John 5

Part of Conflict and the Bread of Life📖 John introduction

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¹After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ✦ ²Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. ✦ ³In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. ✦ ⁴For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. ⁵Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. ✦ ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made 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, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” ✦ ⁹And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. ✦ ¹⁰The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” ✦ ¹¹He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ” ✦ ¹²Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ✦ ¹³But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. ✦ ¹⁴Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” ✦ ¹⁵The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ✦ ¹⁶For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. ✦ ¹⁷But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” ✦ ¹⁸Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. ✦ ¹⁹Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. ✦ ²⁰For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. ✦ ²¹For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. ✦ ²²For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, ✦ ²³that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ✦ ²⁴“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. ✦ ²⁵Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, 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 He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, ✦ ²⁷and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. ✦ ²⁸Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice ✦ ²⁹and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. ✦ ³⁰I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. ✦ ³¹“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. ✦ ³²There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. ✦ ³³You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ✦ ³⁴Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. ✦ ³⁵He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. ✦ ³⁶But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. ✦ ³⁷And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. ✦ ³⁸But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. ✦ ³⁹You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. ✦ ⁴⁰But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. ✦ ⁴¹“I do not receive honor from men. ✦ ⁴²But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. ✦ ⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. ✦ ⁴⁴How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? ✦ ⁴⁵Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. ✦ 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.

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