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John 5

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

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

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

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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.

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

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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?

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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I receive not honour from men.

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

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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.

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

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

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

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

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John 5

At the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus heals a man sick for thirty-eight years on the Sabbath, commanding him to "rise, take up your pallet, and walk," an act that becomes the flashpoint for a profound conflict about Jesus' authority and relation to God. The Jewish authorities' outrage at Sabbath-breaking opens into Jesus' extended self-disclosure: "The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise," establishing an inseparable unity of action and will between Father and Son. Jesus claims that the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he does, and has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man—words that scandalize the listeners who perceive that Jesus is making himself equal to God. The chapter introduces the complex Johannine notion of witness (marturia): the Father himself bears witness to the Son, along with John the Baptist's witness, the works (erga) that Jesus does, and the Scripture itself. Jesus confronts his opponents with the charge that they do not believe Moses because they do not believe the words Moses wrote, yet they claim to believe Moses—revealing that rejection of Jesus is rejection of the God who sent him. The theological structure reveals Jesus as the one through whom the Father acts, judges, and gives life, with belief in Jesus constituting belief in God himself.

John 5:35

'I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. — the contrast is between Jesus (coming in the Father's name, with divine authorization) and false messiahs (coming in their own name, with only personal authority). Yet Jesus predicts the Jews will accept such imposters. This condemnation invokes the reality of false messiahs in Jewish history.

John 5:36

'How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? — the rhetorical question identifies the obstacle to faith: acceptance of human honor (doxa) rather than divine honor. Mutual human glorification (para alleloi) creates an insular world resistant to God's glory.

John 5:37

'But do not think I am going to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. — Jesus denies the role of accuser (kategoros) before the Father, but Moses—the very foundation of Jewish hope—becomes the accuser. This shocking inversion makes the law itself a witness against those who reject Jesus.

John 5:38

'If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?' — the claim that Moses wrote about Jesus anticipates Christological reading of the Torah (e.g., Genesis 49:10, Deuteronomy 18:15). The logical progression: disbelief in Moses' prophecy entails disbelief in Jesus.

John 5:39

Jesus said, 'I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' — the transition to chapter 6 marks a shift in setting and discourse theme. The 'I am' statement (ego eimi) with predicate ('the bread of life') is the first such declaration in John. Living bread contrasts with manna, which sustained but could not prevent death. The gift of flesh (sarx) anticipates the Eucharist and the Incarnation itself.

John 5:40

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' — the Jews' murmuring (gogguzo) recalls Israel's wilderness murmuring against God. The question interprets flesh literally as cannibalism, exemplifying misunderstanding that will be corrected through deepening revelation.

John 5:41

Jesus said to them, 'Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. — the stark language (eat flesh, drink blood) is intentionally shocking, violating both Jewish dietary law (Leviticus 3:17) and cultural norms. The condition (ean me) is absolute: consuming the Son of Man's flesh-blood is necessary for life.

John 5:42

'Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. — eating and drinking effect eternal life (zoen aionion) with resurrection as its culmination. The sacramental language points toward the Eucharist/Lord's Supper, though John's Gospel does not record its institution.

John 5:43

'For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. — the affirmation that flesh is real food (true/genuine food) and blood is real drink asserts the reality of what is offered, not mere symbol. Yet the reality operates sacramentally: through eating and drinking, spiritual transformation occurs.

John 5:44

'Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. — the mutual indwelling (meno, abiding) of the believer and Christ is the effect of consuming his flesh and blood. This communion of life is exclusive and absolute: one cannot remain in Christ without this consumption.

John 5:45

'Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. — the analogy is clear: just as Jesus' life derives from the Father (dia ton patera), so the believer's life derives from Jesus. Eating the flesh-blood creates analogous dependence on Jesus as Jesus has on the Father.

John 5:46

'This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.' — the contrast with manna emphasizes the eschatological superiority of Jesus. Manna sustained physical life but could not prevent death; Jesus' bread grants eternal life. The wilderness generation's death despite manna prefigures the consequence of rejecting Jesus.

John 5:47

He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. — the setting is the Capernaum synagogue, suggesting this discourse occurred in a Jewish context. The synagogue setting emphasizes the scandal: Jesus makes these claims in the center of Jewish religious life.

John 5:14

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. — the healed man's identification of Jesus to the authorities is not betrayal but witness. He now knows who healed him and testifies. This creates the circumstance for direct confrontation between Jesus and Jewish leadership.

John 5:15

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews were trying to kill him. — John's summary judgment is stark: Sabbath healing is grounds for death. The escalation from legal objection to murderous intent shows the depth of opposition. The phrase these things (tauta) generalizes to a pattern of Sabbath violations.

John 5:16

But Jesus answered them, 'My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.' — Jesus' defense invokes the Father's continuous creative work (noetic act implied from Genesis 2:3: God rested but presumably creation continues through divine sustaining). If the Father works on the Sabbath, Jesus (as the Son) likewise works. This argument appears shocking: Jesus claims to share the Father's prerogative.

John 5:17

For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; for not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. — the authorities rightly perceive Jesus' claim: by working on the Sabbath in imitation of the Father and by calling God his own Father (idiotes: possessive intimacy), Jesus asserts equality with God. This is the central charge that drives the narrative toward crucifixion.

John 5:18

Jesus gave them this answer: 'Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. — Jesus' response paradoxically asserts both dependence and equality. The Son can do nothing by himself (ouk dunatai ho huios), yet what he does the Father also does. This dialectic of subordination and equality defines Johannine Christology.

John 5:19

'For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. — the Father's love (agapao) motivates the revelation of his works (erga) to the Son. The promise of greater works (megalatera erga) than healing anticipates Jesus' raising the dead (vv. 25-29). The purpose clause (hina) indicates that these greater works aim at producing belief through amazement.

John 5:20

'For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. — Jesus claims the Father's prerogative of resurrection and life-giving. The correspondence (hoios...houtos kai) between Father's and Son's work is absolute. This statement introduces the theme that dominates the discourse: life-giving as the Son's fundamental function.

John 5:21

'Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him. — Jesus claims the Father has delegated all judgment (krisis) to the Son. The purpose of this delegation (hina) is that all may honor the Son equally with the Father. This equation of honor (time) produces the objection: Jesus makes himself equal with God.

John 5:22

'I am telling you the truth, when the dead hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. — the assertion that the dead will hear the Son's voice and live introduces resurrection and judgment. The condition ('those who hear') makes hearing the prerequisite for life. This echoes OT language of God's creative word.

John 5:23

'For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. — the Father's autozoeia (life in himself, self-subsistent existence) is the source of the Son's autozoeia. The sharing of this life-giving capacity establishes Jesus' divinity: only God possesses life in itself; creatures receive life from without.

John 5:24

'And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. — the Son of Man (ho huios tou anthropou) is a Christological title carrying eschatological significance (Daniel 7:13). The future judgment described is explicitly moral: resurrection separated into blessing and condemnation based on deeds.

John 5:25

'By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I seek not to please myself but to do the will of him who sent me. — Jesus' repeated assertion of dependence (ouk dunatai) reiterates that his judgment is not autonomous but derives from and conforms to the Father's will. Justice (dikaios) flows from alignment with the Father's purpose.

John 5:26

'If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. — the legal principle that self-testimony is inadmissible underwrites this statement. Jesus cannot validate his own claims; external witnesses are necessary. This paradoxically prepares for the multiple witnesses about to be invoked.

John 5:27

'There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true. — the unnamed witness (hos marturei peri emou) is the Father, though subsequently multiple witnesses are cited: John the Baptist, the works, the Father, and Scripture.

John 5:28

'You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it so that you may be saved. — John the Baptist's testimony (3:28-30) about Jesus is invoked. The phrase not that I accept human testimony (ou lambano maim turtian) clarifies that Jesus does not depend on human witness but invokes John's testimony for the Jews' sake, to facilitate their salvation (sothenai, passive voice indicating divine agency).

John 5:1

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. — the vague temporal marker (some time later) allows narrative flexibility. Jesus' journey to Jerusalem for a festival introduces the city of conflict and rejection. Jewish festivals (while not named) represent the calendar of temple worship that Jesus will challenge.

John 5:30

'I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish—and these are signs the Father has given me to accomplish—testify that the Father has sent me. — Jesus claims his works (erga) as greater testimony than John. The works (miracles/signs) are given by the Father (tetheiken) to validate Jesus' mission. The divine authorization of signs authenticates his claim.

John 5:31

'And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, — the Father's testimony is direct yet imperceptible to ordinary perception. The Jews have not heard God's voice (phone) or seen his form (morphe)—an echo of Moses' experience (Exodus 33). The claim is paradoxical: God has testified, yet not perceptibly.

John 5:32

'nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. — the charge is that God's word (logos) does not remain (meno) in them because they reject Jesus, God's envoy. Belief and indwelling of God's word are inseparable; rejection of Jesus severs the connection to God.

John 5:33

'You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, but you refuse to come to me to have life. — the paradox: the Jews study (eraiunao) Scripture seeking eternal life (zoen aionion) but miss that Scripture testifies to Jesus, the only source of life. This is the fundamental hermeneutical error: reading Scripture without seeing Christ.

John 5:34

'I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. — Jesus' claim is remarkable: he needs no human approval because he understands human hearts (kardia). The Jews lack love of God (agape tou theou), suggesting that true faith manifests as love for God, which they do not possess.

John 5:29

'John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. — John the Baptist is a lamp (luchnos), suggesting derivative light. The Jews chose temporarily (horan) to enjoy his light, suggesting they could have believed through John but failed to persist. The light-darkness motif is characteristic Johannine symbolism.

John 5:2

Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. — the archaeological precision (Sheep Gate, five porticoes) anchors the narrative in historical geography. Bethesda (Beth-hasda, 'house of mercy') is the place of healing, ironically the place where Jesus' healing power will be displayed and rejected.

John 5:3

Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. — the enumeration of the afflicted establishes the setting as a place of concentrated human suffering. The implicit question: why would God permit such suffering? Jesus will answer not by theodicy but by healing.

John 5:4

[One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.] — the variant manuscripts suggest this verse may be a later addition, but the thirty-eight years is theologically significant: long enough that recovery seems impossible, long enough that the man has internalized his condition as permanent.

John 5:5

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?' — Jesus' question seems oddly insensitive to the paralyzed man's obvious condition, but it probes motivation and desire. The question do you want to be healed? (theles hugianos genesthai) asks whether the man genuinely desires transformation or has resigned to disability. It is a diagnostic question.

John 5:6

The sick man answered, 'Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.' — the man's response reveals his condition's psychology: he is trapped in ritualistic hope (the stirred water) and feels victimized by others' speed. He cannot conceive of healing apart from the pool's mechanism, showing the limitation of his faith and understanding.

John 5:7

Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.' — Jesus' command is abrupt, without the mediating ritual (the pool) the man expects. The Greek egeiro (get up) and perpateo (walk) are acts of resurrection; Jesus calls the man to a new mode of existence. The command assumes both divine authority and the man's capacity to obey.

John 5:8

At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath. — the immediate healing demonstrates Jesus' power over physical infirmity. But John adds the crucial detail: it was the Sabbath. This transforms the healing into a Sabbath violation, moving from mercy to legal controversy.

John 5:9

So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.' — the Jewish objection is not to the healing per se but to the carrying of the mat, which constitutes work. The law (Torah) permits carrying on the Sabbath only in specific contexts; the authorities challenge whether healing justifies this exception.

John 5:10

But he replied, 'The man who made me well said to me, "Pick up your mat and walk."' — the healed man's response attributes authority to Jesus: if Jesus commanded it, the action is justified. He defers to Jesus' authority against conventional interpretation. His response opens the question: does human healing authority supersede Sabbath law?

John 5:11

So they asked him, 'Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?' — the authorities shift focus from the mat-carrier to the authority figure. The Greek interrogative ti tis (who is this?) suggests they do not yet know Jesus or do not recognize his authority. Their question, while seeking identification, implicitly denies his legitimacy.

John 5:12

The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. — the healed man's ignorance of Jesus' identity ironically parallels the authorities' ignorance. Jesus' withdrawal (anachoreo) anticipates later passages where he withdraws from hostile contexts. The anonymity of the healer heightens the tension.

John 5:13

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, 'See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.' — Jesus' reappearance at the temple (the heart of Jewish religion) and his warning against sin suggests that physical healing is incomplete without spiritual transformation. The implication—that past sin caused the illness—reflects the thought-world of John's community but is not universalized.