John 5 - The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible

5:1 feast of the Jews. We do not know whether it was Passover, Pentecost, or Tabernacles.

5:2 Bethesda. “House of Mercy.” porches. Covered colonnades where the sick gathered in large numbers.

5:3 impotent. Weak. halt. Crippled.

5:4 These words explain the large gathering of invalids around this pool.

5:5 infirmity. Weakness. thirty and eight years. Only an act of God could heal him of a condition so entrenched and long-term.

5:6 Wilt thou. Are you willing, do you wish.

5:7 I have no man . . . another steppeth down before me. Every man was out for himself, a display of humanity’s selfish nature.

5:10 not lawful. The sour religionists instead of rejoicing scold him for allegedly breaking the Sabbath.

5:13 wist not. Did not know. conveyed himself away. Left without being seen.

5:14 sin no more. It is clear that though this man’s body had been healed, his soul had not been saved. a worse thing. God’s eternal judgment is far more horrible than thirty-eight years of severe disability (Matt. 5:29–30).

5:15 told . . . it was Jesus. He knowingly betrayed the Lord who had healed him to Christ’s enemies.

5:16 Jews persecute Jesus. Here, and often elsewhere (v. 18; 7:1,11,13; etc.), the Pharisees and other leaders of Judaea, not necessarily the Jewish people as a whole.

5:17–18 My Father. An unprecedented way to speak of God. The Jews rightly understood it as claiming Jesus’ equality with God (10:30–33). hitherto. Until now.

5:19 Verily, verily. See note at 1:51. can do nothing of himself. The Father and the Son are one God and have one perfect will, and yet there is order in the Trinity, such that the Father leads and the Son follows. what things soever he doeth . . . the Son likewise. All the works of the Trinity in creation, providence, and salvation engage all three divine persons in united action, for they share one divine power (see note at 6:65).

5:20 sheweth him all things that himself doeth. This implies that the Son has the infinite knowledge of God (16:30; 21:17). greater works than these. Christ’s healings were signs that He would raise the dead (vv. 21–22), in the last day unto judgment (vv. 22–23,28–29) and in this age to spiritual life (vv. 24–25). These are the works of God.

5:21 quickeneth. Gives life. whom he will. Christ is sovereign in salvation (Matt. 11:27).

5:22–23 God the Father displays the divine honor of God the Son in appointing Him to execute the divine work of judging all men, so that people must reverence Christ.

5:24 hath everlasting life. The glorious life of the coming kingdom (Matt. 25:46) has already come into this world in Jesus Christ (1:4) for all who are in union with Him by faith.

5:25 hour is coming, and now is. Christ’s coming marks the climax of God’s plan. dead . . . shall live. Christ brings a spiritual resurrection from the dead (v. 24; Luke 15:32; Eph. 2:1,5; 1 John 3:14) through His powerful Word (hear the voice; cf. 11:43–44).

5:26 life in himself. The triune God is the “I AM” (8:58; Ex. 3:14), the self-existent One who depends on nothing outside Himself (aseity) but is His own life and so gives all life to others (1:4; 4:10,14,24; Ps. 36:8–9; Jer. 2:13; 17:13). given to the Son to have life in himself. God the Son possesses the same self-existence of the divine nature as the Father, yet this is from the Father, implying that the Father eternally begets or generates the person of the Son in the fullness of the divine nature (6:57).

5:28–29 hour is coming. Judgment day, at Christ’s return. in the graves . . . shall come forth. The physical resurrection from the dead of the good and evil to their eternal destinies (Dan. 12:2).

5:31–39 Christ was accused of breaking the Sabbath and of falsely claiming equality with God (vv. 16,18). In response He cites various witnesses who support His testimony of Himself (v. 31), including John the Baptist (vv. 32–35, and, far greater, God the Father, who testified of His approval through Christ’s miracles (vv. 36–37; see Acts 10:38) and in His Word, the Scriptures (vv. 38–39).

5:38–39 Though scholars of the Scriptures, they had rejected the message of the Bible (have not his word abiding in you) because they were blind to its most important teaching: Jesus is the Christ (testify of me).

5:40 ye will not come to me. Literally, “You are not willing to come to Me.” The responsibility for man’s damnation falls upon sinners because they refuse to believe.

5:43 if another shall come in his own name. In the coming days there were to be many false messiahs (Matt. 24:24) whom people would follow; an example is Simon Bar-Kochba (d. 135).

5:44 How can ye believe. It is a snare to seek the honor and praise of men.

5:45–47 These unconverted rabbis professed to respect and observe Moses’ teachings. But, ironically, since they rejected Christ they would in the last days discover that Moses would be among the first to accuse them of error and sin.

5:46 Moses . . . wrote. Jesus affirmed that Moses was the author of the biblical books known as “The Law” (7:19; see Introduction to the Pentateuch).

Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship: Chapter 5

1. Christ blessed the cripple before he had even asked to be healed. Yet He also issued a strong call to repentance (v. 14). Many who receive physical or material blessings from Christ do not acknowledge God in a life of repentance. How have you experienced earthly blessings from Christ? What does it mean for you to hear Christ’s “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (v. 14)?
2. None will ever honor Christ rightly until they recognize that He is the eternal Son of God incarnate. From all eternity the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have shared one divine nature, with one will and one power. They cooperate in a beautiful relationship as three persons in one God. Honoring the Son as God does not demean the Father, for honoring the Son is the way through which the Father desires to be honored. How can we honor the Son as the Giver of eternal life? As the Judge?