Every Woman's Bible Journaling Edition, Filament Enabled - Book - Page 22
JOHN 4
1324
but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.* 7 So
don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You* must be born
again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as
you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes
from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how
people are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus
asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jew ish
teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?
11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have
seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.
12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about
earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell
you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone
to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man* has
come down from heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up
the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the
Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who
believes in him will have eternal life.*
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave*
his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent
his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to
save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who
believes in him. But anyone who does not believe
in him has already been judged for not believing
in God’s one and only Son. 19And the judgment is
based on this fact: God’s light came into the world,
but people loved the darkness more than the light,
for their actions were evil. 20All who do evil hate the
light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will
be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to
the light so others can see that they are doing what
God wants.*”
John the Baptist Exalts Jesus
Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and
went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some
time with them there, baptizing people.
22
23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at
Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of
water there; and people kept coming to him for
baptism. 24 (This was before John was thrown into
prison.) 25A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew* over ceremonial cleansing.
26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi,
the man you met on the other side of the Jordan
River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also
baptizing people. And everybody is going to him
instead of coming to us.”
27 John replied, “No one can receive anything
unless God gives it from heaven. 28 You yourselves
know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I
am only here to prepare the way for him.’ 29 It is the
bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and
hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his
success. 30 He must become greater and greater, and
I must become less and less.
31 “He has come from above and is greater than
anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of
earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is
greater than anyone else.* 32 He testifies about what
he has seen and heard, but how few believe what
he tells them! 33Anyone who accepts his testimony
can affirm that God is true. 34 For he is sent by God.
He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit
without limit. 35 The Father loves his Son and has
put everything into his hands. 36And anyone who
believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who
doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal
life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
Jesus* knew the Pharisees had heard that he was
baptizing and making more disciples than John
2 (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar,
4
3:6 Greek what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 3:7 The Greek word for you is plural; also in 3:12. 3:13 Some manuscripts add
who lives in heaven. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. 3:15 Or everyone who believes will have eternal life in
him. 3:16 Or For God loved the world so much that he gave. 3:21 Or can see God at work in what he is doing. 3:25 Some
manuscripts read some Jews. 3:31 Some manuscripts do not include and is greater than anyone else. 4:1 Some manuscripts
read The Lord.
3:29-30 In the Gospels’ wedding metaphor, the bride is often
absent. So who is the bride? Prophets in the Old Testament
described the people of Israel as the bride of the Lord, and
John the Baptist’s illustration echoes this (see Isaiah 62:4-5;
Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 2:16-20). Although marriage represents
Christ’s relationship with the future global church, this idea of
the church as his bride wasn’t fully developed in Jesus’ teachings. In this instance, “the bride” likely referred to Jesus’ disciples
collectively—men and women. John the Baptist clearly understood his role as a friend of the groom, even pointing his own
disciples to Jesus (John 1:35-36). As Christ’s followers, we are part
of his bride, but individually, we are also Christ’s friends who can
rejoice in pointing others to him.
4:1-42 At the well Jacob may have dug while living in Shechem
(Genesis 33:18-20), later Samaria, Jesus described himself to a
Samaritan woman as living water.This interaction is typical of the
way Jesus engaged and confronted people throughout his ministry,
and they either followed or fell away.The Samaritan woman contrasted with Nicodemus at every turn: She was a woman, not a man;
a Samaritan, not a Jew; and a religious outcast, not one of Israel’s
rabbis.While Nicodemus fell silent and didn’t respond to Jesus’ challenges (John 3:1-21), this unnamed woman acknowledged Jesus as
Lord and was instrumental in her village’s reception of him.
