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The Deity of Jesus Christ

In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ([a]Christ), and the Word was with God, and [b]the Word was God Himself.(A) He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men.

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:1 In John the Apostle’s vision (Rev 19), he sees Christ returning as Warrior-Messiah-King, and “...His name is called The Word of God...and LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev 19:13, 16).
  2. John 1:1 In this phrase, “God” appears first in the Greek word order, emphasizing the fact that “the Word” (Christ) was God—so “God Himself.”

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

After this, Jesus walked [from place to place] in Galilee, for He would not walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the Jewish [a]Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) was approaching. So His [b]brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples [there] may also see the works that You do. No one does anything in secret when he wants to be known publicly. If You [must] do these things, show Yourself openly to the world and make Yourself known!” For not even His brothers believed in Him. So Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come; but any time is right for you. The world cannot hate you [since you are part of it], but it does hate Me because I denounce it and testify that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” Having said these things to them, He stayed behind in Galilee.

10 But [afterward], when His brothers had gone up to the feast, He went up too, not publicly [with a caravan], but quietly [because He did not want to be noticed]. 11 So the Jews kept looking for Him at the feast and asking, “Where is He?” 12 There was a lot of whispered discussion and murmuring among the crowds about Him. Some were saying, “He is a good man”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He misleads the people [giving them false ideas].” 13 Yet no one was speaking out openly and freely about Him for fear of [the leaders of] the Jews.

14 When the feast was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple [court] and began to teach. 15 Then the Jews were perplexed. They said, “How [c]did this man become learned [so versed in the Scriptures and theology] [d]without formal training?” 16 Jesus answered them by saying, “My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is of God or whether I speak on My own accord and by My own authority. 18 He who speaks on his own accord seeks glory and honor for himself. But He who seeks the glory and the honor of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness or deception in Him.

19 “Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law. Why do you want to kill Me [for not keeping it]?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon [You are out of Your mind]! Who wants to kill You?” 21 Jesus replied, “I did one [e]work, and you are all astounded.(A) 22 For this reason Moses has given you [God’s law regarding] circumcision (not that it originated with Moses, but with the patriarchs) and you circumcise a man [even] on the Sabbath. 23 If, to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, a man undergoes [f]circumcision on the Sabbath, why are you angry with Me for making a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge by appearance [superficially and arrogantly], but judge fairly and righteously.”

25 Then some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the Man they want to kill? 26 Look, He is speaking publicly, and they say nothing to Him! Is it possible that the rulers really know that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this Man is from; whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus called out as He taught in the temple, “You know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come on my own initiative [as self-appointed], but He who sent Me is true, and Him you do not know. 29 I know Him Myself because I am from Him [I came from His very presence] and it was He [personally] who sent Me.” 30 So they were eager to arrest Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His time had not yet come. 31 But many from the crowd believed in Him. And they kept saying, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs and exhibit more proofs than this Man?”

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things [under their breath] about Him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent [g]guards to arrest Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am [still] with you, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will look for Me, and will not [be able to] find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does this Man intend to go that we will not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion [of Jews scattered and living] among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What does this statement of His mean, ‘You will look for Me, and will not [be able to] find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

37 Now on the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! 38 He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’”(B) 39 But He was speaking of the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in Him [as Savior] were to receive afterward. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

Division of People over Jesus

40 Listening to these words, some of the people said, “This is certainly the Prophet!”(C) 41 Others said, “This is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!” But others said, “Surely the Christ is not going to come out of Galilee, is He? 42 Does the Scripture not say that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”(D) 43 So the crowd was divided because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

45 Then the guards went [back] to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring Him [here with you]?” 46 The guards replied, “Never [at any time] has a man talked the way this Man talks!” 47 Then the Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been deluded and swept off your feet? 48 Has any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this [ignorant, contemptible] crowd that does not know the Law is accursed and doomed!” 50 Nicodemus (the one who came to Jesus before and was one of them) asked, 51 “Does our Law convict someone without first giving him a hearing and finding out what he is [accused of] doing?” 52 They responded, “Are you also from Galilee? Search [and read the Scriptures], and see [for yourself] that no prophet comes from Galilee!” 53 [h][And everyone went to his own house.

Footnotes

  1. John 7:2 This important seven-day feast held in October celebrated the harvest (ingathering). Devout Jews spent the week living outside in booths or tents made of tree branches. It was the most popular of the three great Jewish festivals (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles).
  2. John 7:3 The younger sons of Mary and Joseph included James and Jude, who penned the NT letters bearing their names, and Joses and Simon. See Mark 6:3.
  3. John 7:15 Lit does this man know letters.
  4. John 7:15 Lit not having learned.
  5. John 7:21 The healing of the paralytic at Bethesda occurred during Jesus’ last visit to Jerusalem.
  6. John 7:23 According to the Law of Moses, a baby boy had to be circumcised on the eighth day, even if it was a Sabbath. It was, therefore, outrageous for the Jews to accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath by performing a miraculous act of healing.
  7. John 7:32 The temple guards were a group of Levites who were responsible for keeping order in and around the temple.
  8. John 7:53 Most late mss include the story of the adulterous woman, numbering it as 7:53-8:11, though some mss place it elsewhere in the text. The story is considered authentic as part of the oral tradition of the early church, and perhaps for that reason it was inserted in John’s Gospel.

Healing the Man Born Blind

While He was passing by, He noticed a man [who had been] blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), who [a]sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world [giving guidance through My word and works].” When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made mud with His saliva, and He spread the mud [like an ointment] on the man’s eyes. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of [b]Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. So the neighbors, and those who used to know him as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Still others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But he kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He replied, “The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received my sight!” 12 They asked him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

Controversy over the Man

13 Then they brought the man who was formerly blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was on a Sabbath day that Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes. 15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, “This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner (a non-observant Jew) do such signs and miracles?” So there was a difference of opinion among them. 17 Accordingly they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “[It must be that] He is a [c]prophet!”

18 However, the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the man’s parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but as to how he now sees, we do not know; or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him [and stop asking us]; [d]he is of age, he will speak for himself and give his own account of it.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of [the leaders of] the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated). 23 Because of this his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So a second time they called the man who had been [born] blind, and said to him, “Give God glory and praise [for your sight]! We know this Man [Jesus] is a sinner [separated from God].” 25 Then he answered, “I do not know whether He is a sinner [separated from God]; but one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He [actually] do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I already told you and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again and again? Do you want to become His disciples, too?” 28 And [at that remark] they stormed at him and jeered, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know [for certain] that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this Man, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man replied, “Well, this is astonishing! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know [according to your tradition] that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone fears God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the [e]beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything [like this because God would not hear His prayer].” 34 They answered him, “You were [f]born entirely in sins [from head to foot], and you [presume to] teach us?” Then they threw him out [of the synagogue].

Jesus Affirms His Deity

35 Jesus heard that they had [g]put him out [of the synagogue], and finding him, He asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “Who is He, Sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and [in fact] He is the one who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “Lord, I believe [in You and Your word]!” And he worshiped Him [with reverence and awe]. 39 Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment [to separate those who believe in Me from those who reject Me—to declare judgment on those who choose to be separated from God], so that the sightless would see, and those who see would become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind [to spiritual things], you would have no sin [and would not be blamed for your unbelief]; but since you claim to have [spiritual] sight, [you have no excuse so] your sin and guilt remain.(A)

Footnotes

  1. John 9:2 It was a commonly held belief that suffering was punishment for a specific, personal sin.
  2. John 9:7 The ancient town of Siloam is now an Arab village named Silwan. It is east of Jerusalem and south of the Old City. The pool of Siloam was fed by the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley through a channel (Hezekiah’s tunnel) that carried water into Jerusalem.
  3. John 9:17 Prophets were able to foretell the future and perform other miracles under the power and direction of God.
  4. John 9:21 Anyone 13 years and one day old was considered of age.
  5. John 9:32 There is no OT record of any blind person being healed.
  6. John 9:34 See note v 2.
  7. John 9:35 I.e. excommunicated him.

The Word Made Flesh

14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).(A)

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13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in [a]blood, and His name is called The Word of God.(A) 14 And the armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, [dazzling] white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword (His word) with which He may strike down the nations, and He will [b]rule them with a rod of iron; and He will tread the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty [in judgment of the rebellious world].(B) 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name inscribed, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 19:13 Christ was once dipped in His own blood for mankind’s redemption (1:5; 5:9, etc.), but now in the blood of the wicked for mankind’s judgment.
  2. Revelation 19:15 Or shepherd.

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