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 is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches. ✦ ³In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water; ✦ ⁴for an angel went down at certain times into the pool, and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. ⁵A certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years. ✦ ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?” ✦ ⁷The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.” ✦ ⁸Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.” ✦ ⁹Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. ✦ ¹⁰So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.” ✦ ¹¹He answered them, “He who made me well, the same said to me, ‘Take up your mat, and walk.’” ✦ ¹²Then they asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your mat, and walk’?” ✦ ¹³But he who was healed didn’t know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place. ✦ ¹⁴Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” ✦ ¹⁵The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ✦ ¹⁶For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath. ✦ ¹⁷But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.” ✦ ¹⁸For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. ✦ ¹⁹Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. ✦ ²⁰For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. ✦ ²¹For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. ✦ ²²For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, ✦ ²³that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. ✦ ²⁴“Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. ✦ ²⁵Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. ✦ ²⁶For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. ✦ ²⁷He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. ✦ ²⁸Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, ✦ ²⁹and will 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 of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me. ✦ ³¹“If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid. ✦ ³²It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true. ✦ ³³You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. ✦ ³⁴But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved. ✦ ³⁵He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ✦ ³⁶But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. ✦ ³⁷The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. ✦ ³⁸You don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent. ✦ ³⁹“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. ✦ ⁴⁰Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. ✦ ⁴¹I don’t receive glory from men. ✦ ⁴²But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves. ✦ ⁴³I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ✦ ⁴⁴How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God? ✦ ⁴⁵“Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ✦ ⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. ✦ ⁴⁷But if you don’t 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 →