---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  John 5"
description: "CHAPTER 5   :-. THE IMPOTENT
MAN HEALED—DISCOURSE
OCCASIONED BY THE
PERSECUTION ARISING
THEREUPON. 1. a feast of the Jews—What
feast? No question has more"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5"
---

CHAPTER 5

. THE IMPOTENT
MAN HEALED—DISCOURSE
OCCASIONED BY THE
PERSECUTION ARISING
THEREUPON.

**1. a feast of the Jews**—*What
feast?* No question has more divided the Harmonists of the
Gospels, and the duration of our Lord's ministry may be said to hinge
on it. For if, as the majority have thought (until of late years) it
was a *Passover,* His ministry lasted three and a half years; if
not, probably a year less. Those who are dissatisfied with the
Passover-view all differ among themselves what other feast it was,
and some of the most acute think there are no grounds for deciding.
In our judgment the evidence is in favor of its being a *Passover,*
but the reasons cannot be stated here.

**2, 3. sheep*****market*******—The supplement should be (as in *Margin*) "sheep
[gate]," mentioned in [Nehemiah 3:1](../../../kjv/nehemiah/3/1);
[Nehemiah 3:32](../../../kjv/nehemiah/3/32).
**Bethesda**—that is,
"house (place) of mercy," from the cures wrought there.
**five porches**—for
shelter to the patients.

**3. impotent**—infirm.

**4. an angel,** c.—This miracle
differed in two points from all other miracles recorded in Scripture:
(1) It was not one, but a succession of miracles periodically
wrought: (2) As it was only wrought "when the waters were
troubled," so only upon one patient at a time, and that the
patient "who first stepped in after the troubling of the
waters." But this only the more undeniably fixed its miraculous
character. We have heard of many waters having a medicinal virtue but
what water was ever known to cure *instantaneously* a single
disease? And who ever heard of any water curing all, even the most
diverse diseases—"blind, halt, withered"—alike? Above
all, who ever heard of such a thing being done "only at a
certain season," and most singularly of all, doing it only to
the first person who stepped in after the moving of the waters? Any
of these peculiarities—much more all taken together—must have
proclaimed the supernatural character of the cures wrought. (If the
text here be genuine, there can be no doubt of the miracle, as there
were multitudes living when this Gospel was published who, from their
own knowledge of Jerusalem, could have exposed the falsehood of the
Evangelist, if no such cure had been known there. The want of and part of [John 5:3](../../../kjv/john/5/3) in
some good manuscripts, and the use of some unusual words in the
passage, are more easily accounted for than the evidence in their
favor if they were not originally in the text. Indeed [John 5:3](../../../kjv/john/5/3) is unintelligible without [John 5:3](../../../kjv/john/5/3). The *internal* evidence brought against it is merely
the *unlikelihood* of such a miracle—a principle which will
carry us a great deal farther if we allow it to weigh against
positive evidence).

**5-9. thirty and eight years**—but
not all that time at the pool. This was probably the most pitiable of
all the cases, and *therefore selected.*

**6. saw him lie, and knew,** c.—As
He doubtless visited the spot just to perform this cure, so He knows
where to find His patient, and the whole previous history of his case
([John 2:25](../../../kjv/john/2/25)).
**Wilt thou be made
whole?**—Could anyone doubt that a sick man would like to be made
whole, or that the patients came thither, and this man had returned
again and again, just in hope of a cure? But our Lord asked the
question. (1) To fasten attention upon Himself (2) By making him
detail his case to deepen in him the feeling of entire helplessness;
(3) By so singular a question to beget in his desponding heart the
hope of a cure. (Compare [John 2:25](../../../kjv/john/2/25)).

**7. Sir, I have no man,**
c.—Instead of *saying* he wished to be cured, he just tells
with piteous simplicity how fruitless had been all his efforts to
obtain it, and how *helpless* and all but *hopeless* he
was. Yet not quite. For here he is at the pool, waiting on. It seemed
of no use nay, only tantalizing,
**while I am coming, another
steppeth down before me**—the fruit was snatched from his lips.
Yet he will not go away. He may get nothing by staying, he may drop
into his grave ere he get into the pool; but by going from the
appointed, divine way of healing, he can get nothing. Wait therefore
he will, wait he does, and when Christ comes to heal him, lo! he is
waiting his turn. *What an attitude for a sinner* at Mercy's
gate! The man's hopes seemed low enough ere Christ came to him. He
might have said, just before "Jesus passed by that way,"
"This is no use; I shall never get in; let me die at home."
Then all had been lost. But he *held on,* and his perseverance
was rewarded with a glorious cure. Probably some rays of hope darted
into his heart as he told his tale before those Eyes whose glance
measured his whole case. But the word of command consummates his
preparation to receive the cure, and instantaneously works it.

**8. Rise, take up thy bed,**
&c.—"Immediately" he did so. "He *spake*
and it was *done.*" The slinging of his portable couch over
his shoulders was designed to show the perfection of the cure.

**9. the same day was the
sabbath**—Beyond all doubt this was intentional, as in so many
other healings, in order that when opposition arose on this account
men might be compelled to listen to His claims and His teaching.

**10-16. The Jews**—that is, *those
in authority.* (See on .)
**it is not lawful to carry thy
bed**—a glorious testimony to the cure, as *instantaneous*
and *complete,* from the lips of the most prejudiced! (And what
a contrast does it, as all our Lord's miracles, present to the
bungling miracles of the Church of Rome!) In *ordinary*
circumstances, the rulers had the law on their side ([Nehemiah 13:15](../../../kjv/nehemiah/13/15);
[Jeremiah 17:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/17/21)). But when the man
referred them to "Him that had made him whole" ([Jeremiah 17:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/17/21)) as his authority, the argument was resistless. Yet they
ingeniously parried the thrust, asking him, not who had "made
him whole"—that would have condemned themselves and defeated
their purpose—but who had bidden him "take up his bed and
walk," in other words, who had dared to order a breach of the
sabbath? It is time we were looking after Him—thus hoping to shake
the man's faith in his Healer.

**13. he that was healed wist not,**
&c.—That some one, with unparalleled generosity, tenderness and
power, had done it, the man knew well enough: but as he had never
heard of Him before, so he disappeared too quickly for any inquiries.
**conveyed himself away**—slipped
out of the crowd that had gathered, to avoid both hasty popularity
and precipitate hatred ().

**14. findeth him in the
temple**—saying, perhaps, "I will go into Thy house with
burnt offerings, I will pay my vows which my lips have uttered and my
mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble" ([Psalms 66:13](../../../kjv/psalms/66/13);
[Psalms 66:14](../../../kjv/psalms/66/14)). Jesus, there Himself
for His own ends, "findeth him there"—*not all
accidentally,* be assured.
**sin no more,** &c.—a
glimpse this of the reckless life he had probably led *before*
his thirty-eight years' infirmity had come upon him, and which not
improbably had brought on, in the just judgment of God, his chronic
complaint. Fearful illustration this of "the severity of God,"
but glorious manifestation of our Lord's insight into "what was
in man."

**15. The man departed, and told,**
c.—little thinking how unwelcome his grateful and eager testimony
would be. "The darkness received not the light which was pouring
its rays upon it" ([John 1:5](../../../kjv/john/1/5)
[John 1:11](../../../kjv/john/1/11)) [OLSHAUSEN].

**16. because he had done these things
on the sabbath day**—What to these hypocritical religionists was
the doing of the most glorious and beneficent miracles, compared with
the atrocity of doing them on the sabbath day! Having given them this
handle, on purpose to raise the first public controversy with them,
and thus open a fitting opportunity of laying His claims before them,
He rises at once to the whole height of them, in a statement which
for grandeur and terseness exceeds almost anything that ever
afterwards fell from Him, at least to His enemies.

**17, 18. My Father worketh hitherto
and I work**—The "*I*" is emphatic; "The
creative and conservative activity of My Father has known no
sabbath-cessation from the beginning until now, *and that is the
law of My working.*"

**18. God was his Father**—literally,
"His own [or peculiar] Father," (as in ). The addition is their own, but a very proper one.
**making himself equal with
God**—rightly gathering this to be His meaning, not from the mere
words "My Father," but from His claim of right to act as
His Father did in the like high sphere, and by the same law of
ceaseless activity in that sphere. And as, instead of instantly
disclaiming any such meaning—as He must have done if it was
false—He positively sets His seal to it in the following verses,
merely explaining how consistent such claim was with the prerogatives
of His Father, it is beyond all doubt that we have here an assumption
of *peculiar personal Sonship,* or participation in the Father's
essential nature.

**19, 20. the Son can do nothing of
himself**—that is, *apart from* and *in rivalry of* the
Father, as they supposed. The meaning is, "The Son can have no
separate *interest* or *action* from the Father."
**for what things,** &c.—On
the contrary, "whatever the Father doeth that same doeth the
Son,"
**likewise**—"in the
like manner." What claim to absolute equality with the Father
could exceed this: not only to do "the same things," but to
do them *as the Father does them?*

**20. Father loveth . . . and showeth
him all,** c.—As love has no concealments, so it results from the
perfect fellowship and mutual endearment of the Father and the Son
(see on [John 1:1](../../../kjv/john/1/1) [John 1:1](../../../kjv/john/1/1)), whose interests are one, even as their nature, that the
Father communicates to the Son all His counsels, and what has been
thus shown to the Son is by Him executed in His mediatorial
character. "With the Father, *doing* is *willing;* it
is only the Son who *acts in Time*" [ALFORD].
Three things here are clear: (1) The *personal distinctions* in
the Godhead. (2) Unity of *action* among the Persons results
from unity of *nature.* (3) Their oneness of interest is no
unconscious or involuntary thing, but a thing of glorious
*consciousness, will,* and *love,* of which the Persons
themselves are the proper Objects.
**show him greater things,**
&c.—referring to what He goes on to mention ([John 1:1](../../../kjv/john/1/1)), comprised in two great words, LIFE
and JUDGMENT, which STIER
beautifully calls God's *Regalia.* Yet these, Christ says, the
Father and He do in common.

**21-23. raiseth the dead and
quickeneth*****them*******—one act in two stages.
This is His absolute prerogative as God.
**so the Son quickeneth
them**—that is, raiseth up and quickeneth.
**whom he will**—not only
*doing the same divine act,* but doing it *as the result of
His own will,* even as the Father does it. This statement is of
immense importance in relation to the miracles of Christ,
distinguishing them from similar miracles of prophets and apostles,
who as *human instruments* were employed to perform
super-natural actions, while Christ did all as the Father's
*commissioned Servant* indeed, but *in the exercise of His own
absolute right of action.*

**22. For the Father judgeth no man,**
&c.—rather, "For neither doth the Father judge any man,"
implying that the same "thing was meant in the former verse of
the quickening of the dead"—both acts being done, not by the
Father *and* the Son, as though twice done, but by the Father
*through* the Son as His voluntary Agent.
**all judgment**—judgment
in its most comprehensive sense, or as we should say, all
*administration.*

**23. honour the Son as . . . the
Father**—As he who believes that Christ in the foregoing verses
has given a true account of His relation to the Father must of
necessity hold Him entitled to the same *honor* as the Father,
so He here adds that it was the Father's express intention in making
over all judgment to the Son, that men *should* thus honor Him.
**honoureth not the Father**—does
not do it in fact, whatever he may imagine, and will be held as not
doing it by the Father Himself, who will accept no homage which is
not accorded to His own Son.

**24. believeth on him that sent
me**—that is, believeth in Him as having sent Me. I have spoken
of the Son's right not only to heal the sick but to raise from the
dead, and quicken whom He will: And now I say unto you, *That
life-giving operation has already passed upon all who receive My
words as the Sent of the Father* on the great errand of mercy.
**hath everlasting
life**—immediately on his believing (compare [John 3:18](../../../kjv/john/3/18);
[1 John 5:12](../../../kjv/1-john/5/12); [1 John 5:13](../../../kjv/1-john/5/13)).
**is passed**—"hath
passed over"
**from death unto life**—What
a transition! (Compare [1 John 3:14](../../../kjv/1-john/3/14)).

**25-29. The hour cometh**—in its
whole fulness, at Pentecost.
**and now is**—in its
beginnings.
**the dead**—the
*spiritually* dead, as is clear from . Here He rises from the calmer phrase "hearing *his
word*" ([John 5:24](../../../kjv/john/5/24)), to
the grander expression, "hearing *the voice of the Son of
God,*" to signify that as it finds men in a *dead*
condition, so it carries with it a *resurrection-power.*
**shall live**—in the sense
of [John 5:24](../../../kjv/john/5/24).

**26. given to the Son,** &c.—Does
this refer to the essential life of the Son before all time () (as most of the Fathers, and OLSHAUSEN,
STIER, ALFORD,
&c., among the moderns), or to the purpose of God that this
essential life should reside in the Person of the Incarnate Son, and
be manifested thus to the world? [CALVIN,
LUCKE, LUTHARDT,
&c.] The question is as difficult as the subject is high. But as
all that Christ says of His *essential* relation to the Father
is intended to explain and exalt His *mediatorial* functions, so
the one seems in our Lord's own mind and language mainly the
starting-point of the other.

**27. because he is the Son of
man**—This seems to confirm the last remark, that what Christ had
properly in view was the indwelling of the Son's essential life in
*humanity* as the great *theater* and *medium* of
divine display, in both the great departments of His work—*life-giving
and judgment.* The appointment of a Judge in our *own nature*
is one of the most beautiful arrangements of divine wisdom in
redemption.

**28. Marvel not at this**—this
committal of all judgment to *the Son of man.*
**for the hour is coming**—He
adds not in this case (as in ), "and now is," because this was not to be till
the close of the whole dispensation of mercy.

**29. resurrection of life**—that
is, to life everlasting ().
**of damnation**—It would
have been harsh to say "the resurrection of death," though
that is meant, for sinners rise *from death to death* [BENGEL].
The resurrection of both classes is an exercise of *sovereign
authority;* but in the one case it is an act of *grace,* in
the other of *justice.* (Compare , from which the language is taken). How awfully grand are
these unfoldings of His dignity and authority from the mouth of
Christ Himself! And they are all in the *third person;* in what
follows He resumes the *first person.*

**30-32. of mine own self do
nothing**—that is, apart from the Father, or in any interest than
My own. (See on [John 5:19](../../../kjv/john/5/19)).
**as I hear**—that is, "My
judgments are all *anticipated* in the bosom of My Father, to
which I have immediate access, and by Me only *responded to* and
*reflected.* They cannot therefore err, as I live for one end
only, to carry into effect the will of Him that sent Me."

**31. If I . . . witness of
myself**—standing alone, and setting up any separate interest.

**32. There is another**—that is,
*the Father,* as is plain from the connection. How brightly the
distinction of the Persons shines out here!
**and I know that the witness,**
c.—"This is the Son's testimony to the Father's truth (see
[John 7:28](../../../kjv/john/7/28) [John 8:26](../../../kjv/john/8/26);
[John 8:55](../../../kjv/john/8/55)). It testifies to the
full consciousness on the part of the Son, even in the days of His
humiliation, of the righteousness of the Father" [ALFORD].
And thus He cheered His spirit under the cloud of human opposition
which was already gathering over His head.

**33-35. Ye sent unto John**—(See
[John 1:19](../../../kjv/john/1/19), &c.).
**receive not testimony . . .
from man**—that is, depend not on human testimony.
**but . . . that ye might be
saved**—"I refer to him merely to aid your salvation."

**35. He was a burning and a shining
light**—literally, "*the* burning and shining lamp"
(or torch):—that is, "the great light of his day." Christ
is never called by the humble word here applied to John—a
*light-bearer*—studiously used to distinguish him from his
Master, but ever *the Light* in the most absolute sense. (See on
[John 1:6](../../../kjv/john/1/6)).
**willing for a season**—that
is, till they saw that it pointed whither they were not prepared to
go.
**to rejoice in his light**—There
is a play of irony here, referring to the hollow delight with which
his testimony tickled them.

**36-38. I have greater
witness**—rather, "The witness which I have is greater."
**the works . . . bear witness
of me**—not simply as *miracles* nor even as a miracle of
*mercy,* but these miracles, *as He did them,* with a *will*
and a *power,* a *majesty* and a *grace* manifestly
*His own.*

**37. the Father himself . . . hath
borne witness of me**—not referring, probably, to the voice of
His baptism, but (as seems from what follows) to the testimony of the
Old Testament Scripture [CALVIN,
LUCKE, MEYER,
LUTHARDT, &c.].
**neither heard his voice,**
&c.—never recognized Him in this character. The words are
"designedly mysterious, like many others which our Lord uttered"
[STIER].

**38. not his word abiding in
you**—passing now from the *Witness* to the *testimony*
borne by Him in "the lively oracles" (): both were alike strangers to their breasts, as was
evidenced by their rejecting Him to whom all that witness was borne.

**39-42. Search the scriptures,**
c.—"In the Scriptures ye find your charter of eternal life go
search them then, and you will find that I am the Great Burden of
their testimony; yet ye will not come to Me for that life eternal
which you profess to find there, and of which they tell you I am the
appointed Dispenser." (Compare [Acts 17:11](../../../kjv/acts/17/11);
[Acts 17:12](../../../kjv/acts/17/12)). How touching and
gracious are these last words! Observe here (1) The honor which
Christ gives to the Scriptures, as a record which all *have a right*
and *are bound* to search—the reverse of which the Church of
Rome teaches; (2) The opposite extreme is, resting in the mere *Book*
without *the living Christ,* to direct the soul to whom is its
main use and chiefest glory.

**41. I receive not honour from
men**—contrasting His own end with theirs, which was to obtain
*human applause.*

**42. not the love of God in you**—which
would inspire you with a single desire to know His mind and will, and
yield yourselves to it, in spite of prejudice and regardless of
consequences.

**43-47. if another shall come,**
&c.—How strikingly has this been verified in the history of the
Jews! "From the time of the true Christ to our time, sixty-four
false Christs have been reckoned by whom they have been deceived"
[BENGEL].

**44. How can ye believe,** &c.—(See
on [John 5:40](../../../kjv/john/5/40)). The "*will
not*" of [John 5:40](../../../kjv/john/5/40), and
"*cannot*" here are just different features of the
same awful state of the human heart.

**45. Do not think I will accuse you
to the Father**—"My errand hither is not to collect evidence
to condemn you at God's bar."
***one*****that
accuseth you,*****even*****Moses,** &c.—"Alas!
that will be too well done by another, and him the object of all your
religious boastings—Moses," here put for "*the Law,*"
the basis of the Old Testament Scriptures.

**46. he wrote of me**—"an
important testimony to the subject of the whole Pentateuch—'of Me'"
[ALFORD].

**47. If ye believe not**—(See ).
**his writings . . . my words**—a
remarkable contrast, not *absolutely* exalting Old Testament
Scripture above His own words, but pointing to the office of those
venerable documents to *prepare* Christ's way, to the necessity
universally felt for *documentary* testimony in revealed
religion, and perhaps (as STIER
adds) to the relation which the comparative "*letter*"
of the Old Testament holds to the more flowing "words" of
"spirit and life" which characterize the New Testament.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  John 5"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  John 5","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"CHAPTER 5   :-. THE IMPOTENT\nMAN HEALED—DISCOURSE\nOCCASIONED BY THE\nPERSECUTION ARISING\nTHEREUPON. 1. a feast of the Jews—What\nfeast? No question has more","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john","name":"John"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/john/5","name":"5"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```