John 5

Chapter 5

Jesus Heals a Lame Man

1 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,t with five covered porches.3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.t5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,

10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.
13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”

15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God

16 So the Jewish leaders began harassingt Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules.17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.21 For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants.22 In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge,

23 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.27 And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man.t28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son,29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.

30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.

Witnesses to Jesus

31 “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid.32 But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true.33 In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true.34 Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved.35 John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message.36 But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.37 And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face,

38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.
39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!

40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
41 “Your approval means nothing to me,42 because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.43 For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them.

44 No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.t
45 “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes.46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

47 But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

JOHN 5

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

1 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for another Jewish festival.t

2 In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.t

3-4 Many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying close to the pool.t
5 Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years.

6 When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”

7 The man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”
8 Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!”

9 Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.

10  t When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they said to him, “This is the Sabbath! No one is allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath.”

11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk.”
12 They asked him, “Who is this man that told you to pick up your mat and walk?”

13 But he did not know who Jesus was, and Jesus had left because of the crowd.
14 Later, Jesus met the man in the temple and told him, “You are now well. But don't sin anymore or something worse might happen to you.” 15 The man left and told the leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him.

16 They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and this is why I keep on working.”

18 t Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said God was his Father, which made him equal with God.

The Son's Authority

19 Jesus told the people:
I tell you for certain the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. 20 The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. The Father will show him even greater things, and you will be amazed.

21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants to.
22 The Father doesn't judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone. 23 The Father wants all people to honor the Son as much as they honor him. When anyone refuses to honor the Son, this is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him.

24 I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.
25 I tell you for certain the time will come, and it is already here, when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen to it will live! 26 The Father has the power to give life, and he has given that same power to the Son.

27 And he has given his Son the right to judge everyone, because he is the Son of Man.
28 Don't be surprised! The time will come when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man,

29 t and they will come out of their graves. Everyone who has done good things will rise to life, but everyone who has done evil things will rise and be condemned.

30 I cannot do anything on my own. The Father sent me, and he is the one who told me how to judge. I judge with fairness, because I obey him, and I don't just try to please myself.

Witnesses to Jesus

35 t John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.

36 But something more important than John speaks for me. I mean the things that the Father has given me to do! All of these speak for me and prove that the Father sent me.
37  t The Father who sent me also speaks for me, but you have never heard his voice or seen him face to face.

38 You have not believed his message, because you refused to have faith in the one he sent.
39  t You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me,

40 but you refuse to come to me for eternal life.
41 I don't care about human praise, 42 but I do know that none of you love God. 43 I have come with my Father's authority, and you have not welcomed me. But you will welcome people who come on their own.

44 How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don't care about praise that the only God can give!
45 Don't think that I will be the one to accuse you to the Father. You have put your hope in Moses, yet he is the very one who will accuse you. 46 Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. 47 But if you don't believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?