John 5

AUV^{(i) 1} After these things Jesus went up to Jerusalem to [attend] a Jewish festival. ² Now in Jerusalem there was a pool of water near the Sheep Gate [Note: This was a city gate in the north wall]. It had five porticos [i.e., covered open areas along the outside of the Temple]. In the Hebrew language it was called Bethesda. ³ Under these porticos a large number of sick, blind, crippled and deformed people were placed {{A few ancient authorities add “to wait for the water [of the pool] to become choppy. ⁴ For an angel of the Lord came down to the pool [from heaven] at certain times and stirred up the water. Then the first person to enter the pool after the water became choppy was healed from whatever disease he had.”}} ⁵ And a certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years [Note: He was probably a crippled person]. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying [there by the pool], and knew that he had been [in that condition] a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?” ⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I do not have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but [just] when I am about to enter [it] someone else goes down [into the water] before me.” ⁸ [So], Jesus said to him, “Get up; pick up your cot and walk.” ⁹ And immediately the man was made well and picked up his cot and walked. Now this happened on the Sabbath day. ¹⁰ So, the Jews said to the man who was healed, “It is not permissible for you to pick up your cot because it is the Sabbath day.” ¹¹ But he replied to them, “The same man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your cot and walk.’” ¹² [Then] they asked him, “Who is this man who said to you, ‘Pick up your cot and walk.’?” ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. ¹⁴ Later on Jesus found the man in the Temple, and said to him, “Look, you have been made well; stop sinning or else something worse [i.e., than the handicap you had] will happen to you.” ¹⁵ [Then] the man left and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶ So, for this reason the Jews began persecuting Jesus, because He did these [kinds of] things on the Sabbath day. ¹⁷ But Jesus said to them, “My Father is continuing to work and I am working.” ¹⁸ So, for this reason the Jews looked for more [opportunities] to kill Him, because He not only broke Sabbath day [restrictions], but also He had called God His own Father, [thereby] making Himself equal with God. ¹⁹ So, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son [of God] cannot do anything on His own [i.e., independently of the Father]; but [He does] what He sees His Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does as well. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him everything that He Himself does; and He will show Him [even] greater deeds [i.e., more extensive in scope] than these [i.e., than merely healing a crippled man], so that you people will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them [renewed] life [for their bodies ?], even so the Son also gives [renewed] life to [the spirits ?] of whoever He wants to. ²² For the Father does not judge anyone, but He has given [full responsibility for] judging people to His Son, ²³ so that everyone will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The person who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ²⁴ “Truly, truly, I tell you, the person who listens to my message and believes [in] the One who sent me [i.e., God] has never ending life [i.e., as a hope. See Titus 1:2; 3:7]. He will not be judged [and condemned], but has [already] passed from being [spiritually] dead to being [spiritually] alive. ²⁵ Truly, truly, I tell you, the time is coming, and is now [actually] here, when those who are [spiritually] dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear [i.e., and heed His message] will have [spiritual] life. ²⁶ For [just] as the Father is Himself [the source of] life, in the same way He gave to His Son also [the power] to be [the source of] life. ²⁷ And He gave His Son authority to carry out judgment [upon mankind] because He is the Son of man [Note: The Greek actually says “a son of man”]. ²⁸ “Do not be surprised at this: The time is coming when all those who are in their graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and they will come out [i.e., in the general resurrection on the last day]. Those who had done what was good will be raised [from the dead] to [never ending] life; and those who had done what was evil will be raised [from the dead] to judgment [i.e., to be condemned]. ³⁰ “I cannot do anything by my own [authority]. I judge [people] based on what I hear [i.e., from the Father] and my judgment [of them] is just, because I do not look for what I want [to do], but for what He who sent me [i.e., God] wants. ³¹ If I testify about myself, my testimony is not [considered] true. ³² [But] there is Someone else [i.e., God] who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony He gives about me is true. ³³ “You people have sent to John [the Immerser, for information. See 1:19] and he has given true testimony [about me]. ³⁴ But I do not rely on the testimony of men about me; therefore I tell you these things so you will be saved [i.e., from condemning judgment. See verse 29]. ³⁵ John was the lamp that was burning and glowing and you people were willing to enjoy the light that he projected for awhile. ³⁶ But my testimony is greater than John’s. For the deeds the Father has given me to complete, the very deeds I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me testifies concerning me. You people have never heard His voice nor seen His form. ³⁸ And you do not keep His message living in your [hearts], for you do not believe [in] the One whom God sent [i.e., in Jesus]. ³⁹ You search through the Scriptures [i.e., the Old Testament], because you think that you will [learn how to] have never ending life by [reading] them. And these Scriptures are what testify concerning me. ⁴⁰ But you do not want to come to me [i.e., to believe in me. See verse 38] so that you will have [never ending] life. ⁴¹ “I do not accept honor from mankind, ⁴² but I know you [well enough], that you do not have a love for God within you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name [i.e., by His authority] and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name [i.e., by his own authority], you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe [in me] when you [offer and] accept honors from one another, but do not try to obtain the honor that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ “Do not think that I will accuse you [of wrongdoing] before the Father; Moses, on whom you have set your hope [i.e., you base your acceptance with God on the promises found in Moses’ writings], he is the one who accuses you [i.e., in his writings]. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses’ [writings], you would [also] believe in me, for he wrote about me. [See Deut. 18:15-19]. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how do you expect to believe my message?”