John 5
New Catholic Bible
Jesus Restores the Work of God[a]
Chapter 5
The Sign Given on a Sabbath.[b] 1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feasts. 2 Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool that in Hebrew is called Bethesda.[c] It has five porticos, 3 and in these a large number of invalids used to lie, people who were blind, lame, and paralyzed, waiting for the movement of the water.[d] [ 4 For occasionally an angel of the Lord would come down into the pool and stir up the water. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.][e]
5 A man who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and was aware that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 The invalid answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am still on my way, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise! Take up your mat and walk!” 9 Immediately, the man was cured, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a Sabbath. 10 Therefore, the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “Today is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 He replied, “The man who cured me said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk!’ ” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you to take it up and walk?” 13 But the man who had been cured did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that was there.
14 Later, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that Jesus was the man who had made him well. 16 Therefore, the Jews began to harass Jesus because he was doing such things on the Sabbath. 17 However, Jesus responded to them, saying,
“My Father is still working,
and I am at work as well.”
18 For this reason, the Jews became even more determined to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but also calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
19 The Work of the Son.[f] Jesus replied to them, saying,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
the Son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees the Father doing.
For whatever the Father does,
the Son also does.
20 For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything
that he himself is doing.
And he will show him
even greater works than these,
so that you might be astonished.
21 “Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life,
so does the Son give life
to anyone he chooses.
22 The Father judges no one,
for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
23 so that all may honor the Son
as they honor the Father.
Anyone who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 “Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever hears my words
and believes in the one who sent me
possesses eternal life.
He will not come to judgment
but has passed from death to life.
25 “Amen, amen, I say to you,
the hour is coming,
indeed it is already here,
when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God,
and all those who hear it will live.
26 For just as the Father has life in himself,
so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
27 And he has also granted him
the power to pass judgment,
because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be astonished at this,
for the hour is coming
when all those who are in their graves
will hear his voice
29 and will come forth from their graves.
Those who have done good deeds
will rise to life,
while those who have done evil
will rise to judgment.
30 “I can do nothing on my own.
As I hear, I judge,
and my judgment is just,
because I seek to do
not my own will
but the will of him who sent me.
A Witness to Jesus
31 [g]“If I were to testify about myself,
my testimony would not be true.
32 However, there is another who testifies about me,
and I know that his testimony is true,
the testimony he bore concerning me.
33 You sent messengers to John,
and he has testified to the truth.
34 Not that I accept such human testimony,
but I say these things
so that you may be saved.
35 “John was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a time you were willing
to exult in his light.
36 But I have testimony that is greater than John’s.
The works that my Father
has given me to accomplish,
the very works that I am doing,
testify about me,
that the Father has sent me.
37 “And the Father who sent me
has himself testified about me.
You have not heard his voice
or seen his form,
38 and you do not have his word
abiding in you,
because you do not believe
him whom he has sent.
39 “Search the Scriptures carefully
because you believe that through them
you will gain eternal life.
Even they testify on my behalf.
40 Yet you refuse to come to me
to receive that life.
Unbelief of Jesus’ Hearers
41 “I do not accept the praise of men.
42 Moreover, I know that you do not have
the love of God in your hearts.
43 I have come in the name of my Father,
yet you do not accept me.
But if another should come in his own name,
you will accept him.
44 How can you believe
when you accept praise from one another,
yet you do not seek
the praise that comes from
the only God?
45 “Do not think that I will accuse you
before the Father.
You have placed your hope in Moses,
and he is the one who will accuse you.
46 If you truly believed Moses,
you would have believed in me,
for it is about me that he wrote.
47 But since you do not believe what he wrote,
how will you believe what I say?”
Footnotes
- John 5:1 Every Jewish feast is a memorial of what God has done for his people in deeds that manifest his power to create and restore. It is in this setting that the evangelist places an important action of Jesus, which leads to a debate over the meaning of the action: Is God himself at work here?
- John 5:1 Jesus, the Son of God, claims a power that belongs to God alone. In addition, by breaking the Sabbath precept, Jesus proclaims the end of the old covenant. The incident is perhaps to be connected with the feast of Pentecost, which, according to Jewish tradition, commemorates the promulgation of the Law on Sinai. This would make Jesus’ action even more eloquent.
- John 5:2 Bethesda, also called Bethsaida or Bethzatha.
- John 5:3 Waiting for the movement of the water: these words appear only in the Caesarean and Western recensions.
- John 5:4 This verse is lacking in many important manuscripts, including the oldest.
- John 5:19 The action of Jesus creates scandal and anger among the religious authorities. He has to explain his activity and especially his claim that he and the Father are one. The evangelist deepens this affirmation of Jesus’ divinity. What would be seen as blasphemous in anyone else is here a profound reality.
Jesus is one with his Father. All the work of Jesus is God’s action among us. Jesus has the power to give or restore life to those who welcome his word as that of God, even if they are victims of sin. To encounter Jesus is to face judgment and to experience eternal life even now. To accept or refuse his work: no decision is more important for us. - John 5:31 The claim made by Jesus has to be confirmed. People cannot testify on their own behalf. There was, of course, John the Baptist’s testimony in favor of Christ, but it had already become no more than a remembrance. It is in the works of Jesus that believers recognize the attestation of the Father.
But how could other people accept this recognition, those who are only preoccupied with their rank in the world, with their person, or with their religious role? Victimized by such an attitude, they falsify even the testimony of Scripture to protect themselves. Only those people can come to Jesus who rid themselves of their pretensions, human and even religious, those who are truly inflamed with love for God.
John 5
Good News Translation
The Healing at the Pool
5 After this, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a religious festival. 2 Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool[a] with five porches; in Hebrew it is called Bethzatha.[b] 3 A large crowd of sick people were lying on the porches—the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. 4 [c] 5 A man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus saw him lying there, and he knew that the man had been sick for such a long time; so he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone here to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am trying to get in, somebody else gets there first.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” 9 Immediately the man got well; he picked up his mat and started walking.
The day this happened was a Sabbath, 10 (A)so the Jewish authorities told the man who had been healed, “This is a Sabbath, and it is against our Law for you to carry your mat.”
11 He answered, “The man who made me well told me to pick up my mat and walk.”
12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you to do this?”
13 But the man who had been healed did not know who Jesus was, for there was a crowd in that place, and Jesus had slipped away.
14 Afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “Listen, you are well now; so stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
15 Then the man left and told the Jewish authorities that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 So they began to persecute Jesus, because he had done this healing on a Sabbath. 17 Jesus answered them, “My Father is always working, and I too must work.”
18 (B)This saying made the Jewish authorities all the more determined to kill him; not only had he broken the Sabbath law, but he had said that God was his own Father and in this way had made himself equal with God.
The Authority of the Son
19 So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own; he does only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. He will show him even greater things to do than this, and you will all be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, in the same way the Son gives life to those he wants to. 22 Nor does the Father himself judge anyone. He has given his Son the full right to judge, 23 so that all will honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 “I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life. 25 I am telling you the truth: the time is coming—the time has already come—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life. 26 Just as the Father is himself the source of life, in the same way he has made his Son to be the source of life. 27 And he has given the Son the right to judge, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 (C)and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.
Witnesses to Jesus
30 “I can do nothing on my own authority; I judge only as God tells me, so my judgment is right, because I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants.
31 “If I testify on my own behalf, what I say is not to be accepted as real proof. 32 But there is someone else who testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true. 33 (D)John is the one to whom you sent your messengers, and he spoke on behalf of the truth. 34 It is not that I must have a human witness; I say this only in order that you may be saved. 35 (E)John was like a lamp, burning and shining, and you were willing for a while to enjoy his light. 36 But I have a witness on my behalf which is even greater than the witness that John gave: what I do, that is, the deeds my Father gave me to do, these speak on my behalf and show that the Father has sent me. 37 (F)And the Father, who sent me, also testifies on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his face, 38 and you do not keep his message in your hearts, for you do not believe in the one whom he sent. 39 (G)You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you will find eternal life. And these very Scriptures speak about me! 40 Yet you are not willing to come to me in order to have life.
41 “I am not looking for human praise. 42 But I know what kind of people you are, and I know that you have no love for God in your hearts. 43 I have come with my Father's authority, but you have not received me; when, however, someone comes with his own authority, you will receive him. 44 You like to receive praise from one another, but you do not try to win praise from the one who alone is God; how, then, can you believe me? 45 Do not think, however, that I am the one who will accuse you to my Father. Moses, in whom you have put your hope, is the very one who will accuse you. 46 If you had really believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?”
Footnotes
- John 5:2 Near the Sheep Gate … a pool; or Near the Sheep Pool … a place.
- John 5:2 Bethzatha; some manuscripts have Bethesda.
- John 5:4 Some manuscripts add verses 3b-4: They were waiting for the water to move, because every now and then an angel of the Lord went down into the pool and stirred up the water. The first sick person to go into the pool after the water was stirred up was healed from whatever disease he had.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
