The Third Sign: Healing the Sick

5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(A) 2} By the Sheep Gate^(B) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda^[a] in Hebrew, which has five colonnades.^{[b] 3} Within these lay a large number of the sick—blind, lame, and paralyzed [—waiting for the moving of the water, ⁴ 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].^[c]

⁵ One man was there who had been sick for 38 years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time,^(C) He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,”^(D) the sick man answered, “I don’t have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk!” ⁹ Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,^{(E) 10} so the Jews^(F) said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath!^(G) It’s illegal for you to pick 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 cured did not know who it was,^(I) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.^[d]

¹⁴ After this, Jesus found him in the temple complex^(J) and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, 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)

Honoring the Father and the Son

¹⁶ Therefore, the Jews began persecuting^(L) Jesus^[e] because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.^{(M) 17} But 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 with God.

¹⁹ Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[f] does, the Son also does these things in the same way.^{(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 anyone He wants to.^{(S) 22} The Father,^(T) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.^(U) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.^(V)

Life and Judgment

²⁴ “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life^(W) and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “I assure 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 judgment,^(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 judgment.

³⁰ “I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment^(AC) is righteous,^(AD) because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.^(AE)

Four Witnesses to Jesus

³¹ “If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.^{[g] 32} There is Another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony He gives about Me is valid.^{[h](AF) 33} You have sent messengers to John, and he has testified to the truth.^{(AG) 34} I don’t receive man’s testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ John^[i](AH) was a burning and shining lamp,^(AI) and for a time you were willing to enjoy 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 living in you, because you don’t believe the One He sent. ³⁹ You pore over^[j] the Scriptures^(AO) because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me.^{(AP) 40} And you are not willing^(AQ) to come to Me^(AR) so that you may have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory^(AS) from men, 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) yet you don’t accept Me.^(AV) If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe? While accepting glory from one another, you 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 his writings,^(AZ) how will you believe My words?”^(BA)

8 ¹ But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.^(A)

An Adulteress Forgiven

² At dawn He went to the temple complex^(B) again, and all the people were coming to Him.^(C) He sat down^(D) and began to teach them.

³ Then the scribes and the Pharisees^(E) brought a woman caught in adultery,^(F) making her stand in the center. ⁴ “Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery.^{(G) 5} In the law Moses^(H) commanded us to stone such women.^(I) So what do You say?” ⁶ They asked this to trap Him,^(J) in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him.

Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger. ⁷ When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin^(K) among you^(L) should be the first to throw a stone at her.”^(M)

⁸ Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. ⁹ When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center. ¹⁰ When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, Lord,”^[a] she answered.

“Neither do I condemn you,”^(N) said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]^[b]

The Light of the World

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am^(O) the light^(P) of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”^(Q)

¹³ So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”^[c]

¹⁴ “Even if I testify about Myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is valid,^[d] because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.^{(R) 15} You judge^(S) by human standards.^[e](T) I judge no one.^{(U) 16} And if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me judge^(V) together.^{(W) 17} Even in your law it is written that the witness of two men is valid.^{(X) 18} I am the One who testifies^(Y) about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”

¹⁹ Then they asked Him, “Where is Your Father?”

“You know neither Me nor My Father,”^(Z) Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.”^{(AA) 20} He spoke these words by the treasury,^[f](AB) while teaching in the temple complex. But no one seized Him, because His hour^[g] had not come.

Jesus Predicts His Departure

²¹ Then He said to them again, “I’m going away;^(AC) you will look for Me, and you will die in your sin.^(AD) Where I’m going, you cannot come.”^(AE)

²² So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’^(AF)?”

²³ “You are from below,” He told them, “I am from above.^(AG) You are of this world;^(AH) I am not of this world.^{(AI) 24} Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am He,^[h] you will die in your sins.”

²⁵ “Who are You?” they questioned.

“Precisely what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. ²⁶ “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the One who sent Me^(AJ) is true, and what I have heard from Him—these things I tell the world.”^(AK)

²⁷ They did not know He was speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man,^(AL) then you will know that I am^(AM) He, and that I do nothing on My own.^(AN) But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things. ²⁹ The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone,^(AO) because I always do what pleases Him.”

Truth and Freedom

³⁰ As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. ³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word,^[i](AP) you really are My disciples. ³² You will know the truth,^(AQ) and the truth will set you free.”

³³ “We are descendants^[j] of Abraham,”^(AR) they answered Him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus responded, “I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.^{(AS) 35} A slave does not remain in the household forever,^(AT) but a son does remain forever.^{(AU) 36} Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. ³⁷ I know you are descendants^[k] of Abraham,^(AV) but you are trying to kill Me because My word^[l] is not welcome among you. ³⁸ I speak what I have seen^(AW) in the presence of the Father;^[m](AX) therefore, you do what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹ “Our father is Abraham!” they replied.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did.^{(AY) 40} But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth^(AZ) that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! ⁴¹ You’re doing what your father does.”^(BA)

“We weren’t born^(BB) of sexual immorality,”^(BC) they said. “We have one Father—God.”^(BD)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me,^(BE) because I came from God^(BF) and I am here. For I didn’t come on My own, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to^[n] My word.^{(BG) 44} You are of your father the Devil,^(BH) and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer^(BI) from the beginning^(BJ) and has not stood in the truth,^(BK) because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature,^[o] because he is a liar and the father of liars.^{[p] 45} Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Who among you can convict Me of sin?^(BL) If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe Me? ⁴⁷ The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

Jesus and Abraham

⁴⁸ The Jews responded to Him, “Aren’t we right in saying that You’re a Samaritan^(BM) and have a demon?”^(BN)

⁴⁹ “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ I do not seek My glory;^(BO) the One who seeks it also judges. ⁵¹ I assure you: If anyone keeps My word,^(BP) he will never see death—ever!”

⁵² Then the Jews said, “Now we know You have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death—ever!’ ⁵³ Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do You pretend to be?”^[q]

⁵⁴ “If I glorify Myself,” Jesus answered, “My glory is nothing. My Father—you say about Him, ‘He is our God’—He is the One who glorifies Me. ⁵⁵ You’ve never known Him, but I know Him. If I were to say I don’t know Him,^(BQ) I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him,^(BR) and I keep His word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it^(BS) and rejoiced.”

⁵⁷ The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?”^[r]

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.”^[s](BT)

⁵⁹ At that, they picked up stones^(BU) to throw at Him.^(BV) But Jesus was hidden^[t](BW) and went out of the temple complex.^[u](BX)