John 5

Part of Conflict and the Bread of Life📖 John introduction

Read the chapter

¹After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ✦ ²Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porticoes. ✦ ³In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or paralyzed. ✦ ⁵Now a man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. ✦ ⁶Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?” ✦ ⁷The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” ✦ ⁸Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” ✦ ⁹Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was a Sabbath on that day. ✦ ¹⁰So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” ✦ ¹¹But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’ ” ✦ ¹²They asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” ✦ ¹³But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. ✦ ¹⁴Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” ✦ ¹⁵The man went away, and informed the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ✦ ¹⁶For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. ✦ ¹⁷But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” ✦ ¹⁸For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. ✦ ¹⁹Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way. ✦ ²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. ✦ ²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. ✦ ²²For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, ✦ ²³so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ✦ ²⁴“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. ✦ ²⁵Truly, truly, I say to you, a time is coming and even now has arrived, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ✦ ²⁶For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; ✦ ²⁷and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. ✦ ²⁸Do not be amazed at this; for a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ✦ ²⁹and will come out: those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment. ✦ ³⁰“I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. ✦ ³¹“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. ✦ ³²There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. ✦ ³³You have sent messengers to John, and he has testified to the truth. ✦ ³⁴But the testimony I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ✦ ³⁵He was the lamp that was burning and shining, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ✦ ³⁶But the testimony I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me. ✦ ³⁷And the Father who sent Me, He has testified about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. ✦ ³⁸Also you do not have His word remaining in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent. ✦ ³⁹You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; ✦ ⁴⁰and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ✦ ⁴¹I do not receive glory from people; ✦ ⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. ✦ ⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ✦ ⁴⁴How can you believe, when you accept glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? ✦ ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. ✦ ⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. ✦ ⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” ✦

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.

← John 4 John 6 →