John 05

Healing a Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda

5:1 After this there was a Jewish feast, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

The Jewish feast was Passover. The ministry of Jesus was now one year old. Jesus went "up" to Jerusalem, meaning that John that was an eyewitness who knew the geography of the land.

5:2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool called Bethzatha in Aramaic, which has five covered walkways.

For many years, skeptics claimed that this pool did not exist. However, this pool and the five walkways have been discovered, proving that John was an accurate eyewitness. Skeptics no longer use this verse to attack the Bible.

5:3 A great number of sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying in these walkways.

Many of these people were superstitious, waiting for a supernatural event to heal them.

5:4 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. 

The NET Bible (and many other English translations) omit this verse. Listed above is the KJV version. Was this text part of the original autographs?

Dr. Henry Morris wrote, "This verse is omitted in certain of the manuscripts, along with the last part of John 5:3. Because of what seems to be the unlikelihood of this cyclic miracle, most modern versions have omitted it. The problem is, however, that John 5:7 (which is in all the manuscripts), makes no sense without it. Furthermore, the great majority of the manuscripts do include all these verses. Whether the miracle seems reasonable or not to our scientific minds, the probability is that it was recorded by John in his original text, and was later deleted in some manuscripts because of the skepticism of the copyists. There is nothing impossible about the miracle, no matter how unusual it seems. Perhaps God, in view of the long absence of a prophetical voice in Israel, elected to maintain this continuing witness to His grace and power in Jerusalem, as a sort of perpetual Messianic promise, to be repeated regularly until Christ would come." (Defender's Study Bible, John 5:4)

5:5 Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.

A man had been waiting for 38 years to step into this pool and be healed.

5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized that the man had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?”

Jesus initiated the first move. He asked the man if he desired to be healed.

Jesus ignited the healing.

5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, someone else goes down there before me.”

This verse does not make sense without verse 4, which many claim was not in the original text. 

5:8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

The man did not have to step into the pool. Jesus healed him directly.

5:9 Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.)

The man obeyed and walked away. This miracle happened to take place on the Sabbath.

5:10 So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.”

This was not a violation of the Mosaic Law, which came from God. However, it was a violation of the Oral Law, which came from human rabbi. According to the Oral Law, one could not carry anything from a private to a public place or vice verse, because this would be considered working on the Sabbath.  

5:11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

The man did not know who healed him.

5:12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?”

The rabbi want to find this man, because he has broken the Oral Law. 

5:13 But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped out, since there was a crowd in that place.

The man did not even know that it was Jesus who had healed him. 

5:14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.”

Jesus found the man later and warned him to stay away from sin.

5:15 The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

The man revealed Jesus as the healer. 

Responding to Jewish Leaders

5:16 Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him.

The Jewish believers did not think that Jesus was the Messiah, because he did not keep their Oral Law.

5:17 So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”

God continuously worked on the Sabbath day sustaining the universe. Since Jesus was God, He was continuously working on the Sabbath day as well. 

5:18 For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

In the Talmud, there were four persons who were branded as arrogant because they claimed themselves to be equal to God. Three of these men were King Hiram, King Nebuchadnezzar, and Pharaoh, all pagan men. The fourth was the Jewish King Joash. To the rabbi, Jesus was making this same arrogant claim as these other four men. Therefore, they wanted to execute Jesus for blasphemy. 

5:19 So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.

The Lord Jesus was saying emphatically that He was God and that He can do whatever God does.

5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed.

The Father is God and he loves the Son. The Father shows the Son everything that he does. Jesus is also God. Therefore, he is going to prove that he is God by showing these men greater things than what the Father has shown Jesus. Jesus will show these men things that will amaze them. He is speaking about his resurrection. Jesus will show them the resurrection from the dead to life.

5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.

According to 1 Kings 17:17-24, God possessed the power to raise the dead.  Jesus is God, so He has this power also. Jesus claimed that He can raise anyone from the dead who he desires.

5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,

These men were judging Jesus. Jesus reminded them that since He is God, He was going to be judging them. 

5:23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

The Pharisees were not honoring Jesus. They were accusing Him of blasphemy, because He claimed to be God. Jesus told the Pharisees that they must give the same exact honor to Jesus as they would do to God the Father. Otherwise, they were the ones who were dishonoring the Father. 

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.

In the Old Testament, only God could give eternal life. Jesus claimed that He could also give eternal life, because He was also God.

The Greek word for "has" is ἔχω (echo), a present active indicative verb, meaning to presently and continually possess as a 100% statement of fact. Jesus said emphatically that those who were presently hearing and believing His message at that time were presently and continually at that moment possessing eternal life. If one can lose it, then it is not eternal.

5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Jesus told the Pharisees that when the dead people in the grave hear the voice of Jesus, then they will live again. Since only God can raise the dead, then Jesus is claiming to be God.

5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,

The Father makes people alive. He is the one in charge of making sure a baby is conceived and born into this world. The Father is the giver and creator of all life. Jesus was claiming that He has this same authority and power as God the Father. Like the Father, Jesus is also the giver and creator of all life.

5:27 and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

In Daniel 7:13-14, the prophet saw a vision of the Son of Man, "I was watching in the night visions, And with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty. All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed."

Daniel was watching in the night. He saw a vision of the future. Out of the clouds came one like the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the Messiah. The Son of Man is escorted to the Ancient of Days. The Ancient of Days is God the Father. The Ancient of Days gives the Son of Man all ruling authority over all of the heavens and the earth. The Ancient of Days gives the Son of Man all honor, even the honor that belongs to the Ancient of Days as being deity. The Ancient of Days gives the Son of Man sovereignty over everything in heaven and earth. The Son of Man is in control of every event which happens in history. Every person in the world will serve the Son of Man. Every nation in the world will serve the Son of Man. Every language in the world will be used to serve the Son of Man. When the Ancient of Days gives all of this authority to the Son of Man, then this authority will be eternal. This authority will never pass away. This kingdom will never be destroyed.

Jesus was claiming that He was this same Son of Man who will be given all of this eternal authority directly from the Ancient of Days. Therefore, these men were not to judge Jesus. Jesus was to judge them for eternity.

5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

Jesus told the Pharisees not to be amazed at what He just told them. He added that every dead person in the grave will eventually hear the voice of Jesus.

5:29 and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.

When these dead people in their graves hear the voice of Jesus, they will be raised from the dead. They will come out of their graves. Jesus will judge every one of them. Those who believe will be judged at the Bema Seat to receive or lose rewards. Those who disbelieve will be condemned and sent to the Lake of Fire forever.

The Pharisees were judging the One who was going to eventually judge them.

5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

When Jesus came down to earth as a human being, He had the power to do all of the things that He just mentioned, but He chose not to use any of these divine attributes unless the Father allowed Him to do so. Therefore, in His human form, He could do none of these divine attributes without the permission of the Father. 

Whenever Jesus judges, then He does not judge like men. Men are totally depraved and evil and they do not judge fairly. Jesus is not totally depraved nor evil, so when He judges, His judgment is always 100% righteous. The reason that His judgment is always righteous is that He does not seek personal glory. He seeks to do the will of the One who sent Him.

More Testimony About Jesus

5:31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

According to the Mosaic Law (Deu 17:6), there needed to be two or three witnesses to validate the legal truth. Two was enough, three was better. Jesus was going to give them four witnesses to prove His testimony.

5:32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.

There was one human who gave a truthful testimony about Jesus.

5:33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.

The first witness was John the Baptist. John claimed that Jesus was "the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world".

5:34 (I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.)

Jesus did not need human testimony, but He allowed John the Baptist to testify about Jesus so that humans could be saved. John the Baptist prepared the people to meet their King. The Holy Spirit opened the minds of the believers so that they could hear and believe the message that John gave concerning Jesus. God uses the foolishness of preaching the gospel in order to save humans from the Lake of Fire.

5:35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light.

Jesus was the light, or the Shekinah Glory. The Shekinah Glory was the visible representation of God. It is the form in which God chooses to reveal Himself to man. John was the lamp who revealed this light. 

5:36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me.

The second witness was the miracles that Jesus was performing. For example, the rabbi themselves were teaching that only the Messiah could heal a leper. Jesus healed the leper to prove that He was the Messiah. This miracle of healing the leper, plus all of the other miracles which authenticated His claims, was His second witness. Jesus was performing the miracles that the Old Testament predicted that would accompany the person of the Messiah.

5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,

The third witness of Jesus was the Father Himself. When Jesus was baptized, many heard the voice of God testify that Jesus was his Son.

5:38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent.

The Jews could not believe these three witnesses because the Word of God was not present within them. This meant that they were ignorant of the Scriptures. They knew the Oral Law, but they did not know the Scriptures.

5:39 You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me,

The fourth witness is the Scriptures. The Scriptures testify that Jesus is the Messianic God-man. The Pharisees searched the Scriptures, thinking that the study of these words would bring them eternal life. However, these words pointed to Jesus. Jesus is the one who provides eternal life.

If one does not find Jesus in the Bible, then their search is in vain.

5:40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

The Pharisees possessed their Oral Law. They were proud of it. It became the meaning of their lives. They thought that they could keep it. Since Jesus did not accept their Oral Law, they refused to believe Him to be their Messiah. The Pharisees were placing faith in their man-made Oral Law, not in the person of Jesus.

5:41 “I do not accept praise from people,

If Jesus would have been a Messiah whom the Jewish leaders wanted, then He would have accepted the Oral Law, kept the Jewish leaders in power, provided victory over Rome, and provided food for the people. If Jesus would have been this kind of Messiah, then He would have been praised. Jesus does not want this type of praise.

5:42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.

Jesus was omniscient. He knew what was in their personalities. He knew that they loved their rank and position among people, but they did not know God.

5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. Jesus came in the name of the Father, but the Jewish leaders rejected them. Many false messiahs came through Israel after Jesus, and they accepted them. When the Antichrist arrives, many of their Jewish religious leaders will receive him. They will even make a covenant with him.

Jesus came in the name of the Father, but the Jewish leaders rejected Him. Many false messiahs came through Israel after Jesus, and they accepted them. When the Antichrist arrives in the future, many of their Jewish religious leaders will receive him. They will even make a covenant with him.

5:44 How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God?

The rabbi were so busy patting each other on the back, that they were not seeking praise that came from God. Back-scratching is still the curse of the church today. Many believers are looking for churches that will tickle their ears. They are not looking for a church that will tell them of their sin nature and their need to study and apply Scripture at the deepest level. Most church members would rather be complimented than to hear the Word of God.

The main message of the church should be "stop being lazy! If you really love Jesus, then know His mind by studying the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level and apply what you have learned! Anything less is dishonoring God!"

Most believers do not want to hear this type of message. It makes them feel uncomfortable. Some think that they know enough. This is arrogance. Study of the Bible is a lifetime mandate from God.

Some think that they are too busy with family, career, education, entertainment, or something else which eats up their time. This is arrogance. Christian service is choosing not to do something else.

Some think that learning Bible doctrine at the deepest level is not that important. This is arrogance. There is nothing more important in this life than learning and applying Bible doctrine at the deepest level.

Some think that learning Hebrew and Greek is not needed. This is arrogance. The Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek, not English. If one really wants to know the mind of Christ, then one needs to think and study in the language in which God chose to record and reveal the Bible. 

Some think that the Bible is too difficult to understand. This is arrogance. The Bible was written so that it could be understood by everyone. God has placed pastor-teachers with the gift of teaching to help lead and guide believers into deeper Bible study. If a pastor is not demanding that one study Bible doctrine at the deepest level, then it is time to change pastors. If a pastor is not providing one with proper resources by gifted pastor teachers, then one needs to change pastor-teachers. If one continues to support a pastor who teaches at a shallow level, then the believer will be either AWOL or a casualty on the field of battle.

Some do not think that they need to be in church on Sunday to learn Bible doctrine. They think that their family, their job, their education, or their sleep is more important. This is arrogance. Those who study the Bible at the deepest level know that the most important thing that one can do on Sunday is study Bible doctrine not at a shallow level, but at the deepest level. 

5:45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.

The foundation of the Bible is the first five books written by Moses. The Pharisees bragged about following Moses, but Moses would have accused all of these rabbi of  breaking the Mosaic Covenant and rejecting their own Messiah.

5:46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

Where did Moses write about Jesus? In Genesis 3:15, Jesus was the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent. In Genesis 12 of the Abrahamic Covenant, Jesus was the one who would come from Abraham and bless all nations. In Genesis 49:10, Jesus is Shiloh, another name for the Messiah, and Shiloh would come from the tribe of Judah. In Numbers 24:17, Jesus was the star who would come out of Jacob. In Deuteronomy 18, Jesus was the prophet like Moses. The Passover, the Shekinah Glory, the manna, the rock, the offerings, and the priesthood all pointed to Jesus.

5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words?”

The Pharisees did not believe in the Moses of Scripture. They believed in the Moses of Judaism. The Moses of Judaism gave a Mosaic Law which contained many holes in it. The job of the rabbi was to repair these holes with new laws. If the Messiah did not want to help them fill these holes, then He must not be the Messiah.