The Bible — World English Bible
John 5
In brief
John 5 opens at the pool of Bethesda, where Jesus meets a man who has been sick for thirty-eight years. He asks him if he wants to be made well, then tells him to get up and walk. It is the Sabbath, and some leaders seek to kill him, because he calls God his Father and makes himself equal with God. Jesus answers: the Son does only what he sees the Father doing, he gives life and he judges. Whoever hears his word and believes has passed out of death into life.
The chapter in 4 parts
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 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13But he who was healed didn’t know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place.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 who 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?”
Key verses
When 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?”
Jesus asks a question that seems obvious: do you want to be made well? It is not limited to the body: it invites the man to say what he truly hopes for, after thirty-eight years of waiting.
The 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.” Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”
The man answers with what stands in his way: he has no one to help him. Jesus does not discuss the pool: he tells him to get up, take his mat and walk. The healing does not depend on the stirred water but on the word of Jesus.
For 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.
John explains why the hostility is growing: in the leaders' eyes, Jesus was not only breaking the Sabbath, he was calling God his own Father and making himself equal with God. The debate is about his identity.
“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.
This is one of the central verses of John's Gospel. Whoever hears Jesus' word and believes the one who sent him has eternal life, does not come into judgment, and has already passed out of death into life.
“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.
Jesus speaks to those who study the Scriptures carefully: they speak of him, but they refuse to come to him to have life. Knowing the text does not replace meeting the one it speaks about.
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Frequently asked questions about John 5
What does the healing at Bethesda mean in John 5?
Jesus heals with a word a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years, without using the water of the pool. The story shows that healing comes from Jesus and not from a ritual, and it raises the question of his identity: who can act this way, if not God? It is also a sign of the life he gives, announced in the rest of the chapter.
Why does Jesus ask the paralyzed man, “Do you want to be made well?”
Jesus is not looking for information, he knows the man has been sick for a long time. The question invites him to express his desire and to come out of resignation. The man answers with his obstacles, and Jesus gives him the command to get up, which changes the perspective.
What does it mean to pass from death to life in John 5:24?
Jesus affirms that whoever hears his word and believes the one who sent him has eternal life right now and does not come into judgment. Christians understand this passage as the move from separation from God to communion with him, already begun and to be completed at the resurrection.
Why do the religious leaders oppose Jesus in John 5?
The healing takes place on the Sabbath, and the man carries his mat. But John specifies that the opposition grows above all because Jesus calls God his Father and makes himself equal with God. The chapter is one of those where Jesus most clearly affirms his unity with the Father.
Articles quoting John 5
- 20 Bible Verses for a Christian Funeral in Japan: Hope and Comfort for the Bereaved
- 25 Bible Verses About Salvation
- The Names of Jesus That Reveal God's Character
- John 5: You Are Not Alone, Count on the LORD
- Luke 9: What the Mountain of the Transfiguration Reveals
- John 5: The Humility of the Son Who Does Nothing on His Own
World English Bible translation — public domain.