53Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. 55For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. 56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”
59Jesus said this as he taught in the synagogue in Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60Many of his followers heard this and said, “This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it?”
61Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, “Does this make you want to give up? 62Suppose, then, that you should see the Son of Man go back up to the place where he was before? 63 What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit.64Yet some of you do not believe.” (Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him.) 65And he added, “This is the very reason I told you that no people can come to me unless the Father makes it possible for them to do so.”
66Because of this, many of Jesus' followers turned back and would not go with him any more. 67So he asked the twelve disciples, “And you—would you also like to leave?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69And now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God.”
70Jesus replied, “I chose the twelve of you, didn't I? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71He was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For Judas, even though he was one of the twelve disciples, was going to betray him.
Jesus and His Brothers
1After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee; he did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish authorities there were wanting to kill him. 2 The time for the Festival of Shelters was near, 3so Jesus' brothers said to him, “Leave this place and go to Judea, so that your followers will see the things that you are doing.4People don't hide what they are doing if they want to be well known. Since you are doing these things, let the whole world know about you!” ( 5Not even his brothers believed in him.)
6Jesus said to them, “The right time for me has not yet come. Any time is right for you. 7The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I keep telling it that its ways are bad.8You go on to the festival. I am not going to this festival, because the right time has not come for me.” 9He said this and then stayed on in Galilee.
Jesus at the Festival of Shelters
10After his brothers had gone to the festival, Jesus also went; however, he did not go openly, but secretly. 11The Jewish authorities were looking for him at the festival. “Where is he?” they asked.
12There was much whispering about him in the crowd. “He is a good man,” some people said. “No,” others said, “he fools the people.” 13But no one talked about him openly, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities.
14The festival was nearly half over when Jesus went to the Temple and began teaching. 15The Jewish authorities were greatly surprised and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never been to school?”
16Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. 17Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. 18Those who speak on their own authority are trying to gain glory for themselves. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him. 19Moses gave you the Law, didn't he? But not one of you obeys the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20“You have a demon in you!” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21Jesus answered, “I performed one miracle, and you were all surprised. 22 Moses ordered you to circumcise your sons (although it was not Moses but your ancestors who started it), and so you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 If a boy is circumcised on the Sabbath so that Moses' Law is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24Stop judging by external standards, and judge by true standards.”
Is He the Messiah?
25Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Isn't this the man the authorities are trying to kill? 26Look! He is talking in public, and they say nothing against him! Can it be that they really know that he is the Messiah? 27But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. And we all know where this man comes from.”
28As Jesus taught in the Temple, he said in a loud voice, “Do you really know me and know where I am from? I have not come on my own authority. He who sent me, however, is truthful. You do not know him, 29but I know him, because I come from him and he sent me.”
30Then they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31But many in the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more miracles than this man has?”
Guards Are Sent to Arrest Jesus
32The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, so they and the chief priests sent some guards to arrest him. 33Jesus said, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I shall go away to him who sent me. 34You will look for me, but you will not find me, because you cannot go where I will be.”
35The Jewish authorities said among themselves, “Where is he about to go so that we shall not find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live, and teach the Greeks?36He says that we will look for him but will not find him, and that we cannot go where he will be. What does he mean?”
Streams of Life-Giving Water
37 On the last and most important day of the festival Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “Whoever is thirsty should come to me, and 38 whoever believes in me should drink. As the scripture says, ‘Streams of life-giving water will pour out from his side.’” 39Jesus said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were going to receive. At that time the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not been raised to glory.
Division among the People
40Some of the people in the crowd heard him say this and said, “This man is really the Prophet!”
41Others said, “He is the Messiah!”
But others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee!42 The scripture says that the Messiah will be a descendant of King David and will be born in Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” 43So there was a division in the crowd because of Jesus. 44Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
The Unbelief of the Jewish Authorities
45When the guards went back, the chief priests and Pharisees asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”
46The guards answered, “Nobody has ever talked the way this man does!”
47“Did he fool you, too?” the Pharisees asked them.48“Have you ever known one of the authorities or one Pharisee to believe in him? 49This crowd does not know the Law of Moses, so they are under God's curse!”
50 One of the Pharisees there was Nicodemus, the man who had gone to see Jesus before. He said to the others,51“According to our Law we cannot condemn people before hearing them and finding out what they have done.”
52“Well,” they answered, “are you also from Galilee? Study the Scriptures and you will learn that no prophet ever comesfrom Galilee.”
The Woman Caught in Adultery
[ 1Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Early the next morning he went back to the Temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and began to teach them. 3The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and they made her stand before them all.4“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?” 6They said this to trap Jesus, so that they could accuse him. But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger. 7 As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened up and said to them, “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.” 8Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. 9When they heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. 10He straightened up and said to her, “Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you?”