Here is a teaching of part 1 of chapter 5 of the book of John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
Part 1 of John Chapter 5:
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed (b). 5 One who was there has been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked
b- 3 Some less important manuscripts paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.
So I'm going to stop right here and discuss a few things with you guys. So there was a man that had been invalid (which means disabled or paralytic.) He was paralyzed for 38 years and he was lying by this pool that was supposed to be a healing pool. A great number of disabled people would lie there and whenever the water would start to stir, they would go in the pool and hope for healing. So this man had been paralyzed for 38 years and Jesus saw him lying there and asked him if he wanted to get well. Instead of the man just answering that he wanted to get well, he said that he had no one to help him in the pool and every time he tries to go in that someone else goes ahead of him. What Jesus said after this, and what happened after this, is so powerful. Jesus said, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." This man had been lying there and had been paralyzed for 38 years. He had been disabled for 38 years and with a simple sentence from Jesus, the man was cured. That just goes to show the power that Jesus Christ has and that he can literally do anything. Jesus heals the broken, the wounded, and the paralyzed and he is so powerful.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." 11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" 12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick up your mat and walk?" 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who made him well.
All right. So I'm going to discuss a few things with you guys here. So because Jesus had done this on a Sabbath day, the Jewish leaders wanted to know who told this man to pick up his mat and walk because he wasn't supposed to be picking up his mat on a Sabbath day. Based on the rabbi's interpretation of the commandment against doing work or business on a Sabbath, carrying a bed or a mat in his case, was a violation. So they had just witnessed a paralytic man that had been lying there for 38 years, just getting up, picking up his mat, and walking. Instead of them being in awe of that and just thinking of how amazing it was, all they were worried about was the rabbi's interpretation of this law of not being able to work on the Sabbath or do business on the Sabbath. So they wanted to find Jesus because he had broken this commandment. The man that was healed wasn't sure who Jesus was and Jesus had slipped away from the crowd so the man couldn't tell them who it was that told him to pick up his mat on the Sabbath.
So later Jesus found the man at the temple and the reason why Jesus came to this man and told him to stop sinning or something worse may happen to him is because Jesus was concerned with this man's spiritual health. Not only was this man in bad physical health before Jesus had healed him, but he also was in bad spiritual health and Jesus just wanted to warn him to stop sinning. The man automatically went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus that made him well. This just goes to show that the man was intimidated by these Jewish leaders and instead of him listening to the warning of Jesus, he just went and told the leaders that Jesus was the one that healed him.
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him."
So the Jews persecuted or sought to kill Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. So here in Jesus' response where he says his "Father is at work to this very day and I too am working," God is always at work every day, he's right here with us. he's right here working for us, and he's always at work no matter what. Jesus shows here that he is an equal to God and that makes the Jewish leaders want to kill him even more because not only did he do this stuff on the Sabbath, but he also is calling God his own Father and making himself equal with God. Which Jesus is equal to God, as we know it's God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ,) and then God the Holy Spirit (that Jesus sends down after he goes back to heaven after the resurrection.)
So these Jewish leaders are appalled that Jesus thinks he's God's equal and then Jesus gives the answer that, "the son can do nothing by himself," so he explained his commitment to doing God's will and that he's fully submitted to it. Jesus also says that the father loves the son and shows him all he does. So this here shows the love between God the Father and God the Son, and the relationship between them is a relationship of love. The Father loves the Son and wants to show him everything that he does and he says that he will show him even greater things than these. So they had witnessed Jesus telling a paralyzed man to get up and walk and take his mat, and Jesus is telling them that they're going to see even greater things than that.
Jesus is on a mission to save lives and there are so many other things that he's going to do, so many amazing miracles that he is going to perform that we're going to see in these chapters going forward. He's just getting started and then the most amazing thing of all, he's going to die on the cross and raise three days later, and whoever believes in him will have eternal life. That's what he shows here in verse 21, he says "just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it," so here he's talking about the resurrection. He is letting them know that not only could he raise the dead, but he can give life to whoever he pleases, an eternal life. So whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life and have the Holy spirit within them and when it's their time to go, they're going to be going to heaven. So here he's talking about the work of the resurrection and he says that the Father has entrusted all judgment to the son. Like I've said in previous episodes, Jesus has all the judgment in the world, but he didn't come to condemn the world, he came to save the world. In verse 23 it says that "all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father," Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and no one can come to the father except through him. So if they don't honor the Son, if they don't honor Jesus Christ, then it's impossible for them to honor God the Father. They don't truly know God if they don't know Jesus and they don't honor Jesus.
24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man."
28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out-- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."
So I'm just going to discuss these verses here with you guys. So in verse 24 where it says, "whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life," like we know Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. So whoever believes in his words and believes in Jesus Christ, he has eternal life. We are dead in sin, but we are risen in Christ. When we have the Holy spirit within us, we have that eternal life and we're going to be going to heaven when it's our time to go. We're not from this world we're from heaven and we have eternal life in Jesus Christ.
In verse 26 he says, "as the father has life in himself so he has granted the Son to have life in his self," so here Jesus is showing that his life is not dependent on anyone else. Jesus has life and himself just as the Father does and he has all the authority to judge because he's the Son of Man. In verses 28 and 29, he's talking about the second resurrection. So we know that the first resurrection is after Jesus dies on the cross, which we'll learn about that later in the book of John, he dies on the cross and raises three days later. The second resurrection is whenever Jesus comes back to the earth and brings his people up to heaven with him. Those who have done evil are going to be condemned because they haven't trusted in the Lord. They don't have eternal life because they haven't believed in Jesus Christ.
In verse 30 he says, "By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." So like we know, it's the Trinity, so it's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy spirit. God the Son can't do anything without God the Father because they' are three in one, it's the Holy Trinity. Jesus doesn't seek to honor or praise himself, he seeks to do the will of Him who sent him, which is to save the world, to forgive us of our sins. He knew that we were sinners, he knew that he would have to die on the cross, he knew all of these things before they happened, and he came to do the will of God the Father.
John Ch 5 Study Guide Part 1
1. Who did Jesus heal at the pool?
2. Why were the Jewish leaders trying to find Jesus after he performed the miraculous sign at the Pool?
3. Why did Jesus find the man that he healed and told him to stop sinning?
4. What was Jesus referring to in verses 20 & 21?
5. What was he referring to in verses 28 & 29?
6. Why does Jesus say that he can do nothing by himself in verse 30?
7. What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible Study?
But before I let you go, I did want to say a quick prayer. Lord, I pray that you lift up every single person listening to this right now. I pray that they open up their eyes, their heart, their mind, their ears to you Lord, to see the truth of your words and that they live to spread your gospel to others and be a disciple of Jesus Christ and let others know about how amazing you are. I pray that you be with them in every aspect of their life and guide them and direct them and make their paths straight. Lord, I love you with my whole heart in Jesus name. Amen.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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