◄ John 5 Devotional Commentary ►
John 5:11
The healing at the pool of Bethesda was unusual, in that Jesus Himself asked the man, "do you want to be healed?" - whereas normally He was approached by others who asked for healing.
In an act of grace, Jesus chose to engage with this man on a Sabbath day, despite his being infirm for 38 years. But like all the signs and miracles recorded in his Gospel, John's purpose in writing was to prove that Jesus was the read more...
John 5:14
Jesus was the promised Messiah that the nation of Israel was eagerly awaiting... and there were many identifying marks and prophetic signs, recorded in the Old Testament, which would establish His identity. He would cause the blind to see, heal those that are broken, feed the hungry, and raise the dead. He would loosen the tongue of the mute who would shout for joy - and he would cause waters to break forth in the wilderness and streams in desert places.
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John 5:16
The Lord Jesus went about doing good. He healed the sick, cast out demons, brought comfort to the afflicted, and fed the hungry. He raised the dead, forgave the sinner, gave relief to the poor, and brought good news of great joy which is for all people. He came as the Light of the world in darkness, the Bread of life for the hungry, and the Living Water for those that are thirsty. He is the Rock of our salvation, for in Him alone are the words of eternal life. He read more...
John 5:17
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day He rested from all His work. But man wilfully disobeyed God and sinned against his Creator. Death came into the world because of man's sin, and as the consequence of sin, the earth was cursed, sorrow and pain entered the world, and God started once again to work. God set in motion His new work of redemption, and His glorious plan of salvation started to unfold.
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John 5:18
One of the most dangerous aspects of religiosity and legalism is that the truth of the glorious gospel of grace is hidden underneath a black cloud of unbelief. An example of this is Christ's miraculous healing of the man at the pool of Bethsaida who had been crippled and bed-ridden for 38 years, which was considered as inconsequential by the religious leaders of the day because, in their estimation, it constituted breaking the Sabbath of the Lord!
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John 5:19
John's Gospel was written in order that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living, invisible, immortal God and that by believing in Him we may have life in His name.
But in order to carry out the will of His Father, the eternal Son of God, Who is God the SON, had to humble Himself and be born into the human race as a perfect Man. He had to lay aside His heavenly glory and be clothed in a human body of flesh read more...
John 5:21
God will not share His glory with another and yet Christ demonstrated His deity when He healed the paralytic man on a Sabbath Day. No one but God can give life and health and the Jewish leaders knew about Christ's Messianic claims, but could not bring themselves to see the truth. They knew Jesus came from God, but were so bound up with legalism and religiosity that their eyes were blinded to the truth that Jesus was God incarnate.
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John 5:22
The healing of the paralysed man at the Pool of Bethesda, infuriated Jewish leaders. They objected to Christ's Messianic claims and were furious that He often referred to God as His Father. They were constantly looking for ways to get rid of Jesus and accused Him of breaking the Sabbath day. They regarded the healing of the paralytic man as work. But no biblical Law was violated, just a man-made, Sabbath-day rule.
Jesus read more...
John 5:23
There is only one eternal Creator of heaven and earth. There is only one Almighty God, and He has made it very clear that He will not share His glory with another, and yet we discover Jesus making the most astonishing claims which if not true, would be outrageous and even blasphemous.
Jesus not only claimed to be of equal status with the Father, but declared that He had the same authority to raise the dead and should be ascribed read more...
John 5:24
Jesus had just healed a man at the pool of Bethsaida, but He did this healing on the Sabbath. The Jews had so misinterpreted the Law of Moses about the Sabbath day that they considered the miracles that Jesus carried out on the Sabbath, violated their strict rules. When the man that had been healed obeyed Christ's instruction and picked up his bed to carry it home, it was construed as work, and they accused Jesus of violating their laws. But Jesus replied, read more...
John 5:25
The eternal Son of God has had life in Himself from before time began, before space was created, before matter was spoken into being, and before man was formed from the dust of the ground. But because of Adam's sin, every man is born into this physical world spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, at enmity with God, facing eternal separation from his Creator, and without hope in the world.
However, for four thousand years God read more...
John 5:26
Because God is eternal, He has life in and of Himself. God is the source of all life, the author of all life, the fount of life, and no other creature that has been made has life in itself. No other created being has this life, yet God gave the Life that was unique to Himself to the Son so that His only begotten Son has that same life in Himself.
But Christ Himself also has life in and of Himself, for He is the Word that spoke read more...
John 5:28
The Lord Jesus gained victory over death and hell through His own sacrifice on the Cross and His glorious Resurrection, but throughout His life He gave solemn warnings that an hour was coming when the tombs of all who were dead would hear His voice; some to the resurrection of life but others to the resurrection of condemnation. And in a few short verses the Lord Jesus speaks of some, very different resurrections.
One that He read more...
John 5:29
It was in the second year of His ministry that the Lord Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda, which means House of Mercy. It was on a Sabbath day when this miracle took place, causing the chief priests and scribes to have an even greater hatred for the Lord Jesus.
When the Jews found out that it was the Lord Jesus Who had healed the man, they started to persecute Him, because He had healed a man on the Sabbath day. He broke read more...
John 5:30
The Lord Jesus is God incarnate. He is equal in honour, glory, majesty, and power with the God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is the second member of the triune Godhead, but this verse gives a beautiful glimpse into the incredible sacrifice that Christ made in order to save His people from their sins. He set aside His heavenly glory and almighty power, and only said and did those things that He heard from the Father.
This read more...
John 5:37
There were many accusations against Jesus because He claimed to have the authority of God, and this wounded the pride of sinful man. But there were also many witnesses for Him, testifying to His authority and authenticity.
Here in John 5, the first witness testifying about Jesus was the greatest man ever born into the human race; John the Baptist, who was God's chosen forerunner to testify of Christ.
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John 5:39
There were many witnesses to Christ's claim to deity and His role as Redeemer. John the Baptist was one such human witness, for He proclaimed: "This is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world." And both the Father and the Holy Sprit were heavenly witnesses of Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan (an act which they carried out together, in order to fulfil all righteousness).
Christ's miraculous signs and great read more...
John 5:40
Many people find it very difficult to accept that the Lord Jesus is equal in all aspect of deity with the Father, while remaining the unique Son of God and second Person of the Trinity. But He is very God of very God, eternally begotten of the Father, made flesh, and dwelt amongst us to save His people from their sins. Various unbiblical cults and religious sects seek ways to diminish Christ's eternal deity and divine authority and regard Him a lesser 'god', for read more...