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The Third Sign: Healing the Sick

After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.(A) By the Sheep Gate(B) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda[a] in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. Within these lay a large number of the disabled – blind, lame, and paralysed.[b]

One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and realised he had already been there a long time,(C) he said to him, ‘Do you want to get well? ’

‘Sir,’(D) the disabled man answered, ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.’

‘Get up,’ Jesus told him, ‘pick up your mat and walk.’ Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,(E) 10 and so the Jews(F) said to the man who had been healed, ‘This is the Sabbath.(G) The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.’

11 He replied, ‘The man who made me well(H) told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.” ’

12 ‘Who is this man who told you, “Pick up your mat and walk”? ’ they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was,(I) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.[c]

14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple(J) and said to him, ‘See, you are well. Do not sin any more, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.’ 15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.(K) 16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting(L) Jesus[d] because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.(M)

Honouring the Father and the Son

17 Jesus responded to them, ‘My Father(N) is still working, and I am working also.’ 18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him:(O) Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

19 Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[e] does, the Son likewise does these things.(P) 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works(Q) than these so that you will be amazed. 21 And just as the Father raises(R) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.(S) 22 The Father,(T) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son, 23 so that all people may honour the Son just as they honour the Father.(U) Anyone who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.(V)

Life and Judgement

24 ‘Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life(W) and will not come under judgement but has passed from death to life.

25 ‘Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here,(X) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.(Y) 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son(Z) to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgement,(AA) because he is the Son of Man.(AB) 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out – those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

30 ‘I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgement(AC) is just,(AD) because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.(AE)

Witnesses to Jesus

31 ‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.(AF) 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.(AG) 34 I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 John[f](AH) was a burning and shining lamp,(AI) and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.(AJ)

36 ‘But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.(AK) These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent(AL) me. 37 The Father who sent me has himself testified(AM) about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.(AN) 38 You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. 39 You pore over the Scriptures(AO) because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.(AP) 40 But you are not willing(AQ) to come to me(AR) so that you may have life.

41 ‘I do not accept glory(AS) from people, 42 but I know you – that you have no love for God(AT) within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name,(AU) and yet you don’t accept me.(AV) If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only(AW) God?(AX) 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses,(AY) on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe what he wrote,(AZ) how will you believe my words? ’(BA)

Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Some mss read Bethzatha; other mss read Bethsaida
  2. 5:3 Some mss include vv. 3b-4:#– #waiting for the moving of the water, because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had.
  3. 5:13 Lit slipped away, there being a crowd in that place
  4. 5:16 Other mss add and trying to kill him
  5. 5:19 Lit whatever that one
  6. 5:35 Lit That man

Jesus Heals a Man at a Pool

Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special feast. In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches, which is called Bethesda[a] in the Hebrew language.[b] This pool is near the Sheep Gate. Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed [, and they waited for the water to move. Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had].[c] A man was lying there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone else always gets in before me.”

Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.” And immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk.

The day this happened was a Sabbath day. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your mat on the Sabbath day.”

11 But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’

12 Then they asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick up your mat and walk?”

13 But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, because there were many people in that place, and Jesus had left.

14 Later, Jesus found the man at the Temple and said to him, “See, you are well now. Stop sinning so that something worse does not happen to you.”

15 Then the man left and told his people that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

16 Because Jesus was doing this on the Sabbath day, some evil people began to persecute him. 17 But Jesus said to them, “My Father never stops working, and so I keep working, too.”

18 This made them try still harder to kill him. They said, “First Jesus was breaking the law about the Sabbath day. Now he says that God is his own Father, making himself equal with God!”

Jesus Has God’s Authority

19 But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what he sees the Father doing, because the Son does whatever the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows the Son all the things he himself does. But the Father will show the Son even greater things than this so that you can all be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he wants to. 22 In fact, the Father judges no one, but he has given the Son power to do all the judging 23 so that all people will honor the Son as much as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life. 25 I tell you the truth, the time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will have life. 26 Life comes from the Father himself, and he has allowed the Son to have life in himself as well. 27 And the Father has given the Son the approval to judge, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be surprised at this: A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. 29 Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever, but those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.

Jesus Is God’s Son

30 “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is fair. I don’t try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me.

31 “If only I tell people about myself, what I say is not true. 32 But there is another who tells about me, and I know that the things he says about me are true.

33 “You have sent people to John, and he has told you the truth. 34 It is not that I need what humans say; I tell you this so you can be saved. 35 John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.

36 “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than that of John. The things I do, which are the things my Father gave me to do, prove that the Father sent me. 37 And the Father himself who sent me has given proof about me. You have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like. 38 His teaching does not live in you, because you don’t believe in the One the Father sent. 39 You carefully study the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. They do in fact tell about me, 40 but you refuse to come to me to have that life.

41 “I don’t need praise from people. 42 But I know you—I know that you don’t have God’s love in you. 43 I have come from my Father and speak for him, but you don’t accept me. But when another person comes, speaking only for himself, you will accept him. 44 You try to get praise from each other, but you do not try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe? 45 Don’t think that I will stand before the Father and say you are wrong. The one who says you are wrong is Moses, the one you hoped would save you. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because Moses wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?”

Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Bethesda Some Greek copies read “Bethzatha” or “Bethsaida,” different names for the pool of Bethesda.
  2. 5:2 Hebrew language Or Aramaic, the languages of many people in this region in the first century.
  3. 5:3–4 and . . . had Some Greek copies do not contain all or most of the bracketed text.