John 5 - NKJV Foundation Study Bible

5:2 the Sheep Gate. This was a gate in the wall of Jerusalem near the temple, through which sheep were brought for sacrifice.

5:9 took up his bed, and walked. Carrying a bed on the Sabbath was considered a violation of the law of Moses (v. 10).

5:10 it is not lawful. The law of Moses taught that the Sabbath must be different from other days. On it, neither people nor animals could work. The prophet Jeremiah had prohibited carrying burdens or working on the Sabbath (Jer. 17:21–22). Over the years, the Jewish leaders had amassed thousands of rules and regulations concerning the Sabbath. By Jesus’ day, they had 39 different classifications of work. According to them, carrying furniture and even providing medical treatment on the Sabbath were forbidden. Jesus did not break the law. He violated the traditions of the Pharisees which had grown up around the law.

5:16 the Jews persecuted Jesus. This is the first recorded declaration of open hostility toward Jesus in the Gospel of John.

5:17 My Father. Jesus is “the only begotten Son” (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18)—that is, the unique Son of God. Here He claims not only a unique relationship with God the Father, but also equality with God in nature. Since God continually does good works without allowing Himself to stop on the Sabbath, the Son does likewise, since He is equal with God. Certainly the Jewish leaders understood the implications of Jesus’ claims (v. 18).

5:19 the Son can do nothing of Himself. Action by the Son apart from the Father is impossible because of the unity of the Father and the Son (v. 17). whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. Here is a claim of deity and unity with the Father.

5:22 all judgment to the Son. The Jews recognized that God alone had the right to judge humanity. In claiming that the Father committed all judgment to Him, Jesus again claimed equality with God.

5:24 Never-Ending Life—One of the primary features of the new life that we have in Christ is that it is an eternal or everlasting life. This truth completely changes how we look at our present lives and at the future. It needs to be seen as something we possess even now (10:28). We have entered into a new, personal relationship with God that gives us a spiritual vitality and fullness of life that we lacked before (17:3). It will be completely fulfilled in the future when we are bodily redeemed (Rom. 8:23). The greatness of this spiritual reality constitutes a wonderful incentive to vigorously proclaim the gospel to those who are still dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).

5:26 For. This indicates that this verse explains the previous verse. Christ can give life because He Himself possesses life. He not only has a part in giving it, He is the source of it. This is another testimony to Jesus’ deity because only God has life in Himself.

5:29 resurrection of life . . . resurrection of condemnation. Two separate resurrections are presented here in the fashion of the Old Testament prophets, who often grouped together events of the future without distinction of the time (Is. 61:2). Jesus was teaching the universality of resurrection, not the timing of it.

5:31–32 My witness is not true. If Christ were the only one bearing witness of what He was claiming, His witness would not be accepted. According to Jewish legal practice, a person’s testimony about himself was not accepted in court. So, in this case, Jesus offered another witness—John the Baptist (v. 33).

5:42 the love of God. This love is not love from God but love for God. Love from God is evidenced in Christ (3:16; Rom. 5:8). Since God loves us, we should love Him (Deut. 6:5; 1 John 4:19).

5:45 you trust. Christ will not have to accuse the people on judgment day because the one in whom they place their trust, Moses, will. The people will be condemned by the very law they professed to keep.

5:46 for he wrote about Me. Moses wrote about Christ in the promises to the patriarchs, in the history of the deliverance from Egypt, in the symbolic institutions of the law, and in the prediction of a Prophet like himself (Luke 24:25–26). If the people had believed Moses, they would have received Jesus gladly. Over 300 Old Testament prophecies were specifically fulfilled in the first coming of Christ.