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.
约翰福音 5
Revised Chinese Union Version (Simplified Script) Shen Edition
在毕士大池边治病
5 这些事以后，到了犹太人的一个节期，耶稣上耶路撒冷去。
2 在耶路撒冷，靠近羊门有一个池子，希伯来话叫毕士大[a]，旁边有五个柱廊； 3 里面躺着许多病人，有失明的、瘸腿的、瘫痪的[b]。 5 在那里有一个人，病了三十八年。 6 耶稣看见他躺着，知道他病了很久，就问他：“你要痊愈吗？” 7 病人回答他：“先生，水动的时候，没有人把我放在池子里；我正要去的时候，别人比我先下去了。” 8 耶稣对他说：“起来，拿起你的褥子走吧！” 9 那人立刻痊愈，就拿起自己的褥子走了。
那天是安息日， 10 所以犹太人对那被治好了的人说：“今天是安息日，你拿褥子是不合法的。” 11 他却回答他们：“那使我痊愈的人对我说：‘拿起你的褥子走吧！’” 12 他们问他：“对你说‘拿起褥子走’的是什么人？” 13 那治好了的人不知道那人是谁，因为那里人很多，耶稣已经躲开了。 14 后来耶稣在圣殿里找到他，对他说：“你已经痊愈了，不要再犯罪，免得你的遭遇更坏。” 15 那人就去告诉犹太人，使他痊愈的是耶稣。 16 所以犹太人迫害耶稣，因为他在安息日做了这些事。 17 耶稣就回答他们：“我父做事直到如今，我也做事。” 18 为了这缘故，犹太人越发想要杀他，因为他不但犯了安息日，而且称 神为他的父，把自己和 神看为同等。
圣子的权柄
19 于是耶稣回答，对他们说：“我实实在在地告诉你们，子凭着自己不能做什么，惟有看见父所做的，他才做；父所做的事，子也照样做。 20 父爱子，将自己所做的一切事指示给他看，还要将比这更大的事给他看，使你们惊讶。 21 父怎样叫死人复活，赐他们生命，子也照样随自己的意愿赐人生命。 22 父不审判任何人，而是把审判的事全交给子， 23 为要使人都尊敬子，如同尊敬父一样。不尊敬子的，就是不尊敬差子来的父。
24 “我实实在在地告诉你们，那听我话又信差我来那位的，就有永生，不至于被定罪，而是已经出死入生了。 25 我实实在在地告诉你们，时候将到，现在就是了，死人要听见 神儿子的声音，听见的人就要活了。 26 因为父怎样自己里面有生命，也照样赐给他儿子自己里面有生命， 27 并且赐给他施行审判的权柄，因为他是人子。 28 你们不要对这事感到惊讶，因为时候将到，凡在坟墓里的，都要听见他的声音， 29 并且要出来：行善的，复活得生命；作恶的，复活被定罪。
30 “我凭着自己不能做什么。我怎么听见就怎么审判，而我的审判是公平的，因为我不寻求自己的意愿，只寻求差我来那位的旨意。”
为耶稣作见证
31 “我若为自己作见证，我的见证就不真。 32 另有一位为我作见证，我也知道他为我作的见证是真的。 33 你们曾差人到约翰那里，他为真理作过见证。 34 其实，我所受的见证不是从人来的；然而，我说这些话是为了使你们得救。 35 约翰是点亮的明灯，你们情愿因他的光欢欣一时。 36 但我有比约翰更大的见证：父交给我去完成的工作，就是我正在做的，为我作证是父差遣了我。 37 那差我来的父也为我作了见证。你们从来没有听见他的声音，也没有看见他的形像。 38 你们并没有他的道存在心里，因为你们不信他所差来的那一位。 39 你们查考圣经，因你们以为其中有永生；而这经正是为我作见证的。 40 然而，你们不肯到我这里来得生命。
41 “我不接受从人来的荣耀， 42 但我知道，你们没有爱 神的心。 43 我奉我父的名来了，你们并不接纳我；若有别人奉自己的名来，你们倒会接纳他。 44 你们互相受荣耀，却不寻求从独一 神来的荣耀，怎能信我呢？ 45 不要以为我会在父面前告你们；有一位告你们的，就是你们所仰望的摩西。 46 如果你们信摩西，也会信我，因为他写过关于我的事。 47 你们若不信他的书，怎能信我的话呢？”
和合本修訂版經文 © 2006, 2010, 2017 香港聖經公會。蒙允許使用。 Scripture Text of Revised Chinese Union Version © 2006, 2010, 2017 Hong Kong Bible Society. www.hkbs.org.hk/en/ Used by permission.