John 5

Part of Conflict and the Bread of Life📖 John introduction

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¹Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ✦ ²Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda. ✦ ³On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. ✦ ⁵One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ✦ ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” ✦ ⁷“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.” ✦ ⁸Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” ✦ ⁹Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day, ✦ ¹⁰so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.” ✦ ¹¹But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” ✦ ¹²“Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked. ✦ ¹³But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there. ✦ ¹⁴Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” ✦ ¹⁵And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ✦ ¹⁶Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him. ✦ ¹⁷But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.” ✦ ¹⁸Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. ✦ ¹⁹So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does. ✦ ²⁰The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these. ✦ ²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. ✦ ²²Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, ✦ ²³so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ✦ ²⁴Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. ✦ ²⁵Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ✦ ²⁶For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. ✦ ²⁷And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. ✦ ²⁸Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice ✦ ²⁹and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. ✦ ³⁰I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ✦ ³¹If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid. ✦ ³²There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid. ✦ ³³You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. ✦ ³⁴Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved. ✦ ³⁵John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light. ✦ ³⁶But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me. ✦ ³⁷And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, ✦ ³⁸nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent. ✦ ³⁹You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, ✦ ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to Me to have life. ✦ ⁴¹I do not accept glory from men, ✦ ⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. ✦ ⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. ✦ ⁴⁴How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ✦ ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. ✦ ⁴⁶If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. ✦ ⁴⁷But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

John 5 ·34 John 8 ·30 John 9 ·15 John 1 ·14 John 3 ·14 John 14 ·13 John 6 ·13 John 7 ·12

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 5YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 5David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 5Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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