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47. "Feast of the Jews"
(Jn 5:1)
Probably Passover, a
28 A.D., or 781 A.U.G. Jerusalem |
Jn 5:1
1After
these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
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48. An Infirm Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda
(Jn 5:2-13)
On a Sabbath Day b |
Jn 5:2-13
2Now in Jerusalem
by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda,”
having five porches. 3In these lay a great multitude of those who
were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water;
4for an angel of the Lord went down at certain times into the
pool, and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring
of the water was made whole of whatever disease he had. 5A
certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6When
Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time,
he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no
one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m
coming, another steps down before me.”
8Jesus said to him,
“Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”
9Immediately, the man was made well, and
took up his mat and walked.
Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10So the
Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you
to carry the mat.”
11He answered them, “He who made me well,
the same said to me, ‘Take up your mat, and walk.’”
12Then they asked him, “Who is the man who
said to you, ‘Take up your mat, and walk’?”
13But he who was healed didn’t know who it
was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place. |
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49. Christ Defends His Actions
(Jn 5:14-47) |
Jn 5:14-47
14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple,
and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no
more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
15The man went away, and told the Jews that
it was Jesus who had made him well. 16For this cause the Jews
persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the
Sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, “My
Father is still working, so I am working, too.” 18For this
cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not
only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself
equal with God. 19Jesus therefore answered them,
“Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does,
these the Son also does likewise. 20For
the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he
himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may
marvel. 21For as the Father
raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom
he desires. 22For the Father
judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, 23that
all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor
the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
24“Most certainly I
tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal
life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
25Most certainly, I tell you, the
hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and
those who hear will live. 26For
as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have
life in himself. 27He also gave
him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
28Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes,
in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, 29and
will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and
those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. 30I
can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous;
because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
31“If I testify
about myself, my witness is not valid. 32It
is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he
testifies about me is true. 33You
have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34But
the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things
that you may be saved. 35He was
the burning and shining lamp,
c
and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his
light. 36But the testimony which
I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me
to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father
has sent me. 37The Father
himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his
voice at any time, nor seen his form. 38You
don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he
sent.
39“You search the
Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these
are they which testify about me. 40Yet
you will not come to me, that you may have life. 41I
don’t receive glory from men. 42But
I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves. 43I
have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in
his own name, you will receive him. 44How
can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the
glory that comes from the only God?
45“Don’t think that
I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses,
on whom you have set your hope. 46For
if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.
47But if you don’t believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?” |
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50. Imprisonment of John and Christ's Return to
Nazareth. d
(Mt 4:12, Mk 1:14a, Lk 3:19-20; 4:14a) |
Mt 4:12
12Now
when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.
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Mk 1:14a
14Now
after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
Good News of the Kingdom of God, |
[Lk 3:19-20] e
19but
Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s
wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done, 20added
this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.
Lk 4:14a
14Jesus
returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread
through all the surrounding area.
3:19
TR reads “brother Philip’s” instead of “brother’s” |
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Footnotes
a)
The question cannot be definitely decided. Nearly all the Jewish festivals
have been mentioned as being the unnamed Feast of John 5:1. But the opinions
are chiefly divided between Purim (14th and 15th of Adar, approximately
February) and Passover. Fortunately, for the understanding of the passage it
matters little which festival one believes it to have been, In our choice of
the Passover in 28 A.D. we are prompted by the Evangelist’s evident purpose
of supplementing the Synoptic account of the life of Christ. When Jesus
departed for Galilee as reported in John 4:1-3 we are left under the
impression that the forerunner’s work was still in progress. We believe that
all the events of John 4 and 5—the Samaritan ministry, the healing of the
ruler’s on, and the unnamed Feast—are to be inserted before Matt. 4:12; Mark
1:14; and Luke 4:14. See No. 60.
b) For Sabbath day
controversies see Nos. 48, 67, 68, 140, 164, 174.
c) The “was” naturally
refers to the past. The public ministry of John has passed into history. The
news of his, probably recent, imprisonment may have reached Jesus in
Jerusalem.
d) With the
imprisonment of John the early, largely Judean, ministry of Jesus had come
to a close and His great Galilean ministry was to begin.
e) Transposed. See No.
25, note 1. For death of John the Baptist see No. 96.
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