John 5 - NIV Application Bible

5:1–2 Today, this pool is located adjacent to the Church of St. Anne inside Jerusalem’s Old City.

5:3–4 We learn in the story that the people believed that occasionally an angel would descend and stir the water of the pool, and the first one to touch the water would be healed. (See NIV text note on v. 4.)

5:5–7 Jesus meets a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. This area was likely a regular place for him to spend the day. Here he could beg from people coming to the pool and take his chances at being healed.

Jesus takes the initiative, using words with implications beyond the miracle at hand: “Do you want to get well?” (v. 6). The man then appeals to his dilemma.

5:8–9a Jesus ignores both the superstition surrounding the pool and the man’s complaint: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (v. 8). The healing is immediate. The man simply obeys and is healed.

5:9b–13 The day when Jesus heals the man is the Sabbath, and immediately the story takes an abrupt and unsettling turn. A self-appointed enforcer of Sabbath law confronts the man who has been healed. Jesus’ opponents show themselves in all their hostility for the first time in this Gospel. Their question shifts rapidly to the identity of the healer.

5:14–15 When Jesus sees this man who was healed, he says two things. “See, you are well” is no doubt a recognition that his cure was not short-lived, as many supposed cures were (v. 14a). But then Jesus remarks, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you” (v. 14b).

Is Jesus making some link between sin and physical ills? The man’s sin and his condition are linked. Scripture indicates that some tragedies may be the result of specific sins, but people who have infirmities have not necessarily sinned. John 9:3 provides Jesus’ correction of that idea.

5:16–18 We dare not miss the pivotal importance of these three verses. The Jewish leadership has uncovered two crimes that deserve the death penalty. First, Jesus was viewed as indifferent to divine Sabbath law as mediated through Jewish tradition.

The second charge against Jesus has to do with blasphemy. Jesus defends his Sabbath activity in v. 17. If God (who made the Sabbath) can continue to work positively while commanding rest, then Jesus’ works on the Sabbath are defensible. Jesus is assuming divine rights (v. 19).

If the defense is true, Jesus is making a breathtaking claim: equality with God. If it is false, a serious crime against Judaism has been committed.

5:19 The Son does not simply draw inspiration from the Father but imitates him tirelessly and successfully. What makes this possible? John provides three answers in vv. 20–23.

5:20 The most important affirmation is that the Father loves the Son. The Greek present tense suggests ongoing, continuous affection here, which leads to complete disclosure of the deeper mysteries of the Father.

5:21–22 This love spills into two tasks entrusted to the Son that belong exclusively to the Father. God alone has power over life and can raise people from death. That Jesus can do it too sets him apart. Jesus also becomes the catalyst of divine judgment. Those who love darkness find themselves under judgment already. Whoever believes in the Son has life already. This makes Jesus God’s premier agent in the world.

5:23 Jesus claims that whoever wishes to honor the Father must likewise honor the Son who represents him. And whoever dishonors the Son offends the Father whose presence stands behind him.

5:24–30 Now that the groundwork has been laid, Jesus expands and interprets what life and judgment really mean. To hear the words of Jesus is to believe God. God’s word and Jesus’ word are one and the same; to embrace one is to embrace the other. Jesus is expanding his divine claim. His authority over the Sabbath leads now to authority over eternal life. Because of who he is, Jesus can do what God does.

5:31–40 In OT law, more than one witness was needed in order to condemn someone. Jesus’ claims are extraordinary. If the claims are corroborated, they stand. Jesus therefore identifies five witnesses to back up his claims. (1) The first witness is God (vv. 31–32). God’s word and power are within Jesus, pointing to the truth of who he is. (2) The next witness is John the Baptist (vv. 33–35). John directed his followers to become Jesus’ disciples. (3) Next Jesus points to his own works, enabled by the Father (v. 36). (4) Jesus adds the Scriptures to his list of witnesses (vv. 37–38). Jesus fulfills the Scripture. (5) The final witness is Moses (vv. 39–40), who is represented in Scripture, but whose words about the Messiah are unequivocal (Dt 18:15).

5:41–44 Jesus turns the tables and moves from defense to prosecution. If these people cannot see the Father’s work in their midst, something must be profoundly wrong. Their disbelief is deliberate and the diagnosis severe: They love the religious life but have forgotten how to love God.

5:45–47 Jesus’ final reference to Moses points not only to Moses’ role as a witness (cf. above), but also to his role as judge. The very words of Moses will come back to judge the unbelieving. To know the Scriptures but not know God is extremely dangerous.

✜ 5:1–47 Jesus’ inquisitors represent the religious establishment. For them, the vigorous preservation of religious tradition counts more highly than the openness of faith. These people know their Scriptures but use them to defend all the wrong things.

On a national level, some conservative Christian groups unsheathe their religious swords over obscure doctrinal matters. On local levels, many of us have likely seen church members viciously lash out because they perceive their power and influence diminishing. Others lash out at their fellow members because they are “stuck in their old ways” and don’t have “true faith.” All of this bickering, this chapter suggests, is empty religion that seeks its own glory. In the end, it is religion that would condemn and crucify Jesus as a religious duty. Jesus calls us, as brothers and sisters in God’s family of the redeemed, to a better way.