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John 5

Jesus’ Sabbath healing opens a confrontation over his authority as the Son who gives life and judges the dead.

At Bethesda in Jerusalem, Jesus meets a man who has been sick for thirty-eight years and heals him on the Sabbath. The healing brings conflict with Jewish opponents over Sabbath observance, and Jesus’ claim that God is his Father sharpens their hostility. Jesus answers by describing the Son’s unity with the Father in giving life and executing judgment. He then names the witnesses to his identity and confronts his hearers’ refusal to believe him.

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1After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches.
3In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water;
5A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years.
6When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.”
8Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”
9Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. Now that day was a Sabbath.
10So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.”
11He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ”
12Then they asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your mat and walk’?”
13But he who was healed didn’t know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place.
14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
15The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
16For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
17But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
18For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise.
20For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
21For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
22For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
23that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
24“Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
25Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
26For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself.
27He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
28Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
29and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
30I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
31“If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid.
32It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true.
33You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
34But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved.
35He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
36But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me.
37The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.
38You don’t have his word living in you, because you don’t believe him whom he sent.
39“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.
40Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.
41I don’t receive glory from men.
42But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves.
43I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
44How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?
45“Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
46For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
John 5:24Jesus declares that those who hear his word and believe the Father already possess eternal life.
John 5:21The healing leads to a greater claim: the Son shares the Father’s power to raise the dead and give life.
John 5:25Jesus announces that the hour of life through his voice has already begun, ahead of the resurrection of all.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew, Mark, and Luke also recount Sabbath healings that lead to disputes over Jesus’ authority and the meaning of Sabbath observance. Acts shares the proclamation of Jesus as judge, while 1 John shares the claim that life is found in the Son.

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Notice

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What stands out about Jesus’ response to the man who has no one to help him?

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How does Jesus’ charge about searching Scripture yet refusing him shape your response to his words?

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Questions people ask about John 5

Why did healing on the Sabbath cause conflict in John 5?

Jesus heals the man and tells him to carry his mat, which his opponents regard as unlawful on the Sabbath. Jesus answers that his Father continues working and that he does too. This intensifies the conflict because his claim places his work alongside God’s and makes him equal with God.

What does John 5:24 mean by passing from death into life?

Jesus says that whoever hears his word and believes the Father who sent him already has eternal life and does not come into judgment. The passage describes a present change in standing before God. Jesus then speaks of a future resurrection when all in the tombs will hear his voice.

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John · 21 chapters

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).