A Feast in Jerusalem
5 1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Aramaic Bethesda, which has five covered walkways. a a v2 Bethesda means 'house of mercy' — a fitting name for the place where Jesus healed. 3 In these lay a multitude of the sick — blind, lame, and paralyzed. 4 b b v4 This verse is not found in the earliest Greek manuscripts of John. It appears in later copies that preserve the tradition of how the pool was understood to work, and is included here in brackets so the verse numbering remains familiar. 5 One man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"
7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up — by the time I make my way there, someone else steps in before me."
8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your mat, and walk."
9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat."
11 But he answered them, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'"
12 They asked him, "Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?"
13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you."
15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
They Turn Against Him
16 And so the Jews began persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I too am working."
18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him: not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling our Father his own Father, making himself equal with him. c c v18 The Jewish leaders heard Jesus's words rightly: when he claimed our Father as his own Father, he was claiming equality with our Father. The rest of the chapter is Jesus defending and explaining that claim. 19 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does in the same way. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Truly, truly, I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of our Father, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 30 I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Witnesses to the Son
31 If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he bears about me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have testimony greater than John's. For the works my Father has given me to accomplish — the very works I am doing — bear witness about me that my Father has sent me. 37 And my Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe the one he sent.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me so that you may have life. 41 I do not accept glory from people, 42 but I know you — that you do not have the love of our Father within you. 43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only Father?
45 Do not think that I will accuse you before my Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?