Naravist

The Gospels · New Testament

John 5

John 5: healing at Bethesda and the witnesses Jesus names

General context

At a feast of the Jews, Jesus goes up to Jerusalem to a pool called Bethesda with five porches, where many sick people lie. One man has had an infirmity thirty and eight years. Jesus asks whether he wants to be made whole, and the man answers that he has no one to put him into the pool. Jesus tells him to rise, take up his bed and walk, and he does. Because it is the sabbath, the Jews tell him it is not lawful to carry his bed, and he answers that the man who healed him told him to. He does not know who it was until Jesus finds him in the temple. When he reports it, the Jews persecute Jesus, and after Jesus says his Father works and he works, they seek the more to kill him. The rest of the chapter is one long speech: the Son does what he sees the Father do, judgment is committed to the Son, the dead will hear his voice, and the witnesses to him are John, the works, the Father and the scriptures, with Moses named as their accuser.

Cited passages: John 5:1, John 5:2, John 5:3, John 5:5, John 5:6, John 5:7, John 5:8, John 5:9, John 5:10, John 5:13, John 5:14, John 5:15, John 5:16, John 5:17, John 5:19, John 5:22, John 5:25, John 5:33, John 5:36, John 5:39, John 5:45

John 5 (KJV)

1After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

3In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

5And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

9And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

10The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

11He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

12Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

13And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

14Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

15The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

16And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

17But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

18Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

19Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

22For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

23That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

30I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

31If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

32There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

33Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

34But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

35He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

36But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

37And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

38And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

39Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

41I receive not honour from men.

42But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

43I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

44How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

46For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

47But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The feast is unnamed, and the chapter gives no date. Two explanations are the narrator's: the account of the angel troubling the water, and the note that the healed man did not know who had healed him because Jesus had withdrawn in the crowd. The narrator also states the charge in verse 18 in his own voice, saying the Jews sought the more to kill him because he had broken the sabbath and called God his Father. The healed man is not named and the thirty and eight years describe how long he had the infirmity, not his age. The pool's name is given in the Hebrew tongue. Jesus says he does not receive testimony from man, yet also appeals to what John said, and the chapter states both without resolving the tension.

Cited passages: John 5:1, John 5:4, John 5:13, John 5:18, John 5:5, John 5:2, John 5:34, John 5:33, John 5:35

Literary context

A short scene is followed by a speech many times its length, and the hinge is a single sabbath sentence. The healed man's answers deflect twice, first about having no one to help him and then about who told him to carry his bed, and both times he speaks of another man. The speech is built on pairs: Father and Son, hearing and living, doing good and doing evil, honour from men and honour from God. The word witness runs through the second half and is applied in turn to John, to the works, to the Father and to the scriptures, ending with Moses turned from defence into accuser. The last lines put writings against words, closing the speech on whether they will believe at all.

Cited passages: John 5:7, John 5:11, John 5:9, John 5:19, John 5:24, John 5:29, John 5:32, John 5:36, John 5:37, John 5:39, John 5:44, John 5:45, John 5:47

Key moments

  1. Thirty and eight years (John 5:5). The narrator says the man had been infirm for thirty and eight years.
  2. Rise, take up thy bed (John 5:8). Jesus tells the man to get up, take his bed and walk.
  3. A sabbath objection (John 5:10). The Jews tell the healed man it is not lawful to carry his bed on the sabbath.
  4. The healer identified (John 5:15). The man tells the Jews it was Jesus who made him whole.
  5. My Father worketh (John 5:17). Jesus answers the persecution by saying his Father works and he works.
  6. Judgment given to the Son (John 5:22). The speech says the Father judges no one but has committed judgment to the Son.
  7. Moses as accuser (John 5:45). Jesus says the one who accuses them is Moses, in whom they trust.

For reflection

Jesus asks a man who has been ill thirty and eight years whether he wants to be made whole, and the man answers by describing what keeps him from the pool. What does the question ask that his answer does not address?

People in this chapter