Light had not dawned on Judea as it had in Galilee, where most of the miraculous activity was taking place. There was a certain reluctance on the part of the Judeans and Jerusalemites to understand who Jesus was, a reluctance no doubt greatly enhanced by the Pharisees. Jesus was without the Twelve for some time, first in Galilee and later in Judea. This may explain why the recorded events are few for the next few months, beginning in the fall of 28 AD and up into the winter. We can only guess at what Jesus' activities might have been in this time, but if my opinion counts for anything, I'd say he enjoyed the "teacher's break." But with several men in various places, all operating under the power of the Holy Spirit in extraordinary works, his ministry mushroomed, well beyond the ministry of John. Indeed, the disciples of John the Baptist reported these things to John. So he called two of them and sent them to Jesus to inquire: "Are you the coming One, or are we to expect another?" Apparently, John's imprisonment, while located in a southern environment hostile to Jesus, had put doubts in his heart concerning the one whom he had previously hailed as the 'Lamb of God who takes the sins of the world.'

While He was down south, a certain one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, and entering into the house of the Pharisee, Jesus reclined with him. And, behold, a woman who lived in Bethany and who was a sinner in the city, knowing that he was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, brought a box of alabaster ointment. Standing behind Jesus feet, she wept. Then she began to wet his feet with her tears and to wipe them off with the hairs of her head, and she fervently kissed his feet as she anointed them with the ointment. But when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he thought to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known just who--what sort of a woman--is touching him."

"Simon. I have something to say."

"Say it, teacher."

"A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed him 500 denarii and the other 50. Because neither had the means to repay, both were freely forgiven. Which one, then, will love his creditor more?"

"I suppose the one to whom he more freely forgave."

"Rightly you have judged!" And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, but you gave me no water for my feet, but this woman has wet my feet with her tears and with her hair wiped them off. A kiss you did not give me, but this woman has not stopped kissing my feet fervently from the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with cheap oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with expensive ointment. For this reason, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, because she loved me much.

Those reclining with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?"

And he said to the woman, whose name was Mary, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus to hear him. But the Pharisees and the scribes both greatly complained, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."

So Jesus spoke a parable to them: "Which man among you who has 100 sheep and loses one does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go out after the one which has been lost, until he finds it? And once he finds it, he places it on his shoulders and rejoices. Coming into the house, he calls the neighbors and friends and says, 'Rejoice with me, because I found my lost sheep.' I tell you that there will be this kind of joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents rather than over 99 just men who have no need of repentance. Or what woman having ten drachmae, if she loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek carefully until she finds it? And finding it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, 'Rejoice with me, because I found the lost drachma.' So, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Then he said to them, "A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, grant me the share of the property falling upon me.' So, the father divided the livelihood to the both of them. The younger, after not many days, having gathered all his things, departed to a far country, and there scattered his livelihood property by living recklessly.

"Then having spent all, there came a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in want. Upon leaving, he joined up with a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. So he longed to fill his stomach with the husks which the pigs ate, but no gave him any. Coming to himself, he asked, 'How many hired servants of my father abound with bread, but I am perishing in this famine? I will rise up and go to my father, and will admit to him, "Father, I sinned against Heaven as well as before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son--make me as one of your hired servants."'

"And rising up, he came to his own father. But while he was yet a long ways away, his father saw him and was moved with pity. Running, they came upon his neck and kissed him fervently. And his son said to him, 'Father, I sinned against Heaven as well as before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father called to his servants, 'Quickly, bring out the chief robe and clothe him, and grant a ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet. Then bring the fattened calf; butcher it and let us be joyful eating it. For this son of mine was dead but has been reborn; he was lost but has been found.' So, they began to be joyful.

"But his older son was in a field and, coming in, as he drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. Calling one of the boys, he asked what this might be all about. So, he said to him, 'Your brother has arrived, and your father butchered the fattened calf because he received him back in good health.'

"But he was angry and did not want to enter the house. So his father came out to invite him in. But in reply he complained to the father, 'Look. I served you so many years and never violated an order of yours, but you never gave me a measly goat so that I might be happy with my friends, but when this son of yours had consumed your living, going with harlots, you butchered the fattened calf or him.'

"But his father said to him, 'Child, you are always with me, and all my things are yours. But we must be joyful and glad because this your brother was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has also been found.'"

And Jesus also said to his disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager. This manager was reported to him as wasting his possessions. So, calling him, he said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give a report of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'

"So the manager said to himself, 'What might I do, for my lord is taking away my management job from me. I am unable to dig; I am ashamed to beg. I've figured what I can do so that when I am removed out of management, some might take me into their houses.'

"And calling the debtors of his lord, one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you owe to my lord?'

"'A hundred baths of oil.'

"So he told him, 'Sit down, take your bills, and write fifty instead.'

"Then to another, he asked, 'And you. How much do you owe?'

"'A hundred cors of wheat.'

"'Take your bill and write eighty!'

"Well the lord praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted mindfully. For the sons of this age are more mindful of possessions than the sons of light in their generation. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with illusive wealth so that when it disappears you may be received into eternal tabernacles. The man trustworthy with least is also trustworthy with much, and the man unrighteous with least is also unrighteous with much. If, therefore, you were not trustworthy with illusive wealth, who will entrust to you the true wealth? And if you were not trustworthy with the item belonging to another, who will give you Ours? No household servant can serve two lords; for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will keep to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Now the Pharisees, being moneylovers, heard all these things, and they scoffed at Jesus. So he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For the exulted thing among men is an abomination before God."

When John's men arrived to Jesus they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one, or should we expect another?'"

At that very time, Jesus had been healing many of their diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and to many blind people he gave their sight. So Jesus replied to them, "When you go, report to John all you saw and heard: the blind see again, lame men walk, lepers are being cleansed, deaf men hear, dead men are raised, and poor people are evangelized." And knowing that John's faith in him was being sorely influenced by the Jews of Jerusalem who were offended by Jesus, he added, "Blessed, therefore, is anyone that is not offended by me."

As the messengers of John were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd concerning John: "What did you go forth into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Well then, what did you go forth to see? A man clothed in delicate garments? Behold, the ones in splendid clothing who live in luxury are found in royal palaces! Well then, what did you go forth to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it has been written in Malachi 3:1:

"'Behold, I send My messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

"I tell you, there is no one greater than John among those born of women, but the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God is being preached with force, and forceful men seize it, pressing into it. All the prophets and the Law prophesied until John, but it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one small stroke to drop out of the Law. And if you are willing to receive it, he is the 'Elijah' that would come. The one having ears, let him hear." He said this about John/Elijah while the Twelve were absent, so that later he would need to say it again in their presence.

All the people who heard this, including the tax-collectors, acknowledged God, for they had been baptized with John's baptism, but the Pharisees and the Biblical scholars rejected the advice of God, for they had not been baptized by John. "To what, then, may I liken the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace who call to one another: 'We blew the pipe, but you did not dance; we mourned, but you did not weep.' For John the Baptist has neither come eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man comes eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a man who is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is justified by all her children/works."

As they went, Jesus entered into a certain village of Bethany, and a certain woman by the name of Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who was the one who wiped his feet with her hair, and she also sat beside Jesus' feet with Martha and heard his word. But Martha became distracted with serving him, and coming to him, she asked, "Lord, doesn't it matter to you that my sister has left me to serve alone? So ask her to help me." Martha felt justified because she thought she was doing the right and honorable thing to serve the Lord food.

"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things, but few things are required; from one of two slices. Mary has chosen the good slice, which shall not be taken from her.

And it came to pass as he was praying in a certain place, as he finished, a certain disciple asked him, "Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples."

"Suppose you have a friend that you came to at midnight asking, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, since a friend of mine has arrived to me from a journey, but I have nothing to set before him,' where the one inside may respond, 'Don't cause me any troubles. The door has now been shut, and my children are with me in the bed; I can not get up to give to you at this time.'

"I tell you, if he will not get up and give on account of being his friend, yet on account of the other's persistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs." In other words, what is important to you may not be important to God, but if you keep praying, he will deal with you eventually. But if you would like to be answered much sooner, even immediately, then pray what is important to God.

Then there was the (Dedication/Purim?) feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, in Jerusalem, there is by the Sheep Gate a pool at the northeast corner of the Temple which in Hebrew is called, "Bethzatha," or "Bethesda," which means, "House of Outpouring." It has five porches. In these there lay a multitude of ailing people: the blind, lame, or withered. And there was a certain man there who had an ailment in him for 38 years. Jesus saw this man lying there, and knowing already that he had been like this for a long time, he said to him, "Do you wish to become whole?"

"Sir, I do not have a man to put me in the water when it is agitated. When I come over, another goes in before me."

Jesus commanded him, "Rise, take your mattress and walk." Suddenly, the man became whole, and taking his mattress, he walked.

Now, it was a sabbath on that day. Therefore, the Jews said to the one who was healed, "It is a sabbath; it is unlawful for you to take your mattress about," for the Jews had grossly misinterpreted the commandment which forbade working on the sabbath, so that even the smallest of activities were declared unlawful.

"The one who made me whole--he told me, "Take your mat and walk!"

"Who is the man who told you, 'Take and walk.'"

But the one who was cured did not know who it was, for Jesus withdrew, while there was a crowd in the place. Afterwards, Jesus found him on the Temple grounds and said to him, "Behold! you have become whole; sin no longer, lest something worse happens to you." The man then went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole.

Therefore, the Jews persecuted Jesus because he did these things on the sabbath, if you can believe that! But he responded to them: "My Father works up to the present, and so I work." Because of this, therefore, the Jews sought to kill him all the more, for he not only 'broke the sabbath,' but he was calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal to God.

"Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father doing; whatever things that One does, these also the Son likewise does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all the things which He does, and even greater works than these will He show him, that you might marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and quickens, so also the Son quickens whomever he wills.

"The Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all men may honor the Son as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I tell you, the one who hears my word and puts faith in the One who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but passes over out of death, into life. Truly, truly, I tell you, an hour is coming, and even now has come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and the ones who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He gave the Son to have life in himself. And He gave him authority to judge, because he is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, because an hour will come in which all those in their graves will hear his voice--the ones who had done good things will come forth to a resurrection of life; the ones who had done evil things to a resurrection of judgment.

"I cannot do anything by myself. I judge as I hear; my judgment is therefore just, because I seek not my will but the will of the One who sent me. If I witness concerning myself, my testimony is not true; there is Another witnessing concerning me, and I know that the witness with which He testifies is true. You had sent to John (to inquire concerning me), and he has witnessed to the truth. Though I do not receive a witness from man, I say these things that you might be saved. That man was a burning lamp shining, and you were willing to exult for a time in his light. But I have a greater witness than John; for the works which the Father has given me to perform, and to finish, the very works which I am doing--these testify concerning me that the Father has sent me. And the One who has sent me has testified concerning me. You have neither seen His form nor heard His voice. And you do not have His word remaining in you, for you do not believe the one whom He sent.

"You search the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life through them, while they witness concerning me. But you wish not to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men, but I have known you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in the Name of my Father, and you do not receive me; if another messiah or prophet comes in his own name, that one you will receive. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another while you do not seek glory from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; there is one accusing you already: Moses, in whom you have your hope. For if you truly believed Moses, you would have believed me, for that one wrote concerning me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

After the feast, both his fame and his infamy took deep root in Judea. He had set the wheels in motion for his own death by openly declaring his equality with God.

When he returned to Galilee, the apostles assembled back to Jesus and reported to him all the things that they had done and taught: "Even the demons submit to us in your name."

"I saw Satan fall out of the sky like lightning. Behold, I have given you the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy; nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been registered in Heaven."

At that hour, Jesus exulted in the Holy Spirit: "I praise you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you hid these things from the wise and intelligent ones, but revealed them to 'infants.' Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure before you."

And turning to his disciples, to strengthen their resolve for taking his mission upon their shoulders, he said, "All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone fully know the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son, if he wills, reveals Him. Come unto me all who labor and who have been burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yolk upon you and learn from me, because I am meek and lowly, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yolk is gentle, and my burden is light."

And, behold, a certain Biblical scholar, who considered himself one of the "wise and intelligent ones" which Jesus had just discredited, stood up to test Jesus: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What has been written in the Law? How do you read it?"

And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

"You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live."

But wishing to justify himself for the fact that he asked the question in the first place, and perhaps to discredit / embarrass Jesus yet, he asked, "And who is my neighbor?"

Taking him up, Jesus responded, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell in with robbers who both stripped him and beat him. And leaving they left him half dead. And by a coincidence, a certain Jewish priest was going down that way, but seeing him, he passed by on the opposite side of the road. Likewise, a Jewish Levite came to the place and also passed opposite him. And a certain non-Jewish Samaritan came upon him as he journeyed. He was filled with pity upon seeing him, and approached him, poured on oil and wine as disinfectant, and bound up his wounds. And placing him upon his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and cared for him . The next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, "You take care of him; whatever you spend in addition, I will repay you when I return."

"Which of these three, does it seem to you, became the neighbor of the one who fell in among robbers?"

"The one performing mercy for him."

"Go and do likewise."

During the birthday festivities of Herod, a banquet was given for his officials, military commanders, and the rulers of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias entered and danced, she pleased Herod and those reclining with him. So the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you wish, and I'll give it to you." And he swore to her, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."

"What should I ask for?" she inquired of her mother when she had gone out.

"The head of John; the one who baptizes!"

The daughter hurried back and entered immediately upon the king, demanding: "I wish that you would give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a dish." Becoming deeply grieved because of his oath, and because of the others reclining who heard it, the king did not want to refuse her. The king immediately gave an executioner the order to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head back on a dish and gave it to the girl, who then brought it to her mother.

When John's disciples heard about this, they went and took the corpse, put it in a tomb, and then they went and reported it to Jesus.

King Herod soon heard about Jesus because his name had been popularized in Judea, and because some were saying, "John who baptized has been raised from the dead, and that's why powerful deeds are being performed in him (Jesus)." But others said he is Elijah, while still others claimed he was a prophet in line with the other prophets.

Herod thought, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised!"

Hearing what had happened to John, Jesus said to his Twelve, "Come with me by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile." For there were many coming and many going, so that there was no opportunity to as much as eat. And they went away by themselves in the boat to a deserted place. Many saw them leaving and knew where they were going. From all the lakeside cities they went on foot and arrived before them. Arriving, Jesus saw a great crowd and said: "Get the whole lot of bloodsuckers out of here so I can mourn for John in peace!" No, he did not say that. Rather...he saw a great crowd and had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things from the mountain. And the feast of the Jews, the Passover, was near, meaning that it was early springtime in 29 AD, when grass was beginning to flourish once again, but while the nights were still quite cool.

As a late hour approached, the disciples approached Jesus: "This place is a desert and the hour is now late; dismiss the people so that they can go away to the nearby farms and villages to lodge and buy for themselves that which they may eat."

But Jesus toyed with the disciples, leaving it up to them to tackle the problem, since, after all, they had shared their own solution. He said to Philip, "Where can we buy loaves of bread so that these can all eat?" (He had said this to test him, for he knew what he was about to do.)

Philip replied, "Loaves worth 200 denarii would not be enough for them so that each one could take a little bite."

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, takes up the case: "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they among so many people?"

Jesus called for all units to lie down in their units on the green grass, for there was plenty of grass in that place. The groups laid down; in groups of 100 and of 50. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he blessed them looking Heaven-ward, and broke the loaves, giving them to the disciples that they might serve the people. And he also divided the two fish. When they were filled, Jesus instructed his disciples, "Gather the left-over fragments so nothing is wasted." They gathered, therefore, and filled 12 baskets with pieces that were once the 5 loaves. Of those who ate the loaves, there were 5,000 men, not including women and children.

The people who saw the miracle that Jesus worked confessed, "This is truly the prophet which is to come into the world." Jesus, knowing that they were about to come and seize him in order to make him king, strongly urged his disciples to climb into a boat without hesitation, and to go to the other side, to Bethsaida/Capernaum, while he dismissed the crowd. Then, having bid the people farewell, he departed back up the mountain to be alone, to pray.

As evening was coming on, the boat was in the midst of the sea. Darkness arrived, and still Jesus had not come to them in his own boat. Then the sea was roused because a strong wind was blowing. Having rowed about 3 or 4 miles away from the land, the boat was caught under stress in the waves because the wind was against it. Now in the fourth watch of the night, between 3 and 6 am, Jesus came toward them, walking on the sea. And the disciples were troubled when they saw him walking in the sea, and thinking he was a phantom, they cried out.

"Be of good cheer. It is I; do not fear."

"Lord, if it's you," an excited Peter cried out, "command me to come to you on the waters." Peter was able to undertake this special task because he, and some others, had not long ago returned from a miracle-working tour of the villages, which had increased their faith sharply.

"Come."

And climbing down the ship, Peter went towards Jesus walking on the water, while the eyes of everyone else were fastened unbelievingly. Peter then dwelt on the wind and became scared. I suppose, with his feet starting to dip well below the water line, and the waves high, the suspense was killing. He cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Just then Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him: "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

While they went up to the others in the boat, the wind ceased. Those in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God!"

The boat arrived just then to the land in which they were going, to Gennesaret, 4 miles south-west of Capernaum, and they anchored there. And as soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus and ran about the whole countryside and began bringing the sick...Poor, tired, Jesus.

The next morning, a crowd situated on the other side of the sea saw the one boat on the shore but that the other boat was not there, and they knew that Jesus had not gone in the boat with his disciples the night before, but that the disciples had gone on alone. Other boats from Tiberius arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread for which the Lord had given thanks. When, therefore, the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor the disciples were there, they embarked into these boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. They wished for him to rise up against the Romans and to become king of a renewed Israel, in fulfillment of the Scriptures. They did not realize that their sin problem would need to be dealt with first, however. And finding him across the sea, they asked, slightly offended because he had slipped away unnoticed the night before, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus was concerned about one thing at the moment: to turn their eyes from earthly things to himself. Steering the conversation in the desired direction, therefore, by using the miracle as a springboard, he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw miracles, but because you ate of the loaves and were satisfied. Work not for food that perishes, but for food that remains throughout eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For this one, God the Father has sealed."

"What can we do in order to perform the works of God?"

"This is the work of God: that you commit yourself to him whom He has sent."

Then a heckler who was not with him to witness the miracle of the loaves pushed the conversation back: "What miracle will you do that we may trust you? What sign will you work? Our fathers ate manna in the desert, as it has been written: 'Bread out of Heaven he gave them to eat.'"

Jesus, steering the focus back onto himself, proclaimed, "Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who has given you the bread from Heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from Heaven and gives the world life."

Meek and mild came the response, though they did not understand a word of what he just said: "Lord, give us always this bread."

Jesus had to expound: "I am the Bread of Life."

Then, aiming his sharp, double-edged sword towards the sincere and insincere alike, he dug in: "The one coming to me will by no means hunger, and the one coming to me will not by any means ever thirst. But I told you that you have both seen me, and that you do not believe. All which the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out because I have come down from Heaven not to do my will, but the will of the One who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose of that which He has given me, but that I should raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone beholding the Son and trusting in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

Some of the Jews murmured concerning him because he said he was the bread which has come down from Heaven. "Is this man not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it he now says, 'Out of Heaven I have come down?'"

"Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father which sent me should draw him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets:

'And they shall all be taught by God.'

"Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me. No one has seen the Father, except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever commits has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and died; but this is the bread from Heaven which comes down, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which comes down from Heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live unto the age. And, indeed, the bread which I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world. "

The Jews fought, therefore, with one another, asking: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

"Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father, likewise, the one who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which has come down out of Heaven, not like that which the (fore)fathers ate and died. The one eating this bread will live to eternity."

These things he spoke while teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum. Thus, with such strong and calculated words Jesus filtered out those who were insincere, whom the Father had not drawn. Many of his disciples, therefore, upon hearing all this, decided that, "This is a hard teaching; who can take it?"

"Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was at first. The Spirit is that which quickens, the flesh does not profit a thing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some among you who do not believe." (Jesus knew from the beginning who those were that would not believe, and who would betray him.) "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it has been given to him by the Father," meaning that God draws to Jesus only those whom He knows will accept Him for the right motives. And then, not all who are permitted to taste Jesus in this way will remain faithful to the end; some will betray him.

From this time many of his disciples went away and no longer walked with him. "Don't you also wish to go?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

"Lord," Simon Peter lamented, "to whom shall we go away? You have the words of eternal life; we have trusted and understood that you are the holy One of God."

And checking them, he said, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil."

Jesus had spoken about the eating of bread and drinking of blood just days before the Passover. There is no record of his activities in Jerusalem during this Passover, one year prior to his death. We do know, however, that after these things, wherein he filtered out some disciples, thus violating the policies of modern mega-churches, Jesus walked about in Galilee because he did not wish to walk in Judea, for the Jews were seeking to kill him. So he dug a small pit and placed a camouflaged lid over top of it, and hid night and day inside it.

No. He did not do that.

In whatever Galilean village, city or countryside he entered, the people put their sick in the marketplaces, or they sought him out so that they might just touch the edge of his garments; as many as touched him were healed. And Pharisees, along with some of the scribes, who both considered it sacrilegious to be near the "cursed" and "dirty" poor and sick, assembled themselves before him, having come from Jerusalem. When they saw some of the disciples eating bread with "unclean" hands--that is, unwashed--they questioned him. (The Pharisees and all their Jewish followers do not eat unless they wash their hands with the fist, as they hold on to the tradition of the elders. Nor do they eat upon returning from marketplaces unless they sprinkle, and there are many other things which were passed down for them to hold on to--washing of cups, utensils and bronze vessels, etc.) "Why don't your disciples walk according to the traditions of the elders," they inquired, "but instead they eat bread with unclean hands?"

"Isaiah prophesied well concerning you hypocrites. As it has been written in Isaiah 29:13:

"'This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching instructions which are the commands of men.'

"Abandoning the commandments of God, you hold on to the traditions of men. You have a fine way of setting aside the commandments of God, that you may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother," and, "Let death be the end of anyone who speaks evil of his father or mother.' But you say, 'A man may say to his father or mother: "Whatever you might profit by me is Korban (a freewill gift)," then you no longer obligate him to do anything for the father or the mother, thus annulling the word of God by the traditions which you have received, and you do many similar things like that.

"Hear me everyone," he said as he called out to the crowd, "and understand! There is nothing outside of a man which enters in to defile him, but it's the things which come forth out of a man which defile him."

After he left the crowd and entered a house, his disciples questioned him. "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard your saying?"

"Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Leave them. They are blind guides of the blind: if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch."

Peter then asked, "Explain to us the parable?"

"Are you as undiscerning as they are," Jesus asked them? "Do you not understand that everything that enters a mouth goes into the stomach and then goes out the drain, thus purging all the foods? But the things coming forth out of the mouth come out of the heart, and those defile a man. For out of the hearts of men, evil thoughts comes forth: fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, iniquities, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, arrogance, and foolishness: all of these evil things come forth from within to defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

Now, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, at summer's end. Therefore, Jesus' brothers, seeing he was avoiding Jerusalem, mockingly said to him, "Leave here and go into Judea, so that your disciples there can also see the works that you do. No one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be popular. If you do these things, show yourself to the world." (His own brothers did not believe in him.)

"My time has not yet come, but your time is always at hand. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify to it that its works are evil." And quite hurt, Jesus concluded, "You go up to the feast; I am not going up to this feast, because my time has not yet been fulfilled." And upon saying these things, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers went up to the feast, he also went up; not openly, but in secret.

The Jews looked for him at the feast and asked, "Where is that man?" And there was much complaining about him among the crowds. Some said, "He is a good man." But others complained, "No, but he deceives the crowd." However, no one spoke about him publicly, including the apostles, for fear of the Jews.

Now, Jesus went up to the Temple and taught when the 8-day feast was at its midpoint. The Jews marveled, therefore, asking, "How does this man know how to speak without having learned?"

Very bad feelings were in the air, but Jesus confronted them, explaining how he received his learning: "My teaching is not mine, but of the One who sent me. If anyone wishes to do His will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak on my own. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but the one seeking the glory of the One who sent him, this man is true and does not have unrighteousness in him. Did not Moses give you the Law, and not one of you obeys it? Why do you seek to kill me?"

"You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?" a voice shot out from the crowd.

Possibly referring to the man Jesus healed at the Pool of Bethesda on a previous visit to the Temple, the Lord replied, "I did one work and you all marvel. Because Moses gave you circumcision--not that it was of Moses but of the forefathers--you circumcise a man on the sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on a sabbath so that the Law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made an entire man healthy on a sabbath? Do not judge according to face-value, but judge with righteous discernment."

His words did not reach into the hardened hearts of some of the Jerusalemites who, while trying to incite his arrest, said, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? And, look, he speaks openly while nothing is said to him." And with sarcasm they stirred those who were opposed to him: "Maybe the rulers have known all along that this is the Messiah?" Then, in an effort to convince the undecided that this was not the Messiah: "We know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from."

An irritated Jesus, therefore, cried out in the temple, teaching: "You know both who I am and where I am from; I have not come on my own authority, but He who sent me is true, whom you do not know. I know him because I am from him, and because that One sent me."

They sought, therefore, to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. But many in the crowd believed in him, and argued, "Will the Christ perform more miracles than this man when he comes?"

The Pharisees heard the crowd grumbling these things about Jesus. So they sent the chief priests and the Pharisee's men, that they might arrest him.

Meanwhile, Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I'll go to the One who sent me. You will seek me, but will not find. Where I am going, you cannot come."

The Jews thought to themselves, therefore, "Where is this man about to go, that we will not find him? He's not going to the Dispersion of Jews among the Greeks, is he, to teach the Greeks? What is this word that he is saying, 'You will seek me but will not find,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?"

Now, on the last and greatest day (8th day, 22nd of Tishri--in October) of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried out: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. The one who trusts in me, as the Scriptures have said, rivers of living water flow from his belly." (He said this about the Spirit whom those who trusted in him were about to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given, as Jesus had not yet been glorified.)

Some of the crowd who heard these words confessed, "This man is truly the Prophet." Others confessed, "This man is the Christ." But others argued, "The Christ does not come out of Galilee. Does not the Scripture say that he will be of the seed of David, and that the Christ comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was from?" A division, therefore, grew up in the crowd on account of him; some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The men who came to arrest him, therefore, because the crowd was divided and threatening, and perhaps because they started to believe in Jesus, came empty-handed to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not bring him?"

"Never has a man so spoken, as this man speaks."

"You haven't also been deceived, have you?" the Pharisees blasted. "Has any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees? But this crowd which doesn't know the Law is accursed."

Nicodemus, the one who came to Jesus in the beginning, and who was one of them (Pharisees), spoke to them and put out their fire: "Does our law judge a man before it first hears from him and finds out what he is doing?"

"You're not also from Galilee, are you? Search into it and see that a prophet is not raised up out of Galilee."

Each one went to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, a short walk east of the Temple. At dawn he appeared again in the Temple, and all the people came to him, and sitting down, he taught them. And his enemies spent the night deliberating how to arrest him the next day, and so they came up as best they could, with a most unusual method. That is, the scribes and Pharisees had caught a woman in the act of adultery, and standing her in the midst of Jesus with the crowd all around, they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of committing adultery. Now, in the Law, Moses enjoined us to stone such a woman; what do you say, therefore?" They said this to test him, that they might have cause to accuse him.

Jesus stooped down and wrote with his finger in the soil. But as they kept asking him, he stood erect and said, "The one among you who is sinless, let him be first to throw a stone on her." And he again stooped down and wrote in the soil. Cool.

Upon hearing this, they went out, one by one, beginning with the older ones, until he was left alone, with the woman in the midst of the Temple court. And standing erect, Jesus asked, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir."

"Neither do I condemn you." But making sure she understood the seriousness of her crime, he added, "Go, and from now on sin no longer."

Then Jesus spoke again to the people: "I am the light of the world; the one following me will by no means walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The Pharisees, therefore, countered, "Since you testify on you own, your testimony is not valid."

"Even if I testify on my own behalf, true is my testimony, because I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I don't judge anyone. But even if I judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone; I am with the One who sent me. And even in your Law, it has been written that the witness of two men is deemed true. I am one who testifies concerning myself, and the Father who sent me testifies concerning me."

"Where is your father?" the Pharisees mocked.

"You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would also have known my Father." These words he spoke in the treasury, while teaching in the Temple.

"I am going, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I am going, you cannot come."

The mood now being critical, his enemies quipped, "He won't kill himself, will He, since he says, 'Where I am going you cannot come?'"

"You are of the things below," Jesus fired back. "I am of the things above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I said to you, therefore, that you will die in your sins, for if you don't believe that I am the Messiah, you will die in your sins."

"Who are you?"

Poor, tired Jesus: "Indeed, why do I speak to you at all? I have many things to speak about you and to judge, but the One who sent me is true, and I speak in the world what I heard from Him." They did not know that he spoke of the Father God. "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the Messiah, and that I do nothing on my own, but speak these things only as the Father has taught me. The One who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."

While he said these things, many believed. So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed him: "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will free you."

"We are the seed of Abraham," his enemies contested, "and we have never been enslaved to anyone, so how can you say that you will become free?"

"Truly, truly, I tell you, that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house unto eternity. The son remains unto eternity. If, therefore, the Son frees you, you will be truly free. I know you are of the seed of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no room in you. I speak what I have seen with the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."

"Our father is Abraham!"

"If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham, but you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you which I heard from God: this, Abraham did not do. You do the works of your father."

Seeing that Jesus was divorcing them from God, they protested, "We were not illegitimately born. We have one father: God!"

"If God were your father, you would have loved me, for I issued forth from the Father and have come; I have not come for myself, but that One sent me. Why do you not understand my words? Because you cannot hear my word? You are of your father, the devil; you wish to carry out the desires of your father. That one was a murderer from the beginning; he did not stand for truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks naturally because he is a liar and the father of lies. But I, because I tell the truth, you do not believe. Who among you can rebuke me concerning sin? So if it's the truth I speak, why don't you believe me? The one who belongs to God hears the words of God; therefore, you do not hear because you are not of God."

They come back with tit for tat: "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and that you have a demon?"

"I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, while you dishonor me. I seek not my glory, but rather there is One who seeks it and who does the judging. Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will by no means see death unto eternity."

"Now we really know you have a demon," they hammered. "Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will by no means taste death unto eternity.' You are not greater than our father, Abraham, who died, are you? And the prophets also died; just who do you make yourself out to be?"

"If I glorify myself, that glory of mine is nothing; it's the Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' But you have not known Him, but I know Him. If I say that I don't know Him, I will even be like you, a liar. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. Abraham your father was glad that he should see my day; he saw it and rejoiced."

"You do not as yet have fifty years, and you have seen Abraham?"

"Truly, truly, I tell you, before Abraham was born, I Am!"

Having called himself by the "I Am" name of God in the Hebrew Scriptures, they, therefore, picked up stones in order to throw them at him, but Jesus was concealed in the crowd, and went forth out of the Temple.

Whether it was that same day or another one, John does not indicate, but passing along, Jesus saw a man born blind. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?"

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," replied Jesus, "but this is so that the works of God might be revealed through him." Jesus realized God had set this situation up for this particular time, to shame his enemies and to strengthen the believers, especially since time was running out: "We must perform the works of the One who sent me while it is day; the night comes when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Upon saying this, Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with the spittle, and then put the clay on the man's eyes. Then he told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam (which means "having been sent"). So the man went and washed, and he returned seeing. Therefore, his neighbors and those who formerly knew him to be a beggar said, "Is this not the man who sat and begged?"

"That's him," some replied. Others said, "No, but he just looks like him."

But the man himself cried, "I am the one!"

"How, then, were your eyes opened."

The man poured out his words and explained: "The man called 'Jesus' made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, "Go to Siloam and wash." So when I went and washed, I could see."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know."

They (under the influence of the Holy Spirit?) led the man who had once been blind to the Pharisees. Now the day upon which Jesus made the clay and opened the man's eyes was a sabbath. The Pharisees also asked him how it was that he could see." He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I saw."

"This man is not from God because he does not keep the sabbath," came the stupid, weak charge.

"How can a sinful man do such miracles?" asked those listening on, who were obviously much wiser than the Pharisees. And there was a division among them. Therefore, because the spiritually blind were not happy with this conclusion, they asked the blind man, "What do you say, since it was your eyes he opened?"

"He is a prophet!" came the unwanted reply.

The Jews could not believe that he was once blind, but could now see, until they called his parents. "Is this your son, whom you claim was born blind? How is it that he now sees?"

"We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don't know how he now sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, for he is old enough, and will speak for himself," the parents cowered, because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should acknowledge him to be the Christ, they would be put out of the synagogue. This is why the parents said, "He is old enough; question him."

Therefore, for the second time they called the man who was blind. Hoping to get a different response this time, they came across as a friend and tried to get him on side with hype: "Give glory to God, we know that this man Jesus is sinful."

"If he is sinful, I do not know it; one thing I do know, that I was blind but now I see."

"What did he do? How did he open your eyes?"

Frustrated now: "I told you already and you didn't listen." And mocking their foolishness, he continued, "Why do you want to hear it again? Is it because you want to become one of his disciples?"

They reviled him: "You're a disciple of that man? We are the disciples of Moses; we know God spoke through Moses. But we do not know where this man is from."

"In this claim there is then one amazing thing," the man began to preach, "that you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinful men, but if anyone is God-fearing while doing His will, that's the man He hears. From the beginning of the ages, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind; if this man were not from God, he could not do anything." And in this way, he spoke wise words that the Pharisees were not able to muster at any time during the ministry of Jesus. Indeed, one can easily see the Holy Spirit motivating the words.

And in trying to saving face, the Pharisees roared: "In downright sin were you born, and yet you are teaching us?" And they threw him out.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him outside, and upon finding him, he asked, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

"And who is he, Lord, that I might believe in him?"

"You have seen him, and furthermore it is the one speaking with you."

"I believe, Lord," the man said, worshipping Jesus.

"For judgment I have come into the world, that the ones who don't see may see and the ones who can see may become blind," Jesus said.

Some of the Pharisees heard these things as Jesus was with him, and they asked maliciously, "Don't tell us we are blind too?"

But Jesus answered, "If you were blind, you would not possess sin. But as you now confess, 'We see,' your sin remains.

Truly, truly, I tell you, that the one who does not enter the sheep pen through its gate, but who goes up some other way, that one is a thief and a robber," he said, implicating the Pharisees. "But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The (G)atekeeper opens up for this one, and the sheep hear his voice; he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he takes out his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they will by no means follow, but they will flee from him because they do not know a stranger's voice." Jesus told them this allegory, but those men did not understand the things which he spoke to them about.

So he expounded: "Truly, truly, I tell you that I am the gate for the sheep. All messiahs who came prior to me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate, if anyone enters through me, he will be saved and he will go in, and he will go out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and that they may have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and flees--and the wolf seizes them and scatters them--since he is only the hired hand, and the sheep do not matter to him. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I furthermore lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep (Gentiles) which are not of this Jewish fold; they too I must bring, and they will hear my voice, so that there will be one flock with one shepherd.

"The Father loves me, therefore, because I lay down my life, and yet I may take it up. No one," he said, indicating the Pharisees especially, "takes it from me, but I lay it down by my own will. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back up: I have received my Father's word on it."

A division arose among the Jews again on account of these words. Many of them accused: "He has a demon and raves on! Why listen to him?" Others confessed, "These are not the words of one who's demon-possessed; a demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?"

Then there was the Dedication in Jerusalem (Hanukkah) two months later; it was winter. And Jesus walked into the Temple to Solomon's Colonnade. So the Jews, who for the two months gave his teachings above some solid thought, surrounded him and asked, "How long will you hold our lives in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly?"

"I did tell you, but you did not believe. The works which I do in my Father's name, these witness concerning me, but you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and by no means will they perish for eternity. No one will seize them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can seize out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

Once more the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus asked, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which work are you stoning me?"

"We are not stoning you on account of any good work, but on account of your blasphemy, because you, a mere man, make yourself out to be God."

"Has it not been written in your own Law:

'I said, "You are gods."'

"If He called those for whom the word of God existed, 'gods'-- and Scripture cannot be broken--why do you say, 'You blaspheme!' concerning the one whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, just because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do, then, even if you don't believe me personally, believe the works, that you may know, and continue to know, that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father."

They sought to arrest him again, but he went forth from their hands.

Jesus went away again across the Jordan, to the place near the Dead Sea where John was baptizing in the beginning (i.e. not near Ainon further north), and there he stayed. Many came out to him, and they confessed, "John certainly did not perform miracles, but all the things he said about this man was true." And many believed in Jesus there.

Now, there was a certain sick man, Lazarus from Bethany near Jerusalem, the village of Mary and Martha her sister. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and then wiped his feet off with her hairs, whose brother now lay ill. The sisters, therefore, sent for Jesus with a message: "Lord, behold! The one you love is sick."

Upon hearing this from the messengers, Jesus said, "This sickness is not to the death, but for the glory of God, that the Son may be glorified through it."

Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. However, when he heard that he was ill, he remained in the place where he was for two more days. Afterwards, he said to his disciples, "Let's go into Judea again."

"Rabbi, just now the Jews were seeking to stone you, and again you want to go there?"

"Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. Lazarus, our friend, has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him up."

"If he has fallen asleep, Lord, he will be well."

But Jesus had spoken about his death, but those men thought he had been referring to the sleep of slumber. Therefore, Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus died. And I rejoice for you that I was not there, that you may believe. But let us go to him."

Thomas, called "Twin" by his fellow disciples, said, therefore, "Let's go too so that we may die with him." Jesus might have smiled here while shaking his head at Thomas.

Arriving, Jesus found that he had been in the tomb for four days already. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away, so that many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, that they might comfort them concerning their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, while Mary sat in the house. Not happy that Jesus did not come sooner, Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you were here, my brother would not have died..." and she prompted him for a miracle: "...and I know that whatever things you ask God, God will give you."

"Your brother will rise," Jesus assured.

"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last days," she choked, finding it hard to believe that Jesus could raise him after four days.

"I am the Resurrection and the Life! The one who trusts in me, even if he should die, will live. And everyone trusting in me who then lives after death will never die by any means for all eternity. Do you believe this?"

Not answering the question, perhaps because she thought Jesus was merely trying to comfort her with his "kind words," she said, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." Saying this, she went away into the house and called Mary her sister privately: "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."

When she heard that, she rose up quickly and went to him. Now, Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was yet outside where Martha had met him. The Jews in the house consoling Mary, therefore, who saw her rise and leave quickly, followed her, thinking, "She's going to the tomb to weep there." When Mary arrived to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet. And revealing how she too suffered deeply because Jesus failed to arrive in time to heal her brother, she lamented, Lord, if you were here, my brother would not have died."

When he saw her weeping, and the Jews coming after her weeping, he groaned in his spirit and was troubled. "Where have you put him?"

"Lord, come and see."

Jesus shed tears.

"See how he loved him, " the Jews said. But some angrier ones who were vocal came right out with it and asked, "Could not this man, who just opened the eyes of the blind man, keep this man from dying?"

Jesus, groaning in himself again, arrived to the tomb. Now, it was a cave, and a stone was lying on it's entrance. "Lift up the stone!"

His sister Martha warned Jesus: "Lord, he smells by now; for its the fourth day."

"Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" They lifted, the stone, therefore. And lifting his eyes upwards, he said, "Father! I thank you that you did hear me. And I knew that you always do hear me. But I am saying this because of the crowd standing round, that they may believe that you did send me. And saying these things, he cried out with a great voice:

"LAZARUS. COME OUT!"

The one who died, whose feet and hands had been bound with bandages, and whose face was bound round with a napkin, came out. Who can speak of the feelings that swept over the crowd then, for the people of Judea had not yet seen anyone raised to life. Jesus said to them, "Loosen him and let him go."

Many who saw what he did believed in him, but some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus performed. The chief priests assembled a council meeting, therefore, and muttered among themselves, feeling defeated: "What are we going to do with this man who performs miracles? If we leave him to do so, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take both our place and our nation.

But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, the high priest that year who had the most to lose, spoke up when he heard them entertaining the option of leaving Jesus alone: "You know nothing at all, nor reckon that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not the whole nation perish." But he did not say this from himself, but being the high priest that year, he "prophesied" that Jesus was about to die for the nation, but not for the nation only, but also to gather into one flock the scattered children of God from all nations. From that day, therefore, they took council in order to kill Jesus.

The final Passover was yet more than three months away. Jesus returned to Galilee with his disciples to spend much of this time concluding his ministry there. And he visited many places north of Galilee as well, confusing the Pharisees all the while, who thought he was going to flee to the place where they "could not go" to, among the Greeks.