Johannes 5
Het Boek
De genezing bij de vijver Betzata
5 Jezus ging enige tijd later terug naar Jeruzalem om een van de Joodse feesten bij te wonen. 2 Bij de Schaapspoort in Jeruzalem was de vijver Betzata met vijf zuilengalerijen. 3 In die zuilengalerijen lagen talloze zieke mensen, zoals blinden, lammen en kreupelen, te wachten tot het water in beweging zou komen. 4 Want van tijd tot tijd raakte een engel uit de hemel het water aan. Wie dan het eerst in het water stapte werd genezen, wat voor ziekte hij ook had. 5 Er lag ook een man die al achtendertig jaar ziek was. 6 Jezus zag hem daar liggen en wist dat hij al heel lang ziek was. Hij vroeg: ‘Wilt u gezond worden?’ 7 De zieke man antwoordde Hem: ‘Ja, Here, maar ik heb niemand die mij het bad inhelpt als het water in beweging komt. En als ik het alleen probeer, ben ik altijd te laat.’ 8 Jezus zei tegen hem: ‘Sta op! Pak uw matras en loop!’ 9 De man werd direct gezond. Hij pakte zijn matras op en liep!
Nu was het die dag sabbat. 10 Daarom zeiden de Joden tegen de man die net genezen was: ‘Het is sabbat! Dan mag u die matras niet dragen.’ 11 Hij antwoordde: ‘De man die mij genezen heeft, zei dat ik mijn matras moest oppakken en lopen.’ 12 ‘Wie was dat?’ vroegen zij. 13 De man wist het niet, omdat Jezus ongemerkt was weggegaan toen de mensen van alle kanten kwamen aanlopen.
14 Later ontmoette Jezus hem in de tempel en zei tegen hem: ‘Nu u gezond bent geworden, wil Ik u dit nog zeggen: zondig niet meer, want anders zal u iets ergers overkomen.’ 15 De man verliet de tempel en vertelde de Joden dat het Jezus was die hem had genezen. 16 Omdat Jezus dat op de sabbat had gedaan, wilden de Joden Hem straffen. 17 Maar Jezus verdedigde Zich met de woorden: ‘Mijn Vader werkt voortdurend en Ik dus ook.’ 18 Omdat Hij dat gezegd had, wilden zij Hem doden. Hij had niet alleen iets gedaan wat volgens hen op de sabbat niet mocht, Hij had nu ook nog God zijn eigen Vader genoemd. Daarmee beweerde Hij dus aan God gelijk te zijn.
19 ‘Het is waar wat Ik zeg,’ zei Jezus. ‘De Zoon kan niets uit Zichzelf. Hij doet alleen wat zijn Vader Hem voordoet. In feite doet de Zoon hetzelfde als zijn Vader. 20 De Vader houdt van de Zoon en laat Hem steeds zien wat Hij doet. De Vader zal Hem nog grotere dingen laten doen. U zult uw ogen nauwelijks kunnen geloven. 21 Zoals de Vader de doden levend maakt, zo zal ook de Zoon levend maken wie Hij wil. 22 De Vader spreekt geen oordeel uit, maar heeft zijn Zoon opgedragen in zijn plaats recht te spreken. 23 Daarom moet iedereen even veel eer geven aan de Zoon als aan de Vader. Wie de Zoon niet eert, eert ook de Vader niet die Hem gestuurd heeft.
24 Het is zoals Ik zeg: wie naar mijn woorden luistert en gelooft in Hem die Mij gestuurd heeft, heeft eeuwig leven. Over zo iemand wordt geen oordeel uitgesproken, maar die is overgeplaatst uit de dood in het leven. 25 Geloof Mij: er komt een tijd dat de doden de stem van de Zoon van God zullen horen. Die tijd is er nu al. Wie naar de Zoon van God luisteren, zullen leven. 26 De Vader heeft leven in Zichzelf. Hij heeft deze macht ook aan zijn Zoon gegeven, zodat Hij ook leven in Zichzelf heeft. 27 Ook gaf Hij Hem de macht om recht te spreken over de mensen omdat Hij de Mensenzoon geworden is.
28 Verbaas u niet hierover. Eens zullen alle doden zijn stem horen. 29 Dan zullen zij uit hun graf opstaan en wie het goede hebben gedaan, zullen leven. Maar wie het slechte hebben gedaan, zullen veroordeeld worden.
30 Ik kan niets uit Mijzelf doen. Ik oordeel zoals God het Mij zegt. Mijn oordeel is eerlijk en rechtvaardig. Het gaat Mij niet om wat Ik wil maar om wat God wil, want Hij heeft Mij gestuurd.
31 Als Ik iets over Mijzelf zeg, is dat niet geloofwaardig. 32 Maar er is een Ander die over Mij getuigt dat Ik de waarheid spreek en Ik weet dat Hij gelijk heeft. 33 U heeft mensen naar Johannes de Doper gestuurd om te horen wat hij zei. En hij heeft niets dan de waarheid gesproken. 34 Nu heb Ik het getuigenis van een mens niet nodig. Ik herinner u er alleen maar aan, omdat Ik wil dat u gered wordt en zult leven. 35 Johannes was een helder schijnende lamp en u hebt een korte tijd van dat licht genoten. 36 Maar Ik heb een getuigenis dat meer waarde heeft dan dat van Johannes. Denk eens aan de wonderen die de Vader Mij laat doen. Die zijn het bewijs dat Hij Mij gestuurd heeft. 37 Daarmee is Hij mijn getuige, hoewel u Hem nog nooit hebt gezien of gehoord. 38 Wat de Vader zegt, bereikt u niet werkelijk. Want u gelooft Mij niet, hoewel Ik door Hem gestuurd ben. 39 U leest in de boeken van Mozes en de profeten omdat u denkt daarin eeuwig leven te vinden. Al die boeken getuigen over Mij. 40 En toch wilt u niet bij Mij komen om eeuwig leven te vinden.
41 Eer van mensen vind Ik niet belangrijk, 42 omdat Ik weet hoe u bent: u hebt de liefde van God niet in u. 43 Ik ben gekomen om mijn Vader te vertegenwoordigen en u ontvangt Mij niet. Maar wie uit zichzelf komt, zult u wel ontvangen. 44 U vindt het zo belangrijk wat de mensen van u zeggen dat u vergeet dat het erom gaat wat God van u denkt. Daarom kunt u niet in Mij geloven. 45 Denk maar niet dat Ik u bij de Vader zal aanklagen. Dat doet Mozes, op wie u uw hoop gevestigd hebt. 46 Maar u hebt hem niet echt geloofd. Anders zou u Mij ook geloven. Mozes heeft immers geschreven dat Ik zou komen? 47 Als u niet gelooft wat hij heeft geschreven, hoe zult u dan geloven wat Ik zeg?’
John 5
The Message
Even on the Sabbath
5 1-6 Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”
8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
9-10 That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”
11 But he told them, “The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’”
12-13 They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?” But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.
14 A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.”
15-16 The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus—because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus defended himself. “My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I.”
18 That really set them off. The Jews were now not only out to expose him; they were out to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own Father, putting himself on a level with God.
What the Father Does, the Son Does
19-20 So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.
20-23 “But you haven’t seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor.
24 “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.
25-27 “It’s urgent that you get this right: The time has arrived—I mean right now!—when dead men and women will hear the voice of the Son of God and, hearing, will come alive. Just as the Father has life in himself, he has conferred on the Son life in himself. And he has given him the authority, simply because he is the Son of Man, to decide and carry out matters of Judgment.
28-29 “Don’t act so surprised at all this. The time is coming when everyone dead and buried will hear his voice. Those who have lived the right way will walk out into a resurrection Life; those who have lived the wrong way, into a resurrection Judgment.
30-33 “I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I’m not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. If I were simply speaking on my own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness. But an independent witness confirms me, the most reliable Witness of all. Furthermore, you all saw and heard John, and he gave expert and reliable testimony about me, didn’t he?
34-38 “But my purpose is not to get your vote, and not to appeal to mere human testimony. I’m speaking to you this way so that you will be saved. John was a torch, blazing and bright, and you were glad enough to dance for an hour or so in his bright light. But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John’s witness. It’s the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me. The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance. There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.
* * *
39-40 “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.
41-44 “I’m not interested in crowd approval. And do you know why? Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially God’s love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?
45-47 “But don’t think I’m going to accuse you before my Father. Moses, in whom you put so much stock, is your accuser. If you believed, really believed, what Moses said, you would believe me. He wrote of me. If you won’t take seriously what he wrote, how can I expect you to take seriously what I speak?”
John 5
New King James Version
A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda
5 After (A)this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus (B)went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem (C)by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, [a]Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, [b]paralyzed, [c]waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, (D)“Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.
And (E)that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; (F)it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”
12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was (G)healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. (H)Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Honor the Father and the Son
16 For this reason the Jews (I)persecuted Jesus, [d]and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, (J)“My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
18 Therefore the Jews (K)sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, (L)making Himself equal with God. 19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, (M)the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For (N)the Father loves the Son, and (O)shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, (P)even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but (Q)has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. (R)He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Life and Judgment Are Through the Son
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, (S)he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, (T)but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when (U)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For (V)as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have (W)life in Himself, 27 and (X)has given Him authority to execute judgment also, (Y)because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will (Z)hear His voice 29 (AA)and come forth—(AB)those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 (AC)I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because (AD)I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
The Fourfold Witness
31 (AE)“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not [e]true. 32 (AF)There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33 You have sent to John, (AG)and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35 He was the burning and (AH)shining lamp, and (AI)you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 36 But (AJ)I have a greater witness than John’s; for (AK)the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very (AL)works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, (AM)has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, (AN)nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 (AO)You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and (AP)these are they which testify of Me. 40 (AQ)But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
41 (AR)“I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. 44 (AS)How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek (AT)the honor that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; (AU)there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; (AV)for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you (AW)do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Het Boek Copyright © 1979, 1988, 2007 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
