Jesus and His Brothers

7 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there wanted to kill him. ² It was time for the Jewish Feast of Shelters. ³ So Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea. Then your followers there can see the miracles you do. ⁴ Anyone who wants to be well known does not hide what he does. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ (Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.)

⁶ Jesus said to his brothers, “The right time for me has not yet come. But any time is right for you. ⁷ The world cannot hate you. But it hates me, because I tell about the evil things it does. ⁸ So you go to the feast. I will not go now. The right time for me has not yet come.” ⁹ After saying this, Jesus stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ So Jesus’ brothers left to go to the feast. When they had gone, Jesus went, too. But he did not let people see him. ¹¹ At the feast the Jews were looking for him. They said, “Where is that man?”

¹² There was a large crowd of people there. Many of them were whispering to each other about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others said, “No, he fools the people.” ¹³ But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly. They were afraid of the Jews.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

¹⁴ The feast was about half over. Then Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews were amazed. They said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “The things I teach are not my own. My teaching comes from him who sent me. ¹⁷ If anyone chooses to do what God wants, then he will know that my teaching comes from God. He will know that this teaching is not my own. ¹⁸ He who teaches his own ideas is trying to get honor for himself. But he who tries to bring honor to the one who sent him—that person speaks the truth. There is nothing false in him. ¹⁹ Moses gave you the law,^[a] but none of you obey that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰ The people answered, “A demon has come into you. We are not trying to kill you.”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² Moses gave you the law about circumcision. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision. Circumcision came from our ancestors.) And yet you circumcise a baby boy on a Sabbath day. ²³ This shows that a baby boy can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the law of Moses. So why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? ²⁴ Stop judging by the way things look! Be fair, and judge by what is really right.”

Is Jesus the Christ?

²⁵ Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the man they are trying to kill. ²⁶ But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him. And no one is trying to stop him. Maybe the leaders have decided that he really is the Christ. ²⁷ But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”

²⁸ Jesus was still teaching in the Temple. He cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true. You don’t know him. ²⁹ But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”

³⁰ When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him. It was not yet the right time. ³¹ But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?”

Some Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him. ³³ Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. ³⁴ You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.”

³⁵ The Jews said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live? Will he teach the Greek people there? ³⁶ This man says, ‘You will look for me but you will not find me.’ He also says, ‘You cannot come where I am.’ What does this mean?”

Jesus Talks About the Spirit

³⁷ The last day of the feast came. It was the most important day. On that day Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ If a person believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from his heart. This is what the Scripture says.” ³⁹ Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.

The People Argue About Jesus

⁴⁰ The people heard these things that Jesus said. Some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet.”^[b]

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Christ.”

Still others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee. ⁴² The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family. And the Scripture says that the Christ will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” ⁴³ So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one was able to touch him.

The Leaders Won’t Believe

⁴⁵ The Temple guards went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees. The priests and the Pharisees asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”

⁴⁶ The Temple guards answered, “The things he says are greater than the words of any man!”

⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered, “So Jesus has fooled you too! ⁴⁸ Have any of the leaders or the Pharisees believed in him? No! ⁴⁹ But those people, who know nothing about the law, are under God’s curse!”

⁵⁰ But Nicodemus was there in that group. He was the one who had gone to see Jesus before.^[c] Nicodemus said, ⁵¹ “Our law does not judge a man without hearing him. We cannot judge him until we know what he has done.”

⁵² They answered, “Are you from Galilee too? Study the Scriptures. You will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee.”

⁵³ And everyone left and went home.^[d]

The Shepherd and His Sheep

10 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. The man who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The man who guards the door opens it for him. And the sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd. He calls his own sheep, using their names, and he leads them out. ⁴ He brings all of his sheep out. Then he goes ahead of them and leads them. They follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger. They will run away from him because they don’t know his voice.” ⁶ Jesus told the people this story, but they did not understand what it meant.

Jesus Is the Good Shepherd

⁷ So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth. I am the door for the sheep. ⁸ All the people who came before me were thieves and robbers. The sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. The person who enters through me will be saved. He will be able to come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. But I came to give life—life in all its fullness.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. ¹² The worker who is paid to keep the sheep is different from the shepherd who owns them. So when the worker sees a wolf coming, he runs away and leaves the sheep alone. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The man runs away because he is only a paid worker. He does not really care for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I give my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not in this flock here. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The Father loves me because I give my life. I give my life so that I can take it back again. ¹⁸ No one takes it away from me. I give my own life freely. I have the right to give my life, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father commanded me to do.”

¹⁹ Again the Jews did not agree with each other because of these words Jesus said. ²⁰ Many of them said, “A demon has come into him and made him crazy. Why listen to him?”

²¹ But others said, “A man who is crazy with a demon does not say things like this. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²² The time came for the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. This was during the winter. ²³ Jesus was walking in the Temple in Solomon’s Porch. ²⁴ The Jews gathered around him and said, “How long will you make us wonder about you? If you are the Christ, then tell us plainly.”

Jesus Is the Son of God

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I told you already, but you did not believe. I do miracles in my Father’s name. Those miracles show who I am. ²⁶ But you don’t believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never die. And no person can steal them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father gave my sheep to me. He is greater than all, and no person can steal my sheep out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ The Father and I are one.”

³¹ Again the Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus. ³² But Jesus said to them, “I have done many good works from the Father. Which of these good works are you killing me for?”

³³ The Jews answered, “We are not killing you for any good work you did. But you say things that are against God. You are only a man, but you say you are the same as God!”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written in your law that God said, ‘I have said you are gods!’^{[a] 35} This Scripture called those people gods, the people who received God’s message. And Scripture is always true. ³⁶ So why do you say that I speak against God because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? I am the one God chose and sent into the world. ³⁷ If I don’t do what my Father does, then don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I do what my Father does, even though you don’t believe in me, believe what I do. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

³⁹ They tried to take Jesus again, but he escaped from them.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back across the Jordan River to the place where John had first baptized. Jesus stayed there, ⁴¹ and many people came to him. They said, “John never did a miracle. But everything John said about this man is true.” ⁴² And in that place many believed in Jesus.