John 5

1 -2

Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish feast. In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In the Jewish language it is called Bethesda. This pool is near the Sheep Gate.

T he Pool of Bethesda was found in the 1890s with four porches around it and one porch in the middle of the pool. Bethesda means “House of Grace.”

3 – 5

Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed.
[A story about an angel stirring the water was added in some copies]. There was a man lying there who had been sick for 38 years.

We can tell the Lord we are willing to wait for years for His timing to work in us. He may have a special reason to create a situation that brings others to Christ as they are watching.

“If this is from you, Lord, I accept it. If it is from Satan, I reject it.” Isobel Kuhn

6. Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

Something is different about this story because usually people are asking Jesus to heal them, this time Jesus asked first.

7. The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.”

The false story about an angel would make God look as if He plays with people's lives. We would not love a God, who said, "Sorry, you cannot be healed because you did not jump in the water fast enough." This man was looking for help from men instead of God.

8. Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your bed and walk.”

In the Bible we see many times when God told people to do something impossible. If God tells you to do something like this then you can be sure that He will make you able to do it. If the Lord told you to do it then it can be done.

9. And immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and began to walk. The day all this happened was a Sabbath day.

This man did not even know who Jesus was so he was not healed by his faith but by doing what Jesus said. The Lord may heal a man and then wait to see if he says, “Thank you” and give his life to Him. Luke 17:17

10. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your mat on the Sabbath day.”

The Jews did not care that he was healed. This shows that their hearts were hard.

11. But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.'”

He was saying,“Do not forget that He healed me and I am just doing what He said, so it is not my fault.”

12 – 14

Then they asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick up your mat and walk?”

But the man who had been healed did not know who it was. There were many people in that place, and Jesus had left. Later, Jesus found the man at the temple. Jesus said to him, “See, you are well now, but stop sinning or something worse may happen to you!”

Not all sickness is from sin, but some sickness comes because of what people do to themselves. Some people think that all sickness is because of sin and they hurt each other by telling a sick brother that he does not have enough faith. Love does not think evil of another. 1 Corinthians 13:5

Hebrews 6:4 – 6, 2 Peter 2:21, Matthew 12:43 – 45

15 – 16

Then the man left and went back to the Jews. He told them that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Jesus was doing this on the Sabbath day. So the Jews began to work against Him.

This is what made the Jews start hating Jesus.

Which of you if you had an ox or a donkey, if it falls in a ditch on a Sabbath day you will get it out? Now if you are that concerned with your animals, do you not think God cares about a person who is needing help even if it is on the Sabbath day? Luke 14:5

17. But Jesus said to them, “My Father never stops working. And so I work, also.”

God works on the Sabbath. God does not take a day off. He that keeps Israel does not sleep. Psalm 121:4

18. This made the Jews try harder to kill Him. They said, “First Jesus was breaking the law about the Sabbath day. Then He said that God is his own Father! He is making himself equal with God!”

There are people who do not read the Bible carefully and say that Jesus never said He was God. The Jews knew that if God is His father then He is also God.

19. But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. The Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what He sees his Father doing. The Son does whatever the Father does.

Jesus was saying that He does not work without God. If they are angry then they are being angry at God.

20. The Father loves the Son, and the Father shows the Son all the things He Himself does. But the Father will show the Son greater things than this to do. Then you will all be amazed.

The Father shows Jesus what He is doing and Jesus shows the people what He is doing so that He can show God's work to them.

21. The Father raises the dead and gives them life. In the same way, the Son gives life to those He wants to.

Jesus will soon show them that He can raise the dead. The devil tells us that it is too late for things to be healed in our lives but it is up to us to believe that God can rebuild all that is dead in us.

22 – 23

Also, the Father judges no one. But the Father has given the Son power to do judgment. God did this so that all people will respect the Son the same way they respect the Father. He who does not respect the Son, does not respect the Father. The Father is the One who sent the Son.

You can know a group is a cult when they say that Jesus is not the Son of God. They also say that the Bible is not the Word of God and can only be understood with their teachings. Jesus is saying, “If you do not accept Me then you do not accept the Father.”

24. “I tell you the truth. Whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent Me has eternal life. He will not be judged guilty. He has already left death and has entered into life.

We have stopped being spiritually dead and now our spirit is alive. We do not need anyone to tell us what pleases the Lord because our spirit is a witness to us of what is good or bad.

25 – 26

I tell you the truth. The time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who hear will have life. Life comes from the Father Himself, so the Father has allowed the Son to give life.

The tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. Matthew 27:52, John 11:43

27. And the Father has given the Son the authority to judge because He is the Son of Man .

The Jews knew the book of Daniel and that the Messiah would be the Son of God. Every time that Jesus called himself the Son of Man, they were reminded of Daniel's prophecy.

As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. Daniel 7:13

28. Do not be surprised at this. A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear His voice.

It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 1 Corinthians 15:52

29. Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever. But those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.

Those who live evil lives are judged already, but the final judgment confirms it and makes it final. Revelation 20:4 – 6

30. “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so My judgment is right. I do not try to please Myself. I try to please the One who sent Me.

Easy to say, hard for us to do.

31. “If I tell people about Myself, then they will not accept what I say about Myself.

Even if Jesus gives a true witness, they would not accept it. The Jews did not accept a man's witness about himself.

32. But there is another who tells about Me. And I know that the things He says about Me are true.

When the Holy Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever He receives from Me. John 16:13 – 14

33 – 36

“You have sent men to John. And he has told you about the truth. But I do not need a man to tell about Me. I tell you this so that you can be saved.

John was like a burning and shining lamp. And you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.

But I have a proof about Myself that is greater than that of John. The things I do are My proof. These are the things my Father gave me to do. They show that the Father sent me.

Jesus is saying, “ I do not even accept the witness of John as the final proof of who I am. I am doing things that no man can do and they should show you that I was sent by God."

People try to explain the things that Jesus did with some natural idea such as, “He was near the shore but the disciples thought he was walking on water.” God has done miracles in the world today and men still do not believe. People who argue about the things of God are often hiding some sin in their lives. Titus 3:11

37. And the Father who sent Me has given proof about Me Himself. You have never heard His voice. You have never seen what He looks like.

God gave a witness but they missed it.

A voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.”

When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. John 12:28 – 29

Then a cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, listen to Him.” Mark 9:7

38 – 39

His teaching does not live in you because you do not believe in the One that the Father sent. You carefully study the Scriptures because you think that they give you eternal life. Those are the same Scriptures that tell about Me!

The Scriptures are another witness of the life of Jesus. Here is a small list: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Micah 5:2, Zechariah 9:9, 11:3.

“Look, I have come. As is written about Me in the Scriptures. Psalm 40:7

40 – 42

But you refuse to come to Me to have that life. I do not want praise from men.
But I know you—I know that you do not have God's love in you.

Men say things like, "All roads lead to God." This lets them live any way they want to without any kind of love for God. God wants all or nothing. He knows that man want to find some other way to be saved because they cannot accept what they have heard about Jesus. Many times this is because they have heard some twisted ideas about Jesus. God has given us the job of showing them very clearly who Jesus really was.

43. I have come from My Father—I speak for Him. But you do not accept Me. But when another one comes, speaking only for himself, you will accept him.

Jesus passes on what God wants to say to men. That is why John calls Him the Word. The Jews will make an agreement with the anti-christ (Daniel 9:27).

44. You like to have praise from each other. But you never try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe?

Men like to build up each other to get what they want. They need to build God up and get what He wants.

45. Do not think that I will stand before the Father and say that you are wrong. Moses is the one who says that you are guilty. And he is the one that you hoped would save you.

The law is what showed the Jews the kind of things God hates. They could pretend to follow the law but they knew that they were guilty on the inside. So they really did not believe what Moses taught about living a life that is set apart for God.

46 – 47

If you really believed Moses, you would believe Me because, Moses wrote about Me. But you do not believe what Moses wrote. So how can you believe what I say?”

Jesus is saying, “If you have not read carefully enough to see what Moses said about Me then we have nothing to talk about.”