NLT Study Bible - Gospel of John - Flipbook - Page 17
John 4:48
1778
Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son,
who was about to die.
48Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in
me unless you see miraculous signs and
wonders?”
49The official pleaded, “Lord, please
come now before my little boy dies.”
50Then Jesus told him, “Go back home.
Your son will live!” And the man believed
what Jesus said and started home.
51While the man was on his way, some
of his servants met him with the news that
his son was alive and well. 52He asked them
when the boy had beg un to get better, and
they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one
o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!”
53Then the father realized that that was
the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son
will live.” And he and his entire household
believed in Jesus. 54This was the second
miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after
coming from Judea.
eight years. 6When Jesus saw him and knew
he had been ill for a long time, he asked him,
“Would you like to get well?”
7“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have
no one to put me into the pool when the wa
ter bubbles up. Someone else always gets
there ahead of me.”
8Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your
mat, and walk!”
9Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled
up his sleeping mat and began walking! But
this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10so
the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the
man who was cured, “You can’t work on the
Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carr y
that sleeping mat!”
11But he replied, “The man who healed
me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12“Who said such a thing as that?” they
demanded.
13The man didn’t know, for Jesus had dis
appeared into the crowd. 14But afterward
Jesus found him in the Temple and told
Jesus and the Sabbath (5:1-47)
him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath
something even worse may happen to you.”
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem 15Then the man went and told the Jewish
for one of the Jewish holy days. 2Inside
leaders that it was Jesus who had healed
the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool
him.
of Bethesda, with five covered porches.
3Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God
paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5One of the 16So the Jewish leaders began harassing
men lying there had been sick for thirt y- Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17But
4:48
1 Cor 1:22
4:50
Matt 8:13
Mark 7:29
4:53
Acts 11:14; 16:14-15
4:54
John 2:11
5:1
Lev 23:1-2
Deut 16:1
John 2:13
5:2
Neh 3:1; 12:39
5:8
Matt 9:6
Mark 2:11
Luke 5:24
5:10
Neh 13:15-20
Jer 17:21
Matt 12:2
5:14
John 8:11
5:17
John 9:4; 14:10
5:18
John 1:1, 18; 10:30,
33; 20:28
Phil 2:6
Titus 2:13
2 Pet 1:1
1 Jn 5:21
5
4:48 Jesus sharply criticized the Galileans who desired miraculous signs and
wonders before they would believe (see
“Miraculous Signs” at 2:1-11, p. 1772;
see also 6:30).
4:50 Your son will live! Jesus also
healed the centurion’s slave (Matt
8:5-13) and the Phoenician woman’s
daughter (Matt 15:21-28) from a
distance.
4:53 Just like many others (2:23; 4:39),
the official and his household believed
in Jesus because of the miracle.
4:54 second miraculous sign . . . in Galilee: Two miracles at Cana (2:11; 4:46)
frame this section of John’s Gospel.
5:1–10:42 In this section Jesus appears
at a series of Jewish festivals and uses
their imagery to reveal more profound
truths about himself. He appears at Sabbath (ch 5), Passover (ch 6), the Festival
of Shelters (chs 7–9), and Hanukkah
(ch 10). In each case, Jesus himself
replaces some vital element in the
ceremonies of the festival.
5:1-40 This chapter reads like a courtroom drama, with a description of the
crime (5:1-15), followed by a decision
to prosecute (5:16), a description of
the charges (5:18), and Jesus’ defense
(5:17, 19-40).
5:1 one of the Jewish holy days:
Because Jesus returned to Jerusalem for
the celebration, it was probably one of
the three pilgrimage festivals of Judaism (see Exod 23:14-17; Deut 16:16).
These festivals lasted one week.
5:2 Greek copyists who had never been
to Jerusalem had difficulty interpreting
and spelling the name Bethesda: Other
manuscripts read Beth-zatha; still others read Bethsaida. The best choice is
Beth-esda (“house of flowing”).
5:3 The pool of Bethesda had become
a healing sanctuary for crowds of sick
people who believed miraculous cures
were possible. Some manuscripts
add an expanded conclusion to verse 3
and all of verse 4: waiting for a certain
movement of the water, 4for an angel
of the Lord came from time to time and
stirred up the water. And the first person
to step in after the water was stirred was
healed of whatever disease he had. Most
scholars believe this was not part of
John’s original text, but it represents an
ancient tradition that provided helpful
background information.
5:5 No social program helped this man,
who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
Hygiene and mobility were impossible,
and he likely begged for a living from
people who came to use the pool (see
5:7). His situation seemed hopeless.
5:8-9 Jesus healed the sick man
instantly, only asking for his obedience.
As proof of healing, Jesus told him
to pick up his mat and walk. Jesus
worked this miracle on the Sabbath, a
weekly day of rest on which all work
was prohibited (based on Gen 2:2; Exod
20:8). Jewish tradition outlined thirtynine categories of work that were not
allowed (Mishnah Shabbat 7:2). Carrying
something such as a sleeping mat from
one place to another was banned (5:10).
Therefore, the healed man broke the
tradition by obeying Jesus’ command.
5:12 Who said such a thing? The story
ominously turns from a miraculous
wonder to a Sabbath crime requiring
the identity of the healer who breached
tradition.
5:14 stop sinning: Though the man had
been healed physically, he still needed
to learn obedience to the Lord. The
man’s next action (5:15) might indicate
that he didn’t listen.
5:16 harassing: Or persecuting.
