The Life of Jesus

A discussion arose between some of Yochanan’s talmidim and a Judean about ceremonial washing;

and they came to Yochanan and said to him, “Rabbi, you know the man who was with you on the other side of the Yarden, the one you spoke about? Well, here he is, immersing; and everyone is going to him!”

Yochanan answered, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from Heaven.

You yourselves can confirm that I did not say I was the Messiah, but that I have been sent ahead of him.

The bridegroom is the one who has the bride; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed at the sound of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is now complete.

He must become more important, while I become less important.

“He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth is from the earth and talks from an earthly point of view; he who comes from heaven is above all.

He testifies about what he has actually seen and heard, yet no one accepts what he says!

Whoever does accept what he says puts his seal on the fact that God is true,

because the one whom God sent speaks God’s words. For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree —

the Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands.

Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life. But whoever disobeys the Son will not see that life but remains subject to God’s wrath.”

When Yeshua learned that the P’rushim had heard he was making and immersing more talmidim than Yochanan

(although it was not Yeshua himself who immersed but his talmidim),

Yeshua left Y’hudah and set out again for the Galil.

This meant that he had to pass through Shomron.

He came to a town in Shomron called Sh’khem, near the field Ya‘akov had given to his son Yosef.

Ya‘akov’s Well was there; so Yeshua, exhausted from his travel, sat down by the well; it was about noon.

A woman from Shomron came to draw some water; and Yeshua said to her, “Give me a drink of water.”

(His talmidim had gone into town to buy food.)

The woman from Shomron said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for water from me, a woman of Shomron?” (For Jews don’t associate with people from Shomron.)

Yeshua answered her, “If you knew God’s gift, that is, who it is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink of water,’ then you would have asked him; and he would have given you living water.”

She said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep; so where do you get this ‘living water’?

You aren’t greater than our father Ya‘akov, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it, and so did his sons and his cattle.”

Yeshua answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again,