Good morning. After these things
there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. It does not say
which one, but it must’ve been one of the major ones that expects all males to
go up to Jerusalem. The beginning of the next chapter has the Passover at hand;
so unless John skipped a whole year, this was not the Passover. There is in
Jerusalem a pool, which is called Bethesda. Because he said “is” and not “was”,
some argue that the gospel of John was written before the destruction of the
temple in 70 A.D. However, John likes to use what is known in the Greek as the
historical present. He uses the present tense instead of the past tense to
describe an event - to draw you into the scene. It’s like someone telling a
joke and saying, a man goes into a bar and… instead of a man went into a bar
and…. You feel like you’re right there in the bar. So this very well could have
been why John used the present instead of the past tense. There was a multitude
of people around the pool waiting for the moving of the waters. Whoever stepped
in first was healed. There was a man who had been ill for 38 years at the pool
waiting for the stirring of the waters. I can’t even begin to imagine what that
was like. There is no way that you would have any hope left, as is evident by
the discussion that follows. Do you wish to get well? Are you serious, dude? I
am here, aren’t I? I don’t have anyone to help me, so everyone beats me into
the water. Get up, pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately the man became
well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Some people say that a person
was not healed because he did not have any faith. It is obvious that this man
had no faith at all. He had a little bit of hope, but it was more like someone
hoping to win the lottery. He must’ve felt something, otherwise he would not
have gotten up and started to walk. Now it was the Sabbath that day. We’ll see
next time the problems that causes. Father, help the reader to have a safe,
happy time with his/her family.
So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed
Good morning. We left John at the entrance of the tomb, stooping and looking in. “Shy” Peter then arrives following John, and enters the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. So the other disciple, John, who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. It does not say whether or not Peter believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. I’m not exactly sure what it means by their own homes. They were originally from Galilee and would not have had homes in Jerusalem. Perhaps it means the homes where they were staying while in Jerusalem. Apparently, they were not staying in the upper room, or it would have said so. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped (just like John) and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been l...
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