means to take a vocabulary and to develop from that vocabulary concepts and categories, and so on. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who is omniscient and as the omniscient one logoj connotes this particular concept.

The third concept of logoj is order, and this conveys putting design and purpose into things. Jesus Christ is the designer of the dispensations, therefore the designer of history. He is the designer of certain aspects of the plan in which you find yourself. The very plan which He has provided is a plan of order and design.

The fourth concept is communication. The word “word” as it is translated means something which is actually communicated or disseminated. So words transmit information, transmit ideas and concepts; they are used as the expression and impartation of various types of knowledge, and Christ is the expressor of all Bible doctrine. That is why in 1Corinthians 2:16 the Bible is called “the mind of Christ.”

Now we have the word logoj connecting the humanity of Christ of the first advent with the eternal second person of the Trinity. They are one and the same, and in this person we have undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. Jesus Christ is God and therefore different from the human race. He is different from any member of the human race in that He is God; He is different from God in that He is humanity, and therefore He is unique. He is different from other members of the Godhead; He is different from other members of the human race. And because of His resurrection, ascension and session He is infinitely superior to any member of the angelic creation.

“and the Word [Logoj] was with God” – the word “with” is the preposition proj plus the accusative case and it should be translated “face to face with.” The Logoj was face to face with God. In other words, He is just as much God as any other member of the Trinity, co-equal and co-existent.

“and the Word was God ” is not quite correct in the English. It should read “and God kept on being the Word” or “God was the Word.” Again, this is the imperfect tense, linear aktionsart in past time of the absolute status quo verb. In other words, Jesus Christ always will be God; there never will be a time when He isn’t God. This means that since He has all the characteristics of deity He cannot go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. He cannot die spiritually, which is the wages of sin, and He cannot die physically as God. God is sovereign and therefore is not subject to death, the death of the cross. God is eternal life and eternal life cannot die. God is omnipresence and omnipresence cannot reduce itself to one point – the cross. God is immutability and immutability cannot change its characteristics. Therefore as God He cannot die on the cross, so He must become a member of the human race. Therefore He was virgin born, minus an old sin nature, but having a human spirit and a human soul, indwelt in His humanity by the Holy Spirit, except for three hours on the cross. So the Logoj, then, refers to the fact that He is both God and He is man.

So we have in this verse three factors. John is taking us beyond time – e)n a)rxh takes us from time into eternity. And in eternity, what does John see there? The Logoj is the manifestation back in time of God. The Logoj is the second person of the Trinity and was always face to face with God because He is God, and God was always the Logoj. So the last two phrases emphasise that we are dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the subject of the Gospel of John. The story of His humanity will be seen but He will always be related to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 2 – to further emphasise this we go to His essence. “The same” is literally “the same one.” “The same one kept on existing in the beginning [in eternity] face to face with God.” The word “with” is proj plus the accusative again and it should be translated “face to face with God.” This emphasises His deity. Jesus Christ is God.

Verse 3 – He is the creator. “All things were made by him.” Now for the first time we have that contrasting verb, ginomai, which means to become. “All things” refers to all categories in general – the universe, mankind, the angels. All categories of creation were originally created by Him. “All things were made” – this is a constative aorist of ginomai which looks at creative activity as one event. They didn’t occur all at the same time. We have for example, the creation of the universe. Then we have the creation of the angels as they occupied the universe. Then, to resolve the angelic conflict, we have the creation of man; and one part of the universe, the earth, was restored so that man could occupy it. The aorist tense here gathers into one point of time every act of creation; therefore it is called a constative aorist. The verse should be translated, “For by him [through the instrumentality] all things came into existence.”

This brings us to the doctrine of creation: the Father planned it – 1Corinthians 8:6; the Son created every original creation – Colossians 1:16; John 1:3; Hebrews 1:10. But whenever something is restored it is the Spirit who restores it, as per Genesis 1:2.

“and without him was not anything made that was made [in the past with the result that it is still here]” – “made” is an aorist tense; “was made” is a perfect tense, and it brings out a contrast. In other words, “anything made” – aorist tense, in a point of time when it was originally created; “that was made” is the perfect tense, indicating retrogression, progression in the development of things in life. So the perfect tense at the end of the verse brings out the fact that there had been some changes over what the Lord originally made.

Verse 4 – we are related to this One. There is a relationship between Jesus Christ and man – certain types of people. Jesus Christ has eternal life and God the Father found a way to give man the eternal life in Jesus Christ. It has to be done by way of the cross because of propitiation. Jesus Christ is eternal life – 1John 5:11.When we believe in Christ we enter into union with Him and His life becomes our life.

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” The world is enshrouded in darkness; this is the devil’s world, he is the ruler of this world. Where does the light shine? The light shines where the light has always been. God is light – 1John 1:4. So in eternity past there is all this light. John opens the hole, as it were, in heaven so that the light comes out to us – e)n a)rxh h)n o( logoj. So the Gospel of John is the gospel of light, light in the devil’s world.

Verse 5 – “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

Verses 6-8, a witness concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Actually, in the first chapter of John’s Gospel we have four pages out of the diary of John the Baptist, but before we get to the diary we have to meet the person concerning whom the diary is written. So we read something here immediately in verse 6. “There was a man.” There is nothing about his personality, his human qualifications, about the “secret to his success,” he is simply called “a man.” “There came into existence a man.” Immediately we know the principle: God uses people. All believers today are in full time Christian service. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ today you personally are in full time Christian service. God uses people to disseminate the gospel and this was the job of John the Baptist. He is not the light but he is a light bearer, just as every believer is a light bearer – Matthew 5:14,16; Ephesians 5:8. Jesus Christ Himself is the light.

“sent from God” – para means immediate source. In God’s plan God can take imperfect man, unstable man, man who has an old sin nature and who is oriented to cosmos diabolicus, oriented to the thinking of this world, to human viewpoint, and use him in His plan; “whose name was John” – this is about all the information we have, there is very little about him in this Gospel. There is in Luke and in Matthew but here there is a principle: it is not the man; it is the message. It isn’t his personality; it is the content of his message.

Verse 7 – “The same came for a witness.” This was his reason for living: he was a witness concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the reason, in part, for the believer remaining in phase two. The believer is His personal representative.

“to bear witness concerning the light” – John the Baptist had the responsibility of communicating information with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. So his title was “witness,” his purpose it to bear witness, and the result is stated at the end of the verse, “that all men through him [Christ] might believe.” The word to believe is in the aorist tense and it indicates immediately what God does for us at the point of salvation. This is an aorist tense where you have a point of time divorced from time and perpetuated forever. This point of time is taken out of time and perpetuated. The believer is given at the point of faith in Christ 36 things which he will have forever.

Verse 8 -- John was simply out there preaching, he was the man with a message.

Verse 9 – “There was the true Light.” The word “was” means there kept on existing the true Light, and the true Light is the Lord Jesus Christ; “which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” This is a very important phrase. If the true Light lights every man that comes into the world it means that every person who has ever lived can be saved potentially. There are several was in which people are lighted. A person who is born an idiot is automatically saved because he never reaches the age of accountability. A person who does before accountability is automatically saved. So this is included in the concept of “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Those who reach the age of accountability face the issue of free will. Positive signals are expressed by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; negative signals are expressed by the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour.

Verse 10 – “He was in the world” is a reference to the incarnation of Christ; “and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” Why? The answer to that is found in Satan’s attempt to confuse human volition. There are five ways in which Satan is operating today to confuse the world. The first is by religion – Matthew 23. Religion reduces Christianity to a system of ethics, a system of morality, which it is not. Christianity is relationship whereby we are in union with Christ and the life of Christ becomes our life. It is a relationship whereby the Holy Spirit, when He controls our life, produces something on the inside which is far superior to any system of overt morality. John 3:1-18 exposes the confusion of the religious mind. 2Corinthians 11:13,14 shows how Satan uses religion to confuse people. The second way Satan confuses is through rationalism – 2Corinthians 4:3,4; Luke 8:12. The third is by deceit – 2Corinthians 11:3; 2:11; Revelation 12:9; 20:3. A fourth way is through supernatural phenomena – 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12. He is in the healing business, the tongues business, and in the miracle business. The fifth way is by snares – 2Timothy 2:26; 1Timothy 3:7; Ephesians 4:27; 2Corinthians 2:11. Satan has a tremendous number of systems which he uses to confuse the volition of mankind.

Verse 11 – Jesus Christ came specifically to Israel. “He came unto his own.” “His own” refers to Israel. He is the son of David and He comes to fulfil the Davidic covenant. The reason He came to Israel is two-fold. First of all, it was the dispensation of Israel and the Jewish nation had custodianship of the Word of God and was responsible for its dissemination. He came to them as the Messiah, the anointed one, as the son of David who would reign forever.

“and his own received him not” – generally He was rejected. The reason was religion. At this point the Jews were the most religious organization in the world. There were many exceptions, of course, but the religious crowd rejected Him. Religion as a system excludes the principle of grace under which He came in the plan of God. However, there were those in Israel who did receive Him and would very shortly become a part of His eternal kingdom.

Verse 12 – “But” is a conjunction of contrast, a contrast between the religious Jews of verse 11 and the grace Jews of verse 12; “as many as received him” – the word for “receive” means to receive in a non-meritorious manner. It means to receive a gift, a gift which you do not deserve, a gift for which you cannot work. It means to receive something from someone even though you are obnoxious. This means they cannot earn it or deserve it, it is the character of the giver that is in focus. The giver is God; the receiver is man. Receiving here means to receive the Son – by faith in Jesus Christ, by believing.

“to them he gave the power [authority] to become the sons of God” – in other words, they are born into the family of God; they are children of God. The family of God is the eternal family. God is eternal; His family is eternal. When you are born into His family you are born into an eternal family.

“to them that believe on his name” – faith is the absence of human merit; it is the only non-meritorious system of perception. Some did this in John’s day; there were literally thousands and thousands who did.

Verse 13 – “Which were born.” Here is that being born into the family of God, and it isn’t temporary, it is eternal. This is an aorist tense, born in a point of time and divorced from time and perpetuated forever. One you have been born into the family of God you are always in the family of God. Passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb; you receive by grace this new birth.

“not of blood” means heredity. You are not born, in this case, with a set of genes. This is a birth which is minus the hereditary characteristics. You have instead a heritage from God, one which is incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for those who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

“nor of the will of the flesh” – human good. There is no place in the new birth for human good. You were not born again by your own good works – Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8,9.

“nor of the will of man” – this has to do with human plans. Salvation is not a human plan; it is not the result of human thinking. The planning occurred in eternity past. The family of God is often called the kingdom of God. It is a race on earth and today those born into the family of God are called “church,” those born into the body of Christ. It is a spiritual kingdom composed of all people who personally believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no place in this kingdom for either human heredity or human good or human planning. All human viewpoint is excluded.

Verse 14 – the incarnation. “And the Word [Jesus Christ] was made flesh.” Literally, “the Word became flesh.” Up to this time we have had the verb e)imi in the imperfect tense, indicating the eternity of Christ. Now we have a word, ginomai, and it means to become something you were not before. Jesus Christ became flesh. This is an aorist tense and it refers to the point of time of the virgin birth.

“and dwelt amongst us” – the purpose of dwelling amongst us, the first advent, is to provide eternal salvation; “and we beheld his glory” – the glory we beheld is the glory of God. Wherever you find the word “glory” it generally refers to the essence of God. Jesus Christ has glory. Glory generally refers to some aspect of deity. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world and the Light, as it were, shines on the glory and reveals the glory. So what we know of the glory of God we know by seeing Jesus Christ. We have a better view of the glory of Jesus Christ than those who lived in the first century. They saw Him physically on earth but they did not understand the doctrine, the mind of Christ, that we have in the epistles. What makes the difference? Today we have a better view of the glory of God than they had because we have in it writing, in the Bible. We have doctrine and doctrine is the revelation of the glory of God – 1Corinthians 2:16, “we have the mind of Christ.” Bible doctrine! It’s ours.

“the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” – “only begotten” is not quite correctly translated. It means “only born,” and it refers to the virgin birth, but it refers to the eternal God existing before the virgin birth. It goes back to “the Word became flesh,” the first part of the verse. He has a perfect glory, but this glory will not take Him to the cross because eternal life cannot die. He had to become a member of the human race in order to die for our sins. As God He cannot die; as the God-Man He could go to the cross, and on the cross it was His humanity that bore our sins. Here was someone unique, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man; and the humanity actually solved our problem.

There are three characteristics of the eternal Son of God. He is called the only born. This has to do with His humanity coming into the world. Then He is said to be “full of grace and truth.” “Full of grace” has to do with His person. When Jesus Christ came into the world He came in full of grace. In eternity past God the Father came up with a plan – operation grace. The Father said, “I will do the work, I will do the providing.” So He had to provide, first of all, salvation. And salvation must be provided through a person, so the second person in eternity past said, “I will go to the cross.” The third person said, “I will reveal the cross; I will be the search light pointing to the cross, showing men that the only way of salvation is through the cross.” All of that was in eternity past, before the cross, so when the second person came into the world He was full of grace – grace is the plan of God, He was full of the plan of God. Grace is more than a modus operandi; grace is what He was thinking. “Full of grace” means to be full of Bible doctrine. So what sustained Him? What kept Him on the cross? Doctrine carried Him through, the same thing we have to carry us today: Bible doctrine.

The problem of the heralds should be brought in at this point. Since there are two advents of Jesus Christ there are two heralds. The herald for the first advent is John the Baptist. The herald for the Second Advent is Elijah, and along with Elijah, Moses as one of the two witnesses. This passage deals with John the Baptist.

There are two sections in the Gospel of John dealing with him, one here in chapter one and the other in chapter three. The four days of the diary are recorded, beginning in verse 19. Verses 19-28 is the first day of the diary; verses 29-34 is the second day; verses 35-42 is the third day; verses 43-51, the fourth day.

The provocation, verses 15-18. Verse 15 – “John bare witness concerning him [the Lord Jesus Christ]…” John is the herald of the Lord Jesus Christ “… and cried, saying.” “Cried” here doesn’t mean to cry here, it means to make a public speech. John spoke concerning the Lord Jesus Christ in a public speaking situation.

“This was he of whom I spake’ He that cometh after me is preferred before me; for he was before me.” The word to “prefer” and the word translated here “was” are the two words we have seen in contrast throughout this passage. “Preferred” is the perfect tense of the word ginomai which means to become; the word “was” is the imperfect tense of the verb e)imi which means absolute status quo. “He was preferred before me in the past with the result that he always will be preferred before me” – the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was a man who was totally oriented to the plan of God and the grace of God. He understood thoroughly that he never could or would earn or deserve anything. He was a man with absolutely no human status symbols. He did not have any of the things of this life that were considered important – money, human success, no education, no wife or family, etc. This man lived a very intense life and a very concentrated life which centred around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He believed that when God put him in a certain spot, from that spot he could glorify God and God would provide everything necessary. By birth he was from the tribe of Levi and from the family of Aaron, and could have claimed his spiritual rights through a legitimate priesthood. He refused to do so.

The perfect tense of ginomai, “he was preferred before me”; “for he was before me,” the imperfect tense of the verb e)imi, which means “he kept on existing before me, he always existed, there never was a time when he did not exist.” In other words, John the Baptist recognised the deity of Christ as well as His humanity, and in his message he recognised the uniqueness of the person of Christ. He emphasised that Jesus Christ was the God-Man.

His message is given in verse 16. “And of his fullness” – the word “fullness” simply means doctrine, the sum total of the attributes of Christ, the sum total of His thinking – Bible doctrine, 1Corinthians 2:16.]

“have we all received” – “we all’ means those who were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, those in the plan of God. And then we have a phrase which is most interesting – “grace for grace.” It is literally, “grace taking the place of grace.” The first “grace” is phase two grace, and the second time it occurs it is phase one grace. What he is saying is this. Jesus Christ received our sins on the cross, He was judged for our sins and He took our place. That is grace; God did all of the work. And so when we approach the cross, the plan of God, we simply believe in Jesus Christ, and faith is the absence of human merit. It is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” – Acts 16:31. Now in phase two there is more grace. So the first “grace” in the passage refers to the more grace of phase two. Just as God provided everything for salvation so God provides everything for time. From the point of salvation to the time that we depart from this life, either by resurrection or death, everything is provided for us. The Lord Jesus Christ is the key to this because the Lord Jesus Christ is the plan of God.

Verse 17 – “for the law was given by Moses …” recognising the greatness of Moses is a past dispensation and recognising the importance of Moses. The law refers to the early part of the Old Testament “… but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Grace is the plan of God in eternity past; truth is the doctrine which expresses it in time. God’s plan is declared to us in time through Bible doctrine. Doctrine is simply the delineation of His plan categorically so that is can be understood, absorbed and applied. When you know doctrine then you can actually utilise the grace of God. Grace means this plan has always existed; truth is simply its delineation through Bible doctrine. So the Lord Jesus Christ has come to announce His own plan. However, during His earthly ministry He will only outline the plan, the actual details of the plan will be given in the epistles. But even as all these details are collected, as Paul says in 1Corinthians 2:16, the Bible is the mind of Christ.

There is a contrast here. The contrast is between Moses and Christ; the contrast is between the Old Testament scriptures – the Mosaic law specifically, and the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ to the announcement of the Church Age and the modus operandi of the Church. This anticipates John chapters 14-17 where Jesus Christ actually announces the Church Age. He gives an outline form of it announcing the principle of grace. So this is what is means by “full of truth,” He will announce the plan of the Church Age.

Verse 18 – Jesus Christ is going to be the centre of John’s message. He announces the fact that Christ is the revealer of God. “No man hath seen God at any time.” God is a spirit and this means He is invisible to man’s eye; He cannot be known by empirical knowledge, a meritorious system of perception which is based upon ability to observe. The basic principle for seeing God and understanding God begins at the cross – “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Faith is a non-meritorious perceptive system. So when it says here that no man has seen God at any time it means through rationalism and empiricism. This is amplified in 1Corinthians 2:5-16.

“the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” “In the bosom” is an idiom which simply means the same thing we have in John 1:1, the Logoj was face to face with God.” In other words, He co-existed with God the Father eternally. So this is the principle that Jesus Christ is the revealer of God. This is the one that John announces.

John’s message provoked the religious crowd which became very angry. Under religion man does the doing – human good, and God is supposed to bless man on the basis of what man does; man gets the credit. The religious crowd is interested in a system of works. They were up to their ears in good deeds. So in verses 19 –28 we have the first day of the diary.

Verse 19 – “And this is the record.” The word for “record” here is literally the “witness,” but it means “this is the diary.” We have four days now in the diary of John the Baptist, and in these four days we see Jesus Christ increasing and John the Baptist decreasing. Actually, John 3:30 is fulfilled in the rest of this chapter. So we now have the religious crowd who have been sent from Jerusalem to investigate John the Baptist as a result of his message outline of the previous verses. This delegation is made up of priests and Levites who are declared to be Pharisees in verse 24. They were sent by the Sanhedrin to discredit John the Baptist and to bring back a report on how they did it. When they came to talk to him they tried to trip him up in a very interesting way which is now recorded.

“Who art thou”? They haven’t asked him yet; they do that in the next phrase.

Verse 20 – “And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.” This is a sort of a title as to what is going to happen. Verses 20-21 are simply a title, a sort of synopsis of what happens in the next paragraph. In the next paragraph the Levites and the priests who are Pharisees came from Jerusalem, and they came to investigate him and to ask him whom he was.

Verse 21 – we actually begin the study of this particular situation. “And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you that prophet? And he said, No.” So actually, they quizzed him on three things. First of all they asked him outright if he was Christ, which is actually for the Hebrew Messiah, and he denied it. Then they asked him if he was Elijah who is, of course, the herald of the Second Advent. Then they said “that prophet.” The word “prophet” here is a very mysterious word and it is very easily explained by Deuteronomy 18:15,18. Moses kept talking about a prophet who would come. He was actually talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they have asked John if he is the Messiah. When they asked him if he was the prophet they hoped that he would answer yes, and then they will say all right the prophet is Messiah, you claim you are not Messiah but you claim that you are the prophet; this means you are crazy. Therefore they would have discredited him because he would have been obviously inconsistent with his own remarks. However, he didn’t fall for that.

There was on other thing they had in mind. If he would say yes, I am Christ, or yes, I am the prophet, the Sanhedrin had another alternative. They could immediately try him and then they could execute him. They thought they had him either way they did it. They had set up a plan. They didn’t expect him to claim to be Elijah. In verse 19 there is a very simple phrase which says, “Who art thou?” This is much stronger in the Greek. When they came up to him they actually said, “You, who are you?” In other words, they were looking down their nose. And they expected him to fall apart. But now there is one other thing they had in mind. Get this man to get his eyes on himself, get him thinking about himself. If we are going to trip him up, break through here and get rid of him, let’s get him to think about himself a little bit. So their questioning followed a very complimentary principle which would appeal to his pride. But he doesn’t fall for this kind of thing. A grace man is always oriented. Inside he is a relaxed person. John is a relaxed individual and has no illusions about himself.

Verse 22 – they try again. They can’t go back and report a failure; they have to do something. They are probably astounded that they could not handle him. They thought they were going to go out and show this country bumpkin a thing or two but it didn’t work out that way.

“Then said they unto him, You boy, who are you?” They used that same tone with him again. “… that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?” This delegation has to go back with an answer and they admit it in their second interrogation. He could have said, “I am John the son of Zacharias the priest.” This is true; he was, and he should be the high priest. He should be in Jerusalem – Luke 1:7-13 tell us of his lineage. He is really the true high priest of Israel. He is John, the son of Zacharias. Or he could say, “I am a man sent from God” – John 1:6. This is true but he doesn’t say this. He could have said some of the things the Bible says about him, but he doesn’t say these things about himself. Why? He was aware of these things within the framework of the grace of God. But does he think of himself as being great? No, he knows that he is a man sent from God because of who and what God is, not because of who and what he is.

When a person is successful in the framework of the grace of God he is successful because of who and what God is, not because of who and what he is. And when a person has doctrine and is not successful, and is a grace person, God has a place for that person.

Verse 23 – he begins to give them an answer. His answer deals with a message, with crowds under the most unbelievable situation, with a modus operandi, and it deals with authority.

“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” When he uses the word “voice” immediately he makes an issue of the message rather than the personality. He refuses to make an issue of his own personality. They may do so; they will do so, which later on will cause him to call them a generation of vipers. But when he says that he is a voice he is warning them of something. “I am a personality because I am a human being,” says John the Baptist, He had a very forceful personality, “but it isn’t my personality, it isn’t my eloquence, it is the content of the message.” The very first thing he says to this delegation is, “Look at my message, there is where the issue lies.” A voice gives a message. A voice connotes two things: a) a brain with a vocabulary. The better the vocabulary the better you can think; b) a brain with the ability to communicate. A voice is heard but not seen and the message is so important that the person and the personality are not seen. And finally, the word endures after the voice is silent. John anchored his whole life in doctrine which would exist long after he died.

The second factor says, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” The word for “wilderness” is actually desert. A desert is a place where there are no people. Why on earth would a man with a message go out into the desert? He proved that when a person has a brain which is filled with doctrine, and he has a commission from God to communicate what he has – teaching, then God can put him right in the middle of a desert and the He will take care of the rest. He is glad to be in the desert for this reason: God will provide. He is prepared; he has doctrine; he has the gift. God will change the minus to a plus, and that is exactly what happened. He didn’t go to Jerusalem where the crowds were. He went where the Lord wanted him to go. All he had to do was to be prepared with doctrine, and he was. Once he was prepared with doctrine the rest was up to the Lord. Consequently he went out into the desert and the people came to him. And why did God set it up this way? To test positive volition. There were a lot of people who were positive at God-consciousness and ready for this message. There also were a lot of people who were curious. So they had to get up and move out to the desert to hear this man speak.

The third concept is modus operandi. He is the voice of one crying in the desert. In the desert we also have the concept of separation. There is a clear separation. In Jerusalem is the religious headquarters. Out in the Jordan country, out in the desert, there is no religion. This is the perfect set-up for the communication of doctrine – no religion. The worst people in the world to deal with are religious people, legalistic people. They have to unlearn so much. When people go out into the desert they are entirely away from a religious atmosphere and therefore John is free to teach. He is relaxed in his teaching and he uses the grace approach. So when religion comes out he castigates it. He calls them vipers. The religious crowd goes back to their hang-out and John goes right on with the message. Separation! The message must be given in a place of separation. John the Baptist separated himself from religion. He would not have had a ministry in Jerusalem because by now Jerusalem is too religious, so he separates himself from religion completely and totally. Therefore God can fully bless his ministry.

Then he gives them a fourth answer which has to do with authority. He quotes now from Isaiah 40:3. His authority for his ministry is not the fact that he has graduated from one of their two theological seminaries. He is not a seminary graduate, he is simply basing his whole ministry on the absolute perfect authority -- the Word of God, “as saith the prophet Esaias.” His authority is the Word of God.

Now John is doing something that disturbs the religious crowd. He is actually baptising people. So in verse 24 they come back on him once more and they have a third interrogation on this first day.

Verse 25 – “Why do you baptise then?” They were saying, “You have no authority from us, no religious connection, you have not graduated from a seminary, you have never gone to school, have had no education, no training.” The only thing that John was doing was performing acts of baptism. Were they baptising? No. But remember that out by the brazen altar was also a brazen laver in which was water. Whenever the priest performed any kind of function before he went into the tabernacle he washed his hands and his feet at the brazen laver. Then he went into the tabernacle and later on into the temple. This was a ritual which taught rebound, that you cannot learn spiritual things unless you are in fellowship; but the ritual itself, the washing of the hands and the feet belonged to the priesthood. They had never performed baptism, but here was John converting the brazen laver into a ritual – a ritual authorised by God because Jesus Christ Himself was baptised a little later on. Now the water is taken out of the laver because the water is in the Jordan, and he is baptising people in the Jordan to show this is announcing that Jesus Christ is going to bring a new kingdom, a kingdom made up of priests. Jesus Christ is the high priest and there will be a kingdom of priests. This is another reason why John does not claim his priesthood. He is the forerunner, the herald of the new high priest after the order of Melchizedek, and everyone who believes in Christ is going to be in His regenerate kingdom and they will be a kingdom of priests, and so on. So there was a reason why John performed acts of baptism. Baptism as he performed it had never been accomplished before. Nowhere in the whole history of Israel had someone been taken to the Jordan River and immersed in it.

We know exactly where he was doing this, by the way. He was doing this at the spot where Joshua crossed the Jordan when the water was parted. While the water was parted and the ark stood on the riverbed Joshua had men pick up twelve rocks and take them out of the riverbed and stack them in a monument. Then he took twelve rocks on the shore and put them back in the riverbed. This speaks of current and retroactive positional truth. We are identified with Christ in His death so we have the rocks put into the river so that when the water went back it covered them. This is the place of death. The rocks, which were taken out, were put in Gilgal, the place of life, and that means current positional truth. Gilgal is the place of eternity, the circle [top circle], and is a picture of the fact that we as believers at the point of salvation enter into union with Christ. In the very spot that Joshua did that John performed his acts of baptism. He was doing the same thing that Joshua did. Joshua was taking rocks out and putting rocks in. John was substituting people for rocks, putting people in the water here and bringing them out again. So there is a relationship between the ministry of Joshua with the rocks and the ministry of John the Baptist with the people. So where does he get his authority? He gets his authority from the Word. Note verse 28 – “These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan.” Bethabara means “the place/house of the ford.” This is the place where the Jews crossed the Jordan.

Verse 26 – “John answered them, saying, I baptise with water.” Why should he baptise with water? Because he is teaching them the same lesson that Joshua taught at the same spot. The baptism of John was saying in effect, down with human good and up with divine good; down with legalism, up with grace. He goes on to explain that this is just a ritual, a ritual by which doctrine is taught.

“but there standeth one among you [back at Jerusalem really], whom ye know not” – “ye know not” here means “you will not believe Him” – negative volition, not just ignorance.

“whose shoe laces I am not worthy to untie” – He is so great that I am not worthy to even touch the laces on His sandals. Here is occupation with Christ.

Verse 28 – this is stated here by the Holy Spirit for a reason in day one of the diary: so that you can understand what John the Baptist understood. John the Baptist took believers and baptised them. He was stating the principle of the grace of God and the plan of God. In the plan of God there is no place for human good, there is only place for divine good. God provides the divine operating assets whereby divine good can be produced.

Verse 29, the second day of the diary. “The next day” means the next day consecutively. Between the words “coming unto him” and “saith” there is a gap. He sees Jesus coming to him [to John]. Jesus came for the purpose of being baptised but the Gospel of John does not mention the baptism. The reason for that is very simple. The Gospel of John is the Gospel of the Son of God; it emphasises the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only the synoptic gospels actually mention the baptism of Jesus. The water represents the will of God the Father which existed from eternity past, and immediately when Jesus went into the water He was saying, “I will do the will of the Father.” The water represents the will of the Father; He was willing to go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. This is the significance of the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptised and there was a conversation between them. All of that was omitted because it was not the objective of the fourth Gospel to delineate those things pertaining to His humanity. John emphasises the deity of Christ.

John’s Gospel is the only one that mentions anything about the dispensation of the Church. Jesus Christ had a two-fold ministry. In addition to announcing salvation He clarifies certain doctrinal issues with regard to the dispensation of Israel, all of which is emphasised in the synoptics. But when you come to the Gospel of John there is an emphasis on Jesus Christ as a prophet, and as a prophet He is the first person to declare the dispensation of the Church – chapters 14-17.

The gap is where the Lord Jesus was actually baptised, and after He came out of the water we read in Matthew 3:17 that the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” From that John knew that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the God-Man, the unique person of the universe. Therefore, as Jesus Christ was walking out of the water and away there were many disciples gathered there. And John turned to the crowd there, and pointing to Jesus Christ he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” This is the genitive of source here and it should be translated “the Lamb from God.” John was saying that the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament portrayed the cross where the sins of the world were poured out upon Christ. Every animal sacrifice in the Old Testament simply pointed to the cross. This would not occur for three more years but John recognised that this was the one about whom he had been speaking. So consequently the Lamb of God ties the cross into the Levitical sacrifices and indicates that Jesus Christ is the one who would spiritually die for our sins. Here is the fulfilment of the Levitical offerings. The Levitical offerings merely communicated the gospel. They communicated the gospel to people who could see even though they couldn’t read. They could understand the animal dying, and so on.

The word to “take away” is a present active participle of the verb a)irw which means to lift up, the bear, to carry. It does not mean to take away our sins, it means to lift up our sins and bear them. It means to pick up a burden. So Jesus Christ, as it were, picked up our sins and carried the burden of them. The “sin of the world” is, of course, unlimited atonement – 1Corinthians 5:14,15,19; 1Timothy 2:6; 4:10; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:9; 2Peter er 2:1; 1John 2:2.

Verses 30-34, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, John the Baptist has focused attention on the one who is the only saviour. John the Baptist is the herald of the first advent and in the second day of his diary this is exactly what he is doing.

Verse 30 – “This is he” is “This keeps on being the one of whom I have communicated.” John’s whole ministry dealt with the person of Christ. Now he sees the subject of his message face to face and he now calls attention to the crowd that this is the one.

“After me cometh a man” – this is what he has been telling the people. It is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. “ ... who is preferred before me.” The word “preferred” is ginomai which has to do with the humanity of Christ. The next verb is e)imi which has to do with the deity of Christ. “He came to pass [ginomai] before me,” – this is precedent. In other words, the humanity of Christ has precedence over any person who has ever lived. It also says at the end of the verse, “for he was before me,” and this is the verb e)imi in the imperfect tense, and it indicates His eternal existence. Once again we have the uniqueness of the person of Christ, He is the God-Man – “for he kept on existing before me.”

Verse 31 – “And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel” – he didn’t know which person it would be [‘but now I know’], “therefore I am come baptising with water.” This explains why John was the first person who ever baptised and why baptism was not used in the Old Testament. The herald of the King was to keep on baptising believers until one came to him for baptism who did not need baptism, and whose baptism would be unique. So baptism was not only to portray the principle of the plan of God in grace – down with human good and up with divine good – but baptism of John was to find the person whom he had been announcing; to identify the person. He would keep on baptising until the Messiah came, and when He came he was to announce it. And that is what he has done. So day two of the diary is the day when the Messiah came to him personally for baptism.

Verse 32 – “John gave witness.” This is the aorist tense of a verb which means to witness. “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.” What did John see when Jesus came out of the water? No one else saw it but John, and when he saw it he knew that this was the identification mark and that this was the God-Man, the Messiah.

Verse 33 – John is saying his baptism is a ritual baptism which involves water. This water was used to identify the Christ, the Messiah; but the Christ is going to have a real baptism. This real baptism is an actual identification. It will not occur until after the cross, resurrection and ascension. Ten days after His ascension the Holy Spirit will descend (Acts 2:3) on the believers gathered in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit will descend on them just as the Holy Spirit descended on Christ at the Jordan River on the second day of John’s diary. And on that day He will take every one of those believers in the upper room and He will enter them into union with Christ, and that is the beginning of the Church Age. So here, then, is the real baptism. Jesus Himself, just before He ascended, said in Acts 1:5, “John truly baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.” And Peter said after the Gentile Pentecost in Acts 11:15,16 that what happened in Acts 1:5 was fulfilled here.

“And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptise with water, the same [God the Father] said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining in him, the same one [Christ] is he who baptises by means of the Holy Spirit[1].”

Verse 34 – “And I saw, and bare record that this keeps on being the Son of God.” Always was; always will be. That is the end of day two.

Verse 35 begins day three and goes through verse 42.

Verse 35 – “And again the next day after John stood” – the next day he is standing and preaching again -- “and two of his disciples.” The two of his disciples are Andrew and John. They are not mentioned at this point, they are mentioned later on in the context. Andrew is Peter’s brother and John is the writer of this Gospel who also has a brother named James. They are going to illustrate the principle of personal evangelism.

Verse 36 – “Behold the Lamb from God.” This is a repetition of his message without apologies.

Verse 37 – “and the two disciples heard him speak.” Jesus came back this next day to pick up two of John’s disciples, Andrew and John, the writer of this Gospel. As He left John said “Behold the Lamb from God,” and two people left the crowd and started to follow Jesus. And John the Baptist is a great man. He is delighted for these two. John understood that Jesus was the Lamb from God and he knew that if any of his flock left and went with Jesus they were in better hands.

Verse 38 – “What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi” – which means, “You have the authority,” one who teaches the Word of God authoritatively, and yet they haven’t heard Him speak yet. But John’s recommendation was all that was necessary. “(which is, being interpreted, Master).

“where dwellest thou?” Where can we find you? Idiomatically they said, “We want to be with you.”

Verse 39 – “Come and see.” He didn’t give them and address. “They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.” Who would know it was the tenth hour? John, who was writing this. And he never forgot that day. John always used Roman time; this was 10am. The synoptic Gospels use Jewish time.

Verse 40 – contact evangelism. “We have found the Messiah [Hebrew], which is, being interpreted [in the Greek], the Christ.”

Verse 41 -- He brought Peter to Jesus. “Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A Stone.” He is just going to be a little pebble. He is a fisherman; he knows that when you throw a pebble out in the water it drops out of sight. He said to Peter that he was just a little pebble that was going to drop out of sight. He meant that although it was going to take a long time He was going to straighten Peter and then build him up again. That is one of the greatest stories and manifestations of grace in the New Testament. Peter learned everything the hard way.

Verse 43 – begins the fourth and final day of the diary. Philip is going to teach is contact evangelism. He doesn’t know Nathanael but eventually he is going to contact Nathanael and bring him to the Lord.

Verse 45 – Andrew went to his brother whom he knew; Philip went to Nathanael in another city, a person whom he had not met before.

Verse 46 – Nathanael immediately has some doubts about this. Apparently he has studied the scriptures and he knows that the Messiah must come from Bethlehem, that He must be related to David. Philip says “Jesus of Nazareth” and this brings the question from Nathanael.

Verse 47 – “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” In other words, here is an honest person.

Verse 48 – “How did you know me?” Jesus answered, “Before that Philip invited you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Verse 49 – “Rabbi [you are the authority], thou art the Son of God: thou art the King of Israel.”

Verse 50-51 – Jesus mentions seeing this for one reason. When this man believed the angelic conflict went into gear, as it always does when a person believes.

[1] The word “Ghost”: When the King James Version was translated they picked scholars, not Christians. They were 50 professors of Greek and Hebrew from three schools: Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster. Two died, so 48 actually did it. There are a lot of words that are translated two different ways in the Bible; pneuma is one of them. The word means “spirit” because in the Greek language there is no such thing as a ghost. They don’t even have a word for “ghost.” The closest is an Attic Greek word which existed several centuries before and it means “shades,” but not even a ghost. But the Oxford men translated pneuma “spirit.” The Cambridge men translated it “ghost.” Ghost and Spirit are always the same word without exception throughout the entire New Testament.

Chapter 2

This is the story of Jesus speaking to social opposition, and Jesus Christ has an answer for religious opposition. There are two areas of life where Jesus Christ received opposition during His earthly ministry – social and religious. Basically they are the same thing because the religious crowd criticised Him because of His friends and the people with whom He dined. He dined with the prostitutes and the tax collectors, the ostracised part of the Jewish society. They didn’t like it and they said so. We have in this one chapter put together two things that do not occur chronologically. The first miracle that Jesus performed is turning water into wine, and that is a chronological event. It actually occurred at the first part of His ministry. But we have also in this chapter something which is not chronological. The next event in His ministry was not casting out the moneychangers. It is put together to show that it is always the religious crowd who criticises the social life of the relaxed crowd. The chronological event comes first and then the logical. The logical always follows the chronological in the scriptures to indicate a relationship. Jesus answers society; Jesus answers religion.

Verse 1 – “And the third day” is three days following John 1:43 which was the fourth day of the diary. It was probably on the Wednesday afternoon of the fourth day of the week in which this occurs. Traditionally in that day weddings of virgins occurred on Wednesdays. Apparently this was a very large wedding feast at which there were hundreds of people involved as wedding guests.

“the mother of Jesus” – the mother of the humanity of Christ. Mary is not the mother of God. At the moment Jesus only has six disciples, those who came out of the four-day diary. They included Andrew, Peter, James John, Philip and Nathanael. Jesus was late to the wedding because He had just arrived in town. The words “the mother of Jesus was there” is in the imperfect tense, which means she had been there since the beginning of the wedding feast.

Verse 2 – “Jesus was called.” The Greek says, “invited.” This is an aorist tense, which means word had been left to come as soon as He arrived.

Verse 3 -- Now the crisis. The feast had been in progress for some time; Jesus had arrived just as the wine ran out. There was no accident about the time of His arrival. The word “they” means Jesus and His six disciples. This doesn’t necessarily imply that Jesus Himself drank; it doesn’t say yes or no.

“the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.” At this point Mary is saying withdraw. She is telling Jesus and these disciples to leave because there is no more wine and the ceremony cannot be followed, it is a time for everyone to leave otherwise the bride and groom are going to be in a very embarrassing situation. The wedding feast is still going on and they are out of wine.

Verse 4 – “Woman,” gunh. This is a very strong rebuke. He doesn’t say “mother,” He says “woman.” Everything Jesus said during His lifetime He said either from His deity, His humanity, or His hypostatic union. This came from His deity. While Mary is the mother of the humanity of Jesus, Jesus Christ is the God of Mary. As Mary’s God He said to her “Woman” – rebuke.

“what do I have to do with thee?” is not what He said at all. He said, “What is this to you and me?” The fact that they are out of wine doesn’t mean anything to you and to me. This indicated, if anything, that neither Jesus nor Mary drank. This seems to be the only conclusion that we can draw from that phrase. Remember that from the human viewpoint Mary is just another woman and she is definitely at this point a woman out of line. In effect, “What is the loss of wine to us?” Mary hinted that they should depart because there was no wine, but Jesus rebuked her. But He really had another reason. The rebuke, as is so often from God when He rebukes us, is to drive us to the faith-rest technique. This is exactly what Jesus did to her; He drove her to faith-rest. All rebuke from God is to stimulate the faith-rest technique -- as well as rebound, of course

The techniques will not cause the believer to grow up spiritually; only knowledge of doctrine will do that. The techniques are designed to carry the believer while he is learning doctrine so he can grow up.

And when Mary heard this rebuke, who knew doctrine, who was sensitive to the fact that her human son was also her God, her saviour, was therefore stimulated immediately and switched from the human viewpoint to the faith-rest principle.

“mine hour is not yet come.” “Mine hour” refers to the cross. No wine means let’s depart. Jesus rebuked her, “What does wine mean to you and to me? It doesn’t mean a thing. Our happiness doesn’t depend on wine.” Then He said, “It isn’t time for me to depart, it isn’t time for the cross.” It is time to put a light on the cross for all of the miracles of Jesus were designed to focus attention on the cross, to focus attention on who and what Jesus Christ is. She said let’s go and He said it isn’t time for Him to go. In the plan of God Jesus had to do certain things, it was no accident that He was there and they were out of wine. He has come not simply to provide wine and therefore to save the day, which He does, but He has come to leave His calling card to the human race. His calling card is a miracle.

Verse 5 -- “His mother saith to the servants.” She didn’t have to say another thing because she knew Bible doctrine. The rebuke brought her back into focus immediately. She immediately moved on and turned to the servants there. Now she is operating on the faith-rest technique. She had no idea how He was going to present His calling card but she knew that something was about to happen and she had all the faith-rest in the world. At this point she brings her Bible doctrine into play, the doctrine starts flowing again and therefore the mentality of her soul came up with an answer – orientation to the plan of God. And the volition of her soul made a decision. Words were formed in her mind and uttered by her lips. “Whatever he says, do it.”

From the human standpoint it was hopeless, there was no way to get wine there. Therefore there was nothing more she could do except “run away.” And when Jesus said to her, “Woman,” it was like saying turn around and face the issue, I am here. And Jesus Christ says that to you and to me many times. When you start to hit that panic button He says, “Fear thou not, I am with thee.”

Verse 6 – “six water pots of stone.” These water pots were used for washing feet and hands; this was the custom of the Jews.

“two or three firkins apiece” is old English. It should be between two and three firkins, which simply means 20 gallons. So there is a total of 120 gallons. The pots are empty at this moment.

Verse 7 – “Fill them up with water. And they filled them up to the brim.”

Verse 8 – “Draw out now and take to the governor of the feast.” In other words, whenever you opened another wineskin, as it were, a new bottle of wine it was customary in the ancient world for the governor of the feast to taste it first to see if it was all right. Then he gave the instructions to serve it.

Verse 9 – “the water that was made,” perfect passive participle of ginomai: “which had become.”

“called the bridegroom” – in order to compliment him.

Verse 11 – “This beginning” means that this was His first miracle; “manifested his glory” – He left His calling card that He is God.

“and his disciples believed on him” – the iterative aorist means that they had previously believed, before they came. They didn’t believe because they saw the miracles, they had already believed. That is the whole reason for the miracle.

How many water pots? Six. How many disciples? Six. One disciple; one water pot. When Jesus found them they were empty. So into them went water. Water represents symbolically in scripture three things: a) salvation, as per Isaiah 55:1; b) the Word, Ephesians 5:26; c) the Holy Spirit, John 7:37,39. This would be true of all six. They were all water pots, empty when Christ found them just as we were when Christ found us. Those water pots weren’t doing a thing, they were non-functional. When Jesus finds us, we are totally useless, out of the plan of God, helpless, hopeless and we have nothing to recommend us. “Stone” here means everything that is negative, like hardheaded – cold, useless, worthless. First they were saved. Next they are going to take in the Word, they are going to have the power of the Spirit. And what happens? Then you have wine. And wine represents happiness, inner stimulation, inner happiness, inner peace, inner power. And that will be true of all six.

Verse 12-17 – Jesus expresses His attitude toward religion. The purpose of Christ’s mission aroused all the antagonism of religion. Now we begin with the activities of religion in relationship to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having presented Himself as the only saviour, as the God-Man, in turning the water into wine He now presents Himself as the one who is totally opposed to religion.

Verse 12 – they were at Capernaum for a very short period of rest, and then on to Jerusalem in verse 13.

Verse 13 – “And the Jews’ Passover was at hand.” Notice the designation, “the Jews’ Passover.” In Exodus 12:11 it was called the Lord’s Passover but the Passover has now been infiltrated by religion. The Jews have converted that which spoke of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, His work on the cross, into a religious ceremony. This is the way religion works. It infiltrates the truth; it distorts the truth; it uses ritual in order to obscure the truth.

Verse 14 – the corruption of the temple. The word “sitting” means that they were actually doing business in the temple. Remember the temple was the place where Christology was taught. This is the Old Testament Christology presented. The articles in the temple were similar to the articles in the tabernacle and each article was a reminder of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have the principle that the temple represents the whole realm of Christology, but now it has been distorted by religion. It has now become a place for a religious con game; we have the moneychangers working there in the name of religion. So the temple which had once been the way of presenting the Lord Jesus Christ has now become a place of rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The issue has now to be clarified in the temple before Jesus Christ can begin His earthly ministry. This was the place for clarification. In other words, the world must be removed from the temple before the temple can reach the world with the gospel. Fir the temple had those objects in it which were designed to present the gospel in Old Testament fashion before the cross actually occurred historically.

When it says they are moneychangers they are not changing money, they are actually selling animal sacrifices at exorbitant prices, making up to 90-95% profit. They also had to split their profits with the religious organization who gave them the opportunity of doing business in the temple. They bought their franchise from the scribes and Pharisees, the religious crowd. So they received their concession from the Sanhedrin and the Sanhedrin then took a percentage of the profits. While this might have been legitimate business in other circumstances and in other places it was neither legitimate nor the right thing to do in the temple. It helped to obscure the principle of Christology and the doctrine of Christology. So we find that the spiritual has been replaced by the religious; and the religious, of course, comes around to gimmicks for making money. Times have not changed. Religion is just as much in the business of seeking to gain money, thinking about money, using pressure and gimmicks to get money, as in times of old. Religion today is just as vicious as it ever was.

There is a parallel passage in Matthew 21:12ff in which we have the cleansing of the temple described from Matthew’s viewpoint. While the Matthew account gives it chronologically John puts it in a logical place. From the very start of His ministry Jesus Christ was opposed by religion. The religious crowd is represented by the Sanhedrin.

Verse 15 – “he drove them all out of the temple.” There is one exception, the person who sells doves. He invited him to leave; everyone else was driven out violently. Verse 16 – here is the only exception.

Verse 17 – His disciples remembered the scripture, a quotation from Psalm 16:9. “The zeal of thine house” is literally, “The zeal that belongs to [or for] my house.” This is an objective genitive. In other words, the Lord was zealous for His own house. He was zealous for the cleansing of the temple which is the house of God.

Verses 18-22, He is now challenged by religion. He left His calling card in the northern part of the country by turning the water into wine. He leaves His calling card in Jerusalem in an entirely different way. One was a miracle that brought happiness; the other was a violent act which brought discouragement to the religious crowd.

Verse 18 – the religious crowd accepting the challenge. The words “the Jews” always refers to the religious crowd. “What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?” In other words, “What is your authority?”

Verse 19 – here is my sign. If you want to know what my authority is, listen to this. “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” He was referring to His body. Apparently He pointed to His body. The word “this” would indicate that. They assumed immediately that He was speaking of the temple which He had just cleansed.

Verse 20 – this immediately aroused their antagonism. “Forty and six years” does not refer to the time of Zerubabbel, it refers to Herod’s redoing the temple.

Verse 21 – “But this he spake of the temple of his body.” This is in the imperfect tense, He kept on saying. In other words, He said more than is reported here. He was actually talking about the sign of the resurrection, not the sign of rasing up the temple or rebuilding the temple after it was totally destroyed.

Verse 22 – it was after the resurrection that the disciples really became serious about doctrine. Jesus Christ taught His disciples for three years but without any success. They learned very little, if anything. But just as soon as Christ was resurrected they snapped. Immediately they began to put things together and in place, because the Old Testament has a great deal to say about resurrection Psalm 16; Daniel 12, Isaiah 26, etc.

“then they believed the scriptures” – that was the first time that they used any faith-rest technique. It was the resurrection that cranked up their faith-rest technique. There had to be some catastrophe – His death. He came out of the catastrophe through resurrection and the whole thing just snapped them right in place and they began to use the F/R technique and to apply Bible doctrine to experience. So the resurrection was the sign which would pay off later on. But at this time the six disciples that Jesus has with Him are obviously not getting much out of this.

“and they believed the scripture, and the words which Jesus had said” – they didn’t believe anything that He taught until after the resurrection.

Verse 23 – “many believed in his name.” Aorist tense, in a point of time. They saw His calling card, they responded to it and they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. His name means His person.

“when they saw the miracles that he was doing” – imperfect linear aktionsart. He kept on performing miracles. There were many people there who were alert and who realised that this was the Messiah, the God-Man, the only saviour, and they believed in Him.

Verse 24 – “But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, because he knew all.” The word “believe” here means to entrust. It is in the perfect tense and it means He refused to put Himself in their hands. They said, “Since you are the King put yourself in our hands and we will see that you are made ruler.” People came with a temptation. The devil came with a similar temptation. But He did not put Himself in their hands because they did not have the ability to make Him King.

Verse 25 – He knew all about the sin nature and He was not about to be taken in by this type of activity.

Miracles

1. God is sovereign and the universe does His bidding. E.g. water into wine.

2. Our so-called scientific laws do not exist.

3. They are not laws because science has no way of enforcing them or even guaranteeing that they will continue to operate in the same manner.

4. As a matter of fact, the universe with matter, energy and laws will not always exist in its present form. Revelation 20:11; 2Peter er 3:10-12.

5. The universe follows a pattern, not because science says so but because God is faithful in keeping it that way. In other words, scientific laws simply reflect the faithfulness of God. Every scientific text is a treatise on the immutability and resultant faithfulness of God.

6. Who keeps the universe operating on a fixed pattern? The answer is found in Colossians 1:17 – the Lord Jesus Christ.

7. How does He do it? By His Word – Hebrews 1:3. The God of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ who keeps everything operating according to a fixed pattern, can at any time overrule His own laws for a specific purpose. Throughout the book of John He overrules for a specific purpose. It is the calling card, the specific presentation of Himself. It is the means by which many will be alerted to the gospel and will respond by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

8. Why does the Lord do it? Why does the Lord keep everything operating? The answer is found in Hebrews 2:10 – to bring many sons into glory.

9. The laws of the universe merely define God’s faithfulness in time. The only thing that we have that is unchangeable is the Word of God, the promises of God, and the doctrines.

10. If you ever doubt that the Lord might not be faithful in fulfilling a promise that you have claimed by faith just remember that you are on this earth and cannot fall off, and that His faithfulness in no way is changed by your doubts. The very laws of the universe which seem to be the basis of our present stability are going to change at the right and proper time. But there is a change that occurs right now in contrast to these laws, i.e. our own doubts. We change every hour on the hour without Bible doctrine, we are unstable. Therefore, the so-called scientific laws, along with Bible doctrine, are designed to make us aware of the faithfulness of God and the grace of God. And by becoming so oriented we are stabilised and unchanging – the doubts do not move into the mentality of the soul and therefore a soul kink is avoided.

Chapter 3

In chapter three we have a personal attack of religion. This man seems to have been sincere in his seeking but immediately his sincerity is doubted for one reason. He starts to give Jesus a lot of lip.

Verse 1 – “Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.” He was a Pharisee, a do-gooder.

Verse 2 – “The same” is literally, “The same one.”

“came to Jesus by night” – not because he was ashamed but because his day was filled with religious activity. During the day he was too busy doing good, being religious. He was full of religiosity.

“Rabbi” – this means “Doctor.” He gave Jesus recognition, but he is being condescending; “we know” – he is emphasising his own self-importance, he is referring to “we Pharisees” and to himself in particular.

“thou art a teacher come from God” – he had to say “from God” because there wasn’t any way he could get around it. Why? Not because he recognised Christ as the God-Man -- he doesn’t.

“no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” The word “except” is a 3rd class condition – If God be with him, maybe He is and maybe He is not. The 3rd class condition expresses his own doubt. So Nicodemus was a doubter. Nicodemus either on his own or sent by the Sanhedrin had come to spy out the land, had come to get further information. So far the Sanhedrin was helpless because of the tremendous volume of miracles that were being performed. Therefore it was a rather difficult situation.

Verse 3 – Jesus interrupted. Jesus broke right in with “Verily, verily,” which means here comes doctrine. Jesus gives a doctrinal answer.

“Except a man be born again.” The words “born again” mean to be born from above. The Greek adverb is a)nwqen and it really means “from above.” This is the one thing that Nicodemus didn’t get, didn’t understand. From above is obviously a spiritual birth and the word a)nwqen connotes a spiritual birth.

“he cannot see the kingdom of God” – he understood ‘kingdom of God,’ it was a theological designation for the eternal kingdom, for being the possessor of eternal life. It was a part of Judaistic theology. This was clear to Nicodemus, but that is all he understood.

Verse 4 – Nicodemus now shows what a smart Alec he is. “How can a man be born when he is old?” He isn’t even listening to that “from above.”

“can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born” – this is sarcastically said. Jesus didn’t even say anything about being born again, He said “born from above.” This man is religious and he cannot think in terms of spiritual truth.

Verse 5 – Jesus ignores his sarcasm, the fact that he is a smart Alec, and He gives him an answer to show the distinction between physical and spiritual birth. Nicodemus is an unbeliever. How are you going to tell an unbeliever that you are talking about a spiritual birth? The only way to do it is to make a distinction, and so Jesus takes this man’s vocabulary – this man is religious and has ritual, and in his ritual he has water. Water is used in the laver and water was used in the tabernacle and later on in the temple as a ritual purification. So water has a spiritual connotation to a Pharisee. So Jesus has to think of a term that connotes something spiritual – water.

“Except a man be born of water” – water is used to alert this man to the fact that this is a spiritual birth, not a physical birth. Water has a spiritual connotation to the Pharisees.

“and of the Spirit” – the Holy Spirit; “he cannot enter the kingdom of God” – so we have to be born of water and of the Spirit. The water has three spiritual connotations: a) for salvation – Isaiah 55:1; b) the water of the Word – Ephesians 5:26; the water of the Holy Spirit – John 7:39.

Since the word “Spirit” is mentioned it is the water of the Word that is involved here. We know it is the water of the Word because in 1Peter er 1:23 we are said to be born again or regenerated by the Word. So by comparing Ephesians 5:26 with 1Peter er 1:23 we know that the word “water” here refers to the Word, and specifically in the Word, the content of the gospel. Jesus has an immediate purpose for using the word “water” – to make him realise that this is a spiritual birth.

Verse 6 – an illustration to show that He is talking about a spiritual birth. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” That takes care of being born from the mother’s womb; “and that which is born from the Spirit is spiritual.” Two births illustrated. Titus 3:5 also indicates the Holy Spirit also has a part in regeneration.

Verse 7 – “Marvel not,” an aorist imperative which means don’t be shocked, “when I tell you, You must be born from above.”

So here is Jesus dealing with religion. What does religion need? Religion needs a spiritual birth.

Verse 8 – Jesus illustrates once more by showing that a spiritual thing is not something you can see” “so is everyone that is born from the Spirit.” Titus 3:5, the Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration.

Verse 9 – “How can these things be?” Literally, “How are these things able to come to pass?” The word for “be” is actually ginomai which means to come to pass. In other words, he has just said “I don’t know anything about the plan of God.

Verse 10 -- Jesus is going to give him some mechanics. He starts out with a little bit of sarcasm. In effect, “Did you graduate from a theological seminary and you didn’t learn this?” “Master of Israel” is his degree which he received when he graduated from one of the seminaries.

Verse 11 – the point of doctrine, “Verily, verily.”

“We speak” – you didn’t have a seminary professor who could speak with authority. When He says “we” He is identifying Himself with the disciples when the disciples learn after the resurrection. In the meantime He speaks for everyone. The word for “speak” means to communicate, present linear aktionsart of the verb lalew.

“what we know” – you have to know something to communicate something. To communicate doctrine you have to know doctrine.

“and testify [witness] what we have seen” – this means to see in the Word. Perfect tense: keep on testifying, keep on speaking.

“and you receive not our witness” – He accuses religion of negative volition, and for that reason His explanation of the gospel will be short and to the point.

What does this do to Nicodemus? He pricks up his ears, his eyes bulge, and he begins to listen.

Verse 12 – “If I tell you things on the earth, and you do not believe them, how shall you believe if I tell you things in heaven?” Notice the difference in that translation from one in the KJV. The first “if” is a first class condition – if, and it is true. The second “if” is a third class condition – maybe yes, maybe no. If He tells them in heaven is maybe He will and maybe He won’t.

The point of that verse is: “You are hearing now how to get to heaven but you may not make it.”

Verse 13 – at the time Jesus spoke no man had ascended up to heaven; “but he that came down from heaven [virgin birth], even the Son of man who keep so n being in Heaven.” What he is saying to Nicodemus is that while He is standing there talking to him He was in heaven right now. What is He saying? “I am the God-Man. I am a human being talking to you but I am also deity and omnipresent.”

Verse 14 – He doesn’t go into a detailed explanation of the gospel, He doesn’t have to because He is talking to a theological graduate who knows all about Moses and the serpent and the implications of it. The people who looked up at that serpent of brass lived; the people who didn’t died. They died of snake bite. The venom of the snake represents sin. The solution to sin was the cross and those who looked up [illustration of believing] were saved/delivered.

Verse 15 – “That whosoever” – any member of the human race – “believeth,” the present active participle of the verb pisteuw to indicate that faith in Christ is always the way of salvation.

“should not perish” – aorist subjunctive. It means in a point of time when the judgement takes place. The subjunctive means that this is a potential thing depending upon faith.

“but” – present tense, linear aktionsart, “keep on having eternal life.” Eternal life is not something you get at the point of faith; it is something you keep on having.

Verse 16 – Jesus is still talking to Nicodemus. “For God” – o( qeoj refers to the first person of the Trinity who is the author of the divine plan, operation grace. A perfect plan comes from the perfect character of God. Everything that we will ever need in time is comprised in this one phrase in the Greek, “the God.” He knew in eternity past every sin we would ever commit. He made provision for all of these sins by sending His Son who was judged for these sins on the cross. He knew every failure we would ever have in phase two and therefore He provided the technique of rebound. He knew every suffering, every frustration, every heartache, every difficulty which we would ever encounter and therefore He made in His perfect plan provision for every situation in this life, so that there will never be a trial, a testing, a suffering or adversity which is too great for the plan of God.

“so loved” – aorist active indicative of a)gapaw. The aorist tense refers to eternity past when “the God” loved you. He had a mental attitude love which preceded the action, which is the cross. The active voice: the Father produces the action of the verb – mental attitude love. The indicative mood is the reality of God’s love. But God’s love for the unbelieving human race is centred and focused on the cross. It is true that God is love, and because God is love the cross exists. When a member of the human race bypasses the cross or rejects Christ as saviour he is the object of divine wrath, not love.

“the world” – kosmoj. God loves those who are incapable of loving Him. We are born without the equipment to love God.

“that” introduces a result clause. When God has a mental attitude the mental attitude always produces a result; “he gave” – mental attitude love gives. This is the aorist active indicative of the verb didomi, the basic verb of grace. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, which means it is a point of time that covers 33 years, from the virgin birth to the ascension. Active voice: God did the giving because God did the loving. The indicative mood is the reality of this giving.

“his only begotten Son” – it doesn’t say that at all. A literal translation is: “the Son, the only born.” The word for “only born” is monogenhj. Christ is the only member of the human race born without a sin nature. Adam was created minus a sin nature; he is called the first Adam. The last Adam was born minus a sin nature.

“that” introduces a purpose clause. God had a purpose in giving us His only born Son. God had to give us Jesus Christ by way of the virgin birth, by way of the cross.

“whosoever” means any member of the human race; anyone – doctrine of unlimited atonement; “believeth” – present active participle of the verb pisteuw. Pisteuw means a non-meritorious system of perception. This is a dramatic present tense. The most dramatic moment in your life is the moment you are born again. The active voice: you have to believe for yourself. No one else can do it for you. This is also a participle of precedence. The participle means that since the beginning of time every person who has ever been saved in the history of the human race was saved in exactly the same way – by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is always the object of faith in salvation.

“in him” – “him” is the pronoun referring to Jesus Christ, the gift. He is the object of faith in salvation – Acts 16:31.

“shall not perish” – the word “perish” is a)pollumi [a)po = preposition of ultimate source; ollumi = to die or to destroy] which means to destroy from the ultimate source of yourself. This tells us that every person who goes to hell goes to hell from the ultimate source of himself, not from the source of God. God never sent anyone to hell; man goes to hell because he rejects Christ. In other words, all members of the human race have a chance. This is an aorist middle subjunctive. In this case “shall not perish,” to destroy yourself from the ultimate source of yourself, here means the final judgement. It means standing at the last judgement because you have rejected Christ. There is a negative mh here which says you won’t do this. The aorist tense refers to a point of time, the last judgement – the great white throne judgement of Revelation 20. The middle voice indicates benefit. You are benefited by not destroying yourself from the ultimate source of yourself. This is a subjunctive mood and the subjunctive mood generally indicates a potential. In this case the subjunctive mood is the mood which is used with a purpose clause, and it indicates that it is God’s purpose never to judge with the lake of fire any person who accepts Christ as saviour – Romans 8:1. That is the negative side. You will never destroy yourself from the ultimate source of yourself; it is impossible. You are in the plan of God now.

“but have everlasting life” – the word for ‘have’ here is e)xw. It is in the present tense which means you keep on having everlasting life. The active voice: you have everlasting life for yourself. Subjunctive mood: it is God’s purpose for you to have everlasting life; this is a part of the purpose clause. This means you are in the plan of God forever.

Verse 17. Again this verse begins with the phrase “the God” – God the Father, first person of the Trinity; “sent not” – the verb is a)postellw which means to send. God the Father sent the Son from the ultimate source of Himself. It was a sovereign decision in eternity past; “to condemn” – aorist active indicative. He didn’t send Him in a point of time to condemn you, He sent Him in a point of time to save you. Active voice: the Father sent the Son not to condemn but to save. The indicative mood: the reality of the Son coming not to condemn but to save. This is literally, “The God sent not the Son,” and “the Son” simply refers back to the uniqueness of Christ, the God-Man. The word “condemn” means to judge – krinw. Jesus Christ was not sent to judge, He was really sent to save. Present active subjunctive: to keep on judging.

“but”— conjunction of contrast, “that the world [kosmoj – reference to people born with old sin natures, spiritually dead] through him [through the instrumentality of Him] might be saved” – aorist passive subjunctive. Aorist tense: point of time when you believe. Passive voice: we receive salvation; we do not earn it or deserve it. The subjunctive mood goes with the purpose clause, and it is God’s purpose that we might be saved.

Verse 18 – “He that believeth” is a present active participle again to indicate that salvation is always the same; “on him [on Christ] is not judged” – present passive indicative: “does not receive judgement [at the last judgement].”

“but” – conjunction of contrast, “he that believeth not has been judged already.” Notice: “is not judged; has been judged.” The words “has been judged already” is perfect passive indicative. This is the perfect tense, so we have a point of time which starts something. He went on negative signals at this point and that negative signal, if it continues until his death, means he will be earmarked for the last judgment. The passive voice: he receives this judgment. The indicative mood is the reality of that judgment.

“because he has not believed in the name” – the word “name” stands for the person – “of the only begotten [monogenhj = only born] Son of God.”

Verse 19 – “And this is the condemnation [judgment]. The word for “judgment” is krisij. Nouns have suffixes; ij means the act of judging.

“that light is come into the world” – the reason that He is called light is because He is manifest as the saviour and everyone can see the light. Perfect tense: has come in the past with the result the light is always there – salvation, gospel message.

“men loved darkness rather than light” – “men” is the Greek word a)nqrwpoj which is generic man, man and woman, man born under the kosmoj system; “loved” here is a)gapaw used for the unbeliever. This is a mental attitude love; “darkness” is not the ordinary word for darkness, it is skotoj and it means moral darkness. But it means more than moral darkness, it means the old sin nature. This really refers to the lust pattern and the human good. It is their “deeds” that they love, and these deeds come from the old sin nature’s area of strength.

“because their deeds” – the deeds that come from the old sin nature “are evil” – reference to something that comes from the old sin nature, ponhroj. Human good comes from the old sin nature.

So mankind rejects the work of Christ because it prefers its own work, it what this says.

 “And this is the condemnation.” The word “condemnation” has an active suffix; this is the act of judging.

“that light is come into the world” – literally, “the light,” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ – John 8:12. Generally speaking light refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, but it also refers to Bible doctrine. In 1John 1 it says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. In John 3:19 it is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The light “is come” is a perfect tense, it has come in the past with the result that it is always here.

“and men” – this is the generic term for men [mankind], “loved darkness rather than light.” The word for darkness refers to moral darkness. The word skotoj is used for the manifestation and activities of the old sin nature.

Verse 20 – “For every one that doeth evil.” It doesn’t say “do,” [poiew] it says “practice” [prassw]. To practice evil means to be out of fellowship and under the control of the old sin nature. The word prassw means to operate or practice and it refers to the modus operandi of the old sin nature.

“hateth the light” – means they hate Christ. This is the unbeliever religious man in Jesus’ day. Application: He hates doctrine, he hates the grace principle.

“lest” – i.e. “that.” It introduces a negative purpose clause; “his should not be reproved.” In other words, his human good is not acceptable. His deeds refers to his human good. He doesn’t come to the light because he doesn’t want his human good to be reproved. This is why in witnessing for Christ the most difficult people to reach are self-righteous people and religious people, people who are practicing human good. This is why believers whose idea of the Christian way of life is simply a system of morality. They never get with doctrine, never understand grace, and never grow up. They are childish as long as they live for this reason: the dynamics of phase two – knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of the Holy Spirit equals the production of divine good. Ignorance of doctrine plus carnality equals the production of human good. The legalistic believer is steeped in human good.

Verse 21 – “But he that doeth truth.” Truth is something you do. “But” is a conjunction of contrast. How does one do truth? The word here is no longer prassw, it is now poiew which means to produce. To produce goes right back to the principle that knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of the Holy Spirit equals the production of divine good. So doing the truth is being filled with the Spirit (rebound when necessary), learning doctrine – the more doctrine you know the more you grow, the more you grow the more concentrated becomes your divine good. “Truth” is a word for doctrine. Doing the truth is doing doctrine or the production from doctrine. This is a present active participle to indicate that this is the Christian way of life.

“cometh to the light” – the preposition here makes it very clear how he comes: proj plus the accusative means face to face with the light, which means doctrine is built upon doctrine.

“that” is a result clause; “his deeds may be made manifest [exposed as to their true character – divine good], that they are wrought.” The word “wrought” is e)gazomai, meaning to produce. Perfect tense: this good is performed in a point of time but it stands forever and is the basis of reward for the believer in the future.

“in God” – they are produced “in the sphere of God.” Divine good is produced in the sphere of God, all divine good in the believer’s life is produced by the power of God, namely the power of the Word and the power of the Spirit. The passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb. This is the voice of grace; all divine good is produced on the basis of the grace principle. The indicative mood indicates the reality of the production of divine good on the part of the grace believer.

Verse 22 – “After these things.” This is the end of the talk with Nicodemus who at this point has been put down.

“Jesus came and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them” – the word for “tarried” is diatribw which means to wear away by friction, to spend time. During the discourse with Nicodemus the disciples were resenting what Jesus did to that “nice” Pharisee. The disciples admired the Pharisees; they respected them they had been taught to do so. And Jesus had clobbered this one. They didn’t like it really, so there is friction. And Jesus is going to wear away the friction by teaching them doctrine. He takes them aside and He teaches them Bible doctrine. So the word means to take away the friction. It is the imperfect active indicative, which means He kept on teaching them.

“and baptised” – the imperfect active indicative indicates that He kept on performing acts of baptism.

Verse 23 – John the Baptist answering religion. The background for the rest of this chapter is simple. The ministry of John the Baptist is diminishing and the ministry of the Lord Jesus is increasing. The disciples of John the Baptist are guilty of jealousy. Apparently they have let their jealousy be known to the religious crowd -- the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin. Therefore the Sanhedrin sends some representatives to John to try to start a rift between John and Jesus. In their attempt to do so it is brought out very clearly that John the Baptist is one of the greatest believers of all time because he refused to succumb to the very subtle temptation and the very obvious attacks of the religious crowd to start a rift between himself and the Lord Jesus Christ. He refused to succumb to the mental attitude sin. He was not jealous or envious or bitter toward the Lord Jesus Christ; he rejoiced in Him.

John answers religion by his life, the stability of his soul. He answers religion by his words, words of divine viewpoint. And while he is answering religion he is also straightening out his disciples.

“in Aenon near Salim” tells us that now John and Jesus were now many miles apart. John is obviously having a continuing ministry though quite obviously a diminishing ministry.

Verse 24 – the reason he was still doing this is because he was not yet cast into prison.

Verse 25 – the religious attack. “Then there arose a question.” The Greek word for question zhthsij which means a ridiculous dispute. A theological debate. It means a dispute about something that is more or less inconsequential. It means a meticulous dispute. The words “there arose” is ginomai which means “there came to pass.”

“some of John’s disciples and the Jews” – the word “some” is not found in the original. It simply means that the Jewish members of the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders got into a very meticulous argument with the disciples of John and the subject was purifying. The Jews had developed over a period of some 400 years a series of rituals in which there was water. They had been practicing these things though they were not authorised by the Old Testament scriptures. This sprinkling ritual could only be accomplished by the clergy who had a theological degree. The one who had the degree was called Rabbi. These theologs did not want to lose some of the benefits of the clergy, and since they were not teaching doctrine they were enslaving the people through systems of ritual called purifying. They would charge for the service of being “cleansed.” It had become quite a money-making gimmick.

Now we find Jesus baptising and John baptising, and later on the disciples of Jesus baptising, and this is cutting in on their clergical income! Naturally there was a challenge from religion and there was quite an argument going here about purifying.

Verse 26 – “they” refers to the religious leaders, the so-called clergy.

“and said unto him, Rabbi” – this is sarcasm. Rabbit means a theological degree and John does not have one, but they do this in order to develop a very subtle approach to their attack here.

“he that was with thee beyond the Jordan” – they won’t even mention Jesus’ name because to mention His name is to acknowledge Him as Messiah.

“to whom thou barest witness” – marturew in the perfect tense: permanent results. It means to communicate in a way whereby the information is understood.

“the same is now baptising, and all” – this means he has a growing and successful ministry. The present tense here means that the crowds are growing. He is having a very successful ministry body-wise. John, on the other hand, is having a dwindling ministry. The objective here is obvious. It is to get John jealous, to bring in mental attitude sins, to cause a rift between John the Baptist and Jesus.

Verse 27 – “John answered” – a)pokrinomai [a)po = preposition of ultimate source; krinomai = to give a discerning answer] means to give an answer based on knowledge. Krinw means to judge; krinomai means to be discerning in an answer. So it means to give a discerning answer from the ultimate source of one’s self. We must look at John to see how he could give a discerning answer from the ultimate source of himself. Two things are important with regard to John. He had Bible doctrine in his human spirit. He had divine viewpoint minus mental attitude sins. John answers from the ultimate source of himself. He answers not only the religious Jews but he also answers his own frustrated disciples. He is going to cool off their jealousy and he is going to put down religion.

“A man” – the word for man is a)nqrwpoj, homo sapien, a generic term, and this means that this applies to anyone, including the religious crowd. Therefore, when a generic term is used in the sentence a principle is about to be stated which is a general principle regarding mankind.

“can receive nothing” – the general principle. There are two verbs, “can” and “receive” – can is dunamai which means to have the power, ability. A man has the ability to receive nothing. This is a present tense, which means this is always true. A man does not have the ability to receive anything except from God – “unless it is given to him from heaven.” The principle of being given from heaven is the principle of promotion. For every believer in phase two John’s words have a very direct application. If God doesn’t promote you then you are to be relaxed and free from mental attitude sins, and have inner happiness, inner peace, inner power, and inner blessing. God isn’t going to promote all believers and if God doesn’t promote you, you are not promoted.

“except it be given” – perfect passive subjunctive. The perfect tense means that divine promotion is permanent and has great spiritual repercussions. The passive voice: divine promotion is based on the principle of grace. The subjunctive mood says that divine promotion is potential, depending upon God. There are two verses of scripture that deal with the principle of promotion: Joshua 3:7; 1Peter er 5:5,6. John says to the religious crowd that they are complaining about the type of success that Jesus is having but no one has this type of success unless it comes from heaven. The source of divine promotion is the sovereignty of God. If the ministry of Jesus in increasing and the ministry of John the Baptist is decreasing this is God’s business, not John’s, not the religious crowd’s, and not that of John’s disciples. John’s job is to remain faithful and to be stabilised in doctrine, oriented to grace. Promotion is in the hands of the Lord. It is always based on grace; it is a sovereign decision; the believer must avoid seeking to promote himself and the mental attitude sins of jealousy toward those whom God has promoted. The believer’s job is to be faithful.

Verse 28 – “Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said.” He has communicated it many times; “I am not the Christ, but I am sent before him” – this is a perfect periphrastic when means I have been sent before Him in the past with the result that I have been faithful in my job, and I am still doing my job. And I am only to do my job, I am a member of the team.

Verse 29 – “He that hath [keeps on having] the bride.” The Greek word numfh is the word for “bride.” The word for bridegroom is numfioj. Who has the bride? The groom. John is saying he is not the groom; he is a friend of the groom. The friend of the groom is just going to stand around and rejoice. It is the groom who owns the bride. At this point John shows us that he has learned a lot of doctrine. The bride is the Church. Jesus Christ is going to have an increasing ministry. The bride is still being developed today, every person who receives Christ as saviour is the bride. And Jesus Christ is the groom. So here is John anticipating the Church Age. John is only a friend of the groom which mans he is only a minister in the Jewish Age.

“but the friend of the groom [John the Baptist] which standeth” – perfect tense, which means he stands there faithfully doing his job; “and heareth” – John is listening to the groom; he learns from Jesus. Doctrine is the mind of Christ.

“he rejoices greatly” – with great joy, present linear aktionsart for inner happiness based on doctrine. He is a relaxed person.

“because of the groom’s voice” – the groom’s voice is the groom’s teaching; “this my joy therefore has been fulfilled in the past with the result that it is completed; I am coming to the end of my ministry.

Verse 30 – the Greek says, “He must keep on growing, but I must keep on declining [in importance].” This anticipates the Church Age. The word for “decrease” is e)lattow which means to decline in importance – present tense, linear aktionsart. Passive voice: grace, something he receives from God. This is God’s plan; he is oriented to God’s plan. Therefore declining in importance is a part of the plan and he is with it. John is a product of the Jewish Age; the Jewish Age is on its way out. John’s is a dwindling ministry in keeping with the anticipated change of dispensation. The ministry of Jesus Christ is coming and will grow and grow.

In verses 31-35 we have the message of John the Baptist. John’s entire message has to be gleaned from the study of Matthew and John, Acts 19, and other passages where John is mentioned.

Verse 31 – “He that cometh from above” is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The present active participle of the verb to come means that He has always been from above and even while He is on the earth He is still from above. It introduces the principle of the hypostatic union. Jesus Christ is the God-Man, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. In His deity He is always in heaven; His humanity was on the earth at that time. John recognises the principle of the hypostatic union or the uniqueness of the person of Jesus Christ.

“is above all” – literally, “keeps on being above all,” and by that John the Baptist is saying “He is greater than I am.” He is greater than anyone. He is the unique person of the universe in the sense that He is greater than any humanity. He is minus the old sin nature, free from any person sins, in no way has failed God in His humanity. His deity, of course, makes Him infinitely superior to any member of the human race. He is the creator of mankind.

“he that is on the earth is earthly” – John is speaking of himself; “and speakest from the earth” – John is indicating the fact that he speaks in terms of being on the earth only. Jesus Christ and John the Baptist were both speaking at this time. Remember that the whole background of this passage is the jealousy, which arose, and the attempt to start a rivalry between the ministry of Jesus, which was increasing, and the ministry of John the Baptist, which was diminishing. Actually, Jesus speaks as the unique person because He speaks [e)k = from the source of] from above. He is on the earth but He speaks from above. John is on the earth and he speaks from the earth only. Jesus Christ is the God-Man; He is in heaven while He is on the earth. Therefore, He is unique in His message and in His ministry.

Verse 32 – “And what he hath seen” is a perfect active indicative from a verb which means to observe: o (raw, which means to observe something by being present. Jesus observed the plan of God by being present. So this refers to the fact that Jesus Christ in eternity past saw the plan of God because He was there when it was formulated. The plan of God was designed in eternity past – every aspect of it, every principle connected with it, every need that you would ever have in time. Remember that your life, operation phase two, has been provided for totally in the plan of God in eternity past. Perfect tense: He saw it in the past with the result that He provides it for you today.

“And heard” – an aorist tense which indicates eternity past. He heard the Father’s design, the Father’s plan.

“That he testified” – communicates, present active of the verb maturew. It means to communicate Bible doctrine. So Jesus Christ has a greater ministry than John the Baptist. John was born in time, he is a mere mortal; Jesus Christ is from above and therefore above all. Jesus Christ came from heaven but He is still in heaven at the same time. Jesus Christ saw the plan of the Father in eternity past while it was being designed, He heard it, and He communicates from being on the scene. Everything we have in the Word of God, which is Bible doctrine, is the mind of Christ. All of these things were actually in the mind of Christ in eternity past and now they are put in writing for our benefit.

“No man [no one of you]” – he is obviously looking at the religious crowd. In other words, “none of you religious people.” The religious types would not accept Jesus Christ as saviour. The most difficult people in the world to whom to witness are religious types. They are the stuffiest, the most self-righteous, and so full of human good and their own self-importance that to communicate the grace of God to them is virtually impossible. Were it not for the ministry of the Holy Spirit nothing would ever get through to a religious person.

“and no one [of you]” – John is pointing to the religious crowd; “receiveth his communication.” The religious crowd always turn it down.

Verse 33 – “He that hath received his communication hath set to him seal that God is true” – literally, “the God,” God the Father is true. To set the seal here means to sign on the dotted line. It is an idiom. In the ancient world they had signet rings by which to imprint a signature in wax. So he is saying here that people who accept Jesus Christ have signed, as it were, that God is true. “The God” refers to God the Father, the author of the divine plan. By “true” it means that God has a plan from here on out, and that God will take care of everything as far as time and eternity is concerned; He has made full provision for it.

Verse 34 – “he whom God hath sent [Jesus Christ].” The word to send here means to send in order to take charge. The Father sent the Son in order to take charge of the situation.

“speaketh [keeps on speaking] the words of God” – Bible doctrine.

“for the God giveth not the Spirit by measure” – Jesus Christ was also given the Holy Spirit in order that His communication might have the power and the stamp of the Spirit. “By measure” is an idiom that means that there was no limit to the Spirit’s control of the humanity of Christ. This is due to the fact that He did not have a sin nature and He did not commit any act of personal sin, therefore He could never grieve or quench the Spirit.

Verse 35 – “The Father loveth [keeps on loving] the Son, and hath given” – perfect tense, has given in the past with the result that He keeps on making this a true part of the plan; “all things into his hand.” When Jesus Christ returns again all things will be in His hand. This will be fulfilled. This is the ultimate plan of God the Father that Jesus Christ will rule in eternity.

Verse 36 – a dividing line between the failure of the religious man, Nicodemus, and the success of the woman of Samaria. At the same time this is a very clear delineation of the message of John the Baptist.

“He that believeth” is a present active participle of the verb pisteuw, a mental attitude, a mental system of perception. It is the only non-meritorious system of perception. It is in the present tense for the most dramatic moment of life, the moment of belief in Jesus Christ as saviour. The active voice: the believer must use his faith to accept Christ, and there is no merit in that faith. There is no merit in believing, the merit is in the object. The object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12.

“hath” is a present active indicative and it means to keep on having – “always has everlasting life.”

“and” is “but” in the original, it is a conjunction of contrast; “he that believeth not the Son” – here is the person who rejects Jesus Christ as saviour. Here is the reason people go to hell, the reason why people never get in the plan of God; “shall not see life” – never has eternal life.

“but the wrath of God keeps on abiding on him” – present linear aktionsart.

Chapter 4

When the Pharisees and the scribes went from Judah to Galilee they always went out through Perea, up into Decapolis and from there to the Sea of Galilee, and then they crossed the Sae of Galilee into Galilee. That was the long way around. But Jesus goes right up, straight through Samaria. On His way He comes to the Valley of Shechem which is between two mountains. It is three miles long and is very narrow. On the south side is Mount Gerizim, and this is the mount of blessing. On the north side is Mount Ebal, the mount of cursing. In Deuteronomy chapter 27 the entire chapter deals with instructions to the children of Israel. Moses instructed the people to get on Mount Ebal with one group, and they were the shout the cursing. On Mount Gerizim the other group was to shout the blessing. There would be an altar on Mount Ebal, the place of cursing. The altar represents the cross – Galatians 3:13, Christ went to the place of cursing so that we might have blessing. This is the purpose for Moses giving these instructions.

In this valley there was a town, half a mile up the mountain, called Sychar. Sychar means the town of the drunks. In other words, it was the town where people went to live it up. Half a mile down at the bottom of the hill is Jacob’s well which was the water supply. The respectable people came down at 6pm and the ostracised crowd came down at 12 noon. Jesus and His disciples have just come into the valley after a terrible journey and have come to Jacob’s well to get water. However, the well is 100 feet deep and there is no way they can reach the water. While they are standing around there Jesus sends the twelve up the Sychar to get food. While they are going up, this woman is going to come down carrying a big pitcher in which she is going to load up with water.

The Samaritans were half Jewish and half the oriental peoples who had been brought in by the Assyrians. The Assyrians had a transportation policy. They took some Jews out of the land and replaced them with people from oriental countries. As a result the Samaritans were half Jew and half Gentile and hated by the Jews. The Samaritans considered themselves as good as the Jews, and that made the Jews mad. They claimed that they had the place where the Jews originally worshipped. This well in the valley of Shechem is where Jacob and Jesus had their wrestling match! Here is the attitude of the people of Samaria. They say that this is where Jabob’s well is; this is where Jacob was saved; this is where Jacob became Israel. So their contention was that they were half Jews and they had the place where Israel was founded. They rubbed it into the Jews and the Jews couldn’t stand them, and there had been antagonism for four or five hundred years now.

Verse 1 – the Pharisees had tried to cause antagonism between John and Jesus and between their disciples. The disciples of John were already jealous and the Pharisees tried to exploit this by divide and conquer. They did not succeed and so we still have the jealousy of the Pharisees.

Verse 2 – this explains the fact that Jesus gave His disciples other things to do, including baptising the converts.

Verse 3 – He left for Galilee. He hasn’t arrived there and won’t for the entire fourth chapter. The reason He left was because of the terrible jealousy of the religious crowd – described in Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10. They were always jealous of Him.

The doctrine of jealousy

1. Jealousy removes all happiness from the believer. Jealousy is a mental attitude sin and mental attitude sins produce self-induced misery. Like the law of gravity this is a law of discipline.

2. Jealousy is the most cruel of all sins. This is because it takes an ordinarily sweet person and turns him/her into a monster. It changes their behaviour pattern – vindictive behaviour, maligning and judging, etc. Jealous people are always making other people miserable.

3. Some people cannot stand the success of others and they can’t stand for anyone to get credit, and consequently jealousy destroys the relaxed mental attitude.

4. The Pharisees were jealous of Jesus Christ, always – Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10.

5. Jesus now departs because of this attitude. He cannot minister in the area of jealousy.

Verse 4 – “And he must needs” means it was necessary for Him to pass through Samaria. He took the short route because He was free from personal prejudice and because He had a relaxed mental attitude.

Verse 5 – “Then he cometh to a city of Samaria.” He was now in the middle of the Valley of Shechem.

“near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.” This is the story of Joseph’s bones, the spot where Joseph was buried, where the bones were finally put to rest. And this is the place from which Joseph in resurrection will stand with his great grandfather Abraham, with his grandfather Isaac, and with his father Jacob.

Verse 6 – “Now Jacob’s well was there.” Where the wrestling match took place.

“Jesus therefore, being wearied.” Jesus Christ in His humanity could suffer thirst, hunger and weariness. He had a true human body and a true human soul. This is a perfect active participle: “having become wearied.” This was not accidental; there was a purpose in it.

“sat” – imperfect tense, He kept on sitting; “thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour” – in Jewish time that is 12 noon.

In this place we have the place of cursing. This swell is at the foot of the mount where the curses were uttered. This illustrates the principle of the fact that Jesus Christ is going to take the place of cursing, and a woman who is under a curse, and He is going to provide for them blessing. Only the grace of God can convert cursing into blessing. Everything here is according to design. Often the most painful events and experiences are turned to blessing under the Lord’s grace, and this is going to be a grace shot all the way.

Verses 7-30, the great revival at Samaria.

Verse 7 – “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water.” The word “cometh” means that she approached the well. He is sitting there and He has watched her walk the half mile down the climb. This woman is coming at 12 noon because she is ostracised. The other women do not like her. So once again we encounter the same thing we saw in Judea – mental attitude sins.

“Give me to drink” – this is breaking the silence, and this is grace. She would never have spoken to Him and He would never have spoken to her were it not for the fact of His grace attitude. The well is so deep that there is no way that He can get the water for Himself. She has the necessary equipment to provide water for Him. Jesus is going to reverse His helpless condition on her. She can provide Him physical water but He is going to give here the living water, for she is the helpless one. She needs the water of eternal life.

Verse 8 is a parenthesis to explain how Jesus was able to deal with the woman alone. It is imperative that He does so. Jesus Christ is probably the only person on the face of the entire earth who could have dealt with this woman, who was a grace woman from the unbeliever’s standpoint. She didn’t know any doctrine but she was a relaxed member of the human race. She has no illusions about herself.

Verse 9 – “Then saith the woman.” Women are curious. She is shocked because Jesus broke the silence but she is also curious.

“How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, who is a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Jesus is going to stick to the true issue and He is not going to be sidetracked by arguing with her about the racial antagonisms between the Jews and the Samaritans. Her whole problem was ignorance of the way of salvation. In the previous chapter the problem of Nicodemus was not one of ignorance but confusion. So Jesus said to him, “You must be born again.” But the woman is strictly ignorant and so He is going to give her gospel information so that she can be saved.

Verse 10 – the problem is brought out by a second-class condition. “Jesus answered and said unto her.” The word “answered” is an aorist passive participle which Jesus received an answer in eternity past. Jesus knew what He was going to say to this woman billions of years before He said it.

“if” – second class condition, if and it is not true – you knew [and she doesn’t]. This is a past perfect, “if you had known.”

“the gift of God” – 2nd class condition, but you do not know the gift of God. What is the gift of God? The gift of God is Jesus Christ – John 3:16; Romans 6:23; 2Corinthians 9:15.

“and if you knew who it is who said to you, Give me to drink [but you don’t know who it is who says it]; then you would have asked from him, and he [the gift of God] would have given you living water.” The word “living” caught her eye – present active participle, it means always-living water and water that never stops living. Isaiah 55:1; Revelation 22:19 -- the water of life, a reference to eternal salvation. In the last chapter Jesus talked about the water of the Word; in this chapter He talks about the water of salvation. In the last chapter He talked to a theologian, a very religious person, and therefore He had to talk about the water of the Word; but this is not a religious person at all, this is a charming and wonderful woman, so he talks to her not about the water of the Word but about the water of salvation.

Again, the woman’s problem is ignorance. The Lord did not deal with her as He did with the Pharisee. He dealt with the Pharisee one way; He dealt with her another way. Every believer has the responsibility of witnessing. There are many different ways of witnessing, and here is Jesus Christ showing us how to witness. In the last chapter He dealt with the religious man one way; in this chapter he deals with this woman in another way. He doesn’t use the same system on both; He uses two different approaches. In other words, you’re job is to know Bible doctrine and have enough flexibility and enough relaxed mental attitude to present the gospel in many different ways to many different people. There is no such thing as one system for everyone. Here Jesus keeps steering away from controversy, He doesn’t get into a fight with the woman. This is one of the most important principles of witnessing: avoid argumentation. The woman wonders, “Why are you, a Jew, talking to me, a Samaritan?” She wants to argue about it. So how is Jesus going to get the point across to her, and how is He going to make it clear that He has something greater to give her. He has living water – eternal life. He has merely asked for water in order to illustrate the whole principle. The first thing He has to do it to show her that she is helpless, and in a rather hopeless situation. What Jesus has just said has intrigued here and she immediately asks a second question.

Verse 11 – “The woman saith unto him, Sir.” The actual Greek word here is “Lord’ – kurioj, “thou hast nothing to draw with.” She makes a very simple observation, she takes Him literally, “You talk about giving me water but you do not have any equipment to get water out of the well. You have nothing with which to draw and the well is deep.”

“from whence then hast thou that living water?”

Verse 12 – now she gets sarcastic. Nicodemus got sarcastic with Jesus and Jesus put him down. The woman gets sarcastic with Jesus and He treats her very gently, very kindly. “Art thou greater than our father Jacob?” That was a red flag; that would make a Jew mad every time!

“and drank thereof [from this well] himself, and his children” – the patriarchs from the twelve tribes -- “and his cattle?” The point is: Now we are here, the Samaritans! It belongs to us.

When she said, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” this is a question in the Greek that demands a negative answer. In other words, she is saying no you are not greater.

Verse 13 – “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” We have a contrast. In verse 13 we have the real water; in verse 14 we have the water of eternal life. “Whosoever drinketh” – present active participle, which means that people have to come back to the well day by day by day to survive. Te word “drinketh” in verse is a present active participle: present tense, linear aktionsart, they keep on coming back. Active voice: they have to draw the water out of the well. Participle: this sets up a precedent by which they survive. But in verse 14 is the same word “to drink” but it is aorist active subjunctive. Aorist tense: the water that I am going to give you, you just drink once and you have eternal life. The aorist tense is a point of time divorced from time and perpetuated forever. Every person must make this decision for himself. The subjunctive mood: this is potential. It depends on your free will. The subjunctive mood recognises that salvation in only potential. While Christ died for everyone, all the sins of the world were judged on the cross, yet salvation is potential. Every person must exercise his own volition. This is an extension of the angelic conflict and this is man’s free will facing the cross.

In verse 13 water sustains life. This is the real water and you have to keep coming back. There needs to be a bucket to draw this water. Application: What is your bucket? On what does your happiness depend? The Christian way of life, phase two, was designed so that your happiness must depend upon Bible doctrine. If you are going to have happiness then your bucket has to be Bible doctrine, and you have to lower that bucket into the well every day. Then, it is with Bible doctrine that you can enjoy the details of life.

Verse 14 – the spiritual water, the water of eternal life, salvation. The contrast. “But whosoever drinketh” – aorist active subjunctive; you just drink once. The physical well of verse 13 is on the outside of the woman, but the spiritual well of verse 14 is on the inside, it has to do with the soul. Only the soul is saved. The body is not saved, nor is the spirit. The spirit doesn’t exist until after salvation.

“I shall give him” – future tense. It is future for this woman at this point – “shall never thirst,” aorist tense indicating that the plan of God is perfect and it is permanent; “in him” – salvation is on the inside.

“a well of water springing up” – present middle participle, delineating eternal security. Present tense: you will always have it. Middle voice: you are benefited by always having it. Participle: every person, regardless of his modus operandi and modus vivendi in phase two, has eternal security -- into everlasting life,” it can’t be lost.

Verse 15 – the woman expresses her positive volition beautifully. “Sir [Lord], give me this water.” She is intrigued to the point where she recognises He is handling her.

“[with the result] that I thirst not” – “that” introduced a result clause; “neither come hither to draw” – present linear aktionsart. In other words, So I don’t have to keep coming back. Now we have another contrast. We have a “come hither” in verse 15 and a “come hither” in verse 16. In verse 15 it is a present middle subjunctive. She doesn’t want to keep coming back to the well. The “come hither” of verse 16 is an aorist active imperative.

Verse 16 – Jesus gives her a command. This is an order. Does she have to have her husband down here before she can stop coming to this well? That is what she is thinking.

Verse 17 – “I have no husband.”

Verse 18 – “For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that, you told the truth.”

Verse 19 – “Sir, I perceive.” That is old English. She says, “Lord, I am beginning to see that you are a prophet.”

Verse 20 – she is now going to give Him her best religious dissertation. She has a religious line that will knock Him dead [she thinks]. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain” – she point up the mountain; “and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” She wants to get back to this bit, Where is the right place to worship? Jacob, the founder of Israel, worshipped up there on that mountain; you say in Jerusalem. She wants to get into a religious discussion.

Verse 21 – Jesus comes up with a new piece of doctrine, but in order to do it He has to get her attention. He uses one word: “Woman,” gunh, the same word He used to Mary at the wedding in Cana. Up to this point she has believed everything He said. Now He says:

“believe me” – keep on believing me. For 400 years there had been a controversy about where they should worship. He has her attention now. This is an order.

“the hour cometh” – it is very near, the beginning of the Church Age; “when ye shall neither worship in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.” That controversy is over. The Church Age is going to settle it. Where do you worship in the Church Age? He isn’t going to argue with her. He gives her a point of doctrine.

Verse 22 – “You worship you know not what.” You can worship on that mountain until you are blue in the face and you don’t even know want you are worshipping.

“we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” – this literally says in the Greek, “We know our worship.” He is talking about the Old Testament scriptures, not the things that have been developed through Judaism; “for the salvation is from the source of the Jews.” When He says “the salvation” He is talking about a person; He is talking about Himself. She had recognised Him as a Jew.

Verse 23 – “But the hour cometh, and now is [about to become], when true worshippers shall worship the Father” – the worship the Father you have to be born again. When He is talking about true worship He is talking about people who have believed in Christ, and therefore the first person is now the Father.

“in Spirit” – in the filling of the Holy Spirit; “and in truth” – in doctrine. So true worship on the part of believers involves the filling of the Holy Spirit and doctrine. Knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of the Holy Spirit equals true worship.

“for the Father seeketh such to keep on worshipping him” – this is true today. God the Father is seeking those who worship Him under conditions of the filling of the Spirit and Bible doctrine.

Verse 24 – “God is Spirit.” He is describing Himself – essence box.

“and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” – the filling of the Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit controlling a believer can give true worship toward God. Only a believer with doctrine. Worship must be in the filling of the Spirit and in doctrine, the geographical location is not a factor at all.

Verse 25 – “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh.” She didn’t have anything else to say but she could always hang on to one doctrine – the coming of Messiah. The Samaritans were teaching that the Messiah might come at any moment. Messiah was actually there, there were a lot of people on that mountain with positive volition and this was going to be their opportunity, along with the woman.

“cometh” is a dramatic present because she recognises that the coming of Messiah is going to be a very dramatic thing. She understands something of the Old Testament scripture. The phrase, “which is called Christ” has been added by the translator in order that it might be understood that Xristoj is the equivalent to Messiah. The both mean “the anointed one.”

Verse 26 – the KJV translation here is wrong. In the Greek are four words. The first two words, simply, are “I am he,” then, “the one speaking to you.”

Verse 27 – “Upon this [at that moment] came his disciples.” They came back just as Jesus had made the issue completely clear. They behaved themselves.

“and marvelled” – they didn’t marvel at all. The Greek says they were shocked – imperfect linear aktionsart, they kept on being shocked. They were shocked that Jesus would talk to this kind of a woman. But they didn’t show it. They did not violate the privacy of the Lord Jesus Christ, or the privacy of this woman as Jesus engaged her in this conversation with regard to her soul.

“yet no man said, What seekest thou?” In other words, they did not intrude. They minded their own business.

Verse 28 – the conversation is finished. “The woman then left” – aorist tense, indicating a sudden departure. She is so excited and has actually accepted Christ as her saviour; she has believed on Him. She is so excited about this that she is going to run all the way up the hill! She has some good news and she is going to communicate that good news and she is obviously not going to carry that water pot back up the hill with it.

“into the city” – toward the city, actually; “and said [kept on saying] to the men” – when she arrived there. She kept on saying to the men of the city …

Verse 29 -- “Come” is deute, a particle, a strong word in the Greek, then, “see,” is an aorist active imperative. She commands them to come. They want to know, Come and see what? The challenge is so subtle that in the English there is no way to really communicate it. She is going to describe Jesus but she is not going to tell them that she has made a decision; she is going to put herself in a neutral spot. This woman is just subtle enough to arouse the curiosity of the men.

“see a man who told me all the things that ever I did” – she doesn’t take sides, she stays in a neutral corner and says, “in not this the Messiah?” When she said “in not” she used the particle that says, “It seems to me like, but I am not sure so you men should come and check.” It leaves some doubt so that they must check.

Verse 30 – “Then they all went out,” aorist tense. This is an ‘effective’ aorist which means it is like they all went through the door at the same time. They all just charged for the gate.

“and they came” – imperfect middle indicative which means they didn’t all get there at the same time: “they kept on coming to him.”

Verse 31 – “In the meantime” the disciples were really upset. Jesus won’t eat; Prayed him” – they begged Him, imperfect linear aktionsart, they kept on begging Him; “saying, Master, eat.”

Verse 32 – “But he said unto them, I have food to eat that you know not of.” What is He saying to them? He is saying exactly the same thing He said to Satan, only different words. He quoted from Deuteronomy and said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” In other words, He is going to live on a principle of doctrine. Now the disciples have their heads down, they are concentrating on food because they are hungry. But Jesus isn’t eating, He is looking up; they are looking down. He is looking at the people who are coming down. In all those people who were coming down He could see that there was positive volition: positive volition at the point of God-consciousness. They were people who in a very short period of time were going to receive Him as saviour and be born again. And He saw something else. He saw what He was going to have to do for that salvation. He saw the multitude of sins that he was going to have the bear at a future time on the cross. Whenever Jesus thought about the cross He stopped eating, or wouldn’t eat, or didn’t eat. Even the contemplation of what the cross was going to mean stopped Him cold. He sees those people and He sees the horror that is connected with bearing the sins of the world and being judged for every sin that has ever been committed in human history. The disciples’ minds are linked to their taste buds and our Lord is thinking that His soul is linked to the cross.

“ye know not of” – they are ignorant. This is the word o)ida plus the negative. It is a perfect tense used as a present tense for doctrine in the soul, but the negative means that doctrine is not in their souls. They are not thinking about the cross; He is. He is contemplating the will of the Father – operation phase one.

Verse 33 – did anyone bring Him some food? They are in a state of confusion about this.

Verse 34 – Jesus tries to clarify it for them and in doing so He brings out the principle of doctrine versus the details of life. Right now with Jesus Christ it is a point of doctrine. The disciples are eating; they are ignorant of pertinent doctrine. Jesus Christ is not eating because at this point doctrine takes precedence.

“My meat [food] is” -- present linear aktionsart, keeps on being – “to do the will of him [God the Father] that sent me.” The will of the Father is going to be communication in a few minutes, but the will of the Father at the end of the line is going to be to bear the sins of the world. So then he has to add something – “and to finish His work.” The work that the Father designed. He calls it the Father’s work because on the cross the sins of the world will be poured out upon Christ. The Father will pour out those sins; the Father will judge those sins.

Verse 35 – “Say ye not” – don’t say it any more, you have been saying it – “there are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest, behold I say unto you” – dramatic present is a dative of advantage, He says this to their advantage – “Lift up your eyes.” They had been looking down at their hamburger, then at the Lord, and now He says to lift up their eyes. And what are they going to see? They are going to see the harvest, the top of the road to the bottom of the road filled with thousands of people – “white already to harvest.” It is people that the Lord mentions as the harvest – souls.

Verse 36 – “And he that reapeth receiveth wages.” Who are the reapers? For the next few hours the reapers are going to be at least eleven disciples. The disciples went up into the Samaritan city but they didn’t witness to anyone, they just bought food and came back. Now the people have come to Jesus and it is going to take eleven plus the Lord Jesus Christ, plus the woman who was saved to do all this witnessing. They are the reapers. They didn’t do any sowing but they are going to be pulled in for the harvest. There will be reward for this.

“and gathereth fruit unto life eternal” – people are going to be led to the Lord by those disciples that day.

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “both he that soweth [lit. the one sowing. The woman did the sowing] and the one reaping may rejoice together.” They were strangers at twelve noon but when the sun goes down they were old, old friends. They rejoiced together. They had been working together in the Lord’s service.

Verse 37 – “One soweth, and another reapeth.” This is a principle which is found throughout the scripture in many ways but here it applies to the harvest of souls.

Verse 38 – He says to the disciples: “I sent you to reap whereon ye bestowed no labour.” They didn’t witness to any person in town, but they are going to reap a great harvest. Why? Grace! We are all in the service of the Lord, we play different positions on the team, and all are in this together.

“other men laboured’ [reference to the woman] and ye are entered into their labours.” So He wants them to understand before this great evangelistic meeting starts and all this personal witnessing that the reason that they are going to have the privilege of leading people to Christ that day is because of that woman they passed on the hill. This is a team effort and before the sun goes down they will be rejoicing together.

Verse 39 – “And many of the Samaritans of the city believed on him,” aorist tense, a point of time when they heard the gospel, “for [because] of the saying of the woman, who testified, He told me all that I ever did.” Many have believed because of that.

Verse 40 -- “So when the Samaritans were come [face to face with Him; proj plus the accusative] unto him they besought [kept on begging Him] that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.”

Verse 41 – “And many more believed because of his own words.” For two days He ministered there.

Verse 42 – “And said unto the woman.” Notice: now that she is converted they no longer ostracise the woman. They are in constant daily contact with her and they kept on saying to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your words: for we have heard him ourselves, and know indeed that he is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” As soon as they are converted there is the removal of a vicious, evil thing – social ostracism. They have a basis now for rapport – Bible doctrine, not compatibility of old sin natures.

Verse 43 – here are two marvellous days where Jesus received a perfect reception, a genuine reception because His reception there was a point of doctrine. But He is next going to encounter a reception which is superficial and hypocritical. So now we have three receptions in three different areas. The first was in John chapter 3. In Judah Jesus Christ was rejected -- no reception, rejected by religion. In Samaria He had a genuine reception based on doctrine. In Galilee He will get a superficial reception because it is based on His miracles, His fame, rather than on His doctrine. It was the Samaritans only who gave Him a reception which was a point of doctrine.

We are now about to have a third day sequence. Everything seems to happen on the third day. Verse 43 is brought in to remind us of the fact that in Samaria, the place from which He departed, Jesus had a genuine reception. A maximum number of people received Jesus Christ as their saviour. We go from a genuine reception in verse 43 to a genuine rejection in verse 44. Verse 44 doesn’t have anything to do with the previous verse and it doesn’t have anything to do with the next verse. It is not really out of context, it is just simply to tell us which trip it was in which Jesus went to Galilee, and also to show us a contrast of reception. Wherever people respond to the gospel they immediately have top orient to the grace of God, and this loosens up people and relaxes them when they orient to God’s grace. But the next place Jesus visits there is a genuine rejection.

See Luke 4:16-24 and Matthew 8:5-13, both prior to the events of John 4. They were impressed with miracles but not with His person.

Verse 46-50, Jesus meets the nobleman – background for the miracle about to be performed.

Verse 46 – Jesus had already performed a miracle here, “And there was a certain nobleman, whose son kept on being sick at Capernaum.” His son is dying. There are two miracles performed at the end of this chapter, both occurred on a third day sequence. Cf. John 2:1 with 4:48. Both miracles were in response and in obedience to a faith-rest principle – John 2:7 & 4:30. Both miracles were accomplished by the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. He uttered a word and a miracle was performed. After both miracles people believed – John 2:11; 4:53.

Verse 47 – the nobleman’s request is given.

“ … he went unto [face to face with – proj plus the accusative] him, and kept on begging him [perfect linear aktionsart] that he would come down [to Capernaum, four hours away], and heal his son: for he [his son] was at the point of death.” When he thinks that Jesus must come to Capernaum in order to heal his son he thinks just the opposite of the centurion of Capernaum in Matthew 8. The centurion is a believer; the nobleman is an unbeliever. Jesus cannot deal with the problem of the dying son until He takes care of the spiritually dead father. There is always a person who is the key to evangelisation and the key person here is the nobleman. So Jesus is going to set aside, in effect, any healing of the son. That is a secondary factor at this point. The primary factor is that the nobleman is unsaved and is going to spend eternity in the lake of fire, suffering forever, unless he believes in Christ. But the nobleman went on positive signals at the point of God-consciousness and therefore God is going to provide him information through His Son, Jesus Christ, and this point and there will be a response – a faith response which is given only by the word “Lord.” Jesus could have done the same thing here as with the centurion, but if Jesus had spoken the word and healed the son immediately the nobleman would have left without salvation.

The nobleman has not discovered at this point how important it is to be saved and to be in phase two. In other words, Jesus dealt with the centurion on a phase two basis. He wants to deal with this man on the same basis, so therefore there will be a lot of conversation at first before getting down to the actual healing. The issue is not miracles, the issue it is salvation – always the issue. This man must accept Christ first.

Verse 48 – “Except [3rd class condition: “if”, maybe yes, maybe no] you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” Jesus is saying by the 3rd class condition that maybe He would perform a miracle and maybe He would not, but He is not going to use a miracle as pressure. Jesus avoided gimmicks. True persuasion is simply giving the facts of the gospel and allowing the Holy Spirit to do His ministry. False persuasion would have been for Jesus to say, “I’ll heal your son if you believe.” That would falsify the true operation of grace in salvation and the man’s +V would not be involved. People can walk down aisles with negative volition; people can join churches with negative volition; people can be baptised with negative volition; people can clean up their lives with –V. This is not the way of salvation; that is salvation by works. Titus 3:5,6. No one is ever saved by works and Jesus is not going to put false pressure on this man. What comes first, this man’s salvation or the healing? Salvation comes first, and then He heals the son.

Verse 49 – apparently there was some conversation between verses 48 & 49 and as a result the nobleman accepted Christ as his saviour.

“Sir” – in the Greek this is “Lord,” kurioj. In other words, by the time that we get to verse 49, whatever elapsed in between, he is now a saved man, recognising Jesus as Lord, the word for deity. 1Corinthians 12:3.

“come down ere my child die” – aorist active imperative, “come now.”

Verse 50 – “Jesus saith unto him.” Apparently Jesus had to say this more than once, the present linear aktionsart means that He probably repeated it a few times. “Go thy way” – Cf. Matthew 8:13, poreuomai means “Go about your normal business.” Forget about your son now, he is well. This is a challenge to faith-rest.

“thy son liveth” – dramatic present tense. At exactly one o’clock Jesus said these words. And that was enough. “And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him.”

“and he went his way” – faith-rest. He is relaxed; his son is well; he can go about his business in Cana of Galilee. This time poreuomai is in the imperfect middle, he kept on doing whatever he had to do. The middle voice: he was benefited by doing his business.

Verse 51 – “going down” is literally “approaching.”

“they told him” – kept on telling him, Thy son lives.”

Verse 52 – “Then he enquired of them the hour when he began to heal. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him,” i.e. 1 o’clock Jewish time.

Verse 53 – “and himself believed, and his whole house.” In other words, he led everyone in his household to the Lord. The whole house means not only the wife and the children but the household, his servants, the staff.

Chapter 5

Verse 1 – the feast of the Jews was probably the Passover.

Verse 2 – Jesus is going through a gate. When Nehemiah built the walls they built five gates, and the first gate they built was the sheep gate because the sheep gate spoke of salvation. This was the gate that the sheep came but Jesus Christ is the good shepherd ands this is always associated with salvation. So He makes a very dramatic entrance into Jerusalem.

“Bethesda” means “House of Mercy.” This pool located at the sheep gate was a very beautiful marble pool. A porch is simply a columnade and there were five different columnades around this pool, each of which would accommodate a large number of people.

Verse 3 – “In these” – the five porches around the pool – “lay a great multitude of impotent folk.” The word “impotent” means people who are ill. They are described: “of blind, of halt, withered.” After the word “withered” put a period. The phrase “waiting for the moving of the water” is not found in the original. This is a superstition, which existed at the time, and someone actually wrote the superstition into the Bible. This is a superstition that people believed in; it is not true. Neither this phrase nor verse four is found in the original text.

“blind” – powerless to see with the eyes, the picture of the unbeliever who is spiritually blind and therefore cannot see the gospel. 2Corinthians 4:3,4; Matthew 19:14; 23:24,25; Revelation 3:17,18. Blindness is often an illustration of the unbeliever.

“halt” – powerless to walk, lame, crippled. The unbeliever cannot walk with God until he receives Christ as saviour.

“withered” – paralysis or atrophy of muscles. The unbeliever cannot work.

So here we have the three failures of the unbeliever as far as God’s plan is concerned.

Verse 5 – for 38 years there was a man there who had positive volition at the point of God-consciousness. In eternity past Jesus knew that He was going to meet that man there that day. The timing was just right. For 38 years this man had been a victim of superstition which was doing nothing for him except causing him to rot in one of these porches.

Verse 6 – “and knew” is an aorist active participle of ginwskw, which means to know from experience. The aorist tense means that in eternity past Jesus knew this.

“saw him lie” – the word for “lying there” means to be lying there according to a norm or standard. It is not the ordinary word for “lying down,” it is katakeimai, a compound verb [kata = norm or standard; keimai = the normal verb for lying down]. His norm or standard for 38 years has done him no good. Why? For 38 years he has bought a superstition which did not help him.

“Will you become well?” In other words, Do you have the volition? This is a present active indicative of the verb qelw which means a desire from his emotions. Present tense: Do you keep on having? Active voice: Do you have it as a reality? “Become” is aorist middle infinitive of ginomai. The infinitive is God’s purpose. It is the plan of God, not some superstition.

Verse 7 – “The impotent man answered.” He “had an answer,” this is an aorist passive.

“Sir” – this is “Lord,” kurioj; “I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool” – this is the superstition which existed.

“to put me into the pool” – the verb is ballw which means to throw.

Verse 8 – “Rise,” present active imperative: Get yourself on your feet! “… pick up your bed, and keep on walking.” This is the Sabbath day; Jesus is telling him to do this on the Sabbath day. Jesus is not going to cater to the taboos of the Pharisees.

Verse 9 – “and on the same day was [kept on being] the Sabbath,” imperfect linear aktionsart.

Verse 10 – “cured,” perfect tense. Cured in the past with the result that he would never have that disease again. Passive voice: grace; he didn’t earn it or deserve it.

“It is the sabbath day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed” – legalism always remonstrates and criticises grace.

Verse 11 – “He that healed me.” The Pharisees don’t go into that! He had been crippled for 38 years but they are not interested in that. They just want to know about the last part, the man who healed saying, “Take up thy bed, and keep walking.” The fact that a man has been healed and a superstition has been exposed doesn’t mean a thing to the religious crowd. They don’t care about that. The religious Jews have rejected the scripture, they have rejected doctrine, and they ignore the miracle. Why? This kind of miracle says one thing to Israel: Israel your saviour is here, your Messiah is here. But they have rejected Him, and therefore the miracle is meaningless. And if someone has violated the Sabbath they are on his back in a minute – legalism, religionism persecutes grace.

Verse 12 -- “What is that man” is “Who is this man.” This really is bothering them now and it will for a long time. Jesus knew that there was going to be trouble about this and so He disappeared into the crowd. That man carrying the bed all the way down to the temple: what does that say? It says the Messiah is here. Jesus goes into the crowd. Why? Because He is sending His messenger in ahead. This time His herald is not John the Baptist, His herald is a man carrying a bed on the Sabbath.

Verse 13 – “And he that was healed” – the word here means he was completely healed – “wist not [didn’t know] who it was: for Jesus had slipped away, into the crowd in that place.” That is why when the man turned around to point to who it was there wasn’t anyone there. But Jesus will be at the temple to meet the man again. This is the feast day, the Passover. What does the Passover depict? Jesus Christ dying for the sins of the world. Jesus Christ is the King. How does He announce His coming into Jerusalem? He was announced before by John the Baptist but now he has a new herald, a man carrying a bed on the Sabbath day. This is the man that was absolutely helpless down at the pool of Bethesda. Now look at him! Something has happened. Messiah is coming and here is the herald.

Verse 14 – “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple” – He sought him out -- “and he said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole” – you are healed now. Now this man has been up to something. “… sin no more” – he had been in this condition for 38 years because he had sinned – “lest a worse thing come upon thee.” Just because you are saved doesn’t mean you are going to get out from under discipline.

Verse 15 – “The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him well.” He sinned immediately because as soon as he knew it was Jesus he apparently ran and told them. There are some people who you can do a thousand things for and they will never appreciate it. As long as you are giving them attention they will tolerate you and if you don’t give them attention then you have a monster on your hands. The man departed, and it means he departed with a mission. His mission was to run and tell the religious crowd.

Verse 16 – “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus” – they kept right on! The next phrase, “and sought to slay him,” is not found here, it will be found later on.

“because he had done these things on the Sabbath day” – they are persecuting Him for one reason. Religion is the greatest persecutor of people in history. It is the devil’s ace trump, that is why.

Verse 17 – we have now come to one of the discourses of our Lord which is practically unknown. This is the discourse on the uniqueness of the person of Jesus Christ. This discourse results from a religious opposition. Jesus Christ performed an act of healing on the Sabbath day and the Jews who were the religious crowd couldn’t stand it. As a result they began their opposition which was based upon their failure to analyse and to understand the Old Testament scriptures which speak of the doctrine of the hypostatic union. In essence Jesus Christ is God, but as God He cannot go to the cross and die for the sins of the world so He is also man. He is the God-Man. He is different from God in that He is man; He is different from man in that He is God. He is unique.

Everything we have seen so far from the beginning of this Gospel has been the presentation of Jesus Christ to the Jewish nation. He presents Himself to them as saviour, as the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant. They have rejected these things and the rejection is led primarily by the religious crowd.

“But Jesus answered them” – “them” refers to the religious crowd. Religion is always opposed to grace. It resents grace. It always has some system of works; some system of morality, some system of do-goodism, and this system is always in opposition to the plan of God. There can never be any harmony between religion and Christianity. This phrase, “Jesus answered them,” is based upon the previous verse – “because he [the Lord Jesus Christ] had done these things on the Sabbath day.” This is imperfect linear aktionsart which means that He performed more than one miracle on the Sabbath day. We just have thew one recorded miracle to show the basis for the opposition of religion. “These things” is a reference to the performance of the miracles which demonstrated the uniqueness of the person of Christ, and this was designed to focus attention on the Lord so that people in His own generation could see Him as the saviour and believe in Him.

Now the Sabbath day was the problem. The religious crowd are very fond of their Sabbath. They had taken the Sabbath out of its biblical context and had made something out of it that was never intended.

First of all, what are the two concepts of the Sabbath? In the restoration of the earth we have six days of operation. During those six days God the Father was the designer. God the Son did all of the original creation which was a new set of animals and the man, and from the man the woman. The Holy Spirit did certain things during that time, so that at the end of six days the work of God had completely restored the earth so that it could be the place of man’s habitation. On the sixth day man was created. Although the earth had been there for millions of years it was now restored to make it habitable for man. We read that on the seventh day, Saturday, God rested. He didn’t rest because He was tired and so the resting simply meant that there was nothing left to provide. Everything was provided in six days and the reason that God rested is because the provision was complete; nothing could be added to it and nothing could be taken from it. So the whole concept of the Sabbath is grace – God doing the work. That is the true biblical meaning of the Sabbath.

But what did the religious crowd do with it? Quoting from the Talmud and the Mishnah in which we have a series of taboos:

1. It was unlawful to carry food from one house to another on the Sabbath day.

2. An ass could be let out of wherever he was kept on the Sabbath day but the trappings – the saddle, etc. – had to be put on the day before, and you could not use the animal unless he had been harnessed or saddled the day before.

3. An egg could not be boiled on the Sabbath. And when it could not be boiled on the Sabbath they had to specify a few things because apparently some of the people were cheating on them. So an egg could not be boiled by putting it near a hot kettle. Nor could you boil an egg by wrapping it in a hot cloth, nor by putting it in the sand out in the hot sun.

4. If the lights were on when the Sabbath came you couldn’t turn them off. If they were off, you couldn’t turn them on.

5. It was unlawful to move furniture on the Sabbath. There was on exception. People often lived in lofts and they wanted to go upstairs to bed and had to use ladders. So you could move a ladder on the Sabbath but you could only move it four steps. If the ladder was more than five steps from the opening above, they’d had it!

6. It was unlawful to wear any jewellery or any ornaments on the Sabbath because it might be considered carrying a burden, and you could not carry a burden on the Sabbath.

7. It was unlawful to fix a leaking water barrel on the Sabbath, and it was also unlawful to stop a wound on the Sabbath. You just had to bleed to death!

8. False teeth or gold plugs could not be worn on the Sabbath.

9. You were allowed to eat radishes on the Sabbath, and apparently a lot of the Jews liked to dip their radishes in salt, but you could not dip the radish in salt for too long a time because it was a taboo to pickle a radish on the Sabbath and if you left it in the salt too long it might become pickled. So they used to have a great theological controversy as to how long you could leave a radish in the salt before it was pickled.

10. If a lady got mud on her dress you had to wait until it dried, and then she was allowed to wrinkle up the dress in her hands once and crush it. After she had crushed it she was allowed to shake it out once.

The religious crowd are complaining because the Lord healed a man on the Sabbath and said, “Pick up your bed and walk.” They were mad, and when they found out it was Jesus they wanted to try and kill Him, get rid of Him. And who is this person they are seeking to kill? Who is this person they are accusing of violating the Sabbath? He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was designed to show His grace. It is the God-Man; it is the unique person of the universe; it is undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever.

This is why we have at the beginning of this verse, “But he answered them.” The verb to answer is the aorist middle indicative of a)pokrinomai [a)po = ultimate source; krinw would ordinarily mean to judge, but the omai suffix means not to judge but to discern] means to discern. To have discernment you have to have doctrine. Knowledge of doctrine results in discernment. So this means to discern from the ultimate source of your own inner resources. So Jesus Christ is discerning in His humanity from the fact that He has doctrine in his human spirit. He is discerning, and His answer is based upon doctrine. This particular word for answering means to give a divine viewpoint answer. Here is an answer that comes from doctrine.

“My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” On the surface this is nothing. What does it mean? What does it say? What Jesus said right here was what caused the Pharisees to get so mad that they wanted to kill Him right then and there. This is what aroused their complete and total antagonism. They dedicated themselves to His destruction. They despised Him, they hated Him with an intense hatred as only religion can hate. No one can hate like a religious person, religion is the greatest hater of all.

There is a verb here – “worketh.” Jesus is speaking from His humanity and He says, “My Father.” The verb He uses is e)rgazomai which has a lot of meanings, but here it means to exert one’s power (usually it means to produce) or one’s ability. The Father exerts His power. And this is a perfect active indicative indicating linear aktionsart – the Father keeps on exerting His power. In other words ago, in eternity past the omniscience of the Father came up with a plan. The plan is designed in eternity past. But the omnipotence of the Father puts the plan into operation. In other words, He is saying in effect, “My Father is working today.” That was the Sabbath day. At that time (28-29 AD) there were believers scattered all over the world. Some of those believers were having problems – facing great dangers, in disaster situations. And it was the Sabbath day, and the Father was providing and caring and helping and protecting, and holding back forces of angels directed against some of these believers in parts of the earth. The Father was working all day, in other words.

“hitherto” – means here, “even til now.” This is after the healing of the impotent man. “My Father is working right now.” They knew what “My Father” meant, they knew that meant God.

“I work [keep on working] too” – when Jesus used the same verb, e)rgazomai, of His works that He has used of the Father’s works He was saying “I and the Father are co-equal and co-eternal.” If He had used a different word that may have satisfied the Jews. If He had used poiew which means to work, that would have been fine, but He didn’t. He has just spelled it out as clear as anything in the world that he and the Father had the exact same essence, and this is what aroused all of their antagonism. And He uses the same morphology – present active indicative. When He uses the same word He is saying, “We are equal.” He is saying, “I am God, the Father is God; the whole purpose of the Sabbath is for you to cool your heels, to remind yourselves of the fact that you can’t work for salvation, you can’t work for spirituality; it is to teach you grace. But I am the Lord of the Sabbath and I can do anything I want to with the Sabbath.” He deliberately told that man to carry his bed because it was contrary to the legalistic taboos. Jerusalem on the Sabbath day must have been the dullest place in all of history. The shackles of legalism which had been put on the people by the Pharisees are almost beyond comprehension. And when a man picks up a bed and carries it from the sheep gate, which represents salvation, to the temple which is supposed to represent the ministry and the work of the saviour, probably people cheered silently all over the place. Here was a man who had broken with the taboos of Judaism. Here is a man who defies the taboos of Judaism!

Many people in Jerusalem had gone on positive signals, therefore God is responsible to provide information for them at the point of gospel hearing. The gospel hearing is going to come up in the rest of the chapter, but how is Jesus going to gather a crowd and present Himself? Somewhere in the city of Jerusalem the people are now becoming alerted. There is someone here who has broken the shackles of religion. There is someone here who has destroyed the shackles of religion. And how do they know it? Because a man walked through the whole city from the gates to the temple carrying a bed. And the people knew. So every person who has positive volition is alerted, and there will very shortly be a discourse. And that very same Sabbath day a man is healed, a taboo is violated, and thousands of people in Jerusalem find Jesus Christ as their saviour. Sometimes before the gospel can be presented religion must be exposed. The gospel and religion are antithetical. One is of Satan and one is of God. The shackles have to be removed.

“I keep on working” – what was Jesus doing? Sustaining the universe – Colossians 1:17. He works every second. The reason we are here now is because Jesus Christ is working. If the Lord stopped working on the Sabbath the Pharisees would never see another Sabbath!

The religious crowd always criticised Jesus and it is recorded in all four Gospels. The Sabbath issue was always a big issue with the Jews and all four Gospel writers record the religious criticisms of Jesus. Matthew 12:2,3; Mark 2:24-27; Luke 13:15; John 5:17.

Verse 18 – the religious antagonism. “Therefore the Jews.” These are the religious Jews, not all the Jews. In Jerusalem there were many Jews who had +V at the point of God-consciousness. They will respond to the message of the Lord, they will believe in Him. But when it says “Jews” here it is referring to the religious leaders.

“sought” – imperfect active indicative, which means to keep on searching for a way to kill Him; “the more” indicates this, it is a phrase in the Greek which means intensity which rules out either a sense of humour or a relaxed mental attitude. They were so intense in their religiosity that they excluded any sense of humour, they didn’t have a relaxed mental attitude, and consequently they were on the completely wrong tack. Imagine wanting to kill the Lord of glory!

“not only had he broken the Sabbath” – the first motive of the Jews – “but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

“to kill” – a)pokteinw [a)po = preposition of ultimate source; kteinw = sometimes just to destroy or to remove and sometimes to kill] means here to kill. There are many words for killing in the Greek but in their minds (ultimate source refers to their thinking, their mental attitude), in their mental attitude they had already killed Him. It was now just a matter of finding the mechanics for doing so. In principle they had killed Him in their minds – mental attitude sin of murder, made up of hatred plus jealousy.

“broken” – luw. It means to loosen something. So the first thing they didn’t like about Jesus was that He had relaxed the Sabbath. To loosen means to relax. Jesus relaxed on the Sabbath. To the Jews it was breaking it. The imperfect active indicative means He always was relaxed on the Sabbath.

The second reason why they didn’t like Him: “but kept on asserting [imperfect linear aktionsart] that the God was his own Father, [always] making himself [present active participle] equal with God.”

Jesus was doing on the Sabbath what the Sabbath was designed to be. The Sabbath was designed to be a grace day. Why didn’t they work on the Sabbath? Because you cannot work for salvation, or for spirituality. So the Sabbath was a grace day, a break in the routine. It was designed to commemorate grace; it was a memorial to the grace of God. The Sabbath is a reflection of the character of God. God is gracious and he Sabbath was designed for inner happiness, a relaxed mental attitude.

Verse 19 – the execution of the will of God in the life of Jesus.

“Then answered” – a)pokrinomai, to discern from the ultimate source. Jesus doesn’t answer, He discerns, and His discernment is expressed from the ultimate source of Himself – doctrine in the human spirit. This is an aorist middle indicative. Aorist tense: In this point of time He gives them the benefit of His doctrine. Middle voice: He does it Himself from the ultimate source of Himself. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that they are hearing from the God-Man, the unique person of the universe.

“said” is imperfect linear aktionsart, which means that Jesus repeated this, He kept on saying it.

Verily, verily” – from now on throughout the Gospel of John we are going to see this phrase. It means “Truly, truly” literally, but truly, truly is an idiom. It really means “point of doctrine.”

“I say unto you” – present active indicative, “I keep on saying unto you,” dative of advantage; “The Son” – refers to the doctrine of the hypostatic union. Jesus Christ is God; Jesus Christ is man, in one person forever. So He says a very interesting thing at this point. He says, “The Son can do nothing,” but that isn’t really what it says. It says, “The Son is not able to do nothing.” Not good English, but it is good Greek. “Is not able” is present linear aktionsart which means that this is a fixed situation; “to do” is a present active infinitive which means this is a purpose or a concept or a result’ “nothing” is total orientation to the grace of God. What He is saying is, “I can’t do anything but totally orient to the grace of God.”

“of himself” – from the ultimate source of self [His humanity]. Literally, “is not able to do nothing from the ultimate source of myself.” The ultimate source of self is the humanity of Christ again. The humanity of Christ is helpless apart from the Father’s provision. This is demonstrated by what happened on the cross. When Christ was bearing our sins on the cross He was helpless. It was doctrine that kept Him there.

“but what he seeth the Father do” – is “if not unless he [the Son] sees the Father doing it.” Obviously we have a series of idioms here. But first the translation: “The Son [Jesus Christ] is not able to do nothing from the ultimate source of himself, if [3rd class condition] not unless he sees the Father doing it.”

Notice that in the English Bible there is the word “to do” twice, and this is one of the keys that unlocks the whole thing. The word in each case is the same – like e)rgazomai. Before, He used e)rgazomai of the Father, so He repeated it for Himself. Now He uses the word poiew of the Father and then turns around and uses it for Himself. Every time He uses a verb for the Father He uses the same verb for Himself. Here He does it again.

The point is that Jesus Christ does not depend upon the essence of His deity to do these things but He depended in His humanity upon the power of the Holy Spirit. All of the things that Jesus was doing He was doing from His humanity. He set aside the independent use of His own attributes. He operated strictly on His humanity so He could obey the Father. In His deity He is equal with the Father; in His humanity He obeys the Father. All of the way through this passage we are going to see obedience to the Father’s will. This passage will develop the Father’s provision – Bible doctrine and the Holy Spirit. The combination of Bible doctrine and the Holy Spirit means that He can cut it, and we have the same provision today.

What the Father does is the design for His life, and the something here is the provision – grace. Jesus Christ in His humanity lived under grace. The Father provided what He needed, so the Father did the doing.

“for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” – we have the word “doeth” twice. Both times it is poiew, repetition of the verb. In the words, “whatsoever he sees” the word means to discern, to observe. Jesus Christ learned the Father’s plan. “Seeth” is blepw, meaning to discern. Jesus discerned from the ultimate source of Himself. How did Jesus know the Father’s plan? Jesus “grew in wisdom.” He had normal physical growth and in His humanity He was a genius but He had to learn doctrine. So the word “seeth” here is discerning what the Father wants Him to do. Jesus learned the plan in time through doctrine, and He “does” [poiew], present active indicative – He keeps right on following the Father’s plan. The same doctrine is available to us; the perfection is available to us; the same grace is available.

Verse 20 – the relationship in the incarnation. “For the Father loveth the Son.” The word “loveth” is where we get a difference of words – filew. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world…” – a)gapaw, mental attitude love. That is all God can have for sinners. It is not a rapport type love. But what is His attitude toward Jesus Christ. It is filew – total rapport. God cannot filew the unbeliever because the unbeliever is spiritually dead. Jesus Christ was virgin-born, minus the sin nature, and right from the start the relationship of the humanity of Christ to the Father had total rapport – filew. This is something we can have with God only when we learn doctrine.

“the Son” – when you have rapport with someone you can show them things you can’t show to others. With a)gapaw you don’t have to show anything, it is just a relaxed mental attitude.

“he sheweth him” – deiknumi means to teach, to teach something of great importance. It means to teach something that is already there; to pull back the curtains and there it is. The doctrine is there but the humanity of Christ had to learn it in time, even though His deity always knew it. And when He learned doctrine a rapport was set up, and so the Father’s attitude to the humanity of Christ was filew, a rapport based on doctrine.

“all things” – the total plan of God. This means that Jesus Christ went so far with grace, further than anyone else could ever go, that the Father could show Him all things. The grace of God plus knowledge of Bible doctrine can bring you to the place where He can show you all things.

“that himself doeth” – poiew, that He has designed; “and he will shew him greater works” – reference to something in the future, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“than these” -- the healing of the impotent man was nothing; He is going to show Him something greater in the future.

“that ye may marvel [regard Him with admiration]” – recognition of the plan of the Father and the one who was involved in the plan of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 21 – equity with the Father is resurrection and judgement. In verses 21 & 22 the fact that the Father and the Son are co-equal and co-eternal is going to be brought out by introducing two new subjects. The first of these is resurrection and the second is judgment. The Father and the Son are equal in these two areas. Why did Jesus pick resurrection and judgment? It is no accident that He picked them because in the theology of the Pharisees resurrection and judgment were dominant, and both of the theological seminaries did a great deal of teaching on these subjects. There were parts of the Sanhedrin who did not believe in resurrection and judgment but the Pharisees all believed in these things. So now Jesus is facing an antagonistic religious crowd made up of the leaders of the land and they are trying to nail Him to the wall. They are not succeeding and He is making it very clear as to who and what He is. He is equal with the Father in matters of resurrection; He is equal with the Father in matters of judgment.

The emphasis in verse 21 is on the work of the Father is resurrection and two verbs are used for the Father. The first of these is e)geirw, the word translated “raise up.” It is the simple word for resurrection, to cause to raise someone from the dead. And this is used only of the Father because it is the Father who is going to raise the humanity of the Son. But both the Son and the Father will be involved in the resurrection of, for example, all believers. So we have another word for resurrection which is actually a synonym zowpoiew [zow = life; poiew = to make or to do]. So this means to make life, to produce life, to give life. It is used for the Father and it is used for the Son. Why? Because the Father and the Son are co-equal and co-eternal in their deity.

This raises the question as to who raises the dead. First of all, the Father is involved in resurrection – 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1Peter er 1:3; John 5:21. The Holy Spirit has a part in resurrection – Romans 8:11; 1Peter er 3:18. Jesus Christ is also involved in the resurrection of those other than Himself – John 5:21. So the resurrection, then, is a joint project of the Trinity and it emphasises the co-equality and the coexistence of the members of the Trinity.

Verse 22 – the same thing is true of judgement. “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” This is talking about the last judgement only. The Father is involved in all sorts of judgments. He judges nations because they phase out on Bible doctrine – Hosea 4:6; Isaiah 5:13. He judges with regard divine laws connected to the divine institutions. He judges people for all sorts of things. He protects the human race from self-destruction by certain types of judgments which prune out the human race and keeps it from a mass madness that would destroy it. So the Father is constantly judging. Now it was Jesus Christ who was judged for us on the cross; it was Jesus Christ who was the courtroom; it is Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for us. So at the last judgment people who reject Christ are going to stand on their own human good, either consciously or subconsciously. The work of Christ on the cross is divine good. When a person rejects Christ they are rejecting His work and they are substituting their own. The scripture indicts them by saying “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” So human good is not judged at the cross, human good is rejected at the cross because human good can never be the basis of appropriating salvation. And since human good cannot be the basis of appropriating salvation, since it is apart from human works, human good is not judged; it is a part of the sin nature which is not judged. So at the last judgement we have a second resurrection. And who is on the throne? Jesus Christ – John 5:22. Why is He the judge here? He was judged at the cross, now He is the judge of all who reject His judgment. Who rejects His judgment? All unbelievers since the beginning of time. Every time a person refuses to believe in Christ – either negative volition at the point of God-consciousness or negative volition at the point of gospel hearing, or both – he always chooses to stand upon his own works, and so when we come to the last judgment the unbeliever is there because he has rejected Christ as saviour, he has refused to accept this salvation. He cannot be judged for his sins because they were judged at the cross, and under the law of double jeopardy he can only be judged once for them. The only thing by which he can be indicted is the other part of his old sin nature operation – human good. Our righteousness are as filthy rags to God – Isaiah 64:6, they are dead works – Hebrews 6:1, and therefore the unbeliever will not be judged for his sins at the last judgement. He is judged for one thing only: human good.

“hath committed” – perfect tense. It means to give and the Father has given all judgment to the Son. The perfect tense means that since the beginning of time, and they are eternally saved. There have been unbelievers, all of whom will stand on their human good (their sins having been judged at the cross), and this is what is meant by the perfect tense – from the beginning of time to the end of time all unbelievers will be judged by Jesus Christ at the end of time.

So this is why we have both judgment and resurrection used to show this total equality.

Verse 23 – co-equality in honour. In this connection we have, once again, a verb used for the Father and the same verb used for the Son – timaw, which means to honour. It is a word which means to give honour, to show honour, to hold in the highest respect or the highest regard.

“That” introduces a purpose clause. Here is the purpose of God; “all [the word “men” is in italics. But it means all the human race] should honour the Son.” This is the first use of timaw and it is a present active subjunctive, linear aktionsart; everyone is going to honour the Son one way or another. The subjunctive mood is the potential; that honour depends upon attitude toward the cross.

This verse indicates that relationship with God the Father is based upon attitude toward the Son. To honour the Son means to believe in Him, to receive Him as saviour, to recognise Him for what He is. The word is used here because the religious crowd, the Pharisees, had studied the Old Testament scriptures and understood them well.

Verse 24 – fellowship with God comes through the Son.

“Verily, verily” – point of doctrine; “I say unto you [keep on communicating to you], He that heareth my word.” This is one of the most difficult verses to analyse because it appears to say that you have to believe in the Father to be saved. But a principle must be understood. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” That is, both Jesus and the Father have identical essence. The Father and the Son are in view here. They are one, and all of the way through this passage the Father sends the Son – the humanity of Christ which is sent. How can you honour the Father? The only way is to believe in the Son, and when you believe in the Son you believe in the Father. This is the one salvation verse that is a principle verse rather than a mechanical verse. Here is a verse which deals with the principle, and you cannot get to God the Father and live with Him forever unless you come through the Son. And if you honour the Son by believing in Him, then this is tantamount to believing in the Father, since Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.”

The word for “hearing” here means to hear and obey. It means to have a delineation of the gospel and to obey it. Obedience is simply faith in Christ.

“my word [the word of salvation], and believeth on him that sent me” – that is God the Father. Nowhere in the scripture does it ever say you believe in God the Father for salvation. This is for obvious reasons: Christ is the saviour. Acts 4:12. When we have believed in the Son we have believed in the Father, is what this verse is saying because it is dealing with a principle. But most of the salvation verses deal with mechanics and when they deal with mechanics it is always believe on the Son. This verse explains verse 23 and it is the principle of salvation used to illustrate the co-equality of honour between the Father and the Son.

“hath everlasting life” – present active indicative, keeps on having everlasting life.

In verses 25-27 we go back to salvation and judgment. Since they are co-equal in judgment they are also co-equal in the matter of salvation. The Father designed salvation and the Son actually executed it, and the Spirit reveals it. But in spite of these different functions in the plan of salvation this does not change the fact that each member of the Trinity is co-equal and co-eternal.

Verse 25 – “Verily, verily” – point of doctrine; “I say unto you [for your advantage], The hour is coming…” This is not a resurrection verse, it must be connected with the previous verse – hearing and obeying has to do with people who are spiritually dead. They hear the gospel and then they obey the gospel by believing in Jesus Christ. Who does this? People who are dead spiritually. The gospel is what causes dead people to hear. Then his volition goes into operation. If he goes on positive signals he believes in Jesus Christ, and having believed in Jesus Christ then he has eternal life.

“and now is [now here]” – for some of you, this is it. They are about to hear something to which they will respond. How can Jesus tell that there are people who are about to respond? Because in eternity past He knew everyone who would be standing in the temple that day – omniscience. He knew that at the point of God-consciousness many of these people living in Jerusalem many of these people had gone on +V. He also knew that whenever a person at the point of God-consciousness goes on +V God is responsible to provide information for that person by which they can be saved. Jeremiah 29; Acts 17; John 7:17. So he says, “The hour is coming, and for some of you it is here, when you are going to get gospel hearing.” And as a result of gospel hearing they are going to believe and be saved.

“when the [spiritually] dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God” – they are hearing the voice of the Son of God; “and they that hear shall live” – they will respond to the gospel.

So this is a dissertation on salvation, the principle being that eternal life comes through the Son.

Verse 26 – co-equality again. This is not difficult when we remember that the Father is eternal life. The deity of Christ is eternal life. There never was a time when the Father and the Son did not have eternal life. 1John 5:11,12.

Verse 27 – the amplification is concluded by going back to judgment. “And he has given him [Jesus Christ] authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man.” This means very simply that Jesus Christ was judged on the cross and the Father has given Him the privilege of judging all who reject His judgment.

Verse 28 – “Marvel not at this,” stop be amazed at this. They were standing there with their mouths open.

“for the hour is coming” – this is a different hour. This isn’t the hour of salvation, this is the hour of resurrection.

“in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice” – in other words, there is another voice of the Son of God. In time on earth we hear His voice, which is the gospel, and we respond by faith. But in eternity it is again hearing His voice and this is for resurrection, specifically the resurrection of the Church. The words “in the grave” means the body is in the grave. The emphasis now goes back to the body.

“shall hear” – it is the soul that hears the voice. The soul hears the voice in heaven. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.

Verse 29 – “And shall come forth.” This means to come forth in a resurrection body.

Verse 28 – “Marvel not” means “Stop being amazed” – present active imperative plus the negative, and the word means to be totally astounded. This is the ordinary Greek word for total amazement. The “hour” here is the Rapture of the Church in which all believers of the Church Age that are in the graves shall hear His voice. The word a)kouw, to hear means to hear and obey, not only to hear something but also to respond to it. The souls will be in the presence of the Lord and they will come down to the earth, and from there will come up in resurrection bodies. The point is that they are hearing the voice of the Son of God with regard to matters that pertain to this life, and as the Son of God speaks everything He says is doctrine, everything He says presents the plan of God. Therefore the tremendous effect in the power of His voice is given in the fact that Jesus Christ only has to speak and the Rapture begins. With a voice that powerful the religious crowd should be listening to what He has to say at the present time. So in the next verse we have the continuation of the temple discourse.

Verse 29 – “And they shall come forth.” The Greek word is e)kporeuomai [e)k = from; poreuomai = go from one place to another] and it means to go out of a place that is not worthwhile into a state or a place that is worthwhile. In other words, a body goes out of the grave and into a resurrection concept. This is a general verse, it does not give specifics. Since the religious crowd is totally involved in a legalistic concept here is something to break that up. That is, to listen to the voice of the Son of God as He stands on the steps of the temple and declares to them the issues of eternal life. But they refuse to do so. They are totally disoriented to this concept and this plan and so Jesus is going to show them a very interesting thing. This religious crowd will continue to go on negative signals with regard to the gospel. They will continue to reject it and yet there is one time when they will obey the voice of the Son of God, for there will be a second resurrection. Jesus will say, “Rise up,” and the souls of the religious crowd will go into the bodies of these unbelievers and they will stand in their physical bodies before the great white throne – a physical body designed for suffering in the lake of fire. So they will obey His voice once.

“they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life” – the doing of good is poiew, which generally means to do; “and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” -- the doing of evil is prassw, which generally means to practice, to establish a pattern. The verb poiew is used here for the first resurrection and prassw is used for the second resurrection. The ones in the first resurrection are said to do good, and the Greek word for good is a)gaqoj which is good of intrinsic value – divine good. There is one thing that man cannot do on his own, and that is divine good. The verb poiew is in the aorist active participle. The type of good which is mentioned is a)gaqoj which is used for divine good. Who can produce or do divine good? Only a person who is in the plan of God. To produce divine good you have to first of all receive Christ as saviour, you have to be a child of God and born into the family of God. Once you receive Christ as saviour you are in phase two of the plan of God where knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of the Holy Spirit equals the production of divine good. Only a believer can produce divine good. This doesn’t mean that every believer does but it means that he is now distinguished from the unbeliever in that way. No unbeliever can produce divine good. All the unbeliever has is an old sin nature and the old sin nature can produce human good but never divine good. So those who produce divine good are believers and they are involved in the first resurrection.

With regard to the second resurrection we have the verb prassw which means to practice, to establish or form a pattern. This, too, is an aorist active participle. In each case the aorist tense indicates facing the cross – in the first case +V, and in the second –V. In other words, they all face the cross. But when the person who becomes a believer faces the cross, for the first time he sees divine good and he believes in Jesus Christ. So at the point of salvation you depend upon the work of another, the perfect work of Jesus Christ, you depend upon what he has accomplished. Divine good is what Christ did no the cross, so once in every believer’s life he depends upon divine good. Once he enters into phase two, which is the believer in time, divine good is the order of the day as far as the plan of God is concerned. Therefore knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of the Holy Spirit equals the production of divine good. So that in phase two he can produce divine good as well. But the aorist tense takes up a point of time when he is saved, and when he is saved poiew is used because he does divine good in the sense of believing in Christ.

But the unbeliever who faces the cross goes on negative signals, and when he does he depends upon human good. At the point of the cross he depended upon human good because [prassw] he had been practicing human good all along and he was a person who used his own merit, his own ability to try to gain salvation. So here are these Pharisees, these scribes, and so on. They have always had the concept since they first entered into religion that you have to do good to be saved, you have to do good to go to heaven. So when they face the cross they have behind them a long record, many years of human good. So they look at the cross – divine good – and they say no, I prefer my backlog of human good. They had been practicing [prassw] all along.

“and they that have done evil” – this is prassw. These are the people who went on negative signals toward the cross. Evil simply refers to the old sin nature under which they have operated. Under the OSN they have produced good – human good. At the last judgement human good will be judged. Human good is not sin but it is evil because the OSN is classified as evil and anything that comes from the OSN is evil. From the evil comes sin; from the evil comes human good.

So at this point, verses 30 & 31, we have a dissertation on the humanity of Christ. In order to get to the cross and to produce divine good Jesus Christ is under orders from the Father. He is under the Father’s will and He will not go outside of the Father’s will. This means that Christ must subordinate His deity to the will of the Father, ands the only way He can do that is to not use His attributes of deity independently – doctrine of Kenosis: Jesus Christ refused to operate independently of the Father’s plan in His deity. He did not use the characteristics of His deity independently of the Father’s plan. In other words, when He performed miracles He performed them in the power of the Spirit. Whatever He did, He did in the power of the Spirit; He did not depend upon His own divine attributes. He depended upon the indwelling Holy Spirit in His humanity. This is a big issue because Satan tried to get Him to operate independently of the Father’s plan – Matthew 4, “Command these stones to be made bread.” Jesus didn’t do it because He would have been acting independently of the Father’s plan.

Verse 30 – the humanity of Christ depends on the Father. “I can” is literally, “I am not able.” When Jesus says, “I am not able,” obviously He is referring to his humanity because His deity has unlimited ability – omnipotence.

“to do” – present active indicative of poiew. The present tense indicates linear aktionsart – do constantly during the incarnation. The active voice: Jesus Christ will operate under the control of the Father; He is not able to do otherwise. The infinitive indicates this is His purpose. It is His purpose to rely upon the Father’s provision rather than use His own divine attributes independently of the Father’s plan.

“of myself” – the word “of” is the preposition a)po, the preposition of ultimate source: “I am not able to do anything from the ultimate source of myself.” Ultimate source refers to His deity, the essence of God.

How does He operate, then, in the incarnation?

“as I hear” – a)kouw, which means to hear and obey, present linear aktionsart. “What I hear, I obey” is what He is saying. He obeyed perfectly the will of the Father during the incarnation. Present tense: He keeps on doing it. Active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action. Indicative mood: the reality of the action which he produces, the reality of the fact that He did the Father’s will in every step of the incarnation, including the cross, all of the way to resurrection, ascension; and when He was ascended the Father said to Him, “Sit down.”

“I judge” – the word for judge here is a present active indicative and it means judging right then and there. Jesus is standing on the steps of the temple and here are all these religious people listening to Him, and His message is judging them right now. He is talking about the resurrection of damnation, the alternative to the cross. They have rejected the cross and He is explaining the alternative, therefore He must speak in terms of judgment. So he is judging right now, but He is not judging because of what He feels about it, He is judging because the Father has said that those who reject the Son must come under judgment. So He is not speaking from His deity, He is speaking strictly from the Father’s plan.

“and my judgment is just [righteous]” – in other words, this is the Father’s plan. The Father is perfect; His plan of perfect, therefore anyone who is judged under the Father’s plan is being judged perfectly.

“because I seek not my own will” – He is here to do the Father’s will, not His; “who hath sent me” – a)postellw, which means to send on a special official delegation. When the religious crowd heard about John the Baptist out in the desert, drawing the crowds, they sent a delegation – a)postellw. They sent a delegation to condemn John. Now the Father sends [a)postellw] a delegation of one, not to condemn but to save. This is the impact of the message of Jesus Christ. The people who reject that salvation are going to be condemned; but He was sent officially into the world to save the world, not to condemn the world.

Verse 31 – His dependence on the plan of the Father. “If” – 3rd class condition: potential – “I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” This means that if the Father laid out the plan and that is the way He is going to do it. His witness would not be true for one reason: because He would be operating outside of the plan of God.

1. If Jesus acts independently of the Father’s plan He is bearing witness to Himself.

2. His witness would then be insubordination.

3. Satan tempted Jesus to act independently of the Father’s plan and the Father’s provision -- turning stones into bread.

4. This is a temptation which the believer today in principle only, and generally when He starts to become a mature believer – acting independently of the Father’s plan.

5. The humanity of Christ was oriented to grace and the Father’s plan.

6. Therefore, He was subordinate to the will of the Father and the plan of the Father in His humanity.

The six witnesses to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; 2Corinthians 13:1 we have the law of a double witness. We have heard: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses a fact will be established.” It means that one person might be prejudiced, one person might be hysterical, but when you have three people one of them is bound to be calm and emotionally uninvolved. Therefore, when you have a series of people witnessing about a fact or an alleged fact and you can get two or three to agree, the fact is established as a point of law in a court of law. This is a basic principle of justice.

There are six witnesses who stand in the history of the human race and say to us that Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe. He is God; He is man; He is the only saviour. These six witnesses are all brought into the picture to conclude this tremendous discourse which was given originally to religious people. This discourse which is being concluded at this part of the chapter started with the religious crowd criticising Jesus Christ. Religion hates Jesus Christ.

At this point the Pharisees not only cling to the Sabbath but they cling to the law of double witness. Jesus takes the Sabbath and shows them that the Sabbath was designed for grace, not for legalism. Now He turns and shows them that the law of double witness was designed for grace and to protect people, and not to be distorted. So He presents six witnesses in the court of history.

Verse 32 -- The first witness is God the Holy Spirit, a perfect witness, a perfect person. “There is” – present active indicative of the verb e)imi, a verb of absolute status quo. It is present linear aktionsart, there always will exist, there never was a time when He didn’t exist; “another” is another of the same kind. Jesus Christ is God; the Holy Spirit is God.

“that beareth witness” – present active participle, marturew which is the key word for the rest of the passage: he who acts as a witness.

“of me” is correctly “concerning me” – peri. The witness is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is indwelling the humanity of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is co-equal with the deity of Christ. The Holy Spirit is operating in the humanity of Christ in the same manner the Holy Spirit operates in us when we are filled with the Spirit.

“and I know that the witness that he witnesses concerning me is doctrine” – truth.

There are two witnesses of the Holy Spirit. The first witness is the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit during the incarnation of Christ, and the second is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the production of the canon of scripture – 2Peter er 1:21.

Verses 33-35 – the second witness: John the Baptist.

Verse 33 – “You sent.” They sent [a)postellw] an official delegation out into the desert to investigate the credentials of John the Baptist. They wanted a witness but they didn’t accept it after they had checked it out. John never walked into Jerusalem and onto the steps of the temple. John never went to them; they came to him. The people came to John and the religious crowd came to him. John the Baptist had the truth, Bible doctrine. They came to him. When you have the truth you don’t run around begging people to listen to it. Doctrine can stand on its own feet; it never needs any help from us. If you have something worthwhile you stand there with it and the people will come to you. Jesus Christ stands still and He calls His witnesses. Just as the people came to John the people will come to Him. John the Baptist was the perfect illustration; he stayed in one spot, out in the desert where there were no people.

“he bare witness” – perfect tense of marturew which means to communicate the gospel. The gospel is a facet or segment of Bible doctrine. Perfect tense: he communicated in the past with the result that there are people standing there listening to the voice of Jesus who were saved. Active voice: John the Baptist did the communicating. The indicative mood: the reality of his great ministry.

Basically, the message of John the Baptist was fourfold:

a) The person of Christ – John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God.”

b) A change of mental attitude accompanies faith – Matthew 3:2, “Repent ye.”

c) The mechanics of salvation – Acts 19:4, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

d) Occupation with Christ – John 3:30, “He must increase, I must decrease.”

“the truth” – he communicated the truth. This is a ministry which impressed the religious crowd; it impressed them. Even though the religious crowd didn’t agree, and they didn’t accept the content of his message, they were impressed with the power of it. Here is religion’s great dilemma. The message has content, the content of the gospel, but it goes forth in power. Content is doctrine; the power is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of John the Baptist as he preached. They were impressed by power but they went negative on the content. What they tried to do was to convert the power (divine power) into something they could use. They couldn’t, but they tried. They were emotionally involved without being mentally involved. They never accepted the gospel but they were so impressed with John the Baptist that they sent him an official delegation.

Verse 34 – “I receive not,” lambanw means to receive, but it has other meanings. It means to take to one’s self or to sustain, and so Jesus is saying, “I am no sustained by a testimony from the immediate source of a man.” He is saying that He did not need the message of John to sustain me. He is saying that the thing that sustained John the Baptist was doctrine; the thing that sustained Him was doctrine – in His humanity. There lies the power. So He is saying to the religious crowd, “You wanted the power, but you rejected the message. I am not sustained by the power of John the Baptist, I am sustained by the doctrine” – just as John was sustained by the doctrine which he communicated.

“from man” – para, from the immediate source of man. This is referring to a public speaking situation, such as John the Baptist.

“but these things I say” – why? The thing that they missed in the message of John the Baptist. They caught the power but they missed the content of the message; they rejected it.

“that ye might be saved” – the purpose in going over the doctrine is so that they might be saved. It is the doctrine, the gospel, that saves. This is an aorist passive subjunctive. Saved in a point of time; salvation is received when we believe; salvation is potential, depending on whether a person believes or not.

Verse 35 – John the Baptist. “He was a burning and shining light.” “He” is not he at all, in the Greek it is “that one” – e)keinoj, which is not a simple pronoun. It means that one, that special one. It means someone who is special. He was special because he was the herald of the King. On the inside he was burning; on the outside he was shining. If you burn on the inside you shine on the outside. The word for burning is kaiw. This goes on on the inside, it is unseen; but you do see something on the outside. “Shining” is the verb fainw. The Christian way of life starts on the inside and works to the outside. Doctrine is on the inside; the filling of the Spirit is on the inside. This works to the outside. “He was” is imperfect linear aktionsart of the verb e)imi – past time. In other words, John’s ministry is over now. This is what he was in the past. Kaiw means to be consumed with fire and it is a reference here to the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of doctrine. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit plus knowledge of doctrine = shining. Fainw is a present active participle. Inside we have “passive,” we receive these things – knowledge of doctrine, the filling of the Holy Spirit. When we have these things, active voice on the outside, we produce – divine good. Divine good is the production that is seen on the outside. This is what Jesus said about John the Baptist.

“ye were willing” – aorist active indicative of the verb qelw. The aorist tense is the point of time when they heard him, were impressed by his power but rejected the content of his message. Qelw means from the standpoint of their emotion. In the emotion of their souls they admired power but they would not go to the source of the power which was the cross. This describes the religious crowd who respond from the emotion of the soul without becoming involved in the volition and the mentality of the soul.

“for a season” – during the time that John ministered in the desert. The Jews were like a moth around a flame. They were attracted to John for his brightness but they did not absorb the warmth of his message. The warmth is on the inside – the power of the Spirit, the content of the message. They were entertained but not persuaded. They were impressed with the power but they rejected the message, and it is the message, the content, that counts.

“to rejoice” – they didn’t rejoice. Rejoicing is the Christian monopoly – the filling of the Spirit, inner happiness, Bible doctrine filling the facets of the soul. The word for “rejoice” is xairw. This is what the Spirit produces, and what knowledge of doctrine produces; but that isn’t the word we have here. The word used here is a)galliaw, which means to celebrate, to crave something. It is not the Greek word for inner happiness. So the celebrated, they craved something, they craved John’s power, but they did not crave John’s Christ. They craved crowds and the dynamics of John but they rejected the message. They were emotionally involved but not mentally and volitionally involved. This is always true of religion and it is a great indictment of religion.

Verse 36 – John’s power was in the message that he preached, but Jesus performed a lot of miracles. The religious crowd were never impressed with miracles. We notice in the Gospels that when Jesus performed miracles it made them mad and they wanted to kill Him. But they were impressed with John’s crowds and the power of John’s delivery. So Jesus says, All right, you were impressed with power, now I am going to call on another witness. And this is a logical witness, the witness of the works of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Literally, “But the witness that I have [keep on having] is greater [than the power of John].” The witness is the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were not designed to alleviate suffering, even though they did this. Their purpose was to focus attention on the gospel for it is the gospel which saves. Miracles won’t save. The word for “greater” here is megaj. It means more numerous, more intense, and more distinguished. This doesn’t disparage the ministry of John the Baptist. Both of them were sustained by the same Holy Spirit, both of them preached the same message, but Jesus Christ has a more distinguished, more intense, and a more numerous manifestation of power, i.e. the miracles as well as the power of delivery. And He now declares what this greater witness is.

“for the works” – e)rgon, which means “deeds, miracles.” These miracles were designed in eternity past, so Jesus brings the Father who designed them into the picture” “hath given me” – perfect tense, they were designed in eternity past for a purpose. They were to focus attention on the gospel to a very religious group of people when Christ was on earth.

“to finish” – the Father gave them in the past with the result that they have a purpose, and that purpose is to finish, i.e. to execute, to accomplish; “the same works that I do, [these] bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” – a)postellw, to send an official delegation. Jesus Christ is an official delegation from God the first Father to mankind, and His job is saviour. He is in contrast to the religious crowd who sent an official delegation to hear John, the herald of the King, were impressed with the power but did not become mentally involved with the message.

Verse 37 – the witness of the Father. “And the Father himself” – the word “himself” is a reflexive pronoun which takes us back to His essence. The Father is perfect; His plan is perfect. His plan includes the presentation of the Son.

“which hath sent me” – a)pastellw, sent on an official delegation. The Father sent a delegation of one, Jesus Christ, to save the world.

“hath borne witness” – perfect active indicative of marturew which means to communicate information, to get a point across. The Father is communicating to the world through His Son. The Father is revealing His love, His grace, only through the Son, only by the cross.

“of me” – should be “concerning me,” peri. Perfect tense: He did this in the past (eternity past) with results that are now apparent to these people.

Now He looks these religious people right in the eye and says they are on negative signals: “Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.”

 “nor seen” – perfect active indicative of o(raw [from which we get our word “horizon”]. This does not mean to see with the eye, it means to see with the mind. In other words, they have rejected the message. This is a verb for perception. The reason they haven’t seen is because they went on negative volition toward the message.

“his form” – His form is His essence. And behind His essence, therefore, the design. A perfect person designs a perfect plan. Negative volition is not impressed with knowing God’s plan, they are more interested in impressing God with who and what they are.

Verse 38 – “And ye have not his word abiding in you.” These Pharisees know the Old Testament scriptures but they are religious unbelievers, they do not have a human spirit. Therefore they are unable to relate these things to the plan of God and to the grace of God, they have not taken the first step which is salvation, and consequently, even though they know the scriptures [the Old Testament] they have not been able to correlate these things. They have from the OT, ritual, but they do not have the reality. For example, they observe the Passover but they do not have the reality of the Passover, i.e. 1Corinthians 5:7.

How can you have the word abiding in you? It doesn’t mean resident, it means that the Word is operational. It is there; it is operational there. These religious people knew some facts, all about Moses, the Exodus, etc.

“for whom he hath sent: -- aorist active indicative of a)postellw, which means to send an official delegation [stellw = send; a)po = preposition of ultimate source]. The Father sends the Son.

“him ye believe not” – they rejected the message, they were minus faith. Present active indicative: they have continued to “believe not.” The present tense plus the negative means they have not only rejected the message once but they have rejected every witness brought before them.

Verse 39 – the Old Testament scripture is called in as a witness (Verses 39-44). “Search the scriptures” – it doesn’t say search. While we are commanded to do so this is not what is meant here. The verb is e)reunaw. It means to explore or to investigate something with which you are familiar. The Pharisees knew all sorts of little things that they knew about the scriptures but they had never investigated the scriptures to see the person there. They were using the ritual of the scripture, they were practicing Codex #3 of the Mosaic law, they added to this their own system of good deeds; therefore they needed to investigate, to explore something with which they were familiar. This is the second person plural to indicate that Jesus Christ was talking to all the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees. It is a present active imperative, which means that they would have to persist in their investigation because they had a lot of unlearning to do. A religious person has preconceived notions that are wrong.

The “scriptures” here refer to the Old Testament, and only the Old Testament.

“in them” – the content of the OT; Jesus Christ is revealed in them; “ye think” – the verb dokew means to assume. It is a sloppy form of thinking; “[that] ye have eternal life” -- they assumed that they were saved by observing ritual and by physical birth. So they were guilty of sloppy thinking.

“and they are they which testify of me” – this time the word “testify” is a present active participle. In every line of the OT you are going to find me, if you come with an open mind.

Verse 40 – again, He expresses their negative volition.

“ye will not” is a present active indicative of qelw. They are emotionally involved. This is simply emotion influencing volition to go on negative signals rather than mentality influencing volition to go on positive signals. Mentality pulls in the facts.

“come” – aorist active infinitive. You only come once in one point of time. The very second in which you believe God gives eternal life, and the 40 things God gives you are perpetuated forever. The active voice indicates that every person must make his own decision and he must do it apart from any human coercion. The infinitive expresses purpose; it is God’s purpose that people come to Christ in a moment of time.

“unto me” – proj plus the accusative means “face to face with.” So in a point of time you come face to face with God.

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “ye might have” – present active subjunctive, that you might keep on having. Subjunctive: whether you have it or not is potential, depending on whether you go on positive signals – believe, or whether you go on negative signals – qelw.

Verse 41 – “I receive not” means I do not seize, present active indicative of lambanw. “I do not grab glory from me” is what He is saying.

“from” is para, which means from the immediate source. Jesus is hitting the religious crowd where it hurts the most. They are glory-grabbers. Legalism is designed to make glory-grabbers out of them. From the immediate source of men He does not seize or grab glory.

Verse 42 – “But I know you,” perfect tense of ginwskw, “I have known you since eternity past.” Ginwskw means to know from the experience of observation. I know you from eternity past with the result that I understand you right now.

“that you have not the love of God in you” – the only kind of love they could have is a)gaph love. Rapport love is filoj, and they do not have that. This is simply going back to a mental attitude love. They do not have a)gaph love because they are negative toward doctrine, i.e. the gospel, and they are filled up with religiosity, legalism, human good, etc. Because they are negative they do not have a)gaph.

“of God” is an objective genitive and it means “toward God”; “in you” – negative volition again emphasised.

Verse 43 – “I am come.” This time He switches from the aorist tense “come,” which they had to do in a point of time, to the perfect tense. This was designed in the past with the result that I am now here. Active voice: Jesus Christ came through the virgin birth, first advent. The indicative mood is the reality of His coming.

“in my Father’s name” means representing my Father; “and ye receive me not” – present active indicative: You do not seize me, you grab glory – he uses the same word again: lambanw. You do not seize me – that would be faith in Christ.

“if” – 3rd class condition, ‘if’, maybe yes, maybe no; “another” – another of the same kind, another Jew; “shall come” – aorist active subjunctive, because it could happen many times. Many people would come claiming that they were Messiah, and they will come in their own name. They will impress with their human good, with their religiosity.

“him ye will receive” – lambanw again, future tense, indicating that they would receive such a person and it would happen many times in the future.

Verse 44 – their disorientation to grace. “How can ye believe” is literally, “How are you able to believe.” This is a question which is going to be answered by lambanw again. “How are you able” is the present active indicative of dunamai which means to have ability. Ability means that God provides the ability. He provides everything – the information, the fullness of soul, the volition, the mentality, the Holy Spirit making the gospel clear; He provides everything. “How do you have the ability to believe?” – present tense, “How do you keep on being able,” and then to the aorist because “to believe,” aorist active infinitive, occurs in a moment of time. But they do not have the ability to believe because they are on negative signals at the point of God-consciousness, negative signals at the point of gospel hearing. Therefore, they have all of this stuff in their frontal lobes and they are not even able to believe at this point. Jesus is trying to clean this stuff out so that they will be able to believe.

“which receive” – but the word isn’t receive, it is lambanw again, so seize, to grab; “honour” – doca means “glory.” They are glory-grabbers, but they are grabbing a false glory, the glory of human achievement, the glory of human ability, the glory of religiosity, the glory of a preconceived human system.

“one of another” – one of another of the same kind. In other words, they all have to get together within the framework of their religious system. When they grab glory one from another they have a mutual admiration society.

“and seek not the honour [glory]” – para, from the immediate source of – “from God only?”

 Verse 45 – a final witness against them. Calling to the stand Moses, the greatest of the OT prophets and one for whom they had the highest respect.

“in whom ye trust” – e)lpizw, which means I hope so, maybe so. So the best we can do with it here is to “repose confidence.” But they are still not thinking; there is still no pisteuw here.

Verse 46 – “For had ye believed.” The word “had” is not there, it is “If you had believed,” and it is a 2nd class condition. And now He uses pisteuw for the first time: If you had believed, but you didn’t. “For if you had believed Moses [and you would not].”

“you would have believed me” – but you didn’t believe Moses and therefore you don’t believe me. Moses was one of the greatest witnesses of Christ. Deuteronomy 18, quoted by Peter in Acts 3:22 and by Stephen in Acts 7:27. Moses constantly taught about Christ. Numbers 21:4-9, quoted by Jesus Himself in John 3:14, Moses was actually teaching about the cross. Leviticus chapters 1-6, the Levitical offerings, we have the teaching of the cross; in chapter 23, the holy days which was teaching concerning Christ. Exodus 12, the Passover, and in 1Corinthians 5:7 Christ is our Passover.

Verse 47 – “But if ye believe not,” 1st class condition [and it is true], “his writings [and you really don’t], how shall ye believe my words?” The final indictment.

There is one more witness: the feeding of the 5000 men.

Chapter 6

The purpose of miracles was not to alleviate suffering; that was a secondary aspect. Miracles always did. The primary purpose of miracles was to focus attention upon the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The miracles announced to Israel that He is and was the eternal Son of God and that He was also Messiah. But they also had another purpose and that was to gain a hearing for the message. The message is what is important. So the purpose of the message goes far beyond the alleviation of suffering, it was to prevent eternal suffering in the lake of fire.

In the first half of this chapter we have two miracles and then we have four messages. The first miracle is found in verses 1-5, it is generally called the feeding of the five thousand. It was obviously a very public miracle. This is the seventh witness to the deity of Jesus Christ, and we have not one witness but a group of witnesses — 5000 men, not counting the women and the children. Then there will be another miracle to follow it immediately and to test the disciples.

Miracles have a secondary purpose. As far as the unbeliever is concerned the miracles of Jesus Christ were designed to call the unbeliever’s attention to the issue of the cross — Christ bearing our sins, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” But miracles were also used to test believers, in this case the disciples. There are going to be two miracles in which the disciples are going to be tested. The disciples have been listening to the message of the deity of Christ, the discourse given on the steps of the temple. They observed the lame man being healed on the Sabbath. They saw the lame man walk through the streets carrying his bed. They heard the tremendous discourse by which Jesus put down the religious crowd. So not only did these two miracles focus attention on the Lord Jesus Christ and His work but the two miracles coming up, one on land and one on sea, are designed to test the disciples, to see if they have learned anything. The disciples are going to flunk both tests. These miracles are designed for a purpose. They are designed also to challenge believers to apply Bible doctrine. It is one thing to know doctrine, it is something else to apply it.

The disaster situation: verses 1-15. The background is given in the first four verses.

Verse 1 — “After these things” means after the events of the previous chapter, the healing of the impotent man, after the man carried his bed through the Sabbath, and after the discourse on the steps of the temple. Jesus got out of town! Why? Because He has just put the religious crowd down in their own back yard, on the steps of the temple, and they are out to get Him. It is time to move into another area where people are going to be more responsive to the Word.

“Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.” It has been called the sea of Galilee since the time that the Jews first were there but when Tiberias Caesar came to the throne they tried to get him to cut down on the taxes so they changed the name to the sea of Tiberias.

Verse 2 — “And a great multitude followed him.” Why? Because of the tremendous miracles which He performed. At this time Jesus was at the peak of His popularity. He was not popular because of His wonderful message and because of who and what he was, He was popular because people loved to be entertainment and in that day the number one type of entertainment was the performance of a miracle. This is imperfect linear aktionsart which means they kept on following Him. They were going to stay around until He performed a miracle and then they would go home.

“because they kept on seeing miracles” — this is the reason they kept on following. Imperfect linear aktionsart.

“which he did to them” — He kept on doing to them; “that were diseased” — present linear aktionsart. In other words, He would come into an area and find sick people and perform miracles. So the people kept on seeing ‘their favourite program.’ This crowd is not with Him because they say, “Here is the Son of God, here is the only saviour, we accept Him as such.” This is an unstable crowd because it is made up on unbelievers who are seeking entertainment, they have positive volition toward miracles, their number one type of entertainment.

Jesus had to break from this crowd, it is not a saved crowd at this point. This is a crowd made up primarily of unbelievers who simply want entertainment. This was like the religious crowd that went out to see John the Baptist in the desert.

Verse 3 — “And Jesus went up into a mountain.” If you want to get away from a crowd, climb a mountain. There are a lot of them that cannot do it; “and sat there with His disciples.” We do not know whether this is the twelve or a larger group at this time. Usually when it is talking about just the twelve they are mentioned, included, but apparently at this time there were other disciples.

Verse 4 is a parenthesis, it explains why Jesus is way up north around the sea of Galilee and not way down south at Jerusalem. Why isn’t Jesus in Jerusalem. This is the place to be at the Passover, but the Passover speaks of Jesus Christ and the religious crowd in Jerusalem have rejected Christ and therefore Jesus Christ is on a mountain by the sea of Galilee at the Passover time. The religious crowd rule in Jerusalem, and since they do, what are they going to do on the Passover? They are going to go through all this ritual. They will slaughter a lamb. That lamb speaks of Christ on the cross bearing the sins of the world. They are going to sprinkle the blood, they are going to eat part of the lamb which is a picture of faith, and yet this is the religious crowd and they have rejected Christ. So they are going to have ritual without reality, which is meaningless. The whole observation is a farce. The Passover teaches the work of Christ on the cross, it has to do with eternal salvation, and yet it is strictly ritual in Jerusalem. The person of whom the Passover speaks is on earth and about 175 miles to the north, sitting on a mountain with His disciples. It isn’t until He is ready to go to the cross that in the Passover He will be in Jerusalem, and Jesus Christ was actually crucified on the Passover. Then He will be in Jerusalem, but in the meantime He is as far away from the religious crowd as you can get. That is a reminder to you and to me that separation means separation from religion.

“And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh [near].” It is almost there. Jesus is in the north and He is going to send a message down. He is going to perform the biggest miracle of all. Down in Jerusalem they have ritual minus reality. They perform the ritual that points to Christ and up on the mountain Jesus performs the miracle which says “I am here, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” The religious crowd is always on negative volition toward doctrine. As a result they have a vacuum in their minds into which is drawn legalism. Legalism includes ritualism as an extension of it, and so they have ritual without reality. Up in the north country we have the reality and we have a searchlight focusing on Christ, a miracle of all miracles. They were performing a ritual, slaying a lamb which represented Christ. But he is here and they have rejected Him. When ritual becomes religious then the people involved are blinded. That is why we have a reference to the Passover at this point. The Passover that was held that year was a condemnation of the religious crowd in Jerusalem.

In verses 5-7 we have a dialogue with Philip, one of the disciples.

Verse 5 — Jesus told the disciples to lift up their eyes and look to the fields white unto harvest because these people were wearing white clothes and they were coming down the mountain looking up when He was speaking to the woman at the well. Now, Jesus is at the top of the mountain, looking down. Just the opposite. He and his disciples are topside looking down, whereas before they were bottom-side looking up.

“When Jesus lifted up his eyes” doesn’t mean that He looked up toward heaven, it means He opened His eyes and focused them on something moving. When these people got to the top of this mountain they were going to be hungry, they are out in the wilderness with no food around. The words “lifted up” is an aorist participle and it doesn’t really means to see, it means to discern. The Greek word here is qeaomai, a word which was used for a general who looked out over a panoramic view and immediately got the tactical picture. Jesus realised the situation by looking down the hill and seeing the people climbing it and He knew exactly what was going to happen. “When Jesus discerned with His eyes and saw the great company coming unto Him” — proj plus the accusative, ‘face to face with him.’ In other words, they didn’t all come at the same time. The verb ‘to come’ is present tense, which means they arrived at different times, they didn’t all come at once.

“he saith unto Philip” — Philip apparently was standing right by Him and now Philip is going to get a question. After the discourse on the deity of Christ in the previous chapter the question should be answered very quickly and very simply, it should be no problem at all.

“Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” There was no place around to buy. On the surface it is a silly question but in a reality it is a challenge to Philip. Philip is a believer with a human spirit. Does he have any doctrine or is his human spirit minus doctrine. It is a challenge to say we don’t have to go anywhere to buy bread, “Thou art the Son of the living God.” The word ‘whence’ is where.

Verse 6 — why did He ask? “And this he said [kept on saying] to prove him.” Jesus kept repeating the question. This is a present active participle of peirazw which means to test something. It is an assayer’s term for testing ore, it means to test to see what is inside of Philip. It is a test to see if there is good or evil. Is there doctrine or no doctrine? He is testing to see if Philip can apply doctrine which he heard in the discourse at the temple. Jesus is simply trying to bring out what is in Philip. Is there doctrine in Philip or not?

“to keep on proving him,” literally — present active participle; “for he [Jesus] himself knew what he would do.” ‘He knew” is a perfect tense. He knew in the past, eternity past, with the result that He still knew it now. It is actually a pluperfect tense of o)ida. The pluperfect is a perfect tense used as a present tense for information in the frontal lobe. Here is omniscience. Remember that Philip has heard the dissertation on the deity of Christ and he is thoroughly familiar with that type of information. After hearing all of this does he have the ability to apply it?

“he would” is the imperfect active indicative of mellw and it doesn’t mean ‘would’ at all, it means what he was about to do.

“to do” is a present active infinitive of poiew. It means to do — present tense, dramatic present; Active voice: Jesus would do this all by Himself. The infinitive: it was God’s purpose to present His Son through this miracle to this group of people and to the entire land.

Verse 7 — “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.” This is two hundred denarii (plural). At this time in the Roman empire a denarius was a day’s wages. Philip was saying, in effect, that it would take six and two thirds months [two hundred days’ wages] to pay for the food to feed this crowd. Philip is not thinking Bible doctrine: ‘This is the Lord of glory, He can handle this deal.’ He has been estimating the crowd.

“not sufficient” is the present active indicative of a)rkew, and it means not even close to covering it; “that every one of them may take a little” — literally, ‘to seize a little.’ The word lambanw means to grab. He knew the crowd was hungry. Philip sees the problem strictly from the human viewpoint rather than the divine viewpoint. He is neutralised by the wrong mental attitude. This called for doctrinal application and he is simply giving it a human application.

Verses 8-9, unbelief in contagious.

Verse 8 — “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him.”

Verse 9 — “There is a lad here, which has five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” Andrew has been observing, he watches the people go by. Philip is practical — 200 days wages wouldn’t cover this deal. That is practical unbelief. But Andrew has been counting all day and only one boy has brought his rations; it’s hopeless.

Verse 10 — “Make the men sit down.” The word to make and sit down is an aorist active imperative, it is an order. Get them seated, in other words. In other words, this unbelief and hopelessness is so contagious that He puts them to work. So now they become organisers, ushers, program men. That’s all they can do.

“Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.” The Greek word for ‘men’ here is a)nhr, which means a man — sex, male; an adult male. Sometimes it even means a noble person but it does mean an adult male. In verse 14 the word a)nqrwpoj is used, which is mankind, homo sapien. It means male and female, boy and girl — human race. So in verse 10 we have 5000 adult males, but in verse 14 we have more than 5000 people there.

Verse 11 — the performance of the miracle. “And Jesus took the loaves” — ‘having taken,’ aorist participle; “and when he had given thanks,” aorist participle — ‘having given thanks.’ He took what the little boy had; He took what was available. There is a principle here. All the twelve disciples can do is usher people into the proper spots and that is just about all they are good for. But the boy had just a little something, a little for himself. Jesus takes the little that the boy had and multiplies it into one of the greatest meals of all time. He multiplies it into a banquet. Jesus takes the little that you have — the bread which speaks of the principle of Bible doctrine — and He multiplies it into something fantastic, The impact on the human race is Bible doctrine.

So He “took” it and He “distributed” it. These are two aorist indicatives. In other words, He took it and He broke it and distributed it. He kept breaking it and kept breaking it, and there was just always more. This was the miracle. Jesus did not scorn the loaves because they were only five nor the fish because they were small and were two. God is pleased to use the weak and the small — Zechariah 4:7-10. Jesus took the loaves and He used them. He did not work independently of what was there. Here is the point. Five loaves and two fishes is not even going to feed that hungry boy who brought them, but Jesus took the little that the boy brought and he used it. Point of doctrine: Jesus Christ honours prepared people. He honoured that boy. Jesus Christ today does not work independently of prepared people. Who are prepared people? People who have bread. What is bread? Doctrine! Doctrine that you have in you God will use. God uses prepared people.

Notice what the disciples did. They should have known but they did not, so all they can do is get into a program. The boy stands there hopeless, helpless, weak, but he was prepared. He brought this along for himself. God uses prepared people; God does not work independently of prepared believers. God uses us in spite of our weakness, our frailty. He employs the little things and therefore under His grace He takes the little things and makes them strong — 2Corinthians 12:9,10. God is pleased to take human instruments in the execution of His plan.

“as much as they would” — the verb is qelw. It is a desire from the emotion of the soul. It is imperfect active indicative — “as much as they wished to eat.” The imperfect tense is linear aktionsart. In other words, they ate a little, they wanted more, they wanted more until they were filled. Everyone was stuffed, they loved this food.

Verse 12 — “When they were filled.” Every person on the spot was filled, 5000 adult males plus the women and the children. “Filled” is aorist passive indicative. The aorist tense is the point of time when they were filled, a point of time divorced from time and they will remember it, but they will never again eat a meal like that. The passive voice: they received it. They didn’t earn it, they didn’t deserve it, they didn’t bring a thing along — except the boy, and God used the prepared boy. They received it, that’s grace. The indicative mood is the reality of being filled. This doesn’t mean to be filled uncomfortably, this means to have had an experience which is fantastic in the field of eating. Here was an experience they would never forget. This means to be filled in a way that they were satisfied — total satisfaction. When everyone was completely filled means to be satisfied.

“Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” The word ‘fragments’ does not mean crumbs. A fragment is at least half of a loaf, chunks of bread.

Verse 13 — “Therefore they gathered them together, and they filled twelve baskets.” Twelve baskets; twelve disciples. Twelve no-account, no-good, hopeless, useless, practical, impractical people. So they have a little momentum. There were only twelve people who carried any food down the mountain. They didn’t carry any baskets up but they carried twelve baskets down. This is a reminder that Jesus is God, Jesus is the Lord of the universe. You just depend on Him, it is His battle. You don’t have to sweat out the no food problem. You don’t have to worry about anything. You are related to the Lord of the universe, so who ever told you to worry. The disciples carried the baskets to remind them of how stupid they were!

Verse 14 — most of the people were unbelievers and they were getting ideas in a hurry. Here was someone who could perform a miracle and He could probably get rid of the Romans and establish Jewish nationalism again. They want the Millennium, the crown. They want to bypass the cross. Jesus has an eternal kingdom but His kingdom starts with the cross. If you are going to be in that eternal kingdom you get the crown but you only get that crown by way of the cross. You have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ before you are in His plan. The crowd missed the point of the miracle too, just as the religious people did in Jerusalem.

“This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world” — Deuteronomy 18:15ff, the prophecy of Jesus Christ coming into the world to rule. So they say this is that prophet. They are not going to accept Him as saviour, they are going to accept Him as ruler. They understand Deuteronomy 18 in part. It is talking about the saviour becoming the ruler — Millennium. But they scratched this, they just want that part which gives them a ruler. This is Jewish nationalism. They want the political but not the spiritual.

Verse 15 — Jesus walks out on them. “When Jesus therefore perceived” is an aorist participle. He read their minds.

“that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone “ — He got away from it all completely because inevitably it is the spiritual that makes the difference and not the political. Jesus has an eternal kingdom. He wanted them to be in His eternal life kingdom, not simply in a Jewish nationalistic state that may last for 200 years. What is 200 years compared to eternity? In other words, to get into His eternal kingdom you have to believe in Jesus Christ and the purpose of the miracle to focus attention on the cross but they simply by negative volition went on negative signals toward the gospel. By implication they simply wanted the political kingdom. They stressed the political, He stressed the spiritual. Through the spiritual they would have eternal life, they would live in His eternal kingdom forever and ever. They rejected that and since they rejected them He rejected them. He would not ride in on their political platform.

Chapter 6:16-21

Verse 16 — this is the sea of Galilee. The disciples had decided that they had had enough of the rugged country and they want to get back across the sea. At evening carrying their twelve baskets full of food, a reminder of the faithfulness of the Lord, a reminder of the hypostatic union, a reminder that Jesus Christ is God as well as true humanity, they went down to the sea.

Verse 17 — “And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.” They are going to have another test. They began to go over. This is an incohative imperfect which means they began to make the trip across the sea.

“And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come unto them.” Remember that they know, they have heard, and they have seen evidence of the fact and received it by faith that Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe, He is the God-Man. They have failed in the application of this doctrine.

Verse 18 — they now have a great opportunity, a storm on the sea of Galilee. The storm depicts the pressures, the cares, the trials, the desires, the heartaches, and the frustrations of life. These disciples have seen once again, as they have previously, miracle after miracle demonstrating the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s faithfulness continues toward us even when we fail Him. The disciples are going to fail again but there is something here that is amazing. They have just failed in the feeding of the 5000, they are now going to fail on the sea; but when the storm clears they are still going to be alive. This tells us two things. The storms to do not last forever, they only appear to last forever when we are going into them. But the storms always have a purpose. The pressures, the disasters, the trials, the difficulties of life: if they are not direct blessing they are indirect blessing. Where discipline is involved it is indirect blessing, when there is no being out of fellowship involved then it is direct blessing. But this type of storm had one purpose in mind: “Disciples, sit there with your baskets of food and fall apart!” That basket full of food talks about who and what the Lord is. It should say to those disciples, “The battle is the Lord’s.” It should remind them that the Lord is faithful. He is always faithful, even when we fail.

Now the issue: Will the disciples understand and apply the doctrine of divine essence and utilise the faith-rest technique? Or will they, on the other hand, just simply fall apart? The application to us is that no matter how difficult things get in this life Jesus is aware of the situation, He will deliver. As long as we are alive He has a purpose for our lives and often our greatest growth and blessing will come in these storms, provided that we utilise Bible doctrine which is exactly what they did not do. In other words, we should do what they didn’t do. Let’s learn from the disciples. Application of Bible doctrine. They had it. They not only had it their minds they had it, as it were, in a basket. Each disciple carries a basket on that ship and the food it contains should remind them of something — the faithfulness of the Lord, the essence of God.

“And the sea arose” — imperfect linear aktionsart, it kept rising. Why did it have to keep on rising? There was one disciple who wasn’t frightened, that’s why. It had nothing to do with spiritual things, he just wasn’t the type that was frightened. He was a fisherman by the name of Peter. To Peter it was a storm and he had been in lots of them, so he wasn’t frightened by storms. It had to be a big enough storm to even frighten Peter, so it just kept getting greater and greater.

Verse 19 — “So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs.” This is the Greek word stadia which is ‘once around the track.’ Their track was about 600 feet generally. So thirty stadia would be eighteen thousand feet or about 3.4 miles. So when the storm hit they were 3.4 miles out into the sea. They were far enough away from the shore where they couldn’t get back to the shore.

“they see Jesus walking on the water, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid” — they weren’t afraid because they saw Jesus, they were afraid all the time but now they are still afraid. The fact that Jesus is walking on the water is no encouragement to them at all. None of the disciples drowned, not even Judas Iscariot. They did worse than drown, they turned into a frightened mass of jelly on the inside, a mental attitude sin called fear. It has a twin brother called worry. Pressure makes you concentrate on yourself, and you so concentrate on yourself that the survival of self and the catering to self and the blessing of self that you completely exclude any occupation with Christ. Jesus is walking on the water and they are still frightened; they are holding a basket and they are still frightened.

Verse 20 — “be not afraid” is present active imperative: ‘Stop being afraid.’ Being afraid is one of the best ways that Satan has of getting to you and using you. Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:6,8; 2Timothy 1:7; Psalm 56:3. Psalm 103:10 expresses God’s grace in the midst of our failures.

“It is I” — It keeps on being I, literally.

Verse 21 — “Then they willingly” — incohative imperfect, ‘Then they began to be willing.’ The Greek word is qelw which means that it came from their emotion. This is imperfect active indicative.

   “and immediately the ship became at land whither it went” — this doesn’t mean it zipped into land. This is an idiom which means ‘like being on land.’ Immediately the storm ceased around them and it was so smooth. The wind stopped suddenly, the waves stopped, and the sea smoothed out like glass, and it was like being on land. That is a miracle.

   What does it mean to have the Lord aboard? It means to have doctrine active in your soul.

The feeding of the five thousand was a miracle. Not only was it a miracle but it was a test to the disciples to see if they could apply doctrine. Obviously they could not, they failed to apply doctrine to the situation. However, the grace of the Lord overruled and the 5000 men plus women and children were fed. The crowd was made up of not only unbelievers but as we are going to see in the rest of this chapter it was primarily unbelievers with negative volition at the point of God-consciousness. Very few people in that crowd were actually willing to receive Jesus Christ as saviour. We know a great deal about this crowd from the rest of this chapter. Jesus will say at the end of the chapter, “You have refused to believe in me.” This crowd was a political group who were most anxious to overthrow the Roman empire. They were a group of Jewish nationalists living in the northern part of Palestine, in Galilee. And while they did not respond to the true implications of the miracle, i.e. they did not focus on the message and receive Christ as saviour, they were most impressed by the miracle performed by Jesus Christ and were anxious to use Him as a means and even as a weapon for overthrowing the Roman empire. In other words, their interest was an interest not in getting saved and having eternal life but simply to get the Roman empire out of the land and to establish Jewish nationalism. They had therefore a political interest only. These people in this 5000+ crowd are going to reject at the point of entrance into the plan of God, and they are going to try to use Jesus Christ to get rid of the Roman empire, but they are not interested in eternal salvation.

The rest of this chapter actually has four messages. The first of these is in verses 22-40 and is addressed to the seeking crowd. When the crowd first lands in Capernaum they are seeking the Lord Jesus Christ. It begins with a simple question on the part of the Jews which is not really a simple question. The second message is found in verses 41-51 and in this we have the murmuring crowd. This is when they begin to object. This message was given in the synagogue at Capernaum and it results in a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction on the part of the crowd. The third message, verses 52-59, is addressed to the disputing crowd. This was also in the synagogue at Capernaum and this message results in practically a riot. In verses 60-71, the fourth message is addressed to the disciples — those who deserted and those who stayed.

Behind all four of these messages is going to be bread. Jesus Christ fed 5000+ from five loaves, so the miracle was the miracle of the bread. Jesus uses this miracle to reminds the crowd of the significance. The crowd actually did some eating, they were able to eat the bread. The bread represents Christ and eating represents faith. Eating is a non-meritorious activity. The ability to eat is given to all members of the human race, good, bad, and indifferent. Therefore eating is the perfect illustration of faith. Faith is thinking but faith is non-meritorious thinking. The feeding of the 5000 thousand was the illustration or the introduction. The four messages were given across the Sea of Galilee at Capernaum at the synagogue. Throughout this message the key is “I am the bread of life.”

Verse 22 —”The day following.” It took a whole day to get 5000 people from Tiberius over to the western shore and then back to Capernaum.

Verse 24 — the people noticed that Jesus was not there and that He had not taken the long path around, and that He had apparently by some miracle moved over to the other side.

“they also took shipping and came to Capernaum, constantly seeking for Jesus.” In other words, when they arrived the next day they were constantly seeking Him, looking everywhere for Him. They finally discovered Him at the synagogue.

In verses 25-27 the message actually begins. Verse 25 — And when they had found him,” aorist tense. This is in contrast to seeking which is present linear aktionsart at the end of verse 24. They looked for Him all over the city and then suddenly found Him at the synagogue.

“they said unto him” — they address Him as Rabbi, they do not address Him as Lord. They call Him Rabbi because they are impressed with who He is and therefore they simply give Him an academic degree but they do not give Him His true place which is the God-Man, the unique person of the universe, the only saviour.

“when camest thou here?” — apparently there had been a lot of speculation. The word “camest” is not camest at all, it is the Greek word ginomai which means to become. Usually it means to become something you were not; here it means to be in a place where you shouldn’t be. There is a mountainous path that gets to Capernaum and it took a couple of days that way, and they knew that He couldn’t possibly have taken the path otherwise He wouldn’t be there. They also saw the disciples disembark without Him so they knew that if He was there the same day that they were He could not have come by road, He could not have come by sea as far as their observation is concerned, and so obviously they were puzzled. They put this in the perfect active indicative which means, you are here, you have come here in the past with the result that you are here now, and we have no explanation of it and we would like an explanation. Again, you can see that they are great for details, they are great for speculation, they are impressed by His power, but they are not impressed by His person — who and what He is as far as saviourhood is concerned. Again, this indicates something of the crowd. How did you get here, by some miracle? If by some miracle you can also defeat the Roman legions! This is what they are thinking.

Verse 26 — Jesus had an answer. Every time you see “Jesus answered” it is actually an aorist passive participle from the verb a)pokrinomai which means to discern from the ultimate source, but it is in the passive voice which means that Jesus had received an answer in eternity past — He is omniscient, He knew this was going to come up in time and obviously He was well prepared for it. This would be better translated “Jesus had an answer.” So this brings in the omniscience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now when Jesus is going to make a point of doctrine He uses a very simple Hebrew phrase which had been brought into the Aramaic as an idiom and which is now brought into the Koine Greek from the Hebrew, and it is translated into the English, “Verily, verily.” Modern translators call it “Truly, truly,” and all that does is translate an idiom and still doesn’t mean anything. Wherever you find verily, verily in the Gospel of John it means “point of doctrine.” So Jesus had an answer for them and communicated, “Point of doctrine.”

In other words, the way that Jesus came across that water is a point of doctrine. The point of doctrine that He is going to make is one about their own thinking. Jesus Christ is God. As God He read their minds before they ever existed.

“Ye seek me not because you saw the miracles” — Jesus knows what is going on here and He isn’t going to let anyone use Him. It takes doctrine, it takes discernment not to get used by people — “but because you did eat the loaves and were filled.” Notice a fine distinction. They received the food but why were they seeking Him now? Not because of the miracle. What is the point of the miracle? The miracle indicates that Jesus Christ is God, that Jesus Christ is the God-Man, that He is the only saviour, and that He has come in order to present Himself in the courtroom of the Father, the cross, and to bear the sins of the world. This is the purpose of all miracles performed by Jesus. The miracles were to focus attention on Himself as saviour. The purpose of miracles was not to alleviate suffering, not to help people in need, as such. That was secondary. The primary purpose was to present Himself as saviour, to focus attention on the message, and to lead people to eternal life. But these people failed to get the point of the miracle. They did not accept Christ as saviour. There is a reason for this. It is no accident that these 5000 people came together. They are malcontent with the Roman government. Yet, Jesus never spoke against the Roman government because while there are evils in any government, and often evil men, Jesus Christ recognised the point of divine institution #4, and divine institution #4 at this time was SPQR. Jesus did not advocate Jewish nationalism at this time. The Romans were actually doing an excellent job of governing. So who were these 5000 people? These are 5000 people who are malcontents. These people are trying to overthrow Rome and that is one reason they kept following Jesus. Here is someone who can help us, He has unusual powers, etc. All of these 5000 people reached God-consciousness and when they did they went negative. They didn’t want any relationship with God and neither did they want anything to do with the type of government that was actually bringing them freedom and was fulfilling the concept of divine institution #4.

“but because you did eat the loaves, and were filled ” — they saw five loaves and two fishes and yet every one of them had a great dinner. This carried them for a whole 24 hours and they are impressed with the fact that Jesus provided food for them in a miraculous way. In other words, they had their eyes on the food but they are not impressed by the one who provided it. This is the whole concept of what Jesus is saying. This is the first indication of negative volition toward God.

Verse 27 — Jesus is getting ready to turn them from the food they have eaten to spiritual things. “Labour not for the food which perishes.” There is more than meets the eye in this. This is a present middle imperative. The present tense means stop it, the present tense plus the negative means they are already doing it. The word for “labour” here is e)rgazomai, and it means that these 5000 people have actually organised a political party to throw out the Romans and they are spending all their time in politics. Jesus told these people, “Labour not.” They are too involved in politics, they are up to their ears in politics. E)rgazomai here means to be involved in something and taking it out of its perspective. This is a present middle imperative plus the negative — stop doing it!

“the food which perishes” — refers to the details of life. These people are more interested in the details of life but they are not interested in Christ. They want to use Him to get what they want.

“but for that food which endures unto everlasting life” — the food which endures to everlasting life is Christ. He is the bread of life as He will say. He is working up to the bread of life concept.

“which the Son of man [Jesus Christ] shall give unto you; for him hath God the Father sealed” — this is an aorist tense for a scene that took place in eternity past. At a point of time in eternity past God the Father sealed the Son who would come into the fullness of time [the Roman empire] and present Himself and go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. This is not the time to overthrow of Rome, this is a time when Roman law has reached its peak and it has provided something wonderful at that time. Before you have the crown you must have the cross.

Verse 28 — at this point they are ready to start talking back, but they don’t do it at first. “What shall we do” — the same old story, give us a plan, give us an outline. Every political organisation must have a plan. They are trying to deviate Christ from His plan, providing eternal life, and get Him into their plan. They don’t want to go to His plan, they want Him to come to their plan.

“that we might work the works of God” — they want to do something to work the works of God. They have missed the point of grace immediately. In the works of God Jesus Christ provides salvation. The plan of Jesus Christ is grace. Grace is God doing the work, and man simply receives in a non-meritorious manner what God has provided.

Verse 29 — they had asked Jesus how they might do the works [plural] of God. Jesus had an answer, “This is the work [singular] of God.” He is talking to unbelievers, they are outside of the plan of God. The plan of God begins at the cross: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” The issue to these people is in the singular, it is the work of God the Son who bore their sins on the cross. Therefore it isn’t works, it is work.

“that ye believe on him [Jesus Christ] whom he [the Father] hath sent” — “believe” [pisteuw] is a present active subjunctive. This is thinking, thinking a decision. But it is non-meritorious thinking. And pisteuw is a transitive verb which means it must have a subject and also an object. The object is Jesus Christ the only saviour. This is a dramatic present tense. Active voice: each person must believe for himself. Subjunctive mood: whether you believe or not depends upon your free will. It is potential.

Verse 30 — this is the crowd who actually were fed the bread, so their question is almost unbelievable. ”What sign showest thou, then, that we may see, and believe thee?” He had performed miracle after miracle. That crowd was formed on the basis of miracles, they had crossed the Sea of Galilee on the basis of miracles, they had become the recipients of one of the greatest of all miracles and now they are asking for a miracle. That is the human race! “What dost thou work?” E)rgazomai again, so they are saying in effect, “Come over and join our plan.” That is not salvation. In other words, if Jesus Christ joins their stupid plan they will believe in Him. The principle is that we have to come to God’s plan, God doesn’t come to our plan. God’s plan begins at the cross and we have to come to the cross.

Verse 31 — they come up with their illustration and they tell Jesus exactly what they expect from Him. “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written” — these bird are quoting scripture. “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” It is a mistake to capitalise “He.” How do we know? Because in the next verse ”he” is Moses. In other words, Moses was a great guy in his day and we figure your about as good as Moses. If Moses gave them bread for 40 years come on in to our plan Jesus and give us bread for 40 years.”

What did they quote? They quote from Psalm 78:24. God for forty years gave them bread from heaven. But notice that the Galileans said that Moses did this. It was not Moses who did this, it was God. They were referring to Moses. Jesus knew exactly what they meant.

Verse 32 — “Then Jesus said unto them, Point of doctrine, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father keeps on giving you [present linear aktionsart] the true bread from heaven.” In other words, He switched from divine provision for this life to divine provision for salvation. They were missing the boat. They need the bread of life. In this verse Christ is called the true bread, in verse 33 He is called the bread from God, in verse 35 He is called the bread of life. Jesus sticks with the Father’s plan right here. He is saying what they really need is salvation, eternal life.

Verse 33 — “for the bread of [literally, from the source of] God keeps on being [present linear aktionsart] he who comes down from heaven, and keeps on giving [present linear aktionsart] life to the world.” He keeps on giving to anyone who will believe.

Verse 34 — “ … evermore give us this bread.” This looks like they have had a change. What they want is the physical food, not the spiritual food.

Verse 35 — “… I am [I keep on being, always was, always will be] the bread of life.”

“he that cometh to me” is proj plus the accusative and should be “he that comes face to face with me.” Salvation; “shall never hunger” — this is being in the plan of God. This is an aorist tense. Once you are in the plan of God, God will provide everything you will ever need, there will never be a problem in your life too great for the plan of God.

“and he that believeth” — dramatic present — “on me shall never thirst” has to do with provision. In other words, once you accept Jesus Christ as saviour and enter into the plan of God, from the point of salvation all the way to eternity, there never will be a time that there is anything that is too great for the plan of God.

Verse 36 — we see the problem of the unbeliever. “ … ye also have seen me, and believe not.” “Keep on refusing to believe” is a better translation.

Verse 37 — He summarises. “All” refers to anyone who will believe; “that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will never cast out.”

Verse 38 — “I came down” is the perfect tense, “I came in the past with results which will abide forever.”

“from heaven” — a)po, from the ultimate source of heaven; “not to do my own will but the will of him [God the Father] that sent me,” i.e. to go to the cross.

Verse 39 — the focus is on eternity future. In other words, every person who believes in Jesus Christ will be involved in the resurrection unto eternal life.

Verse 40 — “And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone who sees the Son.” While He is on earth they observe Him, they observe His miracles, they understand His message; “and believe on him” — first of all they must get the message of the gospel; “may keep on having everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

There is the Father’s plan. He is going to take everyone who has entered the plan of God through faith in Christ all of the way to eternity. At the resurrection they will live with Him forever. There is nothing that is too great for the plan of God. Jesus Christ is saying at this point, “Come over to the Father’s plan and leave your silly plan.”

Verse 41 — this second message is given to the murmuring crowd at the synagogue at Capernaum. “The Jews then murmured at him” — these are Jews from Galilee in the northern kingdom who want to overthrow the Roman empire in Palestine. These are the recipients of the feeding of the 5000 and consequently they can now see that Jesus is not going to bend into their program. They are not going to be able to use Him and they therefore began to complain against Him. The word “murmur” does not mean to whisper or to talk in a soft voice, it means to complain. It has as its background a mental attitude. Exodus 16 is linked to this passage where the murmurers were believers. In John 6 they were unbelievers. They are murmuring because He said, “I am the bread of life.” “The Jews kept on murmuring at him” — linear aktionsart. Cf. Exodus 16:2,12. The Jews were murmuring in the Exodus generation, the Jews were murmuring on the steps of the synagogue of Capernaum.

Verse 42 — they can’t understand something that is clearly taught in the Old Testament, the doctrine of the hypostatic union: that Jesus Christ is God and also true humanity. They understood that He said that He was God when He said “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Here is their problem. They have rejected the very doctrine which would help them. The Old Testament clearly taught that Jesus Christ is God. He had to become a man to go to the cross. They couldn’t understand because firstly they were unbelievers, and secondly they were unbelievers who wanted to bypass the cross. They wanted the crown now, they wanted the Roman empire out of it, and they didn’t care about going to the cross. “Jesus said, I am the way.” The only way you can get into the kingdom is by way of the cross. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph.” They recognised His humanity, they will not put it together with His deity.

Verse 43 — “Jesus had an answer … Stop murmuring among yourselves.” In other words, Stop and listen.

Verse 44 begins the second message of Jesus Christ, the message to the murmuring crowd. “No man” — o)udeij, means mankind in general. It means ‘no one,’ human race.

“can” is a present active indicative from the Greek verb dunamai which means to be able. “No one is able” is the literal translation.

“come” is an aorist active infinitive. This is the word e)rxomai used sometimes for salvation as well as a simple coming or going, entering. This is the word used in Matthew 11:28. “Come” here has to do with salvation. It is an aorist tense: in a point of time.

“to me” is proj plus the accusative which means face to face with. This means a personal relationship. This is an idiomatic phrase which means salvation, personal relationship.

“except” — should be translated ‘unless.’ Man does not have the ability to approach God on the basis of his own works, his own human good, his own activity, his morality. “No man is able to come to me unless ...” When Jesus used the third class condition plus the negative mh He is saying that already they are locked in negative even though they have heard a clear delineation of the gospel. They are expressing negative volition at the point of gospel hearing.

“the Father, who hath sent me draw him” — the word ‘draw’ is e)lkuw. This word was used in the Greek for drawing a sword out of a scabbard, for a fisherman drawing a net through the water. It was also used for a public speaker drawing or attracting a crowd by his message or by some other means. Here it means to be attracted to, to be drawn to something. The word as used here refers to positive volition at the point of God-consciousness. There are two points at which every person faces the issue of relationship with God. First of all, God-consciousness. This occurs by the act of the mentality of the soul. The issue he faces is positive or negative volition. If he goes on positive volition at that point he simply is saying he wants to know God, he wants relationship with God. On the other hand, if he goes on negative he expresses at that point his indifference toward God. The crowd standing before Jesus Christ went on negative signals. This is brought out by two Greek words, e)an mh which should be translated “unless.” [e)an is the word “if” in the third class condition; mh is the negative] Why is He putting the word ‘unless’ in here? It is clear in the Greek but not clear in the English. Because e)lkuw actually describes positive volition. Whom does the Father draw? The Father draws those who go on positive signals at the point of God-consciousness. And how does He draw them, attract them? He attracts them with the gospel. At the point of God-consciousness when a person goes on positive volition God is therefore responsible to provide gospel information for that person — John 7:17; Acts 17:27; Jeremiah 29:13. God will provide positive signals with the gospel. In other words, everyone has a chance. The word e)lkuw simply indicates that when a person at the point of God-consciousness goes on positive volition then the Father will then provide in some manner gospel information whereby that person can express his positive volition by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself is the one the Father is using at this point to ‘draw.’ The word e)lkuw is an aorist active subjunctive. The aorist tense refers to the point of time of gospel hearing. The active voice indicates that the individuals who went on positive volition at the point of God-consciousness will hear the gospel at the point of gospel hearing. When they hear it, it is the gospel which will draw them. In other words, they will hear the gospel or some portion of the gospel and they will respond to that gospel through positive volition again.

“and I will raise him up at the last day” — the word for raising up here is the future active indicative of a)nisthmi [ana = up; isthmi = to stand]. To stand up becomes technical for resurrection. The future active indicative indicates that the resurrection is future and that no resurrections have occurred. At the time Jesus was speaking on the steps in Capernaum no one in history had been resurrected. That means that people who were brought back to life were resuscitated, and they died eventually. In resurrection you never die again, you are not subject to death. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the firstfruits and until He is resurrected no one is resurrected. The last day here refers to the last day in a dispensation.

There was a last day in the Age of the Gentiles. It was the day when the first UN building [Babel] was destroyed. There was no resurrection. Why? The principle of resurrection is when the dispensation is over you get a resurrection body, and that is true except that in a dispensation that ends before Christ is resurrected they cannot. So what happened was that all of the Old Testament believers cooled their heels in Paradise, waiting for a propitious moment, i.e. after Jesus Christ is resurrected. The Age of Israel has three parts — the period of the patriarchs [Abraham to Moses] , the period of the law [Moses to Christ]. That interrupted the Jewish Age, it isn’t over yet. We have the insertion of the Church Age and then the conclusion and third part of the Jewish Age which is the Tribulation. The resurrection of the Church occurs in the future and is followed immediately by the Tribulation. At the end of the Tribulation all Old Testament believers will be resurrected. At the end of the Millennium there will be another resurrection, that of the Millennial saints. But Christ is the firstfruits. The end of the Church Age — 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; the end of the Jewish Age — Isaiah 26:19,20; the Tribulational martyrs are included — Matthew 24:31.

The emphasis in the phrase at the end of this verse is eternity. This is because these Galileans are only interested in phase two, life on this earth. They want Down wit Rome! They want to skip the cross and get on to the Roman empire. They wanted a kingdom now. They had in their minds something contrary to the plan of God and Jesus is not going along with it. Because He knows Bible doctrine perfectly He is going to stick with the plan of God, the will of the Father.

Verse 45 — we have a quotation. “It is written” — perfect passive participle. It is written in the past with the result that is stands written forever, and we now have a quotation from Isaiah 54:13.

“in the prophets” — the prophets is one of three sections in the Old Testament canon. The first is the Torah, the second is the Nabiim or the prophets. In the prophets we have Isaiah. The third is the Kathubim or the writings. Isaiah 54 is a Millennial passage. This passage is talking about how all children are going to learn Bible doctrine, but when Jesus quotes this passage He takes the word ‘children’ out to show that this is not being fulfilled but it is a principle He is using to illustrate e)lkuw.

“they all” — is substituted for the word ‘children’ in the Hebrew. It refers to the human race and immediately He is using this passage as an illustration. The literal fulfillment of the passage in Isaiah is the Millennium but ‘they all’ illustrates the principle of the entire human race. Every member of the human race gets a chance, from Adam right down to the end of the Millennium, at the point of God-consciousness and at the point of gospel hearing.

“shall be” — future active indicative. The future is from the point of God-consciousness. “Shall be” is the future of e)imi, an absolute status quo. The future tense here indicates that even though this crowd went on negative at the point of God-consciousness God still gave them another crack at it at the point of gospel hearing.

“taught” — didaktoj in the plural here. The noun is in the plural because it means that each person will be taught. These people are didaktoj at the point of gospel hearing and they are still on negative signals.

“of God” is qeou, genitive of source. God is the source of providing the information. The genitive of source is important. It goes right back to e)lkuw, the Father will draw them.

“Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned” — these are two descriptive verbs, both aorist active participles, and both of them express gospel hearing. “Hath heard” is the actual hearing of the gospel as Jesus presented it — a)kouw which means simply to hear the content of the message, which they did. There is another word also here — manqanw which means to comprehend what is heard. Jesus made sure they understood the issue. These two aorist participles actually describe the e)lkuw concept. These two aorist participles preceded the main verb, e)lkuw, so they got the full treatment and had the maximum attraction. God has an attractiveness to the unbeliever and that attractiveness is only the gospel. If the unbeliever rejects the grace of God at the point of the gospel he rejects God and God’s salvation.

“of the Father” is a prepositional phrase, and the word ‘of’ is the preposition para which means immediate source. From the immediate source of the Father, which means they are not only getting the gospel, they are getting it from the one who is going to die on the cross for them. They all rejected Him but when Christ goes to the cross He will bear every sin of every member of that crowd.

“cometh unto me” — e)rxomai plus proj plus the accusative which has to do with relationship. Literally, it is “coming face to face with me” and it means having a relationship with me.

Verse 46 — why do they have to come to Christ? “Not that any man hath seen the Father.” This means no one has actually seen God. ‘Seen” means to observe from eternity past, in the perfect tense.

“save” means ‘except’ ; “which is from God” — from the immediate source of God. This is the word para and it explains the para in the previous verse. They were getting it from the immediate source of God because Jesus Christ is the immediate source of God.

“hath seen the Father” — Jesus Christ has seen the Father in the past with the result that He always sees the Father. The only time when He didn’t see the Father was the last three hours of the crucifixion when He was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree.

Verse 47 — Jesus is going to make a point of doctrine. “I say unto you [for your advantage], He that believeth on me.” The present tense is dramatic present. The most dramatic decision in history made by any individual is faith in Jesus Christ. Active voice: you have to make the decision; “keeps on having everlasting life.” He never will lose it.

Verse 48 — “I keep on being the bread of life.” This is the absolute status quo verb, present linear aktionsart.

Verse 49 — “Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are [physically] dead.”

Verse 50 — “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven (Jesus is speaking of Himself), that a man may eat thereof, and not die [spiritually].”

The doctrine of manna

1. Manna came down every day, but it didn’t. Exodus 16:4,5,22-27. God rained this manna every morning, Sunday through Friday, before the sun came up. The seventh day of the week is Saturday, the Sabbath, when there was no manna. But God gave them double manna on Friday. If the Jews believed the word and gathered the double portion on Friday they wouldn’t go hungry on Saturday. In other words, it pays to believe the Word, the divine instructions. Some doctrine is used daily, like rebound and promises. There are some doctrines we use only when we are under special pressure.

2. Those who gathered a lot did not have any more than those who gathered a little. Exodus 16:16-18. People only gathered what they could eat. Each person had a different capacity for eating. So the person with the lesser capacity learned that he wasn’t to try to eat the amount his neighbour with a greater capacity did. He learned from this that he was to live his own life as unto the Lord. At the end of the day both will be full. We as believers have different capacities. Capacity is developed through learning doctrine, through orientation to the plan of God, orientation to the grace of God. Capacity is something that is developed through growth. No two believers have reached the same stage of growth. Capacity is based upon knowledge of doctrine.

3. Manna spoiled, but it didn’t spoil. Exodus 16:19,20. The Jews had to learn to obey the Word. That which they didn’t eat was spoiled. That tells us that the Bible is loaded up with doctrine for you — doctrine which means blessing, doctrine which means orientation to grace, doctrine which is your life. But that doctrine is no good unless you take it out and put it in your human spirit by exposing yourself to Bible teaching. The doctrine in the Bible doesn’t help you, it is the doctrine in your soul that does. You can never learn enough doctrine. Manna which was taken in and assimilated was not spoiled.

4. Manna spoiled if kept over night, but it was preserved for hundreds of years. How? Exodus 16:19,20. They took manna and put it in a golden pot and placed it in the ark. It stayed there generation after generation and was never spoiled. It was in the ark. Exodus 16:33; Hebrews 9:4. What does it mean to us? The tabernacle in which the ark of the covenant was located speaks of doctrine. It is doctrine in the human spirit which is the doctrine we can use; doctrine in the Word we cannot use. it we let the doctrine sit in the Word then we have a miserable life. But we wipe that out by transferring doctrine from the Word to our human spirit. The Word of God is preserved. While during those 40 years in the desert the manna spoiled, in the ark of the covenant it did not spoil. So now the ark of the covenant = the Word of God, and the Word of God will have that doctrine there forever, and even though the Exodus generation failed, failure in any generation does not hinder us from getting doctrine. It is still there and available for anyone who is on positive signals.

5. Manna melted, but it didn’t melt. Exodus 16:21. Only manna gathered withstood the rays of the sun. Just at dawn they would come out of their tents and the manna was all over the ground. They would take it into their tents. Manna on the inside was preserved but as soon as the sun came up all of the manna which had not been gathered was melted. Again, only Bible doctrine which we have learned can we apply. We cannot apply what we do not know. The sun rising speaks of the pressures of life, the tragedies of life, the difficulties of life, the frustrations of life, and if we are minus doctrine we are going to sit in panic palace and act like any unbeliever. The believer must know Bible doctrine. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

6. Manna tasted good to some and bad to others. Exodus 16:31 cf. Numbers 21:5. What is the difference? Mental attitude. There are two attitudes toward doctrine on the part of the believer.

7. While manna was free to those who received it (grace), it was expensive to those who rejected it. For those who accepted Christ, eternal life. For those who rejected Him, eternal condemnation. Salvation is free, but for those who reject it it is very expensive, it is eternity in the lake of fire — John 3:36.

8. Regardless of how the Jewish believers sinned and failed in the Exodus generation God gave them manna every day as promised. Exodus 16:35.

Verse 50 — “This is” is present linear aktionsart, absolute status quo verb, “This keeps on being.” Christ is now referring to Himself. “This is” is a transition from the literal manna given in the desert to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the desert the manna sustained physical life but Christ is now speaking in the synagogue at Capernaum the manna or Christ the bread of life provides eternal life. Just as manna sustained physical life during the 40 years in the desert so Christ provides eternal life. In the case of manna they would eat it. Eating is a picture of faith. In the case of Christ they had to have faith in Him or believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God — John 6:47.

“which cometh down from heaven” — the incarnation. The incarnation is the most dramatic point in history and begins a series of dramatic points leading to the cross, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session.

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “a man may eat thereof and not die” — notice at the end of verse 49, “are dead.” The manna sustained physical life to a certain point and then these people are dead — physical death. Now, “not die” is the contrast. They are dead; Jesus Christ is offering Himself, He provides eternal life. But we have a difference of death here. The words “eat this bread” is an analogy to faith, the aorist tense is the point of time when a person believes in Christ. That point of time is divorced from time and perpetuated forever — aorist tense. The word for eating is the common word for eating food — e)sqiw. Jesus is going to also use another word, trwgw, which means to eat vegetables and fruit; e)sqiw means to eat everything, and especially meat. Jesus is going to switch eventually from e)sqiw to trwgw because in between those who are unbelievers listening to His message about the bread of life are going to start to murmur, they are going to reject, they are eventually going to state their rejection and peel off; and Jesus, before they peel off, is going to explain that e)sqiw is not literally eating His flesh. This is a great passage for two reasons: a) It shows that the Bible itself when it is not being taken literally has its own set of rules for a passage which must be taken spiritually. When Jesus says “eat of me” He is not saying for them to start chewing on Him. This is not operation cannibalism. But those who rejected Christ were offended. Why are they offended? Because they fail to see that this is spiritual, not material, not physical. b) The Roman Catholics have a false doctrine called transubstantiation in which they say that the bread becomes the literal body of Christ in the communion, and the cup becomes the literal blood of Christ. The body is the thing they emphasise. There is an offshoot of this used by the Lutherans called consubstantiation. Neither is true, and here is a passage which indicates what Jesus meant when He said “This is [represents] my body which is given for you; take and eat thereof.” There is no cannibalism in the Lord’s table. The eating of the bread is always an analogy to faith. Why is eating such an excellent analogy to faith? Because anyone can eat; anyone who is normal has the ability to eat. The whole point is that good people eat, bad people eat, moral people eat, amoral people eat, immoral people eat, any kind of a stinker you want to name can eat, nice people eat. Eating is physical illustrating the spiritual. Whenever you find the word “eating” or “drinking” in the spiritual realm it refers to faith. When a person rejects Christ as saviour he cannot understand these things, he is offended by these things, and many of these disciples now use the message of our Lord as an excuse to break off. This is because while Jesus made it clear to them they refused to accept that there is a spiritual area in which a message can be brought and it is not literal. Jesus was actually saying “Believe on me.”

“this is the bread” — Christ is now referring to Himself as the bread of life, as He did in verse 35.

“which cometh down” — God’s plan. The Father’s plan calls for the incarnation. Jesus Christ has to be humanity in order to go to the cross and bear our sins. As deity He cannot do so. This has to do with the hypostatic union.

“a man” — this means any member of the human race; “may eat” — eating here is in the aorist tense, the point of time when we believe in Christ. The active voice: the subject produces the action of the verb; you must believe for yourself. The subjunctive mood — free will, you may believe or may not. If you believe you will be saved, if you do not believe you will not be saved. The subjunctive mood is important here because it indicates the potentiality of salvation. While Christ did all of the work you still have to respond and appropriate in a non-meritorious way, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Or reject: “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life.”

Verse 51 — “I am” is the present active indicative of e)imi, the status quo verb — “I keep on being.”

“the living” — present active participle of the verb zaw which means “always living.” “I am that always living bread.” This anticipates resurrection, ascension, and session. It also indicates the fact that when you believe in Christ you enter into union with Christ, Christ is zaw [living], and when you enter into union with Christ you are zaw [living]. 1John 5:11,12; “which came down from heaven” — the incarnation.

“if any man eat of this bread” —’if’ introduces a third class condition, e)an. Salvation demands the expression of man’s free will in a non-meritorious manner compatible with grace.

“he shall live” — future tense indicating eternal life in the future as well as now.

“and the bread that I will give is my flesh” — this is where those who are negative begin to get upset because He has been using the Word e)sqiw and now He uses the word “flesh.” The giving is comparable to grace. Whenever you find God giving He is giving on the basis of who and what He is, He gives on a non-meritorious basis.

“which I will give” is not found in the original; “which is for the life of the world” — the bread is for the life of the world. Christ’s flesh, the humanity of Christ, is the basis of salvation, it was necessary for Him to become true humanity.

“for the life of the world” — this is the use of the preposition u(per in its substitutionary sense. The ordinary word for substitution is a)nti which means “against” and also “instead of.” But u(per means a substitution for a purpose. So generally, u(per is used wherever you find salvation. Christ died on behalf of our sins. U(per denotes purpose and design. In other words, the death of Christ wasn’t accidental, it was all a part of the design and plan of God.

`The third message, verses 52-59. This is to the disputing crowd. Now they are becoming openly antagonistic and the reason is because they have finally found some daylight in the word e)sqiw used in connection with the flesh of Christ. This will be the message which will cause the final break with those on negative volition.

Verse 52 — “The Jews” is the Galilean crowd, the nationalists who want to throw off the yoke of the Romans; “strove among themselves” — ‘strove’ is taken from a Greek word, maxomai [maxh = combat] which means to quarrel and to fight. ‘Strive’ means they kept on quarreling. There is now a split among the disciples; “among themselves” is proj plus accusative. In other words, the unbelievers in the crowd started arguing face to face with each other. Between the second message and the third everyone turns around and they start to argue.

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They are thinking operation cannibal. They use the same word that Jesus used, e)sqiw which means to eat meat. So Jesus in His third message is going to start using trwgw which means to eat vegetables. When He does they know that He is not talking about literally eating His flesh, He is talking about faith. He switches His verb to show that this is a spiritual concept, not a literal, physical concept.

Verse 53 — “A point of doctrine which I keep on saying to you.” Jesus is going to repeat many things that He has previously said. He is going over the whole thing again, still using bread, still talking about eating bread. The bread is His flesh. But He is going to change the verb now to show that this is spiritual.

“except” is a third class condition with the negative; “ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,” and again He uses the aorist tense of e)sqiw. The flesh is a reference to the perfect humanity of Christ bearing our sins; “and drink his blood” — not literal blood. The blood of Christ always refers to one thing: the spiritual death of Christ on the cross. This is the whole picture of propitiation. The person of Christ [flesh] dying on the cross satisfies the righteousness of the Father; the blood of Christ [Christ bearing our sins] satisfies the justice of the Father. The righteousness and justice of the Father are His holiness, the holiness of the Father is satisfied by the cross. Love and eternal life can now come to man by way of the cross. The person of Christ plus the work satisfies God the Father. Since blood is a liquid and bread is solid eat and drink are both used to represent faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 54 — “eateth” is a present tense now, and He now switches from e)sqiw to trwgw; “drinketh” is a present active participle, it illustrates faith; “my flesh” — the humanity of Christ is impeccable, satisfying the righteousness of the Father; “blood” — the work of Christ on the cross satisfying the justice of the Father. Flesh and blood together answer to the whole doctrine of propitiation.

“hath” is present active indicative, meaning “always will have”; “eternal life.”

Verse 55 — “For my flesh is meat indeed” is not what it says. It says, “My flesh is true food.” In other words, He is telling them again this is a spiritual analogy. “True food” is to give you eternal life; “my blood is true drink,” literally. By true food and true drink He is referring to eternal salvation. This was analogy.

Verse 56 — He states again eating flesh and drinking blood as analogies to faith in Jesus Christ. Now He adds something in anticipation of the Church Age — “dwelleth in me.” Present active indicate of the verb menw which means to abide. When people in the Church Age accept Christ they dwell in Christ.

“and I in them” — every believer is in union with Christ; Christ indwells the believer.

Verse 57 — “As the living Father.” The Father, too, has eternal life. The word ‘living’ is present active participle of zaw; “hath sent me” — this means to send on a mission.

“and I live by the Father” — dia plus accusative [dia plus the genitive always means through, or through the instrumentality of] means “because of.” This should be translated “I keep on living because of the Father.” This is because in eternity past God the Father made provision for Jesus Christ in phase two, every step of the way.

“so he that eateth me” — again He uses the word trwgw to show that this is not literal eating, it is an analogy to faith.

“he shall live because of me” — For thirty-three years from the virgin birth to the cross God the Father took care of Jesus Christ. Now we have dia plus the accusative again, and this time it has to do with phase two of the believer, the believer in time, from the time of salvation to death or the Rapture. He provides everything that we need.

Verse 58 — Jesus repeats. “This is the bread that came down from heaven.” Repetition is the only way to communicate. Christ is the bread of life. Incarnation of Christ.

“not as your fathers did eat manna in the desert and are dead” — they are dead because after that forty years the generation had died out under the sin unto death. They ate manna that sustained them while they were alive but manna could not sustain in death because literal bread cannot sustain in eternity. You must have the bread of life, and the bread of life for eternity is Jesus Christ.

“he that eateth of this bread” — the impersonal approach. He goes over and over the same thing with variations so that they get the point; “shall live forever.”

Verse 59 — all of these messages are given in the same place at the same time.

Verses 60-71, the message to the disciples.

Verse 60 — the word ‘disciple’ here means simply those who are hanging around, it doesn’t mean those who believe in Him. There are some who believer. These are those who have been following Jesus during His Galilean tour.

“when they had heard” — aorist active participle, “having heard.” The word a)kouw is used twice in this verse. It means three different things: a) to hear; b) to hear and understand; c) to hear and accept. First of all, they heard the message. They have heard the first three messages and are about to hear the fourth.

“This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” ‘This is’ is present active indicative of e)imi, “this keeps on being.” The word ‘hard’ is sklhroj. This is something onomatopoetic and it means something that grates on the mind, something that antagonises the mind. It doesn’t mean not understood. It is something that is offensive to the individual. We are now hearing from them the fact that they are on negative signals at the point of gospel hearing; “saying” is logoj — “word.” They are referring to His messages.

“who is can hear it?” should be “who is able to hear and obey.” The present active indicative of dunamai — “who has the ability,” “to hear” — this time a)kouw means to hear and obey. These are people whose minds have been irritated by the grace of God. They are not believers. They have heard before and have rejected, and this rejection brings to a close the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in Galilee.

Verse 61 — Jesus was not taken by surprise. “When Jesus knew in himself.” The word to know here means He always knew — second perfect active of the verb o)ida which means inherent knowledge. The second perfect active means that in eternity past He knew it. In other words, it refers to His omniscience.

“that his disciples murmured” — the word for murmur here means a verbal expression of negative volition; “at it” is literally, “concerning this” — peri, concerning the message.

Verse 62 — Literally “If [3rd class condition] you should see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?” (Then would you understand?) What is the approach now? What does this mean? If Jesus Christ is the bread of life and He ascends up where is the flesh, the bread of life? In heaven. Where are these people who are supposed to eat? On earth. Once more He is going over it: what does eat mean? Jesus will be in heaven, His humanity is going to ascend. You standing on the earth cannot stretch up and take a bite out of Jesus Christ! So eating represents faith, non-meritorious perception/appropriation. They said ‘This grates on our minds.’ Jesus said, in effect, this isn’t cannibalism, this is spiritual. Eating the flesh is a spiritual principle. The Son of man is a title for the Lord Jesus Christ in the hypostatic union.

“where he was before?” — this is imperfect tense which means where He kept on being forever in the past. He was God when He was there before, He goes back as the God man.

Verse 63 — Here is the last call to these people. “I am not talking about cannibalism. It is not a literal eating of the flesh, it is not a literal drinking of the blood.,” says Jesus.

“It keeps on being the spiritual” — in other words, eating the flesh and drinking the blood keeps on being a spiritual issue; “that qickeneth; the flesh provideth nothing” — literal physical food cannot provide it. This is not literal flesh, this is a spiritual issue.

“The words that I have spoken unto you” — perfect tense here [I spoke them in the past with results that will go on forever]; “they are spiritual” — He makes it perfectly clear; “they are doctrine [truth].”

Verse 64 — “But” sets up the contrast, this is the end of the line. He has made the issue clear for the last time; “there are” — present active indicative, there keep on being; “some of you [from among you] that believe not ” — literally, keep on not believing. Every time He makes the issue clear they say no.

“For Jesus knew from the beginning [in eternity past] who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.” Why does He make a distinction? Those who keep n saying no in the crowd are going to withdraw, they will depart from Him. But there is one who will not depart who will betray Him and that one is Judas Iscariot. He will hang around. What Jesus said was so strong that it drove out those who rejected Him, with one exception. And Jesus is not taken in by Judas even though he hangs around.

Verse 65 — “And he said” is imperfect linear aktionsart and it should be translated “And he had said” in verse 44.

“Therefore I say unto you that no man can come to unto me, except it were given unto him.” Notice a contrast here. In verse 44 when Jesus said this the first time we have the verb e)lkuw — “unless someone draw him.” But here we have didomi, “unless it is given him.” The change is to show the principle that Jesus provides everything necessary and only negative volition actually stands in the way. Translation: “And he had said, Because of this I said unto you [in the past] that no one can come unto me, except it were given unto him.” This means that the Father had a plan, He provided salvation for positive volition. Those who are on negative volition will not accept the gift, and therefore while everything is provided it is their own free will that causes them to reject. The words “except it were given” is in the perfect tense. Salvation was provided in eternity past with the result that it is available to all now. It is in the passive voice: salvation is received under grace. Subjunctive mood: salvation is conditional depending on whether you go on positive or negative signals.

“of my Father” is really “from my Father” in the Greek.

Verse 66 — “From that time” is not what the Greek says — e)k toutou, should be translated “from this [message].”

“went back” — but they didn’t go back at all, they took off! This is a)perxomai [a)p = ultimate source; erxomai = to go]. To go from the ultimate source of one’s self is to go away. The word means to depart.

“and walked with him no more [no longer, literally]” — they stopped walking with Him, in other words. “With” is the preposition of association. They stopped their association with Him entirely.

Verse 67 — Now they have left, they have all walked out. There are twelve men standing there. The crowd was at least 5000+. They have rejected Him and walked out.

“Will ye also go away?”

Verse 68 — “Then Simon Peter answered” is an aorist passive participle and should be “Simon Peter had an answer.”

“Lord” — he recognises that Jesus Christ is God [kurioj = deity]; “to whom” — the word ‘to’ is the preposition proj plus the accusative and it should be “face to face with whom.” Face to face means personal relationship. Where else can we get salvation, is what he is saying.

“shall we go” — this is, again, a)perxomai which means to depart; “you keep on having the words of eternal life.” In other words, those people are going out to nothing. Peter is saying, ‘I am staying for the saviour, I am staying for something.’

Verse 69 — “And we believe” is literally, “We have believed.” This is a perfect tense, perfect active indicative. Active voice: Peter is speaking for himself and all of them. We have believed in the past with the result that we keep on being saved.

“and are sure” — again the perfect tense and is translated “and are confident.” This is the verb ginwskw which means to know. In the perfect tense it means we have known in the past with the result that we have confidence now.

Verse 70 — Jesus says, Peter you are right but there is one exception: “one of you keeps on being a devil.” Devil possessed.

Verse 71 — “He kept on speaking of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon; for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.” When all this is clarified Jesus and the disciples depart from Capernaum. His ministry is finished in the northern part of the kingdom for a while.

Chapter 7

There is an elapse of six months between chapters six and seven. We are filled in with regard to this elapse from two of the synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Mark. In John 6 we had a chapter which took place around the Passover – verse 4. John 7:2 tells us we now go to the time of the feast of the Tabernacles. This is an elapse of six months during which the Lord Jesus Christ left the synagogue at Capernaum and went up the Caesarea Philippi, a very desolate area. Now He is going to come back again to Galilee, and on His return we are going to have a rather interesting encounter with His four, at this time unsaved, half brothers.

In verses 1-13 we have the background.

Verses 14-32, the revelation of the Son of God.

Verses 33-39, the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Verses 40-52, the audience reaction.

Basically, the messages which Jesus gave in chapter six were given at the synagogue at Capernaum. The ones we have in this passage were given in the temple during the feast of Tabernacles.

Verse 1 – the antagonism of the Jews. “After these things” gives us a phrase which indicates an elapse of time, six months in which Jesus avoided both Galilee and Judea. He went up into the north, Caesarea Philippi which was the tetrarchy of Philip, one of the sons of Herod the Great. In Judea the Lord Jesus Christ was rejected. In Samaria He has success. Now He has been out of Galilee for six months and is now returning.

“Jesus [always the title of His humanity] walked” – imperfect linear aktionsart, which means He moved about in Galilee; “for he would not walk in Jewry.” “Jewry” is an obsolete word. It is a word for the Jews, plus a suffix; an anachronistic suffix which means absolutely nothing. The word in the Greek is Judea. The words “would not” is an expression of His human volition – qelw, imperfect linear aktionsart. It means to will or desire with a purpose or design behind it. It was His purpose based on is observation of the situation but it was not time for Him to return as yet to Judea. He did not desire to walk in Judea. He was rejected in Judea in John 5; He was rejected in Galilee in John 5.

“the Jews” refers to religious leaders; “sought” -- kept on seeking, imperfect linear aktionsart. They were constantly looking for Him.

“to kill” -- the word for “kill” a)pokteinw [a)po = ultimate source; kteinw = destroy]. They wanted to destroy from the ultimate source of self. That is religion’s attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? John 4:1, mental attitude sins. Religion always is involved with mental attitude sins. The religious leaders were jealous of the Lord Jesus Christ. The pattern of the Jewish mental attitude is expressed in Acts 13:45. The religious Jews were antagonistic and full of hatred because first of all they were jealous. Jealousy spawns a lot of different mental attitude sins. It is a basic one which leads to others.

Man’s true spiritual condition is always revealed by his mental attitude toward Jesus Christ. The unbeliever’s mental attitude is rejection or unbelief. The carnal believer has the attitude of indifference or apathy. The spiritual believer has the attitude of love – RMA, and the mature believer has not only love but rapport and occupation with Christ. So the mentality is always indicative of one’s spiritual condition. In other words, it isn’t how you act on the outside, it is what you think on the inside. The spirituality index is always based on what you are thinking.

Verse 2 – the time of this passage. “The Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.” It was about to begin when Jesus had this conversation with His brothers. The Levitical feasts are taught in Leviticus chapter 23, they are a part of Codex #2 of the Mosaic law. Basically, under the doctrine of the Levitical feasts we have three concepts. First of all we have the feast which depicts the first advent of Christ. Secondly we have the gap, and then we have the feasts which are identified with the Second Advent. There are four feasts which are identified with the first coming of Christ: a) The Passover, which deals with the work of Christ on the cross. The reason it comes first is because the cross must always come before the crown. There is no eternal kingdom apart from the work of Christ on the cross. The second feast was the feast of unleavened bread which began immediately at the end of the Passover. It was one of the two feasts that lasted a week. It is a picture of the believer’s fellowship with God in time. The third feast occurred in the middle of the week of unleavened bread – the feast of the firstfruits, which depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It always occurred on Sunday; Jesus Christ rose again from the dead on Sunday, on the day of the firstfruits. The fourth is the feast of Pentecost, and Pentecost (which simply means 50 days) is fifty days after the firstfruits, and this always occurred on Sunday. The purpose of the feast of Pentecost was a warning to the Jews that the fifth cycle of discipline will come very shortly. These four feasts are always connected with the first advent of Jesus Christ. Between them we have the gap.

Under the concept of the Gap, there was no feast between roughly the end of May (or, rarely, the first week of June) and the first of October – approximately six months. This represents the time of the fifth cycle of discipline, the time when the Jews are dispersed and no longer are recognised as a nation. During this time the Church replaces Israel. This is why the Church began on the day of Pentecost. Cursing is turned to blessing for the Jews during the period of the gap by means of salvation. When a Jew accepts Christ as saviour during the Church Age he is entered into union with Christ, becomes a member of the body of Christ, and cursing is turned to blessing.

The last three feasts are connected with the Second Advent. The first of these was the feast of the trumpets. The trumpet was used for assembly and the feast of the trumpets means the end of the fifth cycle of discipline. When Jesus Christ returns to the earth the fifth cycle of discipline will be completed. The next is the feast of atonement. It indicates that only born-again Jews go into the Millennium and into the eternal kingdom. The seventh and last feast is the feast of the tabernacles which depicts the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Now we are dealing with the feast of the tabernacles. The last chapter, chapter six, had as its background the feast of the Passover. It was observed in Capernaum. So we have at least a six-month elapse of time between the two chapters.

In verses 3-9 we have an interesting conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and His four half brothers. Matthew 13:55 gives us the names of these brothers.

Verse 3 – “His brethren therefore said unto him.” They have some sarcastic advice to give Him as they have not personally received Him as saviour.

“Depart hence” – apparently the brothers were on their way down south to the feast of tabernacles which was about to occur. The actual word here is not “depart.” The Greek word is metabainw [bainw = to go; meta = from place to place]. So they are suggesting that He go from place Galilee with them down to place Judah and to Jerusalem for the feast of the tabernacles. This is an aorist active imperative. “Hence” is an adverb which means “from this place.”

“and go” – the word for “go” is to go down to Jerusalem. No question as to which direction; “that” introduces a purpose clause, and this is a very sarcastic purpose clause.

“thy disciples” is a reference to believers in Judea. These believers in Judea have already been cited in John 2:23; 4:1. The half brothers heard six months ago about the defection of the disciples in Galilee – John 6:66, and they therefore assume that Jesus has no more disciples in Galilee except the twelve, and they suggest that He go down to Jerusalem and lose those. This is very sarcastic.

“may see thy works” – in other words, Look, there were 5000 plus who saw your works in Galilee, and where are they now? They scattered; they left you. “May see” is future tense. They doubt if any miracles can be performed so they put it in the future.

“thou doest” – keep on doing, present linear aktionsart. Sarcasm.

Verse 4 – the expression of doubt. “For no man doeth anything in secret.” This is, again, sarcasm. They are judging Jesus by their own pitiful standards.

“doeth” – keeps on doing; “anything in secret.” What they are saying is this. “If we could perform miracles as you claim you have we would let the whole world know about it.” They are judging Jesus by their own standards, by their won character. They are superimposing upon the Lord Jesus their own weaknesses and their own

failures.

“any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly.” This is what they would do, seek to be known openly. “To be known” is a present active infinitive, it is linear aktionsart, sand it expresses exactly what they would do. It is an idiom which means they would be in the public eye. So they ascribe to the Lord Jesus their own vanity of mind. If the situation had been reversed they would have been down in Jerusalem right then and there. They would have spent the last six months in Jerusalem performing miracles, making a public display of power. This is their own approbation and power lust being expressed.

Principles

1. Beware of judging people by your own actions and thoughts. Only God has the right to judge and only the Word of God has the right to condemn.

2. Unless God promotes you there is no promotion. God did not promote those four half-brothers. Joshua 3:7; 1Peter er 5:5,6.

“If” – 1st class condition of sarcasm; “thou do these things [this is sarcasm, ‘and we must assume that you do,’ is the way it is translated] shew thyself [manifest thyself] to the world” – aorist imperative. Obviously we can see what they want. If He becomes famous they would like to get a finger in the pot! They don’t care about His message. They have rejected His message; they will keep on rejecting His message; they will not accept the fact that He is the God-Man, even though they grew up with Him and never saw a sin or a failure of any kind.

Verse 5 – the explanation of their sarcasm. “For neither did his brethren believe in him.” The Greek says, “For not even were his brothers believing in him.” “Believe” is imperfect active indicative and the imperfect tense means habitual rejection. Out of these brothers we only have a record of two who were eventually saved – James, who received Christ as saviour after the resurrection, Acts 1:14; 1Corinthians 15:7; James 1:1. He became a leader of the Jerusalem church, Acts 12:17, etc.; Jude was also saved and wrote the book of Jude.

Verses 6-9, Jesus answers His brothers.

Verse 6 – “My time is not yet come.” He is going to repeat this phrase once again. The first time He says this He is referring to the Second Advent. They want Jesus to be glorified, which puts Him into the Second Advent. Glory characterises the Second Advent. The first advent will be characterised by humiliation. The brothers want Him to go down and show Himself for what He really is. At the Second Advent Jesus comes to Jerusalem, and they had given Him the command, “God to Jerusalem and show your glory.” That is exactly what He will do at the Second Advent. “My time” is a reference to the Second Advent this time. The word karo is an epoch, so He uses “time” here as an epoch or a period, time as a change of period – Second Advent. He would receive the crown at the Second Advent. So Jesus is saying that the cross must come before the crown. The time for my coronation is not here, this is the time for my humiliation. If Jesus had come first for His glory there could be no kingdom of the regenerate. The citizens of God’s eternal kingdom must have eternal life. The only way they can have eternal life is for Jesus Christ to go to the cross. Literally this says, “My time is not yet present” – present active indicative of pareimi [e)imi = to be; par = beside] which comes to mean to be present. The time for the Second Advent is not now. He cannot fulfil the tabernacles until first of all He fulfils the Passover.

“your time is always ready” – they are going to down to observe the feast of tabernacles but it won’t mean anything to them because they are not believers. Ritual without reality is meaningless. The word “ready” does not mean ready here. The Greek word e)toimoj means prepared – “your time is always prepared.” The only way to be prepared for the eternal kingdom of God is to believe in Christ as saviour. Your time is now; this is the opportunity to be prepared for that glory when it comes. When the feast of tabernacles is fulfilled there is only one way to be prepared. These men are looking at their own half brother who is the only preparation for salvation and eternity.

Verse 7 – “The world” – kosmoj, which originally meant ideas. Since kosmoj is used for the world it is Satan’s world (Satan is the ruler of the world), so ideas that come from Satan represents the whole human viewpoint, the whole anti-biblical view of life. The kosmoj, a system of ideas, hates Jesus Christ. This is because Satan is the ruler of the kosmoj, according to Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Ephesians 2:2; 2Corinthians 4:4, etc. The word “hate” is present linear aktionsart, keeps on hating, always will hate.

“cannot hate you” – this indicates, once again, their unbelieving state. While they are closely associated with Jesus Christ by birth, nevertheless the kosmoj cannot – present active indicative of dunamai, which means to be able, plus the negative: “keeps on being not able” – “to hate you [brothers, plural].” The kosmoj is not capable of hating you because you are a part of the kosmoj, is the idea here. Therefore, when these four brothers advise Jesus Christ to go down openly and expose Himself, give them a great burst of miracles and reveal His glory they are giving Him exactly the same advise that Satan gave Him when he said, “If you will worship me I will give you the kingdoms of the world.” In other words, it is possible for loved ones and friends to give you advice which is exactly what Satan would say. They have taken the words right out of Satan’s mouth. So Jesus makes it clear and tells them they think like the kosmoj, they are a part of the kosmoj, they are unbelievers. As unbelievers you can only give the wrong advice.

Notice that Jesus does not meet sarcasm with sarcasm. While they have been sarcastic He simply sticks with the facts, ignoring their sarcasm.

“but me – conjunction of contrast; “it keeps on hating” – present active indicative, linear aktionsart. Religion, legalism always hates grace; Satan always hates Jesus Christ.

Jesus challenges human viewpoint every time He speaks, and he uses the words, “because I testify concerning it.” The word for testify simply means to expose human thinking in all of its fallacies. Brilliant men do not like to have their views chopped down by divine viewpoint. The Pharisees were all brilliant, they some tremendous systems; they were all Satanic. Jesus has constantly bucked the tiger as far as religion is concerned. Grace keeps on testifying. And what has He hit? Human good! What does He testify to? To their works, not sins.

“the works thereof are evil” – Jesus made the issue between divine and human good. The word for “evil” is ponhroj, and while it means evil it also means useless, worthless, something that is spoiled [rotten, i.e. not eternal]. In other words, the human viewpoint of life is worthless and never solves anything. It cannot solve man’s problems. If it cannot solve his basic problems it cannot solve his collective problems. Human good will not solve man’s problems.

Verse 8 – “Go ye up to this feast.” In other words, take your own advice.

“I go not up yet” – He is going, but He is not going under their advice or under their system. He is not going to present Himself as King in the sense of showing His glory, He is going up there to present Himself as saviour because the cross must come before the crown.

“for my time is not yet fulfilled” – this is a different phrase from verse 6. This time “my time” refers to the cross. “Fulfilled” is in the perfect tense, fulfilled in the past with results that go one forever – the cross. If He goes up with His brothers He will be ambushed and killed. He is going to go up after the feast starts. They will relax their vigilance. Once He gets into the city He is safe, they will not assassinate Him in the city because it can be directly attributed to them and they would be discredited. “My time has not yet been fulfilled” means that His death is not to be fulfilled yet, other things have to be accomplished. So He refuses the bad advice of His brothers to go openly to the feast. Such a suggestion would have led to attempts upon His life. He has to fulfil the plan of the Father. The plan of the Father means that He must give some more messages in Jerusalem. During the feast of the tabernacles He will give two messages which are designed to reveal God.

Verse 9 – they went on to Jerusalem but He remained behind and would come late to the feast of the tabernacles.

Verse 10 – “But when his brethren were gone up.” They have already departed to go to the feast.

“not openly, but as it were in secret” – this is to avoid the ambush, the assassins, the religious crowd who had posted people on all the roads.

Verses 11-13 – in the meantime in Jerusalem. During the first four days of the feast Jesus is not there.

Verse 11 – “The Jews” refers to the Jewish leaders; “sought him” – kept on seeking Him, imperfect linear aktionsart. They were seeking Him to take His life.

“Where is he?” They pretended to be searching for Him to ask questions. They were searching for Him to kill Him. So one of the things that was happening in the first part of the feast was a very intensive search to seek out and to slay the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 12 – the crowd is very much divided in their opinion. “And there was much murmuring” – imperfect linear aktionsart, there kept on being much murmuring, a lot of talk, a lot of conversation. Two opinions:

“for some said” – these are believers; “he is good” – the word ‘man’ does not occur in the original. “He is” – present linear aktionsart of e)imi, He always will be. The word “good” is a)gaqoj, good of intrinsic value. In other words, this is their way of saying that they accept Him as the ultimate good, divine good. So we have some who are believers and they stand up for the Lord. They don’t call Him a man, they say He is absolute good.

Then we have the reaction group: “others [unbelievers] said, No.” They contradicted this.

“but he deceiveth [keeps on deceiving] the people” – so we have a divided opinion among the people, the religious people are seeking to kill Him.

Verse 13 – a principle: Religion destroys human freedom. Remember that Christianity is not a religion. When religion becomes the state, you’ve had it.

“no man spoke openly of him” – many in the crowd were for Jesus Christ but they would not speak openly about Him because of fear. The words “for fear” is dia plus the accusative and it means “because of.” Because of fear of the religious leaders.

In verses 14-32 we have the first of two messages given in the temple during the feast

of the tabernacles. The first message deals with the revelation of Jesus

Christ as God. The second one deals with the revelation of the Holy Spirit as God. In verses 14-16, as in all messages, Jesus communicated doctrine. Everyone

who listened to Him, whether they were believers or unbelievers, regardless of their status in

life, recognised that when Jesus Christ spoke it was doctrine. It was

divine viewpoint categorically presented.

“Now about the middle of the feast [of the tabernacles]” – it had been going for three

or four days, so this is either Wednesday or Thursday when Jesus Christ arrives at the temple. He is able to arrive without being ambushed or assassinated due to the fact that once

the feast begins all of the assassin bands are pulled off the main highways, which indicated

that they were very religious.

“went up” means to make a journey from Galilee down to Jerusalem. He went up

directly to the temple when he arrived – aorist tense, in a point of time; “and taught” –

imperfect linear aktionsart, He kept on teaching. The word for teaching here is teaching in a

public assembly, standing before a lot of people and communicating doctrine. The very word

itself, didaskw, indicates this principle. The duplication of a word in the present tense

always has a special concept in the Greek. Usually, a duplication of a word like this indicates

the perfect tense. But there are certain words, such as the verb to give and the verb to keep,

which both have a duplication of a letter in the front of the word in two words. They usually

indicate some kind of s dynamic, powerful thing. They indicate that there is thought, and then

behind the thought there is an action. In the verb to give, didomi, which we have so many

times throughout the New Testament, there is the thought behind the action. The thought is

love – “God so loved the world that he gave …” Here, behind the word “teach” is thought. In

this case the thought is doctrine categorically residing in the human spirit of Jesus Christ and

now communicated to the crowd. So generally speaking the word didaskw is recognised as

not meaning to teach but to teach a public assembly, to communicate information on a

categorical basis to a large number of people. The imperfect tense of didaskw in this verse

means that He continued teaching for quite a while.

          Verse 15 – the amazement of the well-educated religious leaders, the Pharisees, the

scribes, and the chief priests.

“marvelled” – qaumazw doesn’t means to marvel so much as to be absolutely,

totally amazed. These people wanted to kill Jesus but right now they couldn’t. Why? The

power of the Word of God. The issue is the Word of God; He sticks with doctrine. Imperfect

tense: they kept on being amazed all the time He taught.

“How knoweth” – the word “to know” is the word of absolute knowledge, which

means a total and thorough grasp. It is used for doctrine which resides in the soul. It is the

word for inherent knowledge – o)ida. Perfect tense used as a present tense for inherent

knowledge, knowledge in the soul.

“this man letters” – letters is an idiom for a formal education. How does this man

speak as though He had a better education than any of us?

“having never learned” – He had not been in the formal theological system of

education. Yet He astounds the greatest educated minds of the day.

Verse 16 – the word “answered” means He had an answer, a)pokrinomai [a)po = preposition of ultimate source; krinomai = to discern]. The word meant

originally to discern from the ultimate source of one’s self. Eventually it came to mean to

come back with an answer from this discernment. It is in the passive voice here, which means Jesus had an answer. He had an answer from doctrine in His frontal lobe; He had an answer because He knew the Word in the humanity of His human spirit.

“My doctrine” – the categorical teaching of the divine viewpoint; “is not mine” – I am

not going to take credit for these things. In other words, when it says that Jesus grew in

wisdom this means that the humanity of Christ learned doctrine.

“is not mine” – doctrine belongs to the Father. Jesus is speaking from His humanity.

Doctrine is also the mind of Christ – 1Corinthians 2:16. Doctrine is also the voice of the

Spirit – Hebrews 3:6,7.

“but his that sent me” – aorist active participle. The first advent is a part of the plan of

God the Father. Doctrine is the divine plan stated in human language.

Verse 17 – the problem of heathenism. What about the people who have never heard?

Jesus is standing in the temple which speaks of Him. This is during the feast of tabernacles

which represents the Millennium. In the Millennium there are going to be all kinds of people.

If God has a perfect plan it must be fair to every person who has ever lived. It is important to

understand here that Jesus said that the doctrine comes from the Father. Jesus is speaking from

His humanity and He is saying that the design is perfect and the designer is perfect; the planner

is perfect the plan is perfect.

Here is the second great challenge to the plan. The first great challenge is legalism, or

man trying to get his oar in. Man trying to do something to get into the plan of God. The

second greatest challenge to the plan of God is, Is God fair? This is what man says in his

stupidity. But you have to go back to a principle: God is perfect; His plan is perfect. Now, if

His plan is perfect then everyone gets a fair shake.

“If” introduces a 3rd class condition, which recognises the existence of human volition.

In any section of the world where people exist, every single person who has ever lived since

the beginning of man’s history of failure has had a fair shake. Every single one has had equal

chance of salvation.

“any man” – ”man” is used generically and refers to male and female both. The Greek

word is tij and it means “anyone.”

“will” – present active subjunctive of the verb qelw, a word which has various

meanings. Basically, it is used in desire or the use of volition from the emotions.

Here qelw means to will or desire on the basis of awareness of a design or a plan. In other

words, a plan is presented and it is then accepted or rejected. The present tense means that at

the point of God-consciousness this person went on positive signals, and linear aktionsart

means that when you go positive at the point of God-consciousness you are periodically going

to have thoughts about God until it is all clarified by gospel hearing. The active voice indicates

that you make your own decision. Everyone has to make their own decision, no one can make

it for someone else. The subjunctive mood is potential – you have free will.

“[to] do” – present active infinitive, poiew. Present tense: a desire to get with this

plan. Active voice: you desire it – free will. Infinitive: it is your purpose to get with this plan.

You need some information.

“his will” – qelhma. This is a noun which indicates two things: a) purpose; b) design.

This takes us into the whole plan of God for the salvation of the human race.

“he shall know” has to do with gospel hearing. To do His will is God-consciousness,

positive signals. This is a future middle indicative of the verb ginwskw which means to

know from experience, to know from the experience of hearing in this case. If goes on positive

signals at the point of God-consciousness, if he wills to know, “he shall know.” That means he

will be provided gospel information and he will express his positive signals then by faith in

Jesus Christ.

“the doctrine” is literally “concerning the doctrine.” He will get pertinent information.

It is future tense because it is future from positive volition at God-consciousness, which comes

first. The middle voice: the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. We are benefited by

going on positive signals at the point of God-consciousness because we will receive gospel

information, and as a result of receiving gospel information, positive signals expressed in a

non-meritorious manner resulting in eternal salvation. This is maximum benefit. The indicative

mood is the reality of gospel hearing after positive volition at the point of God-consciousness.

The doctrine has to do with two categories: soteriology and Christology.

“of God” is literally, “from God,” from the source of God the Father. This takes us

back to the fact that the Father is the designer, the planner.

“or whether I speak from the ultimate source of myself” – when He says “from God”

he uses the word e)k, ordinary source, but when He said “from myself”

Jesus says “this is not from the ultimate source of myself” – a)po, preposition of ultimate

source. In other words, pride is excluded. There are no mental attitude sins in

giving a straight message. Bible doctrine must be taught from a relaxed mental attitude, the

relaxed mental attitude comes from knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of

the Spirit. The Pharisees resent all of this, so Jesus has to clarify His own motivation. Jesus

says He is only communicating doctrine as He has learned it.

Verse 18 – the principle of motivation. “He that speaketh of himself” – a)po again, ultimate source. That is, communicating one’s own ideas rather than the plan of God. Jesus in His humanity is simply communicating what He has learned from God – “He grew in wisdom.” The word for speaking here is lalew and it means to communicate with words so that they make sense.

“seeketh” – the word which means to keep on seeking one’s own approbation; “keeps on seeking his own glory.” This glory is developed in two ways: a) In the old sin nature which

 He doesn’t have, from the lust pattern. Primarily approbation lust followed by power lust. This is the greatest enemy of the believer, and of mankind.

“but” introduces a conjunction of contrast. Here is a contrast between human and divine good, here is the contrast between legalism and grace, here is the difference between man’s plan and God’s plan.

“he that seeketh [keeps on seeking]” – present active participle, linear aktionsart. The verb is zetew. There is another word for seeking – e)uriskw. Both of these words mean to seek. E)uriskw means to seek something you have lost, so it is never used in this passage. Wherever you find the word to seek in this passage, whether it is a negative or a positive statement, it always means exactly the same thing: to seek for and find something, to seek for something that you never had but through knowledge of doctrine you acquire it. Doctrine teaches doctrine.

“his glory” – the plan of the Father. It is revealed in the Word; it is doctrine; it is the category; it is the detail in the category; it is the plan of God and the grace of God. Remember that glory generally refers to the perfect character of God. Since God is perfect His plan is perfect. Here glory refers to the perfect plan or operation grace.

“of him that sent him” – in other words, the Father sent Jesus Christ. He is seeking the glory of God the Father.

“the same” – any individual who is oriented to the grace of God and the plan of God; “is true” – a)lhqhj means that He complies perfectly with the plan. The plan is declared in terms of doctrine, so “is true” means that he complies perfectly with doctrine and the standard of doctrine.

“and no unrighteousness is in him” – Jesus is speaking of Himself, He is simply following the plan of God. He is following doctrine; He is executing doctrine.

Verse 19 – the judgement of the Lord Jesus Christ. As soon as Jesus introduces Moses He introduces their favourite subject, first of all as a person and secondly as the writer of the first five books of the Bible, and also the one who received from God the Mosaic law. Moses is unique because he had the office of the prophet and the gift of prophecy.

“While Moses gave you the law, none of you keep the law.” This is quite a blow to the religious leaders who pride themselves on the fact that they are keeping the law in a very unusual way. Actually, Christ turns the tables on the Jews because Jesus has been accused by the religious hierarchy of not keeping the law. He healed a man on the Sabbath – John chapter 5. This started the whole problem. So it is the Jewish religious leaders who have broken the Sabbath and not the Lord Jesus Christ. However, they are going to try to show that He did and that He should be punished by death; in fact, they are using it as an excuse. But it is not working out that way very well because Jesus is now going to turn the tables on them. The Jews have obviously violated the Decalogue which says, “Thou shalt not kill.” They are trying to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. The religious leaders have imposed on Jesus their own sins and their own motivations; they accuse Him of breaking the law while they actually violate the law themselves. Jesus points this out when He says, “Why are you going about trying to kill me?” This is in violation of one of the commandments.

Verse 20 – the reaction of the crowd is immediate. “Thou hast a demon: who goeth about to kill thee?” This is something that the hierarchy had circulated. They anticipated the fact that they would be accused of murder so they pulled in certain people in the crowd and said, “When He accuses us of murder then you simply take this piece of theology and use it on Him – He is demon possessed.” This was the public attitude of the Pharisees as declared in Matthew chapter twelve. It is called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Actually, it is not blasphemy against the Spirit as we would understand it today but it is rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have rejected Jesus Christ as saviour, they must find some way in which they can explain the miracles, the eloquence, and everything connected with His person. So they use the fact of demon possession, which is a true Bible doctrine, and they distort it and relate it to the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew that demons had power and understood in part the angelic conflict. They knew that demons were capable of all sorts of miraculous activity and having understood all of these things they were now ascribing them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was empowered by the Holy Spirit and they ascribe the ministry of the Spirit in His life to demons. This is indicative of their rejection.

In verses 21-24 Jesus goes back to the Sabbath miracle which He performed and He defends it being performed on the Sabbath. Up to this point the Sanhedrin is using the miracle of healing on the Sabbath as the basis for getting the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 21 – “I have done one work, and you all are amazed.” When He refers to the one work He is referring to what happened in John 5:16. This violated a pet taboo of the Pharisees. To carry a bed on the Sabbath was punishable by death and yet Jesus challenged them to touch this man whom He had healed. Of course, they did not because it had some fantastic and difficult implications.

“you all are amazed” – keep on being amazed. It was still the primary topic of conversation in Jerusalem even though it had occurred 18 months ago. Now Jesus is reading their minds. And having heard their conversation and knowing the trend in the Sanhedrin which was meeting at that very moment to find some way to kill Him, Jesus now cites a parallel situation. They claim that Jesus has broken the Sabbath. The Sabbath is taught in the Mosaic law, so Jesus takes something which they revere, also connected with the law. The religious leaders have a favourite activity called circumcision, a ritual which is connected with the law. They will practice circumcision on the Sabbath or any other day because the law demands that they do so. The whole principle of circumcision as a ritual is to show the relationship of the Jews to the Mosaic law. In showing this relationship a child had to be circumcised on the eight day after it was born. The problem is that if a child is born on Saturday, the Sabbath, it means that the eighth day will be the next Sabbath. That means that if they are going to obey the law they must circumcise the child on the eighth day and no other day. Jesus is going to ask, “What is the difference between an operation which is a religious ritual on the Sabbath and healing a man?” What is the difference between that an healing a man who has never had the use of his limbs, and have him walk up to the temple to fulfil the Mosaic law as far as his responsibilities after he has been healed? So Jesus is going to cite a parallel to stop them and now they are going to have to find a new way to get rid of Him, because He cut them off at the pass with this particular type of logic. He went right back to the same Mosaic law and showed how the Jews were violating the law constantly under their interpretation. He took their interpretation and used it with regard to circumcision and this immediately put them on the spot; they are violating their own law. They didn’t like this but they couldn’t get around the logic of it. This is found in verses 22-24.

Verse 22 – Circumcision is demanded by the Mosaic law in Leviticus chapter twelve. However, it is much earlier than that, it goes all the way back to Genesis 17:12 and 21:4. In the time of our Lord it had become simply a ritual.

Verse 23 – Jesus makes the analogy. “If” – 1st class condition, if and it is true – “a man on the Sabbath days receive circumcision.” He would receive it on the Sabbath day because he was born on Saturday; he had to be circumcised on the eighth day (Genesis 17) which was the Sabbath.

“are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?” Jesus is saying that it is not only required by the law but from the standpoint of medicine the eighth day is the only day for it. That is why it is on the eight day. They do it to protect the child. Jesus did something on the Sabbath. He healed a man on the Sabbath. What wrong with Jesus healing a man on Saturday because there is no difference between what He did on Saturday and what they did on Saturday. They seek to kill Jesus for what He did on Saturday and yet Jesus is saying this is no different from their own modus operandi.

“angry” – xolaw doesn’t really mean angry. It comes from xolh which means to be bitter. It is the Greek word for gall. So this word refers to a mental attitude bitterness. They are bitter toward the Lord. Bitterness immediately destroys the perspective of anyone in society who is solid or stable and who is a pillar of society. When a person becomes bitter in their mental attitude there is a complete change in the behaviour pattern of the individual based on the fact that they lose orientation to the grace of God. Bitterness is designed to hurt someone else but it always has a boomerang, it always comes back and hurts the person involved.

Notice what happened to these religious leaders. First of all, they resented the miracle that the Lord performed on the Sabbath in John 5. This resentment led to rejection of the human freedom and the privacy of the Lord: by means of jealousy which is a subtle type of intrusion because it is not obvious, and then by bitterness. Jealousy always becomes bitterness. Bitterness is really a mental attitude which results from jealousy.

Verse 24 – He warns them; He tells them what they are doing. “Judge not.” This is a present active imperative and it means, “stop judging.”

“according to appearance” – here is an amplification. The word “according to” is the preposition of norm of standard, kata. “Judge not according to appearance.” The word for “appearance” is o)yij and it means external appearance. It means to judge by what you see on the outside without knowing any of the inner facts.

“but judge righteous judgments” – this is addressed to the religious leaders and they are guilty of legalism and misjudging. This actually means, “judge equitable judgments.” Equitable judgment demands knowledge of doctrine, which is the absolute criterion, and secondly, knowing all the facts in an individual case. So Jesus is saying stay out of the privacy of individuals, even though you are a ruler in the land you do not have the right to violate the privacy of a person. And secondly, when you sit as a court in the Sanhedrin you must know all the facts before you can come to any conclusion. Jesus knew all the facts when He healed the impotent man.

Legalism always criticises and seeks to destroy grace. The work of Jesus Christ was an act of grace, and act of divine good. Legalism despises divine good and it despises grace. Hence, the inevitable and continuous battle between legalism and grace. Judging or retaliation is the sin f legalism and therefore receives very heavy discipline.

Verses 25-27 – a second reaction of the people.

 Verse 25 -- “Then said some of them from Jerusalem” – citizens who live in Jerusalem in contrast to people who had come from all over the world for the feast of the tabernacles; “Is not this he whom they seek to kill?” They are utterly astounded; they all know that for eighteen months the Sanhedrin was out to get the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 26 – “But, lo, he speaks with confidence and courage, and they say nothing unto him.” The reason they say nothing is because the logic of the Lord Jesus has shut them up.

“Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?” This is a little bit of sarcasm and a little bit of humour. In other words, “Maybe they’re being quiet because they really know He is the Messiah, but they are not telling us.” The people still have a sense of humour even though they are ruled by religious people.

Verse 27 – “Howbeit we know this man whence he is.” Here are people who are now expressing the negative volition.

“but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.” This is the smart-alec reactor. This is a person who has a little knowledge and has not related it dispensationally or any other way. They “know” a little bit; they assume it is everything. This is always the problem when you get someone who has a little knowledge plus a lot of pride.

“when Christ cometh” refers to His second advent’ “whence he is [he comes].” He is going to come suddenly. This is an idiom for coming suddenly and without warning. But they are talking about the second advent and this is the first advent. They are mixed up. Jesus isn’t doing what He should be doing on the second advent because He is doing what He should be doing on the first advent, so obviously they are going to be confused.

Verse 28 – no one is ever going to understand God until He comes the first time. Everything in the Old Testament is a shadow pointing to the reality and it is the cross where people learn about God.

“Then cried Jesus” – literally, He shouted. He raised His voice so everyone could hear Him; “as he taught [kept on teaching], saying [kept on saying], Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am.” They know Him because He has presented His credit card. He has performed a miracle which constitutes His credit card as Messiah. He made it very clear to them that He is from the Father.

“and I am not come of [from] myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not” – the word “true” here is doctrine. Doctrine is the basis of revealing God the Father. They have rejected salvation and they have therefore rejected the saviour. The saviour is the revealer of the Father; therefore they do not know the Father. The rejection of Christ is the rejection of the Father and the rejection of His perfect plan.

Verse 29 – “Bit I know him” – He is not only the revealer of the Father but He knows Him inherently; “for I keep on being from him.” This is from the immediate source of Him. The word for “from” here is para, the preposition of immediate source. This means that Jesus has come immediately from the Father, and para indicates the first advent in contrast to the second advent.

Verses 30-31, the reaction from the people.

Verse 30 – “Then they kept on seeking to seize him [violently] – imperfect linear aktionsart; “but no man laid hands [offered violence] on him – e)piballw. Ballw usually means to throw, but when put together with e)pi it means to throw over, to throw a blow, to punch, and it finally comes to mean violence. He was protected on this occasion.

“because his hour was not yet come” – the hour refers to the cross. He still has six months to go from the end of the feast of tabernacles and the next Passover. He will be crucified on the next Passover.

Verse 31 – “And many of the people believed on him.” This is where we have a turn in the tide; we now have people accepting Him as saviour. The word for “believe” is an aorist active indicative of pisteuw. This means non-meritorious thinking. It is also a transitive verb in the aorist tense and it refers to the point of time of the cross. Note that Jesus didn’t give an invitation, He simply gave them information.

“and said [kept on saying]” – after they believed they just kept saying this over and over.

“When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this one hath done?” In other words, they are no defending Him.

Verse 32 – this upset the Pharisees. “The Pharisees having heard” – aorist active participle, “that the people kept on murmuring things concerning him.”

“and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to seize him” – the word for “officers” is u(phrethj and refers to the temple police. Between verse 32 and versed 45 they are going to listen to what Jesus said.

Verse 33 – the second message, given on the last day. Jesus Christ is now revealing the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age. Here is a prophecy with regard to the Church Age.

“Yet a little while” is an accusative of the extent of time. This covers the six-month period from the end of the feast of tabernacles to the next Passover; “I keep on being with you.” When Jesus says “I am with you” He is saying that even though there are police out there trying to arrest me now I am going to be with you. And there isn’t any way they can do anything about it. God has a plan and it is going to go on regardless of their antagonism, mental attitude sins, regardless of violence and all the things that man seeks to do. Regardless of the devil himself the plan of God will go right on.

“and I go” – the plan of God calls for His departure, u(pagw – depart suddenly. It refers to the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“to him that sent me” – aorist active participle, indicating that the Father sent the Son and that the Father has a plan for the Son, and the human race through the Son.

Verse 34 – When this occurs: “Ye shall seek me [future tense] and shall not find me.” But He leaves something behind that is really important – Bible doctrine. It is the Word of God that is so important to you today. Everything you know about Jesus Christ, your love for Jesus Christ, your capacity to love Jesus Christ, your rapport with Christ and your occupation with Christ depend upon your knowledge of Bible doctrine.

“and where I am, ye cannot come” – this is directed to the religious crowd. They are going to seek entrance on the basis of their human good, but human good is rejected by God, Isaiah 64:6.

Verse 35 – the reaction of the Jews to this comes before Jesus gets into the message which comes from the ascension. The ascension leads to the coming of the Spirit. “Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither shall he go that we shall not find him?” Now they are very sarcastic. They said there is one place they wouldn’t even go to look for Him.

“will he go to the dispersed [Hellenistic Jews] among the Gentiles and keep on teaching the Gentiles?” This indicates the rejection and the blasphemy of religious people. Jesus is not going to fulfil this. But there is someone who is going to. This is a prophetic description of the ministry of the apostle Paul.

Verse 36 – this is simply a repetition and they are quoting Him. They understand His words but they have attached a false implication to the ascension.

Verse 37 – 39, this is the key to everything that is done on the last day of the feast. The feast of the tabernacles depicts the Millennium. There are two dispensations in which the Holy Spirit is given. The Holy Spirit is given to all believers in the Church Age. Since Jesus Christ is absent from the earth at the right hand of the Father the purpose of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to produce the character of Christ. So the filling of the Holy Spirit produces the character of Christ – love, joy, peace, etc. In the Millennium the Holy Spirit is also given. Joel 2:28,29 tells us that the filling of the Spirit in the Millennium is characterised by ecstatics. Ecstatics is not spirituality in the Church Age.

Verse 37 – a salvation invitation is issued because you cannot have the crown apart from the cross and because God’s plan always begins at the cross.

“In the last day, the great day of the feast” – this is the eighth day of the feast of the tabernacles, a special Sabbath day. It was an activity which was different from the rest of the days put together.

“Jesus stood” – with the result that He kept on taking a stand; “and shouted, saying.” Stood: perfect tense; shouted: aorist tense; saying: present tense. He is taking a stand for the whole plan of God. He shouted, aorist tense to indicate that He was heard throughout His message, and He kept on teaching, present linear aktionsart.

There is a great deal of relationship between verse 17 and verse 37. Verse 17: “If any man will do his will.” Verse 37: “In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst.” If any man will do his will; if any man thirst. Both of these passages begin with the word “if,” and in both cases “if” is a 3rd class condition, recognising human volition. The word “any man” is literally, “any one,” – tij, referring to the entire human race. If any person at the point of God-consciousness any person goes on positive signals, i.e. he desires relationship with God, God will provide pertinent information for that individual. This information will be provided in spite of geographical barriers, linguistic isolation, or any other situation that might exist. This is taught in John 7:17; Acts 17:27; Jeremiah 29:13; John 6:44.

Verse 17 – “If” introduces a 3rd class condition which recognises human volition at the point of God-consciousness. This means that the only people who are held accountable for salvation are people who have human volition in operation; “and many wills” – the word for “will” is a present active subjunctive of the verb qelw which means to desire, to will. Generally it means a desire which comes from the emotions but it may be a desire which faces a plan or a purpose or a design. When a person faces a plan, purpose or design and desires it this is the meaning of the word qelw. Present tense: the dramatic present which occurs when a person goes on positive volition at the point of God-consciousness, or even negative volition at the point of God-consciousness. The active voice: every individual must do this for himself. Subjunctive mood: positive volition at this point is potential.

“do” – present active infinitive, poiew. It is the purpose of God to save mankind and this purpose is only frustrated by man’s volition. 2Peter er 3:9.

“his will” – qelhma connotes a will or purpose or design. This refers to the plan of God, phase one. The Father wills that every person believes in Jesus Christ, that every person receives Jesus Christ as his saviour.

“he shall know” – gospel hearing. This is future middle indicative of ginwskw which means to learn from experience – the experience of hearing it and therefore understanding it; the experience of seeing it and therefore understanding it. It has the concept of hearing the gospel. Notice the word that is not used for gospel hearing here – o)ida, which means inherent knowledge and gospel hearing is not inherent knowledge. O)ida could be used for God-consciousness but ginwskw is used for gospel hearing.

Since John 7:17 is looking at the problem from the point of God-consciousness the word ginwskw is a future middle indicative. The future tense means future from the point of God-consciousness. Future from the point of God-consciousness there will be gospel hearing. The middle voice means that the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. We are benefited by going on positive volition at the point God-consciousness. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that every person since time began has after God-consciousness positive signals had the opportunity to hear the gospel.

“of the doctrine” – peri: literally, “concerning the gospel. By doctrine here we are referring to that which saves, that which is necessary for salvation, often called the gospel. The gospel does not describe the content of this doctrine, it describes the impact of this doctrine. It is simply a descriptive concept, not for the content but the impact. Gospel means “good news.”

“if it be from God” – e)k, simple source. Simple message. The message isn’t complex until are you are saved.

“whether I speak” – present active indicative of lalew which means to communicate; “of myself” – a)po, preposition of ultimate source. When Jesus Christ presented the gospel He was not speaking from the ultimate source of Himself, He was communicating the plan of the Father.

Verse 37 – the same thing stated in slightly different language. “In the last day” – last day of the feast of the tabernacles. The custom was to take a golden pitcher out of the temple, usually carried by the high priest. They all dressed up and they had the orchestra and band and singers, and would come marching down through Jerusalem singing beautiful songs. Then they would stop at the pool of Siloam and have a big ceremony. During the course of the ceremony they would fill the golden pitcher with water from the pool of Siloam. They would they would go through the streets of Jerusalem, bands playing, all of the way to the temple steps where they would all break out in the passage from Isaiah 12:3, singing, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” They did this every day during the feast of the tabernacles, except on the eighth day. They didn’t do it on the eighth day so Jesus did it for them in a very special way. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” The rabbis used to say about this ceremony that you had never seen rejoicing until you had seen the golden pitcher march. They said it was the most beautiful and most exciting thing.

“that great day” – it was regarded as a very special Sabbath, and is so taught in Leviticus 23:36.

“Jesus stood up” – perfect tense. This is followed here by an aorist tense and then a present tense. For the perfect tense: “Jesus stood.” In other words, He stood up at that moment in front of the whole crowd in the temple with results that would go on forever. There were thousands of people in that crowd who had gone on positive volition at the point of God-consciousness; now they were ready for gospel hearing. Now God was going to fulfil to them the gospel-hearing principle. They were about to hear the gospel. Not only would they hear the gospel but the gospel was about to be related to the next dispensation. Active voice: Jesus Himself stood up and no one else stood up. Now we have the aorist tense: “and cried.” But the Greek word is krazw and it doesn’t means to cry, it means to shout. He shouted so that everyone could hear Him. The aorist tense means that He shouted through the entire message. He shouted because the temple has a lot of rooms, and in one of those rooms the Sanhedrin is meeting – the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests. And they heard every word that he said. They were meeting to find some way to kill Him. During this message they sent the u(perhthj, the temple police, down to arrest Him. And they were arrested by His message but they did not arrest Him. Jesus shouted because He was communicating the gospel. The whole point of communicating the gospel is to be heard. We finally go to the present tense – “saying.” He had something to say – legw, communicate something with content. Present linear aktionsart: He kept on communicating.

“If” – 3rd class condition, maybe yes, maybe no; recognition of human volition, divine institution #1.

“any man” – tij, same thing He said in verse 17, lit. “if any one [human race].” Since Christ died for everyone, everyone can be saved; “thirst” – present active subjunctive, diyaw. Jesus uses this because it is the one day they don’t go through the ceremony. For seven days they have been going down to the pool of Siloam, they have been putting water in a golden pitcher, carrying the water back to the temple, singing and chanting. On this eighth day the ceremony is discontinued but it is still no their minds and so Jesus now uses the ceremony. “If any man thirst” – positive volition at the point of God-consciousness; “let him come” – positive volition at the point of gospel hearing.

“If any man thirst” – present active subjunctive; “let him come” – present active imperative. This is a syntactical answer to the question: If people go on positive signals at the point of God-consciousness will they go on positive signals at the point of gospel-hearing? And this says yes. The subjunctive mood recognises their volition, and recognising their volition as positive the imperative is a command which says, in effect, yes.

“unto me” – ‘unto’ is the preposition proj plus the accusative, which means “face to face with me.” Face to face is intimacy; face to face is salvation.

“and drink” – the mechanics. Present active imperative of the verb pinw, which means to drink. Why is drinking used here for the mechanics? The ability to drink is non-meritorious.

Verse 38 – “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said.” This is a prophetical recognition of the New Testament canon before the New Testament canon was formed, completed. When John wrote this the NT canon was already partially in existence. So here we have the principle of the NT canon anticipated. Jesus is not quoting an Old Testament scripture.

“out of his [believer’s] belly” – ‘belly’ is koilia. It actually means a cavity. The same word is used for the womb in the Greek. It is often used for the inner self and that is what is meant here: “out of his inner self.”

“shall flow” – in keeping with the concept of water. Future active indicative – future tense: when the Church Age begins; active voice: the Holy Spirit will produce the character of the absent Christ; indicative mood: the reality of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age.

“rivers of living” – present active participle, “always living, always existing water.”

Verse 39 – “(But this spake he concerning the Spirit …” Living water refers to the Holy Spirit. The word “spake” here is not the usual word for speaking – fhmi, which means to affirm, to identify something with something else in the context, therefore we might say to confirm, confirming the fact that we are talking about the Holy Spirit. The word “of” is mistranslated. It is the preposition peri which means “concerning.”

“that they which believe” – aorist tense. These are people who are going to believe at different points in the Church Age.

“on him” – aorist active participle: on Jesus Christ; “should receive” – the word “should” means “about to receive.” In other words, the Church Age had not begun yet. The verb is mellw. This is a dramatic moment, this was not true in Old Testament times.

This brings up the seven unique factors of the Church Age:

1. Positional truth or union with Jesus Christ.

2. The universal indwelling of Christ.

3. The universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

4. The universal priesthood of the believer.

5. A completed canon of scripture.

6. We have a supernatural way of life which supersedes the Mosaic law.

7. Every believer is in full time Christian service – ambassadors for Christ.

The means of executing the Christian way of life is the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you are going to have a supernatural way of life God has to give a means of fulfilling it. The only means of fulfilling it is the Holy Spirit.

“about to receive” – present active infinitive, which anticipates the Church Age.

“because the Holy Spirit was not yet; because Christ was not glorified)” -- ‘was not yet glorified’ is an aorist passive indicative. Aorist tense: the point of Christ being seated at the right hand of the Father – Psalm 110:1; passive voice: the humanity of Christ received glorification. The deity of Christ does not receive glorification; the deity of Christ does not need glorification. The indicative mood is the reality of the glorification of Jesus Christ.

In verses 40-41 we have response to the message; reaction in the last part of verses 41 and in verse 42.

Verse 40 – “Many of the people therefore, when they heard this. “This” is the Word; when they heard the Word. What Jesus had to say is the Word.

“said [responded], this is the Prophet” – the words “having heard” is an aorist active participle to indicate that they heard before they made any kind of a response or reaction, and they said, “This keeps on being the Prophet,” and the prophet is the person mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:15. Moses is prophesying of a prophet who would come in the future. There are two people who are categorised as the prophet. In the Old Testament “the prophet” is Moses; in the New Testament “the Prophet” is Jesus Christ. Moses was a unique prophet because he had both the gift and the office of prophet. All the rest of the prophets in the Old Testament either had the gift or the office, but not both. The ones who wrote the second section of the canon of the Old Testament, call the prophets, had the office of prophet. The third section of the Old Testament writers had the gift of prophecy. People often wonder why Daniel isn’t with the prophets, but he is the third section called the writings. Daniel did not have the office of prophet, he only had the gift of prophecy. Same with David who didn’t have the office of prophet, he had the gift of prophecy, as did Solomon and others who wrote in the third section of the canon. So Moses said there would be a time in the future when there would be another “the Prophet.” And this is the way some people recognised Christ. They recognised that here was the Prophet of whom Moses spoke. This must be classified as positive volition toward Him through identification of an Old Testament passage, and this is the way some responded to the Lord – their knowledge of the Old Testament. This indicates the principle that the Word of God is a direct testimony to the Son of God.

Verse 41 – in the first half of the verse there were others who came to it in an independent way, apart from the scripture and directly from the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Others said, This is” -- this keeps on being, present linear aktionsart of e)imi, the verb of absolute status quo; this keeps on being, there never will be a time when He isn’t.

These two categories of people found Jesus Christ as saviour, these are the responders. These are the people who at the point of God-consciousness went on positive signals. When they came to the point of gospel hearing they went on positive volition again, and positive volition expresses itself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In verses 41b and 42 we have the reaction: “But some said” – this refers to those who are going to react, and this is imperfect linear aktionsart, they kept on saying. They said it in the past and they still said it. In other words, “some” refers to those who at the point of God-consciousness went on negative volition. They had gospel-hearing a number of times, but we have the imperfect tense here. They kept on saying, every time they heard the message; they kept on rejecting, rejecting, rejecting.

“Shall some come out of Galilee?” This is the Galilee gimmick. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, the home of David and David’s line since the days of Jesse. So for a thousand years Bethlehem has been hometown for David’s lineage. Jesus didn’t stay there very long because of danger to His life and as a baby He lived in Egypt. At age 12 we know that He was living in Galilee. Just because Jesus Christ lived in Egypt, it didn’t make Him an Egyptian, and just because from 12 on until adulthood it didn’t make Him a Galilean. He was born in Bethlehem. Furthermore, both of His parents were descended from David. The legal but not real father was descended from David through Solomon – the Matthew genealogy. His real mother of His humanity was descended from David through Nathan. This Galilean gimmick was used by those who rejected Him to discredit Him. It is a part of the name-calling device. And they backed it up with scripture. When the devil can’t make a direct attack because people know the scripture, what does he do? He takes the scripture and twists it, distorts it.

Verse 42 – “Hath not the scripture saith.” Listen to the vain, proud peacocks! Here is the sinless, perfect Son of God and they are trying to say the scripture doesn’t back Him. They were using the scripture against Him – “that the Christ cometh from the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David kept on being?” Imperfect linear aktionsart again. It is true that He was born in Bethlehem but He lived His childhood in a few other places, so they called Him a Galilean. This is a satanic thing – doctrine of demons, 1Timothy 4:1. Whenever the scripture is taken and distorted to emphasise something that is false or evil there is always the demonism activity behind it. It becomes the devil’s communion table – 1Corinthians 10, and doctrine of demons – 1Timothy 4:1. They have distorted the scriptures.

Verse 43 summarises the fact that there was division among the people. Our Lord was too controversial.

“So there was” – ginomai means to become. Aorist tense: refers to the point of time at the end of the feast of the tabernacles. Since the time that Jesus arrived at the feast in the middle of the week they had been hearing Jesus speak.

“a division” – sxisma means a faction, no unity. You can have unity and disagreement. The Greeks also had a word where within the framework of the people they could have differences of opinion, but they still had law an order with their differences of opinions. Their disagreement did not lead to violence, they argued their case in the assembly of the Athenians and they still had law and order. The agreed to disagree and when they disagreed didn’t try to cut reach other’s throats. The word sxisma came along because when people disagreed and started fighting each other, that’s sxisma. The Jews went to war over Jesus. In other words, they divided up and started at each other. The word sxisma is used to show that Jesus was the most controversial person they had ever had in their midst. This controversial person is the perfect, impeccable God-Man.

In it’s true sense “controversial” really means this person is subject to a great deal of discussion and that people do not agree. So don’t immediately put down someone because they are supposed to be controversial. A person must be accepted or rejected on the basis of the content of his message. That is the only way to do it.

Why should a perfect person come into the world and become so controversial? Angelic conflict. Demonism. This is the devil’s world and Jesus can only approach people in the devil’s world by reaching their volition with information. All He can do is give them information. Divine institution #1: every member of the human race has a free will and should have freedom of choice. So when Jesus comes into the world He comes with a message to the soul of the individual so that the individual can make a decision. But He does not coerce their volition. The archenemy of our Lord is Satan himself, and he seeks to destroy that freedom.

Verse 44 – the divine protection of our Lord. “And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.” Introducing a third factor, the temple police. They had been set up by the Sanhedrin. Religion doesn’t take any chances. The word “would” means they desired to seize Him by force, but not one of them touched Him. When they heard the message they stood there unable to do a thing. The message hit home with them. Every man in that group had positive volition at the point of God-consciousness and now they are responding to His message. Here is divine protection. They came to do Him violence and they stayed to hear this wonderful message.

Verse 45 – “Then came the officers [u(perhthj] to the chief priests and the Pharisees; and they [the chief priests and the Pharisees] said unto them [the temple police], Why have you not brought him?”

Verse 46 – “Then answered them the Pharisees, Never a man spake like this man.” When it says “they answered” it is an aorist passive indicative of a)pokrinomai [krinomai = to judge; a)po = from the ultimate source of self], it means to discern so that you have an answer. They heard His message. Passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb. They received an answer in themselves. A)po says their volition was going on positive signals. Krinomai – they were discerning, they listened, they heard what He said and there was a response in the volition of the soul. Aorist tense: point of time when they heard. Passive voice: they received an answer. Indicative mood: the reality of their persuasion; they were persuaded to receive Christ as saviour.

“Never” is not really never. It is o)udepote [o)ude = a negative, neither or nor; pote = enclitic particle which means ‘at any time’]. It should be translated, “Not ever, not at any time” has anyone ever spoken as this one did. To whom are they giving this report? The chief priests and the scribes teach in the temple. Most of the Sanhedrin teach in the temple. And who listens to them? People who have to; they can’t leave: the temple police. Where did they get the nerve to face their bosses and say, “Boy, you should have heard this message”? It was a slap in the face to the Sanhedrin. The word they used for “spake” [lalew] means that they got it categorically. They were so arrested by the message of Jesus that they can face their bosses and say, “You public speakers should have heard this one.” Here are some men who are not impressed by the fact that He healed the man on the Sabbath but they are impressed with the message.

Verse 47 – the Sanhedrin denounces the temple police. “Then answered them” – ‘them’ refers to the temple police. It should be “Then they, the Pharisees, answered them the Pharisees.”

“Are ye also deceived” – perfect tense, which means ‘you keep on being deceived.’

Verse 48 – “Have any of the rulers or of Pharisees believed on him? A beautiful piece of debater’s technique. In other words, “We are the leaders, you don’t see us walking in there and believing.”

Verse 49 – “But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.” In other words, just because a few people in there believe Him that is no reason to believe either. What was it that impressed the police? The message. And what is the attack of the Pharisees? Personality. “We,” the personalities who rule you. “We haven’t believed”! And again, personality: “The people have gone nuts”! They go to personality, but it should be, “Stick with the message; forget the personality.”

Verse 50 – the Pharisees are apparently not all in agreement. Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night, who has apparently received Christ as his saviour, has something to say about this.

“saith unto them” – to the Pharisees, “being one of them,” a Pharisee. In all of this hysteria of the Sanhedrin one person is still reasonable and sane.

Verse 51 – In effect he says, “You never judge until you get the facts,” and’ “With the facts you wouldn’t judge.”

“Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him?” The Jewish law was perfect. It is the people who are administering the law, the Sanhedrin, who are doing a bad job and using the law in a divisive way. The Jewish law says that a man is not guilty until he has had a trial, and then as a result of the trial he may guilty or he may not be guilty. Nicodemus is saying the Pharisees that they have condemned Jesus Christ without a trial.

Verse 52 – “Art thou also from Galilee?” There is no one in the Sanhedrin from Galilee, that’s for sure. They are all from the southern kingdom and they have just given him the biggest insult in the world. In other words, they get right back to personality. Remember, a false government can never stick to principle. A false government always becomes involved in personalities.

For a moment they are frustrated. A principle has been stated in the Sanhedrin and that shuts them up.

Verse 53 – “And every one went to his own house.” That means the temple police were off the hook because Nicodemus spoke up. He defended the whole principle and nothing was done, until they decided they couldn’t get Him through the law. So then they are going to get a woman caught in the act of adultery and use her to trip Him up.

Chapter 8

7:53 – “And every man went to his own house.” The verb “went” here is the aorist active indicative of poreuomai which means to go from one place to another, and usually means to go from one place to another successfully or frustrated. In this case we have the breaking up of the Sanhedrin after their failure to indict the Lord Jesus Christ. The Sandedrin has subverted justice. They have tried to use the law to get rid of a person. Common law in a national entity is not designed to get rid of someone who is persona non grata as far as their politics, their policy, their attitude or their opinions. The Jews had a fantastic system of law. There was nothing wrong with the law but there was something wrong with those who administered the law. So we have the problem of perverting justice. Often when there is some maladministration in law they blame it on the laws rather than on the persons who are administering the law. The Jews have a corrupt administration, and the reason for their corrupt administration primarily is the union of religion and state. In the Jewish political structure at the time that our Lord lived on the earth there were two completely different political organizations in Judea. Judea was a third-class province and the Roman governor was called a procurator and appointed directly by the emperor. In this particular case we have in Jesus’ day the Roman government, which always maintained the separation of religion and state. The Jewish government which operated for example, in Jerusalem – the Sanhedrin headed by the chief priests, the Sadducees and the Pharisees – combined religion and state, and whenever you combine religion and state it means that whatever system of common law that exists in a national entity is going to be distorted.

Jesus Christ is facing a system of jurisprudence that is excellent but it is now mixed up with the fact of religion. Whenever any government has religion in its leadership there is trouble. Religion is the worst thing that ever hit this world and more crimes are committed in the name of religion than anything else.

The problem with the first eleven verses of chapter eight

1. This passage is undoubtedly a true story, but it is not found in the Bible – it is not a part of the canon of scripture. It was not a part of the original canon, the autograph.

2. The oldest and best MSS do not have verses 1-11 – just as they do not have the last half of Mark 16. Specifically, these MSS are Codex Aleph, Codex A, Codex B, Codex C, Codex L, and Codex W, plus 5000 pieces of papyri. (The King James version was taken from the fifth edition of Erasmus, which was the second edition of Elsevere, a tenth century manuscript collection of seven manuscripts, all of which had been corrupted by that time). Over the past 100 years there have been found over 10,000 MSS that are older than Textus Receptus.

3. This story, which is undoubtedly a true story, is not a part of the canon of scripture.

4. There is one copy of the original text which has this story. That is Codex Besi, a relatively old manuscript going back to the 6th century (about 550 AD).

5. The MSS which do not have this story: Codex Aleph – 340 AD; Codex A, known as Alexandrinus – 450 AD; Codex B, known as Vaticanus Manuscript – 325 AD; Codex C, Ephraemi Rescriptus; Codex D, The Oxyrhynchos papyri, etc.

It becomes obvious, then, that along with the last half of Mark 16 we have here a rather long passage which was inserted. While undoubtedly it is a true story it

is still not a part of the Word of God.

6. Conclusion: A true story but not a part of the canon of scripture. It demonstrates how the Pharisees tried to trip up Jesus Christ by again distorting the law. But whoever inserted this inserted false doctrine, i.e., “God and sin no more.”

The Pharisees’ trap is obvious. If Jesus refuses to condemn the adulteress woman under the Mosaic law then the Pharisees will say that Jesus is in opposition

to the law, He is lawless and should be removed Himself. But if He condemns her and says that it is all wrong, then they will show that He is not consistent with His own message of grace. So they are going to get Him one way or another.

Verse 1 – “Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.” This may or may not be true. Later on Jesus had to go up to the mount of Olives every night in order to be safe. He wasn’t safe in town, so He left town.

Verse 2 – “And early in the morning [the next day] he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him.” This is undoubtedly true and it happened on many occasions, and so there is a consistency here. The Greek brings out that the crowds sat around on the steps of the temple, and when He went up into the temple they got up and went in with Him. It says they came face to face with Him – proj plus the accusative.

“and he sat down and taught them” – here is something apparently inconsistent. Generally, Jesus did not sit down and in the temple there wouldn’t be any place to sit down. So this is a point of inaccuracy, the same type that there is in the pseudepigrapha and other portions which are not a part of the scripture but sometimes included with the canon and are not correct.

Verse 3 – “And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery.” When is says she was taken it means that she was taken in the very sex act. She was grabbed, and so apparently they already knew what they were going to do. They just waited until they had a case where there would be no doubt. They had their witnesses all there, everything was all lined up, and everything was according to the law. Ordinarily they would let this thing go, they wouldn’t bother with it. But now they have to use it to trap Jesus. So they waited until the act of intercourse was in the process and then walked in and broke it up. It can be seen that the Pharisees are also cruel. Now they drag this woman right from the bed of adultery and haul her in right in front of all these people, and in verses 4-6 the members of the Sanhedrin spring the trap.

Verse 4 – “They say unto him, Master.” That would be accurate, they didn’t call Him Lord. No man can called Jesus Lord, except by the Spirit – 1Corinthians 12:3. Later on the woman will call Him Lord. (There are enough details here to know that this is a true story. There are also enough details to know that even apart from MSS evidence something is wrong)

“this woman was taken in adultery” – lit. “seized.” The verb is katalambanw [lambanw = seize; kata = according to a norm or standard]. That looks good because it means. “Aha! violation of our law. Let’s enforce the law, get the criminal.” But that isn’t what is happening. It means here, “Let’s get Jesus, we need a law violator to get Him.” So their norms and standards are distorted norms and standards, and katalambanw means they are not fulfilling the law and enforcing the law, they are using the law.

Literally from the Greek this verse says, “This woman, having been apprehended in adultery, in the very process of sexual intercourse.”

Verse 5 – “Now Moses in the law.” They are specifically referring to Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22.

“commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what do you say?” This is the trap. The woman is the bait; the Sanhedrin is using the scripture to gain their own ends, using the Word of God in order to try to trap Jesus. They are going to Get Him whichever way He goes – for opposing the law or for inconsistency.

Verse 6 – “This they said, tempting him.” The word for tempting means to bring out evil. There are two words for “tempting.” One means to check for good or evil, but they use peirazw here, which has the connotation of really trying to bring out the worst.

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “they might have [something] whereby they can accuse him.” Jesus is under tremendous pressure. He is aware, of course, of what is going on. So He stoops down and He writes. The ordinary word for “write” is grafw, but with Jesus this doesn’t describe this as just grafw. The word that is used is katagrafw which means to write according to a norm or standard. When they found the woman they seized her, and the word for seizing her – katalambanw. Kata is the preposition of norm and standard. They seized her but their norm or standard was distorted. Their norm or standard was not the law. They weren’t getting her because she was committing adultery; they need her for bait in a trap. They needed someone where it was established she had committed adultery and they were just using her, and they were using the law. So this is distortion. But Jesus: katagrafw means that He is going to write the true issue from the Word of God, and He stoops down and He writes. He is not writing in the dust, He is in the temple. He wrote on stone, the marble floors of the temple. This is very interesting because Jesus Christ had written in stone before; He gave the law to Moses. All this time He was writing with His finger, and it was katagrafw. He apparently wrote the ten commandments.

Verse 7 – “So when they continued [kept on pressing him], [constantly] asking him” – “continued” is present linear aktionsart. It means they persevered; they pressed Him for an answer.

“he lifted himself up” – either He raised His eyes or He stood up; “and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” This is grace. In principle it is absolutely correct. You can administer the law. On the surface this is grace, grace, grace. We are dealing with the laws of the nation, and in administering the laws of a nation we do not say, “He who is without sin, let him be the police officer; arrest him.” “He who is without sin, let him be the judge sitting upon the bench.” “Let him who is without sin, let him sit upon the jury.” We don’t say that. We all have old sin natures, and here the whole issue is the law, The Word of God here is the law. The law itself is all right, and when people administer the law they must do it within the realm of justice and fairness. But it is all lost here with the Pharisees. The point is correct that this woman should not be condemned any more than anyone else in the human race; the point is that we are sinners and we all possess the sin nature.

Verse 8 – “And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.” This is speculation but it could be suspected that the second time He wrote the word grace.

Verse 9 – “And they, having heard it, being convicted [reproved or rebuked] by the conscience [the norm or standard of the soul], kept on going out.” In other words, they didn’t all go out at once. As this thing would hit them they would turn around and leave -- “one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last.”

“and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

Verse 10 – “When Jesus lifted up himself [stood up] and saw no one but the woman, he said unto her, Woman [gunh], where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” This time when He uses the word condemned He uses katakrinw, which means to judge according to a norm or standard. Ordinarily He would have used the word krinw, which means to judge. Judging according to a norm or standard here is very beautiful and very nice because by that norm or standard who can ever condemn anyone else? – “He that is without sin,” etc. In principle here we have a glimmer of “Judge not that ye be not judged.” What right to you have to judge someone else when you yourself are a sinner? As an individual you do not have the right. Remember that judging always means to ascribe to someone else a sin, real or imagined. And what right do you have to judge someone else?

Verse 11 – “Neither do I condemn [katakrinw] thee.” We have to watch something here. Jesus Christ is the God-Man. As God, can He say “Neither do I katakrinw thee?” No, because as God He must condemn sin. As the God-Man He is providing for the sinner but He cannot say to her, “Neither do I condemn thee” and use katakrinw. He could have used krinw, but katakrinw says that there is a norm or standard that is demanded. Jesus would have to have said, “I will be katakrinw for you.” This is what happened on the cross.

“go and sin no more” – present active imperative. This means, Go out of here and stop sinning. This is impossible! This indicates sinless perfection and therefore is inconsistent with 1John 1:8,10.

Verse 12 begins one of four great dissertations by Jesus Christ regarding Himself. This is really where John chapter 8 begins. From here until the end of the chapter we have four facets of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Christ is the light of the light of the world, verses 8-20.

2. Christ is the liberator of the world, verses 21-36. We must have a liberator because Satan is the ruler of this world. There must be some way to break his power in his kingdom so that we can come under the reign and the will and the desires of the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Christ is the founder of the Jewish nation, verses 37-51.

4. Christ is the victor over death, 52-59.

“Then spake Jesus again” – the word again is an adverb in the Greek, palin. While it means again it is an adverb of continuation. This is important because

the adverb of continuation at this very point indicates that when it says at the end of the last chapter, “And every man went to his own house,” the story actually begins at “again.” It is a way of knowing that verses 1-11 were never in the original, or if they were they were a parenthesis. “Spake” is an aorist active indicative of the verb lalew which means to communicate doctrine. So we now see we are back on the track. This is what is called the original text protecting itself. The Bible has protection within the framework of its own text in the original language.

Jesus Christ is the light of the world, verses 12-20.

Jesus Christ is the liberator of the world, verses 21-36.

Jesus Christ is the founder of the Jewish nation, verses 37-51.

Jesus Christ is the victor over death, verses 52-59.

Verse 12 – “Then spake Jesus.” The word to speak is an aorist active indicative of the verb lalew which means to bring a message. The aorist recognises that at this point of time Jesus Christ actually brought this as a formal message, a message in which doctrine is communicated. According to verse 20 this message was given in the temple treasury which adjoins the court of the women, the largest auditorium in the temple. Along the side of the treasury they had chests, and you could walk by and put money into these various chests. Each chest carried a designation: some went to the priesthood, some to the animal sacrifices, for various causes. Then, in the very middle of the treasury was the largest candelabra in the temple, and the rabbis claimed that when it was lit in the evening you could actually see the light all over the city of Jerusalem. They had a special ceremony for lighting this candelabra every evening. It included the singing of Isaiah 42:6, “I will give thee for a covenant to the people and for a light to the Gentiles.” After the completion of the ceremony of lighting the candles there was a great period of rejoicing and singing and dancing right there in the temple.

Jesus uses this for His next message. In the feast of the tabernacles messages of our Lord He used the little ceremony of using the golden pitcher, taking it to the pool of Siloam, filling it with water, having a parade through the streets, and finally coming into the temple where the water was emptied and there was singing from Isaiah 55, and so on. Jesus used that to give His message on the bread of life and the water of life, and now He is using the lighting of the candelabra to give a message on the light of the world. He is now speaking two days after the feast of the tabernacles to a crowd in the temple in the largest auditorium which was a combination of the treasury and the court of the women.

“unto them” – dative plural of advantage, it was to their advantage to hear this message; “saying” – the verb legw which emphasises the content of the message, and He will be communicating doctrine. This is a present active participle indicating that the message in content is a repetition of some things from before, and basically it is always the same – the doctrine of the hypostatic union, sometimes emphasising His deity, sometimes His humanity and the purpose of the incarnation, but always emphasising the uniqueness of the person of Christ.

“I am” – present active indicative of the verb for absolute status quo, e)imi. Present tense, linear aktionsart – He always was; He always will be. Active voice: speaking of His own person. The indicative mood: the reality of the fact that Christ is the light of the world.

“the light” – there are a number of words for light; this is a very important one: fwj, the word from which we get phosphorous, phosphate, and so on. It means a blaze of light, a radiance of light, a source of light. The third is the proper use here and this is going to be an emphasis on the deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God, and as God He keeps on being the light of the world. This is the absolute status quo of Jesus Christ. He is the source of light, which is light in its source concept and therefore an absolute concept.

“of the world” – kosmoj, the Satanic organization. The word simply means organization, something that is well organised. It is generally used for the world because of the various laws by which the world operates, and so on. It is often used in the scripture for Satan since he is the ruler of the cosmos. He has superimposed upon the laws of nature some laws of his own – anti-biblical, anti-doctrine, anti-Christian, anti-God laws. But Jesus Christ is the light of the kosmoj. The kosmoj is said to be in darkness. For example, in Luke 1:78,79; Psalm 107:10 the unbeliever is said to be sitting in darkness. The unbeliever is sitting in Satan’s world and he lives in darkness. Christ Himself was hanging in darkness when He was bearing our sins – Matthew 27:45,46. In 1Peter er 2:9 believers are called out of darkness, and as a part of operation phase two we are told to walk in the light and not to walk in darkness. Walking in darkness is a picture of the believer operating under the power of the old sin nature.

“he that followeth me” – present active participle of a)kolouqew. The word means to follow, but more than that. It means to come after, to go along with a plan. It means more than just simply get in line. It means to become involved in a plan. Jesus Christ is not only the entrance into the plan of God – the only saviour – but He is also the revealer of the plan. He is also the light of the world because He sets the pattern for the plan, and the pattern for God’s plan is grace. Grace excludes human good, human works. The participle here indicates a precedence. The present tense is a dramatic present and it means to actually get into the plan of God. So following Christ means to get into His plan, and to get into His plan you believe in Him. So in a sense this becomes a synonym for faith. But He is not dealing here with the mechanics of salvation, He is dealing with the principle and therefore a principle-type verb is used rather than a mechanical-type verb. 1John 3:23 – both principle and mechanics [“will of God” – principle; “believe in Christ” – mechanics].

“shall not walk in darkness but shall have” – future tense of e)xw which means to have or to possess. This would be possessed in the future, anticipating the Church Age; “the light of life” – the life is eternal life, the light of life is the ministry of the Holy Spirit throwing light on phase two in the future.

Verse 13 – the reaction of the Pharisees. “Though bearest record concerning thyself” – the preposition is peri and it means “concerning,” not “of.” They are saying, ‘You witness concerning yourself’ – present active indicative, ‘you keep on witnessing,’ linear aktionsart.

“your record is not true” – the Pharisees are in the crowd and they challenge. What basis do they have for this challenge? They are going to go back to the Bible and distort the scriptures. This time they are going to use the law of the two witnesses, a concept which is found in Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15. For an indictment you must have two reliable witnesses. The Pharisees have taken this same concept and are saying now [debater’s technique], ‘You talk about yourself is not true because you alone say it.’ They say that is violates the two-witness principle.

So now we have Jesus Christ answering them in verses 14-18. Basically, Jesus says He personally is a bona fide witness because “I am God, and I have another bona fide witness and He is God.” When God the second person and God the first person witness that is an air-tight case.

Verse 14 – Jesus says that He Himself is the first witness. “Jesus answered” – aorist passive indicative of a)pokrinomai [a)po = preposition of ultimate source; krinomai = passive of the verb to judge]. We put “judge” in the active voice here for a reason. A deponent verb often has the concept of a passive voice – the subject receives the action of the verb. A deponent verb is a verb which is passive in morphology but active in meaning. What does this mean? It means that Jesus received information, He had Bible doctrine, and therefore He gives it out. Therefore this is always translated like an active voice. It doesn’t say, “Jesus received an answer.” This is a deponent verb because in the process you receive something by which you answer. So we translate this, “Jesus had an answer for them” – for their advantage, dative of advantage.

“Though” – 3rd class condition [maybe yes, maybe no]; “If I bear record of [concerning] myself, my witness is true.” He presents the other side of the case. His witness “keeps on being true.” Why?

“for I know” – a perfect tense used as a present tense for doctrine in the soul. The word is o)ida for inherent knowledge, something which is definitely known. Here it is used for the omniscience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the next phrase: “whence I came.” This has to do with origin. He is describing the fact that He knows from His own origin.

“and whither I go” – the words I go really give us our clue: u(pagw [u(per = to be under the authority of; a)gw = to go, to bring] means to go under the authority of, and it eventually came to mean to operate under a plan. U(pagw means to bring under, to go under, to go in a certain direction. It means to be under a specific authority. Jesus says, ‘My witness is true because I am operating under the specific authority of God.’ This means that He understands in detail the purpose for the incarnation.

“but ye cannot tell” – He uses o)ida again, plus the negative. They are totally unfamiliar with the plan of God. He is speaking to the religious crowd. Why are they totally unfamiliar with the plan of God? Because they are yuxikoj – 1Corinthians 2:14, the natural [yuxikoj] man, the soulish man. The unbeliever has a soul but he does not have a human spirit. So He says, “but you do not know.”

Verse 15 – the failure of the Pharisees. “Ye [keep on] judging” – the verb krinw which can mean one of two things: a) to condemn; b) to evaluate. It is necessary to determine from the context which is which.

“after” – preposition kata [norm or standard; “the flesh” – human. They judge by human norms and standards. They know nothing about the plan of God, and because they know nothing they try to take nothing and superimpose it upon the plan of God. This is what the legalist always does; this is what the religionist does.

“I judge [condemn] no man” – literally, “no one.” This means two things. First of all, He is sinless in the field of the sins of the tongue; He has no mental attitude sins. He is condemning the Pharisees here because knows they have nothing by way of understanding grace but they are filled up with mental attitude sins, especially jealousy and hatred. The reason that they condemn Him is because they have mental attitude sins. Jesus is saying in effect that He does not have their pattern, and He understands their pattern.

Verse 16 – two bona fide witnesses now described. “And yet of I judge” – ‘But if I do’; “my judgement keeps on being true.” His judgment is absolute. He doesn’t use the ordinary word for true, He uses a)lhqinoj which means genuine, accurate, trustworthy. Accuracy is the concept here. If Jesus Christ does judge He says His judgment is a)lhqinoj – He is saying, ‘I am God’: omniscience, ‘I know all the facts.’ They understood from the use of the word that this is exactly what He was saying to them.

“I am not alone” – then He introduces the second witness, God the Father; “but I and the Father that sent me.”

Verse 17 – the citation of the law of two witnesses; Jesus understands their approach. “It is also written” – they didn’t have the nerve to quote the passage but He does; “in your law, that the testimony of two men is true [genuine: a)lhqinoj].

Verse 18 – “I am one that keeps on bearing witness concerning [peri] myself, and the Father that sent me keeps on bearing witness concerning me.” So He spells out again so that they can understand it that there are two reliable witnesses, God the Father and God the Son.

Verse 19 – the key to knowing the Father. “Where is thy Father?” Notice that they said “where” rather than “who.” They understood His implication, His remarks, that He was saying that God was His Father.

“Jesus answered “ – He understands that they have rejected the two witnesses. They have rejected Him as saviour; they have rejected the Father as the author of the plan that sent Him.

“Ye neither know me” – the first witness; “not my Father” – the second witness. Therefore they will not accept the testimony of God the first person and God the second person. These religious people are so proud and so stuffed with their own self-importance they will not accept the testimony of eternal God.

“if” – this time a 2nd class condition, if and it is not true; had known me [but you do not], ye should have known my Father also.” Both times here the word for ‘known’ is o)ida. They do not know the Father. If they are ever going to know the Father they must believe in Jesus Christ.

Verse 20 – “no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.” No one laid a hand on Him; He was perfectly safe. There was no way in the world that anyone could touch Him. Principle: God is perfect; His plan is perfect. At this point God’s plan calls for the protection of Jesus Christ. He is protected.

Verses 21-24 – deliverance from the second death.

Verse 21 – “ye shall die in your sins.” The word “sins” is in the singular – “sin.” In verse 24, “ye shall die in your sins” is in the plural.

“I go my way” – present active indicative of u(pagw which means to operate under the framework of a plan. Jesus Christ is still operating under the plan of God even though He faces tremendous Satanic opposition. He stays with the plan of God. He is moving toward the cross.

“and ye shall seek me” – the word to seek is the future active indicative of the verb zetew. The word that is not used is e)uriskw. Zetew means to find something you have; e)uriskw means to find something you don’t have. What does Jesus use for the Jews? – zetew, ‘you have me, I am your Messiah, I am here right now.’ The word e)uriskw is not used because the Jews possessed the Messiah at the time of the first advent. He is addressing this to the Pharisees, the scribes, the religious crowd. He says He is going to pursue His course right to the cross, resurrection, ascension, seated at the right hand of the Father in glorification, operation footstool. And after the crucifixion and resurrection these religious people would seek what they now have but cannot get. The Pharisees are on maximum negative volition, and therefore in the future when they zetew they will keep seeking but they will never find, they are locked in negative volition. In other words, it is possible to say no so long that they habitually stay negative. This is the strong delusion concept in the Tribulation; it is the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart; and that is what happened to the Pharisees. That is why we have zetew here. They were not seeking something they had never found, they were seeking something they had. Satan is the father of religion and religion cannot touch the human race apart from negative volition. They go on negative signals and they express it to the maximum.

“and [but] shall die in your sins” – ‘ye shall die’ is a future middle indicative. Notice: “Ye shall seek” is zetew, future active indicative; “Ye shall die” is future middle indicative. When the middle voice follows an active voice in a sequence of action it means they are responsible for that situation. God is not responsible. The reflexive middle voice, active voice: they have pursued a course of action, therefore it is their responsibility, they did it themselves.

“die” – a)poqnhskw [a)po = ultimate source; qnhskw = to die] means to die from the ultimate source. The future tense refers to the great white throne judgment of Revelation 20:12-15. The middle voice: they themselves made the decision that put them where they are, it is their own decision.

“in the sphere of your sin [singular]” – you die in the principle of your sin. Sin is in the singular, referring to the old sin nature. This is a reference, then, to the second death. Jesus is prophesying right now that these Pharisees who have constantly said no are going to seek in the future. They are going to seek what they have, but they have lost it, it is too late.

The “second death” is described in this verse by the verb a)poqnhskw, the strongest word for death, a compound verb which includes the concept of ultimate source, and it really has the concept of an ultimate death in this passage. “Sin” [singular] in this verse refers to the sin nature. (In verse 24 it is in the plural and it refers to personal sins) This refers:

a) To the OSN.

b) To die (second death) in the sphere of your sin or sin nature is a reference to an unbeliever. Only an unbeliever can die in the sphere of his OSN.

Remember that this is not physical death; this is the second death, the last judgment.

c) To die in sin or the sphere of the OSN is to die in unbelief, or rejection of Jesus Christ as saviour – John 16:8,9; 3:18.

d) While Christ was judged for all personal sins on the cross He was not judged for

the sin of unbelief.

e) Therefore the second death is for unbelievers only – John 3:18, 36.

“whither” – this is always an adverb of place, o)pou. In modern this should be translated, “in which place.” It always connotes a place, a specific place, a definite place. It is an indefinite reference to a definite place! – “the place I go.” O)pou refers to heaven – the right hand of the Father.

“ye cannot come” – ‘you are not able,’ present active indicative, linear aktionsart, they never will be able. Why? They are locked in negative volition? They are outside of the framework of the plan of God.

Verse 22 – this is the way religion takes a statement. Jesus says He is going to be glorified in His humanity. He says He is going to heaven, but they say He is going to Gehenna (the phrase, “Will he kill himself?”). Jewish theology taught that anyone who took his own life went to Gehenna. This was a question of sarcasm. They are not making inquiry, they are suggesting it to Him. This is a rhetorical question of suggestion. They are suggesting that if He wants to play Messiah, leave the temple and leave the earth. There is no place for Him to play Messiah on their Jewish religious earth and they are suggesting that He commit suicide. We know this is a rhetorical question because it begins with the word mhti which means several things: a rhetorical question of sarcasm, and it also expects a negative answer – ‘No, He will not kill Himself but we are suggesting it.’ They are assigning Him and His Messiahship to hell.

There are two blasphemies of location which the Jews used against Jesus. The first was found in John 7:35 where the religious leaders suggest that Jesus leave Palestine and go to play Messiah among the Hellenistic Jews. Judaism despised Hellenism and there were two kinds of Jews in the day of our Lord – the Judaisers, led by the Pharisees, and the Hellenes who were Jews who had accepted Greek culture. The second is here in verse 22 where the religious leaders imply that Jesus should commit suicide so He would go to Gehenna, He would get a better following in Gehenna! In other words, this is a combination of blasphemy and sarcasm and it is always the way religion regards our Lord. They understood what He was saying, and they said no, what you really ought to do is commit suicide because we can’t go to the lake of fire (Gehenna).

Verse 23 – Jesus points out that by rejecting Him the religious crowd are headed for Gehenna. They are the ones who are going to the lake of fire.

“Ye are from beneath” – the word beneath is technical here, it means Gehenna or the lake of fire. It is actually the word below – “You are from below; I am from above.” This is the future. ‘In the future,’ Jesus says, ‘I will be in heaven; you will be below [Gehenna].’

As for the present, “you are of this world [the kosmoj].” The cosmos means organization and here it means the religious organization of the world. So, ‘You are a part of the religious system of the world’ – organised religion. Organised religion always goes to hell. (This does not mean that believers in organised religion are going to hell).

“I am not of this world” – not a part of this religious system. He is saying, “I am not religious”! Christianity is not a religion. Christianity begins at the cross; it is grace, God doing the work and man receiving what God has provided. In religion man seeks God by his own works.

Verse 24 – “I said,” aorist tense, ‘I said just a moment ago.’

“ye shall die in your sins” – now He changes ‘sin’ to the plural. “Sins” refers to the cosmos system. Again, this is the second death. They are going to face the last judgment because they are a part of the cosmos system. Their personal sins have been judged on the cross and they will not be judged for their sins. But the word “sins” here means another emanation from the sin nature, and that is going to be their human good. The sins have been judged at the cross. They have rejected the cross, the work of Christ; they will be judged on the basis of their human good.

“Ye shall die in the sphere of your sins”

1. Sins is in the plural in contrast to verse 21.

2. Since sins of the old sin nature were judged at the cross it is impossible for them to be indicted on the basis of these sins at the last judgment.

3. The indictment at the last judgment is human good – Revelation 20:12-14.

4. The change to the plural is explained in the last half of this verse, beginning with a 3rd class condition.

5. When a person rejects Christ as saviour he refuses the work of Christ on the cross.

6. Therefore he is in the sphere of his sins which have already been judged. His sins have been judged but he has refused the work of Christ, therefore he is in

the sphere of his sins [plural].

7. He is not judged for his sins but he is in the sphere of them. He is judged for his human good – Revelation 20:12-13.

8. Dying in the sphere of sins refers to the second death. It emphasises a person who has rejected the work of Christ on the cross.

“if” – introducing a 3rd class condition: “if you believe not.” Here is the explanation for dying in the sphere of sins. Jesus said, “ye shall die.” The word “in” is

the preposition e)n – “in the sphere of your sins [pl].” These sins were judged on the cross. Dying in the sphere of sins means unbelief.

“if ye believe not” – aorist active subjunctive. The aorist tense here is ingressive. Ingressive emphasises the point before the point of time. (The constative aorist emphasises the point of time. The culminative aorist emphasises the results of the point of time.) This ingressive aorist recognises the fact that the religious crowd had already rejected Christ as saviour and had gone on maximum negative volition. Active voice: the decision belongs to the volition of the individual. They had done this of their own free will and God will not tamper with volition. People go to hell on the basis of their own decision, they do not go to hell on the basis of divine decision. This means that the last judgment is a courtroom scene, a legitimate courtroom scene, and also that the divine administration of God’s judgment is accurate and fair. This is in the subjunctive mood, which means the decision was potential and indicates the actual free will principle.

“that I am” – this encompasses the whole concept of the hypostatic union. “I am” means that Jesus Christ is God, and He has the essence of God. He is also man and He has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So He is the God-Man, the unique One, the one for whom

 they have looked, the One Moses called “that prophet.” This is present active indicative to indicate the hypostatic union is perpetuated forever, and Jesus Christ will always be the God-Man. If you do not accept the uniqueness of Christ you do not accept His work on the cross. Therefore they are rejecting His person and His work. And Jesus puts it in principle. Even though they have already gone on negative volition He says, “if ye believe not,” indicating through the subjunctive mood and the third class condition that they could still change their minds. As long as they are not dead they can still reverse their decision and believe and be saved. They will not because they are expressing negative volition to the maximum.

“ye shall die [a)poqnhskw] in the sphere of your sins” – He repeats the phrase in the plural once again to indicate this is the explanation.

Verse 25 – “Who art thou?” In other words, they are expressing again their rejection. In reality they understand everything Jesus is saying, even though this is not clear in the English. They are saying, “You, who I am?” In other words, they are saying, ‘Who, you are God?’ This is actually what the question says and is the best way to communicate it. They know exactly what He has said and they are using a question of sarcasm.

“Even the same” – ‘the same’ doesn’t exist here. The last phrase, “from the beginning” is actually first in the Greek and it should be translated “essentially.” He uses it to dig into their rhetorical question. “Essentially I am that that which also I keep telling you” – literal translation. He has been telling them this now for nearly three years. He is almost at the end of His ministry when He said this. They won’t accept it. Again, they have expressed negative volition.

Verses 26-29 – Jesus reveals the Father’s plan.

Verse 26 – “many things” are the details of the Father’s plan. This includes the Church Age and we will get these “many things” in John chapters 14-17, plus the 5th cycle of discipline to Israel, plus the fulfilment of the unconditional covenants to Israel at the second advent.

“and to judge” – present active infinitive. He is going to indict religion before He goes to the cross. Krinw – He is going to function as a judge with regard to religion. His indictment is given in Matthew chapter 23.

“concerning you” – the religious leaders.

“he that sent me is true” – He goes back to the two witnesses. When there are two members of the Godhead as witnesses, this is an absolute. The first witness is the Father – He ‘keeps on being true.’

“and I speak to the world those things I have heard from the immediate source of him” – para, immediate source. Para means to be by the side of and the Son and the Father were side by side in eternity when the plan for man was designed. He was there; He heard it all. The Father is the designer; Jesus Christ was there with Him.

Verse 27 – “They understood not that he spake unto them concerning the Father.” They didn’t understand that He was talking about the doctrine of divine decrees.

Verse 28 – He mentions the two witnesses. “When ye have lifted up the Son of man” – this is the crucifixion. He predicts the crucifixion and He uses an aoristic future tense. In John 3:14 ‘lifting up’ was used for the crucifixion. It will be used again in John 12:32.

“then shall ye know that I am” – no word for ‘he’ here; “and that I do nothing of myself” – a)po, from the ultimate source of myself. In other words, Jesus Christ is following the Father’s plan. He will execute the plan as the Father designed it.

“but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things” – the word to teach here means to instruct, to communicate doctrine to someone, and the aorist tense is the point of time when Christ studied the scripture in time. It refers to every time He studied the Bible as a youth and as a young man before 30. He not only knew it in eternity – His deity--, but His humanity learned it in time. Jesus “grew in wisdom.” Wisdom is knowledge of doctrine. So we have here the second witness. God the Father taught, and He taught Christ’s humanity through the scripture.

Verse 29 – “And he that sent me keeps on being with me.” Again, we have the two witnesses.

“the Father hath not left me” – has not deserted me – “for I keep on doing those things which are pleasing to him [literally, “the pleasing things to him”]: present active indicative, linear aktionsart. The ‘pleasing things’ is a noun, not a verb. The pleasing things is the plan of God designed in eternity past. Jesus Christ never deviated from the plan of the Father even once.

Verse 30 – the positive response of the crowd. “As he spake these words” – there are a lot of people who are not religious, not under bondage to religion.

“many believed on him” – aorist active indicative of pisteuw, the verb to believe. This word is a word for thinking. Believing is intellectual! Aorist tense: point of time. Active voice: their faith was initiated by them. The indicative mood is the reality of their faith in Christ and the reality of their salvation.

Verse 31-32, a short message to new believers.

Verse 31 – “which [had] believed on him.” This time the word believe is in the perfect tense: something they had done in the past with results that go on forever. In other words, the perfect tense of pisteuw following the aorist is eternal security.

“If ye continue” – here is the big issue today, as well as then. The word if divides all believers into two groups. “If” is a 3rd class condition – maybe yes or maybe no. There are believers who are saved but reject doctrine and there are those who go on positive volition toward doctrine. The word “ye continue” is the verb menw which means to abide, to persist. It means to stick with doctrine no matter what. Aorist tense: the point of time which is phase two. Active voice: you must decide that doctrine is the important thing. Knowledge of doctrine is the greatest virtue in the Christian life. The subjunctive mood indicates that some will not do it.

“in my word” – Bible doctrine; “you keep on being my disciples. What is a disciple? Every believer is not a disciple. This describes a disciple in terms of a believer who lives in the Word. Those who are minus doctrine are not disciples; those who are plus doctrine are disciples. A disciple is a believer who gets with the Word and sticks with it, learns it, uses it, applies it – all the time, never stops.

“ye are” – present active indicative, ‘you keep on being.’

Verse 32 – the most misunderstood verse!

“ye” – those who believe in Jesus Christ in verse 30. This applies to believers only. This is a plural pronoun and should be translated “you all.”

“shall know” – ginwskw, as distinct from o)ida which means inherent knowledge. This means to comprehend by studying. The verb connotes discipline. It takes self-discipline to learn doctrine. Decision and discipline is the key to concentration. Every believer is equipped to learn doctrine by means of the indwelling of the Spirit and by means of a completed canon of scripture available, and by means of the gift of pastor and teacher.

“the truth” – a)lhqeia. This word does not refer to academic information, philosophy, history, mathematics, liberal arts courses; it refers to Bible doctrine. It is a compound noun made up of the alpha privative plus lhqw. Lhqw in itself means to conceal. The alpha privative in front of it means not to conceal but opened up categorically. So a)lhqeia means divine truth expressed in terms of categories so it can be assimilated. In other words, there are categories of doctrine in the Word that match up the empty shelves in your human spirit. The Bible has doctrine and that doctrine is divided categorically so you can fill up the human spirit. This is the biblical process of learning.

“shall make you free” – it is Bible doctrine that frees you to serve. What is the dynamic equation for phase two? Knowledge of doctrine + the filling of the Holy Spirit = the production of divine good. The word for free is e)leuqerew which means freedom to serve the Lord. It means liberated from slavery so you can serve as a non-slave. This is a future tense; it is prophecy regarding the Church Age. Knowledge of doctrine in the Church Age frees you to serve the Lord. Active voice: the believer is free to serve God by learning doctrine.

Verses 33-36 is a short message to unbelievers. This was anticipated by the imperfect tense of the verb legw when it says, “Jesus said [began to speak].” He was interrupted before He concluded His message.

Verse 33 – “They answered him.” Not at all, they didn’t answer Him. The Greek says they had an answer for Him. “They” introduces the unbelieving religious crowd. They could no longer contain themselves. They lose their cool, their poise; they are antagonised. They are reacting instead of responding. Believers are responding; the unbelievers are reacting. Actually, the word answer was not the original meaning of this word – a)pokrinomai [a)po = ultimate source; krinomai = to judge]. So they have a judgment from the ultimate source of themselves. They are speaking from themselves; they have an answer from their own mentality. What Jesus has said grates on their mentality. This grates on legalism. Legalism is aroused, it hates this type of a message and therefore they had an answer for Him – aorist passive indicative. Aorist tense: the time at which they broke in. Passive voice: they received this information from the mentality of the soul. The indicative mood is the reality of their interruption, their antagonism, and their attempt to put Jesus down.

Now the religious crowd is going to intrude with something which is entirely different from what Jesus has said. Jesus said to believers, those who had passed the point of phase one, “Ye shall know.” Knowledge of doctrine is a part of the dynamics of phase two. He said, ‘Ye shall know doctrine, and doctrine shall liberate you to serve me’ – fulfil the principle of full time Christian service. Everything that Jesus has said is based on regeneration – being born again. But when people have not been born again they resent something as easy and gracious as learning doctrine and producing. Doctrine means that everything is provided for you; it is just a matter of learning it and using it.

“We be” – present active indicative of the verb e)imi, absolute status quo. Literally, “We are absolutely [emphatically].”

“Abraham’s seed” – emphasis on physical birth. In the self-consciousness of these people was a tremendous pride. In their mentality was the human viewpoint of salvation by works. Volition: all the decisions made here are incompatible with grace; they are decisions to follow a works system. Emotion: they did not have an appreciation of God; their emotion had a backlash of pride – appreciation of self, pride of achievement. They had pride of race. The Jews emphasised the physical seed of Abraham and they are relying upon physical birth rather than regeneration for relationship with God.

The thing that irritated them was the words “free [to serve God].” The Jews thought that they were the only ones free to serve God and that they received this through physical birth, through the rite of circumcision, followed by the system of works which they had developed.

“and were never in bondage to any one” – this is the thing that antagonised them; “how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” The word for bondage is a word for slavery, douleiw. When they said they had never been in bondage they put it in the perfect active indicative. The perfect tense sowed the quintessence of their pride. The perfect tense is something that happened in the past with results that go on forever, and they said in effect that since Abraham we have never been in bondage. That is, ‘We keep on being the seed of Abraham and have never historically been in bondage to anyone.’ The word never is an adverb – pwpote means ‘never yet.’

Politically, they were in slavery to Egypt. At the moment at which they speak they are under the fourth cycle of discipline to Rome. Jesus could have made a political issue of their statement and knocked them down very quickly, but He did not. There is something more important than the political issue, and that is the spiritual issue. And that is where He is going to place the emphasis.

Secondly, there is a religious issue. They are in bondage to the Mosaic law plus the hundreds of commandments that have been added to the Mosaic law. Had Jesus made an issue of this He would have obscured the true spiritual issue.

They were also under a dictatorship to the Sanhedrin – a governmental issue.

But there is a true issue here. Every one of them there was in bondage to his old sin nature. This is manifest through the committing of personal sins.

So we have a principle here which is very important. Jesus made an issue out of Himself as the only saviour, as the key to the plan of God and the basis for regeneration. Jesus was standing there without a sin nature. Jesus was never in bondage to the sin nature through physical birth. We become slaves to the sin nature at the point of physical birth, but not Jesus Christ. Also, we live our lives in bondage to the old sin nature – apart from the plan of God.

Verse 34 – here is the true slavery issue. “Jesus had an answer” – a)pokrinomai, aorist passive indicative.

“Verily, verily” – point of doctrine; “whosoever” includes the entire human race. Notice that Jesus does not make it personal. In answering them He deals with a principle which is true for all members of the human race. Later on He will get very personal with them but at this point He deals in terms of principle.

“committeth sin” – poiew which means to do, to produce, and even to commit, as here. It is a present active participle. Present tense: keeps on committing sin. Active voice: sin comes from the individual. Participle: it is a precedent. As long as you live in this flesh/body containing an old sin nature you are going to commit sin. The word sin here is in the singular – a(martia which in the singular generally refers to the OSN. Here it refers to the principle of the OSN, the principle of sin – the OSN as the source of personal sins. It is literally, “committeth the sin.” Personal sin is the manifestation of the indwelling OSN – Romans 7:7.

“is [keeps on being] the servant [douloj --slave] of sin.” So, “Whosoever commits sin keeps on being the slave of the sin.” The sin is the OSN, so they are in slavery to their OSN.

Verse 35 – “And the slave [douloj] does not abide [menw] in the house forever.” What keeps the slave out of the house is eternal life. The slave can’t live in the house because of the type of slavery he has – OSN, and there is no place in the house for the OSN.

“but the Son abideth forever” – when we believe in Christ we enter into union with Christ. Positionally we get into the house at the point of salvation. So Jesus is saying to the religious people that if they ever want to get into this house called heaven, if they ever want to enter the kingdom of God, if they want eternal life, there is only one way they will ever get it: through the Son. The house is the eternal state of the believer.

Verse 36 – “If” is a 3rd class condition. It all depends on volition, you can change your mind; “the Son shall make you free” – e)leuqerow. He is the only one who can. The aorist tense refers to the point of the cross, the point of redemption. Active voice: only Jesus Christ can redeem. Subjunctive mood: redemption is potential based on faith in Christ – John 3:36.

“ye shall be free” is not what the Greek says. The Greek says, “being free, you shall be [free].” The verb e)imi is used twice here. Being free is a participle – o)ntwj. The next phrase, “you shall be” is a future active indicative of e)imi – e)seqe, which is the future tense of e)imi. The present active participle refers to the state of freedom and it refers to phase two. As long as you are in phase two you are always free to serve the Lord; “being free” – a)ntwj e)leuqeroi [pl]. Free is a plural because it indicates every believer; “ye shall be.” The word free is not repeated. This is the future tense of e)imi.

Verse 37 – all through this passage we have some heckling and it comes from the religious crowd. And so our Lord says, “I know” – perfect tense used as a present tense to indicate doctrine in the soul, and to indicate in this case omniscience.

“that you are Abraham’s seed” – when He is saying ‘Abraham’s seed’ He is using a technical word because in the plural Abraham’s seed could mean something else. Abraham’s seeds fall basically into two areas: a) several of the Arabic groups are descended from Abraham through two sources – Hagar and Keturah; b) the Jews through Isaac and Jacob. Jesus uses “seed” in the singular here. In other words, these religious Jews had the genes of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in them. But being physically born with the genes of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob does not provide salvation. And this He will point out because, after all, Jesus Christ was the founder of the Jewish race.

“but ye seek to kill me” – anyone in the line of Abraham who would seek to kill the Lord Jesus Christ has to be hooked up with religion. There are two kinds of people among the Jews who are Abraham’s seed. There are those who believe in Jesus Christ and are born again, and those who reject Jesus Christ and are unbelievers. And, again, the unbelievers had a category called the religious Jew. It is the religious Jews, represented by the Pharisees, who are heckling the Lord Jesus Christ during this discourse in the temple.

The word for “kill” here doesn’t mean character assassination or some form of mental attitude sinning but it is the word which means to kill physically, violently – a)pokteinw [kteinw = to kill; a)po = preposition of ultimate source]. He uses the compound verb here to indicate that the desire to kill Him is there. They haven’t succeeded; they will not succeed, but from the ultimate source of themselves they are motivated to do so. Their motivator is religion and religion is the devil’s ace trump, and the reason they are so motivated is because of John 8:44 – “Ye are of your father the devil.” The father of all religion is the devil.

There is no such thing as the universal Fatherhood of God. There is such a thing as the universal fatherhood of the devil and most ‘brotherhood’ religious organizations are in that category.

“because my word hath no place in you” – ‘my word’ is Bible doctrine, the canon of scripture which contains doctrine; “hath no place” – xwrew means to make room for, but when there is a negative with it the meaning is to no make room for. So here is a religious soul in which there is no room for doctrine. These people hate Jesus Christ and seek to kill Him because there is no room in the soul for Bible doctrine.

Verses 38-44, the dissertation on the two fathers.

Verse 38 – “I speak that which I have seen.” Jesus uses the present active indicative of lalew for ‘speak.’ It means to communicate in a public-speaking situation. It is used with time and means to give a speech in time. But He says, ‘I am giving you a speech in time of what I have seen.’ The verb for ‘seen’ is o(raw, from which we get horizon, and it means to use the eyes or to use the mental faculties. It is in the perfect tense here and it means in the past, before time existed. So Jesus saw the plan of God the Father in eternity past and He is now communicating [lalew] in time, in the temple, but He learned in eternity past. “I keep on speaking what I have seen in the past [with the result that I still have this information].” How do we know this is eternity past and not merely past time? The perfect tense just says ‘the past.’ The answer is the preposition which follows, para, the preposition of immediate source. It is often translated “by the side of.” It is translated here “with.” It means here “by the side of my Father; from the immediate source of my Father.” Para with o(raw means eternity past.

“and ye do that which ye have seen” – the word and is really a preposition of contrast, ‘but in contrast to me.’ So, “but ye do.” Notice the difference. This is a contrast between Jesus and the religious crowd. Jesus says, “I speak” – present linear aktionsart of lalew, but the religious crowd – “ye do,” poiew. They emphasise doing; He emphasises communicating. Lalew emphasises doctrine; poiew emphasises a system of deeds. The religious crowd always have emphasis on doing something – human good. The emphasis of the Word of God is on learning doctrine. Religion says do; Christianity says listen, learn, apply. The greatest virtue in the Christian life is knowledge of doctrine. From that we have our full orientation to the plan of God, and then our production becomes meaningful because it is compatible with the grace of God.

But “and ye do that which ye have seen” is incorrectly translated. They do not do what they see, as is translated in the KJV, they do what they hear – a)kouw, “what ye have heard.” They cannot do what Jesus did; they cannot be in eternity past. They were not by the side of the Father. What do they do? They work on the basis of Satan’s doctrine – 1Timothy 4:1. So it should be translated, “you keep on doing what you have heard.” Jesus said, “I keep on speaking [communicating] what I have seen.” What the religious crowd had heard refers to the teaching of religious doctrine. All religious organizations have a system of teaching.

“with your father” – again we have para which means “from the source of your father.” We know this is Satan because of John 8:44. God the Father is the author of the plan of grace; Satan is the author of his plan, and the two systems have been in opposition since the angelic conflict began.

Verse 39 – the religious crowd come back with an answer. “They answered” – a word which is found extensively in the Gospel of John, a)pokrinomai. In the passive voice here it means to receive an answer. We would translate this, “They had an answer.” Jesus distinguishes between God the Father’s plan – operation grace – and the devil’s plan. The word father is used. So they had an answer and their answer is based upon a contention regarding physical birth. They said, “Abraham is” – present active indicative of e)imi, i.e. Abraham keeps on being; “our father” – when Jesus said they had a father He didn’t mean Abraham, He meant the devil. And they suspected that! They are therefore now jumping back to their human ancestry. When a Jew can do nothing else, when he is in a corner, he can go right back to his human ancestry. He takes the attitude, “I am born physically a Jew; I am saved the minute I am born.”

When they say “our father” this is the first Jewish fatherhood claim. It is a physical claim, a false spirituality claim.

“Jesus saith unto them, If” – first class condition of supposition, a part of debater’s technique if, and I am assuming you are]. The Jews assume that being born physically a descendant of Abraham automatically gives them salvation. “If you were Abraham’s children [spiritually] you would do the works of Abraham.” The works of Abraham have to do with salvation – Galatians 3:6,7; Romans 4:1-16, 22-25. Justification by faith is the principle. They understood Him immediately. They understood that Jesus was not emphasising physical birth but spiritual birth. Jesus is saying that while they are physically descended from Abraham they have failed to do what Abraham did – he was born again – and therefore they are the physical heritage, not the spiritual heritage of Abraham.

Verse 40 – Jesus goes on to amplify. “But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth.” In other words, instead of doing the works of Abraham, what are they doing? Seeking to kill Jesus Christ. The spiritual seed believes; the religious seed tries to kill.

Verse 41 – a second fatherhood claim of the Jews. “You keep on doing the deeds of your father [the devil]” – the deeds of religion, the deeds of human good.

“We be not born of fornication” – this is simply an idiom that says, “We are not bastards.”

“we have one Father, God” – we have is present linear aktionsart of e)xw, ‘we keep on having.’ Galatians 3:26 says, “Ye are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.”

Verse 42 – Jesus no longer uses subtle debater’s technique. Now He uses a second class condition, if and it is not true: “If God were your Father [and He is not].” He also does something else. He takes the verb e)imi that they had used in the present tense and puts it in the imperfect tense – ‘In the past you keep on contending this, but it is not true.’ By so doing, and with the second class condition, He makes it very clear that God is not their Father.

“ye would love [have loved] me” – imperfect linear aktionsart in past time. And they are trying to kill Him; so they hate Him. Religious unbelievers. Their father is the devil. They hate Him – mental attitude sins. They are trying to kill Him. If they were believers their Father would be the first person of the Trinity and they would love. And instead of trying to kill they would seek to serve.

The word for love here is a)gapaw, mental attitude love, relaxed mental attitude. This is what the religious crowd do not possess.

“for I proceeded forth and came from God” – a)po, from the ultimate source [of God]. To proceed forth means to come out from, and the word came is a word that mean to arrive. “I proceeded forth and arrived from God.”

“neither came I of myself” is literally, ‘I came not from the ultimate source [a)po] of myself.’ He didn’t send Himself, in other words. The Father sent Him. The Father sent the humanity of Christ who has to be obedient to the deity of the Father.

“but he sent me” – a)postellw. Up to this time we have used the word pempw which means to send on an errand. But here we have a)postellw which means to send on a mission with authority. This is an aorist active indicative. The point of time is eternity past. When the plan was designed the Father sent the Son.

Verse 43 – “Why do ye not understand” – the word for understand is not the word we have been having – o)ida. It is ginwskw here which means ‘Why don’t you concentrate?’ In effect Jesus is saying, ‘I am making sense but you are not concentrating.’ Notice: Religion can practice asceticism and self-effacement, but religion always has self-effacement minus self-discipline. Ginwskw implies self-discipline, and the reason they are not getting it is because they are negative.

“because ye cannot hear my word” – they are not able to do so. The word for hear is a)kouw which means to hear and obey “my words.”

Verse 44 – the knockout punch. “Ye are” – present linear aktionsart, absolute status quo: ‘You keep on being.’

“of” is literally, ‘from.’

“your father the devil” – for the first time He now mentions him by name.

“the lusts of your father is what you keep on doing” – it was their modus operandi. Jesus is going to indict religion on three counts, and what He says about religion is always true when religion gains the political ascendancy. a) Murder; b) antagonism toward doctrine; c) deceit. These are the three facets of religion which are covered at the end of this verse.

“He was [kept on being] a murderer” – this goes back to the beginning of time, and the murder was Cain’s murder of Abel. Cain was religious; Abel was born again, regenerate. Cain in his religion always brought the best fruits and vegetables. He wanted to impress – approbation lust. Abel brought a blood sacrifice. Cain never killed an animal – “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” He didn’t bother; he was not a believer. John 8:44 alludes to the murder, as does 1John 3:12 and Jude 11. But what we are interested in here is the pattern. Who motivated Cain to slay Abel? Satan did. What is there in the pattern? A religious person, a jealous person – mental attitude sin. The next step is murder. The thinking of Cain led to the action of Cain; the thinking of the Pharisees will lead to the action of the Pharisees.

“abode not in the truth” – antagonism toward doctrine. The Greek actually says he “did not stand in the truth” – i(sthmi means to stand. Perfect tense: in the past the truth was there and he stepped out of it. Satan is the original rejector of doctrine, he would not stand in the truth.

“because there is no truth in him” – no doctrine in him.

Satan is the father of all religion, and especially here religious Jews. Obviously they are going to follow his characteristics. Jesus has been giving them doctrine and they rejected it.

Finally we have deceit: “he speaketh a lie.” When you reject the truth you take in that which is false, and when you communicate that which is false you are speaking the lie – to yeudoj. Where do we get the lie? Negative volition toward Bible doctrine leads to a vacuum in the soul into which religion is drawn. Religion communicated is to yeudoj – “the lie.” And when you communicate false doctrine you become the liar.

“for he is a liar” – yeusthj, a falsehood; “and the father of it” – Satan is the author of every system of deceit, every system of false doctrine, everything that is contrary to the truth of the Word of God. It is easier for the devil to lie than to tell the truth. In fact, the devil cannot tell the truth because the truth [doctrine] is not in him. The children of the devil cannot understand the truth, cannot accept the truth, and therefore they, too, must set up a satanic system – and they do, in religion.

Verse 45 – “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” Once you are in the devil’s clutches it is almost impossible to believe the truth. This is the function of deceit – to keep people from belief. 2Corinthians 4:4.

The word because means that the religious crowd had been exposed to Bible doctrine for some time now; “I tell” means to present something in categorical, logical, progressive concepts. It is present linear aktionsart, “I keep on telling you the truth [doctrine].” Jesus says, Because I keep on teaching doctrine, you believe me not.” Doctrine is the truth. In other words, they have rejected Christ as saviour and therefore they reject doctrine. Doctrine delineates the plan of God. They have rejected the plan of God and therefore they will not accept doctrine. So this is the phenomenon of religion and it is amplified in the next two verses.

Verse 46 – “Which of you convicts me of sin [prove that I am a sinner]?” The words of sin is literally concerning sin. Jesus then uses a first class condition: “If I say the truth [and I do], why do you not believe me?” Jesus already has the answer to that. They do not believe Him because what He says is doctrine. Principle: Religion rejects doctrine. This explains the rise of the social gospel around the turn of the century (1900) and the rise of social action in the National Council of Churches. Negative volition toward doctrine creates a vacuum in the soul. These religious Jews have gone negative toward a certain type of doctrine – the gospel. Into the vacuum in the soul was drawn religion, mental attitude sins, emphasis on the details of life. Religion includes, by the way, legalism. Everything in the vacuum is called in 2Timothy 2:11,12 strong delusion. When a person goes on negative signals from the point of God-consciousness on he has created in the soul a vacuum, and compatible with his own vocabulary, his academic structure, and everything else he knows in life, he is going to fall into some system of religion. The reason the religious crowd did not believe Jesus is because they are under strong delusion. They have been on negative signals since God-consciousness. The vacuum in the negative volition soul will only pick up a lie.

Verse 47 – “He that is [keeps on being] from God heareth God’s words [Bible doctrine, the plan of God in eternity past].” The message of Jesus Christ is the message of God the Father, it is designed from eternity past, and this message finds a response in those who are on positive signals. And when a person who at the point of God-consciousness goes on positive signals he may live a long time and he will hear a little truth here and there and will respond to it – truth about government, about people, and maybe way down the line he will hear the gospel, and he will respond to these things.

“therefore” is literally, because of this, “you hear them not,” i.e. because they are on negative volition; “because you are not from God.” They are not in the plan of God, they are not interested in the plan of God, they have rejected the plan of God.

Verse 48 – “Say we not well.” The word well here is an adverb which means accurately, sometimes it means with becoming or with propriety – kaloj means “with propriety.” “Did we not say with propriety” – there is self-righteousness.

“thou art a Samaritan” – racial prejudice. The Jews in Jerusalem would not allow a Samaritan to build a house next to them, to move into a house next to them, to come to their temple, etc. A Samaritan could not do business in Jerusalem. The Jews thought the Samaritans were the worst in the world. The Samaritans were the Gentiles that moved in when the Jews were out under the fifth cycle of discipline. And then some of the renegade Jews intermarried with them, and so they were half Jew and half Gentile.

“hast a demon” – keep on having a demon.

Verse 49 – “I have not a demon; but I keep on honouring my Father, and you keep on dishonouring me.” He is saying that in the plan of God only the first person in the Trinity has the right to honour. The first person of the Trinity is honouring the Son, the second person of the Trinity, and He is honouring Him by giving the power for the miracle. The Father is honouring Jesus by the performance of the miracle coming up and the one that has just been performed. He is honouring Him also by permitting Him to speak in the temple. So when the religious crowd look at the Son and go negative they are dishonouring the one that the Father has honoured, and therefore they dishonour the Father.

Verse 50 – “there is one who seeks and judges.” In other words, the Father will keep on glorifying Jesus Christ [present linear aktionsart of seek] but He will

also judge those who do not honour Jesus Christ.

 Verse 51 – Jesus Christ is the hope of Israel. “If [3rd class condition]” a man keep my saying [word]” – observing Bible doctrine – “he shall never see death.” The word to see here is qeorew, and with the strong double negative it means both to perceive and to experience.

Verses 52-59, Christ is the victor over death.

Verse 52 – “Now we know.” They contradict themselves. They said before, “Thou hast a demon.” Now they say, “Now we know”! They have wiped themselves out but they go right on.

“Abraham died, and the prophets; and yet you say, If a man keep my word he shall not taste death forever.”

Notice their weapons. The last one was logic, and they cancelled that out by contradicting themselves. So, when you run out of logic what can you do? Get sarcastic!

Verse 53 – sarcastic question number one: “Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?” One thing not found here in the English is the negative mh which suggests a negative answer – “you are not” or of course you are not.” At this point the question is designed to trap Jesus. Either Jesus will deny His deity or affirm it. If He affirms it they will try to execute Him for blasphemy. If He denies it they will discredit Him.

The second question is also sarcastic: “and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?” ‘Whom makest thou thyself’ is an idiom that means ‘Who do you think you are?’

Verse 54 – Jesus answers and wipes out their sarcasm just as He did their logic. “If [3rd class condition, maybe I will and maybe I won’t] I honour myself [I could, you know], my honour [glory] is nothing.” He is making a great point here. The whole key is in the phrase “glorify self.” But He says, ‘If I glorify self the glory that I produce is nothing.’ That is true of all of us. Self-glorification is outside of the plan of God.

“it is my Father that honoureth me” – God the Father is the author of the plan and the plan of God calls for the Father to glorify the Son.

“of whom you say, that he is your God” – here is where He has tied them up in knots. The Father honours the Son through the entire period of the incarnation. They have rejected Him whom they claim is their God. Jesus is saying, “If the Father was really your God then there is only one thing you can do: glorify me right now.” Why don’t they? Negative volition! They will never glorify Him because the Father is not their God. Who is their father? The devil!

Verse 55 – “Yet ye have not known him.” To know, ginwskw, is in the perfect tense. The word means to know from experience, and because this is in the perfect tense the experience started at the point of God-consciousness, at which point they went negative. They have never known Him.

“but I know him” – here the word know is o)ida which is inherent knowledge. This refers to the fact that He knew the Father in eternity past, He knows the Father now, and this is all packed into one – His omniscience. He has a firm and total understanding of the Father, of His plan operation grace, and all the principles that pertain thereto.

“and if I should say, I do not know him, I would be a liar just like you are” – He called them liars to their faces. Religion cannot stand up under logic from a person who knows doctrine or from the person who doesn’t know doctrine.

Verse 56 – “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.” How did Abraham see? The Greek word for see is o(raw – he saw the perspective. Abraham saw Jesus’ day – faith-rest. This was after he learned doctrine. It is faith-rest claiming doctrine, not faith-rest claiming promises. A new believer can latch on to a promise with a little bit of faith and claim it, but to take a lot of faith and reach in and take a doctrine and claim it is maturity. When Abraham became a mature believer he reached in and grabbed doctrine. He looked out ahead and saw the first coming of Christ. And when he saw it – faith-rest technique plus doctrine – he rejoiced. When Abraham was alive he saw what this religious crowd did not see.

“and was glad” – he celebrated.

Verse 57 – the Jews are going to try once more. “Thou art not ye fifty years old.” This has two meanings. To the Jews if you weren’t fifty you were still inexperienced. They had great respect for age. They were saying here, in effect, ‘You have no right to be saying these things, you have no arrived at the proper age.’

“and hast thou seen Abraham?” This brings out the sarcasm. They took this as a literal seeing, but it is more than that.

Verse 58 – “Verily, verily” means point of doctrine; “I keep on saying to you.” He emphasises this.

“Before Abraham was” – the word for was is ginomai. In other words, before Abraham came into existence as a human being – aorist tense, he was born in a point of time.

“I am” – e)gw e)imi, present tense: “I always existed.” He came right down to the issue, the point of doctrine: “I am God.”

Verse 59 – the rejection. They can’t meet words with words. Jesus has used in His discourse logic, sarcasm, and doctrine. They cannot meet any of them. So when they can’t they resort to rocks! They want to shut Him up, destroy Him.

“cast” – ballw, to throw.

“but Jesus hid himself” – the word hid doesn’t quite mean to hide, it simply means He just faded out of that area. It is the word kruptw which means to fade. He just turned around and walked past them while they were picking up stones. He didn’t hide and He kept right on walking out of the temple. No one threw a rock at Him and no one followed Him to stone Him. It was not His time to die, nor the manner in which God had planned. The plan of God called for crucifixion bearing our sins and the Father was a wall of fire around Him to protect Him so that the plan of God could be accomplished. When God has a plan for your life the devil himself can’t kill you.

The words, “going through the midst of them, and so passed by” are not in the original.

Chapter 9

There is a contrast between chapter eight and chapter nine:

1. In chapter eight we have Jesus in the temple; in chapter nine Jesus is outside. Outside He has a greater ministry than inside.

2. In chapter eight He is the light of the world; in chapter nine He communicates light. There is a person who has been in darkness since birth and he is going to see for the first time.

3. In chapter nine Christ is rejected and heckled in the temple; in chapter eight, outside of the temple, He is received and worshipped.

4. In chapter eight Christ stoops down and writes on the temple floor; in chapter nine He stoops down and spits in the dirt and turns it into mud.

5. In chapter eight Christ hides Himself from the religious crowd; in chapter nine He reveals Himself to a blind man.

6. In chapter eight inside of the temple Jesus is called demon possessed; outside of the temple Jesus is called Lord.

Basically, this is a fabulous chapter because it takes Jesus outside of the temple, breaks as it were from the whole religious structure, and there He performs something that focuses attention on Him for every generation as long as the world exists.

Outline of the chapter:

The blind man and the miracle, verses 1-12

The blind man and the Pharisees, verses 13-34

Verse 1 – “And as Jesus passed by.” The word Jesus in the KJV is not found in the original. It is “as he passed by.” We know who it is because of the previous chapter, last verse. This is a present active participle and means to be in the process of passing by. In other words, Jesus has just walked out on the religious crowd and is coming down the steps of the temple. The word for passing by is paragw [a)gw = to go; par is from para which means to be going by or beside]. “Jesus in the process of going by” is the way it should be translated. In other words, He was about to step past this blind man when He stopped. He recognised that this man was responsive.

“saw a man which was blind from birth” – the word saw is o(raw. Just to give a glance would be blepw but the word o(raw here means that He gets the picture when He goes by. He saw the blind man but the blind man can’t see Him, even though he senses Jesus’ presence. Jesus has just been heckled by the religious crowd but inside of this blind man He sees something that was non-existent in the religious crowd – positive volition at the point of God-consciousness. Jesus could see his positive volition and that is all that was necessary.

The doctrine of heathenism

1. The essence of God. In essence God is perfect and therefore it is impossible for Him to be unfair to this blind man.

2. Unlimited atonement. When Jesus Christ goes to the cross He will die for the sins of this blind man.

3. Application of the principle of divine volition – sovereignty. It is not God’s will that any should perish, including this blind man.

4. There are two points at which we have contact with God. a) God-consciousness; b) the point of gospel hearing. If any person at the point of God

consciousness goes on +V, God is responsible for providing information for that individual so that he can be saved. Jeremiah 29:13; John 6:44; 7:17; Acts 17:27. When we talk about pockets of heathenism in this world, people are heathen not because they have never heard the Word of God but because they have heard and rejected, or because they gone on negative volition at the point of God-consciousness. Romans 1:18-23.

What did Jesus see first, the body of the man or the soul of the man? The soul of the man!

“blind from birth” – he was helpless and hopeless. It also meant he was ugly. Congenital blindness always distorts the features. He is also a beggar, which means his clothes would be in rags. In his soul he has +V but in his body it is a hopeless situation. This blind beggar illustrates a great principle of doctrine: All humanity is as hopeless and helpless as this blind man. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

The condition of the beggar:

1. He is both in physical and spiritual darkness – unsaved. Luke 1:78,79; Psalm 107:10.

2. He needs the light of the world – John 8:12. Jesus gave the light of the world discourse in the temple. Why? Because the Pharisees and the people in there

were in spiritual darkness. But when He comes outside He doesn’t stop and say to this man, “I am the light of the world.” The plan of God calls for something else and Jesus follows the plan of God.

3. He did not hear the light of the world discourse in the temple. He doesn’t have to hear it, he is on +V.

Verse 2 – the question of the disciples. “And his disciples asked him.” They did not ask Him, this is not the word for asking. The word here is e)rwtaw which

means to interrogate. Aorist tense: they interrogated Him in a point of time. They are standing around discussing a person who is listening to them, and a person who is blind has very keen hearing. This discussion goes right around him; he is in the midst of them. They discuss him as though he was a piece of beef on the pavement. They have no sensitivity to his sensitivity. They are not aware of the fact that a blind beggar could have a soul and be as sensitive as anyone else.

“saying” – they kept on saying. They didn’t say it once; they said it enough times that this person could have fallen apart from self-pity.

“who did sin, this man or his parents” – the disciples are looking at a body, but that body has a soul.

“that” introduces a result clause; “with the result that he was born blind?” There are two theories. Some held to the “this man” theory, some to the “parent” theory. Both of these positions are wrong.

The culpability theory is the religious theory. Number one theory is philosophical; number two is religious. Culpability is a distortion of scripture, a misinterpretation of Exodus 20:5. This view was held by Judaism. It says his parents did something terrible and he is paying for it.

The doctrine of culpability

1. The principle of culpability is given in Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10. The true law of culpability as stated in these two passages merely says that when the parents have weaknesses they often teach their children to be weak in the same way. It has to do with how parents rear their children.

2. The law of culpability only runs for four generations and then there is a change. Exodus 34:6,7; Numbers 14:18.

3. The mechanics of the four-generation curse is given in the Hebrew of Proverbs 30:11-17.

4. The true law of culpability is given in Deuteronomy 24:16 – God will bless your family down to the thousandth generation where Bible doctrine is perpetuated in the home. Basically in Israel Bible doctrine was taught in the home.

5. When there is a family curse (poor rearing) cursing can be turned into blessing always – and doctrine breaks the curse. Jeremiah 31:29-34; Deuteronomy 6:6-12; 7:9; Psalm 100:5.