John 5

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Jesus travels to Jerusalem and miraculously heals an infirm man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath day, which provokes the Jews. When confronted, Jesus asserts his divine authority, declaring that he works in unity with the Father and possesses the power to give life and execute judgment. He then presents various witnesses to his identity, including John the Baptist, his own works, the Father, and the Scriptures.

Jesus Heals a Man at Bethesda 1–9

¶ After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

Controversy Over the Sabbath 10–16

The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

Jesus Claims Equality with God 17–30

¶ But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

The Five Witnesses to Jesus 31–47

¶ If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

I receive not honour from men.

But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for John 5

Verse 1

a feast of the Jews — The feast is not named (heorte, a festival). The law required every male to appear before the LORD 'three times in a year' (Deut 16:16), and Jesus had gone up for the passover earlier (John 2:13). 'Went up' (anabaino) is the usual verb for the climb to Jerusalem.

Verse 2

Bethesda — The name is given 'in the Hebrew tongue' (Hebraisti) and means house of kindness, or mercy. The 'sheep market' is the adjective probatikos, 'of sheep', with 'gate' understood; the Sheep Gate is named in Neh 3:1. 'Porches' (stoa) are colonnades, five of them.

Verse 4

troubled the water — Tarasso, to stir or agitate, the verb the man uses in v.7, 'when the water is troubled'. The cure came 'at a certain season' (kairos, an appointed time) and went to 'whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in', which explains his complaint in v.7 that 'another steppeth down before me'.

Verse 5

thirty and eight years — The length is given for the man's 'infirmity' (astheneia, weakness). Israel's journey from Kadesh-barnea to the brook Zered also lasted 'thirty and eight years' (Deut 2:14), though John draws no link. The woman in Luke 13:16 had been bound eighteen years.

Verse 8

Rise, take up thy bed, and walk — Three commands, the first two matching those given to the paralytic in Mark 2:11 ('Arise, and take up thy bed'). The 'bed' (krabbatos) is a mattress or mat. Carrying it proved the cure was real, and it set up the charge in v.10.

Verse 9

on the same day was the sabbath — Eutheos, 'immediately': no recovery period, he 'took up his bed, and walked'. John adds the sabbath after the cure, as he does in John 9:14 for the blind man. The command of Jer 17:22, 'Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day', lies behind the objection.

Verse 10

it is not lawful — Exesti, the word of the sabbath disputes in Mark 2:24 and Luke 6:2: 'that which is not lawful'. The accusers cite the sabbath burden-bearing rule (Jer 17:21–22; Neh 13:15), not the healing itself. The man's reply in v.11 puts the question on the authority of the one who made him whole.

Verse 14

sin no more — Hamartano, to miss the mark, with meketi, no longer. Jesus finds him 'in the temple' (hieron, the whole sacred precinct) and uses the same words he spoke to the woman in John 8:11, 'go, and sin no more'. The 'worse thing' (cheiron) is left unnamed.

Verse 16

sought to slay him — Dioko, to pursue or persecute, with apokteino, to kill outright. Saul later heard the same Lord say, 'why persecutest thou me?' (Acts 9:4). John states the cause as 'these things on the sabbath day', and in v.18 adds a second, graver reason.

Verse 17

My Father worketh hitherto — God 'rested on the seventh day from all his work' (Gen 2:2), yet keeps upholding all things (Heb 1:3). Jesus does not say 'our Father' but 'My Father', and joins his own work to the Father's with 'and I work' (ergazomai, used of both).

Verse 18

making himself equal with God — Isos, equal. John reports this as the hearers' understanding of 'my Father': he 'said also that God was his Father' (idios, his own, in a unique sense). The charge returns in John 10:33, 'thou, being a man, makest thyself God', and Paul uses the same word in Phil 2:6.

Verse 19

The Son can do nothing of himself — Introduced by amen, amen, 'verily, verily'. The Son does not act apart from the Father, for 'what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise'. The statement is repeated in v.30 and in John 8:28; 14:10, where the Father who dwells in him 'doeth the works'.

Verse 21

quickeneth — Zoopoieo, to make alive. Raising the dead is the LORD's own act: 'I kill, and I make alive' (Deut 32:39). Here the Son does the same, and 'whom he will' states his own choice. He shows it by calling Lazarus out of the grave (John 11:43–44).

Verse 22

all judgment unto the Son — Krisis is the word rendered 'condemnation' and 'damnation' in vv.24, 29. Paul preaches that God 'will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained' (Acts 17:31). The purpose follows in v.23: that all should honour the Son.

Verse 24

is passed from death unto life — Metabaino, to cross over, in the perfect tense: a change of place already made. The believer 'shall not come into condemnation' (krisis, the 'judgment' of v.22), echoing John 3:18, 'He that believeth on him is not condemned'. The life is already held ('hath').

Verse 25

The hour is coming, and now is — The same phrase is used of true worship in John 4:23. 'The dead' who 'shall hear the voice of the Son of God' are those 'dead in sins' whom God 'hath quickened' (Eph 2:5). The hour of the bodily resurrection is spoken of separately in v.28.

Verse 27

authority to execute judgment — Exousia, the right to act. The Son of man in Daniel's vision receives 'dominion, and glory, and a kingdom' (Dan 7:14). The words 'because he is the Son of man' connect judging with his sharing human nature: a man will judge men (Acts 17:31).

Verse 28

all that are in the graves — Mnemeion is a tomb or memorial. In v.25 'the dead' hear and live now; here the hour is future, and it covers 'all' in the tombs, not only believers. Daniel had said that 'many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake' (Dan 12:2).

Verse 29

the resurrection of life… the resurrection of damnation — Daniel speaks of the same division, 'some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt' (Dan 12:2). 'Damnation' translates krisis, judgment, the word of v.22. The good are 'done' (poieo); the evil are 'practised' (prasso).

Verse 31

my witness is not true — Said in terms of the law's rule that 'the testimony of two men is true' (John 8:17). Jesus does not mean he is a liar: in John 8:14 he says, 'Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true'. He supplies the second witness in vv.32–47.

Verse 33

Ye sent unto John — 'The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem' to ask John, 'Who art thou?' (John 1:19). Jesus recalls that embassy. John 'bare witness unto the truth' (aletheia) when he said, 'Behold the Lamb of God' (John 1:29).

Verse 36

the works which the Father hath given me — Erga, works, 'to finish' (teleioo, bring to completion). Jesus speaks the same way in John 17:4, 'I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do'. He appeals to the works again in John 10:25, 38: 'believe the works'.

Verse 37

the Father himself… hath borne witness — The Father spoke from heaven at the baptism: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt 3:17). 'Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape' (eidos, form) is said of these hearers, and agrees with 'No man hath seen God at any time' (John 1:18).

Verse 39

Search the scriptures — Ereunao is to investigate closely. The hearers 'think' (dokeo) the Scriptures themselves give life, but the Scriptures 'testify of me'. After the resurrection Jesus 'expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself' (Luke 24:27).

Verse 40

ye will not come to me — Thelo, to will: the refusal is one of will, not ignorance. The same refusal is charged against Jerusalem: 'ye would not' (Matt 23:37). The invitation stands, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink' (John 7:37), and the life is the 'life' of v.39.

Verse 44

honour one of another — Doxa, glory, the word of 'honour' in v.41, where Jesus says he receives none from men. Seeking praise from one another makes belief impossible, because belief looks to 'the honour that cometh from God only'. John says of some rulers, 'they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God' (John 12:43).

Verse 45

one that accuseth you, even Moses — Kategoreo, to bring a charge. The Son has been given judgment (v.22), yet it is Moses 'in whom ye trust' (elpizo, to hope) who is named as accuser. The hope they put in Moses' writings is the ground of the charge, since those writings point to Jesus (v.46).

Verse 46

for he wrote of me — The LORD promised to raise up 'a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me' (Deut 18:15), and Philip says, 'We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write' (John 1:45). Jesus himself began 'at Moses and all the prophets' (Luke 24:27).

John 5

Jesus Heals a Man at Bethesda 1–9

Controversy Over the Sabbath 10–16

Jesus Claims Equality with God 17–30

The Five Witnesses to Jesus 31–47

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