In those days the feast of dedication came to Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long shall You keep us in perplexity? if you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, "I have told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in the name of my Father, they bear witness to me. But you do not believe, for you are not of My sheep, as I told you. My sheep obey my voice, and I know them; and they come after me. And I give them eternal life.

John 10:22–28a

For the consecration of the temple.

The Gospel of John, conceived 38

The Lord said to the Jews who came to Him, My sheep obey My voice, and I know them. and they come after me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no man shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Then again the Jews seized stones to beat Him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works have I shown you from My Father; for which of them do you stone me? The Jews answered and said to him, "We do not want to stone you for a good deed, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods? If He called gods those to whom the word of God came, and the Scriptures cannot be broken, do you say to Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, "You blaspheme, because I said, I am the Son of God"? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, then, when you do not believe Me, believe My works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him.

John 10:27-38

Saturday of the 5th week of Pascha.

The Gospel of John, conceived 39

In those days there was a certain Lazarus from Bethany, from the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. But Mary, with whom Brother Lazarus was sick, was the one who anointed the Lord with myrrh and wiped His feet with her hair. The sisters sent to say to Him: Lord! behold, whom Thou lovest, sick. When Jesus heard this, he said, "This sickness is not unto death, but to the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." And Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was. And he said unto his disciples, Let us go again into Judea. The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi! how long have the Jews sought to stone Thee, and Thou art going thither again? Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" He who walks by day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; but he who walks at night stumbles, because there is no light with him. And when he had said this, he said to them, Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep; but I am going to wake him up. His disciples said, "Lord! if he fell asleep, he will recover. Jesus was talking about his death, and they thought He was talking about an ordinary dream. Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead; and I rejoice for you, that I was not there, that you might believe; but let us go to him. Then Thomas, otherwise called the Twin, said to the disciples, "Let us go and die with him." When Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, fifteen stades; and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them in their sorrow for their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him; Maria was sitting at home. Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord! if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that He will rise again in the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to Him, "Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world. And when she had said this, she went and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, The Master is here and calling thee. As soon as she heard, she hurriedly got up and went to Him. Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was at the place where Martha met Him. The Jews, who were with her in the house and comforted her, seeing that Mary got up in haste and went out, followed her, thinking that she had gone to the tomb to weep there. And Mary, when she came to where Jesus was, and saw him, fell down at his feet, and said to him, Lord! if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, He Himself was grieved in spirit and was indignant, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him: Lord! Go and see. Jesus shed tears. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him." And some of them said, "Could not this one, who opened the eyes of the blind man, cause this one also not to die? Jesus, again grieving inwardly, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay on it. Jesus says, "Take away the stone." The sister of the deceased, Martha, said to Him: "Lord! already stinks; for four days he was in the tomb. Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone from the cave where the dead man lay. And Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, forgive them! thank you for hearing me. I knew that You would always hear Me; but I have said it for the people standing here, that they may believe that you have sent me. Having said this, He cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus! Go away. And the dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in funeral clothes, and his face was bound with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, let him go." Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done, believed in Him.

John 11:1–45

Lazarev's Saturday.

The Gospel of John, conceived 40

In those days the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together against Jesus, and said, What shall we do? This Man works many miracles. If we leave Him thus, then all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take possession of both our place and the people. And one of them, a certain Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing, and you will not think that it is better for us that one man should die for the people, than that the whole nation should perish." He did not say this on his own behalf, but, being high priest for that year, he predicted that Jesus would die for the people, and not only for the people, but also in order to gather together the scattered children of God. From that day on, they decided to kill Him. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to a country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there He remained with His disciples. The Passover of the Jews was approaching, and many from all over the country came to Jerusalem before the Passover to be purified. Then they were looking for Jesus, and standing in the temple, they said to one another, What do you think? Will He not come to the feast? And the chief priests and the Pharisees commanded that if any man knew where he would be, he would declare that he might take him.

John 11:47–57