John 5 - NIV Bible Study Commentary

Back again in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Pool of Bethesda and healed a man who had been crippled thirty-eight years. Since it was the Sabbath day and the man walked away carrying his mat, the Jews who saw him were scandalized that he was doing work on the Sabbath. Jesus justified doing work on the Sabbath by appealing to the fact that God, his Father, did not cease work on the Sabbath and “is always at his work to this very day” (v.17). This answer served only to heighten the anger of these devout Jews against Jesus: “not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (v.18).

Jesus discussed with them what it means to be the Son of God (vv.19 - 47). The context of this discourse is the Son of Man passage in Daniel 7:10 - 14, where the Son of Man carries out the task of judgment given him by the “Ancient of Days”: “The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (5:22). As the Daniel passage shows, all nations are to honor the Son with the same honor as given to the Father (v.23). Having identified himself as the Son of Man in Daniel (see Da 7:13), it was natural for Jesus to turn to the idea of the resurrection from the dead (Jn 5:25), for the coming of the Son of Man in Daniel is signaled by the resurrection from the dead (Da 12:2).

Thus, Jesus’ defense against the accusation that he made himself equal to the Father was his appeal to the Scriptures, for they “testify” that the Son of Man is equal with the Father (5:39). When he completes the work the Father has given him, i.e., his death on the cross (19:30), that work will testify “that the Father has sent” him (5:36) and that he is in fact the promised Son of Man. The only question that remains is whether his accusers will accept the authority of the OT. Jesus says, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (5:46).

After Jesus appealed to the OT Scriptures as the foundation of his messianic claim, John now adds the account of Jesus’ feeding the five thousand (6:1 - 15) and his walking on the sea (vv.16 - 24), the two miracles that most closely represent the work of Moses in the OT (cf. comments on Mk 6:30 - 52).

In light of these allusions to Moses, those following him raise the question of the manna in the desert and the work of Moses (6:25 - 71). In response, Jesus reminded them that it was not Moses who gave Israel the manna, but rather the Father who gave true bread (v.32). Moreover, Jesus added, the true bread from heaven is not what Israel ate and was hungry again the next day, “for the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (v.33). In other words, the OT narratives of Israel receiving the manna pictured God the Father giving life to his people through the Son. He said, “I am the bread of life” (cf. v.35; v.38).

When the crowd questioned how Jesus, “the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know” (v.42), could be the one who came down from heaven, Jesus explained that he came from the heavenly Father (v.46). Though his hearers remain perplexed, the readers of John’s gospel know what he is saying because in John 1:1 - 14, John has already introduced Jesus as the Word who was with God and who was God (1:1).

Jesus now explained his allusion to the OT manna narratives (see 6:49 - 51). Just as Jesus would give the world the “living water” that was eternal life (4:14), so in his own death for their sins, Jesus would give his body and flesh as the manna that would be eternal life for the world.

Once again, those listening to Jesus did not understand (vv.52, 60). John’s readers will understand what Jesus meant; he was speaking of his death on the cross by which he would give life to the world. Only those who were called by the Father could receive that life (v.65). Hence many turned away “and no longer followed him” (v.66). By contrast, Peter, speaking for the rest of the Twelve, said, “You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God” (vv.68 - 69).