John 5 - Holman KJV Study Bible

5:1-47 The "festival cycle" in John's Gospel spans from 5:1 to 10:42 and is characterized by escalating conflict between ­Jesus and the Jewish authorities. This cycle begins with yet another miracle—Jesus' healing of a lame man at a feast in Jerusalem (see note at 2:11). The fact that the healing took place on a sabbath provoked a major controversy. ­Jesus was accused of breaking the law by telling the man to pick up his bed (5:8-10). The controversy escalated to the point where the Jewish leaders charged ­Jesus with blasphemy for claiming to continue the work of God (v. 18). This provided an occasion for ­Jesus to defend His ministry and enumerate evidences for His identity.

5:1 After this marks the passing of an indefinite period of time. Up to a year and a half may have passed after the last recorded feast, the Passover, when ­Jesus cleared the temple and met with Nicodemus. The unnamed feast may have been Tabernacles.

5:2-4 Bethesda may mean "house of mercy," a fitting term given the desperate state of the people who lay there hoping for a miraculous cure. See note at 1:38. Most likely official Judaism did not approve of the superstition about the angel.

5:5 Infirmity probably means "paralyzed" or "lame" here (the Gk word expresses "disabled"). We do not know the invalid's age or how long he had been lying there, but he had been crippled for thirty and eight years, which is longer than many people in antiquity lived and roughly as long as Israel's wilderness wanderings (Deut. 2:14). On John's penchant for selecting "difficult" and striking miracles, see note at 2:11. For a similar healing, see Matt. 9:1-8.

5:6 Knew probably indicates supernatural knowledge (see notes at 1:48 and 4:19). ­Jesus' conversation with the man may have been occasioned by his request for alms (Acts 3:1-5).

5:7 This man relied on superstition rather than faith in God. He also thought fate was unfair regarding who was healed.

5:8-9 A bed (Gk krabattosas distinguished Gk klinarion, e.g., ; Acts 5:15) was the poor man's bedding. Made of straw, it could be rolled up and carried. We are not told this day was the sabbath until the miracle was performed. This sets the context for the tensions with the unbelieving Jews (cp. 9:14).

5:10 In a petty display of religious legalism, the Jewish leaders objected to the man's picking up his bed on the sabbath. While not actually breaking any biblical sabbath regulations, the man was violating a rabbinical code that prohibited the carrying of an object "from one domain into another" (m. Sabb. 7:2). Hence ­Jesus would be accused of enticing the man to sin (v v. 12,16).

5:14 ­Jesus met the man again in the temple (see note at 2:14), a short distance from the site of his healing. ­Jesus' words may imply that the man's suffering was due to sin but do not suggest that all suffering is caused by personal sin (see note at 9:2). A worse thing may refer to eternal judgment for sin (v v. 22-30).

5:17 While Gen. 2:2-3 teaches that God rested (Hb shabath) on the seventh day of creation, Jewish rabbis agreed that God continually upheld the universe, yet without breaking the sabbath. If God was above sabbath regulations, so was ­Jesus (Matt. 12:1-14). What is more, even the Jews made exceptions to the rule prohibiting work on the sabbath, most notably in cases where circumcision occurred on a sabbath (7:23).

5:18 Making himself equal with God seemed to violate the OT teaching that there is only one God (Deut. 6:4). Thus the Jewish leaders accused ­Jesus of blasphemy, which became the primary charge leveled against Him before Pilate (19:7).

5:19-26 On ­Jesus' relationship to the Father in these verses, see note at 3:16-18.

5:19 ­Jesus echoes Moses' affirmation concerning the works he did: "I have not done them of mine own mind" (Num. 16:28).

5:21 ­Jesus' statement is significant since raising the dead and giving life are the prerogatives of God alone (Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6; 2 Kings 5:7).

5:22 Like life (v. 21), judgment is the exclusive prerogative of God (Gen. 18:25; Judg. 11:27).

5:23 ­Jesus characterized Himself as God's authorized messenger (see note at 3:16-18). This is similar to Moses and the prophets, who served as God's agents and spokesmen. Of designated messengers (Hb shaliach), Jews held that "a man's agent is like the man himself" (m. Ber. 5:5). This verse in effect established ­Jesus' right to be worshipped and amounted to a claim of deity.

5:25 ­Jesus' words are reminiscent of Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37).

5:26 The claim that ­Jesus had life in himself echoes the affirmation in the prologue that "in him was life" (1:4; see note at 14:6). It is further supported by ­Jesus' statement, "I am the resurrection, and the life" (11:25). Because He is "the life" and has life in Himself, ­Jesus is able to give life (abundant life noweternal life in the future) to all who place their trust in Him (3:16; 10:10).

5:27 Because he is the Son of man echoes Dan. 7:13.

5:30 On I can of mine own self do nothing, see notes at verses 19 and 23.

5:31-47 ­Jesus spoke of several witnesses who bore testimony about Him: John the Baptist (v v. 32-36; cp. 1:7-8,15,19,32-34; 3:26); His own works (5:36; cp. 10:25,32,37-38; 15:24); God the Father (5:37-38; 8:18); and the Scriptures (5:39), particularly those written by Moses (v v. 45-47). Elsewhere in this Gospel, reference is made to the witness of ­Jesus Himself (3:11,32; 8:14,18; 18:37), the Spirit (chaps. 14–16, esp. 15:26), the disciples (15:27), and the fourth evangelist (19:35; 21:24). The "witness" theme in John's Gospel is part of a larger "trial motif." This reverses the world's perspective of ­Jesus being put on trial. It becomes clear that it is really the world, not ­Jesus, that is on trial, with a multitude of witnesses bearing testimony to His true identity as Messiah. This section also emphasizes the world's guilt for rejecting ­Jesus.

5:31 ­Jesus did not deny His reliability. He was alluding to the importance of having multiple witnesses (Deut. 17:6; 19:15; cp. Num. 35:30).

5:32 ­Jesus was speaking of God the Father (cp. v. 37). Avoiding God's name was a common way of showing reverence.

5:33 On ­Jesus as the truth, see note at 14:6 and the echo of this passage before Pilate (18:37). Compare 3 John 3,12.

5:35 ­Jesus' characterization of John the Baptist as a burning and a shining light (lit "lamp") seems to echo Ps. 132:17 where God "ordained a lamp" for His Anointed One. John was a "lamp" but not the Light (1:7-9); his witness was comparatively small and temporary. The past tense may imply that John was now dead or imprisoned. See notes at 3:29 and 3:30.

5:37 The Father himself . . . hath borne witness may refer to the voice at ­Jesus' baptism (Matt. 3:17), a passage not explicitly mentioned in John, though the primary reference may be to God's witness in Scripture (5:45-47; cp. Luke 24:27,44; Acts 13:27; 1 John 5:9). ­Jesus' affirmation that His hearers had not heard God's voice or seen his shape (cp. 1:18) seems to allude to wilderness Israel, which received the law at mount Sinai without hearing or seeing God directly.

5:38 A God-fearing person does have the word of God living in his heart (Josh. 1:8-9; Ps. 119:11).

5:39 Scripture itself does not impart life, but it witnesses to the One who does—Jesus (cp. v v. 46-47).

5:43 ­Jesus predicted the proliferation of false Christs as a sign of the end times (Matt. 24:5). The first-century Jewish historian Josephus reported a string of messianic pretenders in the years before a.d. 70.

5:45-47 ­Jesus' appeal to Moses prepares the way for chapter 6, where ­Jesus is presented as the new Moses providing the new "bread from heaven." The reference to Moses as a witness to accuse the Jews may allude to Deut. 31:26-27 where the law was invoked as a witness against the Israelites. The reference to Moses writing about ­Jesus may allude to the Pentateuch in general or to the prediction of a prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15).