John 5
The Life Standing Right in Front of Us
Jesus heals a man who has been unable to walk for thirty-eight years, but the healing leads to a dispute over the Sabbath. As Jesus explains His work, He shows that He is the Son who gives life, carries out judgment, and makes the Father known.
Walking Through John 5
Grace Comes to the Pool (John 5:1-9)
1 After this there was a Jewish feast, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool called Bethzatha in Aramaic, which has five covered walkways. 3 A great number of sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying in these walkways. 5 Now a man was there who had been disabled for 38 years. 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?” 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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.)John 5:1-9 · NET Bible
Near Jerusalem’s Sheep Gate stood a pool called Bethesda, with five covered walkways. Many sick and disabled people gathered there. Jesus approached one man who had been unable to walk for thirty-eight years. His question about getting well brought out the man’s helplessness: he had no one to help him into the water when it stirred. Some Bibles include an explanation about an angel stirring the water; the earliest surviving copies do not include that line. The account itself clearly shows the man’s hope resting on the pool. But Jesus did not help him reach the water. He healed him with a command to get up, carry his mat, and walk. The man was healed at once. I don’t want us to miss who took the first step here. Jesus came to someone who could not fix his own condition. The healing happened on the Sabbath, setting up the conflict that follows.
A Healing Becomes a Dispute (John 5:10-18)
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.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” 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. 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.” 15 The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well. 16 Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him. 17 So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” 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.John 5:10-18 · NET Bible
The Sabbath was Israel’s weekly day of rest, given by God. Yet the leaders focused on the man carrying his mat rather than on his healing. Their reading of Sabbath law treated that carrying as forbidden work. At first, the man did not know who had healed him because Jesus had slipped into the crowd. Later, Jesus found him in the temple and warned him to turn from sin. This does not teach that every illness comes from a particular sin. It shows that his spiritual condition mattered even more than his restored body. After the man identified Jesus, the leaders began opposing Him. Jesus answered that His Father was still working and that He was working too. God does not stop sustaining His creation on the Sabbath. The leaders understood that Jesus was claiming a unique relationship with God, making Himself equal with God, and their opposition became deadly.
The Son Gives Life (John 5:19-29)
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. 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. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, 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. 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. 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. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, 27 and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. 28 “Do not be amazed at this because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 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.John 5:19-29 · NET Bible
Jesus explains that He never acts apart from the Father. This is not a denial of His power. It shows their perfect unity: the Son does what the Father does, and the Father loves Him and shows Him His work. Giving life and judging the world belong to God, yet the Father has given these works to the Son. Everyone must honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Jesus then gives a wonderful promise. Those who hear His word and believe the Father who sent Him already have eternal life. They have crossed from death into life. Jesus speaks both of spiritual life beginning now and of a future day when all the dead will rise at His voice. Some will rise to life and others to judgment. Good works do not buy eternal life; they reveal the direction of a person’s life. I find deep comfort here: the One who will judge the world is also the One offering us life.
The Witnesses Point to Jesus (John 5:30-40)
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. 31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. 33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 (I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) 35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light. 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. 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, 38 nor do you have his word residing in you because you do not believe the one whom he sent. 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, 40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.John 5:30-40 · NET Bible
Jesus says His judgment is right because He seeks the Father’s will, not a separate purpose of His own. He then points to witnesses that support His claims. In this setting, His own statement alone would not count as enough evidence for His hearers. John the Baptist had told the truth about Him, and the people had enjoyed John’s light for a time. But Jesus had greater evidence: the works the Father gave Him to do. These works showed that the Father had sent Him. The Father also bore witness, yet these leaders did not receive His word because they did not believe His Son. They studied the Scriptures, knowing that eternal life mattered, but missed the One those Scriptures pointed toward. Their problem was not that they cared too much about the Bible. They refused to come to the Savior it revealed. Bible knowledge reaches its proper purpose when it leads us to trust Jesus.
When Praise Gets in the Way (John 5:41-47)
41 “I do not accept praise from people, 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. 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. 44 How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God? 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. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words?”John 5:41-47 · NET Bible
Jesus was not seeking human approval. He knew that these opponents did not have love for God within them. They rejected Him even though He came with the Father’s authority, while being ready to welcome someone who came claiming authority for himself. Jesus exposed a deep barrier to faith: they valued praise from one another more than the approval of God. Then He named a surprising witness against them—Moses, the very person on whom they had set their hope. Moses was central to Israel’s life and law, but his writings also pointed ahead to Jesus. If they truly believed Moses, they would believe Jesus. Their rejection revealed a gap between honoring Scripture with their words and receiving its message. I see a sober warning here. A respected religious position cannot replace a heart that welcomes God’s truth, even when that truth challenges our pride.
- Life — Jesus gives life with God now and will raise the dead in the future.
- Witness — Someone or something that gives evidence; John, Jesus’ works, the Father, and Scripture point to who Jesus is.
Where might the need for other people’s approval be making it harder for you to trust Jesus?
Father, thank You for sending Your Son to give us life. Help us receive Your Word with humble hearts. Free us from needing praise more than truth, and grow our trust in Jesus.