Study Desk

A man named Joseph was there from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a good man, who lived the way God wanted. He was waiting for God's kingdom to come. Joseph was a member of the Jewish council. But he did not agree when the other Jewish leaders decided to kill Jesus.

He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

The women were very afraid. They bowed down with their faces to the ground. The men said to them, "Why are you looking for a living person here? This is a place for dead people.

In him there was life, and that life was a light for the people of the world.

John told them the words of the prophet Isaiah: "I am the voice of someone shouting in the desert: ‘Make a straight road ready for the Lord.'"

Then John said this for everyone to hear: "I also did not know who the Messiah was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man. He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen this happen. I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on this man. So this is what I tell people: ‘He is the Son of God.'"

Jesus answered, "Dear woman, why are you telling me this? It is not yet time for me to begin my work."

It was almost time for the Jewish Passover, so Jesus went to Jerusalem.

Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, "Take these things out of here! Don't make my Father's house a place for buying and selling!"

Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Many people believed in him because they saw the miraculous signs he did.

You yourselves heard me say, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only the one God sent to prepare the way for him.'

(But really, Jesus himself did not baptize anyone; his followers baptized people for him.)

The woman answered, "I am surprised that you ask me for a drink! You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman!" (Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered, "You don't know what God can give you. And you don't know who I am, the one who asked you for a drink. If you knew, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water."

When you plant, you always say, ‘Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.' But I tell you, open your eyes, and look at the fields. They are ready for harvesting now.

Even now, the people who harvest the crop are being paid. They are gathering crops for eternal life. So now the people who plant can be happy together with those who harvest.

I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work for. Others did the work, and you get the profit from their work."

Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish festival.

One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years.

Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So he asked him, "Do you want to be well?"