NIV Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 32
J ohn 5 : 4
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page 1808
people used to lie — the b
lind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4]a 5One who was t here had been
an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When 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 a
head of me.”
a
3,4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters.
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 they had.
4From
5:6 After 38 years, this man’s problem had become a way of life. No
one had ever helped him. It looked like he had no hope of ever being
healed. No matter how hopeless the situation seems or how trapped
we feel in our limitations, God ministers to our deepest needs. Don’t let
a problem or hardship cause you to lose hope. God may have special
work for you to do in spite of your condition, or even because of it.
Many have ministered effectively to hurting people because they have
triumphed over their own hurts.
5:10 According to the Pharisees, carrying a mat on the Sabbath was
work and was therefore unlawful. It did not break an Old Testament
law, but it broke the Pharisees’ interpretation of God’s command to
“remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). This
was just one of hundreds of rules the Pharisees had added to the Old
Testament law, claiming their human-made rules were equal in authority to God’s Word.
5:10 A man who hadn’t walked for 38 years had been healed, but the
Pharisees were more concerned about their petty rules than the life and
health of a human being. The Jewish leaders witnessed both a mighty
miracle of healing and a petty rule broken. They threw the man and the
miracle aside as they focused their attention on the broken rule, because
to them the rule was most important. It is easy to get so caught up in our
rules and policies that we forget the needs of the people involved. Are
your guidelines for living G
od-made or h uman-made? Are they helping
people, or have they become needless stumbling blocks?
5:14 This man had been lame, or paralyzed, and suddenly he could
walk. This was a great miracle. But he needed an even greater miracle—to
have his sins forgiven. The man was delighted to be physically healed, but
he had to turn from his sins and seek God’s forgiveness to be spiritually
healed. God’s forgiveness is the greatest gift you will ever receive. Don’t
neglect his gracious offer.
5:17-47 Jesus was identifying himself with God, his Father. There could
be no doubt that he claimed to be God. Jesus does not leave us the option to believe in God while ignoring God’s Son (5:23). The Pharisees also
called God their Father, but they realized Jesus was claiming a unique
Mediterranean
Sea
Capernaum
GALILEE
Sea of
Galilee
N
SAMARIA
Jerusalem
JUDEA
IDUMEA
Jordan River
JESUS TEACHES
IN JERUSALEM
Between John 4
and 5, Jesus ministered throughout
Galilee, especially in
Capernaum. He had
been calling certain
men to follow him,
but it wasn’t until
after this trip to
Jerusalem (5:1) that
he chose his 12 disciples from among
them.
R
PE
EA
Dead
Sea
0
0
20 mi
20 km
relationship with him. In response to Jesus’ claim, the Pharisees had two
choices: to believe him, which meant their whole way of life must change,
or to accuse him of blasphemy. They chose the second.
5:17 If God were to stop every kind of work on the Sabbath, nature would
fall into chaos, and sin would overrun the world. Genesis 2:2 says that
God rested on the seventh day, but this doesn’t mean he stopped doing
good. Jesus was saying that when the opportunity to do good presents
itself, we should not ignore it, even on the Sabbath.
5:19-23 Because of his unity with God, Jesus lived as God wanted him
to live. Because of our identification with Jesus, we must honor him and
live as he wants us to live. The question “What would Jesus do?” may help
us make the right choices.
5:24 Eternal life—living forever with God—begins the moment you accept Jesus Christ as Savior. New life begins in you (2 Corinthians 5:17). God
completes the transaction. The rest of your life on earth will go better for
you, even though you may face many hardships, because you are living
in fellowship with the almighty Creator, who loves you. And though you
will still face physical death one day, when Jesus returns again, your body
will be resurrected to live forever (1 Corinthians 15).
5:25 In saying that the dead will hear his voice, Jesus was talking about
the spiritually dead who hear, understand, and accept him. Those who
accept Jesus, the Word, will have eternal life. Jesus was also talking
about the physically dead. He raised several dead people while he was
on earth, and at his second coming, “the dead in Christ” will rise to meet
him (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
5:26 God is the source and creator of life, for there is no life apart from
him, here or hereafter. The life in us is a gift from him (see Deuteronomy
30:20; Psalm 36:9). Because Jesus is eternally existent with God, the
Creator, he, too, is “the life” (John 14:6) through whom we may live
eternally (see 1 John 5:11).
5:27 The Old Testament mentions three signs of the coming Messiah. In this chapter, John shows that Jesus has fulfilled all three signs.
Authority to judge is given to him as the Son of Man (compare John
5:27 with Daniel 7:13-14). Those who are lame and sick are healed
(compare John 5:20-21 with Isaiah 35:6; Jeremiah 31:8-9). The dead
are raised to life (compare John 5:21, 28 with Deuteronomy 32:39;
1 Samuel 2:6; and 2 Kings 5:7).
5:29 Those who have rebelled against Jesus Christ will be resurrected,
too, but they will hear God’s judgment against them and will be sentenced
to eternity apart from him. There are those who wish to live well on earth,
ignore God, and then see death as a final rest. But Jesus does not allow
unbelieving people the option of experiencing death as the restful end
of everything. We must give our devotion to him now, or else we will
stand before him on Judgment Day.
5:31-47 Jesus claimed to be equal with God (5:18), to give eternal
life (5:24), to be the source of life (5:26), and to judge sin (5:27). These
statements clearly show that Jesus was claiming to be divine—an almost
unbelievable claim, but one that was supported by another witness,
John the Baptist.
5:39-40 The religious leaders knew what the Bible said but failed to
apply its words to their lives. They knew the teachings of the Scriptures
but failed to see the Messiah to whom the Scriptures pointed. They knew
the rules but missed the Savior. Entrenched in their own religious system,
they refused to let the Son of God change their lives. Don’t become so
involved in practicing religion that you miss the purpose of your faith—
following Jesus Christ.