Frameworks:
John's Gospel, chapter 5
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
CHAPTER
5
v.1-15
The Healing at the Pool
v.16-30
The Authority of the Son
v.31-47
Testimonies About Jesus
v.1-15
The Healing at the Pool
v.1
(Jesus goes to Jerusalem again for one of the annual
feasts) Some time later, Jesus
went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.
v.2
(there was a place of supposed healing there)
Now there is in Jerusalem near the
Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which
is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
v.3
(the sick and disabled were there) Here
a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame,
the paralyzed.
v.5
(one had been invalid for 38 years) One
who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
v.6
(Jesus asked him if he wanted to get better)
When Jesus saw him lying there and
learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he
asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
v.7
(the man said he was unable to) “Sir,”
the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when
the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else
goes down ahead of me.”
v.8
(Jesus commanded him to walk) Then
Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
v.9
(immediately he was healed) At
once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
v.9,10
(it was a Sabbath which caused problems for the religious
authorities) The day on which
this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said
to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids
you to carry your mat.”
v.11
(the man blames Jesus) But
he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your
mat and walk.' ”
v.12
(they ask who it was) So
they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up
and walk?”
v.13
(the man didn't know) The
man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped
away into the crowd that was there.
v.14
(Jesus met him and challenged him) Later
Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well
again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
v.15
(the man reported him to the authorities) The
man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who
had made him well.
v.16-30
The Authority of the Son
v.16
(this upset the authorities) So,
because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish
leaders began to persecute him.
v.17
(Jesus referred to his Father working) In
his defence Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work
to this very day, and I too am working.”
v.18
(this upset them even more) For
this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was
he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father,
making himself equal with God.
v.19,20
(Jesus equated his actions with God's) Jesus
gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father
loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show
him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
v.21
(they are both in the life-giving business)
For just as the Father raises the
dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he
is pleased to give it.
v.22,23
(judgment has been given to Jesus) Moreover,
the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the
Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father.
Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who
sent him.
v.24
(believing in Jesus' words brings eternal life)
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears
my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will
not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
v.25
(the dead, he says, will hear and will live)
Very truly I tell you, a time is
coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the
Son of God and those who hear will live.
v.26
(God has given him life to impart) For
as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also
to have life in himself.
v.27
(and authority to judge) And
he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
v.28,29
(the resurrection will prove it) “Do
not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in
their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done
what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is
evil will rise to be condemned.
v.30
(Jesus only does his Father's bidding) By
myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment
is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
v.31-47
Testimonies About Jesus
v.31
(he doesn't testify to himself ) “If
I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.
v.32
(yet another does testify on his behalf) There
is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony
about me is true.
v.33
(John testified) “You
have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.
v.34
(not that Jesus relies on that) Not
that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be
saved.
v.35
(John was a light bringer though) John
was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time
to enjoy his light.
v.36
(nevertheless the Father's works in him testify
to him) “I have testimony weightier
than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me
to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father
has sent me.
v.37,38
(and the Father has spoken on his behalf) And
the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You
have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word
dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.
v.39,40
(the scriptures testify to him) You
study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them
you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify
about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
v.41,42
(he doesn't want their praise) “I
do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know
that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
v.43
(he comes only in his Father's name) I
have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if
someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
v.44
(they glory self-seekers so they won't understand)
How can you believe since
you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that
comes from the only God?
v.45
(Moses is their accuser) “But
do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser
is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.
v.46
(if they believed Moses they would believe in him)
If you believed Moses, you would
believe me, for he wrote about me.
v.47
(but they don't do either) But
since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe
what I say?”