THE HEALING OF THE DISABLED MAN - DISCOURSE ON ETERNAL LIFE - GOD'S WITNESS TO JESUS. The chapter commences with ‘After these things'. This is a vague connecting phrase regularly used by John (compare John 3:22; John 6:1; John 7:1; John 19:38; John 21:1 see also John 2:12; John 19:28). It may indica... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.' Some time later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for ‘a feast of the Jews' The manuscript evidence strongly favours no definite article. We do not know which feast it was. What the author could not remember he did not inv... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEALING OF THE DISABLED MAN AT THE POOL (JOHN 5:1). When John recounts an incident in the life of Jesus we must always ask what it is intended to illustrate, for he always has a purpose in mind. Here the aim is to demonstrate that God is working through Jesus (John 5:17). Here, ‘The lame walk',... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now there is in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, a pool which in Hebrew is called Bethesda' (or Bethzatha or Bethsaida or, less likely, Belzetha - the manuscripts differ widely) ‘which has five covered collonades'. The pool was clearly renowned for its healing properties which occurred at various t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘In these lay a great crowd of those who were sick, blind, lame and withered.' Many people with all kinds of disablement would lie round the pool because the belief was that when there was a stirring in the water, (presumably from an intermittent spring), it had healing powers.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And a certain man was there who had been an invalid for thirty eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had now been like that a long time, he says to him, “Do you want to be made whole?”.' We are not told how Jesus knew that he had been there a long time and it is possibly in... [ Continue Reading ]
The sick 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 steps down before me”.' Someone may have brought the man there each day, or he may have been there permanently, but no one was concerned enough to stay with him to help... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus says to him, “Stand up, take up your bed and walk.” And the man was made whole immediately, and took up his bed and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.' Then Jesus said, ‘Rise, take up your mattress and go home', and _at once_ the man was made whole. The healing was immediate, t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So the Judaisers said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath and it is not lawful for you to take up your mattress.” He (the man who had been healed) was spotted by some of ‘the Judaisers' (the representatives of the religious authorities) who stopped him and said to him, ‘Today is the Sabbath.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he answered, “The man who made me whole, it was he who told me, ‘take up your mattress and walk'.” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘take up your mattress and walk?' ” But he who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, a large crowd being in the place.' T... [ Continue Reading ]
‘When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.”. Jesus, perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.' This incident is once again descr... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Afterward Jesus finds him in the Temple and said to him, “Look, you are made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing befall you”.' Jesus later sought the man out in the Temple area. He did not just want the incident to stop with healing, He was concerned for the whole man. ‘Do not sin any more in c... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The man went away and told the Judaisers that it was Jesus who had made him whole.' This may suggest that he recognised that he was ‘in trouble' with the authorities and wanted to clear himself. He could otherwise have found himself excluded from the synagogue (the local Jewish place of worship).... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the Sabbath'. Initially the persecution must have taken on the form of some verbal attack, as it leads on to a reply from Jesus, but the way it is put suggests that this is seen as the commencement of a continual process of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But Jesus answered them, “My Father works even until now, and I work”. Jesus' reply to the charge of breaking the Sabbath is a powerful one. ‘My Father is still at work, and I also am working'. No one will attack God for working on the Sabbath in maintaining the universe, and performing miracles ... [ Continue Reading ]
. ‘This was why the Jews sought the more to kill Him (i.e. to plot His death) because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God ‘His own Father' (patera idion) making Himself equal with God'. Rather than recognise the logic of the situation they look for more reasons for attacking Him. The... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered and said to them, “In very truth I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does the Son does in the same way. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does, and greater works than these will... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS CONFIRMS THEIR VIEW OF HIS EQUALITY WITH GOD AND POINTS TO THE RESURRECTION (JOHN 5:19). Jesus now expands on His claim to be co-equal with the Father. He does not want them to be in any doubt, but does it in semi-veiled terms comparable with His use of parables. He leaves them to think throu... [ Continue Reading ]
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so also the Son gives life to whoever he wishes.” Thus just as the Father can raise the dead and give life, both now and in the age to come, so He, the Son, claims to have the same power and authority, _and to be able to do it by His own... [ Continue Reading ]
“For neither does the Father judge any man, but he has given all judgment to the Son.” And this is not in any secondary way, for He will also be the One Who passes the judgment which determines the manner of their resurrection, for ‘the Father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the Son... [ Continue Reading ]
“That all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son, does not honour the Father who sent him.” Why then has the Father given this power and privilege to the Son? It was ‘That all may honour the Son as they honour the Father'. God's purpose is that He, Jesus... [ Continue Reading ]
“In very truth I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life'. He goes on to add that because He has been given the power to raise men at the last day He is able to offer life and certainty now. Tho... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SON HAS THE POWER TO OFFER EVERLASTING LIFE NOW (JOHN 5:24). He now goes on to reveal His uniqueness by the fact that He can both give men eternal life now, and will be responsible both for man's judgment at the Last Day, and for the resurrection of the dead and their final destiny.... [ Continue Reading ]
“In very truth I tell you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live.” ‘The hour is coming.' That was the expectancy of the Pharisees, that an hour was coming when men would be raised from the dead for either life or judgment... [ Continue Reading ]
“For as the Father has life in himself, so has he granted the Son also to have life in himself.” And the life that He is now offering has its source not only in the Father but in Himself, for He and the Father are one in having and giving life in themselves. He indeed is Himself the source of spiri... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he has given him the authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.” Not only does Jesus give life now, but as the Son of Man He has been given the authority to execute judgment. The connection with the Son of Man shows that the idea is taken from Daniel 7:9, where God takes His s... [ Continue Reading ]
“Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have practised evil to the resurrection of judgment.” Now Jesus moves on to the idea of the final resurrec... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE SON JESUS WORKS TOTALLY IN ACCORD WITH THE FATHER'S WILL (JOHN 5:30). Jesus now emphasises that He works and judges totally in line with His Father. He does nothing on the basis simply of His own will. He aligns His will with the will of the Father. “I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I... [ Continue Reading ]
WITNESSES TO THE GENUINENESS OF HIS AUTHORITY (JOHN 5:31). Jesus now goes on to describe the witnesses which support Him: · He is the One to Whom the Father has borne witness (John 5:37) · His very works bear witness to Him as the One sent by the Father (John 5:36). · The Scriptures themselves b... [ Continue Reading ]
“If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” Clearly Jesus did not literally mean that His witness was not true simply because it was His own. He was rather acknowledging that self-testimony was seen as worthless by the Jews from a judicial point of view. This was the strongly held Jewish... [ Continue Reading ]
“There is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the witness that he witnesses of me is true.” He does not need to bear witness concerning Himself because there is Another Who bears witness to Him, Someone Whose witness is undoubted. As He will demonstrate later, God bears witness to Him,... [ Continue Reading ]
“You have sent to John and he has born witness to the truth. But the witness which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you might be saved. He was a kindled and a shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” That earthly witness is John the Baptiser.... [ Continue Reading ]
“But the witness which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear witness to me that the Father has sent me.” His Father has provided Him with many witnesses. Every miracle He does bears testimony to Him f... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me.” Furthermore the Father had Himself borne witness to Jesus. He had done it through the voice at His baptism (Mark 1:11). He had done it through His Spirit continually testifying to men's hearts that Jesus was from God, for ‘he who believe... [ Continue Reading ]
“You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness to me, yet you refuse to come... [ Continue Reading ]
“I do not receive praise (doxan - ‘praise, glory') from men.” Jesus now contrasts Himself with the Judaisers. They constantly look for the praise of men (John 5:44). In contrast He does not seek such praise. Unlike these leaders of the Jews who seek praise from one another He does not seek praise a... [ Continue Reading ]
“But I know that you do not have love for God (literally ‘the love of God' where the genitive is objective) within yourselves. I am come in my Father's name and you do not receive me, if another comes in his own name him you will receive.” But by their refusal to hear Him they were revealing that t... [ Continue Reading ]
“How can you believe who receive praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?” He then questions how they can possibly believe when their main concern is not the praise and glory of God but their own praise and glory. For the truth is that if men are to know the... [ Continue Reading ]
“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father, there is one who accuses you, Moses on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” But let them not think that He would act a... [ Continue Reading ]