Interpretive Study of John's Gospel

Jesus is the Son of God

Chapter links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, God.

John Chapter 3

True Salvation is Spiritual in Nature

Links to sentences in this chapter:

C3-S1 (Verse 1-2), C3-S2 (Verse 3), C3-S3 (Verse 4), C3-S4 (Verse 4), C3-S5 (Verse 5), C3-S6 (Verse 6), C3-S7 (Verse 7), C3-S8 (Verse 8), C3-S9 (Verse 9), C3-S10 (Verse 10), C3-S11 (Verse 11), C3-S12 (Verse 12), C3-S13 (Verse 13), C3-S14 (Verse 14-15), C3-S15 (Verse 16), C3-S16 (Verse 17), C3-S17 (Verse 18), C3-S18 (Verse 19), C3-S19 (Verse 20), C3-S20 (Verse 21), C3-S21 (Verse 22), C3-S22 (Verse 23), C3-S23 (Verse 24), C3-S24 (Verse 25), C3-S25 (Verse 26), C3-S26 (Verse 27), C3-S27 (Verse 28), C3-S28 (Verse 29), C3-S29 (Verse 30), C3-S30 (Verse 31), C3-S31 (Verse 32), C3-S32 (Verse 33), C3-S33 (Verse 34), C3-S34 (Verse 35), C3-S35 (Verse 36)'.

Chapter 3 Summary:

This Gospel was written: that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20:30-31). Our first chapter gave us an outline of this Gospel in general terms. Then Chapter 2 gave us the beginning and the end of the ministry by Jesus Christ, which bracketed all that would be said in the remainder of John's Gospel. Therefore, this chapter starts the actual detailed presentation of John's Gospel.

Our chapter deals with the account of two religious men interacting with Jesus. Nicodemus presents a lost person who is earnestly seeking the truth. Jesus explains to him that he must accept the truth from a spiritual perspective. Then Jesus went to Judaea where he was close to John the Baptist. Following that is an account of a religious argument involving the disciples of John the Baptist. We also read about disciples leaving John the Baptist to follow Jesus and of John the Baptist having joy with this result. His reaction is the opposite of the typical reaction by a religious leader and shows how John the Baptist was completely motivated by spiritual results and not by anything earthly such as power or position. This is indirectly contrasted to the way that Nicodemus approached Jesus while he was still a lost religious leader. Thus, we have a way to tell the difference between a lost religious leader and a religious leader who is truly motivated by spiritual results.

Please also see the Doctrinal Study called John the Baptist for more details about the message from John the Baptist, that is included in this chapter. That Study has links to where other Gospel accounts deal with him and his message. Every reference to him, that is in the Bible, is in that Study and presented by Bible book and presented sequentially.

In this chapter, John the Baptist declares that he is not Christ and is less than Jesus, Who is God's Christ. That Study also shows the relationship between the message from John the Baptist and what Jesus told Nicodemus in 3:10-21. That is: John the Baptist was just the messenger. Jesus is God's salvation. The messenger must decrease in importance when the subject of his message is made available so that people will pay attention to the message and not to the messenger.

Below is a summary of each sentence within this chapter with a link to the note providing the detailed analysis and contextual considerations of each sentence. These sentence summaries also show the basis for the chapter summary provided above.

C3-S1: Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus came from God.
C3-S2: Jesus gives him his answer from God.
C3-S3: Nicodemus asks for clarification.
C3-S4: Nicodemus states the source of his confusion.
C3-S5: Jesus tells him he needs two births.
C3-S6: Jesus explains the two births.
C3-S7: Don't marvel at the truth.
C3-S8: Illustration to understand spiritual results.
C3-S9: Nicodemus asks for clarification.
C3-S10: Jesus asks why he does not understand.
C3-S11: Jesus said that he didn't understand because the Jews rejected the true witness.
C3-S12: Jesus asked how he thought to understand when he rejected obvious truth.
C3-S13: Jesus brought truth from heaven.
C3-S14: Symbolism from Jewish history.
C3-S15: The meaning of the symbolism.
C3-S16: The purpose of the symbolism.
C3-S17: The result of the symbolism.
C3-S18: Why God condemns man.
C3-S19: The attitude of sin.
C3-S20: The attitude of righteousness.
C3-S21: Jesus then went to Judaea.
C3-S22: John the Baptist was ministering close by.
C3-S23: Why John the Baptist was there.
C3-S24: A religious argument that involved John the Baptist.
C3-S25: His disciples said that people were leaving him for Jesus.
C3-S26: Why John the Baptist was OK with that.
C3-S27: John the Baptist explains his limit.
C3-S28: John the Baptist explains his joy.
C3-S29: John the Baptist explains God's plan.
C3-S30: John the Baptist explains the position of Jesus.
C3-S31: John the Baptist explains the rejection of Jesus.
C3-S32: John the Baptist explains the acceptance of Jesus.
C3-S33: John the Baptist explains the power of Jesus.
C3-S34: John the Baptist explains the purpose of Jesus.
C3-S35: John the Baptist explains the result of Jesus.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides a chapter outline as:

1-13. Christ teaches Nicodemus the necessity of regeneration,
14-15. of faith in his death,
16-17. the great love of God towards the world,
18-21. and the condemnation for unbelief.
22. Jesus baptizes in Judea.
23-36. The baptism, witness, and doctrine of John concerning Christ'.

Home Start of web page Start of Chapter

C3-S1 (Verse 1-2) Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus came from God.

Equivalent Section: Who acted.

There was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews:

Equivalent Section: What he did.

The same came to Jesus by night,
and said unto him,
Rabbi,
we know that thou art a teacher come from God:

Equivalent Section: What he acknowledged at first.

for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him.

In 3:1 through 3:21 we have the account of Jesus telling Nicodemus that he must be saved. Many people preach from parts of this account but it is important to consider the full context of what is presented within the Bible. Please consider all of the account together to get the full context which God gives to us.

Nicodemus is presented as a lost person who is earnestly seeking the truth in this section of the chapter, Jesus explains to him that he must accept the truth from a spiritual perspective.

Our sentence has three Equivalent Sections with the First Equivalent Section telling us who acted and the Second Equivalent Section telling us what he did and the Third Equivalent Section telling us his attitude. From this we see that each are equally important. Many people today doubt their salvation and we have many false professions. One of the causes for these things is that people do not have all three equally important parts of this sentence when they make their profession. For example, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, but, while he hid his actions, he at least acted. In addition, later we learn that he acted openly and in a recognized fashion which showed that he was a follower of Jesus.

Most of the false confessions, and most of the people who doubt their salvation never act openly and in a recognized fashion which showed that they are a follower of Jesus. in addition, Nicodemus admitted that Jesus had a position with God that he personally did not have. As a master of Israel, this required him to humble himself and be willing to change his personal beliefs based upon what the messenger of God told him. Most of the false confessions, and most of the people who doubt their salvation are never willing to humble themselves but want God to accept them the way that they are.

Finally, our Third Equivalent Section tells us his attitude when he acknowledged, before hearing anything from Jesus, that Jesus had God with him while Nicodemus did not. That is: he not only humbled himself but he acknowledged his need out loud. Most of the false confessions, and most of the people who doubt their salvation refuse to admit their own need out loud. Thus, in our sentence, we see three things which the lost person really needs when they first come for salvation if they want to avoid having a false confession and avoid doubting their own salvation.

Please notice that, in our First Equivalent Section, e read that Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. At this time, Jesus would have been considered to be an itinerant preached from the “Jewry / Judaea / Judea / Judah” given to the Gentiles. From a religious perspective, we have a preacher from the highest religious group coming to a preacher from the most despised group. It is doubtful if many religious people have to humble themselves more than Nicodemus had to. In addition, Nicodemus called Jesus Rabbi, which means that Nicodemus acknowledged that Jesus could teach him something. finally, Nicodemus confessed that Jesus was a teacher come from God. Therefore, he was seeking to be taught spiritual truths which he acknowledged could not be taught by religion. Now compare his attitude to the rest of his religious social group, who were the Pharisees and religious leaders of that day.

Now consider the Third Equivalent Section where Nicodemus admitted that no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. How many people today deny the miracles that Jesus did? How many deny that these prove that God was with him? How many today deny that this gives Jesus an authority that is far greater than any authority or recognition given by men? How many people today look down on the Pharisees and other religious leaders, and even look down on all Jews, when they also refuse to learn spiritual truths from Jesus?

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C1S1 and Philippians 2:9-11 about the word name. The functional definition is: 'How a person or thing is identified. In the Bible, the power and authority which is associated with the name is always part of the message where this word is used'. Please see the note for 1Corinthians C1S4 about the phrase the name. That note has links to every place in the New Testament where the phrase in the name. occurs along with links to where similar phrases occur in the New Testament. Please see the note for 1Peter 4:14-LJC about the name of Christ. Please also see the Summary and Verses documents about the use of this word for the Son of God.

We find forms of the word Pharisee occurring 100 times in 95 verses of the Bible, all of which are in the New Testament and in the Gospels and the book of Acts except Philippians 3:5 where Paul confesses that he was a Pharisee. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: 'One of a sect among the Jews, whose religion consisted in a strict observance of rites and ceremonies and of the traditions of the elders, and whose pretended holiness led them to separate themselves as a sect, considering themselves as more righteous than other Jews'. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'separatists (Heb persahin, from parash, "to separate"). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the "pious"), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt against his heathenizing policy. The first mention of them is in a description by Josephus of the three sects or schools into which the Jews were divided (B.C. 145). The other two sects were the Essenes and the Sadducees. In the time of our Lord they were the popular party (Joh 7:48). They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters appertaining to the law of Moses (Mt 9:14; 23:15; Lu 11:39; 18:12). Paul, when brought before the council of Jerusalem, professed himself a Pharisee (Ac 23:6-8; 26:4-5).
There was much that was sound in their creed, yet their system of religion was a form and nothing more. Theirs was a very lax morality (Mt 5:20; 15:4,8; 23:3,14,23,25; Joh 8:7). On the first notice of them in the New Testament (Mt 3:7), they are ranked by our Lord with the Sadducees as a "generation of vipers." They were noted for their self-righteousness and their pride (Mt 9:11; Lu 7:39; 18:11-12). They were frequently rebuked by our Lord (Mt 12:39; 16:1-4).
From the very beginning of his ministry the Pharisees showed themselves bitter and persistent enemies of our Lord. They could not bear his doctrines, and they sought by every means to destroy his influence among the people'. Fausset's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'From perishin Aramaic, perashim, "separated." To which Paul alludes, Ro 1:1; Ga 1:15, "separated unto the Gospel of God"; once "separated" unto legal self righteousness. In contrast to "mingling" with Grecian and other heathen customs, which Antiochus Epiphanes partially effected, breaking down the barrier of God's law which separated Israel from pagandom, however refined. The Pharisees were successors of the Assideans or Chasidim, i.e. godly men "voluntarily devoted unto the law." On the return from Babylon the Jews became more exclusive than ever. In Antiochus' time this narrowness became intensified in opposition to the rationalistic compromises of many. The Sadducees succeeded to the latter, the Pharisees to the former (1Ma 1:13-15; 1Ma 1:41-49; 1Ma 1:62-63; 1Ma 2:42; 1Ma 7:13-17; 2Ma 14:6-38). They "resolved fully not to eat any unclean thing, choosing rather to die that they might not be defiled: and profame the holy covenant." in opposition to the Hellenizing faction.
So the beginning of the Pharisees was patriotism and faithfulness to the covenant. Jesus, the meek and loving One, so wholly free from harsh judgments, denounces with unusual severity their hypocrisy as a class. (Mt 15:7-8; 23:5,13-33), their ostentatious phylacteries and hems, their real love of preeminence; their pretended long prayers, while covetously defrauding the widow. They by their "traditions" made God's word of none effect; opposed bitterly the Lord Jesus, compassed His death, provoking Him to some "hasty words" (apostomatizein) which they might catch at and accuse Him; and hired Judas to betray Him; "strained out gnats, while swallowing camels" (image from filtrating wine); painfully punctilious about legal trifles and casuistries, while reckless of truth, righteousness, and the fear of God; cleansing the exterior man while full of iniquity within, like "whited sepulchres" (Mr 7:6-13; Lu 11:42-44,53-54; 16:14-15); lading men with grievous burdens, while themselves not touching them with one of their fingers. (See CORBAN .)
Paul's remembrance of his former bondage as a rigid Pharisee produced that reaction in his mind, upon his embracing the Gospel, that led to his uncompromising maintenance, under the Spirit of God, of Christian liberty and justification by faith only, in opposition to the yoke of ceremonialism and the righteousness which is of the law (Galatians 4; 5). The Mishna or "second law," the first portion of the Talmud, is a digest of Jewish traditions and ritual, put in writing by rabbi Jehudah the Holy in the second century. The Gemara is a "supplement," or commentary on it; it is twofold, that of Jerusalem not later than the first half of the fourth century, and that of Babylon A.D. 500. The Mishna has six divisions (on seeds, feasts, women's marriage, etc., decreases and compacts, holy things, clean and unclean), and an introduction on blessings. Hillel and Shammai were leaders of two schools of the Pharisees, differing on slight points; the Mishna refers to both (living before Christ) and to Hillel's grandson, Paul's' teacher, Gamaliel.
An undesigned coincidence confirming genuineness is the fact that throughout the Gospels hostility to Christianity shows itself mainly from the Pharisees; but throughout Acts from the Sadducees. Doubtless because after Christ's resurrection the resurrection of the dead was a leading doctrine of Christians, which it was not before (Mr 9:10; Ac 1:22; 2:32; 4:10; 5:31; 10:40). The Pharisees therefore regarded Christians in this as their allies against the Sadducees, and so the less opposed Christianity (Joh 11:57; 18:3; Ac 4:1; 5:17; 23:6-9). The Mishna lays down the fundamental principle of the Pharisees. "Moses received the oral law from Sinai, and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and these to the prophets, and these to the men of the great synagogue" (Pirke Aboth ("The Sayings of the [Jewish] Fathers"), 1). The absence of directions for prayer, and of mention of a future life, in the Pentateuch probably gave a pretext for the figment of a traditional oral law.
The great synagogue said, "make a fence for the law," i.e. carry the prohibitions beyond the written law to protect men from temptations to sin; so Ex 23:19 was by oral law made further to mean that no flesh was to be mixed with milk for food. The oral law defined the time before which in the evening a Jew must repeat the Shema, i.e. "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord," etc. (De 6:4-9.) So it defines the kind of wick and oil to be used for lighting the lamps which every Jew must burn on the sabbath eve. An egg laid on a festival may be eaten according to the school of Shammai, but not according to that of Hillel; for Jehovah says in Ex 16:5, "on the sixth day they shall prepare that which, they bring in," therefore one must not prepare for the sabbath on a feast day nor for a feast day on the sabbath. An egg laid on a feast following the sabbath was "prepared" the day before, and so involves a breach of the sabbath (!); and though all feasts do not immediately follow the sabbath yet "as a fence to the law" an egg laid on any feast must not be eaten.
Contrast Mic 6:8. A member of the society of Pharisees was called chaber; those not members were called "the people of the land"; compare Joh 7:49, "this people who knoweth not the law are cursed"; also the Pharisee standing and praying with himself, self righteous and despising the publican (Lu 18:9-14). Isaiah (Isa 65:5) foretells their characteristic formalism, pride of sanctimony, and hypocritical exclusiveness (Jg 1:18). Their scrupulous tithing (Mt 23:23; Lu 18:12) was based on the Mishna, "he who undertakes to be trustworthy (a pharisaic phrase) tithes whatever he eats, sells, buys, and does not eat and drink with the people of the land." The produce (tithes) reserved for the Levites and priests was "holy," and for anyone. else to eat it was deadly sin. So the Pharisee took all pains to know that his purchases had been duly tithed, and therefore shrank from "eating with" (Mt 9:11) those whose food might not be so. The treatise Cholin in the Mishna lays down a regulation as to "clean and unclean" (Le 20:25; 22:4-7; Nu 19:20) which severs the Jews socially from other peoples; "anything slaughtered by a pagan is unfit to be eaten, like the carcass of an animal that died of itself, and pollutes him who carries it."
An orthodox Jew still may not eat meat of any animal unless killed by a Jewish butcher; the latter searches for a blemish, and attaches to the approved a leaden seal stamped kashar, "lawful." (Disraeli, Genius. of Judaism.) The Mishna abounds in precepts illustrating Col 2:21, "touch not, taste not, handle not" (contrast Mt 15:11). Also it (6:480) has a separate treatise on washing of hands (Yadayim). Translated Mr 7:8, "except they wash their hands with the fist" (pugmee); the Mishna ordaining to pour water over the dosed hands raised so that it should flow down to the elbows, and then over the arms so as to flow over the fingers. Jesus, to confute the notion of its having moral value, did not wash before eating (Lu 11:37-40). Josephus (Ant. 18:1, section 3, 13:10, section 5) says the Pharisees lived frugally, like the Stoics, and hence had so much weight with the multitude that if they said aught against the king or the high-priest it was immediately believed, whereas the Sadducees could gain only the rich.
The defect in the Pharisees which Christ stigmatized by the parable of the two debtors was not immorality but want of love, from unconsciousness of forgiveness or of the need of it. Christ recognizes Simon's superiority to the woman in the relative amounts of sin needing forgiveness, but shows both were on a level in inability to cancel their sin as a debt. Had he realized this, he would not have thought Jesus no prophet for suffering her to touch Him with her kisses of adoring love for His forgiveness of her, realized by her (Lu 7:36-50; 15:2). Tradition set aside moral duties, as a child's to his parents by" Corban"; a debtor's to his creditors by the Mishna treatise, Avodah Zarah (1:1) which forbade payment to a pagan three days before any pagan festival; a man's duty of humanity to his fellow man by the Avodah Zarah (2:1) which forbids a Hebrew midwife assisting a pagan mother in childbirth (contrast Le 19:18; Lu 10:27-29).
Juvenal (14:102-104) alleges a Jew would not show the road or a spring to a traveler of a different creed. Josephus (B.J. 2:8, section 14; 3:8, section 5; Ant. 18:1, section 3) says: "the Pharisees say that the soul of good men only passes over into another body, while the soul of bad men is chastised by eternal punishment." Compare Mt 14:2; Joh 9:2, "who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" compare Joh 9:34, "thou wast altogether born in sins." The rabbis believed in the pre-existence of souls. The Jews' question merely took for granted that some sin had caused the blindness, without defining whose sin, "this man" or (as that is out of the question) "his parents."
Paul: regarded the Pharisees as holding our view of the resurrection of the dead (Ac 23:6-8). The phrase "the world to come" (Mr 10:30; Lu 18:30; compare Isa 65:17-22; 26:19) often occurs in the Mishna (Avoth, 2:7; 4:16): this world may be likened to a courtyard in comparison of the world to come, therefore prepare thyself in the antechamber that thou mayest enter into the dining room"; "those born are doomed to die, the dead to live, and the quick to be judged," etc. (3:16) But the actions to be so judged were in reference to the ceremonial points as much as the moral duties. The Essenes apparently recognized Providence as overruling everything (Mt 6:25-34; 10:29-30). The Sadducees, the wealthy aristocrats, originally in political and practical dealings with the Syrians relied more on worldly prudence, the Pharisees more insisted on considerations of legal righteousness, leaving events to God.
The Pharisees were notorious for proselytizing zeal (Mt 23:15), and seem to have been the first who regularly organized missions for conversions (compare Josephus, Ant. 20:2, section 3): The synagogues in the various cities of the world, as well as of Judaea, were thus by the proselytizing spirit of the Pharisees imbued with a thirst for inquiry, and were prepared for the Gospel ministered by the apostles, and especially Paul, a Hebrew in race, a Pharisee by training, a Greek in language, and a Roman citizen in birth and privilege. In many respects their doctrine was right, so that Christ desires conformity to their precepts as from "Moses' seat," but not to their practice (Mt 23:2-3). But while pressing the letter of the law they ignored the spirit (Mt 5:21-22,27,38,31-32). Among even the Pharisees some accepted the truth, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, and Joh 12:42 and Ac 15:5'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for the word Pharisee as: 'Mt 3:7; 15:1; 16:1; 19:3; 23:2; Lu 7:30; 18:10; Ac 5:34; 23:6'.

Nave's Topical Bible provides links for the word Pharisee as: 'A sect of the Jews: Ac 15:5. Doctrines of: Mt 15:9. Concerning the resurrection: Ac 23:6,8. Association with publicans and sinners: Mt 9:11-13. Traditions of, in regard to: . Fasting: Mt 9:14; Lu 18:12: . The washing of hands: Mt 15:1-3; Mr 7:1-15: . The duties of children to parents: Mt 15:4-9: . The sabbath: Mt 12:2-8. Hypocrisy of, reproved: . By John: Mt 3:7-10: . By Jesus: Mt 6:2-8,16-18; 15:1-9; 16:1-12; 21:33-46; 23:2-33; Lu 11:14-54; 12:1; 15:1-9. Reject: . John: Lu 7:30. Christ: Mt 12:38-39; 15:12; Joh 7:48. Come to Jesus with questions: Mt 19:3; 22:15-22. They minister to Jesus: Lu 7:36; 11:37; 14:1. Become disciples of Jesus: Joh 3:1; Ac 15:5; 22:3. Paul, a Pharisee: Ac 23:6; 26:5'.

Torrey's Topical Textbook provides links for the word Pharisee as: 'A sect of the Jews: Ac 15:5 The strictest observers of the Mosaic ritual: Ac 26:5 By descent, especially esteemed: Ac 23:6 CHARACTER OF: Zealous of the law: Ac 15:5; Php 3:5 Zealous of tradition: Mr 7:3,5-8; Ga 1:14 Outwardly moral: Lu 18:11; Php 3:5-6 Rigid in fasting: Lu 5:33; 18:12 Active in proselytizing: Mt 23:15 Self-righteous: Lu 16:15; 18:9 Avaricious: Mt 23:14; Lu 16:14 Ambitious of precedence: Mt 23:6 Fond of public salutations: Mt 23:7 Fond of distinguished titles: Mt 23:7-10 Particular in paying all dues: Mt 23:23 Oppressive: Mt 23:4 Cruel in persecuting: Ac 9:1-2 Believed in the resurrection, etc: Ac 23:8 Made broad their phylacteries, etc: Mt 23:5 Their opinions, a standard for others: Joh 7:48 Many priest and Levites were of: Joh 1:19,24 Many rulers, lawyers, and scribes were of: Joh 3:1; Ac 5:34; 23:9 Had disciples: Lu 5:33; Ac 22:3 Some came to John for baptism: Mt 3:7 As a body, rejected John's baptism: Lu 7:30 CHRIST: Often invited by: Lu 7:36; 11:37 Condemned by, for associating with sinners: Mt 9:11; Lu 7:39; 15:1-2 Asked for signs by: Mt 12:38; 16:1 Tempted by, with questions about the law: Mt 19:3; 22:15-16,35 Watched by, for evil: Lu 6:7 Offended, by His doctrine: Mt 15:12; 21:45; Lu 16:14 Declared the imaginary righteousness of, to be insufficient for salvation: Mt 5:20 Declared the doctrines of, to be hypocrisy: Mt 16:6,11-12 Denounced woes against: Mt 23:13-33 Called, an evil and adulterous generation: Mt 12:39 Called, serpents and generation of vipers: Mt 23:33 Called fools and blind guides: Mt 23:17,24 Compared, to whited sepulchres: Mt 23:27 Compared, to graves that appear not: Lu 11:44 Left Judea for a time on account of: Joh 4:1-3 Imputed Christ's miracles to Satan's power: Mt 9:34; 12:24 Sent officers to apprehend Christ: Joh 7:32,45 Often sought to destroy Christ: Mt 12:14; 21:46; Joh 11:47,53,57'.

We find Nicodemus named in: John 3:1; John 3:4; John 3:9; John 7:50; John 19:39. He was Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews who received true Biblical salvation as shown by his changed life.

Please see the note for John 7:26 about the word ruler. The functional definition is: 'One that governs, whether emperor, king, pope or governor; any one that exercises supreme power over others'.

Please see the note for Galatians C2-S9 about the word Jew. The functional definition is: 'a contraction of Judas or Judah. A Hebrew or Israelite. This is the name for God's chosen people who followed the Mosaic Law'.

Please see the note for John 11:10 about the word night. The functional definition for this word is: 'The part of the day when the sun does not shine. This word is often used symbolically for the absence of the influence from God'.

Please see the note for Romans 11:1 about the phrase I say. The functional definition is: 'Uttering in articulate sounds or words; speaking; telling; relating; reciting'. Please also see the note for Romans C10S28 about the word gainsaying. Please also see the notes for Romans C15S15 and 2Corinthians 2:17 about the word speak. Please also see the note for 2Corinthians 3:12-14 about the word speech. Please also see the notes for Ephesians C4S15 and 1Peter 2:1 about the phrase evil speaking. The words speaketh and saith mean that the person 'keeps on keeping on doing the saying'.

Please see the note for John 1:38 about the word Rabbi. The functional definition is: 'A title of respect among the Jews, signifying master or teacher'.

Please use this link to see the 'Minor Titles of the Son of God' found within the Bible along with links to where the Bible uses those titles. This sentence has a titles of Rabbi and of teacher.

Please see the notes for Romans C10S25; 1Corinthians C1S11; 2Corinthians C1S5; Galatians C3-S9; Colossians C1S3 and know in 1John about the word know. The functional definition is: 'A clear and certain perception of that which exists, or of truth and fact; and the perception of the connection and agreement, or disagreement between various truths and acts. Within the Biblical usage is the knowledge that comes only from personal intimate experience'. Please see the notes for 2Peter 1:2-LJC; 2Peter 2:20-LJC and Philippians 1:9-11 about the word knowledge. Please see the note for Romans 6:3 about the phrase Know ye not. Please see the note for 1Corinthians C16S17 about the word acknowledge. Please see the note for Romans C11S4 about the word foreknow.

We find forms of the word teacher occurring 20 times in 19 verses of the Bible, in: 1Chronicles 25:8; Psalms 119:99; Proverbs 5:13; Isaiah 30:20; Isaiah 43:27; Habakkuk 2:18; John 3:2; Acts 13:1; Romans 2:20; 1Corinthians 12:28-29; Ephesians 4:11; 1Timothy 1:7; 1Timothy 2:7; 2Timothy 1:11; 2Timothy 4:3; Titus 2:3; Hebrews 5:12; 2Peter 2:1. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: 'One who teaches or instructs. 1. An instructor; a preceptor; a tutor; one whose business or occupation is to instruct others. 2. One who instructs others in religion; a preacher; a minister of the Gospel. The teachers in all the churches assembled themselves. 3. One who preaches without regular ordination'. Please also see the Study called False Things According to the Bible about 'false teachers'. Please also see the note for 1Corinthians C12S27 about the word teach.

Nave's Topical Bible provides links for the word teacher as: 'Samuel, head of school of prophets: 1Sa 19:20. Elisha, head of, at Gilgal: 2Ki 4:38. Admonition against: De 13:1-3; Mt 5:19; 7:15; 15:2-20; 23:2-33; Lu 11:38-52'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for the word teacher as: 'Christian Teachers: Ac 11:26; 13:1; 15:35; 18:11,25; 28:31; 1Co 12:28; Eph 4:11. Teacher, Divine: Christ as: Mt 4:23; 5:2; 7:29; Mr 6:34; Lu 4:15; 5:3; Joh 3:2; 7:14; 8:2. God as: Ex 4:15; De 4:36; Ps 25:12; 32:8; 71:17; 94:10; Isa 2:3; 28:26; 48:17; 54:13; Jer 32:33; Mic 4:2. Christ Expounds the Scriptures: Mt 13:37; 24:33; Mr 4:34; Lu 8:11; 24:27. The Teaching of Christ: Mt 7:28; Mr 4:2; Joh 7:16; 2Jo 1:9. Spirit as: Ne 9:20; Lu 12:12; Joh 14:26; 1Co 2:13; 1Jo 2:27. Christian: Ac 11:26; 13:1; 15:35; 18:11,25; 28:31; 1Co 12:28; Eph 4:11. False: Mt 5:19; 15:9; 1Ti 1:7; 4:2; 6:3; 2Ti 4:3; Tit 1:11; 2Pe 2:1. Of the Word: Mt 28:20; 1Ti 3:2; 4:11; 6:2; 2Ti 2:25'.

Please also see the note for 1Corinthians C12S27 about the word teach. The functional definition is: 'To instruct; to inform; to communicate to another the knowledge of that of which he was before ignorant'.

Please see the note for John 6:44 about the word except. The functional definition is: 'to take or leave out of anything specified; to exclude'.

Please be sure to use the links found within the sentence outline, above, to get further support in understanding the detail doctrine of this sentence. When following such links, Please be sure to go to the start of such Studies to get general information, definitions, applications and links to other places within the Bible which have the same application as the original sentence.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Joh 3:10; 7:47-49
came. Joh 7:50-51; 12:42-43; 19:38-39; Jg 6:27; Isa 51:7; Php 1:14
Rabbi. Joh 3:26; 1:38; 20:16 exp: Mt 23:7.
we know. Mt 22:16; Mr 12:14
for. Joh 5:36; 7:31; 9:16,30-33; 11:47-48; 12:37; 15:24; Ac 2:22; 4:16-17; 10:38'.

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C3-S2 (Verse 3) Jesus gives him his answer from God.

Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily,
verily,
I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.

There is a difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven which most people don't realize and which leads to doctrinal error when they try to interpret Bible references to the kingdom of God. As explained in the word studies, below, the word of means: 'belongs to'. The phrase the kingdom of heaven is: 'what belongs to heaven', which includes angels, the street of gold, the crystal sea, God's throne, and other things. However, the kingdom of God is nigh unto you (Luke 9:9-10; Luke 9:30-31), which means it is here in this physical life. Since a king puts his character on his kingdom, the kingdom of God is: 'God's character in us'. In addition, the Bible uses the word see for 'receiving understanding', among other things. Therefore, Jesus was really telling Nicodemus that 'he could not truly understand how someone could have 'God's character in them' unless they were born physically and born spiritually'. This is telling us that the lost person does not truly understand about having 'God's character in us', even though they can see the results. It also means that angels can not truly understand about having 'God's character in us', even though they can see the results. This is why 1Peter 1:12 tells us that the angels desire to look into these things. In addition, Jesus adds Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God in a couple more sentences (C3-S5). Further, we see similar statements from Jesus within the context of this sentence. Therefore, in this sentence, Jesus is telling Nicodemus the difference between what can be understood by religion as opposed to what can be understood when someone truly has the kingdom of God in them.

Now people might object to what I just explained, especially if they ignore the context of this sentence. In a couple more sentences Jesus says: The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. As explained in the note for C3-S8, people can see the results even though they can not see the wind. This was His allegory to help Nicodemus understand what He said in this sentence. In addition, as the notes for the other sentences in this section explain, we see further statements from Jesus which support this interpretation. Please prayerfully consider all of the sentences and related notes of this section to get the full context and what is being said within it.

Please notice that our sentence starts with Jesus answered. While the prior sentence does not present a question, Jesus understood what was the root question that Nicodemus had and answered that question. Basically, Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees and a ruler of the Jews and a master of Israel. Accordingly, he should have understood all that Jesus taught, and yet he didn't. This was because Jesus was teaching about things which only the people who had 'God's character in them' could understand and have. While Nicodemus had everything that religion claimed was necessary to truly understand spiritual matters, he really couldn't truly understand spiritual matters because the answer from religion was wrong. The basic question that Nicodemus had was: 'Why can't I understand these things which you teach?'. Our sentence presents the answer from Jesus to this question.

Please use this link to see the 'Minor Titles for the Son of God' found within the Bible along with links to where the Bible uses those titles. This sentence has title of Teacher.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

Please see the note for Romans C15S21 about the word verily. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: 'adv. from very. 1. In truth; in fact; certainly. 2. Really; truly; with great confidence'. When we see this word used twice in a row the sentence is fulfilling the legal requirement which is necessary to present something which everyone must believe. Please also see the note for John 12:24 for links to every place where we find the phrase of: Verily, verily. It is only found in this Gospel. When we see the word verily used twice in a row the sentence is fulfilling the legal requirement which is necessary to present something which everyone must believe. Thus, every one of these sayings is a precept.

Please see the note for Galatians C4-S17 about the words birth / birthright / birthday. The functional definition is: 'The act of coming into life, or of being born'. Please see the note for Colossians C1S3 about the word firstborn. Please also see the note for 1John 3:9 about the phrase born of God. Please also see the note for Hebrews 1:5 about the word begotten. The functional definition is: 'Procreated; generated'.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C13S9; 2Corinthians 2:17 and Colossians C1S6 about the words see / sight. The functional definition is: ' perception of objects by the eye; view. This word is often used symbolically for spiritual understanding'. Please also see the note for John 6:40-LJC about the phrase see the Son.

Please see the note for John 6:44 about the word except. The functional definition is: 'to take or leave out of anything specified; to exclude'.

Please see the notes1Corinthians C4S20; 1Corinthians C15S46; Galatians C5S20 and the Doctrinal Study for about the phrase The kingdom of God. The functional definition is: 'God's character in us'. Please also see the notes for Ephesians 5:5; 2Timohy 4:1 and 2Peter 1:11 for about the phrase kingdom of Christ. Please also see the note for 1Corinthians C6S16 about the phrase kingdom of God rejected by lifestyle sins. Please also see the notes for 1Timothy 6:15-LJC and 1Peter 2:1 about the phrase kingdom of heaven. Please also see the notes for Verses in the New Testament. Summary on the name / role of King. Please also see the note for Revelation 10:11-LJC about the phrase kings of the earth. Please also see the note for Revelation 14:14-LJC about the phrase King of kings. Please also see the note for Matthew 27:37-LJC about the phrase King of the Jews.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Verily. Joh 1:51; Mt 5:18; 2Co 1:19-20; Re 3:14 exp: Mt 18:3; Mr 14:18; Joh 3:11; 5:19; 6:26,53; 8:34; 10:1; 13:16.
Except. Joh 3:5-6; 1:13; Ga 6:15; Eph 2:1; Tit 3:5; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:3,23-25; 1Jo 2:29; 3:9; 5:1,18 exp: Joh 6:44,53.
again. or, from above. Jas 1:17; 3:17
he cannot. Joh 3:5; 1:5; 12:40; De 29:4; Jer 5:21; Mt 13:11-16; 16:17; 2Co 4:4
General references. exp: Eze 44:9; Mr 10:15'.

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C3-S3 (Verse 4) Nicodemus asks for clarification.

Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old?

Here we see Nicodemus' confusion because he was trying to understand spiritual truths from a physical religious perspective. Our next sentence, which is a clarification of his thoughts in this sentence, make his perspective clear. Paul explains the problem, and the true solution, in greater detail in the first three chapters of 1Corinthians. In fact: 1Corinthians 2:14 says But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. True spiritual matters can only be discerned with the help of God.

People who truly understand spiritual truths also understand that there is no physical requirement other than understand that we need to have a personal relationship with the Son of God as your personal Lord. and accepting His invitation to that personal relationship. He saves those people who accept this personal relationship, which is what is meant by being born again, as Jesus said in the prior sentence.

Please see the note for John 3:1 about Nicodemus. He was Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews who received true Biblical salvation as shown by his changed life.

Please see the note for Hebrews 1:5 about the word begotten. The functional definition is: 'Procreated; generated'. Please also see the note for Galatians C4-S17 about the words birth / birthright / birthday. The functional definition is: 'The act of coming into life, or of being born'. Please see the note for Colossians C1S3 about the word firstborn.

Please also see the note for Galatians C4-S17 about the words birth / birthright / birthday. The functional definition is: 'The act of coming into life, or of being born'. Please see the note for Colossians C1S3 about the word firstborn. Please also see the note for Hebrews 1:5 about the word begotten. The functional definition is: 'Procreated; generated'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'How. Joh 3:3; 4:11-12; 6:53,60; 1Co 1:18; 2:14 exp: Joh 3:9; 6:52; 14:22; 1Co 15:35.
General references. exp: Eze 44:9; Mr 10:15'.

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C3-S4 (Verse 4) Nicodemus states the source of his confusion.

can he enter the second time into his mother's womb,
and be born?

This sentence is a clarification of the thoughts by Nicodemus in the prior sentence. This sentence make the perspective of the prior sentence clear. Please see the note above for more details.

Please see the note for John 10:8 about the word enter. The functional definition for this word is: 'to leave one place and go into another place'.

Please see the note for Mark 1:30 about the word mother. Morrish Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'The law commanded that honour was to be paid to a mother as well as to a father. In nearly all cases the mothers of the kings of Israel are mentioned as well as the fathers. The wise woman who appealed to Joab as 'a mother in Israel,' was at once listened to. 2Sa 20:19. A mother has naturally great influence over her children, whether for good or evil, as Jochebed the mother of Moses, and Jezebel the mother of Athaliah. The children of the virtuous woman arise and call her blessed. Pr 31:28. Timothy had a faithful mother and grandmother. 2Ti 1:5. There are also 'mothers' in the church, who have the Lord's interests at heart in the welfare of the saints, as Paul called the mother of Rufus his own mother also. Ro 16:13'.

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C3-S5 (Verse 5) Jesus tells him he needs two births.

Jesus answered,
Verily,
verily,
I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

In 3:1 through 3:21 we have the account of Jesus telling Nicodemus that he must be saved. Many people preach from parts of this account but preach something different from what is actually meant because they leave out part of the contextual considerations. In particular, our sentence starts with: Jesus answered which means that this is a response to the questions within the prior sentences. In fact, many people are led into a wrong interpretation of this sentence by not fully considering all that is within all of the context. Therefore, the contextual considerations need to be considered first.

As already noted, Jesus first made sure that Nicodemus was thinking about what was said and then He told Nicodemus that he had to be born again, which caused the confusion that Nicodemus expressed in the prior two sentences. now, Jesus tells Nicodemus that there is a physical birth (born of water) and a spiritual birth (born of the Spirit). Jesus repeats Himself, in simpler terms, in the very next sentence (John 3:6). In a sentence following that, Jesus explains that you can not see the things of the Spirit but can see the results of the Spirit acting, just like you can't see the wind but can see the results of the wind. Religious ceremony can be seen. Religious ceremonies are not doing the spiritual but are supposed to show what has already been done spiritually. Therefore, people who try to understand, or do, spiritual things based upon the physical or the religious end up doing error and believing doctrinal error.

One of the things which lead people into error is that the word water is used, symbolically, for 'physical birth' within this sentence. However, the word water is also used, symbolically, for other things within the Bible and has an interpretation of: 'the liquid of life'. Thus, people who get hung on thinking that a word can have only one symbolic meaning try to apply an interpretation which only partially fits within the context of all that is said in this conversation.

Look at our next sentence which says: That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Thus, Jesus makes the contrast between flesh and spirit the clarification of this sentence where He speaks about being born of water and of being born of the Spirit. Since our next sentence says that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, it should be obvious that our clarification sentence is also telling us that what born of water is flesh.

What a lot of people miss when talking about being born again is that Jesus said The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit in 3:8. That is, there will be Spirit caused evidence in the life of everyone that is truly born of the Spirit. Those that just have religious evidence or no evidence can not back up their claim to have been truly Biblically born again and other places in the Bible make it clear that if such evidence is never seen then they have a false profession.

Part of the confusion is that God uses things in the physical to explain things in the spiritual, and, yes there are some differences. However, one difference which is claimed is not true. Life begins at conception. Then there is a gestation period before birth. Birth is when life is brought our and revealed to the world in a way that is can not be denied like life can be denied during the gestation period.

When God's people reject a significant spiritual truth for a long time, God uses the government and physical things to try and show them the consequences of their doctrinal error. God's people have denied the difference between spiritual conception and spiritual birth by claiming: 'I was instantly born again'. There is NO type of life which has no conception and gestation period. However, since God's people insist upon keeping this doctrinal error, God allows abortion to continue, since the basis of abortion is the same as the basis of this doctrinal error. That is: both deny the difference between conception and birth. God will not allow us to get rid of abortion until we get rid of this doctrinal error. Further, the saved people who condemn abortionists will probably be surprised to find out who God really blames for all of the abortions

Moving on, the account in our chapter, we see that it assumes a Jewish understanding. In C3-S10, Jesus asks: Art thou a master of Israel and then explains what He has said in terms that a master of Israel can understand. After acknowledging this difference, let me put it into modern U.S. English.

All types of life beget similar types of life. 1John 5:13 and other places tell us that God gives eternal life and God does this by putting His seed (1John 3:9) in us. God is a Spirit and He begets spiritual eternal life. A woman does not get human life growing in herself without a man putting his human seed in her. We do not get eternal spiritual life growing in us without God putting His spiritual seed in us. In addition, all life grows including eternal spiritual life. Something that does not grow and move is not alive. At the time of birth, the life (DNA, etc) that the child received from the father is fixed and does not change further. However, the child does continue to grow and change while they remain alive. Further, while the child has the same life inside and outside of the womb, the relationship that the parents have with that child is different before and after birth. Likewise, the spiritual life that God puts in us does not change from being like God even as it grows and makes our life more like God's life.

These basic truths are the same for spiritual birth. God plants the seed of His Word in our heart where it grows until we are born again. Jesus paid the price for us to be born again and that does not change after our spiritual birth, just like our DNA does not change after our physical birth. Since God gives eternal life, what is provided by Jesus can not be lost or changed ever. However, a good mother does not abandon her baby after birth but continues to have an ongoing relationship with it whereby she provides for it and guides the growth of this life that came from her. While a lot of things about the life of that baby are fixed at birth, many things about that life and the relationship with the parents change after birth. Furthermore, the parent can reward or punish the child after birth. They can enhance or take away things that the child considers to be part of their life'. The same things are also true about the life and relationship of a child of God has with God.

After the spiritual birth, God does not abandon His child but continues to have an ongoing relationship with them. This relationship is maintained through God the Son's role as Christ and anyone who never has this ongoing relationship is not truly born of God. Just as the mother provides for her child and guides the growth of it, so also does God do for His child. God can enhance or take away things that the child considers to be part of their salvation (spiritual life) without completely ending the spiritual life. Romans 8, among other places, teaches that there is a lot more to spiritual life in Christ that comes from growth after being born again and that those who are born again but do not grow spiritually after birth do not get these rewards.

The bottom line is that our initial profession is just the start of an ongoing personal relationship just like conception is just the start of an ongoing personal relationship between the parents and the child. Jesus did not just tell Nicodemus that he had to make a profession but that he had to have this ongoing personal relationship which included spiritual growth after spiritual conception.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

Please see the note for John 6:44 about the word except. The functional definition is: 'to take or leave out of anything specified; to exclude'.

Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

Please use the link in the sentence above and see the notes for Romans C8S1; Galatians C6S8 and Hebrews 8:10-LJC about the word Spirit. The functional definition is: 'An intelligent being from the spiritual reality which is a super-set of the physical reality'. Please use his link for links to every usage in the Bible where we find the phrase Spirit of the Lord. Please see the note for Romans C11S13 about the phrase spirit of slumber. Please see the note for Galatians 6:1 in Word Study on Spirit for links to every place where we find the word spiritual. Please see the notes for Romans C8S40; Ephesians C6S8 about the phrase spiritual powers. Please see the note for 1Peter C1S11 about the phrase spiritual verses physical. Please see the notes for Word Study on Spirit; Romans C14S20 and Colossians C3S5 about the phrase unclean spirits. Please see the note for Please see the Word Study on Holy Ghost for links to every place in the Bible where we find the phrase Holy Ghost.

Please see the note for John 10:8 about the word enter. The functional definition for this word is: 'to leave one place and go into another place'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'born. Joh 3:3; Isa 44:3-4; Eze 36:25-27; Mt 3:11; Mr 16:16; Ac 2:38; Eph 5:26; Tit 3:4-7; 1Pe 1:2; 3:21; 1Jo 5:6-8 exp: 1Pe 1:23.
and of. Joh 1:13; Ro 8:2; 1Co 2:12; 6:11; 1Jo 2:29; 5:1,6-8
cannot. Mt 5:20; 18:3; 28:19; Lu 13:3,5,24; Ac 2:38; 3:19; Ro 14:17; 2Co 5:17-18; Ga 6:15; Eph 2:4-10; 2Th 2:13-14
General references. exp: Eze 44:9; Mr 10:15'.

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C3-S6 (Verse 6) Jesus explains the two births.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

This sentence is a clarification of the verse sentence and the explanation in the note above also fits this sentence. Within the Word Study on Spirit (use the link in the sentence outline above), this sentence is found under Other Spirits for the point titled 'That which is physical is not spiritual'.

In this sentence we have a clear separation between physical life and spiritual life. No further explanation should be required.

Please see the notes for Romans C8S1; 2Corinthians C1S7; Galatians C6S8; Philippians 1:22 and Colossians C1S6 about the word flesh:. The functional definition is: 'our body and all influences upon our mind, our will and our emotions which come through our body and concerns for our body'. Please see the note for Romans C8S7 about the phrase after the flesh. Please see the note for Romans C8S7 about the phrase in the flesh. Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:7 about the phrase thorn in the flesh.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'born of the flesh. Ge 5:3; 6:5,12; Job 14:4; 15:14-16; 25:4; Ps 51:10; Ro 7:5,18,25; 8:1,4-9,13; 1Co 15:47-49; 2Co 5:17; Ga 5:16-21,24; Eph 2:3; Col 2:11
that. Eze 11:19-20; 36:26-27; Ro 8:5,9; 1Co 6:17; Ga 5:17; 1Jo 3:9 exp: 1Co 15:50.
General references. exp: Mr 10:15; 1Co 6:17'.

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C3-S7 (Verse 7) Don't Marvel at the truth.

Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again.

Basically, Jesus is telling Nicodemus 'Stop acting like you are stunned by this knowledge'. Basically, Jesus wanted Nicodemus to start thinking again and use his brain to understand the things which He still had to say.

Please see the note for Galatians C1-S3 about the word marvel. The functional definition is: 'A wonder; that which arrests the attention and causes a person to stand or gaze, or to pause. '.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Marvel. Joh 3:12; 5:28; 6:61-63
Ye. Joh 3:3; Job 15:14; Mt 13:33-35; Ro 3:9-19; 9:22-25; 12:1-2; Eph 4:22-24; Col 1:12; Heb 12:14; 1Pe 1:14-16,22; Re 21:27'.

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C3-S8 (Verse 8) Illustration to understand spiritual results.

Equivalent Section: The physical allegory.

The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth:

Equivalent Section: The spiritual application.

so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Our sentence has two Equivalent Sections and the titles, in the sentence outline above, should make the meaning of each Equivalent Section clear. In addition, the note for this sentence, within the Word Study on Spirit (use the link in the sentence outline above) explains that this sentence is found under God's Holy Spirit for the point titled 'The Spirit of God can be seen in men by other people including lost people'. That Study has the definition of this word and a separation by different types of spirits and by different applications of each type of spirit. In addition, the context and related doctrine is already explained in the notes of related sentences within this Study.

One thing that this sentence points out, but which few people think about, is the fact that this sentence tells us how to determine the influence of spirits. They influence us and cause results which can only be detected indirectly. The preacher can not change a person's heart but God can. When a person is feeling internal pressure to obey Biblical truth, after hearing a Biblical truth which they had not considered before, we know that is the influence of the Holy Spirit. When someone feels a strong desire to delay acting on a decision after they have acknowledged the truth in their head, that is the influence of a devil. Devils know that the default result of not obeying the influence of God's Holy Spirit is destruction and death. That is their desired result since they hate God and God's desire is life and growth.

Laziness is a result of habitudinal procrastination. This is only one indirect result of submitting to the influence of a devil. Another evidence of their influence is pride. Another evidence of their influence is a refusal to embrace, or even verify, what we are told is a Bible truth which goes against our personal beliefs even while we claim that the Bible is the basis of our beliefs.

A simple test of what I am writing about is the question: Do you use the word 'daemon' or do you always use the word devil? All peoples in all cultures throughout all history acknowledge the influence of evil spirits. However, according to the Bible, there are no 'daemons'. This is a false label for the spirits which the Bible calls devils. We have been influenced to use this false label for true devils while using the word devil for 'cute and harmless little beings with a pitchfork'. The end result is that people ignore the true Biblical warnings about devils, the Bible loses credibility in the minds of people and the messenger of God loses credibility because they claim to speak God's truth while using a false label, which makes them a liar. If these results are not the indirect influence of devils, then what are they? Further, if God's people are not indirectly influenced by devils in this way, then why do they do these things?

Sometimes, we need to meditate on what God's word says and consider how the principles found in it apply to parts of life which might not be directly named within the text. No, what I just wrote about is not the interpretation of this sentence and context, but I don't know of a better place to write about the indirect influence of spirits. Further, I believe that this is something which too many people are not aware of and yet is something which has a great impact upon the lives of most people. Therefore, Please forgive me for going out of context to express a concern which I believe people should consider.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C12S14 and Galatians C3-S7 about the word hear. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: 'Perceiving by the ear, as sound. 1. Listening to; attending to; obeying; observing what is commanded. 2. Attending to witnesses or advocates in a judicial trial; trying'. Please pay attention to the word 'obey' within this definition. That is what most people refuse to do when the Bible says that they do not hear. Please also see the note for James 2:5 about the word hearken. Please also see the note for Mark 4:9 about the phrase He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C13S1 about the word sound. The functional definition is: 'Entire; unbroken; not shaky, split or defective'. Within our sentence we understand that the wind makes a consistent noise.

Please see the note for John 13:36 about the word Whither. The functional definition for this word is: 'continually seeking many places or going to another place and remaing there, not returning'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'wind. Job 37:10-13,16-17,21-23; Ps 107:25,29; Ec 11:4-5; Eze 37:9; Ac 2:2; 4:31; 1Co 2:11; 12:11 exp: Am 4:13.
so. Joh 1:13; Isa 55:9-13; Mr 4:26-29; Lu 6:43-44; 1Co 2:11; 1Jo 2:29; 3:8-9
General references. exp: Mt 7:8; Ro 9:16'.

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C3-S9 (Verse 9) Nicodemus asks for clarification.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him,
How can these things be?

Here we see Nicodemus asks for clarification of the allegory in the prior sentence. It was not that he failed to understand the allegory but his understanding of it was in opposition of what he understood from his religious training. What Nicodemus finally figured out, and what everyone must figure out if they want true understanding, is that the answers from religion, and the way to think that religion teaches, do not lead us to spiritual truths.

Please notice that Nicodemus asked How. He was not challenging, not disputing, the things which Jesus had told him but was asking for the way of understanding. Most people only want 'pat answers' and not the way of understanding because they are intellectually lazy. Jesus gives to Nicodemus the answers and explanations which are in this account because Nicodemus refused to be intellectually lazy and was willing to use his own brain to think for himself. This is what God wants us to each do. God does not reward our asking for 'pat answers' but does reward our asking How.

In the sentences which follow we see the explanation from Jesus. The thing to remember is that Jesus did not just start saying these things 'out of the blue'. There were many things which led up to the point of Jesus saying what comes in the next sentences and they were important enough for John to include them in his Gospel. What we see all throughout this section is that the context is important to keep in mind and that people use parts of this account as the basis for doctrinal error. In addition, people believe the doctrinal error because they do not consider all that is within the context.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'How. Joh 3:4; 6:52,60; Pr 4:18; Isa 42:16; Mr 8:24-25; Lu 1:34 exp: Joh 14:22; 1Co 15:35.
General references. exp: Mt 7:8; Joh 9:10'.

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C3-S10 (Verse 10) Jesus asks why he does not understand.

Jesus answered and said unto him,
Art thou a master of Israel,
and knowest not these things?

This sentence is the answer to the prior question from Nicodemus. It also starts the discourse by Jesus which goes through 3:21 and explains God's plan of salvation from a spiritual perspective. Many people preach from parts of this account but it is important to consider the full context of what is presented here in order to truly understand the message. Think about it. Everything presented here was important or Jesus would not have said it. Also, Satan is the one who perverts the Bible message by leaving part out. Therefore, your own actions show who you follow.

In our sentence, Jesus is asking Nicodemus how it is possible that he knowest not these things since he is a master of Israel. Before any governments gives a license they are supposed to test the person and verify that they have the knowledge and skill to do whatever the license gives them the right to do. For example, there is a knowledge and driving test given before someone is given a driver's license. A main legal reason for this, which many people don't realize, is so the person can't plead ignorance of the law if they are caught violating the law. However, a person without a license can plead ignorance of the law in order to lessen or avoid punishment.

Jesus had a reason for everything which he did. When He asked Nicodemus this question, He was pointing out that the lack of understanding by Nicodemus was due to a failure to learn by Nicodemus or a failure to teach by the people who said that Nicodemus was a master. However, even if the fault was because Nicodemus did not learn, the there is still had a fault because they were supposed to test Nicodemus and make sure that he had the knowledge before they gave him the title of master. Therefore, this is not so much a comment on the knowledge and ability of Nicodemus but is, actually, a comment on the failure of the religious system to teach the people the spiritual truths which they truly needed and which God gave them the responsibility to teach.

When God choose the children of Israel to be His people, He planned to use them to reach the world and teach everyone to have a relationship with God. God also sent them prophets to teach them what they needed to know in order to do the job given to them. However, instead of being God's messengers to the world, they followed the way of pride and claimed special knowledge which they refused to share because it made them feel better than other people. However, the problem with this attitude is that we loose knowledge which we fail to share. In addition, the best way to learn is to try to teach others. Their questions and challenges cause us to find a better understanding of the knowledge. Therefore, with this question, Jesus was pointing out the loss of knowledge and understanding by Israel, (God's people) which was due to their failure to do their job and share the knowledge of God and of God's true nature with other people. The fact that Nicodemus had trouble understanding the basic concepts which Jesus had expressed in 3:5 through 3:8, and yet was considered to be a master of Israel, showed the loss of knowledge and understanding which God had provided. This loss showed their failure to teach others.

In addition, it also showed their failure to teach people how to think and figure these things out for themselves. Instead of teaching people to think they only taught people to memorize 'pat answers'. Think about this. When we first learned to add numbers we were taught 'pat answers' such as 2+2=4. After that we were taught the general rule for adding any numbers and, like all children, we complained about how hard it was. However, children who only know the 'pat answers' are crippled mentally when compared to those who know how to use the general rule. Now compare this to the typical religious training which only gives 'pat answers'. However, God gave us a brain which is better than He gave to animals which rely upon the 'pat answers' of instinct. Therefore, God wants us to go beyond the 'pat answers' and learn how to think and understand spiritual matters for ourselves.

If we look at how Jesus truly taught people we see Him using things like the parables which require people to think in order to truly understand. He rarely gave 'pat answers'. Therefore, the question in this sentence is really a comment on the way that religion normally teaches with 'pat answers' instead of teaching people to use their brain and think for themselves.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

Please see the note for 1Peter 2:18 about the word master. The functional definition is: 'A man who rules, governs or directs either men or business'.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 3:7-8 about the phrase children of Israel. Please also see the note for Romans C11S30 about the phrase all Israel shall be saved.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Art. Isa 9:16; 29:10-12; 56:10; Jer 8:8-9; Mt 11:25; 15:14; 22:29
and knowest. De 10:16; 30:6; 1Ch 29:19; Ps 51:6,10; 73:1; Isa 11:6-9; 66:7-9; Jer 31:33; 32:39-40; Eze 11:19; 18:31-32; 36:25-27; 37:23-24; Ro 2:28; Php 3:3; Col 2:11
General references. exp: Mt 7:8; Mr 7:18; Joh 3:1'.

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C3-S11 (Verse 11) Jesus said that he didn't understand because the Jews rejected the true witness.

First Step: Identify His ability to testify.

Verily,
verily,
I say unto thee,
We speak that we do know,
and testify that we have seen;

Second Step: Explain the lack of knowledge.

and ye receive not our witness.

Please notice the use of the word ye in the Second Step. This means; 'each and every one of you personally'. Jesus was not saying that only Nicodemus had received not our witness, but that all of Israel had done this. With this in mind, we can now look at the context.

In the prior sentence Jesus pointed out the failure of how Israel taught people spiritual matters. Here Jesus is claiming personal knowledge and ability to speak (testify) and saying that these Jews, who were not taught how to think for themselves, receive not our witness because it went against all of the 'pat answers' which religion had taught them in the past.

Following this sentence we see Jesus teaching spiritual truths and also teaching how to understand spiritual things. In this section we see that He did not do as the main religious teachers and just give 'pat answers'.

Our sentence starts with Verily, verily because Jesus is making a legal testimony of truth. (The word verily means: 'In truth; in fact; certainly'.) He uses this word twice to meet the legal requirement of two or three witnesses in order to establish a fact that everyone is to believe.

The next thing that Jesus said was I say unto thee. Jesus is saying this to Nicodemus personally because he has shown a willingness to think for himself and be different from the rest of the masters of Israel who only dealt with 'pat answers' and had personally (ye) receive not our witness.

The next phrase, in our First Step, says: We speak that we do know. Please notice that the word We is capitalized and is the plural form of personal identification. Jesus is using this word to identify Himself and God's Holy Ghost, because the Bible only applies the capitalized pronoun of God. With this phrase claiming personal knowledge for what he says. This is contrasted to the typical religious teacher who quotes other religious teachers as the basis of his authority to speak.

The next phrase, in our First Step, says: and testify that we have seen. Jesus is adding the fact that His statements can be used in God's court to convict people who reject His testimony. In addition, the phrase that we have seen assures us that He meets the legal requirement to testify. Many religious leaders claim the ability to testify because of their position, but that claim does not meet the legal requirement. Throughout all of the Gospels we read how the religious leaders disputed with Jesus based upon the assumption that their position made them better witnesses that someone who could claim that we have seen. However, their claim will be rejected by God's court. In addition, the We, of this phrase, means that there were two Who did testify: Jesus and God's Holy Spirit. Thus, He had the legal requirement of two or three witnesses while the religious leaders had no legal standing for their dispute.

After establishing His legal right to testify, in the First Step, Jesus states, in the Second Step, that the religious leaders had 'each and every one of them personally' received not our witness. Thus, they were in violation of legal principal and, therefore, had voided any authority to speak for God. Therefore, Nicodemus had to choose to stay with the religious people, who were in legal error, or go with Jesus Who had established His legal right to testify.

Please see the note for Galatians 5:3 about the word testify. The functional definition for this word is: 'To make a statement which is intended to be used in a court of law if necessary'. Please also see the note for 1Corinthians C11S29 about the word testament. Please also see the note for Hebrews 9:15 about the words new testament. Please also see the note for Psalms 119 about the words testimony / testimonies. The functional definition is: 'statements that are used in a court of law to judge the legality of someone's actions' . Please also see the Study called the Testimony of God

Please see the notes for Romans C14S1; 1Corinthians C15S1 and Colossians 2:6-7 about the word receive. The functional definition is: 'To take, as a thing offered or sent; to accept'.

Please see the note for Hebrews 11:4 about the word witness. Please also see the notes for 2Corinthians 13:1; Colossians C3S13 about the phrase two or three witnesses. While men define a witness as someone who sees or hears an event, the Bible also includes the ability to testify in God's court for the definition of this word. Satan is not a witness because he is a liar and not qualified to testify in God's court. Every usage within John's Gospel includes this extra qualifier. In addition, when we study the use of this word within this Gospel, we see that God punishes people who reject the witness which He sends.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'verily. Joh 3:3,5 exp: Mt 5:18; Mr 14:18.
We speak. Joh 3:13,32-34; 1:18; 7:16; 8:14,28-29,38; 12:49; 14:24; Isa 55:4; Mt 11:27; Lu 10:22; 1Jo 1:1-3; 5:6-12; Re 1:5; 3:14
ye. Joh 3:32; 1:11; 5:31-40,43; 12:37-38; Isa 50:2; 53:1; 65:2; Mt 23:37; Ac 22:18; 28:23-27; 2Co 4:4
General references. exp: Joh 12:49'.

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C3-S12 (Verse 12) Jesus asked how he thought to understand when he rejected obvious truth.

If I have told you earthly things,
and ye believe not,
how shall ye believe,
if I tell you of heavenly things?

Here we see the way that God teaches us about heavenly things. Our experience does not include anything from heaven but does include things from earth. Therefore, God uses the things which we understand from personal experience to show us a principal and then uses the same principal to teach us things about heaven.

While this is a God-given valid method of teaching, there are limits which are not shown here. If you search the Bible for forms of the word nature, you should see how to properly use 'Natural Law'. God, Who does not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8) created nature. Therefore, the laws which He established in nature show us how God acts in all things, including the spiritual and heaven. However, we are warned against science falsely so called: in 1Timothy 6:20. Therefore, we must be sure that the 'Natural Law', which we use, was actually established by God and is not some error from man. This is what we see Jesus do. Thus, we see a principal that we can use to learn and teach about spiritual things by using the 'Natural Law' which was truly established by God.

While our sentence is a question, we can see, in the first phrase, that Jesus said that He had told you earthly things. That is: He had taught things using the 'Natural Law' which was truly established by God. While Jesus had taught the group (you), 'each and every one of them personally ' (ye) had believed not. Thus, we see a personal responsibility to believe regardless of what others in the group do.

The last two phrases of our sentence (how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things) are a challenge to understand how to separate spiritual truth from error and then to believe the spiritual truth. Here we see that we must evaluate 'pat answers' and determine if they truly match the principles of 'Natural Law' which was truly established by God, or if they match the principles of science falsely so called (1Timothy 6:20). We also see that we need to be able to separate truth from error within the things which we know and understand before we can use the same principles to separate truth from error in spiritual matters.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 5:1 and Philippians 2:9-11 about the word earth. The functional definition is: 'All of this physical world including the influence it has on us. At times the application will focus on only part of the whole'.

Please see the notes for Romans C10S15; 1Corinthians C14S25 and Galatians C3-S8 about the word believe. The functional definition is: 'To credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of something upon the declaration of another, or upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by other circumstances, than personal knowledge. All true Biblical belief results in action based upon that belief'. Please see the notes for Romans 3:26-LJC and John 20:31-LJC about the phrase believe in Jesus / Christ. Please see the note for John 6:40 about the phrase believe on. That note has links to every place in the New Testament where we find forms of this phrase along with an explanation of the usage. Please also see the note for John 12:42 which also has links to every place, in this Gospel, where we find the phrase believe in and the difference in definitions between believe in and believe on.

Please see the note for Philippians 2:9-11 about the word heaven. The functional definition is: 'According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, (a) The firmament, as "fowls of the heaven" (Ge 2:19; 7:3,23; Ps 8:8, etc.), "the eagles of heaven" (La 4:19), etc. (b) The starry heavens (De 17:3; Jer 8:2; Mt 24:29). (c) "The heaven of heavens," or "the third heaven" (De 10:14; 1Ki 8:27; Ps 115:16; 148:4; 2Co 12:2)'. Please also see the note for 1Peter 1:2-LJC about the phrase heaven, things in. Please also see the notes for 1Timothy 6:15-LJC and 1Peter 2:1 about the phrase kingdom of heaven. Please also see the note for Hebrews 12:2-LJC about the phrase treasure in heaven.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'earthly. Joh 3:3,5,8; 1Co 3:1-2; Heb 5:11; 1Pe 2:1-3
heavenly. Joh 3:13-17,31-36; 1:1-14; 1Co 2:7-9; 1Ti 3:16; 1Jo 4:10'.

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C3-S13 (Verse 13) Jesus brought truth from heaven.

And no man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven.

This sentence is added to the prior because it starts with the word and. There we saw that Jesus had taught the group of the Jews earthly things but the individuals personally refused to believe and the indication was that they refused because they were accepting what the group believed. That is: they believed the 'pat answers' from religious teachers and refused to use their God-given brains to figure out that the 'pat answers' were wrong. Now, in this sentence, Jesus is telling them that the authors of those 'pat answers' have never ascended up to heaven and, therefore, can not testify from personal experience. However, the Son of man... came down from heaven and testified based upon personal experience, but was not believed. Thus, they had two methods to verify, and believe, what the Son of man testified and they had evidence to show that the 'pat answers' were wrong, yet they accepted the 'pat answers' and rejected the testimony from the Son of man.

As explained in the note for this verse within the Lord Jesus Christ Study (use the link in the sentence outline above), Jesus used the title of: Son of man to emphasize His human experience and His qualification to speak of earthly things. That note also explains how His use of the present-tense word is also emphasizes His qualification to speak of heavenly things. After establishing His own credentials, and pointing out the lack of credentials by those who opposed Him, He will explain how God will accomplish spiritual goals within this Earth. That is what He does starting in the next sentence and continuing through 3:21. Therefore, in addition to giving us the information within this sentence, we also see Jesus present his message in an orderly fashion. That order is:

He got the attention of Nicodemus by answering his main question in a way which required Nicodemus to think. (C3-S1)
He established that the physical and the spiritual are different and that we need to deal with both.(C3-S5-S7)
He showed Nicodemus how to verify the spiritual.(C3-S8)
He proved that the answers from religion were not right and that the way that religion taught for verifying truth was not adequate.(C3-S10)
He established His own credentials for telling the truth.(C3-S11-S13)
He explained the spiritual symbolism which religion had misinterpreted.(C3-S14)
He explained Gods plan for accomplishing spiritual goals in this Earth.(3:16)
He explained Gods purpose for His spiritual goals in this Earth.(C3-S16)
He explained how God will separate those people to be saved from those people to be condemned.(C3-S17)
He explained why God would condemn people.(C3-S18-S19)
He explained why God would save people.(C3-S20)

What should be obvious from the outline, above, of this section, is that John 3:16 is only a small part of an entire discourse. Further, when John 3:16 is preached, most of the rest of this discourse is neglected. Further, since taking Bible verses out of context is the way of Satan, some preaching on John 3:16 is doctrinal error. Finally, regardless of how much is preached, the preacher needs to verify that his message matches the message of the entire discourse and the listener also need to do the same verification.

In case it was lost in all of the discussion above about context and details, the main message of this sentence is that the Son of man is the ONLY qualified witness to tell us about things in heaven from personal experience. Later on Paul and John will speak from their short visits, but even then a person visiting a place for a short time does not have the same authority to speak as someone who lived there. Thus, the message of our sentence is that no other person can be found to speak with the same, or greater, authority as the Son of man had.

Please see the note for John 6:62 about the word ascend. The functional definition is: 'To go or move upwards'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'no man. Joh 1:18; 6:46; De 30:12; Pr 30:4; Ac 2:34; Ro 10:6; Eph 4:9
but. Joh 6:33,38,51,62; 8:42; 13:3; 16:28-30; 17:5; 1Co 15:47
even. Joh 1:18; Mt 28:20; Mr 16:19-20; Ac 20:28; Eph 1:23; 4:10
General references. exp: Ge 11:5; De 30:12; Joh 6:62'.

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C3-S14 (Verse 14-15) Symbolism from Jewish history.

Equivalent Section: Historic symbolism.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

Equivalent Section: The meaning.

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life.

This is a reference to Numbers 21:4-9 where God's people sinned by complaining when they were discouraged And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. God had Moses make a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole...that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. This is the basis of the song 'Look and Live'.

This sentence is another of the prophecies made by Jesus Christ. Please use this link to see all of the prophecies which I have located. (These are not from someone else. Therefore, some other reference may have different, or more, prophecies identified.)

One of the things that people need to understand, and keep in mind, is that a Biblical symbol is a simple thing to remind us of a greater spiritual truth. The symbol is not important but the spiritual truth that it points us to is what is important. When men start to worship the symbol, instead of using it to remind us of the spiritual truth, their action becomes idolatry. That is why God had the serpent of brass, which Moses made, destroyed according to 2Kings 18:4. Thus, the important thing about this symbol is the true spiritual meaning of it , which Jesus explains in this sentence.

Before we get into the symbolism, we need to recognize that our sentence starts with the word and. In addition, the prior sentence also started with the word and. This means that our current sentence and the prior sentence are added to the message of the second prior sentence. Further, the next sentence, and the sentence after it, both start with the word for, which means that they give us the reasons why Jesus said what He did in these first three connected sentences. Therefore, at a bare minimum, all 5 sentences need to be considered together in order to properly consider the context and avoid the way of Satan for taking Bible verses out of context. Since John 3:16 is the last of these sentences, preaching it without considering all of the related context is using the way of Satan. That is one of the main reasons why people hear a message on John 3:16, make a profession and then later claim that they made a false profession or doubt their salvation. Just like the serpent of brass became an object of idolatry to the Jews, so also can John 3:16 become a means of idolatry. When John 3:16 is taken out of context, it can, and is, presented in a way that people think they are saved because they said 'the prayer of salvation' instead of because they believeth in ...the Son of man Who was lifted up. In 14:6 we read that Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Therefore, our salvation is provided by the person who is 'God in human flesh' and not by our 'prayer of salvation'. Thus, when we ignore the context we are in danger of using God's word to preach idolatry.

Having given all of the background reasons for considering the context, we need to do so. Our first sentence of this group (3:12) told us the difference between earthly things and heavenly things. It also warned us that if we don't believe the truth then we can be led into doctrinal error. The second sentence of this group (3:13) told us that the Son of man which is in heaven is our source for spiritual truth and to not rely upon religion. Now our current sentence tells us the spiritual truth which we must believe. Our next sentence (3:16) gives us the first reason why we must believe the truth of our current sentence and the last sentence of our group (3:17) gives us the second reason why we must believe the truth of our current sentence. Our first reason is what God wants to do for us by having us believe this truth and our second reason is why God wants to save us. Thus, we can see how all of these sentences go together to provide a single connected message.

The final consideration of context is that in 3:1 through 3:21 we have the account of Jesus telling Nicodemus that he must be saved. As already pointed out, it is important to consider the full context of what is presented within the Bible.

Now, after considering the context of this sentence, we can look at the details of it. Within the structure of our sentence we have two Equivalent Sections with the First Equivalent Section giving us the historic symbolism and the Second Equivalent Section giving us the meaning of that symbolism. Thus, our sentence helps us to understand symbolism.

In the First Equivalent Section we see the words even so starting the first phrase. This lets us know that Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness symbolized the action of the Son of man being lifted up. As already said, the symbol is not important but the spiritual truth that it points to is what is important. Therefore, the action of the Son of man being lifted up is what is truly important. This, of course, is the death which is part of the true Gospel of salvation.

In the Second Equivalent Section we see the meaning of the symbolism, which also gives us the reason why the Son of man (had to be) lifted up. Thus, in our learning to understand symbolism, we see that the symbol points to another event and that we need to understand the spiritual significance of that event before we can truly understand the symbol. Therefore, symbols can easily lead to doctrinal error when people try to understand the symbol separate from the event that the symbol points to and the spiritual meaning of that event.

As is usually properly explained, the Second Equivalent Section tells us how to avoid Hell and the lake of fire (Romans 1:3-LJC) and how to end up in heaven. Having said that, some people preach a difference between believeth in and believeth on. However, since believeth in is used in this sentence and in 3:16, while believeth on is used in 3:18, and since all are part of the same message, that distinction is not correct. However, the doctrinal difference between the words believe and believeth is important. The th in the word believeth means to 'keep on keeping on believing for the rest of your life'. The first sentence of our group (3:12) used the word believe because that belief could change and Jesus hoped to cause such a change. However, the rest of the sentences, in our group, use the word believeth because this belief is to last forever, just like true Biblical salvation lasts forever.

Returning to our First Equivalent Section, we see that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and in the original account, as already mentioned, we read that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. This was given to the children of God who, within the symbolism, are a type of the saved today. (With our sentence explicitly making the symbolism apply to today, this is a proper application of the symbolism.) Where a lot of people mess up the symbolism is that they apply it to the lost getting saved. However, at the time of the incident, the Jews were already saved (from Egypt), baptized (unto Moses), had gone to the promised land and rebelled, and were being punished because they spake against God, and against Moses and were complaining about God's provision instead of being thankful. The equivalent type of saved people of today are the people that this symbolism applies to. It is 'saved and backslidden' people who must look and live. However, just as in the original account, they also must truly Biblically repent. In addition, just as in the original account, they must look to Jesus as God and worship Him by recognizing His power and authority which is beyond the power and authority of any man or religion. They must also . repent for their complaining and disobedience while agreeing to obey with a proper attitude. Also, as in the original account, those who do what God truly requires were healed and lived. The children of God who refused to truly obey in all aspects and attitude, died.

Part of the symbolism of the First Equivalent Section is the word serpent. As one dictionary, and the word definitions below, say: 'This word is used symbolically of a deadly, subtle, malicious enemy'. While this is true, many people believe that the serpent is used symbolically for Satan while it is truly used symbolically for sin. Sin is actually our 'deadly, subtle, malicious enemy' because it entices while hiding the addictive nature that even traps saved people. In addition, 2Corinthians 5:21 says: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.. Since the Son of man was made...to be sin for us, while He was on the cross, the fiery serpent...upon a pole was a symbol of the Son of man (being) made...to be sin for us.

Another part of the symbolism of the First Equivalent Section is the phrase in the wilderness. This is symbolic of God's people who are 'saved and backslidden'. Both groups of people refused to 'enter the promised land by faith' and are wandering in the results of their sin.

The second phrase, of our First Equivalent Section, has already been explained. The even so makes the two phrases have 'equal weight' and applies everything in the original historical account to must the Son of man be lifted up with our second phrase being the fulfillment of the original symbolic event. I believe I have already explained most of the important symbolism but the reader is free to add any more which does not contradict the basic symbolism of this sentence and section of this Gospel.

Our Second Equivalent Section has already been explained except for the words whosoever and eternal life. Enough people preach about the meaning of the word whosoever that I should not have to explain it other than to mention that this proves that any religious doctrine which excludes people, beyond their repeated rejections of God, is a lie from a devil

A lot of people miss the difference between eternal life and everlasting life. As explained in the word definitions, below, eternal life is 'without beginning or end of existence' while everlasting life 'has a beginning but is without end of existence'. The doctrinal difference is that God has eternal life while He gives us everlasting life to live. Note that our sentence says that we can have eternal life. This means that we can have the Son of God for a n ongoing personal relationship which is pictured by the relationship between a man and his wife (Ephesians 5).

One more consideration is that the note for the prior sentence explains how this sentence fits within the context of this entire related set of sentences. John 3:16 is only a small part of the entire discourse and actually gives reason why the doctrine of this sentence is true. Thus, while John 3:16 is more popular to preach, the context of these sentences makes our current sentence the basis of John 3:16. Therefore, our current sentence is actually more important from a doctrinal perspective.

Finally, as explained in the note for this verse within the Lord Jesus Christ Study (use the link in the sentence outline above), Jesus used the title of: Son of man to emphasize the fact that God's Son became a literal physical man in order to meet the legal and righteous requirements for paying for our sins.

Please see the note for Hebrews 3:1 about Moses. Since Moses is identified as: 'the law-giver', his name is often used to signify the Mosaic Law.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 11:3 about the word serpent. The functional definition is: 'This word is used symbolically of a deadly, subtle, malicious enemy'.

We find forms of the word wilderness occurring 305 times in 294 verses of the Bible and, in the New Testament, in: Matthew 3:1; Matthew 3:3; Matthew 4:1; Matthew 11:7; Matthew 15:33; Mark 1:3; Mark 1:4; Mark 1:12; Mark 1:13; Mark 8:4; Luke 3:2; Luke 3:4; Luke 4:1; Luke 5:16; Luke 7:24; Luke 8:29; Luke 15:4; John 1:23; John 3:14; John 6:49; John 11:54; Acts 7:30; Acts 7:36; Acts 7:38; Acts 7:42; Acts 7:44; Acts 13:18; Acts 21:38; 1Corinthians 10:5; 2Corinthians11:26; Hebrews 3:8; Hebrews 3:17; Revelation 12:6; Revelation 12:14; Revelation 17:3. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: '(1.) Heb midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle (Ps 65:12; Isa 42:11; Jer 23:10; Joe 1:19; 2:22); an uncultivated place. This word is used of the wilderness of Beersheba (Ge 21:14), on the southern border of Palestine; the wilderness of the Red Sea (Ex 13:18); of Shur (Ex 15:22), a portion of the Sinaitic peninsula; of Sin (Ex 17:1), Sinai (Le 7:38), Moab (De 2:8), Judah (Jg 1:16), Ziph, Maon, En-gedi (1Sa 23:14,24; 24:1), Jeruel and Tekoa (2Ch 20:16,20), Kadesh (Ps 29:8).
"The wilderness of the sea" (Isa 21:1). Principal Douglas, referring to this expression, says: "A mysterious name, which must be meant to describe Babylon (see especially ver. Isa 21:9), perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been (comp. Eze 20:35). Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title in Isa 22:1. Jerusalem is the "valley of vision," rich in spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea (comp. Isa 57:20)." A Short Analysis of the O.T.
(2.) Jeshimon, a desert waste (De 32:10; Ps 68:7).
(3.) 'Arabah, the name given to the valley from the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. In De 1:1; 2:8, it is rendered "plain" (R.V., "Arabah").
(4.) Tziyyah, a "dry place" (Ps 78:17; 105:41).
(5.) Tohu, a "desolate" place, a place "waste" or "unoccupied" (De 32:10; Job 12:24; comp. Ge 1:2, "without form"). The wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for forty years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled "the wilderness of the wanderings." This entire region is in the form of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex toward the south. Its extent from north to south is about 250 miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad. Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is not a single river. The northern part of this triangular peninsula is properly the "wilderness of the wanderings" (et-Tih). The western portion of it is called the "wilderness of Shur" (Ex 15:22), and the eastern the "wilderness of Paran."
The "wilderness of Judea" (Mt 3:1) is a wild, barren region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. It is the "Jeshimon" mentioned in 1Sa 23:19'. The functional definition is: 'While The New Testament sometimes uses this word for a physical place, it is usually used symbolic of God's people who are saved and backslidden'.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 2:15-16 and 2Corinthians 4:16 about the word perish. The functional definition is: ' To die; to lose life in any manner'.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 4:17-18 about the word eternal. The functional definition is: 'Without beginning or end of existence'. Please note that eternal life is different from everlasting life in that while eternal life is 'Without beginning or end of existence', everlasting life 'has a beginning but is without end of existence'. Please see the note for John 5:24 about the phrase everlasting life. Please also see the note for Life in 1John about the phrase eternal life.

The word life is used 44 times in the Gospel of John. The word definitions, within the note for C1-S4, have links to many other places on this site where this word is also dealt with. 17:3 gives us the definition, from Jesus Christ, when it says: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.. In the Bible, the word know includes a personal intimate relationship (Genesis 4:1). All life moves and changes by its own ability. Only dead things do not move and change by their own ability. Further, a study of this word, within John's Gospel, will also show that those people who truly have received God's life also demonstrate a God caused change in their own life which makes them more holy and more righteous. Further, John 20:31 tells us: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. Thus, we see that our receiving God's life is the main purpose of John's Gospel. Therefore, it should be obvious that this is a major theme of John's Gospel.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 2:15; Philippians 1:19-20; Life in 1John about the word life. The functional definition is: 'Life is that by which a created being enjoys the place in which the Creator has set it' . Please also see the note for Life in 1John about the phrase eternal life. Please also see the notes for Hebrews 1:8-LJC; Philippians 1:27-LJC about the phrase life everlasting. Please note that eternal life is different from everlasting life in that while eternal life is 'Without beginning or end of existence', everlasting life 'has a beginning but is without end of existence'. Please see the note for John 5:24 about the phrase everlasting life. Please also see the note for Life in 1John about the phrase eternal life. Please also see the note for Romans C10S15 about the phrase belief changes life. Please also see the note for 1Corinthians C6S16 about the phrase kingdom of God rejected by lifestyle sins. Please also see the notes for Romans C14S11; Galatians C2-S14 and Philippians 1:21 about the word live. Please also see the note for Colossians C3S4 about the phrase Christ lives through us. Please also see the note for Ephesians C1S2 about the phrase just shall live by faith. Please also see the note for Romans C11S6 about the phrase just shall live by his faith. Please also see the note for Romans C9S28 about the phrase live / walk by faith.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'as. Nu 21:7-9; 2Ki 18:4
even. Joh 8:28; 12:32-34; Ps 22:16; Mt 26:54; Lu 18:31-33; 24:20,26-27,44-46; Ac 2:23; 4:27-28
General references. exp: Ro 3:28.
whosoever. Joh 3:16,36; 1:12; 6:40,47; 11:25-26; 12:44-46; 20:31; Isa 45:22; Mr 16:16; Ac 8:37; 16:30-31; Ro 5:1-2; 10:9-14; Ga 2:16,20; Heb 7:25; 10:39; 1Jo 5:1,11-13 exp: Ac 10:43.
not. Joh 5:24; 10:28-30; Mt 18:11; Lu 19:10; Ac 13:41; 1Co 1:18; 2Co 4:3
eternal. Joh 17:2-3; Ro 5:21; 6:22-23; 1Jo 2:25; 5:13,20 exp: Mt 19:16; Tit 1:2.
General references. exp: Ro 3:28'.

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C3-S15 (Verse 16) The meaning of the symbolism.

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

In 3:1 through 3:21 we have the account of Jesus telling Nicodemus that he must be saved. In addition, the note for 3:13 explains how this sentence is part of several connected sentences and all of the connections of these sentences. That note also explains how people preach doctrinal error by taking some of these sentences out of context. Therefore, it is important to consider the full context of what is presented within the Bible. Please consider all of the account together to get the full context which God gives to us.

There is a very important word definition involved in this sentence which most people don't know and, therefore, present the doctrine of this sentence wrong. The th in the word believeth means to 'keep on keeping on believing for the rest of your life'. In addition, there is a difference between the world's definition of believe and the Biblical definition. This difference is presented in the epistle from James about the word faith. You also see it presented in messages with a title like 'Missing heaven by 18 inches'. The world claims that if some thought wanders through your brain then that qualifies as believe. Good preachers tell you that you must believe in your heart (Mark 11:23; Mark 16:14; Luke 8:12; Luke 24:25; John 14:1; Acts 4:32; Acts 8:37; Romans 10:9-10). What is rarely presented is that true believe in your heart 'motivates you to obey the word of God and the Spirit of God'. Therefore, the word believeth gives you 'a life-style of motivating you to obey the word of God and the Spirit of God'. This is what we get with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Thus, our sentence is really telling us that whosoever believeth ('has the indwelling Holy Spirit') in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This is a very popular verse to preach from. Unfortunately, a lot of that preaching contains doctrinal error. In particular, There is a lot of error preached about works as they relate to true Biblical salvation. We are truly Biblically saved when we receive God's life in us. God uses physical life to teach us about spiritual life. Life starts at conception. Before conception there is no body. Therefore, it is impossible to do work before conception. However, once there is a body, all life moves and does other things which are called work.

Philippians 1:27-28 tells us that our conversation ('way of life') is supposed to be an evident token of salvation. That is: people should see a God caused change in our conversation ('way of life'). The doctrinal error which is called 'Works Salvation' claim that we must produce works in order to be saved. The prior paragraph shows the error of that claim. It also claims that people must have visible works and, usually, tells us what those works must be. However, it is possible for God to cause a change in our life which others don't see. In addition, the Bible tells us that there are several different an evident tokens of salvation. Therefore, these claims are doctrinal error. Yes, we are supposed to have an evident token of salvation, but I find no place where the Bible says that it is mandatory for salvation. In addition, there is no place where the Bible says that it must be seen by men not where the Bible supports the other claims of people who preach 'Works Salvation'.

On the opposite side of that error are the people who preach 'It's all be grace with no works'. However, all life moves, which means that all life does works. In addition, there is a lot of Bible references, such as Romans 6, which prove that the claims of 'In change / no works' are also doctrinal error. The simple fact is that when people preach Ephesians 2:8-9 while leaving out Ephesians 2:10 are following the way of Satan and taking Bible references out of context. Those are two sentences which both start with the word for and give us two related reasons why what was said in the start of the chapter is true. The first sentence says Not of works, lest any man should boast while the second sentence says For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Therefore, there are no works in order to be saved but, after our salvation is started, God is doing a continuous work in our life (For we are his workmanship) with the plan that His workmanship will produce a result which is 'up to and including' (unto), but not required to produce, good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Therefore, both the doctrine of 'no works' and the doctrine of 'required works' are doctrinal error.

With that covered, we can now look at what our sentence actually says.

One of the most important things to note is that our sentence begins with the word For. That means that it is giving a reason why what was said previously is true. As already mentioned in prior notes, most of the preaching on this sentence ignores this doctrinal truth and some of it, as a result, takes this sentence out of context to teach doctrinal error. It is hoped that the reader will pay attention to all of the context and avoid preaching doctrinal error based upon this sentence.

There has been so much preached and written about this verse that I can not possibly cover everything as part of this study. Below is just a minimalist covering.

There is a wonderful saying that paraphrases John 21:24 but which I can't quote exactly. Many people know about and I believe that it is even in a song. It basically says: 'If the sky was a scroll and all the reeds of Earth were pens and all the oceans were ink and every man a scribe by trade, it would not be sufficient to write all of the wonder of God'.
This sentence uses God for God the Father and many people are so concentrated upon what God the Son did for salvation that they forget that God the Father and the Holy Ghost also are involved in our salvation. Each person within the Trinity did something different, and each part is required. God the Father provided all of the power and authority and much more for our salvation. Many people compare us to worms when trying to express the relationship between God and man. Personally, I find the true comparison to be more along the line of a particularly nasty virus. If you look at what the Bible says is the difference between man and God in relationship to size, power, intelligence, basic nature, etc, you should understand this comparison. 1Peter 1:10 tells us that the angels desire to look into the things that God did for man. If someone had a virus like AIDS, they wouldn't look for some way to convert the nature of the virus but would tell the doctor to destroy it. If that destruction meant that the virus would burn up, some would say 'so what' and others would say 'they deserve it'. All would be as amazed as the angers were at a plan to convert and save some nasty virus.
So loved tells us how much God loved the world. I do not (currently) have a complete Biblical word study on love but love definitely has a different definition in the Bible than the definition used by the world and by lost religious people. Any definition of love that is not from a proper Bible word study is almost guaranteed to less than the truth, if not outright wrong. Once the Biblical definition of love is found, then the amount of that love (so) can only be appreciated by also considering the differences between God and man. As the Bible teaches in many places, its easy to love your equal or someone who you consider greater. God not only loved the lesser but loved enemies that were so far below Him that it was beyond the comprehension of all the angels, including Satan.
The world is what God loved. Lots of people will give you lots of different definitions for the world, but the functional definition is: 'all of the people in the world as a group'. The true Biblical definition might include more but must include at least this much. With that, I will simply point out that it does not say, in this verse, that God loved each and every sinner while they are living in their sin. Many people believe that God loves them individually, while they are still children of the devil, and that because of that love, God will put up with anything. This error is what leads to false doctrines like 'no Hell'. Yes, Romans 5:8 does say But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. However, that us and we is plural and anyone who tries to make it personal before they have the personal relationship called salvation is a fool. They are a double fool if they think it allows them to go to heaven without doing what God said for them to do. John 16:27 says For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. Notice that John 16:27 has taken the general plural words of world and you and changed those words to individual and personal word of ye when it talks about our response which is required for true salvation. In addition, the word because means that what follows it is why the Father himself loveth you. The reason is because ye have loved me. Ye is plural personal meaning 'each and every one of you personally'. Therefore, the Father's personal individual love doesn't come until after the individual has believed and loved the Son.
That means 'here's why God gave His Son'. God gave His Son to prove His love, period. He did not do it for any value in you, me or the entire world. God values the world so little that he will destroy it. Man's 'love' is actually lust and is based upon the value that he assigns to the object of the love. God's love is based upon Himself and is proven to be of greater value, than what man calls 'love', by the sinful condition that that we were in before God applied His love to us personally. However, as Romans 6 teaches, God loves us too much to leave us in our sin and anyone who stays in their sin proves that they are not in God's love. He saved us to prove His love. If we don't show evidence of that love, in or life, then there is reason to question the truthfulness of our claimed salvation.
He gave not only specifies who gave, but what he did. Man's definition of love is based upon receiving. God's definition of love is based upon giving. God not only gave His Son, but He gave grace and truth. Please see John 1:14-17 and related notes for information about grace and truth that most people don't realize.
His only begotten means that God was the physical father of Jesus. Please see Matthew 1 and Matthew 2 and Luke 3 and related notes especially for Matthew 1:18 and Luke 3:23. In addition, John 10:17 says Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. God can not lay down His life because God can not die. Man can not take his life again. Only a 'God-man' could lay down His life as man and take it again by the power of God. There was/is only one 'God-man' who was begotten by God and a human woman. There was/is only one person in all of history who could do what was necessary to redeem man. Each of these words have critical importance, even if I don't provide the details.
Son 'has the character of God the Father'. He shows us God the Father's character and enables us to become like God the Father (John 1:12). While several places use the phrases Son of God or Son of man or Son of David, our sentence uses the word Son by itself to include all of the other qualified titles. Please use the link in the sentence outline, above, to access the note in the Lord Jesus Christ Study which has more details.
That = 'here is why God did it'.
Whosoever = anyone. You can not get any clearer disproof for these people who like to claim that God only saves their group. While God definitely does not save everyone, He does offer salvation to everyone. In addition, the only way that God removes this offer is if someone repeatedly rejects God. (the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man [Genesis 6:3]).
Believeth in him has a very specific Biblical meaning. Please see note for John 3:14 which discusses this phrase.
Should not perish, but have everlasting life means that the only reason that we don't perish (go to an Hell and then spend eternity in the lake of Fire [Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14-15]) is because we have everlasting life. Please see note for John 3:14 which discusses the difference between eternal life and everlasting life.
Everlasting is a qualifier to life, which makes it less important than life. No one wants Everlasting death. So, not only the structure of the grammar but simple logic shows us that we had better find out what will last forever before we say that it is good or wonderful.
Life [from God] is the basic Biblical definition of Salvation. This doctrine is covered many other places in this study in more detail than what I want to put here. Life does not end at birth. What was 'done' precedes birth and provides for it. Those who claim that salvation is 'all done' are Biblically wrong for denying the ongoing spiritual life (salvation) that occurs from profession without end. People who teach that false doctrine are just as bad as those who claim that salvation is 'all do'. The 'doers' deny the basic truth that how a child acts after birth has nothing to do with the conception and life starts at conception. Life begets similar life and God's life only comes from God, Who does not need our actions to enable His putting His life in us. Mary had to receive physical seed from God to produce God's only begotten Son and we have to receive spiritual seed from God's Holy Spirit and God's word before we become God's son. True Biblical salvation is a personal relationship with God that involves the ministry personal of Jesus and the personal ministry of Christ and the legal ministry of the Lord and all work through the ongoing ministry of God's Holy Spirit. Anyone who denies either ministry is Biblically wrong.

While I have gone through each word of this sentence, and provided a minimal explanation of the doctrine involved, there is much more doctrine related to this sentence. As mentioned at the start of this note, this sentence is only part of related sentences and must be kept within the context where God gave it if we wish to remain doctrinally correct. Therefore, those other sentences, and their related notes, also need to be considered. In addition, as I also acknowledged, many others provide much more about the application of this sentence. The most critical thing for the reader to do is verify what they read against what the word of God says, as interpreted by God's Holy Spirit, because there is much doctrinal error within the world.

We see the exact phrase of: only begotten Son in: John 1:18; 3:16, 3:18; Hebrews 11:17 and ; 1John 4:9. All use a capitalized Son, for Jesus, except the reference in Hebrews. That reference uses the lower-case for Isaac, who was a type of Jesus.

Please see the notes for Romans 8:39-LJC; Galatians C5-S14; Philippians 1:9-11; love in 1John and 2John 1:3-LJC about the word love. In particular, the note for 2John 1:3-LJC has links to every place where John writes about the word love. Please also see the note for Revelation 8:35-LJC for a table which divides the various roles of God and gives Bible references for how God loves us through each of His roles. Please also see the note for Revelation 8:35-LJC for a table which divides the various roles of God and gives Bible references for how God loves us through each of His roles. Please see the note for 1John C3S26 about the phrase love one another. Please see the note for 1John C4S13 about the phrase perfect love. Please see the notes for Romans C9S23 and Colossians C3S8 about the word beloved. The true Biblical doctrine of this word is very complex since it is a character trait of God. That said, a simple functional definition is: 'Doing what brings the greatest ultimate good to another being without any consideration of cost to self and not consideration of any response by the other and a willingness to even bring short-term pain if that is what is required in order to bring the ultimate long-tern good'.

Please see the notes for Romans C16S33; 1Timothy 1:15; 2Timothy C1S5; 1Corinthians C1S19 and World in 1John about the word world. The functional definition is: 'all of the people in the world as a group'.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 5:5 and Philippians 4:15 about the word give. The functional definition is: 'ppr. Bestowing; confering; imparting; granting; delivering. GIV'ING, n. The act of confering'. Please see the note for 2Corinthians 9:8-11 about the word given. Please see the note for 2Corinthians 9:7 about the word giver.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 2:15-16 and 2Corinthians 4:16 about the word perish. The functional definition is: ' To die; to lose life in any manner'.

Please see the note for Hebrews 1:8-LJC about the phrase life everlasting. The functional definition is: 'spiritual life that never ends'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'God. Lu 2:14; Ro 5:8; 2Co 5:19-21; Tit 3:4; 1Jo 4:9-10,19 exp: Ro 8:3; Ga 4:4; 1Jo 5:11.
gave. Joh 1:14,18; Ge 22:12; Mr 12:6; Ro 5:10; 8:32
that whosoever. Joh 3:15; Mt 9:13; 1Ti 1:15-16
General references. exp: De 30:15; Pr 8:4; Ro 3:28; 1Jo 4:19'.

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C3-S16 (Verse 17) The purpose of the symbolism.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved.

Our sentence starts with the word For and gives us the second reason why the prior sentences are true. In addition, the note for this sentence (use the link in the sentence outline above) explains how this sentence shows us the character of God the Father and of God the Son, which are the same.

When we consider the words condemn and save, we have the subject of judgment, which is the main subject of our sentence. In general, we find Jesus teaching that he does not want to judge, did not come here to judge and will only judge if people refuse to stop their sinning. To see this truth, Please consider Luke 12:14 and John 12:47 which says I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Jesus continues this doctrine in John 12:48 with He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Jesus did not come to judge or condemn but to save. However, if people refuse the salvation of Jesus, then they are judged by the word of God, as John 12:48 says. The salvation offered by Jesus is receiving God's life (1John 3:15) and then receiving the character of God by becoming God's sons (John 1:12). This change, to receive the character of God by becoming God's sons, is explained in the next couple of sentences, and especially in John 3:19. This required change is not made possible by doing some religious thing that (supposedly) gives people the legal right to demand that God let them into heaven.

When someone becomes God's child, they avoid condemnation because God does not bring them into His criminal court (John 3:18) but judges them as sons at the judgment seat of Christ (Romans C14S16; 2Corinthians 5:10). However, if people refuse the salvation offered by Jesus, which includes becoming God's son, then God brings them into His criminal court and their life is judged according to the word of God, which condemns all who do not accept salvation through the Son of God. That's when they will find out that their excuses won't be accepted (John 12:47-48). Since we all sinned (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12), we will all be condemned if we go to the court of a righteous judge (2Timothy 4:8) unless our criminal record of sin is blotted out. As the next few sentences explain, God sent His Son to provide a way for us to be saved by avoiding God's criminal court.

Please see the note for Romans C8S1 about the word condemn. The functional definition is: 'the judicial act of declaring one guilty, and dooming him to punishment'. Please also see the note for Romans C9S28 about the phrase condemnation of fools.

Please see the note for Philippians 1:19-20 for links to every place in that epistle where we find the word salvation along with definitions from three different dictionaries and links from other commentators. In Romans, the word salvation is used in our current sentence; 10:10; 11:11 and 13:11. The functional definition is: 'God's life in you'. As we see in the Bible and in this epistle, our continuing spiritual growth, and our sanctification is part of true Biblical salvation. Please see the note for Main Menu item for Salvation about the word save. Please also see the notes for 2Thessalonians 2:13-LJC and Hebrews 12:2-LJC about the phrase salvation through sanctification. Please also see Verses in the New Testament. Summary on the name / role of Saviour. Please also see the note for James 1:21 about the phrase save your soul.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'God. Joh 5:45; 8:15-16; 12:47-48; Lu 9:56 exp: Ro 8:3.
but. Joh 1:29; 6:40; Isa 45:21-23; 49:6-7; 53:10-12; Zec 9:9; Mt 1:23; 18:11; 1:23; 18:11; Lu 2:10-11; 19:10; 1Ti 2:5-6; 1Jo 2:2; 4:14
General references. exp: Mt 18:11; Ro 3:28'.

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C3-S17 (Verse 18) The result of the symbolism.

Equivalent Section: not condemned.

He that believeth on him is not condemned:

Equivalent Section: condemned.

but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Our sentence has two Equivalent Sections, with the Second Equivalent Section starting with the word but, which follows the colon and makes the Second Equivalent Section the polar opposite of the First Equivalent Section. This simple truth should be obvious to anyone who truly reads what the sentence says and even should be obvious to those people who just read the titles in the sentence outline above.

This sentence has 3 occurrences of the pronoun he and a pronoun of him which can cause confusion if these pronouns are used to identify the wrong person. The subject of the prior sentence was God's Son. Therefore, the him, of our current sentence is also God's Son since the word him is referring back to the subject of the prior sentence. In addition, the 3 times that the word he is used can be exchanged for whosoever or any name you wish to use because it is a non-specific pronoun. Thus, our sentence is telling us what happens to anyone who does or does not believeth on the Son of God.

Our sentence starts a new sub-section within this account of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. All of the sentences following C3-S12 started with connecting words, which made all of them a single sub-section within this account of what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus. Now this sentence does not start with a connecting word but the next sentence starts with the word And. The sentence after that starts with the word For, which means it is telling why this sentence and the next are true. The sentence after that starts with the word But, which means it is giving an exception to what proceeded it within this sub-section of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. The sentence after that starts a different account of what happened, so we see that everything from this sentence through C3-S20 is a single connected subsection of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus.

The word condemned is talking about the legal procedure in God's court which is also called the second death (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:8). The end result is to be cast into the lake of fire (Romans 1:3-LJC). Therefore, whether someone ends up in the lake of fire or ends up in heaven is determined by if they do what our sentence and our chapter and the Bible mean by believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Please notice that our Second Equivalent Section says e that believeth not is condemned already. This means that we start our condemned because we violated God's aw when we sinned. Therefore, those people who do not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God are going to the lake of fire regardless of what our worldly religious thinking may claim. The fact is that God does not have to judge according to our desires. Nor does He do so. Nor can anyone force God to change how He judges. So, accept what He says in His word or end up in the lake of fire.

The phrase the name of is used by the Bible to mean: 'the power and authority associated with the name'. Please notice that our sentence tells us that we are to believeth on him (the person) and we are to believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God because the person of the only begotten Son of God is the only person who can exercise 'the power and authority associated with the name'. This is the only real difference between the phrases of believe on and believe in.

Please also notice that our sentence uses the word believeth, which means to 'keep on keeping on believing'. This is not a one-time belief but a life-long ongoing belief.

Please see the note for Romans C1S10 about the word because. The functional definition is: 'provides a cause where the cause and effect are both in the past'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'is not. Joh 3:36; 5:24; 6:40,47; 20:31; Ro 5:1; 8:1,34; 1Jo 5:12
he that believeth not. Mr 16:16; Heb 2:3; 12:25; 1Jo 5:10
General references. exp: Joh 16:9; Ro 3:28; Heb 3:19'.

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C3-S18 (Verse 19) Why God condemns man.

And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.

Our sentence starts with the word And, which means it is added to the prior sentence. As explained in the note for C3-S17, everything from that sentence through C3-S20 is a single connected sub-section of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. Therefore, all of these sentences, and their related noted, need to be considered together in order to properly consider the minimal context of the sentences.

The subject of the prior sentence was condemnation. Our current sentence starts with the phrase: And this is the condemnation,. Therefore, our current sentence is adding qualifying information about the condemnation spoken about in the prior sentence.

Our sentence has three more phrases with the second phrase starting with the word that, which means it is explaining the reason for the condemnation. The third phrase starts with the word and, which means it is adding to the explanation of the reason for the condemnation. Finally, our fourth phrase starts with the word because, which means it is explaining why the condemnation occurs.

Our second phrase says that light is come into the world and, as the word definitions below explain, the word light has a functional definition of: 'The spiritual gift from God that overcomes spiritual darkness from sin and Satan. Spiritual light allows us to see and understand things from God's view. Spiritual light allows us to see how to walk, work and live in this world in a godly way'. In addition, the note for John 11:9-LJC explains the phrase Jesus is our light. Further, the other links provided below teach more on this doctrine. With all of this said, the reader should understand that our phrase is using the word light to symbolically mean Jesus. In addition, the sub-section just before this explained why God sent Jesus into the world. Therefore, this phrase is a reference back to the prior sub-section and we are being told that the condemnation is because God sent Jesus into the world and men rejected His light, as the next two phrases explain.

Our third phrase starts with the word and, which adds it to the second phrase to produce the reason for the condemnation which was just explained in the paragraph above. In addition, Romans 1, especially starting at Romans 1:20, tells us much more details about this condemnation.

This leaves our last phrase which starts with the word because and gives us the reason why men acted like they did even while the end result would be the condemnation. Our phrase tells us that their deeds were evil, which shows us that when we do evil deeds we are deliberately ignoring the consequences of those deeds. People try to claim ignorance but a truly wise person knows that they need to consider all of the consequences when they decide whether to do a deed or not. A person who only considers the short-term consequences is a fool, according to the Bible.

As already mentioned, the next sentence starts with the word For and gives us a reason why this sentence says that men act like they do even while facing God's condemnation and in spite of the fact that God sent them light.

Please see the note for John 8:12 for links to every place in this Gospel where this word is used along with several definitions and links from other commentators. Please see the notes for Romans C13S15; 2Corinthians 4:3-4; Ephesians C5S6 about the word light. The functional definition is: 'The spiritual gift from God that overcomes spiritual darkness from sin and Satan. Spiritual light allows us to see and understand things from God's view. Spiritual light allows us to see how to walk, work and live in this world in a godly way'. Every place in this Gospel where the word light is used, it is used symbolically for 'directions from God on how to live in this world'. In addition, John tells us that people who do not obey these 'directions from God' are living like lost people while people who are truly living like saved people do obey these 'directions from God'. Please see the notes for Light and Darkness in 1John; Romans C13S15; Hebrews 12:18-24 about the phrase light and darkness. Please see the note for John 11:9-LJC about the phrase Jesus is our light. Please see the note for Hebrews 6:4 about the word enlightened. The functional definition is: 'Rendered light; illuminated; instructed; informed; furnished with clear views'. Please see the note for Psalms 119:16 about the word delight. True delight is one of the effects of God's light.

Please see the notes for Romans 8:39-LJC; Galatians C5-S14; Philippians 1:9-11; love in 1John and 2John 1:3-LJC about the word love. In particular, the note for 2John 1:3-LJC has links to every place where John writes about the word love. Please also see the note for Revelation 8:35-LJC for a table which divides the various roles of God and gives Bible references for how God loves us through each of His roles. Please see the note for 1John C3S26 about the phrase love one another. Please see the note for 1John C4S13 about the phrase perfect love. Please see the notes for Romans C9S23 and Colossians C3S8 about the word beloved. The true Biblical doctrine of this word is very complex since it is a character trait of God. That said, a simple functional definition is: 'Doing what brings the greatest ultimate good to another being without any consideration of cost to self and not consideration of any response by the other and a willingness to even bring short-term pain if that is what is required in order to bring the ultimate long-tern good'.

Please see the note for John 8:12 about the word darkness. It has links to every place in this Gospel where forms of this word are used. The symbolic definition for this word is: 'lack of spiritual light and guidance from God'.

Please see the note for Romans C1S10 about the word because. The functional definition is: 'provides a cause where the cause and effect are both in the past'.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:12 about the word deed. The functional definition is: 'That which is done, acted or effected'.

Please see the note for Romans 7:19 about the word evil. The functional definition is: 'Both the source and consequence of things which people consider to be really really bad. The source and / or result can be natural or spiritual or any combination thereof. However, even what seems to be a natural source can actually be caused by a devil, especially when the recipient is a child of God. In all cases the result is deliberately intended and caused, which is what separates evil from the accidental'. Please also see the note for 1Peter 4:15 about the word evildoer. Please also see the notes for Ephesians C4S15 and 1Peter 2:1 about the phrase evil speaking. Please also see the note for Philippians 3:2 about the phrase evil workers. Please also see the note for Romans C1S16 about the phrase inventors of evil thing.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'this. Joh 1:4,9-11; 8:12; 9:39-41; 15:22-25; Mt 11:20-24; Lu 10:11-16; 12:47; Ro 1:32; 2Co 2:15-16; 2Th 2:12; Heb 3:12-13
because. Joh 5:44; 7:17; 8:44-45; 10:26-27; 12:43; Isa 30:9-12; Lu 16:14; Ac 24:21-26; Ro 2:8; 1Pe 2:8; 2Pe 3:3 exp: Isa 5:13; Lu 19:44; Joh 7:7.
General references. exp: Le 11:16; Mt 13:13; Lu 10:14; 14:24; Joh 1:5; 8:45; 16:9'.

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C3-S19 (Verse 20) The attitude of sin.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.

Our sentence starts with the word For, which means it is giving a reason why the prior sentences are true. As explained in the note for C3-S17, everything from that sentence through C3-S20 is a single connected sub-section of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. Therefore, all of these sentences, and their related noted, need to be considered together in order to properly consider the minimal context of the sentences.

While our sentence says doeth evil the Bible also speaks about an evildoer and evil speaking and inventors of evil thing and more. Therefore, the word evil is a qualifier which can be applied to any noun or verb. In addition, the word evil is part of the word devil because the devil is the originator of everything that is evil.

The first two phrases of our sentence use the verbs doeth and cometh. The structure of our sentence makes it clear that these are two separate actions which are done by people who hateth the light. In addition, the th that is added to each of these action verbs mean that the author is speaking about life-style actions, and not a one-time action, because the th means that they 'keep on keeping on doing the action'.

One important application of this sentence is the fact that there are people who claim to 'love Jesus' but their life-style is evil and / or they refuse to come to the light and have 'instructions from Jesus guide their life'. Such people are liars and the 'Jesus', whom they claim to 'love', is not the Jesus of the Bible. We can say that this is a fact because our current sentence literally says that these people hateth the light ('use instructions from Jesus to guide their life').

The last phrase of our sentence tells us why people act this way when it says lest his deeds should be reproved. The functional definition of this word is: 'To blame; to censure; to prove again that deeds are wrong'. They had been corrected but rejected the correction from the light. We can know this because, as already explained, our sentence uses life-style verbs and the first time that someone does something it is not considered to be a life-style. A life-style action requires ongoing repeated action even after receiving discouragement for doing the action. Thus, the fact that these people do not want to be reproved means that they already know the truth, have shut their mind and don't want to hear 'proof again that their deeds are wrong'. This is the attitude of: 'my mind's made up, don't confuse me with the facts'.

Please see the note for John 15:16 about the word hate. The functional definition for this word is: 'this is an action verb which encompasses the opposite attitudes and actions from love'. Please also see the note for Galatians C5S20 about the word hatred.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:12 about the word deed. The functional definition is: 'That which is done, acted or effected'.

Please see the note for Ephesians C5S7 about the word reprove. The functional definition is: 'To blame; to censure; to prove again that deeds are wrong'. That note has links to other places where this word is used and the application of each of those places.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'every. Joh 7:7; 1Ki 22:8; Job 24:13-17; Ps 50:17; Pr 1:29; 4:18; 5:12; 15:12; Am 5:10-11; Lu 11:45; Jas 1:23-25
reproved. or, discovered. Eph 5:12-13
General references. exp: Le 11:16; Ps 104:22; Mt 9:34; 13:13; 24:39; Joh 1:5; 8:45; 15:18; 16:9'.

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C3-S20 (Verse 21) The attitude of righteousness.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought as reported in God.

Our sentence starts with the word But, which means it is giving an exception to what was said in the prior sentences are true. As explained in the note for C3-S17, everything from that sentence through C3-S20 is a single connected sub-section of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. Therefore, all of these sentences, and their related noted, need to be considered together in order to properly consider the minimal context of the sentences. In addition, 3:1 through 3:21 gives us the account of Jesus telling Nicodemus that he must be saved. The note for 3:13 explains how this sentence is part of several connected sentences and all of the connections of these sentences. That note also explains how people preach doctrinal error by taking some of these sentences out of context. Therefore, it is important to consider the full context of what is presented within the Bible. Please consider all of the account together to get the full context which God gives to us. This is especially true for this sentence since it ends this account and this sub-section of this account.

The subject of our sentence is the truth. If the reader uses the link in the sentence above to access the Word Study on Truth, they will find the note which explains how truth is used in this particular sentence. It they then go to the beginning of that study, they will find a definition which is unique to the Bible and not found anywhere else. This is because the word definition was found using God's way which requires looking at every word (every place the word is used) and finding the single definition, which is the same in every usage, and the multiple applications, which vary from reference to reference depending upon the context. The true Biblical definition is: Truth is defined by God. Truth is what God says is truth for this physical reality, the spiritual reality and everything else that is, even if we don't know about it. Truth is personified in Jesus Christ and anything less than "absolute truth" is a lie. Something that is true matches what God reveals in His unchanging Word. In addition, the application which applies to our current sentence is: 'Truth is something that we do and not just something that we think about'. That Word Study also has links to other places within the Bible where this same application is used.

Please notice that our action verb, of this sentence, is doeth. This means that our sentence is talking about someone who has a life-style of doeth truth. Our sentence tells us what this person absolutely does as a result of their life-style (cometh to the light). Anyone who does not have a life-style of coming to the light ('overcoming sin and spiritual darkness from sin and understanding things from God's view including how to walk, work and live in this world in a godly way') does not have the life-style of doing truth, regardless of what they claim. Yes, such a person might resist God's light for a period of time but they will eventually return to their true life-style. Therefore, we must look at a person's life-style to determine what type of spirit they truly have and what type of spirit truly leads their life. (Please also see 1John 4:1 and the related notes for more on this doctrinal truth).

Since our sentence starts with the word But, it is giving us a contrast to the prior sentence where we read about every one that doeth evil. Therefore, we can also see the application of the prior sentence, as explained in the note above, and see what we are to avoid and what everyone avoids if they truly doeth truth.

Our second and third phrases give us two different reasons why anyone would make sure that they have a life-style of doing truth. The first reason, in the second phrase, is that his deeds may be made manifest. This does not really happen until the judgment seat of Christ (Romans C14S16; 2Corinthians 5:10). Therefore, this is a long-term spiritual result which is often at odds with the short-term physical results which our flesh and the world desires. That is: this long-term spiritual result is opposed by the short-term reason given in the prior sentence (men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil). Therefore, if someone truly has this long-term spiritual result as their goal, they will consider all results when choosing deeds and how to live with the priority given to long-term spiritual results.

The second reason, in the third phrase, is that they are wrought in God. This is the witness that our life presents to man and all beings in heaven with the emphasis being on our witness before man. We each influence those whom we come into contact with and our influence affects some people more than others. What our phrase is emphasizing, within our sentence and context, is that he that doeth truth will be more motivated by having a godly witness before man than he is motivated by the desires of his flesh or the desires of this world. Such a person will put long-term goals above short-term goals, especially when the long-term goal is to doeth truth.

Please see the note for John 1:9 for links to every place within this Gospel where we find any form of the word true. The true Biblical definition is: 'Truth is defined by God. Truth is what God says is truth for this physical reality, the spiritual reality and everything else that is, even if we don't know about it. Truth is personified in Jesus Christ and anything less than 'absolute truth' is a lie. Something that is true matches what God reveals in His unchanging word'. That note has a lot more important information and links to every place in this Gospel where we find forms of this word. In addition, it explains how to use the link in the sentence outline above.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:12 about the word deed. The functional definition is: 'That which is done, acted or effected'.

Please see the notes for Romans C3S20; Romans C16S33 and 1John-Manifest about the word manifest. The functional definition is: 'made available for extensive examination that uses multiple means to accomplish the examination'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'he that. Joh 1:47; 5:39; Ps 1:1-3; 119:80,105; 139:23-24; Isa 8:20; Ac 17:11-12; 1Jo 1:6
that his. Joh 15:4-5; Isa 26:12; Ho 14:8; 1Co 15:10; 2Co 1:12; Ga 5:22-23; 6:8; Eph 5:9; Php 1:11; 2:13; Col 1:29; Heb 13:21; 1Pe 1:22; 2Pe 1:5-10; 1Jo 2:27-29; 4:12-13,15-16; Re 3:1-2,15
they are. 3Jo 1:11
General references. exp: Le 11:16; Joh 16:9'.

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C3-S21 (Verse 22) Jesus then went to Judaea.

First Step: Where Jesus and the disciples went next.

After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea;

Second Step: what they did.

and there he tarried with them,
and baptized.

This is the transitional sentence between the two accounts of religious men dealing with Jesus. It is also the first sentence of the account where John the Baptist dealt with Jesus. This account goes from this sentence to the end of the chapter. In addition, it is the start of a sub-section that goes to C3-S25 and describes the background of the statements by John the Baptist about Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. Those statements from John the Baptist complete the chapter. Thus, our remaining sentences, within this chapter, are a single account which has two sub-sections within it.

Our sentence has two Steps which let us know that Jesus and his disciples did not baptize where He talked with Nicodemus.

It would appear, but can not be doctrinally stated, that Jesus and his disciples did not baptize until they were into the land of Judaea. That said, this assertion is probably true because of the symbolic meaning and the fact that Jesus, at this time, was still dealing only with the Jews and presenting the Gospel of the Kingdom, which would have excluded anyone who was not a full-blooded Jew.

Moving onto further speculation, I will suggest that this account in this Gospel probably matches with the account found in Luke 6. It definitely is one of the times, but not the last time, when Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea within the time of His earthly ministry. Of course, He went as a child with Mary and Joseph but this was probably the first time within the main Gospel time period. Since the Gospel of Luke is the only Gospel that is in sequential order, that is the Gospel which we must sync with when we want to match accounts between the Gospels using a time line. That said, .some things in Luke's Gospel are not in sequential order but are mentioned in reference to the subject being presented. For example, the mention of John the Baptist being put into prison, in Luke 3, is there for the subject being told and not in sequential order.

This account probably fits after the start of Luke 5, where we read about Matthew being called, and the start of Luke 5 where the Pharisees started to pick doctrinal fights with Jesus. I say that because the Gospel of Luke reports Jesus in the land of Judaea, at that time, and the Pharisees were just starting to pick doctrinal fights with Jesus. also, our current account reports the Jews picking a doctrinal fight with John's disciples (C3-S24) but not getting John to fight with them. It is my speculation that when they could not get John the Baptist to fight with them, they decided to try fighting with Jesus in order to convince the people that they were the greater authority. This start of doctrinal fights matches with what we read in this chapter and the start of the next chapter.

With all of that speculative synchronization behind us, we can concentrate on this account. As mentioned in the chapter summary, the first section of this chapter told us about Jesus dealing with a lost religious master of Israel named Nicodemus. The second section of this chapter tells us about Jesus dealing with John the Baptist, who was a true prophet of God. If the reader compares these two accounts (I will not do so), they should see the example of how to deal with these two types of religious authority.

Our sentence has two Steps and the titles in the sentence outline, above, describe each of those Steps. Our First Step tells us that Jesus and his disciples (came) into the land of Judaea. I know of no reason for that Step to be included other than to tell us the place, which we are literally told, and to give an indication of the time. The possible indication of the time, which might allow synchronization with the other Gospels, is why I provided the speculation above. However, as I said, it is only speculation and not sufficient for doctrine. That said, I have given everything which I have on the First Step and will move onto the Second Step.

The note for this sentence within the Lord Jesus Christ Study (use the link in the sentence outline above) deals with the subject of Jesus and baptism as reported within the Gospels. Also, the word definitions below provide more links for the doctrine of baptism.

Our Step tells us there he tarried with them, and baptized. The word tarried means that 'He deliberately spent time there to do the job'. Of course, the job was to baptize, which means that He accepted more disciples and they were 'identified with' Him and His ministry.

Our next sentence starts with the word And, which adds information to this sentence about why the author told us about baptism. As mentioned at the start of this note, all of the sentences and related notes, for this sub-section, need to be considered together as a minimum requirement for staying doctrinally correct.

Please see the note for John 1:35-36 about the word disciple. The functional definition is: 'A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example'.

Please see the note for Mark 10:30 about the word land. The functional definition for this word is: 'Earth, or the solid matter which constitutes the fixed part of the surface of the globe, in distinction from the sea or other waters, which constitute the fluid or movable part'.

Please see the note for John 7:3 about the word Jewry / Judaea / Judea / Judah. The functional definition is: 'The area of land generally associated with the Southern Kingdom and religious control by Jewish rulers but which varies in size from one reference to another'.

Please see the notes for Romans C6S5; Colossians C2S7 and John 1:25-LJC about the word baptism. That last note has links to every place in the Bible where we find forms of this word and those links are separated by application The functional definition is: 'identify with'.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians 11:33 about the word tarry. The functional definition is: 'To stay; to abide; to continue; to lodge'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'these. Joh 2:13; 4:3; 7:3
and baptized. Joh 3:26; 4:1-2'.

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C3-S22 (Verse 23) John the Baptist was ministering close by.

Equivalent Section: What John the Baptist did

And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim,
because there was much water there:

Equivalent Section: The result

and they came,
and were baptized.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:22 through 3:25 form a sub-section which describes the background for the statements by John the Baptist in the rest of this account. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Our sentence starts with an And, which adds it to the prior sentence. Basically, the author was telling us that Jesus and John the Baptist were ministering close enough to each other that the peopled had a choice in whom to go hear.

Our sentence has two Equivalent Sections with the First Equivalent Section telling us where John the Baptist ministered and the Second Equivalent Section telling us that he still received new followers. However, as already mentioned, John the Baptist was losing followers to Jesus faster than he was gaining new followers. As the rest of this account tells us, John the Baptist was encouraged by this instead of being jealous like many preachers would be today.

Please see the Study on John the Baptist for links to where he is mentioned in the Gospels, by Gospel and sequentially and with notes about each reference.

Please see the note for Romans C1S10 about the word because. The functional definition is: 'provides a cause where the cause and effect are both in the past'.

Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water. In this sentence, the word water is used symbolically for 'the liquid of life'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'near. Ge 33:18 Shalem. 1Sa 9:4 Shalim.
much. Jer 51:13; Eze 19:10; 43:2; Re 1:15; 14:2; 19:6
and they. Mt 3:5-6; Mr 1:4-5; Lu 3:7
General references. exp: Mt 3:5'.

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C3-S23 (Verse 24) Why John the Baptist was there.
For John was not yet cast into prison.

Our sentence starts with the word For and tells us why John the Baptist was ministering at the same time as Jesus. This sentence also gives us an idea of the time sequence but does not give an exact time. Often, in the Bible, time is not presented accurately because, while it can be helpful to know the sequence of events, God does not want us getting all hung up about time. Time is only important in this physical existence but is not important in eternity.

Please see the Study on John the Baptist for links to where he is mentioned in the Gospels, by Gospel and sequentially and with notes about each reference.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Mt 4:12; 14:3; Mr 6:17; Lu 3:19-20; 9:7-9'.

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C3-S24 (Verse 25) A religious argument that involved John the Baptist.
Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.

In order to understand the importance of this sentence we need to also consider the next sentence. Here we are told about a dispute. In the next sentence we are told about some of John's disciples complaining about losing followers to the ministry of Jesus. In both of these sentences we see some of John's disciples being concerned about authority. Remember, they did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Therefore, there were differences in the religious culture with the size of a ministry determining authority more than it does today. In face, that was why the Pharisees and other religious leaders were so jealous of Jesus. As He received more followers, He was seen as a threat to their positions as the greatest religious authority among the Jews.

What the exact question, (in our sentence) was isn't mentioned because it isn't important. What really is important is the reason for the question, which is relative perceived religious authority. Neither John the Baptist, nor Jesus, played the religious political game the way others expected them to do and this caused friction over authority. We also see similar things today. Neither John the Baptist, nor Jesus, worried about their relative religious political authority because their authority came from God and not from their political position. We see this by the response from John the Baptist given in the remainder of this chapter. His response was different from many preachers today because His source of authority was also different.

Our sentence tells us that this question was about purifying. The practices for purifying, as given by God, had health and symbolic meaning. However, the Jews had changed them into religious ceremonies. This is similar to the dispute that they had with Jesus and His disciples over washing hands. The Jews were so caught up in the exact ceremony that they not only forgot the purpose of purifying, but they denied that there was a purpose. Since John the Baptist and Jesus were more concerned about the basic purpose, there rose disputes. Any time that two different groups have different goals for doing the same thing there is opportunity for dispute.

We see a similar thing today with disputes over unfulfilled prophecy, symbols and other things which are in the Bible but where the exact meaning can be disputed. God always hides the true meaning of unfulfilled prophecy until He fulfills it. As a result, several religious people try to set themselves up as the authority and every one of them are wrong. Also, the rules for symbolism are poorly understood and often people get the wrong meaning of symbols. Further, we have a similar argument over 'original languages'. In all of these instances, disciples argue that their 'master' is correct and is the ultimate authority because they feel that their own authority is made higher by their following the right 'master'. All of this is about religious pride. When this happens, God wants His people to respond like John the Baptist did. We are to concentrate on what God wants, get our authority directly from God and let all of the rest go. God wants us to avoid these types of disputes.

Please see the note for Mark 10:1 about the word arise / arose. The functional definition for this word is: 'To ascend, mount up or move to a higher place; as, vapors arise from humid places. To begin; to spring up; to originate'.

Please see the note for Mark 1:27 about the word question. The functional definition for this word is: 'The act of asking; an interrogatory; as, to examine by question and answer'.

Please see the Study on John the Baptist for links to where he is mentioned in the Gospels, by Gospel and sequentially and with notes about each reference.

Please see the note for Romans C14S27 about the word pure. The functional definition is: '100%'. The purifying of the Jews made sure that the water was '100%' water and did not contain anything else.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'about. Joh 2:6; Mt 3:11; Mr 7:2-5,8; Heb 6:2; 9:10,13-14,23; 1Pe 3:21
General references. exp: Joh 10:17'.

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C3-S25 (Verse 26) His disciples said that people were leaving him for Jesus.

And they came unto John,
and said unto him,
Rabbi,
he that was with thee beyond Jordan,
to whom thou barest witness,
behold,
the same baptizeth,
and all men come to him.

Our sentence starts with the word And, which adds it to the prior sentence and we really can not get the truth about what's going on unless we consider both sentences together. When we understand what is really going on, we see that the real problem is not what was reported. When immature people get arguing over something and neither wins, or on is upset over losing, they will sometimes go to an authority to get help. However, if they fear that the authority will tell them that they really should not be arguing over the particular thing in dispute, they will present a different, but related, matter to the authority. They do this hoping that the authority will back them on the subjected presented and, thereby, give them the indirect authority which is required to win the true argument. This is what is going on in this sentence and the prior sentence. The real problem was not the subject of these two sentences but was really an argument over authority and religious political power. That said, the note for the prior sentence dealt with that subject.

One thing which we see here is that John the Baptist did not get into the dispute until they came to him. Like parents with children who are squabbling, sometimes the best thing to do is let them work it out between themselves. However, when the dispute is brought to the authority, the authority needs to be wise enough to perceive what the real dispute is and deal with that, not the presented subject of dispute. In the following sentences we see the response from John the Baptist where he did exactly that. Instead of asking them what their problem was with people going to Jesus, John the Baptist told them that this was God's plan and, therefore, what was happening was what was supposed to happen. They were worrying about the political power and authority in the religious community while John the Baptist was worrying about doing the will of God to achieve god's goal. Often a dispute is because the people involved have the wrong perspective and goals. When that happens then the leader needs to correct the perspective and goals instead of dealing directly with the dispute.

Please see the Study on John the Baptist for links to where he is mentioned in the Gospels, by Gospel and sequentially and with notes about each reference.

Please see the note for John 1:38 about the word Rabbi. The functional definition is: 'A title of respect among the Jews, signifying master or teacher'.

Please see the note for Mark 3:7-8 about the river Jordan. The functional definition for this word is: 'river of Palestine'.

Please see the note for John 12:17 about the word bare. The functional definition for this word is: 'to expose completely with no cover nor obscuring of view'. Many people think this is similar to the word bear, only in as different tense. However, the two words are not related.

Please see the note for Colossians C2S3 about the word behold. The functional definition is: 'To fix the eyes upon; to see with attention; to observe with care'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'he that. Nu 11:26-29; Ec 4:4; 1Co 3:3-5; Ga 5:20-21; 6:12-13; Jas 3:14-18; 4:5-6
to whom. Joh 1:7,15,26-36
and all. Joh 1:7,9; 11:48; 12:19; Ps 65:2; Isa 45:23; Ac 19:26-27
General references. exp: Lu 7:18'.

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C3-S26 (Verse 27) Why John the Baptist was OK with that.

John answered and said,
A man can receive nothing,
except it be given him from heaven.

Our sentence says that this is the answer from John the Baptist to his disciples who complained about the ministry of Jesus taking disciples from the ministry of John the Baptist. The fact is that this sentence is just the first sentence in his answer and his answer goes through the rest of the chapter. This is the last sub-section in the section which went from 3:22 through the end of the chapter and gave us the account of John the Baptist dealing with the ministry of Jesus and the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist.

Please notice that John the Baptist starts his answer by identifying the source of any true ministry. His statement of: from heaven is an indirect reference to God the Father. God the Father gave the ministry, position and everything else to both John the Baptist and to Jesus and also to anyone else who has a true Biblical ministry. Thus, John the Baptist is recognizing that God the Father is in control. When he says: A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven, he is acknowledging that his ministry can not grow unless God the Father causes it. Since he, and all of us, are here to serve God the Father, John the Baptist was not upset by any decision which came from God the Father. This is the attitude which brings true peace within the Christian life.

Please see the Study on John the Baptist for links to where he is mentioned in the Gospels, by Gospel and sequentially and with notes about each reference.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S1; 1Corinthians C15S1 and Colossians 2:6-7 about the word receive. The functional definition is: 'To take, as a thing offered or sent; to accept'.

Please see the note for John 6:44 about the word except. The functional definition is: 'to take or leave out of anything specified; to exclude'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'A man. Nu 16:9-11; 17:5; 1Ch 28:4-5; Jer 1:5; 17:16; Am 7:15; Mt 25:15; Mr 13:34; Ro 1:5; 12:6; 1Co 1:1; 2:12-14; 3:5; 4:7; 12:11; 15:10; Ga 1:1; Eph 1:1; 3:7-8; 1Ti 2:7; Jas 1:17; 1Pe 4:10-11
receive. or, take unto himself. Heb 5:4-5
from. Mt 21:25; Mr 11:30-31
General references. exp: Heb 5:4'.

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C3-S27 (Verse 28) John the Baptist explains his limit.

Ye yourselves bear me witness,
that I said,
I am not the Christ,
but that I am sent before him.

Our sentence is a continuation of John the Baptist's statement in the prior sentence. There he started an answer to his disciples which was not what they wanted to hear. The prior sentence gave the general answer and now he is bringing them into the answer in a personal way by using the word Ye ('each and every one of you personally') to say Ye yourselves bear me witness. Next he reminds them of what they had heard and had told to others (bear me witness). That message was: I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. As often happens, people hear something, and think that they understand what was said, but they don't realize all that is implied by the original statement. Therefore, John the Baptist is going to clarify his prior statement with the sentences in the remainder of this chapter.

John made it clear that he was not the Christ prophesied in the Old Testament but was sent to prepare the way for God's true Christ. John told them that he was not the Christ in John 1:19-27. In John 1:23 he told them that he was I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord which is a fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3. In addition, Mark 1:2 also says the same thing. Please see the notes for Matthew 26:62-LJC and John 1:41 which provide more references to the Old Testament Messiah / Messias. The Old Testament names of Messiah / Messias are the same as the New Testament (Greek) name of Christ, as we are told in John 1:41.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Please see the note for Romans C15S1 about the word bear. The functional definition is: 'to carry a load over a period of time'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'I said. Joh 1:20,25,27
but. Joh 1:23; Mal 3:1; 4:4-5; Mt 3:3,11-12; Mr 1:2-3; Lu 1:16-17,76; 3:4-6
General references. exp: Mr 1:7'.

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C3-S28 (Verse 29) John the Baptist explains his joy.

Equivalent Section: Who has the special relationship with the church.

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom:

Equivalent Section: Proper reaction of a true friend.

but the friend of the bridegroom,
which standeth and heareth him,
rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice:

Equivalent Section: John the Baptist's personal reaction.

this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Our sentence continues John the Baptist's explanation. The important part of this sentence is the bride and the bridegroom. John the Baptist was unique in that he understood prophecy that everyone else missed and he understood it in greater detail than what should have been expected. This is probably why Jesus said Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:7-11). Consider that none of God's people knew about the church before Jesus started it . In addition, they certainly didn't understand that the relationship between a man and his wife was symbolic of the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5). Further, examination of the references to bride in the Old Testament do not indicate this truth. Yet, John the Baptist is the exception who understood what no one else understood.

In addition, to this truth, we can see that our sentence has three Equivalent Sections with the First Equivalent Section telling us about this relationship which only John the Baptist, and Jesus, understood. Our Second Equivalent Section tells us the reaction that all saved should have and our Third Equivalent Section tells us the reaction which John the Baptist had. Therefore, the Third Equivalent Section is an application of the Second Equivalent Section and is our example. People who can not react as John the Baptist does in this account are not a true friend of the bridegroom. This is especially true when God is causing us to suffer and to lose our ministry as John the Baptist was just starting to experience at this time. Remember, John the Baptist had his head cut off and yet remained true to the things expressed in this account.

One other thing to note is that our Second Equivalent Section says that we are to rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice as we standeth and heareth him. This is especially true when we find ourselves in the position to need Ephesians 6. While we are in the middle of a spiritual battle, that is when we really need to heareth him ('keep on keeping on hearing') in order to stand.

We find forms of the bride (of Christ) in: John 2:9; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:9 and Revelation 22:17. We find forms of the word bride occurring 41 times in 25 verses of the Bible and, in the New Testament, (where not already mentioned) in: Matthew 9:15; Matthew 25:1; Matthew 25:5; Matthew 25:6; Matthew 25:10; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34; Luke 5:35; John 3:29 and Revelation 18:23. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'frequently used in the ordinary sense (Isa 49:18; 61:10, etc.). The relation between Christ and his church is set forth under the figure of that between a bridegroom and bride (Joh 3:29). The church is called "the bride" (Re 21:9; 22:17). Compare parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13)'. The definition from Morrish Bible Dictionary for the word bridegroom. is: 'A title which the Lord applies to Himself. Mt 9:15; 25:1-10; cf. Joh 3:29. It anticipates the joy of Christ, the marriage-day when He will take to Himself all that for which He suffered so much'.

Nave's Topical Bible provides links for the word bride as: 'Ornaments of: Isa 49:18; 61:10; Jer 2:32; Re 21:2. Presents to: Ge 24:53. Maids of: Ge 24:59,61; 29:24,29. FIGURATIVE: Ps 45:10-17; Eze 16:8-14; Re 19:7-8; 21:2,9; 22:17
Bridegroom Ornaments of Isa 61:10 Exempt from military duty De 24:5. Companions of Jg 14:11. Joy with Mt 9:15; Mr 2:19-20; Lu 5:34-35. Parable of Mt 25:1-13. Song of Song 4:7-16. FIGURATIVE Eze 16:8-1'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for the word bride as: '(The Church As Bride): Isa 62:5; 2Co 11:2; Re 19:7; 21:2; 22:17
Bridegroom: (General References to): De 24:5; Jg 14:11; Ps 19:5; Mt 25:10. Christ as: Mt 9:15; 25:1,6; Joh 3:29; Re 21:2'.

We find forms of the word friend occurring 107 times in 99 verses of the Bible and, in the New Testament, in: Matthew 11:19; Matthew 20:13; Matthew 22:12; Matthew 26:50; Mark 3:21; Mark 5:19; Luke 7:6; Luke 7:34; Luke 11:5; Luke 11:6; Luke 11:8; Luke 12:4; Luke 14:10; Luke 14:12; Luke 15:6; Luke 15:9; Luke 15:29; Luke 16:9; Luke 21:16; Luke 23:12; John 3:29; John 11:11; John 15:13; John 15:14; John 15:15; John 19:12; Acts 10:24; Acts 12:20; Acts 19:31; Acts 27:3; James 2:23; James 4:4; 3John 1:14. The American Tract Society Dictionary defines this word as: 'Abraham is signally honored in being called "the friend of God," Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23. Christ granted a similar honor and blessing to his disciples, Joh 15:15. It is a different word, however, in Greek, by which he addressed Judas, Mt 26:50; the word there translated friend, means simply companion, and appears to have been used as a conversational term not implying friendship. The same word occurs in Mt 20:13; 22:12'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for the word friend as: '(Christ the): Mt 11:19; Lu 7:39; 19:7; Joh 8:11; Ro 5:8; 1Ti 1:15'.

Nave's Topical Bible provides links for the word friend as: 'Jesus calls his disciples by this term: Joh 15:14-15. FALSE FRIENDS: Instances of : Pharaoh's butler was false to Joseph: Ge 40:23. Delilah was false to Samson: Jg 16:1-20. The Ephraimite's wife: Jg 19:1-2. David was false to Joab: 1Ki 2:5-6. David was false to Uriah: 2Sa 11. Ahithophel was false to David: 2Sa 15:12. David's friends were false to David: Ps 35:11-16; 41:9; 55:12-14,20-21; 88:8,18. Judas Iscariot: Mt 26:48-49. Jesus' disciples ran away: Mt 26:56,58'.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S5 and 1Corinthians C15S1 about the word stand. The functional definition is: 'remain upright upon a foundation'. Please also see the note for Galatians C5S1 about the word stand fast. The th, in the word standeth, means: 'to keep on keeping on standing'.

Please see the notes for Romans C12S8; Galatians C4-S24 and Philippians 4:4-LJC about the word rejoice. The functional definition is: 'To experience joy and gladness in a high degree; to be exhilarated with lively and pleasurable sensations; to exult'.

Please see the note for Romans intro about the word therefore. The functional definition is: 'what follows the therefore is a future result that is based upon what came before the therefore and result is only seen there'.

Please see the note for Romans C1S10 about the word because. The functional definition is: 'provides a cause where the cause and effect are both in the past'.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S23 and 1John C1S2 about the word joy. The functional definition is: 'a spiritually based sense that we will be blessed by God for enduring current circumstances in a way that brings God glory'.

Please see the note for Romans C15S11 about the word fulfill. The functional definition is: ' A tautological compound of full and fill. 1. To accomplish; to perform; to complete; to answer in execution or event what has been foretold or promised; as, to fulfill a prophecy or prediction; to fulfill a promise'. Please also see the note for Romans C15S11 about the word fill.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'hath. Ps 45:9-17; Song 3:11; 4:8-12; Isa 54:5; 62:4-5; Jer 2:2; Eze 16:8; Ho 2:19; Mt 22:2; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:25-27; Re 19:7-9; 21:9
the friend. Jg 14:10-11; Ps 45:14; Song 5:1; Mt 9:15
this. Isa 66:11; Lu 2:10-14; 15:6
General references. exp: Song 2:6; Mr 1:7'.

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C3-S29 (Verse 30) John the Baptist explains God's plan.

He must increase,
but I must decrease.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

This sentence is often used in preaching and I can not add to the preaching. It is clear in itself but also becomes more significant when considering the context. The decompiles of John the Baptist came to him complaining how people were leaving John the Baptist's ministry for the ministry of Jesus. John the Baptist answered by telling them that God was in charge. Then he said that he had joy from doing God's will. Now he is telling his disciples that this is God's will for his ministry and life. With this in mind, Please realize that most preaching applies this sentence to the listeners and not to the person who is preaching. However, John the Baptist applied it to himself and his own ministry.

One of the things to keep in mind is that two sentences before John the Baptist said: I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. In addition, back in John 1:34, John the Baptist said: And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Of course, John the Baptist would know that the Son of God was also God's Christ. Therefore, John the Baptist would have known that God's Christ was there and his ministry of being sent before him was close to being finished while the ministry of God's Christ was just getting started. John the Baptist did not fight God's plan but accepted it as the best plan for God's glory and his good. And, with the knowledge that has just been pointed out, John the Baptist knew that in God's plan, it was time for He must increase, but I must decrease.

Please see the note for Colossians 2S10 about the word increase. The functional definition is: 'To become greater in bulk or quantity; to grow; to augment'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'must increase. Ps 72:17-19; Isa 9:7; 53:2-3,12; Da 2:34-35,44-45; Mt 13:31-33; Re 11:15
but. Ac 13:36-37; 1Co 3:5; 2Co 3:7-11; Col 1:18; Heb 3:2-6
General references. exp: Mr 1:7'.

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C3-S30 (Verse 31) John the Baptist explains the position of Jesus.

Equivalent Section: The position of Jesus.

He that cometh from above is above all:

Equivalent Section: The position of man.

he that is of the earth is earthly,
and speaketh of the earth:

Equivalent Section: The relative position of each.

he that cometh from heaven is above all.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

With the context in mind, we can look at the details of our sentence with the Section titles, in the sentence structure above, helping with our understanding. Our sentence is dealing with relative position and authority but from God's perspective instead of from the perspective of religious politics. Please remember that this entire discourse started because the disciples of John the Baptist came to him with a complaint based upon relative position and authority but with their complaint also being from the perspective of religious politics. Therefore, our sentence tells us the correct perspective and the correct relative position and authority.

If the reader has paid attention to the context, then it should be obvious that the phrase He that cometh from above, in our First Equivalent Section, is speaking about Jesus. Also, the phrase he that cometh from heaven, in our Third Equivalent Section, is speaking about Christ and the future ministry of the Son of God within His role as Christ. That leaves our Second Equivalent Section speaking about man and the concerns of man including John the Baptist and his disciples. Within this perspective, John the Baptist was telling his disciples that their concerns were earthly when God wants our focus to be on things that are heavenly.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'that cometh. Joh 3:13; 6:33; 8:23; Eph 1:20-21; 4:8-10
is above. Joh 1:15,27,30; 5:21-25; Mt 28:18; Ac 10:36; Ro 9:5; Eph 1:21; Php 2:9-11; 1Pe 3:22; Re 19:16
he that is. Joh 3:12; 1Co 15:47-48; Heb 9:1,9-10
he that cometh. Joh 6:33,51; 16:27-28
General references. exp: Mr 1:7'.

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C3-S31 (Verse 32) John the Baptist explains the rejection of Jesus.

First Step: What Christ will say.

And what he hath seen and heard,
that he testifieth;

Second Step: The reception that Christ will receive.

and no man receiveth his testimony.

This sentence has a prophecy from John the Baptist about the message that Jesus will deliver to the world, within His role as God's Christ, and the reaction that the message will receive from most people, especially from most of the religious leaders. If the reader uses the references provided by Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, below, they will find some of the earlier prophecies which would have been the basis of this prophecy by John the Baptist. Even though these earlier prophecies were available to everyone, especially to the religious leaders who claimed to be 'experts' on prophecy, these were misunderstood and the leaders led God's people to crucify God's Christ.

Once more we see that a person who can testify must be qualified by what he hath seen and heard. Also, someone who is qualified to testify about God's truth, and in God's court, must be proven to be honest like God's Christ is and like Satan, devils and false prophets are not.

As our First Step told us the qualifications of God's Christ which allow Him to testify, so also does our Second Step tell us how His message is rejected by men on this Earth. However, they will not be able to reject His message when they are in God's court. 2Corinthians 2:16 says: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. The same message is life unto life. to those who believe but is death unto death to those who refuse God's truth. That is: rejecting the true message from God's Christ will result in that person receiving the second death (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:8).

Please notice that our next sentence tells us the result received by people who do receive his testimony. That is why I wrote that the Second Step tells us how this message will be rejected by most people, especially from most of the religious leaders. However, most is not all.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Please see the note for Psalms 119 about the word testimonies. The functional definition is: 'statements that are used in a court of law to judge the legality of someone's actions'. Please also note the th in our word testifieth. This means that God's Christ 'keeps on keeping on testifying even though His testimony is rejected by most people'. This is the example that God expects His people to follow.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S1; 1Corinthians C15S1 and Colossians 2:6-7 about the word receive. The functional definition is: 'To take, as a thing offered or sent; to accept'. Please also note the th in our phrase no man receiveth. This means that that most people will 'keeps on keeping on rejecting the testimony from God's Christ'

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'what. Joh 3:11; 5:20; 8:26; 15:15
and no. Joh 3:26,33; 1:11; Isa 50:2; 53:1; Ro 10:16-21; 11:2-6
General references. exp: Joh 12:49'.

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C3-S32 (Verse 33) John the Baptist explains the acceptance of Jesus.
He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

The note for this sentence, in the Word Study on Truth (use the link in the sentence outline above), gives several references to other places in the Bible which prove that the message from God's Christ is truth while opposing messages are lies.

Our sentence is telling us about the few people who receive the message from God's Christ. These few are contrasted with the majority of people who we read about in the prior sentence. Our sentence is telling us that these few people have a seal and that their own action has set to his seal that God is true ('made part of his own seal the testimony that God is true'). Ephesians 1:13 says in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise. We had to 'make part of our own seal the testimony that God is true' in order to truly Biblically believe so that we could be sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S1; 1Corinthians C15S1 and Colossians 2:6-7 about the word receive. The functional definition is: 'To take, as a thing offered or sent; to accept'.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C9S5 about the word seal. The functional definition is: 'A piece of metal or other hard substance, usually round or oval, on which is ingraved some image or device, and sometimes a legend or inscription. This is used by individuals, corporate bodies and states, for making impressions on wax upon instruments of writing, as an evidence of their authenticity'. IN this sentence we see that God the Father has sealed His Son as His messenger.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'hath set. Ro 3:3-4; 4:18-21; 2Co 1:18; Tit 1:1-2; Heb 6:17; 1Jo 5:9-10'.

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C3-S33 (Verse 34) John the Baptist explains the power of Jesus.

Equivalent Section: Why the prior sentences are true.

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God:

Equivalent Section: How the prior sentences are true.

for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Our sentence has two Equivalent Sections and both start with the word for. This means that we have the same reason expressed two different ways and those reasons tells us why the prior sentences are true.

Our Second Equivalent Section tells us that for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him (Jesus Christ). (Please use the link in the sentence outline, above, to see the note in the Word Study on Spirit which explains the critical doctrine associated with the phrase for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.) Many religious leaders do not have the Spirit because they are lost. Therefore, they can not speaketh the words of God. In addition, no man living can claim that for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him s a personal truth because we only have some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and those are measured according to our amount of faith (Romans 12:3). Since God's truth is based upon the word of God as interpreted by God's Holy Spirit, there is no one who can know and understand God's truth like Jesus Christ did.

While God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him (Jesus), He still had to submit to God's Holy Spirit and He had to follow the leading of God's Holy Spirit, just like every saved person must do. Especially in spiritual matters, Jesus is our example of how to live in the flesh using the Power of the Holy Ghost.

Please notice that the equivalency within our sentence makes the ability, to speaketh the words of God, to be measured by the amount of the Spirit which God gives to a person. That's why our sentence literally tells us that there is no one who can know and understand God's truth like Jesus Christ did.

Our sentence also lets us know that our own ability to speaketh the words of God is measured by how much we submit to God's Holy Spirit. Yes, God can use a lost person, a child and even an animal to speak the words of God. However, the th in the word speaketh means that the person 'keeps on keeping on' speaking the words of God as a life-style and not just a one-time event. This is the critical difference which we need to look at when deciding if someone is a true man of God of a false prophet. There are many 'health and welfare' preachers and many 'legalists' who are very popular but who are false prophets. Since our account from John the Baptist is showing us the difference between the reaction of a true man of God and a religious leader who is seeking the things of this world, the difference that I am pointing out here fits within the context.

Another thing to pay attention to is the phrase For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. John 20:21 tells us that Jesus said as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. That means that the phrase in our sentence applies to us with the same weight (even) as it applied to Jesus Christ. Therefore, saved people who do not do the 'Great Commission' are sinning by disobeying this command to speaketh the words of God ('keep on keeping on speaking the words of God'). This is a command to make this our life-style in everything which we do and in all circumstances.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Please see the note for John 1:1 for an extensive note explaining the word word. That note explains the differences, and similarities, between the capitalized and the non-capitalized word word. (The capitalized Word is Jesus while the non-capitalized word is scripture.) It also explains the differences between the word of God and the word of the Lord. Further, that note has links to other notes where this word is dealt with within this site. The functional definition is: 'the means for conveying a message'.

We find forms of the word measure occurring 165 times in 132 verses of the Bible, 39 times in 30 verses of the New Testament, but only in this sentence within the Gospel of John. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'Several words are so rendered in the Authorized Version. (1.) Those which are indefinite. (a) Hok, Isa 5:14, elsewhere "statute." (b) Mad, Job 11:9; Jer 13:25, elsewhere "garment." (c) Middah, the word most frequently thus translated, Ex 26:2,8, etc. (d) Mesurah, Le 19:35; 1Ch 23:29. (e) Mishpat, Jer 30:11, elsewhere "judgment." (f) Mithkoneth and token, Eze 45:11. (g) In New Testament metron, the usual Greek word thus rendered (Mt 7:2; 23:32; Mr 4:24).
(2.) Those which are definite. (a) 'Eyphah, De 25:14-15, usually "ephah." (b) Ammah, Jer 51:13, usually "cubit." (c) Kor, 1Ki 4:22, elsewhere "cor;" Greek koros, Lu 16:7. (d) Seah, Ge 18:6; 1Sa 25:18, a seah; Greek saton, Mt 13:33; Lu 13:21. (e) Shalish, "a great measure," Isa 40:12; literally a third, i.e., of an ephah. (f) In New Testament batos, Lu 16:6, the Hebrew "bath;" and choinix, Re 6:6, the choenix, equal in dry commodities to one-eighth of a modius'.

The functional definition for this word is: 'This word specifies a way to figure proportional values. The whole extent or dimensions of a thing, including length, breadth and thickness. It is applied also to length or to breadth separately. It can also specify a quantity or value such as when applied to money.'.

Nave's Topical Bible provides links for this word as: '(The following modern equivalents of ancient measurements are based upon the latest research, and are as correct as is possible at this time) DRY 1. A bushel, about a peck. Mt 5:15; Mr 4:21; Lu 11:33: 2. A cab, or kab, about two quarts. 2Ki 6:25: 3. A cor, equal to one homer or ten ephahs, equal to about eleven and one-ninth bushels. 1Ki 4:22; 5:11; 2Ch 2:10; 27:5; Ezr 7:22: 4. An ephah, equal to three seah, and in liquid, to a bath, containing about a bushel and a half. Ex 16:36; Le 5:11; 6:20; 19:36; Nu 5:15; 28:5; Jg 6:19; Ru 2:17; 1Sa 1:24; 17:17; Isa 5:10; Eze 45:10-11,13,24; 46:5,7,11,14; Am 8:5; Zec 5:6-10: 5. A half-homer, about five and a half bushels. Ho 3:2: 6. A homer, about eleven bushels, equal to a cor or ten ephahs. Le 27:16; Nu 11:32; Isa 5:10; Eze 45:11-14; Ho 3:2: 7. An omer, about one bushel. Ex 16:16,18: 8. A seah, about a peck and a half. Ge 18:6; 1Sa 25:18; 1Ki 18:32; 2Ki 7:1,16,18: 9. A tenth deal, about a gallon, equal to one-tenth of an ephah. Ex 29:40; Le 14:10,21; 23:13,17; 24:5; Nu 15:4,6,9; 28:9,12-13,20-21,29; 29:3-4,9-10,14-15: LIQUID 1. A bath, about eight gallons and a half. 1Ki 7:26,38; 2Ch 2:10; 4:5; Ezr 7:22; Isa 5:10; Eze 45:10-11,14; Lu 16:6: 2. A firkin, nearly nine gallons. Joh 2:6: 3. A hin, about a gallon and a half. Ex 29:40; 30:24; Le 19:36; 23:13; Nu 15:4-10; 28:5,7,14; Eze 4:11: 4. A log, about a pint, one-twelfth of a hin. Le 14:10,12,15,21,24 : LINEAR 1. A finger. Jer 52:21: 2. A handbreadth. Ex 25:25; 37:12; 1Ki 7:26; 2Ch 4:5; Ps 39:5; Eze 40:5,43; 43:13: 3. A span. Ex 28:16; 1Sa 17:4; Isa 40:12; 48:13; La 2:20; Eze 43:13: 4. A cubit, the length of a man's forearm. 5. A reed, probably six cubits. Eze 40:5: 6. A fathom. Ac 27:28: 7. A pace. 2Sa 6:13: 8. A furlong. Lu 24:13: 9. A mile, probably nine-tenths of an English mile. Mt 5:41: 10. A sabbath day's journey, two thousand paces. Ac 1:12: MUS't BE JUST. Le 19:35-36; De 25:13-16; Pr 11:1; 16:11; 20:10,23; Ho 12:7-9; Mic 6:10-12'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for this word as: 'LENGTH (Shorter Measure of Length): 1 palm = 3 in.: 3 palms = 1 span = 9 in.: 2 spans = 1 cubit = 18 in.: 4 cubits = 1 fathom = 6 ft.: 1.5 fathoms = 1 reed = 9 ft.: 13.3 reeds = 1 line = 119.7 ft.: In consulting these tables it must be remembered that authorities differ as to exact figures.: LAND MEASURE: A cubit = 1.824 ft.: 2000 cubits = 0.5 miles = 1 sabbath day's journey: 24 miles = 1 day's journey: In consulting these tables it must be remembered that authorities differ as to exact figures.: LIQUID MEASURE: 1 log = 1/72 bath = 1/3 qt.: 4 logs = 1 cab = 1 1/3 qt.: 3 cabs = 1 hin = 4 qts.: 2 hins = 1 seah = 2 gals.: 3 seahs = 1 bath, or ephah = 6 gals.: In consulting these tables it must be remembered that authorities differ as to exact figures.: DRY MEASURE: cab = 1/18 ephah = 1 qts.: 1/10 ephah = 1 omer = 2 qts.: 3.3 omers = 1 seah = 7 qts.: 3 seahs = 1 ephah = 21 qts.: 5 ephahs = 1 letech = 3 bushels: 2 letechs = 1 kor, or homer = 6 bushels: In consulting these tables it must be remembered that authorities differ as to exact figures: Le 19:35-36; De 25:15; Pr 11:1; Ro 12:17; 13:8; 2Co 8:21; Php 4:8 Giving of Just Weights: Le 19:36; De 25:13; Pr 11:1; 16:11; 20:10; Eze 45:10; Mic 6:11'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'he. Joh 7:16; 8:26-28,40,47
for God. Joh 3:17; 1:16; 5:26; 7:37-39; 15:26; 16:7; Nu 11:25; 2Ki 2:9; Ps 45:7; Isa 11:2-5; 59:21; 62:1-3; Ro 8:2; Eph 3:8; 4:7-13; Col 1:19; 2:9; Re 21:6; 22:1,16-17
General references. exp: Ex 29:7; 40:12; Le 14:15; Ps 89:20; Col 1:19'.

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C3-S34 (Verse 35) John the Baptist explains the purpose of Jesus.

The Father loveth the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand.

Our sentence tells us that God the Father hath given all things into his (the Son's) hand because God the Father 'keeps on keeping on loving' the Son. The note for this verse in the Lord Jesus Christ Study (use the link in the sentence outline above) has references to other places where the Bible tells us that the Father...hath given all things into (the Son's) hand. In addition, to this sentence, John 5:20; John 10:17 and John 15:9-10 all tell us that God the Father loved the Son. With that truth in mind, we need to remember that God the Father sent God the Son to suffer and die in order to pay for our sin. Therefore, we need to be sure and use the Biblical definition of love and not a fleshly / worldly definition.

The phrase and hath given all things into his hand give us the same doctrine as we read in Acts 4:12 (Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.) and in other places within the Bible. In spite of the many religious lies, the Bible says that there is only one way to be saved and that is through the person of God's Son.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Please see the notes for Romans 8:39-LJC; Galatians C5-S14; Philippians 1:9-11; love in 1John and 2John 1:3-LJC about the word love. In particular, the note for 2John 1:3-LJC has links to every place where John writes about the word love. Please also see the note for Revelation 8:35-LJC for a table which divides the various roles of God and gives Bible references for how God loves us through each of His roles. Please also see the note for 1John C3S26about the phrase love one another. Please see the note for 1John C4S13 about the phrase perfect love. Please see the notes for Romans C9S23 and Colossians C3S8 about the word beloved. The true Biblical doctrine of this word is very complex since it is a character trait of God. That said, a simple functional definition is: 'Doing what brings the greatest ultimate good to another being without any consideration of cost to self and not consideration of any response by the other and a willingness to even bring short-term pain if that is what is required in order to bring the ultimate long-tern good'.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C12S12; Colossians C2S7 about the word hand. The functional definition is: 'the part of the body used to grab and hold'. Please also see the note for 1Peter 5:6-7 about the phrase hand of God. Please also see the note for Mark 16:19 about the phrase the right hand of God.

Please see the note for Hebrews 1:5 about the word father. The functional definition is: 'the being who passes his character to the son'. In context with 1:14 we see that God wants to be a Father to all men.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C12S12; Colossians C2S7 about the word hand. The functional definition is: 'close by, within reach of the hand' . Please also see the note for 1Peter 5:6-7 about the phrase hand of God. Please also see the note for Mark 16:19 about the phrase the right hand of God.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Father. Joh 5:20,22; 15:9; 17:23,26; Pr 8:30; Isa 42:1; Mt 3:17; 17:5
and. Joh 13:3; 17:2; Ge 41:44,55; Ps 2:8; Isa 9:6-7; Mt 11:27; 28:18; Lu 10:22; 1Co 15:27; Eph 1:22; Php 2:9-11; Heb 1:2; 2:8-9; 1Pe 3:22
General references. exp: Ge 25:5; Joh 5:22; 16:15; 1Co 15:27'.

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C3-S35 (Verse 36) John the Baptist explains the result of accepting or rejecting Jesus.

Equivalent Section: The result of accepting Jesus.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:

Equivalent Section: The result of rejecting Jesus.

First Step: The short-term result of rejecting Jesus.

and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life;

Second Step: The long-term result of rejecting Jesus.

but the wrath of God abideth on him.

This sentence is the conclusion of the basic message from John the Baptist. Please see the note for Matthew 3:3 for the outline and details related to John's message. Our sentence is divided into two Equivalent Sections with the First Equivalent Section telling us the result of accepting Jesus. The details of this Equivalent Section are:

The action verb of this Equivalent Section is believeth. This word is explained in the word definitions below but the important thing to realize is that the th, in the word believeth, means that this person will 'keep on keeping on believing'. That is: this is a never-ending believing. As a result, this person will have spiritual fruit which is visible within their life. We are taught all through the Bible to inspect fruit. Romans 6 and other places in the Bible make it clear that someone truly believeth on the Son will have fruit from God evident in their life. If they don't have the right spiritual fruit, we are not to judge them as lost but to treat them as lost until they either truly get saved or start showing spiritual fruit or God kills them. True Biblical belief is the result of someone obeying the Biblical definition of the word repent.
The subject of this phrase is the Son. It is NO't the Bible. John 5:39 says Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. While the Bible points us to the Son, we are not to base our salvation upon what someone tells us that the Bible says but are to base it upon the person of the Son that the Bible points us to.
The word hath is presence-tense. In addition, the th, in the word hath, means that this person will 'keep on keeping on having'. That is: this is a life-style, never-ending having. It is not something that happens some after the person believes. Hath means that I have it right now if I'm saved. This is not something that happened after I live for hell and die. Further, hath means that I will have the effects and results of God's live in my physical life right now.
The word everlasting is a qualifier of the word life. It lets us know that the life, which is being spoken of, is not physical life because physical life end. Our Equivalent Section is speaking about spiritual life In addition, everlasting life (in heaven) is considerable different from the second death (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:14 and Revelation 21:8) which will be in the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:14-15) . The second Step of our Second Equivalent Section tells us that everyone who rejects Jesus will have the wrath of God (abiding for ever) on him, which is the second death spent in lake of fire.
God's life is the main thing that God gives as salvation. All life begets similar life We can not get God's life from anyone but God. That said, God uses physical truths to teach us spiritual truths. Physical . starts at conception. Then there is a gestation period where evidence of the . may not be seen by the world. However, after birth, the same life that started at conception continues, but now it is revealed to the world and the relationship between the man and that child changes and should become far more active. Likewise, there is a difference between when we receive Jesus and when we become sons of God. (John 1:12-13) Likewise, the relationship between God and His child changes to include the ministry of Christ which is how we mature spiritually. Anyone who claims a salvation that denies the personal ministry of Jesus or the ongoing personal ministry of Christ did not truly receive God's life and they are not Biblically saved. This truth is clearly stated in the Second Equivalent Section of this sentence.
In this First Equivalent Section we find that the person doing this action is the non-qualified pronoun of: he. This means that this is a truth which can be applied to anyone.

The Second Equivalent Section of this sentence provides the mirror opposite of the First Equivalent Section and we can see this by the First Equivalent Section starting with He that believeth while the Second Equivalent Section starting with He that believeth not. With this basic truth in mind, we can now look at the details that are within Second Equivalent Section.

The word and means 'in addition to'. God is not giving us only one half of an equation and letting us guess the other half. God is telling us both sides and no one will be able to accuse God of leaving part of the message out.
In this Second Equivalent Section, we find that the person refusing to do the believing is still the non-qualified pronoun of: he, with a second the non-qualified pronoun of: him (that has the wrath of God abideth on him). Thus, this Second Equivalent Section can still be applied to anyone.
The phrase believeth not means 'an ongoing life-style refusal to believe'. God gives most people more than one chance to believe, But God also says My spirit shall not always strive with man (Genesis 6:3). Therefore, we are not given unlimited chances to believe. This refusal to believe includes those liars who say they believe but never let God change their life to show His righteousness. As said many times on this site, true Bible belief is an action verb which must produce true action.
There phrase, believeth not the Son takes us to John 5:39 and other verses which deal with this doctrinal truth. Lots of people are like the devil in that they believe the Bible, in their head, but are still condemned because they do not believe it in their heart and do not let their claimed belief change their life. Lots claim to believe the Father one way or another, but 1John and other places tell us that they are lost. Son here doesn't just mean Son of God but it also means Son of man and everything that the Bible tells us about the Son of man. (Pease use the link in the sentence outline, above, to get more details on this truth) Lots of people tell me 'I'm saved and I believe God and the Bible but I don't believe you' when I tell them things that are in the Bible. I don't want them to believe me but when I tell them the truth from God's word, and they reject the message, then they are not rejecting me but rejecting God (1Samuel 8:7). Everyone should use the Spirit of God to verify what someone tells them is in the word of God. Those people who refuse to verify, bit just reject a witness, are in danger of believeth not the Son. They may be saved, but lots of saved people Shall not see life in that they receive sickness and death instead of getting their prayers answered. In addition, the people who shall not see life 'do not understand how God's life works in this physical reality'.
The phrase shall not see life refers back to John 3:3 and other places within the Bible. In John 3:3 Jesus told Nicodemus that this person cannot see the kingdom of God which means they won't even see how God's character changes the saved person. That's why a lot of lost people say that someone got religion' in order to explain the changes in their life which come with true Biblical salvation. However, this also means that the person who refuses to believe the Son won't see the things of salvation and spiritual life while they are still in this physical life. Many times when I tell people things that are in the Bible, they not only say they can't believe the things I say but they also say they can't 'see' it, meaning it doesn't make sense to them. In the first three chapters of 1Corinthians we are told that there is a difference between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of this world / man. Further, 1Corinthians 2:14 says But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The lost person will never see [understand] life [the things of the Spirit of God] until after they receive the Spirit of God in salvation.
As already mentioned, the meaning of the wrath of God, which most saved people think about, is an eternity in the lake of fire and is also called the second death. This is the eternal, result of believeth not the Son. However, there is another application which Satan gets many saved people to ignore. The children of wrath (Colossians 3:8) are saved people because the lost are not children of God. These are saved people who did not continue a life-style of belief (believeth not). Such people have eternal life, but they do not see life in that they do not see the effects in their physical life which should be displayed because they have eternal life.
The word abideth means: 'ongoing, living and growing'. One of the hardest things to convince saved people is that they are not helping their loved ones by getting between God and their loved ones' sin. God may put off judgment until He moves the saved person out of the way, but His wrath is growing all while He waits for the saved person to move out of the way and it ends up being a whole lot worse when it finally comes upon that lost person.

In 3:22 through the end of the chapter (3:36) we have the account of John the Baptist dealing with Jesus, and His ministry, in relationship to the effect that it had upon the ministry of John the Baptist. In addition, the sentences from 3:27 through 3:36 form a sub-section which record the statements by John the Baptist. As said repeatedly, Please consider all of the sentences, and their related notes, together in order to get the full context which God gives to us.

Please see the note for Philippians 1:19-20 about the word life. That note has the definition from Webster's 1828 and links from other commentators. Please also see the notes for Life in 1John about the word life. Please see the notes for Hebrews 1:8-LJC and Philippians 1:27-LJC about the phrase life everlasting. We find the phrase eternal life in: 6:12 and 6:19. Please see the note for Romans C10S15 about the phrase belief changes life. Please also see the notes for Romans C14S11; Galatians C2-S14 and Philippians 1:21 about the word live. Please also see the note for Colossians C3S4 about the phrase Christ lives through us. Please also see the note for Ephesians C1S2 about the phrase just shall live by faith. Please also see the note for Romans C11S6 about the phrase just shall live by his faith. Please also see the note for Romans C9S28 about the phrase live / walk by faith.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C7S9 about the word abide. The functional definition is: 'to dwell, rest, continue, stand firm, or be stationary for anytime indefinitely'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'that believeth on. Joh 3:15-16; 1:12; 5:24; 6:47-54; 10:28; Hab 2:4; Ro 1:17; 8:1; 1Jo 3:14-15; 5:10-13
see. Joh 3:3; 8:51; Nu 32:11; Job 33:28; Ps 36:9; 49:19; 106:4-5; Lu 2:30; 3:6; Ro 8:24-25; Re 21:8
but. Ps 2:12; Ro 1:18; 4:15; 5:9; Ga 3:10; Eph 5:6; 1Th 1:10; 5:9; Heb 2:3; 10:29; Re 6:16-17 exp: Hab 2:4; Mr 16:16.
General references. exp: Lu 14:24; Heb 3:19'.

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John Chapter 4

True Biblical Salvation Results in a Changed Life

Links to sentences in this chapter:

C4-S1 (Verse 1-3), C4-S2 (Verse 4), C4-S3 (Verse 5), C4-S4 (Verse 6), C4-S5 (Verse 6), C4-S6 (Verse 7), C4-S7 (Verse 8), C4-S8 (Verse 9), C4-S9 (Verse 9), C4-S10 (Verse 10), C4-S11 (Verse 11), C4-S12 (Verse 12), C4-S13 (Verse 13-14), C4-S14 (Verse 15), C4-S15 (Verse 16), C4-S16 (Verse 17), C4-S17 (Verse 17-18), C4-S18 (Verse 19), C4-S19 (Verse 20), C4-S20 (Verse 21), C4-S21 (Verse 22), C4-S22 (Verse 23), C4-S23 (Verse 24), C4-S24 (Verse 25), C4-S25 (Verse 26), C4-S26 (Verse 27), C4-S27 (Verse 27), C4-S28 (Verse 28-29), C4-S29 (Verse 30), C4-S30 (Verse 31), C4-S31 (Verse 32), C4-S32 (Verse 33), C4-S33 (Verse 34), C4-S34 (Verse 35), C4-S35 (Verse 35), C4-S36 (Verse 36), C4-S37 (Verse 37), C4-S38 (Verse 38), C4-S39 (Verse 39), C4-S40 (Verse 40), C4-S41 (Verse 41-42), C4-S42 (Verse 43), C4-S43 (Verse 44), C4-S44 (Verse 45), C4-S45 (Verse 46), C4-S46 (Verse 46), C4-S47 (Verse 47), C4-S48 (Verse 48), C4-S49 (Verse 49), C4-S50 (Verse 50), C4-S51 (Verse 50), C4-S52 (Verse 51), C4-S53 (Verse 52), C4-S54 (Verse 52), C4-S55 (Verse 53), C4-S56 (Verse 54)'.

Chapter 4 Summary:

Our chapter starts out telling how Jesus left Judaea in order to avoid a dispute with the Pharisees. Our chapter ends with Him in Cana of Galilee where He did the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee. Note: the fact that it was the second miracle that Jesus did in this place, does not preclude His doing other miracles in other places.

Between the start of His journey and the end, Jesus went through Samaria where we have the account of 'the Samaritan woman'. Thus, the majority of this chapter is taken up with that account and most of the rest of the chapter is taken up with the miracle that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee.

Our chapter also has the account of Jesus announcing the start of the 'Church Age' with But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23).

When we look at how Jesus dealt with the woman of Samaria, we can see a procedure for winning the lost to Jesus. Please see the relevant sentences and their associated notes for this procedure.

After that event we read how Jesus returned home and rebuked a man for seeking blessings from God by following Jewish religious traditional methods. When he responded in true faith, Jesus granted his request and and that man, later, verified the results of faith.

Thus, our chapter gives us the introduction of the church. At this point, the Jewish people had rejected the message of an ongoing personal relationship with God. Therefore, Jesus would take God's message to people who would receive it. Yes, it does tell us about the travel of Jesus, but that is really to let us know that He went to a non-Jew. The main doctrinal parts of this chapter are:

C4-S2 through C4-S25 which tell us how Jesus led this woman to salvation.
C4-S20 through C4-S23 which tell us how God wants the church to worship Him.
C4-S30 through C4-S38 which tell us the provision and reward for serving God.
C4-S47 through C4-S56 which tell us the failure of religious ways and the triumph of faith.

In addition, to the sub-sections just mentioned, we have a couple of outlines from the things which Jesus said and did. In C4S2 we have the procedure that Jesus used to lead a person from a different culture to true Biblical salvation. In C4S20 we have the outline of the 'Church Age' as given by Jesus in this chapter.

Please also see the Doctrinal Study called John the Baptist for more details about John the Baptist, that is included in this chapter. That Study has links to where other Gospel accounts deal with him and his message. Every reference to him, that is in the Bible, is in that Study and presented by Bible book and presented sequentially.

In the start of this chapter, we see that John the Baptist is decreasing in importance while Jesus is increasing. We see this by the fact that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. This matches the message from John the Baptist which we read at the end of the prior chapter.

C4-S1: Jesus left Judaea in order to avoid a fight with the Pharisees.
C4-S2: Jesus was required to deal with a non-Jew.
C4-S3: Where Jesus met the non-Jew.
C4-S4: The significance of Where Jesus stopped.
C4-S5: Why Jesus sat.
C4-S6: How Jesus started to witness.
C4-S7: Why Jesus was alone.
C4-S8: Her questioning the unusual behavior of Jesus.
C4-S9: Why she considered His behavior unusual.
C4-S10: The answer from Jesus turned the conversation to spiritual matters.
C4-S11: Her confusion because a spiritual answer did not meet with physical reality.
C4-S12: Second question because His answer did not match the standard religious answer.
C4-S13: Jesus explains the difference between spiritual truth and standard religious answers.
C4-S14: Her request for what Jesus offered.
C4-S15: Now Jesus brought up her sin.
C4-S16: She dodged the truth.
C4-S17: Jesus confronted her with the truth.
C4-S18: She realized that He was a man of God.
C4-S19: She asked him about the main religious disagreement.
C4-S20: Jesus told her about the coming 'Church Age'.
C4-S21: Jesus told he she would have to believe God's source of truth.
C4-S22: How people in the church are to worship God.
C4-S23: Why God wants us to worship Him this way.
C4-S24: The woman confesses the truth that she knows.
C4-S25: Jesus answers her implied question.
C4-S26: The disciples returned and marveled.
C4-S27: No one questioned Jesus.
C4-S28: The woman witnessed to others about the Christ.
C4-S29: Others responded to her witness.
C4-S30: The disciples were concerned about physical needs.
C4-S31: Jesus spake of spiritual provision.
C4-S32: The disciples did not understand His answer.
C4-S33: Jesus explains His answer.
C4-S34: Jesus challenges them with a question.
C4-S35: Jesus gives them the spiritual perspective.
C4-S36: God's plan of reward for workers.
C4-S37: God's plan of cooperative workers.
C4-S38: Jesus applies it to them personally.
C4-S39: The result of a saved person giving true testimony.
C4-S40: Saved people truly desire to know more.
C4-S41: Saved people believe God's truth and not just the words of other people.
C4-S42: Jesus finished His journey home.
C4-S43: Why Jesus went to the mission field.
C4-S44: Why people at His home were glad to see Him.
C4-S45: Jesus returned home.
C4-S46: A need was told to Jesus.
C4-S47: Jesus rebuked the wrong motivation.
C4-S48: The man expressed the right motivation.
C4-S49: Jesus rewarded faith.
C4-S50: Jesus demanded faith.
C4-S51: The man responded in faith.
C4-S52: The man heard the results of his faith.
C4-S53: The man verified the evidence of faith.
C4-S54: The evidence provided.
C4-S55: Confidence from verified evidence of faith.
C4-S56: Importance of this event.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides a chapter outline as:

1-26. Christ talks with a woman of Samaria, and reveals himself unto her.
27-30. His disciples marvel.
31-38. He declares to them his zeal for God's glory.
39-42. Many Samaritans believe on him.
43-54. He departs into Galilee, and heals the ruler's son that lay sick at Capernaum. '.

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C4-S1 (Verse 1-3) Jesus left Judaea in order to avoid a fight with the Pharisees.

What Jesus did.

When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
(See Below),
He left Judaea,
and departed again into Galilee.

Below is the part of the sentence from the parenthesis.

The responsibility of Jesus.

(Though Jesus himself baptized not,
but his disciples)

Matthew 4:14-17 and Mark 1:14-15 tell us that Jesus went to Galilee when he heard that John the Baptist was thrown in prison. This report in Matthew and Mark probably are not the same time as this report in John. If they are the same, then we have two different reasons for Jesus to go to Galilee. Both indicate that Jesus would have had a confrontation if He stayed in Judea, and it was not yet time for that to happen. One of the important lessons from the Bible is that we need to do things in God's time because there are other things which are affected by what we do even though we may not be aware of them. In either case, this sentence tells us that the Lord sent Jesus to Galilee and our next sentence tells us why when it says: And he must needs go through Samaria.

The two notes within the Lord Jesus Christ Study (use the links in the sentence outline above) explain more about the doctrine of this sentence as related to the words of: Lord, Jesus, and baptize. In addition, our next sentence is added to this sentence by starting with the word and. It explains another reason why Jesus left when He did.

Please see the note for John 3:1 about the word Pharisee. The functional definition is: 'One of a sect among the Jews, whose religion consisted in a strict observance of rites and ceremonies and of the traditions of the elders, and whose pretended holiness led them to separate themselves as a sect, considering themselves as more righteous than other Jews'.

The John. who is named in our sentence is John the Baptist. Please use this link provided to see the full Study on John the Baptist, including links to notes which deal with every place in the Bible where he is named.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:8 about the word depart. The functional definition is: 'To go or move from'.

Please see the note for John 1:43 about the word Galilee. The functional definition is: 'Part of the Promised Land given to Gentiles'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'the Lord. Lu 1:76; 2:11; 19:31,34; Ac 10:36; 1Co 2:8; 15:47; 2Co 4:5; Jas 2:1; Re 19:16 that Jesus. Joh 3:22,26 General references. exp: Ge 4:6.
General references. Ac 10:48; 1Co 1:13-17 exp: Ge 4:6.
left. Joh 3:32; 10:40; 11:54; Mt 10:23; Mr 3:7 again. Joh 1:43 General references. exp: Ge 4:6'.

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C4-S2 (Verse 4) Jesus was required to deal with a non-Jew.
And he must needs go through Samaria.

Please also see the Message called He Must Needs Go about this verse and chapter.

Our sentence starts with the word And, which adds it to the prior sentence. Please see all of the notes for it including the ones reached by the links within the sentence outline in order to understand the context.

Our prior sentence said that He started from Judaea going to Galilee and C4-S42 tells us; Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. Therefore, many might consider this to be a side-trip except that our sentence uses the phrase must needs go. therefore, this was a command from God the Father. In addition, our account lets us know that this is when Her announced the start of the 'Church Age', so this was after He was rejected by the Jews because He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and kept His ministry limited to the Jews until they rejected Him. That is why the prior sentence indicated the Pharisees picking a fight with Him and He deciding to leave Judaea in order to avoid the fight at that time. In addition, the only other time that Samaria is mentioned in the Gospels is in Luke 17:11, where he was traveling in the opposite direction. Therefore , this is not the same time but I can do no more to place it within the time-sequence of His ministry during the Gospels.

In addition, to the context of the prior sentence, this sentence starts an account which goes through C4-S42 and tells us about Jesus dealing with the woman of Samaria. In these sentences we have the example of Jesus leading someone to true salvation even though there were cultural problems interfering. The steps He took were:

In C4-S2 He had a command from God the Father to go witness.
In C4-S3 He went where it was not convenient not comfortable in order to obey.
In C4-S5 He witnessed even while tired, thirsty and hungry.
In C4-S7 He arranged the circumstances so that He was not interrupted while witnessing.
In C4-S6 He opened the conversation in a way to make the woman curious. He overcame cultural hostility and suspicion so that she would think about His answers.
In C4-S10 He gave a spiritual answer when she asked why He did not act as expected and as culture dictated.
In C4-S11 through S13 She asked about His spiritual answer not matching cultural and religious teaching of her day. Jesus explained the blessings from God for accepting God's spiritual answer instead of the religious teaching.
In C4-S14 through S17 he woman asked for God's blessings and only now does Jesus bring up her sin. He got her interest in the blessings from God before mentioning the problem but did not neglect telling her about the problem.
In C4-S18 through S23 She acknowledged that He gave answers from God (Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet) and not just canned religious answers. Jesus responded by announcing the start of the 'Church Age' and saying the type of relationship which God was truly offering.
In C4-S24 through S25 She said what spiritual truth she had been taught and He clarified her knowledge. At this point she believed on Him and was saved as shown by her action in C4-S28.
In C4-S39 we see the result of her witnessing to others after her own salvation.

Please see the note for Mark 11:19 about the word city. The functional definition for this word is: 'The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain (Ge 4:17). That note also mentions several other cities recorded in the Bible'.

We find forms of the word Samaria occurring 124 times in 115 verses of the Bible and, in the New Testament, in: Luke 17:11; John 4:4; John 4:5; John 4:7; John 4:9; Acts 1:8; Acts 8:1; Acts 8:5; Acts 8:9; Acts 8:14; Acts 9:31; Acts 15:3. Morrish Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'This city was built by Omri, king of Israel, and came into prominence by becoming the capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes. It was situated on the side of a hill, and was adorned and fortified by the kings of Israel. Ben-hadad, king of Syria, besieged Samaria in the reign of Ahab, but by the intervention of God it was not taken. 1Ki 20:1-34. In the days of Jehoram it was again besieged by Ben-hadad, and the famine became so great that they were on the point of capitulating when some lepers brought word that the enemy had fled, and abundance of provision was to be found in the camp. 2Ki 6:24-33; 7.
It was besieged again by Shalmaneser, about B.C. 723, but held out for three years, being eventually taken by Sargon. The people were now carried into captivity. 2Ki 18:9-12. Among the Assyrian inscriptions there is one in which Sargon says, "The city of Samaria I besieged, I captured; 27,280 of its inhabitants I carried away." It was partly re-peopled by the colonists imported by Esar-haddon. Samaria was again taken by John Hyrcanus, who did his best to destroy it.
The city was rebuilt by Herod the Great, and named Sebaste (the Greek form of Augusta) in honour of his patron the emperor Augustus; but on the death of Herod it gradually declined. It is now only a miserable village, called Sebustieh, 32 17 N, 35 12' E, but with some grand columns standing and relics of its former greatness lying about.
THE DISTRIC't OF SAMARIA is often alluded to in the N.T. It occupied about the same territory as that of Ephraim and Manasseh's portion in the west. It had the district of Galilee on the north, and Judaea on the south. Lu 17:11; Joh 4:4; Ac 1:8; 8:1-14; 9:31; 15:3'. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'a watch-mountain or a watch-tower. In the heart of the mountains of Israel, a few miles north-west of Shechem, stands the "hill of Shomeron," a solitary mountain, a great "mamelon." It is an oblong hill, with steep but not inaccessible sides, and a long flat top. Omri, the king of Israel, purchased this hill from Shemer its owner for two talents of silver, and built on its broad summit the city to which he gave the name of "Shomeron", i.e., Samaria, as the new capital of his kingdom instead of Tirzah (1Ki 16:24). As such it possessed many advantages. Here Omri resided during the last six years of his reign. As the result of an unsuccessful war with Syria, he appears to have been obliged to grant to the Syrians the right to "make streets in Samaria", i.e., probably permission to the Syrian merchants to carry on their trade in the Israelite capital. This would imply the existence of a considerable Syrian population. "It was the only great city of Palestine created by the sovereign. All the others had been already consecrated by patriarchal tradition or previous possession. But Samaria was the choice of Omri alone. He, indeed, gave to the city which he had built the name of its former owner, but its especial connection with himself as its founder is proved by the designation which it seems Samaria bears in Assyrian inscriptions, Beth-khumri ('the house or palace of Omri').", Stanley.
Samaria was frequently besieged. In the days of Ahab, Benhadad II. came up against it with thirty-two vassal kings, but was defeated with a great slaughter (1Ki 20:1-21). A second time, next year, he assailed it; but was again utterly routed, and was compelled to surrender to Ahab (1Ki 20:28-34), whose army, as compared with that of Benhadad, was no more than "two little flocks of kids."
In the days of Jehoram this Benhadad again laid siege to Samaria, during which the city was reduced to the direst extremities. But just when success seemed to be within their reach, they suddenly broke up the seige, alarmed by a mysterious noise of chariots and horses and a great army, and fled, leaving their camp with all its contents behind them. The famishing inhabitants of the city were soon relieved with the abundance of the spoil of the Syrian camp; and it came to pass, according to the word of Elisha, that "a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barely for a shekel, in the gates of Samaria" (2Ki 7).
Shalmaneser invaded Israel in the days of Hoshea, and reduced it to vassalage. He laid siege to Samaria (B.C. 723), which held out for three years, and was at length captured by Sargon, who completed the conquest Shalmaneser had begun (2Ki 18:9-12; 17:3), and removed vast numbers of the tribes into captivity. (See Sargon.)
This city, after passing through various vicissitudes, was given by the emperor Augustus to Herod the Great, who rebuilt it, and called it Sebaste (Gr. form of Augustus) in honour of the emperor. In the New Testament the only mention of it is in Ac 8:5-14, where it is recorded that Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached there. Illustration: Colonnade of Herod the Great
It is now represented by the hamlet of Sebustieh, containing about three hundred inhabitants. The ruins of the ancient town are all scattered over the hill, down the sides of which they have rolled. The shafts of about one hundred of what must have been grand Corinthian columns are still standing, and attract much attention, although nothing definite is known regarding them. (Comp. Mic 1:6.)
In the time of Christ, Western Palestine was divided into three provinces, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Samaria occupied the centre of Palestine (Joh 4:4). It is called in the Talmud the "land of the Cuthim," and is not regarded as a part of the Holy Land at all.
It may be noticed that the distance between Samaria and Jerusalem, the respective capitals of the two kingdoms, is only 35 miles in a direct line'.

Nave's Topical Bible provides links for Samaria as: '1. City of, built by Omri: 1Ki 16:24. Capitol of the kingdom of the ten tribes: 1Ki 16:29; 22:51; 2Ki 13:1,10; 15:8. Besieged by Ben-hadad: 1Ki 20; 2Ki 6:24-33; 7. The king of Syria is led into, by Elisha, who miraculously blinds him and his army: 2Ki 6:8-23. Besieged by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, for three years; captured; the people carried away to Halah and Habor, cities of the Medes: 2Ki 17:5-6; 18:9-11. Idolatry of: 1Ki 16:32; 2Ki 13:6. Temple of, destroyed: 2Ki 10:17-28; 23:19. Paul and Barnabas preach in: Ac 15:3. Visited by Philip, Peter, and John: Ac 8:5-25: 2. Country of: Isa 7:9: Foreign colonies distributed among the cities of, by the king of Assyria: 2Ki 17:24-41; Ezr 4:9-10. Roads through, from Judaea into Galilee: Lu 17:11; Joh 4:3-8. Jesus travels through: Joh 4:1-42. Jesus heals lepers in: Lu 17:11-19. The Good Samaritan from: Lu 10:33-35. No dealings between the Jews and the inhabitants of: Joh 4:9. Samaritans were expecting the Messiah: Joh 4:25. Disciples made from the inhabitants of: Joh 4:39-42; Ac 8:5-8,14-17,25. Jesus forbids the apostles to preach in the cities of: Mt 10:5'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for Samaria as: 'City of: 1Ki 16:24,29; 20:1; 2Ki 6:19; 17:5; 18:9; Isa 8:4; Mic 1:6; Ac 8:5. Province of: 2Ki 23:19; Joh 4:4; Ac 8:1; 9:31; 15:3'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Mt 10:5-6; Lu 2:49; 9:51-52; 17:11 exp: Ge 4:6'.

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C4-S3 (Verse 5) Where Jesus met the non-Jew.

Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,
which is called Sychar,
near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

This sentence identifies the exact place where Jesus met the woman of Samaria. As our account says, the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. During the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity, the governments had moved many non-Jews into the conquered land in order to destroy the national identity of the country of Israel. Thus, the people there were part Jewish blood and part other nationalities. After the Babylonian captivity, the pure-blood Jews returned to Judaea and to the northern parts, such as Galilee, but even those Jews were looked down upon by the Jews in Judaea. However, the pure blood Jews, apparently, did not return to this area and everyone in it was considered to be contaminated.

As our sentence indicates, this particular part of the promised land was given to the descendants of Joseph. Of all of the tribes of Israel, they should have been the most spiritual. And, at the time of Isaiah, their schools for priests were considered to be the best. However, more that any other group of Jews they turned to religious ceremonies in place of true worship of God and excused sin by the priests and religious leaders. That is why they received more severe punishment. The closer that we are to God, and the more blessings that we receive from God, the greater punishment that we receive if we abandon God.

Please notice that our account includes Jesus saying the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him (C4-S22). When God sought to restore true worship, He choose the people who had the greatest punishment for abandoning true worship. In addition, Since the Jews regarded these people as Gentiles, they are the ones whom God used to extend the invitation to do true worship such as God wants in the church during the 'Church Age'. Therefore, even though they received the greatest punishment, they were allowed the first and greatest chance for restoration.

While the pure-blood Jews rejected these people, they still regarded themselves to be heirs of God. Notice that the woman says our father Jacob in C4-S12. As we see said by Jesus,. god wanted His people to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God had told the Jews to not inter-marry with the inhabitants of the land. This was because those inhabitants brought in false forms of worship, including the worship of idols and the worship of devils. However, instead of concentrating on God's spiritual purpose of true worship, the Jews concentrated on physical blood descent. Therefore, the entire argument was over the wrong thing and, as part of straightening things out, God had Jesus announce the 'Church Age' in a city of Samaria.

Please see the note for John 4:4 about Samaria. The functional definition is: 'THE DISTRIC't OF SAMARIA is often alluded to in the N.T. It occupied about the same territory as that of Ephraim and Manasseh's portion in the west. It had the district of Galilee on the north, and Judaea on the south'.

Please see the notes for Romans C1S1; 1Corinthians C1S3 and 1Timothy 6:12 about the word call. The functional definition is: 'A person who has a position where they are expected to performs tasks that are stated, implied or desired by another person'. Please also see the note for Romans 10:13; 2Thessalonians 3:1-LJC; Ephesians 5:8-LJC and 1John 4:14-LJC about the phrase call upon the Lord. The note for Romans 10:13 has links to every place in the Bible where we find the words call and Lord used together, along with a small note on each reference.

Please see the note for Colossians C1S6 about the word ground. The functional definition is: 'The surface of land or upper part of the earth, without reference to the materials which compose it'.

Please see the note for Hebrews 11:9 about Jacob. The functional definition is: 'The son and heir of Isaac. Jacob is used in the Bible when he was acting in the flesh. Israel is used in the Bible when he was following God's Holy Spirit'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'the parcel. Ge 33:19; 48:22; Jos 24:32'.

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C4-S4 (Verse 6) The significance of Where Jesus stopped.
Now Jacob's well was there.

While the Jews denied the people of Samaria, they claimed everything based upon their being the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. While making their claim based upon being descends of Jacob, they denied other descendants of Jacob who actually had the land with Jacob's well. Thus, we see the inconsistency which always enters when people concentrate on the outer physical aspects and ignore the truly important inner aspects of an identity.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Jacob's well. Over Jacob's well the empress Helena is said to have built a church, in the form of a cross, of which "nothing but a few foundations" remained in the time of Maundrell. He states that is situated about one-third of an hour, or, about a mile, east of Naplosa, the ancient Sychar; and Mr. Buckingham says it is called Beer Samareea, or the well of Samaria, and "stands at the commencement of the round vale which is thought to be the parcel of ground bought by Jacob, and which, like the narrow valley east of Nablous, is rich and fertile. The mouth of the well itself had an arched or vaulted building over it; and the only passage down to it at this moment is by a small hole in the roof." "It is," says Maundrell, "dug in the firm rock, and contains about three yards in diameter, and thirty-five in depth; five of which we found full of water."'.

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C4-S5 (Verse 6) Why Jesus sat.

Equivalent Section: How Jesus felt.

Jesus therefore,
being wearied with his journey,
sat thus on the well:

Equivalent Section: Why

and it was about the sixth hour.

Our sentence has two Equivalent Sections which, basically, show us the humanity of Jesus. Time measurement changed throughout history. In reference to the sixth hour, in this sentence, Easton's Bible Dictionary tells us: 'An hour was the twelfth part of the day, reckoning from sunrise to sunset, and consequently it perpetually varied in length'. While we can not put an exact minute on the time, as we measure it today, the time of day mentioned in our sentence would have been about noon plus or minus an hour. Therefore, Jesus would have walked for about 6 hours and was tired, as our current sentence says. He also would have been thirsty, as indicated in C4-S6. Further, He also would have been hungry, as indicated in C4-S7.

One of the most neglected doctrines is the humanity of Jesus, even though it is one of the major doctrines found within the Gospels. As a literal physical man, He is our example of how to live in this flesh using the power of the Holy Ghost. In this account He shows us that we are to witness at every opportunity, even when we are tired, thirsty, hungry and dealing with a hostile person. He also shows us how to witness under these circumstances by how He does it in this account.

We find forms of the words weary / wearied occurring 122 times in 58 verses of the Bible and, in New Testament, in: Luke 18:5; John 4:6; 2Corinthians 11:27; Galatians 6:9; 2Thessalonians 3:13; Hebrews 12:3. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: '1. Having the strength much exhausted by toil or violent exertion; tired; fatigued. It should be observed however that this word expresses less than tired, particularly when applied to a beast; as a tired horse. It is followed by of, before the cause of fatigue; as, to be weary of marching; to be weary of reaping; to be weary of study. 2. Having the patience exhausted, or the mind yielding to discouragement. He was weary of asking for redress. 3. Causing weariness; tiresome; as a weary way; a weary life.
WEARY, v.t. from the adjective. 1. To reduce or exhaust the physical strength of the body; to tire; to fatigue; as, to weary ones self with labor or traveling. The people shall weary themselves for very vanity. Habakkuk 2. 2. To make impatient of continuance. I stay too long by thee; I weary thee. 3. To harass by any thing irksome; as, to be wearied of waiting for the arrival of the post. To weary out, to subdue or exhaust by fatigue'.

Please see the note for Titus 2:13 about the word journey. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: '(1.) A day's journey in the East is from 16 to 20 miles (Nu 11:31). (2.) A sabbath-day's journey is 2,000 paces or yards from the city walls (Ac 1:12). According to Jewish tradition, it was the distance one might travel without violating the law of Ex 16:29. (See sabbath.)'.

Please see the note for John 2:4 about the word hour. The functional definition is: 'a short period of time relative to the perspective'. Thus, a thousand years can be considered to be an 'hour / short period of time' from the perspective of eternity. That note tells all of the applications found within the Gospels.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'being. Mt 4:2; 8:24; Heb 2:17; 4:15
sat. Lu 2:7; 9:58; 2Co 8:9
the sixth. Joh 11:9; Mt 27:45'.

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C4-S6 (Verse 7) How Jesus started to witness.

Equivalent Section: The person that Jesus witnessed to.

There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water:

Equivalent Section: The start of His witness.

Jesus saith unto her,
Give me to drink.

As presented here, many people would think that Jesus was being rude. However, no matter what people claim, people do not know the culture of the day. Therefore, they can not say if Jesus was simply acting within the cultural expectations or not. In addition, the word saith means that He 'kept on keeping on saying'. Therefore, John did not record every word which was spoken but only the relevant words.

In two more sentences we read: the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? If Jesus had been much more polite the her than was expected, she would have been suspicious of His motives. However, instead of causing that reaction, or another non-productive reaction, He got her talking to Him and engaged her curiosity enough to make her think Please notice that, while He demanded a drink, no where in the account are we told that she did as asked. This indicates that, while it was probably a valid request, it was not the primary purpose of the demand. The rest of the account shows that the reaction which He received was what Jesus was mainly seeking.

Please see the note for Galatians C4-S2 about the word woman. Morrish Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'It is evident from scripture that women were anciently held in much more honour and esteem in Eastern countries than they are now. Solomon, speaking of women, said that such as his soul sought for he did not find one in a thousand. Ec 7:28. This tells of fallen human nature; but the true thought of woman is that she is the glory of the man, his true helpmeet. This is fulfilled in the relationship of the church to Christ. In the N.T. the true place of the woman in subjection to the man is plainly stated, as indicated in creation; and in the assembly the woman is to be silent, and not to teach. Her bearing and deportment are expressive of what she learns as taught of Christ. 1Co 11:3-15; 14:34-35; 1Ti 2:11. 12. Nevertheless women were greatly honoured in ministering to the Lord, and are accredited as helping on the work of the Lord in the Gospel and among the saints. Lu 8:2-3; 23:27,55-56; Ro 16:1,3,6; Php 4:2-3; 2Jo 1:10.' . Please see the note for Romans C9S19 about the phrase What is man.

Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

Please see the note for Romans 11:1 about the phrase I say. The functional definition is: 'Uttering in articulate sounds or words; speaking; telling; relating; reciting'. Please also see the note for Romans C10S28 about the word gainsaying. Please also see the notes for Romans C15S15 and 2Corinthians 2:17 about the word speak. Please also see the note for 2Corinthians 3:12-14 about the word speech. Please also see the note for about the phrase evil speaking. The words speaketh and saith mean that the person 'keeps on keeping on doing the saying'.

Please see the note for Mark 14:23 about the word drink / drank. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'The drinks of the Hebrews were water, wine, "strong drink," and vinegar. Their drinking vessels were the cup, goblet or "basin," the "cruse" or pitcher, and the saucer. To drink water by measure (Eze 4:11), and to buy water to drink (La 5:4), denote great scarcity. To drink blood means to be satiated with slaughter. The Jews carefully strained their drinks through a sieve, through fear of violating the law of Le 11:20,23,41-42. (See Mt 23:24. "Strain at" should be "strain out.")'. The symbolic meaning was well understood in the ancient cultures and is still considered significant by many religions of today.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Give. Joh 4:10; 19:28; Ge 24:43; 2Sa 23:15-17; 1Ki 17:10; Mt 10:42
General references. exp: Joh 4:28'.

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C4-S7 (Verse 8) Why Jesus was alone.
(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

This sentence was added by the interpreters of the KJV to keep the same message which was in the Greek even though these words are not in the Greek. With that said, if people do not think about all that is going on here they can get a wrong idea. That wrong idea would be: 'Jesus asked her because there were no disciples to ask'. However, that idea ignores the fact that everything which Jesus did was planned. His going to Samaria was planned. His sitting on the well was planned. His sending the disciples away was planned. The circumstances were planned so that He could get this woman to talk to Him. No, this was not an accident. Our sentence tells us For his disciples were gone away, but does not tell us why they were gone away. However, when we honestly consider the circumstances, the things told to us on in this account, and the character of Jesus along with the opening of this account with: And he must needs go through Samaria, there should be no question but that the circumstances were set-up by Jesus.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians 7:23 about the words bought / buy. The functional definition is: 'To acquire the property, right or title to any thing, by paying a consideration or an equivalent in money'.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians 6:13; Hebrews 13:8-LJC and Hebrews 13:9 about the word meat. The functional definition is: 'Food in general; any thing eaten for nourishment, either by man or beast. This includes fruits and vegetables'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'to buy. Joh 6:5-7; Lu 9:13
General references. exp: Ge 4:6'.

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C4-S8 (Verse 9) Her questioning the unusual behavior of Jesus.

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him,
How is it that thou,
being a Jew,
askest drink of me,
which am a woman of Samaria?

Our sentence starts with the word Then, which means this is her response to Jesus saying: Give me to drink in the second prior sentence. In her response we see her asking how Jesus could personally (thou) talk to her when He was obviously a Jew and she was a Samaria. Thus, Jesus was obviously acting outside of the standard cultural expectations. While His action was not what was expected, He obviously did not frighten her and He also got her attention enough for her to ask a question. Thus, she was apparently going to think about whatever answer He gave.

In this sentence we see the reason why I mentioned a cultural conflict back in the note for C4-S7. Jesus had to overcome that cultural conflict while also getting her interested to talk and get her to think about what He said instead of just reacting with her own cultural prejudices or spend all of her time looking for a trap instead of thinking about what Jesus said.

In these opening sentences we see that Jesus got her engaged in a conversation that avoided all of the expected things about culture and religion. This is the main goal of starting a conversation whereby we can be a witness.

Please see the note for Romans 11:1 about the phrase I say. The functional definition is: 'Uttering in articulate sounds or words; speaking; telling; relating; reciting'. Please also see the note for Romans C10S28 about the word gainsaying. Please also see the notes for Romans C15S15 and 2Corinthians 2:17 about the word speak. Please also see the note for 2Corinthians 3:12-14 about the word speech. Please also see the note for about the phrase evil speaking. The words speaketh and saith mean that the person 'keeps on keeping on doing the saying'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'askest. Joh 4:27; 8:48; Lu 10:33; 17:16-19'.

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C4-S9 (Verse 9) Why she considered His behavior unusual.
for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

This sentence starts with the word for and explains why the woman of Samaria asked the question that is in the prior sentence. Please see the note above for more details related to this sentence.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'for. 2Ki 17:24-41; Ezr 4; Ne 4:1-2; Lu 9:52-56; Ac 1:8; 10:28
General references. exp: Ge 4:6; Lu 9:53'.

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C4-S10 (Verse 10) The answer from Jesus turned the conversation to spiritual matters.

First Step: What she needed to realize.

Jesus answered and said unto her,
If thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith to thee,
Give me to drink;

Second Step: How she needed to react to that new realization.

thou wouldest have asked of him,
and he would have given thee living water.

It should be obvious to the reader that Jesus is speaking symbolically. The phrase he would have given thee living water should make that obvious. In addition, this is His response to her question of: How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? Jesus answered her question, but not the way that she expected. Her question was centered on the normal cultural interactions within this world. His answer was based upon a spiritual goal of leading her to true Biblical salvation. Thus, it would appear that there was a disconnect between the question and the answer. This apparent disconnect would have made her stop and think instead of receiving the expected answer and not really thinking about it because cultural directives already dictated the expected responses. Then, we see that Jesus took the discussion outside of expected cultural interactions. Now, at this point she could start thinking about His answers or she could have refused to leave the normal, comfortable, expected cultural interactions. The fact that she was willing to turn on her mind and think about what was said allowed the conversation too progress to the point that she received personal salvation.

Our sentence has two Steps with the First Step saying that she needed to realize and the Second Step saying how she needed to react to that new realization. Please notice that this is only the second thing which we are told that Jesus said to her. That fact does not mean that he did not say more, only that our author did not tell us about anything else said. An, while I can not say for positive, I personally believe that he left out things which were not critical to our understanding.

Please notice that our sentence starts with Jesus answered. Thus, this is His response to her prior question. As already mentioned, if we compare the answer to the question, there is an apparent disconnect. Since everything that Jesus did had a purpose, we can believe that this apparent disconnect was not a disconnect but was done deliberately like when Jesus spoke in parables. There He did so to reveal spiritual truth to people who received the spiritual answer while also concealing the truth from people who insisted upon having only a physical perspective. The same thing is done here with the connection being apparent from the spiritual perspective but the physical perspective has a disconnect. That is: she asked about expected cultural interactions and His answer had nothing to do with that subject. However, the beginning of the chapter told us that Jesus needed to go there for her salvation and His answer included the offer of spiritual salvation. This answer also is the follow-up of His prior command to her which was intended to get her attention. Therefore, immediately after getting her attention, Jesus tells her why He wanted her attention.

Next we see that Jesus...said unto her, If thou knewest. The st, of the word knewest means that she 'kept on keeping on knowing', or, 'has a life-long knowledge'. He was offering her life-long knowledge because true Biblical salvation is life-long and people who get saved need to know that it is a permanent change in their life.

Jesus told her that she needed to know two things: the gift of God and who it is. The phrase gift of God is used 8 times in the Bible. Twice it is used in Ecclesiastes to say that the reward from our labor is a gift of God The other times are in the New Testament and speak of salvation and the things which we receive from salvation. Those are:

Ecclesiastes 3:13 says: And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 5:19 says: Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
John 4:10 says: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Acts 8:20 says: But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1Corinthians 7:7 says: For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
Ephesians 2:8 says: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
2Timothy 1:6 says: Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

Please use this link to see the 'Minor Titles of the Son of God' found within the Bible along with links to where the Bible uses those titles. This title is Gift of God.

In addition, to the gift of God, Jesus said that she needed to know and who it is. True Biblical salvation comes from the person Who is the Son of God. It does not come from saying a prayer or anything else but only comes only by accepting His offer for a personal relationship with Him. John 14:6 says: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. The verb am, in that sentence, is a verb of existence. Therefore, His is our salvation.

Next we see that our sentence tells us that Jesus said who it is that saith to thee. The word thee means: 'you personally' and true Biblical salvation is always personal.

Next we see that our sentence repeats His command to Give me to drink. True Biblical salvation includes an agreement by us to serve God. These people who preach that nothing is required from us after our salvation are telling a lie from the devil.

That completes out First Step and now we can look at our Second Step. Please note that we can not do a Second Step until after we do the First Step. Thus, we must know certain Biblical truths before we can receive true Biblical salvation.

In our Second Step Jesus offers to give her living water. We find the exact phrase of living water in:

Song 4:15: This is the love book of the Bible and speaks about proper love between a husband and his wife. It also speaks, symbolically, about the relationship which God desires to be between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32. (We see this with the book of Song calling the wife sister and the truly saved are family to Jesus Christ.) Within the context of this verse, within Song, we read how this well of living waters is found within a garden which is full of fruits which the husband (Jesus Christ) is to enjoy. Thus, we see that Jesus Christ is to enjoy the fruit of the Spirit within the lives of the saved. We also see that the chapter ends with: Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.. Thus, the results of this fruit are to go beyond the garden and provide a pleasant smell to those outside so that it attracts the lost.
Jeremiah 2:12-13 says: Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Jeremiah prophesied before and during the several times that Judah was carried into captivity because they turned away from God and pursued idols and false religion. The simple lesson of this entire book is that if God's people refuse to let the living waters flow out of their life, by being a true Biblical witness for Jesus Christ, then God will remove them and, quite often, cause them to have an early death. If they don't suffer an early death, they will become captives of their sins and lose the blessings and provision and protection from God.
Jeremiah 17:13 says: O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. This literally says that God's people will die (shall be written in the earth) if they forsake thee (their personal relationship with God). In addition, we see that the Bible literally says that the LORD is the fountain of living waters. Thus, we have the Biblical definition which is to be applied every other place where we find this phrase.
Zechariah 14:8 says: O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. Here we see that the Bible literally says that the LORD is the fountain of living waters. Thus, we have the Biblical definition which is to be applied every other place where we find this phrase. This is the second time that we see this definition, which makes it something that all saved are to literally believe and will be judged by God for refusing to believe this Biblical truth.
John 4:10-14: This is part of the account where Jesus dealt with the Samaritan woman with the result that she received salvation and went and witnessed to everyone in her town even though it required her publicly admitting her personal and embarrassing sin. She received the living waters and God used her life to witness to others and lead them to true salvation. This detail is explained within the notes for this chapter.
John 7:38 says: He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (Please see the note for this sentence within the Book Study on the Gospel of John for more details.) Please notice that our sentence says that He that believeth on me (Jesus Christ) (the person who truly Biblically gets saved), shall ('absolutely positively will happen') flow rivers of living water (be a true Biblical witness for God). This shows the doctrinal error of all who claim that a person can truly be Biblically saved and never have their life changed.

In order to fully understand the symbolic meaning of this phrase a person must do more study than just looking at those phrases. It requires study of each phrase within the context and with prayer and dependence upon God's Holy Spirit to get the full meaning of this phrase within the context of each place where it is found. However, it is hoped that the notes provided here will give some understanding to the reader. In addition, the links within the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (below) can help the reader study this phrase more. This phrase is: 'a symbolic phrase that is basically used for a God-changed life providing spiritual life to others through God (Holy Ghost) guided witnessing'. As should be obvious, a lost person must be truly Biblically saved before this can happen. Therefore, in this Second Step, Jesus was offering true Biblical salvation to this woman.

After recognizing what is offered in our Second Step, we an look at other phrases within it. The phrase thou wouldest have asked of him lets us know that a lost personally must personally (thou) ask for salvation. God does not take away anyone's free will even to keep them out f an eternity in the lake of fire.

The last phrase, in our Second Step, is: and he would have given thee. The and means that this is added only after the request. The he would have given means that this response is guaranteed from God for every true request for salvation. The thee means that all salvation is personal. Salvation is not the result of some non-personal religious act.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

Please see the note for Romans 11:1 about the phrase I say. The functional definition is: 'Uttering in articulate sounds or words; speaking; telling; relating; reciting'. Please also see the note for Romans C10S28 about the word gainsaying. Please also see the notes for Romans C15S15 and 2Corinthians 2:17 about the word speak. Please also see the note for 2Corinthians 3:12-14 about the word speech. Please also see the note for about the phrase evil speaking. The words speaketh and saith mean that the person 'keeps on keeping on doing the saying'.

Please see the notes for Romans C5S9; 1Corinthians C12S4 about the word gift. The functional definition is: 'given from one person to another without compensation'.

Please use this link to see the 'Minor Titles for the Son of God' found within the Bible along with links to where the Bible uses those titles. This sentence has title of Gift of God.

Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'If. Joh 3:16; Isa 9:6; 42:6; 49:6-8; Lu 11:13; Ro 8:32; 1Co 1:30; 2Co 9:15; Eph 2:8 exp: Joh 7:37.
and who. Joh 4:25-26; 9:35-38; 16:3; 17:3; 1Jo 5:20
thou wouldest. 2Ch 33:12-13,18-19; Ps 10:17; Isa 55:6-9; Lu 11:8-10; 18:13-14; 23:42-43; Ac 9:11; Re 3:17-18
living. Joh 4:14; 6:35,51; 7:37-39; Ex 17:6; Ps 36:8-9; 46:4; Isa 12:3; 35:6; 41:17-18; 43:20; 44:3; 49:10; 55:1-3; Jer 2:13; Eze 47:1-9; Zec 13:1; 14:8; 1Co 10:4; Re 7:17; 21:6; 22:1-2,17
General references. exp: Ge 4:6'.

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C4-S11 (Verse 11) Her confusion because a spiritual answer did not meet with physical reality.

Equivalent Section: She expresses her confusion.

The woman saith unto him,
Sir,
thou hast nothing to draw with,
and the well is deep:

Equivalent Section: She asks for clarification.

from whence then hast thou that living water?

In this sentence we see the response from The woman to the prior response from Jesus. She had asked Him a question because He had acted outside of expected cultural relationships between Jews and Samaritans. Instead of answering her question within the context of expected cultural relationships, Jesus gave her a spiritual answer about His motivations because that spiritual answer was His true motivation. Now, she is expressing confusion over His answer because she is still thinking about the physical reality and has not yet realized that Jesus is speaking about spiritual things. Therefore, the differing perspectives are the source of her confusion. However, that confusion is what Jesus desired because He wanted her thinking about what He said and not just reacting within the expected cultural relationships.

While she is still thinking within the physical reality, as shown by her statement in the First Equivalent Section, we can see that she is thinking about what Jesus says because her question, in the Second Equivalent Section, shows that she realizes that Jesus must be talking about something other than what she expected.

Basically, another way to phrase her question is: 'You can not be talking about this physical well that we are by, so what are you talking about?'. It should be obvious that she had not caught, or had not understood, the phrase living water which was used by Jesus. If she had caught His use of the phrase, and had understood it, then she would have known that He was speaking about spiritual things from God. This type of confusion, from people who insist that they are some Bible scholar, is the source of much doctrinal error.

Please see the note for Romans 11:1 about the phrase I say. The functional definition is: 'Uttering in articulate sounds or words; speaking; telling; relating; reciting'. Please also see the note for Romans C10S28 about the word gainsaying. Please also see the notes for Romans C15S15 and 2Corinthians 2:17 about the word speak. Please also see the note for 2Corinthians 3:12-14 about the word speech. Please also see the note for about the phrase evil speaking. The words speaketh and saith mean that the person 'keeps on keeping on doing the saying'.

Please see the note above about the phrase living water. This phrase is: 'a symbolic phrase that is basically used for a God-changed life providing spiritual life to others through God (Holy Ghost) guided witnessing'. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'thou hast. Joh 3:4; 1Co 2:14
General references. exp: Ge 4:6'.

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C4-S12 (Verse 12) Second question because His answer did not match the standard religious answer.

Art thou greater than our father Jacob,
which gave us the well,
and drank thereof himself,
and his children,
and his cattle?

As the sentence title says, this is a second question from the woman to Jesus. She had asked Him a question about why He acted outside of expected cultural relationships. Jesus gave her a spiritually based answer. Her first responsive question revealed her confusion at His answer. It also revealed that she was thinking about His answer because she had figured out that His answer was not possible from the physical perspective. Now, this follow-up question reveals that His answer does not fit within the religious perspective. This is because the Jews put great religious respect in their ancestors, and especially in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore, an answer from Jesus that He was greater than Jacob would not fit within the religious teachings. While Jesus was / is greater than Jacob, that would take the discussion in a direction that He did not want to go. Instead, in our next sentence, we see an answer from Jesus which still gives a spiritual persoec5tive but which also reveals that spiritual blessings are much too be preferred over physical blessings. As Jesus planned, she requested the spiritual blessings after His response in the next sentence.

In our prior sentence (4:10) Jesus offered to her living water. As explained in the prior note, living water is: 'a symbolic phrase that is basically used for a God-changed life providing spiritual life to others through God (Holy Ghost) guided witnessing'. That said, symbolism can be hard to properly understand but our current and prior sentence can give us a procedure to help understand symbolism. What we see here is:

We must recognize that something does not fit completely within the context where it is found. For example, the phrase living water is obviously not standard water such as would be found in the well where they were.
Once we realize that something does not fit within the normal context, we need to try to fit it within physical, social, religious and other perspectives. Only when all of these other perspectives fail do we look at the possibility of a symbolic meaning.
All true symbols, within the Bible, have a reasonable physical meaning and a definitely associated spiritual meaning which is also presented within the Bible at other locations. Therefore, we must next search the Bible for what we believe to be the symbol and see where else it is used and how it is used within the various context where it is found.
Symbols are always used within a given context and do not always have the same meaning. For example, water is used for: the liquid of life', 'symbolic of birth', 'symbolic of spiritual cleansing', the symbolic meaning within this context, and possibly more. Therefore, it is critical that we make sure that the Biblical references which we use have the same context as the place that we are studying within the Bible.
Symbols always have a significant spiritual meaning which is attached to a physical object. The physical properties of the object indicate the spiritual properties which are associated with the symbol.
The spiritual meaning is always what is important. God had more than one symbolic object destroyed because people started worshipping the symbolic object instead of using it to point people to the true spiritual meaning. We must avoid giving a symbolic object special meaning and concentrate upon the spiritual meaning.

As already pointed out within this note, in the next sentence Jesus shows her the difference between the physical water and the symbolic living water and tells us that the spiritual is far more important than the physical.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 3:7-8 about the phrase children of Israel. The functional definition is: 'the Jews from a spiritual perspective'. This is opposed to the phrase children of Jacob, which means: 'the Jews from a physical perspective'. Please also see the note for Galatians C3S9 about the phrase children of Abraham. Please also see the note for Mark 2:19 about the phrase children of the bridechamber. Please also see the note for Colossians 3:8 about the phrase children of disobedience. Please also see the notes for Romans C8S14; God in Romans: Romans C4S12; 1Peter 2:3-LJC and with the kingdom of heaven in 1Peter 2:1 about the phrase children of God. Please also see the note for Colossians 3:8 about the phrase children of wrath. Please also see the note for Galatians 4:19-20 about the phrase my little children. Please also see the note for Galatians C4-S1 about the word child.

The Bible has many places which tell us about God providing for animals including: Numbers 22:28-35; Deuteronomy 5:14; Psalms 104:27; 145:15; 147:8-9; John 4:12; Matthew 6:26-30; Luke 12:24-28.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Joh 8:53; Isa 53:2-3; Mt 12:42; Heb 3:3'.

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C4-S13 (Verse 13-14) Jesus explains the difference between spiritual truth and standard religious answers.

Equivalent Section: The physical consideration of the symbol.

Jesus answered and said unto her,
Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

Equivalent Section: The spiritual consideration of the symbol.

First Step: Our need permanently met.

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst;

Second Step: We supply the need of others.

but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Our sentence starts with Jesus answered and said unto her, which lets us know that it is part of an ongoing conversation and that the context is critical to truly understanding what is being said. This sentence is part of the account which goes from C4-S2 and through C4-S42 and tells us about Jesus dealing with the woman of Samaria. It also gives us His way of leading her to salvation. Please see the note for C4-S2 to get the entire procedure used by Jesus. In addition, Please also see the notes for John 6:27-58 where Jesus talks about the same basic doctrine but uses bread for the symbol instead of water. That is: only what Jesus provides can truly meet our needs and satisfy our soul. Please see that sentence and the entire section which it is part of, and all of the associated notes for more detail on this doctrine.

As explained in the prior note, in this sentence Jesus shows her the difference between the physical water and the symbolic living water and tells us that the spiritual is far more important than the physical.

Our First Equivalent Section tells us: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. Thus, physical water only supplies our need for a short time. However, the First Step in our Second Equivalent Section tells us: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. As the Step title says, our need is permanently met. As the title of the Equivalent Section tells us, this is a spiritual supply as opposed to the physical supply in the First Equivalent Section. In addition, we see that the spiritual need is permanently met while the physical need is only met for a short time. Therefore, especially in consideration that the prior statement (4:10) from Jesus offered true Biblical salvation, our First Step is promising everlasting salvation.

While that is a critical doctrinal consideration, we must also recognize that Jesus added the Second Step as part of this Equivalent Section and sentence. That means that we teach doctrinal error if we leave out what Jesus deliberately included.

As the title of our Second Step says, we are to supply the need of others. There is no work for salvation but the Bible definitely teaches that, as a result of salvation, we are to work and we are to let God work through us to provide for the salvation of others. That is what the phrase in or sentence ( shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life) is talking about.

The Bible uses life to teach about true Biblical salvation, which is God's live in us. Life starts at conception and there is no consideration of obedience during conception . Likewise, there is no consideration of obedience during spiritual conception which is our initial salvation. A 'works salvation' is definite doctrinal error. However, 'grace and liberty to live in sin' type of salvation is also doctrinal error. After birth, parents teach children how to live and demand obedience. So does God do with His children.

God does not demand that His children do the impossible. The works that we are to do is things like pray, read our Bible, meditate on scripture, study the Bible, witness and similar things which prove that of our own free will we give God permission to work in and through our personal life. Sin and Satan take away our free will and make us addicted to sin and the things of this world. God never takes away our free will and, over time, frees us from our addictions. All true spiritual work is done by God but only after we do the things which give Him permission to work in and through our personal life.

Returning to our phrase in the Second Step, we read shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. That is why I said that God works (water springing up) in (shall be in him) and through (springing up) our life to reach others (into everlasting life). The true spiritual work is done by God but God uses our willing life.

It should be obvious that the water, of our Second Equivalent Section is the spiritual symbolic living water while the water, of our First Equivalent Section is physical water. We get these meanings from the context of each Equivalent Section.

While I could go on with other things, I will end the comments of this note with the meaning of everlasting life. God has eternal life because His life 'has no beginning and no end'. However, we receive everlasting life which 'has a beginning but no end'. Therefore, our Second Equivalent Section is speaking about others receiving true Biblical salvation from God working through our life.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

Please see the note for Romans 11:1 about the phrase I say. The functional definition is: 'Uttering in articulate sounds or words; speaking; telling; relating; reciting'. Please also see the note for Romans C10S28 about the word gainsaying. Please also see the notes for Romans C15S15 and 2Corinthians 2:17 about the word speak. Please also see the note for 2Corinthians 3:12-14 about the word speech. Please also see the note for about the phrase evil speaking. The words speaketh and saith mean that the person 'keeps on keeping on doing the saying'.

Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

Please see the notes for Romans C12S18 and 1Corinthians C4S13 about the word thirst. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia defines this word as: 'One of the most powerful natural appetites, the craving for water or other drink. Besides its natural significance, thirst is figuratively used of strong spiritual desire. The soul thirsts for God (Psalms 42:2; 63:1). Jesus meets the soul's thirst with water of life (John 4:13 ff; Joh 6:35; 7:37). It is said of the heavenly bliss, They shall hunger no more; neither thirst any more (Revelation 7:16-17; compare Isaiah 49:10)'. The functional definition is: 'lacking a basic need of life'.

Please see the note for Mark 4:26-27 about the word spring. The functional definition for this word is: 'To proceed, as from the seed or cause'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Whosoever. Joh 6:27,49; Isa 65:13-14; Lu 16:24
shall never. Joh 6:35,58; 11:26; 17:2-3; Isa 49:10; Ro 6:23; Re 7:16
shall be. Joh 7:38-39; 10:10; 14:16-19; Ro 5:21; 8:16-17; 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13-14; 4:30; 1Pe 1:22; 1Jo 5:20
General references. exp: Ge 24:33; Jer 31:25'.

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C4-S14 (Verse 15) Her request for what Jesus offered.

The woman saith unto him,
Sir,
give me this water,
that I thirst not,
neither come hither to draw.

In this sentence we see this woman ask Jesus to give her what He offered even though she did not really understand what He had offered. With this we see that God gives true salvation when people ask even though no one really understands what God offers in true Biblical salvation.

We can know that she did not truly understand what was offered by her saying neither come hither to draw. However, God made us and understands us. God knows that lost people seek things of the flesh but God judges the heart and makes His decision to save, or not save, based upon if the person is willing to look past the physical and receive the true spiritual offering, or if the person is not willing to do that. We see Jesus do this in the next sentence where He deals with her sin. However, Please pay attention to the fact that Jesus did not mention her sin until after she committed to wanting what Jesus offered. Sometimes we mess up by getting things out of proper order.

While she still did not understand that Jesus was speaking from a spiritual perspective, and she was still trying to understand what He said from a physical perspective, she did say Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not. Thus, we know that her heart was in the place that God wanted it to be. Once that occurred, Jesus dealt with her sin as we see starting in the next sentence.

Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'give. Joh 6:26,34; 17:2-3; Ps 4:6; Ro 6:23; 8:5; 1Co 2:14; 1Jo 5:20; Jas 4:3'.

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C4-S15 (Verse 16) Now Jesus brought up her sin.

Jesus saith unto her,
Go,
call thy husband,
and come hither.

If someone is not paying attention to this entire conversation then this command from Jesus does not seem to follow the prior sentence. However, as explained in the note above, Jesus is dealing with this woman about salvation and has led her to the point where her heart is right and she wants to receive what Jesus is offering. So, now He brings up her sin since we must truly repent (Luke 13:3, 5) before we can receive true Biblical salvation.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C3S9 about the word husband. The functional definition is: 'the man who is responsible for the care of his wife'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Go. Joh 4:18; 1:42,47-48; 2:24-25; 21:17; Heb 4:13; Re 2:2'.

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C4-S16 (Verse 17) She dodged the truth.

The woman answered and said,
I have no husband.

Like most people do when confronted with their personal sin, she tried to avoid the sin by giving an answer which misdirected the conversation. As we see in the next few sentences, she had been married several times and was now living with a man whom she was not married to. But, rather than admit this ongoing sin, she gave an answer which might be taken as if she had never been married. However, we can not fix a problem while we are in denial. Therefore, Jesus did not let her deny her sin and, after she admitted it, her fixed the problem. This is an important step which many religions try to claim is not necessary. You can not offer any type of salvation, and have it accepted, to someone who denies their need for salvation.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:12 about the word answer. The functional definition is: 'To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person'.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C3S9 about the word husband. The functional definition is: 'the man who is responsible for the care of his wife'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. exp: Joh 4:29'.

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C4-S17 (Verse 17-18) Jesus confronted her with the truth.

Equivalent Section: Jesus agreed with the truth that she said.

Jesus said unto her,
Thou hast well said,
I have no husband:

Equivalent Section: Jesus said the part which she left out.

For thou hast had five husbands;
and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband:

Equivalent Section: Jesus said her current condition.

in that saidst thou truly.

Our sentence has three Equivalent Sections wherein Jesus dealt with the answer that the woman gave in the prior sentence. Please notice that before He dealt with what she left out, he first told her: Thou hast well said. After that He did go on to deal with the limit of what she did say, and with what she left out, but He first acknowledged the truth of what she said. This mitigated any feelings requiring her to get defensive and left her a way to admit her omission, and her sin, without feeling totally like a loser. What we see here is that the way in which we say something can be more important than what we say. Yes, as the truth, Jesus had to say what was truth, but He also shows us that it can be dome in a loving and kind way.

The way that Jesus uses the word truly, in this sentence, is: 'in agreement with fact'. what she said was not complete truth, however, as many people do, she used an incomplete truth to hide the full truth. So, what we see in this Third Equivalent Section, is that Jesus is letting her know that He knows the complete truth but is giving her the option to acknowledge the complete truth or to continue with the partial-truth lie. Here we see that God never takes away anyone's free will and the soul winner, who is going to follow the example of Jesus, must allow a person to cling to their lie about sin, and not be saved, if that is what they really want to do.

Please also note that our Third Equivalent Section we see the word saidst, which means that she 'kept on keeping on saying this'. That is: this was her standard answer which avoided admitting her sin. This was a life-style habit which she had and which she would have to quit as part of true salvation. What we read later in the chapter indicates that she did quit using this half-truth lie. The important thing to acknowledge here is that, while all were sinners before salvation, true Biblical salvation results in our stopping our sins, especially those which are life-style sins.

What we have not dealt with yet is our Second Equivalent Section . In it Jesus lets her know that He knows the full truth even if she did not admit it. Foe someone to get truly Biblically saved, they must accept the forgiveness from God. However, God can not forgive sins which they are denying. Therefore, the lost person must realize that God knows all about their sin and yet is willing to forgive it because God is love.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C3S9 about the word husband. The functional definition is: 'the man who is responsible for the care of his wife'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'is not. Ge 20:3; 34:2,7-8,31; Nu 5:29; Ru 4:10; Jer 3:20; Eze 16:32; Mr 10:12; Ro 7:3; 1Co 7:10-11; Heb 13:4
General references. exp: Joh 4:29'.

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C4-S18 (Verse 19) She realized that He was a man of God.

The woman saith unto him,
Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet.

As our sentence title says, she realized that He was a man of God. She does not yet realize that He is the Son of God, but her statement of I perceive that thou art a prophet lets us know that she now realizes that what He has been saying to her is a message from God. Now, I personally believe that she took some time after the prior statement from Jesus to rethink all of the previous conversation. We can see from her actions starting in C4-S28 that she had a God-caused change in her life which indicates true Biblical salvation. And, while the account does not tell us this, I believe that she had to have reconsidered what was said to her in order for her to demonstrate the evidence of salvation. One thing that we need to remember is that Gospel accounts tell us enough to get across the point that the author is making but rarely do we get all of the details, especially in those details will interfere with us unde4rstanding the mail point.

In this sentence we see a change of her attitude from someone who started out somewhat antagonistic and then became someone who wanted to prophet physically to, now, someone who wants spiritual truth. From this point on she is far more respectful in her dealing with Jesus. If someone refuses to be respectful then they will not accept spiritual truth which we tell them because: the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1Corinthians 2:14). Someone who is refusing to be respectful is following the urges of the natural man. When dealing with such a person, the soul-winner should respect his free-will decision to reject salvation and walk away. This is what we see Jesus do in many places.

We find forms of the word perceive occurring 68 times in the Bible and, in the New Testament, in: Matthew 13:14; Matthew 16:8; Matthew 21:45; Matthew 22:18; Mark 2:8; Mark 4:12; Mark 7:18; Mark 8:17; Mark 12:28; Luke 1:22; Luke 5:22; Luke 6:41; Luke 8:46; Luke 9:45; Luke 9:47; Luke 20:19; Luke 20:23; John 4:19; John 6:15; John 12:19; Acts 4:13; Acts 8:23; Acts 10:34; Acts 14:9; Acts 17:22; Acts 23:6; Acts 23:29; Acts 27:10; Acts 28:26; 2Corinthians 7:8; Galatians 2:9; 1John 3:16. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: '1. To have knowledge or receive impressions of external objects through the medium or instrumentality of the senses or bodily organs; as, to perceive light or color; to perceive the cold or ice or the taste of honey. 2. To know; to understand; to observe. Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understanding, we are in the dark. 3. To be affected by; to receive impressions from. The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air below'. The functional definition is: 'come to understand'.

Please see the notes for Romans C16S33; Romans C12S5; Jude and false prophets about the word prophet. The functional definition is: 'In Scripture, a person illuminated, inspired or instructed by God to announce God's word; as Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah, etc. An interpreter; one that explains or communicates sentiments'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'I perceive. Joh 4:29; 1:48-49; 2Ki 5:26; 6:12; Lu 7:39; 1Co 14:24-25
a prophet. Joh 6:14; 7:40; 9:17; Lu 7:16; 24:19'.

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C4-S19 (Verse 20) She asked him about the main religious disagreement.

First Step: What she was taught.

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain;

Second Step: What the Jews taught.

and ye say,
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

As explained in the note above, this woman has now realized that Jesus is a man of God and has changed her attitude to one of respect. She now honestly wants a true answer to a religious disagreement which bothered her personally. That is why she asked this question and a soul winner will also often get a similar question. However, just line Jesus did, the soul winner needs to avoid being distracted from the main point. Please notice that His answer, in the next four sentences, explains the disagreement but aims the answer at how her question fits into her personal salvation. Thus, he answers her question but also steers the conversation back to the main purpose of his starting the conversation to start with.

As mentioned in the note for this sentence, in the Word Study on Worship, she asks this question to deflect the discussion from her sin. But, as has already been explained, God can't deal with our sin until we confess it. Therefore, as Jesus does, the soul winner needs to keep the lost person on the trail of confessing sin so that God can then save them. The way that Jesus does that is to explain the true spiritual purpose of worship. As usually happens, religions emphasize the physical act and de-emphasize the spiritual meaning and then argue with other religions over differences in the physical. However, God wants us to concentrate on the spiritual, which is what we see in the next few sentences which is the answer given by Jesus.

Please see the note for John 6:3 about the word mountain. The functional definition is: 'A large mass of earth and rock, rising above the common level of the earth or adjacent land, but of no definite altitude. We apply mountain to the largest eminences on the globe; but sometimes the word is used for a large hill'.

Please see the note for Galatians C1-S12 about the word Jerusalem. The functional definition is: 'the central place of worship of the true God'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'fathers. Ge 12:6-7; 33:18-20; De 27:12; Jos 8:33-35; Jg 9:6-7; 2Ki 17:26-33
and ye. De 12:5-11; 1Ki 9:3; 1Ch 21:26; 22:1; 2Ch 6:6; 7:12,16; Ps 78:68; 87:1-2; 132:13'.

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C4-S20 (Verse 21) Jesus told her about the coming 'Church Age'.

Jesus saith unto her,
Woman,
believe me,
the hour cometh,
when ye shall neither in this mountain,
nor yet at Jerusalem,
worship the Father.

This sentence is part of the account which goes from C4-S2 and through C4-S42 and tells us about Jesus dealing with the woman of Samaria. It also gives us His way of leading her to salvation. Please see the note for C4-S2 to get the entire procedure used by Jesus. In addition, Please note that this sentence through C4-S23 all comprise this answer by Jesus. Please consider the entire answer together. Further, we see this truth interpreted in 1Timothy 2:8 where we read I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Today, we do not have to go to a particular place to worship God but, with the indwelling Holy Ghost, we can worship God anywhere provided we have holy hands and are worshipping without wrath and doubting.

Please note the phrase the hour cometh. As noted before, God's perception of time is different from ours. This hour is: 'a very short period of time from the perspective of eternity'. It is what we call the 'Church Age'.

God had approved king David wanting to build the Temple in Jerusalem but had Solomon do the building. Also, after the Babylonian captivity, God approved their rebuilding a Temple in Jerusalem. When Solomon's son caused the split between the countries of Israel and Judaea, the leader in Israel set up another place to worship in order to keep the Jews from returning to Jerusalem and, thereby, avoid the countries becoming single again. While even then the place of worship was not as critical as the way of worship, that leader also brought in idol worship. That was why Israel went into captivity before Judaea and why God allowed the people in that area to become 'mixed blood' while the Jews in Judaea were 'pure blood'. However, while the Jews in Judaea were concentrating n the physical blood, God wanted them to concentrate on the life, especially the spiritual life, which the blood represented. God wants us to have a 'pure worship', which is represented by 'pure blood', and not mix in the ways of the world. However, sign God's people missed the entire spiritual message, God moved from using the Jews as His representatives in this world to using anyone who would display God's Holy Spirit in their life and be a true witness of the changes which God brings into the lives of the saved. A life which displays God's true holiness and God's true righteousness is more important to true worship than the physical place or the physical type of blood a person has or any other physical thing. Religion emphasizes the physical while God wants true worshipers to emphasize the spiritual effects of God's presence in their life.

One of the important messages that are within this sentence is that the physical place of worship is not what is important for true worship. Neither is any other physical aspect. What is important, according to Jesus says in the next couple of sentences is how we worship based upon our attitude of heart.

This sentence tells us part of what will be true with the new covenant. We are told other things about the new covenant in: Hosea 2:23 and Zechariah 8:8 and Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26-27 and teaches the same doctrine as found in John 4:10, 14, 23-24; 6:45; 2Corinthians 3:3, 6-18; 8:9, 10, 18; Colossians 1:21; Ephesians 1:17-18; 1Thessalonians 4:9; 5:1; James 1:18, 21; 1Peter 1:23; 2:5; 1John 2:3-4, 12-14 and Revelation 1:6.

As part of Jesus leading the woman of Samaria to salvation, Jesus also announced the start of the 'Church Age'. We see it in these sentences:

In C4-S10 Jesus offered living water which is a spiritual representation of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
In C4-S13 Jesus said that the living water, which is a spiritual representation of the indwelling Holy Spirit, would be the source of saved people witnessing to others.
In C4-S15 through C4-S17 Jesus dealt with her sin and required true Biblical repentance.
In C4-S23 Jesus said that true worship, in 'Church Age', would be in spirit and in truth and not just following religious rules and ceremonies.
In C4-S25 Jesus said that true salvation requires accepting Him.
In C4-S30 through S33 Jesus said that God would provide for His workers during the 'Church Age'.
In C4-S34 through S38 Jesus announced the plan of rewards for God's workers during the 'Church Age'.

Please see the note for Galatians C1-S12 about the word Jerusalem. The functional definition is: 'the central place of worship of the true God'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'saith. Eze 14:3; 20:3
when. Mal 1:11; Mt 18:20; Lu 21:5-6,24; Ac 6:14; 1Ti 2:8
worship. Joh 4:23; 14:6; Mt 28:19; Eph 2:18; 3:14; 1Pe 1:17 exp: Ps 45:11'.

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C4-S21 (Verse 22) Jesus told he she would have to believe God's source of truth.

Ye worship ye know not what:
we know what we worship:
for salvation is of the Jews.

This sentence is part of the account which goes from C4-S2 and through C4-S42 and tells us about Jesus dealing with the woman of Samaria. It also gives us His way of leading her to salvation. Please see the note for C4-S2 to get the entire procedure used by Jesus. In addition, Please note that C4-S20 through C4-S23 all comprise this answer by Jesus which tells us how true worshippers are to worship God. Please consider the entire answer together. Further, we see this truth interpreted in 1Timothy 2:8 where we read I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Today, we do not have to go to a particular place to worship God but, with the indwelling Holy Ghost, we can worship God anywhere provided we have holy hands and are worshipping without wrath and doubting.

In the first two phrases of our sentence we see Jesus make a distinction between what the Jews know and what the non-Jews know. In addition, the third phrase tells us why (for) there is this difference. However, rather than continuing with this difference, Jesus starts the next sentence with the word But and says how true worshippers shall worship. In the this sentence Jesus answers her question about the differences between the religions. However, He does not continue with those differences but, instead, He tells us what is the right way to worship. This is because both groups were not true worshippers even though the Jews knew how to be true worshippers because they had the law and the prophets. This is explained further in the notes for the following sentences. The important message of this sentence is that true worship requires true knowledge. of what God requires. We can not approach God any way that we want. That type of so-called 'worship' refuses to show God the respect that is due to Him and it leads to people not acknowledging God's true 'worth'. Without the right attitude of heart, we will receive nothing from God as explained by James 4:3.

The true Biblical definition of spiritual salvation is: 'God's life in you'. Please see the Word Study on Salvation for links to every place in the Bible where we find forms of this word along with dictionary definitions and links from other commentators. Please also see the notes for 2Thessalonians 2:13-LJC and Hebrews 12:2-LJC about the phrase salvation through sanctification. Please also see the Verses in the New Testament. Summary on the name / role about the word Saviour. Please also see the note for James 1:21 about the phrase save your soul.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'ye know. 2Ki 17:27-29,41; Ezr 4:2; Ac 17:23,30
we worship. 2Ch 13:10-12; Ps 147:19; Ro 3:2; 9:5
for. Ge 49:10; Ps 68:20; Isa 2:3; 12:2,6; 46:13; Zep 3:16-17; Zec 9:9; Lu 24:47; Ro 9:4-5; Heb 7:14 exp: Joe 2:32'.

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C4-S22 (Verse 23) How people in the church are to worship God.

Equivalent Section: The right way to worship.

But the hour cometh,
and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:

Equivalent Section: Why it is the right way.

for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Please see the Study called God is a Spirit for more details on this sentence.

This sentence is part of the account which goes from C4-S2 and through C4-S42 and tells us about Jesus dealing with the woman of Samaria. It also gives us His way of leading her to salvation. Please see the note for C4-S2 to get the entire procedure used by Jesus. In addition, Please note that C4-S20 through C4-S23 all comprise this answer by Jesus which tells us how true worshippers are to worship God. Please consider the entire answer together. There is a separate Study written about the message which includes this verse and it is called God is a Spirit. It brings together the Summaries from the Studies on Spirit, Truth, and this Study and shows how all of them come together in this verse. Please see those Studies for more detail related to this message.

In addition, to the prior considerations, we see this truth interpreted in 1Timothy 2:8 where we read I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Today, we do not have to go to a particular place to worship God but, with the indwelling Holy Ghost, we can worship God anywhere provided we have holy hands and are worshipping without wrath and doubting.

Within the Study on Worship we see that the sentences of this message from Jesus (C4-S20 through C4-S23) all use the word worship for the application of: 'When a representative of the God of the Bible accepts worship that shows that the being is actually God. When the being refuses worship that shows that the being is godly but is not God'. It is also under 'Worship is a personal act that often requires personal sacrifice'. Within the Study on Truth we also see that the sentences of this message 'Truth is something that we do and not just something that we think about'. Further, our guidance by spirit and truth is not limited to our worship but that guidance is to be applied to all of our life.

We see that our sentence starts with the word But which connects it to the prior sentence while going in a different direction. The first sentence of this answer from Jesus told us that both groups worshipped the wrong way. The last sentence of our answer tells us God is a Spirit and the problem with the wrong worship, by both groups, was that they were not guided by God's Holy Spirit in the right way to worship. In addition, the prior sentence tells us that the group which this woman was part of did not have God's ,truth to guide them. However, God is going to fix these problems with the start of the 'Church Age', which Jesus also announces in this answer.

The change in direction, from the prior sentence which we see by this sentence starting with the word But is two-fold. The prior sentence said that the Samaritans lacked truth. God wants all people to have the truth so that all people can worship properly. In addition, our prior sentence told us that the Jews had truth, but that they had turned to 'Legalism' because they lacked guidance from God's Holy Spirit. Yes, salvation is of the Jews but the Jews were not showing the world how to get salvation because they were not following God's Holy Spirit.

While I could go into much more detail on this sentence, that is already covered in the Studies which have already been mentioned. Please use the links provided to access those Studies.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C10S24 about the word seek. The functional definition is: 'To go in search or quest of'. Please also see The S and P's of 2Timothy 1.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'the hour. Joh 5:25; 12:23 exp: Joh 16:32.
true. Isa 1:10-15; 26:8-9; 29:13; 48:1-2; 58:2,8-14; 66:1-2; Jer 7:7-12; Mt 15:7-9; Lu 18:11-13
in spirit. Ro 1:9; 8:15,26; Ga 4:6; Eph 6:18; Php 3:3; Jude 1:20-21
in truth. Joh 1:17; Jos 24:14; 1Sa 12:24; 1Ch 29:17; Ps 17:1; 32:2; 51:6; Isa 10:20; Jer 3:10; 4:2 exp: Col 1:6.
the Father seeketh. Ps 147:11; Pr 15:8; Song 2:14; Isa 43:21; Eze 22:30; 1Pe 2:9'.

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C4-S23 (Verse 24) Why God wants us to worship Him this way.

Equivalent Section: The basic truth.

God is a Spirit:

Equivalent Section: How we must deal with this basic truth.

and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Please see the Study called God is a Spirit for more details on this sentence.

This sentence is part of the account which goes from C4-S2 and through C4-S42 and tells us about Jesus dealing with the woman of Samaria. It also gives us His way of leading her to salvation. Please see the note for C4-S2 to get the entire procedure used by Jesus. In addition, Please note that C4-S20 through C4-S23 all comprise this answer by Jesus which tells us how true worshippers are to worship God. Please consider the entire answer together. Further, we see this truth interpreted in 1Timothy 2:8 where we read I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Today, we do not have to go to a particular place to worship God but, with the indwelling Holy Ghost, we can worship God anywhere provided we have holy hands and are worshipping without wrath and doubting.

Our sentence is a summary of the message in the prior three sentences of this message. The details were dealt with in the notes for those sentences. In addition, the links in the sentence outline above will take the reader to more notes which have further details. As pointed out in the Study on Spirit, this sentence is found under God's Holy Spirit for the point titled 'Receiving God's Holy Spirit is a requirement of salvation in the New Testament and is a fulfillment of Old Testament promises.'

As pointed out in the note for this sentence within the Study on Spirit, there is a major difference between the spiritual reality and the physical reality. The first three chapters of 1Corinthians explain how the wisdom of God and the wisdom of this world / man go in opposite directions. In addition, the wisdom of God gives us spiritual truth and is concentrated on the eternal spiritual reality while the wisdom of this world / man is concentrated on how to get the most out of this temporary physical reality. Therefore, the wisdom of this world / man can not lead us to pleasing God. With that in mind, we can see the importance of the word must within this sentence. Lots of religious tell us to worship God in other ways but those ways are a direct disobedience to the command of this sentence. No matter how much our flesh might enjoy these other ways, they will not get us God's blessings.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'a Spirit. 2Co 3:17; 1Ti 1:17
must. 1Sa 16:7; Ps 50:13-15,23; 51:17; 66:18; Isa 57:15; Mt 15:8-9; 2Co 1:12'.

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C4-S24 (Verse 25) The woman confesses the truth that she knows.

Equivalent Section: She confesses the truth which she knows.

The woman saith unto him,
I know that Messias cometh,
which is called Christ:

Equivalent Section: She agrees to receive instruction in truth.

when he is come,
he will tell us all things.

As explained in the note for this sentence within the Lord Jesus Christ Study, this sentence is a follow-up from when The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. (John 4:19) and she had to be wondering if He was the Prophet like Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18:15-16. Now, with her statement in this verse, we get a stronger indication that this was what she was thinking. Both the Jews and the Samaritans were looking for that prophet because He would be Christ. This is the point in the presentation that the woman realized that she was hearing from God and wanted to know how to be right with God (John 4:19-20). In our next sentence Jesus answers her implied question with I that speak unto thee am he. While the account does not tell us that she accepted Him as Lord and Christ, things which we are told, later in this account, prove that she did that. But, before getting to that part of the account, the author tells us about Jesus teaching His disciples further things related to being a soul winner.

What we see in this sentence is the woman asking for verification that what Jesus told her matched scripture. A true soul winner will always lead the lost person to put their trust on what scripture says and not on what the soul winner says.

Please see the notes for John 1:41 and Matthew 26:62-LJC about the word Messiah / Messias. The functional definition is: 'Old Testament name for God's Christ'. The two references within the Gospel of John clearly teach this truth.

Please see the note for Philippians 1:15-17 about the word will. The functional definition is: 'That faculty of the mind by which we determine either to do or forbear an action; the faculty which is exercised in deciding, among two or more objects, which we shall embrace or pursue'. Please see the note for 1Peter 2:15 about the phrase will of God.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Messias. Joh 4:42; 1:41-42,49; Da 9:24-26
when. Joh 4:29,39; De 18:15-18
General references. exp: Joh 4:29'.

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C4-S25 (Verse 26) Jesus answers her implied question.

Jesus saith unto her,
I that speak unto thee am he.

Here we see Jesus tell her the blunt truth which she must accept by faith or reject. There is no other option and no room for misunderstanding. While the account continues with the return of the disciples, and the things which Jesus teaches them about soul winning, the account then returns to telling us how she became a witness and provided true evidence of true Biblical salvation.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'I that. Joh 9:37; Mt 16:20; 20:15; 26:63-64; Mr 14:61-62; Lu 13:30; Ro 10:20-21'.

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C4-S26 (Verse 27) The disciples returned and marveled.

Equivalent Section: The disciples marvelled at Jesus not obeying cultural conventions.

And upon this came his disciples,
and marvelled that he talked with the woman:

Equivalent Section: The disciples did not challenge Jesus ignoring cultural conventions.

yet no man said,
What seekest thou?

In this sub-account we see:

In C4-S26-27 we see that other saved people do not always understand what a soul winner is doing, especially if they are using a different method than what is expected. However, God will usually keep them from interfering.
In C4-S28 we see that the newly saved person will sometimes bring others to the soul winner who led them to true Biblical salvation.
In C4-S30 we see that godly people will try to provide for a true soul winner and encourage them.
In C4-S31 we see that a true soul winner will know of God's provision.
In C4-S32 we see that true provision by God is often not understood by other godly people.
In C4-S33-37 we see Jesus try to explain how we get God's provision.
In C4-S36-37 we see Jesus explaining shared ministry.
In C4-S38 we see how we can share in the ministry of others.
In C4-S39-41 we see even a small ministry, such as winning a single soul, can lead to a much greater ministry.
In C4-S40-42 we see that soul winning results in God using the saved people to provide for the physical needs of the soul winner.

Please see the note for Galatians C1-S3 about the word marvel. The functional definition is: 'A wonder; that which arrests the attention and causes a person to stand or gaze, or to pause. '.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C10S24 about the word seek. The functional definition is: 'To go in search or quest of'. Please also see The S and P's of 2Timothy 1.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'marvelled. Joh 4:9; Lu 7:39'.

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C4-S27 (Verse 27) No one questioned Jesus.

or,
Why talkest thou with her?

This question is added to the sentence of the prior note and is explained by the sentence title and the note above.

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C4-S28 (Verse 28-29) The woman witnessed to others about the Christ.

Equivalent Section: Details of her testimony.

The woman then left her waterpot,
and went her way into the city,
and saith to the men,
Come,
see a man,
which told me all things that ever I did:

Equivalent Section: Challenge of her testimony.

is not this the Christ?

Please notice that, in the First Equivalent Section, we see that this woman was more concerned about telling others about salvation than she was about taking care of her physical needs. We see this by the fact that our sentence starts with: The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city. Next we see that she had been humbled and was not willing to publicly admit her sin while earlier in the account she tried to avoid admitting her sin. We see this by the fact that our sentence continues with: and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did. We also see her challenging others to verify her faith. We see this in our Second Equivalent Section.

We saw, earlier in this Gospel, that the word waterpot could be used symbolically for 'men who should be filled with the Holy Spirit'. That symbolism certainly would also fin within this account. Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C4S17 and Psalms 119 about the word way. The functional definition is: 'how we get from where we are at to our destination'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Joh 4:7; Mt 28:8; Mr 16:8-10; Lu 24:9,33 exp: Lu 2:17.
General references. Joh 4:17-18,25; 1:41-49; 1Co 14:24-25; Re 22:17 exp: Lu 2:17'.

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C4-S29 (Verse 30) Others responded to her witness.

Then they went out of the city,
and came unto him.

Here we see that the challenge from a newly saved person, when done properly, often results in their lost friends and associates responding to the challenge. Many will want to prove the newly saved person wrong but many will also wonder if they also can truly get to know God.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Isa 60:8; Mt 2:1-3; 8:11-12; 11:20-24; 12:40-42; 20:16; Lu 17:16-18; Ac 8:5-8; 10:33; 13:42; 28:28; Ro 5:20'.

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C4-S30 (Verse 31) The disciples were concerned about physical needs.

In the mean while his disciples prayed him,
saying,
Master,
eat.

Earlier his disciples left Jesus and went to get Him something to eat. They returned to see Him acting against social conventions by talking to a Samaritan woman. They weren't sure hat was going on but choose to ignore it and continue with normal life just as if nothing unusual had happened. That is why they said Master, eat instead of asking Him what was going on. However, as we see in the next sentence, Jesus was not going to let them ignore what was going on. Instead He turned it into a lesson on what rewards they could expect to receive by dedicating their lives to the service of God. Now it is doubtful that they understood the lesson at this time. However, Jesus gave it so that, when they could understand it, the Holy Ghost could pull the lesson from their memories.

Please see the notes for Romans C15S25 and 2Corinthians C1S6 about the word pray. The functional definition is: ' In a general sense, the act of asking for a favor, and particularly with earnestness'.

Please see the note for 1Peter 2:18 about the word master. The functional definition is: 'A man who rules, governs or directs either men or business'.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S2; 1Corinthians C11S37 and Hebrews 13:10 about the word eat. The functional definition is: 'Besides the common use of this word, it is employed symbolically for to 'consume, destroy'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Master. Ge 24:33; Ac 16:30-34
General references. exp: Ge 24:33'.

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C4-S31 (Verse 32) Jesus spake of spiritual provision.

But he said unto them,
I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

The disciples were confused by this answer just like the woman of Samaria was confused when Jesus responded with a spiritually viewed answer to a physically viewed comment. We see their confusion over this sentence by their response in the next sentence. We also see Jesus start the spiritual lesson after that. but, in this sentence, He got their attention and made them think about what He was saying. Thus, we see that a teacher must get people's attention before starting a lesson that they might not have anticipated.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'I have. Joh 4:34; Job 23:12; Ps 63:5; 119:103; Pr 18:20; Isa 53:11; Jer 15:16; Ac 20:35
that. Ps 25:14; Pr 14:10; Re 2:17
General references. exp: Ge 24:33'.

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C4-S32 (Verse 33) The disciples did not understand His answer.

Therefore said the disciples one to another,
Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

As mentioned in the note above, his disciples were confused by the answer from Jesus in the prior sentence. As also mentioned in the outline of this subsection, even saved people often don't understand the provision of God for those who truly serve Him. His promise of provision must be accepted and acted upon by faith because He provides in ways which can not be anticipated. Neither can how God provides be planned for by physical means because, sometimes, God will often have a total stranger come up and provide for His servant when nothing is expected. Other times God will do a miracle. However, unlike some people claim, God does not do miracles 'on demand'. In this case, it would appear as if God the Father removed the need of physical food from the physical man named Jesus, at this time. However, we can not say that for sure, because Jesus may very well have eaten after finishing His lesson and the author just not recorded His doing so. we want to be careful about 'taking a stand' on something that is based even partially upon our speculation.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Mt 16:6-11; Lu 9:45 exp: Ge 24:33'.

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C4-S33 (Verse 34) Jesus explains His answer.

Jesus saith unto them,
My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,
and to finish his work.

Our prior sentence showed us the confusion of the disciples and this sentence starts the multiple-sentence explanation by Jesus. 1Timothy 6:8 says: And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. Here we see Jesus literally say that God the Father provided for His physical need to eat. However, our sentence also includes the promise from God to provide meat ('food') for anyone who will devote their life to do the will of (God) that sent me, and to finish his work.

Please see the notes for Romans C9S8; 1Corinthians C3S13; Galatians C2-S10 and Philippians 1:1 about the word works. Please see the note for Romans C3S27 about the phrase law of works. Please see the note for Philippians 3:2 about the phrase evil workers. Please see the note for Romans C11S10 about the phrase works are seen of men. Please see the notes for Romans 8:1-LJC; Galatians C5-S6 and Revelation 19:2-LJC about the phrase judged by works. The basic Biblical definition of work is: 'to move, or to labor'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'My meat. Joh 4:32; 6:33,38; Job 23:12; Ps 40:8; Isa 61:1-3; Lu 15:4-6,10; 19:10; Ac 20:35
and. Joh 5:36; 17:4; 19:30; Heb 12:2 exp: Lu 12:50.
General references. exp: Ge 24:33; Le 10:14; Mt 9:19; Mr 1:35'.

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C4-S34 (Verse 35) Jesus challenges them with a question.

Say not ye,
There are yet four months,
and then cometh harvest?

The question in this sentence is designed to get the agreement of the disciples who were confused by the prior statement by Jesus. However, in the next sentence, Jesus makes a statement which disputes this statement. He leaves it for His disciples, and us, to realize that this sentence is speaking from a physical view point while the next sentence is speaking from a spiritual view point. He also expects the truly saved to use their minds and figure out that the same difference was the cause of the prior confusion. That is; His prior statements which caused confusion when taken from a physical point of view make perfect sense when taken from a spiritual point of view.

We find forms of the word harvest occurring 63 times in 53 verses of the Bible and, in the New Testament, in: Matthew 9:37-38; Matthew 13:30; Matthew 13:39; Mark 4:29; Luke 10:2; John 4:35; Revelation 14:15. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'the season for gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the harvest commenced (Le 23:9-14; 2Sa 21:9-10; Ru 2:23). It began with the feast of Passover and ended with Pentecost, thus lasting for seven weeks (Ex 23:16). The harvest was a season of joy (Ps 126; Isa 9:3). This word is used figuratively Mt 9:37; 13:30; Lu 10:2; Joh 4:35'. Morrish Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'With Israel the harvest was associated with the Feasts, which should have kept ever before them the goodness of God. Barley harvest was at the feast of first fruits; the wheat harvest at the feast of weeks; and the vintage at the feast of tabernacles. Le 23:10,16. 34. Harvest was a joyful time, Isa 9:3, and the poor were not to be forgotten. De 24:19-22.
The harvest is used symbolically in the N.T. for the gathering of souls to God. Mt 9:37-38; Joh 4:35. Also of the judgement of the kingdom at the end of the age, when the angels as reapers will first gather the tares and bind them in bundles for burning, and then the wheat will be gathered into God's barn. Mt 13:39-41. There will also be a harvest of judgement for the earth: the earth will be reaped; and the vine of the earth, that should have produced fruit to God, will be cast into the winepress of the wrath of God. Re 14:15-20. In the harvest there is discrimination in judgement'. The functional definition is: 'The time of gathering the results of labor. Within the Bible we see several different types of harvest and several different times of harvest'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for this word as: 'Natural: Ge 8:22; Ex 23:10; De 24:19; Ru 1:22; 1Sa 12:17; 2Sa 21:9; Pr 10:5; 26:1. Spiritual, general references to: Ps 126:6; Ho 10:12; Mt 9:37; Mr 4:29; Lu 10:2; Joh 4:35-36; Ga 6:9. Sin's: Disappointing: Isa 17:11. Profitless: Jer 12:13; 51:33; Ho 6:11; 8:7. Reaped at the Judgment Day: Joe 3:12-13. According to the Seed Sown: Ga 6:7-8. Sure to Come in the Fulness of Time: Re 14:15'.

Torrey's Topical Textbook provides links for this word as: 'Ingathering of fruits of the fields: Mr 4:29. To continue without intermission: Ge 8:22. CALLED THE: Appointed weeks of harvest: Jer 5:24. Harvest time: 2Sa 23:13; Jer 50:16. Fields appeared white before: Joh 4:35. Of barley at the passover: Le 23:6,10. Of wheat at Pentecost: Ex 34:22; 1Sa 12:17. Men and women engaged in: Ru 2:8-9. PERSONS ENGAGED IN: . Reapers: Ru 2:4. Binders: Ge 37:7; Ps 129:7. Called harvest-men: Isa 17:5. Called laborers: Mt 9:37. Fed by the husbandman during: Ru 2:14. Received wages: Joh 4:35. Often defrauded of their wages: Jas 5:4. Former and latter rain necessary to abundance of: Jer 5:24; Am 4:7. Patience required in waiting for: Jas 5:7. Not to be commenced until the first fruits had been offered to God: Le 23:10,14. A time of great joy: Ps 126:6; Isa 9:3. Omitted in the sabbatical year: Le 25:5. Omitted in year of jubilee: Le 25:11-12. The sabbath to be observed during: Ex 34:21. Legal provision for the poor during: Le 19:9; 23:22; De 24:19. FAILURE OF: Occasioned by drought: Am 4:7. Occasioned by locusts: Joe 1:4. Sometimes continued for years: Ge 45:6. A cause of great grief: Isa 16:9; Joe 1:11. A punishment for sin: Isa 17:10-11. Slothfulness during, ruinous: Pr 10:5. Miraculous thunder, etc. in: 1Sa 12:17-18. ILLUSTRATIVE: Of seasons of grace: Jer 8:20. Of the end of the world: Mt 13:30,39. Of a time when many are ready to receive the Gospel: Mt 9:37-38. Of a time of judgment: Jer 51:33; Ho 6:11. Of ripeness for wrath: Joe 3:13; Re 14:15. (Dew in,) of God's protection: Isa 18:4. (Cold in,) of a refreshing message: Pr 25:13. (Rain in,) of honor given to fools: Pr 26:1'.

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C4-S35 (Verse 35) Jesus gives them the spiritual perspective.

First Step: Look at God's spiritual fields.

behold,
I say unto you,
Lift up your eyes,
and look on the fields;

Second Step: See the ready harvest.

for they are white already to harvest.

In this sentence we see Jesus tell His disciples to look at things from a spiritual point of view if they want to understand what He has been saying. A lot of the claimed 'problems' in the Bible are because people try to understand a spiritual truth from a physical point of view. Yes, there are other sources of confusion and doctrinal error, but our account is pointing out this particular source of confusion.

Please see the note for Colossians C2S3 about the word behold. The functional definition is: 'To fix the eyes upon; to see with attention; to observe with care'.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C12S13 about the word eye. The functional definition is: ' The organ of sight or vision; properly, the globe or ball movable in the orbit'.

Please see the note for Philippians 2:4 about the word look. The functional definition is: 'The primary sense is to stretch, to extend, to shoot, hence to direct the eye. We observe its primary sense is nearly the same as that of seek. Hence, to look for is to seek'. Please also see the note for Galatians C6S6 about the phrase LORD looketh on the heart.

Please see the note for John 4:35 about the word harvest. The functional definition is: 'The time of gathering the results of labor. Within the Bible we see several different types of harvest and several different times of harvest'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'for. Joh 4:30; Mt 9:37-38; Lu 10:3'.

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C4-S36 (Verse 36) God's plan of reward for workers.

Equivalent Section: Spiritual reward for soul winning.

And he that reapeth receiveth wages,
and gathereth fruit unto life eternal:

Equivalent Section: Spiritual reward for sowing God's word.

that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

Our sentence promises reward from God to everyone who works in His spiritual field. Now I've only planted a small garden and have limited experience. Based upon that I can say that there are two times of much labor in raising a crop and the other times there is much less labor. At the start you have a lot of work preparing the ground and planting seeds. Then you have a lesser amount of work to weed and water until the plants are big enough to survive with less care. Then, when they are mature, there is another increased amount of labor to harvest and store the food. Thus, we see the two main types of labor which are mentioned in our sentence.

God uses the physical to teach us about the spiritual. That is what Jesus is doing here. He has already made the point that there are differences between the physical point of view and the spiritual point of view even though there are similarities which allow the physical to be used to teach about the spiritual. Thus, we must see the similarities while changing the view, within our mind, and apply the similarities to the spiritual lesson.

In our sentence we see that the owner of the field must pay his laborers. God, likewise, pays those who work in His field but God's pay is after we get to heaven so that we can retain our spiritual pay for all of eternity. We see this truth with the phrase of: receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.

Next we see two types of workers mentioned: sowers and reapers. Each receives pay even while their work is different. During the 'Church Age' there is so much emphasis on reapers that many people don't want to be sowers. However, we can not reap until after someone sows. In addition, there really is the matter of weeding and watering even though that is less labor than reaping and sowing. Many of the churches in America are dying today because, while people are willing to be reapers, very few people want to be sowers. In addition, while many people want to be in charge, very few people really want to water or weed. That is why many of the churches in America are nothing more than spiritual nurseries filled with spiritual babes (no watering - spiritual growth) and are full of the doctrinal errors which are represented by weeds and rocks (Matthew 13; Mark 4 and Luke 8).

Now, Please pay attention to our Second Equivalent Section and keep in mind that Jesus is teaching about spiritual truths in this sentence. So, yes, this sentence applies to reapers and sowers during the 'Church Age'. However, this truth also applies to all of human history. Many people believe the doctrinal error that everything from Genesis through Malachi was done away with when the 'Church Age' started. However, the Biblical truth is that only the religious part of the mosaic Law was replaced by the New Testament and the many references to the Old Testament, found on this site and throughout the new Testament, show the error of that belief. Now look at the phrase, in our sentence, which says: both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. The truth is that Abraham, and many other Old Testament saints, have not yet received all that God promised them. They will not receive all of those promises until the 1,000 years reign of Christ on this Earth. That is also when we will also receive many of God's promises. Therefore, that is the time when both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

1Peter 1:10-12 tells us that the Old Testament prophets have inquired and searched diligently because they did not understand the spiritual meaning of the truths which they sowed. If someone gave you a seed to sow and nurture, but refused to explain what type of plant it was, you would have had the same problem and curiosity as the Old Testament prophets. However, while they did not understand, they obeyed God and sowed. Therefore, they will rejoice with the New Testament saints when we are in the kingdom of Christ and all of these spiritual truths are finally completely understood.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 9:6; Galatians C6S7; Colossians C3S17 about sowing and reaping.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S1; 1Corinthians C15S1 and Colossians 2:6-7 about the word receive. The functional definition is: 'To take, as a thing offered or sent; to accept'.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 8:13-15 about the word gather. The functional definition is: 'Collected; assembled; contracted; plaited; drawn by inference'.

Please see the notes for Romans C1S5 and 1Corinthians C9S10 about the word fruit. The functional definition for this word is: 'Used for offspring of any type of life'. Please also see the notes for Philippians 1:9-11 and James 3:18 about the phrase fruit of righteousness. Please also see the note for Romans C8S21 about the word firstfruits.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'he that reapeth receiveth. Pr 11:30; Da 12:3; Ro 1:13; 6:22; 1Co 9:19-23; Php 2:15-16; 1Th 2:19; 1Ti 4:16; 2Ti 4:7-8; Jas 5:19-20
both he that. 1Co 3:5-9'.

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C4-S37 (Verse 37) God's plan of cooperative workers.

And herein is that saying true,
One soweth,
and another reapeth.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, below, provide some links where we see this saying become true in the Bible. In those accounts the sower could not reap because God brought judgment upon them for sin. However, in this case the sower could not reap because of the great amount of time that was involved. Thus, we see Jesus apply a popular saying to a different purpose. However, Please notice that Jesus says herein is that saying true. This means that His application of the saying is the true ;purpose of it and not the popular application of it. This id added to the prior sentence by our current sentence starting with the word And. In addition, our next sentence gives us the explicit promise from God which it to motivate our work in God's kingdom.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 9:6; Galatians C6S7; Colossians C3S17 about sowing and reaping.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'One. Jg 6:3; Mic 6:15; Lu 19:21'.

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C4-S38 (Verse 38) Jesus applies it to them personally.

Equivalent Section: What Jesus has His disciples do.

I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour:

Equivalent Section: Why.

other men laboured,
and ye are entered into their labours.

Please notice that our sentence tells us other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. As already explained in a prior note for this sub-account, the Old Testament prophets laboured in God's spiritual field that we, who are in the 'Church Age', are entered into their labours. The New Testament did not replace everything from Genesis through Malachi but we are now reaping the spiritual truths which those prophets sowed. Yes, the saved are to work / enter into their labours, but our work does not deny the prior workers their reward. In addition, since we are entered into their labours, we can expect to receive similar rewards as they received provided that we work in God's kingdom like they did. Many people believe the lie from Satan that there are no more miracles today. However, that lie is believed, and propagated, by liars who claim to work in God's kingdom but either are not working for God (are working for self or Satan) or are not obeying God as to how and where they are to work. Many of God's workers, including myself, can testify that God still provides the same type of rewards as He did in the Old Testament.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians 13:3 about the word bestow. The functional definition is: 'give with no strings attached'.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C3S9 and 1Corinthians C4S13 about the word labour. The functional definition is: 'Exertion of muscular strength, or bodily exertion which occasions weariness; particularly, the exertion of the limbs in occupations by which subsistence is obtained, as in agriculture and manufactures'. The main application, within the Bible, is: 'work of God's ministry'. Please also see the note for Philippians 4:3 about the word fellowlabourers.

Please see the note for John 10:8 about the word enter. The functional definition for this word is: 'to leave one place and go into another place'.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 9:6; Galatians C6S7; Colossians C3S17 about sowing and reaping.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'sent. Ac 2:41; 4:4,32; 5:14; 6:7; 8:4-8,14-17
other. Joh 1:7; 2Ch 36:15; Jer 44:4; Mt 3:1-6; 4:23; 11:8-13; Ac 10:37-38,42-43; 1Pe 1:11-12'.

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C4-S39 (Verse 39) The result of a saved person giving true testimony.

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman,
which testified,
He told me all that ever I did.

Our sentence starts with the word And, which means that it is added to what came before. However, the subject of this sentence was last spoke of in C4-S25. Therefore, our sentence is actually continuing the account found in that sentence while C4-S26 through C4-S38 was actually a sub-account which related to the main spiritual lesson that is within this chapter even while it was different from the physical account which is found within this chapter.

Please notice that it was her testimony which caused many of the Samaritans of that city (to) believe on him. John 20:21 says: Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. God sent His Son for our salvation but the salvation of others depends upon our own efforts and our being humble enough to give a true testimony like this woman did.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'many. Joh 10:41-42; 11:45
for. Joh 4:29,42
General references. exp: Joh 10:42'.

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C4-S40 (Verse 40) Saved people truly desire to know more.

Equivalent Section: The saved people expressed their thanks.

So when the Samaritans were come unto him,
they besought him that he would tarry with them:

Equivalent Section: Jesus received their thanks.

and he abode there two days.

In this sentence we see one of the evidences of true salvation: thankfulness. People who make a profession but you never hear from again actually show evidence of a false profession.

Another important thing taught by our sentence is that Jesus received their thanks. People who never let others provide for them are actually proud and miss out on the blessings of God. In addition, they deny others the opportunity to receive blessings from God after they let God work through their life.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:8 about the word besought. The functional definition is: 'the past-tense form of the word beseech'. Please also see the note for Romans C12S1 about the word beseech. The functional definition is: 'To entreat; to supplicate; to implore; to ask or pray with urgency'.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians 11:33 about the word tarry. The functional definition is: 'To stay; to abide; to continue; to lodge'.

Please see the notes for 2Corinthians 13:1 and Colossians C3S13 about the phrase two or three witnesses. The functional definition is: 'the legal requirement for a court to accept testimony'. Our sentence uses the word two because Jesus fulfilled the requirement to be a witness to this city.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C7S9 about the word abide. The functional definition is: 'to dwell, rest, continue, stand firm, or be stationary for anytime indefinitely'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'they. Ge 32:26; Pr 4:13; Song 3:4; Jer 14:8; Lu 8:38; 10:39; 24:29; Ac 16:15
he abode. Lu 19:5-10; 2Co 6:1-2; Re 3:20
General references. exp: Lu 9:53'.

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C4-S41 (Verse 41-42) Saved people believe God's truth and not just the words of other people.

Equivalent Section: Others received and showed evidence of salvation.

First Step: More people received salvation.

And many more believed because of his own word;

Second Step: They testified of how they received salvation.

And said unto the woman,
Now we believe,
not because of thy saying:

Equivalent Section: Why they received and showed evidence of salvation

for we have heard him ourselves,
and know that this is indeed the Christ,
the Saviour of the world.

Here we see the difference between a true salvation and a false profession. People with a true salvation verify what they are told and put their trust upon the evidence that they see in scripture. In addition, we see that they trusted Jesus (believed because of his own word) and not just what the religious person told them.

In addition, to what we see in the First Equivalent Section, we see, in the Second Equivalent Section, that these people verified what they heard against scripture. This is the only way that they could know that the Christ was also the Saviour of the world. Please note that the Jews believed that the Christ would lead the Jews to becoming the rulers of the world. Therefore, the idea that the Christ was also the Saviour of the world would not have been a popular doctrine in that day.

Please see the note for Romans C1S10 about the word because. The functional definition is: 'provides a cause where the cause and effect are both in the past'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'many. Ge 49:10; Ac 1:8; 8:12,25; 15:3
because. Joh 6:63; 7:46; Mt 7:28-29; Lu 4:32; 1Co 2:4-5; Heb 4:13
General references. exp: Lu 9:53; Joh 10:42.
for. Joh 1:45-49; 17:8; Ac 17:11-12 exp: Joh 4:39.
and know. Joh 4:29; 1:29; 3:14-18; 6:68-69; 11:17; Isa 45:22; 52:10; Lu 2:10-11,32; Ac 4:12; Ro 10:11-13; 2Co 5:19; 1Jo 4:14
General references. exp: Lu 9:53'.

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C4-S42 (Verse 43) Jesus finished His journey home.

Now after two days he departed thence,
and went into Galilee.

Here we see that Jesus has completed the purpose of His going into Samaria. Now he returns to His prior purpose of returning to His home base. Often, when God directs us to do something, God gives us time for a rest, and to do what we desire, before God sends us on another task.

In addition, we see that, while Jesus surely wanted to move on as soon as He completed the main task, He abode there two days. Think about it. He was a Jew in a city of Samaria and the cultural conflict had to make Him uncomfortable in His flesh. However, fulfilling all that God the Father wanted was more important than His physical comfort. This was required to fulfill the legal requirement for a witness. As much as we might get impatient, we need to fulfill everything involved in a God-given task and not rush off before even the smallest item is complete.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:8 about the word depart. The functional definition is: 'To go or move from'.

Please see the note for John 1:43 about the word Galilee. The functional definition is: 'Part of the Promised Land given to Gentiles'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'two. Mt 15:21-24; Mr 7:27-28; Ro 15:8
and. Joh 4:46; 1:42; Mt 4:13'.

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C4-S43 (Verse 44) Why Jesus went to the mission field.

For Jesus himself testified,
that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

C4-S42 through C4-S45 give us the transition between the two main accounts of this chapter with the beginning and end sentences actually also being par of their respective main accounts.

Our sentence starts with the word For, which means that it is giving a reason why what was said previously is true. One of the reasons that Jesus saw many people saved in the Samaritan city, but few in His home area (Matthew 11:21: Matthew 13:58: Luke 10:13) was the reason given in this sentence. In addition, . Jesus choose a Samaritan city as the place to announce the start of the 'Church Age' instead of a Jewish city. Again, we saw that the Samaritans gave Him honour as a prophet while the Jews refused to do the same. In fact, the largest doctrinal dispute reported in the Bible, that happened during the 'Church Age', was that saved Jews refused His command to change their religion. They tried to make everyone obey the religious part of the Mosaic Law even after God made it clear that such obedience was no longer required. Thus, we continue to see that the Jews refused to honour Jesus as a prophet even while the Gentiles did give Him that honour.

Please see the note for Romans C12S8 about the word honour. The functional definition is: 'The esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation'. Please also see the note for Romans C12S8 about the word dishonour.

Please see the note for Mark 12:1 about the word country. The functional definition for this word is: 'Properly, the land lying about or near a city; the territory situated in the vicinity of a city'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'that. Mt 13:57; Mr 6:4; Lu 4:24
General references. exp: Mr 6:4'.

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C4-S44 (Verse 45) Why people at His home were glad to see Him.

Equivalent Section: They wanted miracles for themselves.

Then when he was come into Galilee,
the Galilaeans received him,
having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast:

Equivalent Section: Why they wanted them.

for they also went unto the feast.

C4-S42 through C4-S45 give us the transition between the two main accounts of this chapter with the beginning and end sentences actually also being par of their respective main accounts.

Our sentence has two Equivalent Section with the First Equivalent Section telling us why they received him because of the miracles that He did. They didn't want to know Him in a personal way and they rejected His teaching and His authority over them. Our Second Equivalent Section tells us why they thought they could make demands of Him. They saw Him do miracles and assumed that, since they were from the same area of the country, they could make demands based upon living close by His home. That is: people owe more loyalty to neighbors than they owe to strangers.

We see a similar attitude today with people declaring things like: 'Me and the man upstairs have our own thing worked out'. Unsaved people and many who claim to be saved think they can make demands of God while being disrespectful. James 4:3 says: Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. We must have the right attitude of heart if we want to receive anything from God and these people did not. The note for the prior sentence gave links to where the Gospels tell us that their unbelief restricted His doing miracles there. Indeed, the Bible indicates that His own siblings from Mary did not get saved until after His resurrection. Finally, we also see this attitude in His statement found in C4-S48 (Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe). Therefore, we see in these sentences not only the transition from two different accounts but we also see a transition between two different attitudes and the results which each group received. As a result, we can see this chapter fitting in John's purpose for writing this Gospel (C20-S33). That purpose is to show us the different results which people get from God and that those different results are directly due to their attitude of heart and how much faith they truly have.

Please see the note for John 1:43 about the word Galilee. The functional definition is: 'Part of the Promised Land given to Gentiles'.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S1; 1Corinthians C15S1 and Colossians 2:6-7 about the word receive. The functional definition is: 'To take, as a thing offered or sent; to accept'.

Please see the note for Galatians C1-S12 about the word Jerusalem. The functional definition is: 'the central place of worship of the true God'.

We find forms of the word feast occurring 163 times in 145 verses of the Bible, 43 times in 39 verses of the New Testament and, in this Gospel in: John 2:8; John 2:9; John 2:23; John 4:45; John 5:1; John 6:4; John 7:2; John 7:8; John 7:10; John 7:11; John 7:14; John 7:37; John 10:22; John 11:56; John 12:12; John 12:20; John 13:1; John 13:29. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'as a mark of hospitality (Ge 19:3; 2Sa 3:20; 2Ki 6:23); on occasions of domestic joy (Lu 15:23; Ge 21:8); on birthdays (Ge 40:20; Job 1:4; Mt 14:6); and on the occasion of a marriage (Jg 14:10; Ge 29:22).
Feasting was a part of the observances connected with the offering up of sacrifices (De 12:6-7; 1Sa 9:19; 16:3,5), and with the annual festivals (De 16:11). "It was one of the designs of the greater solemnities, which required the attendance of the people at the sacred tent, that the oneness of the nation might be maintained and cemented together, by statedly congregating in one place, and with one soul taking part in the same religious services. But that oneness was primarily and chiefly a religious and not merely a political one; the people were not merely to meet as among themselves, but with Jehovah, and to present themselves before him as one body; the meeting was in its own nature a binding of themselves in fellowship with Jehovah; so that it was not politics and commerce that had here to do, but the soul of the Mosaic dispensation, the foundation of the religious and political existence of Israel, the covenant with Jehovah. To keep the people's consciousness alive to this, to revive, strengthen, and perpetuate it, nothing could be so well adapated as these annual feasts." (See Festivals, Religious.)'. Fausset's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: 'Hag (from a root, "to dance") is the Hebrew applied to the Passover, and still more to the feast of tabernacles, as both were celebrated with rejoicings and participation of food (Ex 12:14; Le 23:39; Nu 29:12; De 16:22). But moed is the general term for all sacred assemblies convoked on stated anniversaries; God's people by His appointment meeting before Him in brotherly fellowship for worship. Their communion was primarily with God, then with one another. These national feasts tended to join all in one brotherhood. Hence, arose Jeroboam's measures to counteract the effect on his people (1Ki 12:26-27). Hezekiah made the revival of the national Passover a primary step in his efforts for a reformation (2Ch 30:1). The Roman government felt the feast a time when especial danger of rebellion existed (Mt 26:5; Lu 13:1).
The "congregations," "calling of assemblies," "solemn meetings" (Isa 1:13; Ps 81:3), both on the convocation days of the three great feasts, passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles, and also on the sabbaths, imply assemblies for worship, the forerunners of the synagogue (compare 2Ki 4:23). The septenary number prevails in the great feasts. Pentecost was seven weeks (sevens) after Passover; passover and the feast of tabernacles lasted seven days each; the days of holy convocation were seven in the year, two at Passover, one at pentecost, one at the feast of trumpets, one on the day of atonement (the first day or new moon of the seventh month), and two at the feast of tabernacles. The last two solemn days were in the seventh month, and the cycle of feasts is seven months, from Nisan to Tisri. There was also the sabbatical year, and the year of Jubilee.
The continued observance of the three feasts commemorative of the great facts of Israelite history make it incredible that the belief of those facts could have been introduced at any period subsequent to the supposed time of their occurrence if they never took place. The day, the month, and every incident of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt are embalmed in the anniversary passover. On the three great feasts each Israelite was bound to "appear before the Lord," i.e., attend in the court of the tabernacle or temple and make his offering with gladness (Leviticus 23; De 27:7). Pious women often went up to the Passover: as Lu 2:41, Mary; 1Sa 1:7; 2:19, Hannah. Those men who might happen to be unable to attend at the proper time kept the feast the same day in the succeeding month (Nu 9:10-11). On the days of holy convocation all ordinary work was suspended (Le 23:21-35). The three great feasts had a threefold bearing.
I. They marked the three points of time as to the fruits of the earth.
II. They marked three epochs in Israel's past history.
III. They pointed prophetically to three grand antitypical events of the Gospel kingdom.
I. They marked the three points of time as to the fruits of the earth.
(I.) At the Passover in spring, in the month Abib, the first green ears of barley were cut, and were a favorite food, prepared as parched grain, but first of all a handful of green ears was presented to the Lord.
(2) Fifty days (as Pentecost means) after Passover came the feast of weeks, i.e. a week of weeks after Passover. The now ripe wheat, before being cut, was sanctified by its firstfruits, namely two loaves of fine flour, being offered to Jehovah.
(3) At the feast of tabernacles, in the end of the common year and the seventh month of the religious year, there was a feast of ingathering when all the fruits of the field had been gathered in. There was no offering of consecration, for the offerings for sanctifying the whole had been presented long before. It was not a consecration of what was begun, but a joyful thanksgiving for what was completed. See for the spiritual lesson Pr 3:9; Ps 118:15.
II. They marked three epochs in Israel's past history. Each of the three marked a step in the HISTORICAL progress of Israel.
(1) The Passover commemorated the deliverance out of Egypt when Jehovah passed over Israel, protecting them from the destroying angel and sparing them, and so achieving for them the first step of independent national life as God's covenant people.
(2) Pentecost marked the giving of the law on Sinai, the second grand era in the history of the elect nation. God solemnly covenanted, "If ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people, and ye shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex 19:5).
(3) All the nation now wanted was a home. The feast of tabernacles commemorates the establishment of God's people in the land of promise, their pleasant and peaceful home, after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, living in shifting tents. They took boughs of palm and willows of the brook, and made temporary huts of branches and sat under the booths. So in their fixed home and land of rest their enjoyment was enhanced by the thankful and holy remembrance of past wanderings without a fixed dwelling. Joshua especially observed this feast after the settlement in Canaan (as incidentally comes out in Ne 8:17).
Solomon (appropriately to his name, which means king of peace) also did so, for his reign was preeminently the period of peaceful possession when every man dwelt under his own vine and figtree (1Ki 4:25); immediately after that the last relic of wilderness life was abolished by the ark being taken from under curtains and deposited in the magnificent temple of stone in the seventh month (2Ch 5:3), the feast of tabernacles was celebrated on the 15th day, and on the 23rd Solomon sent the great congregation away glad in heart for the goodness that the Lord had showed unto David, Solomon, and Israel His people.
The third celebration especially recorded was after the Babylonian captivity, when the Jews were re-established in their home under Ezra and Nehemiah, and all gathered themselves together as one man on the first day of the seventh month, the feast of trumpets. Then followed the reading of the law and renewal of the covenant. Then finding in the law directions as to the feast of tabernacles, they brought branches of olive, pine, myrtle, and palm, and thick trees, and made booths on their roofs and in their courts, and in the courts of God's house, and sat under them with "great gladness" (Nehemiah 8).
III. They pointed prophetically to three grand antitypical events of the Gospel kingdom. Prophetically and typically.
(1) The Passover points to the Lord Jesus, the true paschal Lamb sacrificed for us, whose sacrifice brings to us a perpetual feast (1Co 5:7).
(2) Pentecost points to our Whitsuntide (Acts 2) when the Holy Spirit descending on Christ's disciples confirms Christ's covenant of grace in the heart more effectually than the law of Sinai written on stone (2Co 3:3-18).
(3) Two great steps have already been taken toward establishing the kingdom of God. Christ has risen from death as "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1Co 15:20), even as the green ears of barley were offered as firstfruits at Passover. Secondly, the Holy Spirit has not merely once descended but still abides in the church as His temple, giving us a perpetual Whitsun feast, One step more is needed; we have received redemption, also the Holy Spirit; we wait still for our inheritance and abiding home. The feast of tabernacles points on to the antitypical Canaan, the everlasting inheritance, of which the Holy Spirit is the "earnest" (Eph 1:13-14; Heb 4:8-9). The antitypical feast of tabernacles shall be under the antitypical Joshua, Jesus the Captain of our salvation, the antitypical Solomon, the Prince of peace (Isa 9:6; Re 7:9-17).
The zest of the heavenly joy of the palmbearing multitude (antitypical to the palmbearers at the feast of tabernacles), redeemed out of all nations, shall be the remembrance of their tribulations in this wilderness world forever past; for repose is sweetest after toil, and difficulties surmounted add to the delight of triumph. Salvation was the prominent topic at the feast. In later times they used to draw water from the pool of Siloam, repeating from Isaiah 12 "with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation," referred to by Jesus (Joh 7:2-37,39). So Christ shall appear the "second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb 9:28). The palm-bearing multitude accompanying Jesus at His triumphant entry into His royal capital cried "Hosanna," i.e. Save us we beseech Thee. So the prophetical Ps 118:25-26, implies that Israel shall say when in penitent faith she shall turn to her returning Lord (Mt 23:39).
So the thanksgiving song of eternity shall be, "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb." Meanwhile on earth Israel, long finding no ease or rest for the sole of the foot, but having "trembling of heart, failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind" (De 28:65), shall at length rest in her own land under Messiah reigning at Jerusalem as His holy capital and over the whole earth, and "everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles" (Zec 14:9,16; Revelation 7). That feast shall remind Israel of hardships now past, and of salvation and peace now realized on earth, so that "the voice of rejoicing and salvation shall be in the tabernacles of the righteous" (Ps 118:15).
There was in the Three Feasts a clear prefigurement of the Three Persons; the Father, in the work of creation, especially adored in the feast of tabernacles; the Son in the Passover sacrifice; the Spirit in the Pentecostal feast. The times of the feasts were those least interfering with the people's industry; the Passover just before harvest; Pentecost at its conclusion and before the vintage; tabernacles after all fruits were gathered in. The feast of PURIM commemorated the baffling of Haman's plot for the Jews' destruction; the feast of Dedication the purification of the temple by the Maccabees, after its defilement by Antiochus Epiphanes. (See ESTHER; DEDICATION, FEAS't OF.)
In the New Testament Jude (Jg 1:12, "feasts of charity"; also 2Pe 2:13, mentions the Christian lovefeasts which often preceded the Lord's supper (1 Corinthians 11 end) just as the Passover preceded it in Christ's institution. (See LORD'S SUPPER.) They ate and; drank together earthly, then heavenly food, in token of unity for time and eternity. The fervent love and fellowship which characterized the first disciples originated these feasts (Ac 2:45-46; 4:35; 6:1). Each brought his portion, as to a club feast; and the rich brought extra portions for the poor.
From it the bread and wine were taken for the Eucharist. In it the excesses took place which Paul censures, and which made a true and reverent celebration of the Lord's supper during or after it impossible. Hence the lovefeasts were afterward separated from the Lord's supper, and in the fourth century forbidden by the Council of Laodicea A.D. 320, and that of Carthage A.D. 391, as excesses crept in, the rulers of the church receiving double portions (Tertullian, De Jejun., 17), and the rich courting the praise of liberality. Pliny, in his famous letter to Trajan, says the Christians met and exchanged sacramental pledges against all immorality, then separated, and met again to partake of an entertainment'.

Thompson Chain Topics provides links for this word as: 'Of the Dedication: Of Dedication, held the 25th of Chisleu (December), to commemorate the reconsecration of the temple after its pollution by the Syrians: Joh 10:22. Of the Passover: Of the Passover, held on the 14th of the first month, Abib (April), to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt: Le 23:6; Nu 9:5; Jos 5:10; 2Ki 23:22; 2Ch 35:1; Mt 26:17; Lu 2:41; 22:15; Heb 11:28. Of Pentecost: Of Pentecost, or Weeks, held at the end of Wheat Harvest, 6th of Sivan (June) to commemorate the giving of the Law: Ex 23:16; 34:22; Le 23:16; Nu 28:26; De 16:10; Ac 2:1. Of Purim: Of Purim, held the 14th and 15th of Adar (March), to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from Haman: Es 9:17,22,26. of New Moons.: Of Tabernacles: Of Tabernacles, or Ingathering, held 15th to the 22nd of Ethanim (October), as a thanksgiving for the harvest.: The people dwelt in booths to commemorate life in the wilderness: Le 23:34,39; Nu 29:12; De 16:13; 2Ch 8:13; Ezr 3:4; Ne 8:14; Zec 14:16; Joh 7:2 . Of Trumpets: Of Trumpets, held the first of the seventh month Ethanim (October): Le 23:24; Nu 29:1; Ne 8:2: General References to: 1Ki 8:65; 2Ki 6:23; 1Ch 12:39; Es 1:5; Da 5:1; Mr 6:21; Lu 5:29; Joh 2:8; 6:13; 12:2. Jewish: Of the Passover, held on the 14th of the first month, Abib (April), to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt: Le 23:6; Nu 9:5; Jos 5:10; 2Ki 23:22; 2Ch 35:1; Mt 26:17; Lu 2:41; 22:15; Heb 11:28. Of Pentecost, or Weeks, held at the end of Wheat Harvest, 6th of Sivan (June) to commemorate the giving of the Law: Ex 23:16; 34:22; Le 23:16; Nu 28:26; De 16:10; Ac 2:1. Of Trumpets, held the first of the seventh month Ethanim (October): Le 23:24; Nu 29:1; Ne 8:2. Of Tabernacles, or Ingathering, held 15th to the 22nd of Ethanim (October), as a thanksgiving for the harvest.: The people dwelt in booths to commemorate life in the wilderness: Le 23:34,39; Nu 29:12; De 16:13; 2Ch 8:13; Ezr 3:4; Ne 8:14; Zec 14:16; Joh 7:2 . Of Dedication, held the 25th of Chisleu (December), to commemorate the reconsecration of the temple after its pollution by the Syrians: Joh 10:22. Of Purim, held the 14th and 15th of Adar (March), to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from Haman: Es 9:17,22,26. of New Moons.: See Moon. Spiritual: (Prepared in Abundance for Believers: Pr 9:1-6; Isa 25:6; Mt 22:4; Mr 14:22; Lu 14:16; Re 19:9. Wedding: Jacob's: Ge 29:22. Samson's: Jg 14:2. Esther's: Es 2:18. The king's son: Mt 22:2-4. At Cana of Galilee: Joh 2:1'.

Torrey's Topical Textbook provides links for this word as: 'Feast of Dedication, The: To commemorate the cleansing of the temple after its defilement by Antiochus: Da 11:31. Held in the winter month, Chisleu: Joh 10:22. Feast of Jubilee, The: Held every fiftieth year: Le 25:8,10. Began upon the day of atonement: Le 25:9. CALLED THE: Year of liberty: Eze 46:17. Year of the redeemed: Isa 63:4. Acceptable year: Isa 61:2. Was specially holy: Le 25:12. Proclaimed by trumpets: Le 25:9; Ps 89:15. ENACTMENTS RESPECTING: Cessation of all field labor: Le 25:11. The fruits of the earth to be common property: Le 25:12. Redemption of sold property: Le 25:23-27. Restoration of all inheritances: Le 25:10,13; 27:24. Release of Hebrew servants: Le 25:40-41,54. Houses in walled cities not redeemed within a year, exempted from the benefit of: Le 25:30. Sale of property calculated from: Le 25:15-16. Value of devoted property calculated from: Le 27:14-23. Illustrative of the Gospel: Isa 61:1-2. Feast of Pentecost, The: Held fiftieth day after offering first sheaf of barley harvest: Le 23:15-16. CALLED THE: Feast of harvest: Ex 23:16. Feast of weeks: Ex 34:22; De 16:10. Day of the first fruits: Nu 28:26. Day of Pentecost: Ac 2:1. To be perpetually observed: Le 23:21. All males to attend: Ex 23:16-17. A holy convocation: Le 23:21; Nu 28:26. A time of holy rejoicing: De 16:11-12. The first fruits of bread presented at: Le 23:17; De 16:10. Sacrifices at: Le 23:18-19. The law given from Mount Sinai upon: Ex 12:6; 19:1,11. The Holy Ghost given to apostles at: Ac 2:1-3. Observed by early church: Ac 20:16; 1Co 16:8. Feast of Purim, or Lots, The: Instituted by Mordecai: Es 9:20. To commemorate the defeat of Haman's wicked design: Es 3:7-15; 9:24-26. Began fourteenth of twelfth month: Es 9:17. Lasted two days: Es 9:21. Mode of celebrating: Es 9:17-19,22. The Jews bound themselves to keep: Es 9:27-28. Confirmed by royal authority: Es 9:29-32. Feast of Sabbatical Year, The: A sabbath for the land: Le 25:2. Kept every seventh year: Ex 23:11; Le 25:4. Surplus of sixth year to provide for: Le 25:20-22. ENACTMENTS RESPECTING: Cessation of all field labor: Le 25:4-5. The fruits of the earth to be common property: Ex 23:11; Le 25:6-7. Remission of debts: De 15:1-3; Ne 10:31. Release of all Hebrew servants: Ex 21:2; De 15:12. Public reading of the law at feast of tabernacles: De 31:10-13. No release to strangers during: De 15:3. Release of, not to hinder the exercise of benevolence: De 15:9-11. Jews threatened for neglecting: Le 26:34-35,43. The seventy years' captivity a punishment for neglecting: 2Ch 36:20-21. Restored after the captivity: Ne 10:31. Feast of Tabernacles, The: Held after harvest and vintage: De 16:13. Began fifteenth of seventh month: Le 23:34,39. Lasted seven days: Le 23:34,41. Called the feast of ingathering: Ex 34:22. All males obliged to appear at: Ex 23:16-17. First and last days of, holy convocations: Le 23:35,39. Sacrifices during: Le 23:36-37. TO BE OBSERVED: With rejoicing: De 16:14-15. Perpetually: Le 23:41. The people dwelt in booths during: Le 23:42; Ne 8:15-16. The law publicly read every seventh year at: De 31:10-12; Ne 8:18. CUSTOMS OBSERVED AT: Bearing branches of palms: Le 23:40; Re 7:9. Drawing water from the pool of Siloam: Isa 12:3; Joh 7:2,37-39. Singing hosannas: Ps 118:24-29; Mt 21:8-9. To commemorate the sojourn of Israel in the desert: Le 23:43. REMARKABLE CELEBRATIONS OF: At the dedication of Solomon's temple: 1Ki 8:2,65. After the captivity: Ezr 3:4; Ne 8:17. Feast of the New Moon, The: Held first day of the month: Nu 10:10. Celebrated with blowing of trumpets: Nu 10:10; Ps 81:3-4. Sacrifices at: Nu 28:11-15. A SEASON FOR: Inquiring of God's messengers: 2Ki 4:23. Worship in God's house: Isa 66:23; Eze 46:1. Entertainments: 1Sa 20:5,18. Observed with great solemnity: 1Ch 23:31; 2Ch 2:4; 8:13; 31:3. Restored after captivity: Ezr 3:5; Ne 10:33. Mere outward observance of, hateful to God: Isa 1:13-14. Disliked by the ungodly: Am 8:5. The Jews deprived of, for sin: Ho 2:11. Observance of, by Christians, condemned: Col 2:16; Ga 4:10. Feast of the Passover, The: Ordained by God: Ex 12:1-2. Commenced the fourteenth of the first month at even: Ex 12:2,6,18. Lasted seven days: Ex 12:15; Le 23:6. CALLED THE: Passover: Nu 9:5; Joh 2:23. Jew's passover: Joh 2:13; 11:55. Lord's passover: Ex 12:11,27. Feast of unleavened bread: Mr 14:1; Lu 22:1. Days of unleavened bread: Ac 12:3; 20:6. All males to appear at: Ex 23:17; De 16:16. Paschal lamb eaten first day of: Ex 12:6,8. Unleavened bread eaten at: Ex 12:15; De 16:3. LEAVEN: Not to be in their houses during: Ex 12:19. Not to be in any of their quarters: Ex 13:7; De 16:4. Nothing with, to be eaten: Ex 12:20. Punishment for eating: Ex 12:15,19. First and last days of, holy convocations: Ex 12:16; Nu 28:18,25. Sacrifices during: Le 23:8; Nu 28:19-24. The first sheaf of barley harvest offered the day after the sabbath in: Le 23:10-14. TO COMMEMORATE THE: Passing over the first-born: Ex 12:12-13. Deliverance of Israel from bondage of Egypt: Ex 12:17; 13:9; De 16:3. To be perpetually observed during the Mosaic dispensation: Ex 12:14; 13:10. Children to be taught the nature and design of: Ex 12:26; 13:8. Purification necessary to the due observance of: 2Ch 30:15-19; Joh 11:55. Might be kept in the second month by those who were unclean at the appointed time: Nu 9:6-11; 2Ch 30:2-3,15. No uncircumcised person to keep: Ex 12:43,45. Strangers and servants when circumcised might keep: Ex 12:44,48. Neglect of, punished with death: Nu 9:13. Improper keeping of, punished: 2Ch 30:18,20. REMARKABLE CELEBRATIONS OF: On leaving Egypt: Ex 12:28,50. In the wilderness of Sinai: Nu 9:3-5. On entering the land of promise: Jos 5:10-11. In Hezekiah's reign: 2Ch 30:1. In Josiah's reign: 2Ki 23:22-23; 2Ch 35:1,18. After the captivity: Ezr 6:19-20. Before the death of Christ: Lu 22:15. Moses kept through faith: Heb 11:28. Christ always observed: Mt 26:17-20; Lu 22:15; Joh 2:13,23. The people of Jerusalem lent their rooms to strangers for: Lu 22:11-12. The Lord's Supper instituted at: Mt 26:26-28. Custom of releasing a prisoner at: Mt 27:15; Lu 23:16-17. The sabbath in, a high day: Joh 19:31. The day before the sabbath in, called the preparation: Joh 19:14,31. Illustrative of redemption through Christ: 1Co 5:7-8. Feasts of Trumpets, The: Held the first day of seventh month: Le 23:24; Nu 29:1. A memorial of blowing of trumpets: Le 23:24. A holy convocation and rest: Le 23:24-25. Sacrifices at: Nu 29:2-6. Feasts, The Anniversary: Instituted by God: Ex 23:14. Enumerated: Ex 23:15-16. CALLED: Appointed feasts: Isa 1:14. Feasts of the Lord: Le 23:4. Solemn feasts: 2Ch 8:13; La 1:4. Solemn meetings: Isa 1:13. Were eucharistic: Ps 122:4. All males to attend: Ex 23:17; 34:23. Children commenced attending, when twelve years old: Lu 2:42. Females often attended: 1Sa 1:3,9. The Jews attended gladly: Ps 122:1-2. The Jews went up to, in large companies: Ps 42:4; Lu 2:44. The dangers and difficulties encountered in going up to, alluded to: Ps 84:6-7. The land divinely protected during: Ex 34:24. Offerings to be made at: Ex 34:20; De 16:16-17. WERE SEASONS OF: Joy and gladness: Ps 42:4; Isa 30:20. Sacrificing: 1Sa 1:3; 1Ki 9:25; 2Ch 8:13. Entertainments: 1Sa 1:4,9. The ten tribes seduced by Jeroboam from attending: 1Ki 12:27. The Jews dispersed in distant parts often attended: Ac 2:5-11; 8:27. Christ attended: Joh 5:1; 7:10. Rendered unavailing by the impiety of the Jews: Isa 1:13-14. Illustrative of general assembly of the church: Heb 12:23'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'the Galilaeans. Mt 4:23-24; Lu 8:40
having. Joh 2:13-16,23; 3:2
for. De 16:16; Lu 2:42-44; 9:53'.

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C4-S45 (Verse 46) Jesus returned home.

So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee,
where he made the water wine.

C4-S42 through C4-S45 give us the transition between the two main accounts of this chapter with the beginning and end sentences actually also being part of their respective main accounts.

Our sentence is telling us that Jesus returned to a place where they had already seen His miracles. They were well familiar with Him and yet did not respond like the people in Samaria. We see Jesus speak of their attitude in 4:48. As already explained, our attitude has a lot to do with how much we receive from God.

Please see the note for John 1:43 about the word Galilee. The functional definition is: 'Part of the Promised Land given to Gentiles'.

Please see the note for Mark 15:23 about the word wine. The functional definition for this word is: 'There are several different drinks which have this name in the Bible. Please see the reference given for more details'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Cana. "It is worthy of remark," says Dr. E. D. Clarke, who visited Cana a few years ago, "that, walking among the ruins of a church, we saw large massy pots, answering the description given of the ancient vessels of the country; not preserved, but lying about, disregarded by the present inhabitants, as antiquities with whose original use they were unacquainted. From their appearance, and the number of them, it was quite evident that a practice of keeping water in large pots, each holding from eighteen to twenty-seven gallons, was once common in the country." (Compare the account of the water pots. Joh 2:6.) Joh 2:1-11; 21:2; Jos 19:28'.

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C4-S46 (Verse 46) A need was told to Jesus.

And there was a certain nobleman,
whose son was sick at Capernaum.

C4-S45 through C4-S56 tells us about the second miracle that Jesus did in Galilee. He may or may not have done other miracles in other places before this one. That is not as doctrinally important as realizing that these people had two legal witnesses that Jesus was / is 'God in human flesh'. Therefore, they can not claim ignorance when they stand before God in judgment after rejecting Jesus.

In this account we see a different attitude from the attitude of the Samaritans which we were told about earlier within this chapter. As a result, we also see a different treatment from Jesus. In both accounts we see that people only received their request after they acted in faith and did so in a way that was obvious to others. Thus, within John's Gospel which was written to encourage people to believe we see two accounts of people receiving blessings from God only after they acted in faith. Therefore, we see that actions of true faith are required if we truly believe.

Our sentence starts with the word And which adds it to the prior sentence and lets us know that this nobleman (from) Capernaum went to Cana in order to seek help for his sick son. We see the love which the nobleman had for his son because he traveled himself instead of sending a servant. As shown by the context, and as explained in the note for this verse within the Lord Jesus Christ Study, this nobleman did not believe that Jesus was 'God in human flesh' but only thought of Him as the 'man of God'. Therefore, he did not travel there because of his belief and respect for Jesus personally but did so for his love for his son and the belief that the 'man of God' could get God to perform a miracle. While this was a lesser faith than God desires, this nobleman did act in faith and God honored that. Thus, we see that we do not need 'a great leap of faith' to get miracles from God but do need to have true Biblical faith which causes us to act in a way that others can see our faith.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C11S34 about the word sick. ebster's 1828 defines this word as: '1. Not healthy; somewhat affected with disease; or habitually indisposed; as a sickly person, or a sickly constitution; a sickly plant. 2. Producing disease extensively; marked with sickness; as a sickly time; a sickly autumn. 3. Tending to produce disease; as a sickly climate. 4. Faint; weak; languid. The moon grows sickly at the sight of day'.

Please see the note for John 6:17 about the city of Capernaum. The functional definition is: 'home place for Jesus during the Gospels'.

Please see the note for John 4:10 about the phrase waters: living. Please also see the note for John 7:38 about the phrase waters: rivers with water.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'nobleman. or, courtier, or, ruler.
whose. Ps 50:15; 78:34; Ho 5:15; Mt 9:18; 15:22; 17:14-15; Lu 7:2; 8:42'.

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C4-S47 (Verse 47) Jesus rebuked the wrong motivation.

Equivalent Section: What the nobleman did.

When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee,
he went unto him,
and besought him that he would come down,
and heal his son:

Equivalent Section: Why.

for he was at the point of death.

Within our current sentence we see the actions of a nobleman who needed a miracle from God. As explained, in the note for this verse within the Lord Jesus Christ Study, He accepted that Jesus was a 'man of God' but did not believe that Jesus was / is 'God in human flesh'. We see this difference as we go through the sentences of this account and consider the related notes. However, the evidence of this sentence, is that he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son. Just as many religions preach today, this man believed that 'man of God' had to physically lay hands on his son for healing. However, the truth is as we see in this account. That truth is that we only need a word from God and our own faith in God's word. There are many places on this site where I have testified of my receiving several miraculous healings at different times and of lost medical professionals testifying that I had 'multiple undeniable healing miracles'. Thus, this account and my own experience testify that the true power is in the spiritual power of God's word and not in some so-called power of a physical religious act.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C12S14 and Galatians C3-S7 about the word hear. The functional definition is: 'Listening to; attending to; obeying; observing what is commanded'. Please also see the note for Mark 4:9 about the phrase He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Please see the note for John 1:43 about the word Galilee. The functional definition is: 'Part of the Promised Land given to Gentiles'.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians C12S29 about the word heal. The functional definition is: ' To cure of a disease or wound and restore to soundness, or to that state of body in which the natural functions are regularly performed'.

Please see the notes for Romans C6S4; 2Corinthians 2:15; Philippians 1:19-20 and Colossians C1S4 about the words dead / death / die The functional definition is: 'an ongoing process of corruption which starts at conception and continues until the body is completely destroyed. Physical death is used for the one-time point when the soul and spirit are forced to leave the corrupted body. Spiritual death is also used for the one-time point when the soul and spirit are forced to leave the presence of God. When the Bible uses death for these events, it assumes that the reader understands that the one-time-event is the pinnacle of an ongoing process. Within the Bible, death is to be understood to be an ongoing process, even while highlighting the ultimate point of victory for the process'. Please also see the notes for Sin in 1John; Romans C2S4; 1Corinthians 8:11-LJC and Galatians C3-S26 about the phrase sin unto death. Please also see the note for 1Corinthians C11S34 about the phrase sleep is physically dead but spiritually alive.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'he heard. Mr 2:1-3; 6:55-56; 10:47
that he. Joh 11:21,32; Ps 46:1; Lu 7:6-8; 8:41; Ac 9:38
General references. exp: Lu 7:3'.

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C4-S48 (Verse 48) The man expressed the right motivation.

Then said Jesus unto him,
Except ye see signs and wonders,
ye will not believe.

Please think about the response which Jesus gave to this request for healing. In the Gospels we read of many times when Jesus healed at the same type, or a lesser, request and did not give the people as much of a hard time about the request. Think of the account in Luke 17 with the ten lepers. Only one expressed gratitude. There He told them to go and do, just like He told this nobleman, but he said nothing more to the ten lepers where He rebuked the nobleman in our current sentence. it should be obvious to the reader that there was a reason for this difference in behavior by Jesus.

As already mentioned, the main difference was in the level of faith displayed by each. This nobleman addressed Jesus as Sir. He also said come down ere my child die. While he was probably begging at this point, he still had the wording of a nobleman making a demand of someone who was a social inferior. However, the ten lepers stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. They gave Him a more respectful title (Master as opposed to Sir) and they acted in a more respectful way and they begged for mercy as opposed to using the wording of a demand. Thus, once more, we see that our response from God often depends upon our attitude when we ask for His help.

Now that we have dealt with the context, we can consider our sentence. Our sentence starts with the word Then, which means that this response came after the nobleman had besought Jesus. This means that he had 'To entreat; to supplicate; to implore; to ask or pray with urgency'. Now when someone sees this response from Jesus. they might think He was being cold-hearted but He never had that type of attitude. The fact is that someone can be technically, begging and yet still have a superior attitude towards the person that they are asking something from. We see that when someone has an attitude of: 'I'm really better than you but I have to be polite and ask since only you can do what needs to be done and if you refuse then I can't force you to do what I want'. His still having a wrong attitude is the only reason that I can think of for Jesus to answer in this way. In addition, the account shows that Jesus fulfilled his request but did it in a way that required him to change his attitude. Now, while this may not be obvious, I will show it in a minute. However, we need to realize that this nobleman had besought Jesus and had not received what he wanted. Therefore, the response from Jesus was actually telling him why his request was rejected.

Please notice that Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. In other words, he had to believe without seeing signs and wonders. In addition, Jesus used the personal pronoun of ye. He was talking to 'each and every Jew personally' who was there and letting them know that until they were willing to believe without seeing signs and wonders, they would not get their requests from God. This nobleman, who had the greatest social position and the most social right to refuse this demand from Jesus met the demand, as we see in the rest of this account. He received his miracle. However, as already explained in this note, most of the rest of the Jews who were there did not receive miracles even though Jesus wanted to give them to the Jews of His home area.

Please see the note for John 6:44 about the word except. The functional definition is: 'to take or leave out of anything specified; to exclude'.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:12 about the word sign. The functional definition is: 'A token, pledge, or proof, Ge 9:12-13; 17:11; Ex 3:12; Isa 8:18. Also a supernatural portent, Lu 21:11; and a miracle, regarded as a token of the divine agency, Ex 4:7-9; Mr 8:11. The "signs of heaven" were the movements and aspects of the heavenly bodies, from which heathen astrologers pretended to obtain revelations, Isa 44:25; Jer 10:2'.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 12:12 about the word wonder. The functional definition is: 'That emotion which is excited by novelty, or the presentation to the sight or mind, of something new, unusual, strange, great, extraordinary, or not well understood; something that arrests the attention by its novelty, grandeur or inexplicableness'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Except. Joh 4:41-42; 2:18; 12:37; 15:24; 20:29; Nu 14:11; Mt 16:1; 27:42; Lu 10:18; 16:31; Ac 2:22; 1Co 1:22'.

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C4-S49 (Verse 49) Jesus demanded faith.

The nobleman saith unto him,
Sir,
come down ere my child die.

While it may not be obvious, this sentence shows a change in the personal attitude of the nobleman. Before he was beseeching but was rejected. Now he makes a request, which is almost a command, and he received what he wants. In between Jesus demanded belief without signs and wonders. In the sentences after this one we see the nobleman obey, even though he did not get signs and wonders, and his obedience was rewarded by a miracle. Therefore, we can conclude that the way we ask (beseech, etc) and the place and all other factors which religion claims as important actually mean nothing. God wants to see a heart attitude of belief which results in obedience and both are to be without our adding anything, such as religious requirements, and without our leaving out anything which God demands, such as true repentance.

Simply put: he now received what he requested where it was refused before. The only possible reasonable explanation is that he humbled himself and did what Jesus demanded. he reason that most people don't get what they ask from God is because they are doing what their flesh, the world and / or religion tells them to do instead of doing exactly what God says to do

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'come. Ps 40:17; 88:10-12; Mr 5:23,35-36'.

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C4-S50 (Verse 50) Jesus rewarded faith

First Step: Command to obey.

Jesus saith unto him,
Go thy way;

Second Step: Belief to have.

thy son liveth.

Here we see the answer from Jesus. If people are not paying attention to the context then they will miss what is included, but not said, within the command of this sentence. Jesus had already demanded that the nobleman believe without sighs and wonders. Our sentence is a command for the nobleman to obey and prove that he believe without sighs and wonders. Our next sentence tells us that he did exactly that. Therefore, he received what he asked from God.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C4S17 and Psalms 119 about the word way. The functional definition is: 'how we get from where we are at to our destination'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Go. Joh 11:40; 1Ki 17:13-15; Mt 8:13; Mr 7:29-30; 9:23-24; Lu 17:14; Ac 14:9-10; Ro 4:20-21; Heb 11:19 exp: Ec 9:7.
General references. exp: Lu 7:10'.

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C4-S51 (Verse 50) The man responded in faith.

And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him,
and he went his way.

Now, as explained in prior notes, this sentence shows a change in attitude by this nobleman. He did not argue with Jesus but simply obeyed which proved that he believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him. This is the correct heart attitude to have if we are to get anything from God.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C4S17 and Psalms 119 about the word way. The functional definition is: 'how we get from where we are at to our destination'.

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C4-S52 (Verse 51) The man heard the results of his faith.

And as he was now going down,
his servants met him,
and told him,
saying,
Thy son liveth.

As one preacher pointed out, God sent this nobleman confirmation of his faith as soon as possible after he acted in a new level of faith by obeying without the normal signs and wonders. When he did this he had to go against his religious traditions. Also, God would not have given him this confirmation until after he was away from where Jesus was so that the Jews, who were watching, would have a solid testimony of his believing the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and acting on that belief, even though he did not get the signs and wonders which the Jews demanded. God would not have given him the confirmation too soon so that there was no taint on his testimony of belief.

Please see the notes for Romans C14S4; 1Corinthians C7S27 and Ephesians C6S4 about the word servant. The functional definition is: 'A person who has a position where they are expected to performs tasks that are stated, implied or desired by another person'. Please also see the notes for Romans C16S21 and 2Timothy C1-S2 about the word serve. Please also see the note for Philippians 2:17 about the word service.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'Thy. Joh 4:50,53; 1Ki 17:23
General references. exp: Lu 7:10'.

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C4-S53 (Verse 52) The man verified the evidence of faith.
Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend.

In this sentence we see the nobleman do a right thing which many people neglect and which some say is wrong to do based upon a wrong definition of faith. He is verifying his act of true faith. True Biblical faith is based upon a promise from God and not some nebulous feeling. True Biblical hope is based upon the character and both faith and hope require us to act especially when the action goes against the wisdom of this world / man. However, the basis of true Biblical faith and hope can be verified against the word of God and should be verified so that no one can accuse us of acting on some nebulous feeling and then using our act to justify their act upon some nebulous feeling.

In addition, to providing the true basis of faith, verification sets the exact support details in our mind. Without that act, someone can one along later and challenge the details which support our faith and claim that our memory is no longer accurate unless we can respond with a true answer that we deliberately set the exact details into our memory, and made sure that we verified the exact details at that time, so that we would have a reliable witness of God working in and through our life. God works in and through our life so that we can later be witnesses (Acts 1:8) after the fact but God wants us to be reliable witness. Verification assures our reliability.

In addition, to assuring his own reliability as a witness, the nobleman was creating a secondary witnesses of the servants who brought him the message. We can be fairly confident in the assumption that the servants would want to know why the nobleman was asking these questions. When he would have told them the details of his act of faith he made them secondary witnesses because they saw the evidence of the miracle before knowing the cause. Therefore, they were independent and unbiased witnesses, which meant their testimony could not be challenged by people who were no where near the action. Thus, we see that God provided multiple and undisputable witnesses to this miracle.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 8:23 about the word inquire. The functional definition is: ' To ask a question; to seek for truth or information by asking questions'.

We find forms of the word amend only in: Leviticus 5:16; 2Chronicles 34:10; Jeremiah 7:3; Jeremiah 7:5; Jeremiah 26:13; Jeremiah 35:15; John 4:52. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: '1. To correct; to rectify by expunging a mistake; as, to amend a law. 2. To reform, by quitting bad habits; to make better in a moral sense; as, to amend our ways or our conduct. 3. To correct; to supply a defect; to improve or make better, by some addition of what is wanted, as well as by expunging what is wrong, as to amend a bill before a legislature. Hence it is applied to the correction of authors, by restoring passages which had been omitted, or restoring the true reading.
AMEND', v.i. To grow or become better, by reformation, or rectifying something wrong in manners or morals. It differs from improve, in this, that to amend implies something previously wrong; to improve, does not.
AMEND', A pecuniary punishment, or fine. The amende honorable, in France, is an infamous punishment inflicted on traitors, parricides and sacrilegious persons. The offender,being led into court with a rope about his neck, begs pardon of his God, the court, etc. These words denote also a recantation in open court, or in presence of the injured person'. The secondary 'definitions' are actually applications of the basic meaning. What we can see by our sentence using this word, and not just mend, is that this was a full and complete recovery and not just a recovery which left ongoing effects.

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C4-S54 (Verse 52) The evidence provided.

And they said unto him,
Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

In the prior sentence we saw that the nobleman verified his true Biblical faith and the note above explained why that is important for us to do. Now in this sentence we see that part of that verification is to get exact details. We also see that there was more than one servant and, as explained in the note above, they became secondary independent witnesses to the details of his Biblically true act of faith. We see this in our sentence saying Yesterday at the seventh hour, which gives us an exact time. Also, as pointed out in prior notes, the word yesterday lets us know that he was well separated from the witnessing Jews. This truth caused them to witness his act of true belief in the word that Jesus had spoken unto him because he had no confirmation at the time when he acted nor at any time close to his action. We must wait for God to give us confirmation of our acts of true Biblical faith and trust God when He delays that confirmation. Since everything that God does has a purpose, we can be sure that there is a purpose for any delay in confirmation, even when we have no idea what that purpose is.

We find forms of the word fever only in: Deuteronomy 28:22; Matthew 8:14; Matthew 8:15; Mark 1:30; Mark 1:31; Luke 4:38; Luke 4:39; John 4:52; Acts 28:8. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word as: '1. A disease, characterized by an accelerated pulse, with increase of heat, impaired functions, diminished strength, and often with preternatural thirst. This order of diseases is called by Cullen pyrexy, Gr. Fevers are often or generally preceded by chills or rigors, called the cold stage of the disease. Fevers are of various kinds, but the principal division of fevers is into remitting fevers, which subside or abate at intervals; intermitting fevers, which intermit or entirely cease at intervals; and continued or continual fevers, which neither remit nor intermit.
2. Heat; agitation; excitement by any thing that strongly affects the passions. This news has given me a fever. This quarrel has set my blood in a fever '. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines this word as: '(De 28:22; Mt 8:14; Mr 1:30; Joh 4:52; Ac 28:8), a burning heat, as the word so rendered denotes, which attends all febrile attacks. In all Eastern countries such diseases are very common. Peter's wife's mother is said to have suffered from a "great fever" (Lu 4:38), an instance of Luke's professional exactitude in describing disease. He adopts here the technical medical distinction, as in those times fevers were divided into the "great" and the "less." '.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. exp: Lu 7:10'.

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C4-S55 (Verse 53) Confidence from verified evidence of faith.

Equivalent Section: The nobleman received evidence proving his faith.

So the father knew that it was at the same hour,
in the which Jesus said unto him,
Thy son liveth:

Equivalent Section: The evidence caused others to also have faith.

and himself believed,
and his whole house.

In this sentence we see a reason to verify the details of any confirmation of our true Biblical faith. That evidence will cause others to also receive true Biblical faith. This is why the devil true to cause doubt about any evidence of God working in and through the lives of his people. Satan does not want us to be effective witnesses of God's truth.

Notice that our First Equivalent Section gives us the phrase at the same hour. This is the level of detail that God wants us to verify the facts of our true Biblical faith. Please also notice that our Second Equivalent Section tells us and his whole house (believed). They knew the character of the nobleman and that if he said that he verified that his sun was healed in the same hour as when Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth, then it was exactly as the nobleman said. God uses our reliability and character to add to His work when causing other people to believe God's promises. That is what it means to be a true witness. This is also why we must have a reliable and consistent character before God can use us as His witness. This also means that we can expect God to work more in and through our life as we spiritually mature.

In addition, to what has already been written, Please look at the phrase thy son liveth. The word liveth means 'keeps on keeping on living'. This distinction is why our prior sentence says that the nobleman inquired he of them (the servants) the hour when he (the son) began to amend. The nobleman did not ask about mend but asked about amend because the difference between the definitions of live and liveth gives us the difference between the words mend and amend.

Please see the note for Mark 10:52 about the word whole. The functional definition for this word is: 'All; total; containing the total amount or number, or the entire thing; Complete; entire; not defective or imperfect'.

Please see the note for 2Corinthians 5:1 about the word house. The functional definition is: ' a building or shed intended or used as a habitation or shelter for animals of any kind; but appropriately, a building or edifice for the habitation of man; a dwelling place'. Please also see the note for 1Peter 4:17 about the phrase house of God. Please also see the note for Luke 1:33 about the phrase house of Jacob.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'at the. Ps 33:9; 107:20; Mt 8:8-9,13
and himself. Lu 19:9; Ac 2:39; 16:15,34; 18:8
General references. exp: Lu 7:10'.

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C4-S56 (Verse 54) Importance of this event.

This is again the second miracle that Jesus did,
when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

We need to keep in mind that the author choose only a few, and select, miracles to include in his Gospel. Every one of them were included to cause us to believe. Arguments about the order of things, which we can only determine indirectly, distract people from the main message which God is trying to get across through His chosen author. I am not denying the importance of these details because anyone reading this note should know that I specialize in these details and provide more of them than almost anyone else that the reader might find. At the same time, I encourage the reader to keep in mind that the purpose of details is to support the truth of the main message and that is what the reader should have gotten from all of the notes within this sub-account. Therefore, I urge the reader to follow details in as much as they support Biblical truth and not use them to start arguments which distract from the main message which God is trying to convey.

As already mentioned, both accounts found within this chapter give us details n how to cause others to believe Biblical truth. In the first account we have a procedure for leading a lost person to saving faith. In this second account we see the need to verify the facts of God's work while they are still fresh in our memory so that, at a later time, people can cause us and others to doubt the work of God. In addition, since the author tells us that this is the second miracle that Jesus did, we know that this meets the legal requirement to be used by God when judging people who reject faith in God and God's work. That legal requirement for judgment has far more spiritual significance than any argument about the time sequence of Gospel events or any other argument about things done in this physical reality.

Please see the notes for 1Corinthians C12S28; Matthew 14:16-LJC; Luke 4:41-LJC; Miracles in Gospels; Miracles in NT and miracles in OT about the word miracle. The functional definition for this word is: 'an event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event'.

Please see the note for John 1:43 about the word Galilee. The functional definition is: 'Part of the Promised Land given to Gentiles'.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides Bible references for this sentence as: 'General references. Joh 2:1-11'.

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Interpretive Study of John's Gospel

Jesus is the Son of God

John Chapter 3

True Salvation is Spiritual in Nature

Links to sentences in this chapter:

Chapter 3 Summary:

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides a chapter outline as:

John Chapter 4

True Biblical Salvation Results in a Changed Life

Links to sentences in this chapter:

Chapter 4 Summary:

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge provides a chapter outline as:

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