Swindoll Study Bible - Book of John - Flipbook - Page 25
J ohn 4 : 5 0
50 Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son
will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and
started home.
51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive
and well. 52 He asked them when the boy had begun
to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon
at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!”
53 Then 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. 54 This was
the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after
coming from Judea.
Jesus Heals a Lame Man
5
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one
of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near
the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,* with five
covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind,
lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.* 5 One of
the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight
years. 6 When 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 water bubbles up.
Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and
walk!”
9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his
sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle
happened on the Sabbath, 10 so 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 carry that sleeping mat!”
11 But 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.
13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared
into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in
the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop
sinning, or something even worse may happen to
you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.
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Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God
16 So
the Jewish leaders began harassing* Jesus for
breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My
Father is always working, and so am I.” 18 So the Jew
ish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill
him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God
his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son
can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees
the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son
also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows
him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will
show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. 21 For
just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the
dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. 22 In
addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has
given the Son absolute authority to judge, 23 so that
everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the
Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.
24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life.
They will never be condemned for their sins, but they
have already passed from death into life.
25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed
it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the
voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.
26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted
that same life-giving power to his Son. 27 And he has
given him authority to judge everyone because he is
the Son of Man.* 28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the
time is coming when all the dead in their graves will
hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and they will rise again.
Those who have done good will rise to experience
eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will
rise to experience judgment. 30 I can do nothing on
my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one
who sent me, not my own will.
Witnesses to Jesus
31 “If
I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. 32 But someone else is also
LIVING INSIGHTS
5:2 Other manuscripts read Beth-zatha; still others read Bethsaida. 5:3 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. 5:16 Or persecuting. 5:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
“WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET WELL?” John 5:6 That’s
JUDGMENT John 5:24 Look at this promise. Many
an odd question to ask a man who has been waiting for
thirty-eight years to be healed. I think the reason Jesus
asked this question is because in this man’s mind was
blaming, bitterness, and the belief that he continued to be
sick because nobody would help him into the pool. I think
Jesus pointed a finger at him, as it were, and said, “Look.
Your illness is a matter of your own concern and responsibility. Don’t blame anyone else. Instead, find the desire and
the trust in God to receive healing.”
Christians today are worried about some kind of judgment.
But it is non-Christians whose judgment is ahead of them.
For Christians, our judgment is behind us. Jesus Christ was
judged on our behalf on the cross.
