John 5:1. There was a feast of the Jews,— This, in all probability, was the feast of the passover, called the feast, by way of eminence; and therefore it might be rendered, was the feast of the Jews. See Matthew 27:15.Mark 15:6; Mark 15:6. A further proof that this was the feast of the passover, arises hence, that, immediatelyafter it, we find the disciples on the sabbath in the fields, rubbing the ears, probably of barley, a kind of grain which was always fit for reaping at the passover. See Matthew 12:1-8.

John 5:2. Now there is at Jerusalem, &c.— Some are of opinion from this passage, that Jerusalem was standing when St. John wrote his gospel; but others, on the strength of a different reading, controvert that opinion, rendering the verse,Now there was, or There stood at Jerusalem. But see the Introduction to this gospel. At Jerusalem, says Bishop Pearce, near the place called the sheep-market, or sheep-gate rather, which was built by Eliashib the high-priest, (Nehemiah 3:1.) there was a bath, built for the use of such of the common people as loved to swim and bathe themselves in water. This is the proper sense of the original κολυμβηθρα, from κολυμβαω, to swim, (Acts 27:43.) rendered in the old Latin version, called the Italick, Natatoria, a bath or swimming-place. Nothing was more common, or more useful than such baths, in these warm climates, where the excessiveheat was not only troublesome, but noxious to health. Josephus mentions some by this very name, κολυμβηθρα at Jericho, as used for the exercise and pleasure of swimming; and it may reasonably be presumed, that this at Jerusalem was built for the same purpose. That the sheep to be sacrificed were washed, or that all the blood of the sacrifices ran into it, whence it gained a kind of medicinal virtue, is an hypothesis not only void of all proof, but sufficiently exploded bythe learned Bishop just mentioned, in his useful "Vindication of our Saviour's miracles," p. 8. This bath was called Beth-esda, that is, the house or place of mercy, not only for its singular usefulness, but also for the extraordinary circumstance attending it, recorded by the evangelist. Around the bath, which seems to have been of a pentagonal form, were built five porches, a kind of cloisters or porticos, Στοαι, which served to shelter both from the heat and cold those who frequented the place; but which were more particularly serviceable to the infirm people who crowded hither on account of the miraculous virtue of the water. See the next verse.

John 5:4. For an angel went down, &c.— Some imagine that this was a proper officer or messenger, as the word αγγελος primarily signifies; yet as it is most commonly used by the inspired writers to signify a celestial being, employed by God, either for the service or punishment of men, and as the circumstances of this narrative import that the virtue communicated by the agitation of the waters, was not a natural quality inherent in them; our translators seem very justly to have retained the word in a sense which implies a miraculous operation. The phrase, Κατα χαιρον, rendered, at a certain season, is understood by some to express at that season, the season of the feast mentioned Joh 5:1 confining the miracle of the pool to this particular feast. See Numbers 9:6-7. LXX: for, since the evangelist does not say that the waters of Bethesda had their sanative quality at any other feast, we are at liberty to make what supposition seems most convenient: but I cannot help thinking, that the mode of expression, and the waiting of the multitude, evidently imply that this event was frequent; as if it had happened once only, it is not easy to account for this attendance and expectation of the multitude. That the waters of Bethesda should at this period have a miraculous effect, was without doubt in honour of the personal appearance of the Son of God on earth. Some have thought that it was intended to shew that Ezekiel's vision of waters issuing out of the sanctuary, (ch. 47:) was about to be fulfilled; of which waters it is said, Joh 5:9 they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. It is abundantly evident, that this was no natural virtue, nor a virtue acquired from natural causes in these waters, from the following reasons: 1. All manner of diseases were healed by them. 2. These cures were performed only at a certain season. 3. One person only was healed. And that, 4 only after the troubling of the water; whereas, in general, medicinal waters are required to be calm, and not troubled, for the use of patients.
Such is the account which St. John gives us ofthis miraculous pool of Bethesda. As to the time when this miraculous effect first took place, nothing precisely certain can be determined; but it seems most universally agreed, that it could not be long before the coming of Christ, and that the miracle was intended to lead men to him: for the gift of prophesy and of miracles had now been withdrawn from the Jews for above four hundred years; therefore to raise in them a more ardent desire for the coming of the Messiah, and to an observation of the signs of his now almost universally-expected coming, God was pleased to favour them with this remarkable sign of Bethesda; and because in these times the Jewish people lay open not only to the irruptions and tyrannyof the Gentiles, but had wholly lost their liberty; that they might not yet entirely despair of the fulfilling of the promises made to their fathers, nor entirely cast off their allegiance to God, he favoured them with this eminent token of his regard, this wonderful pool, in a place near to the gate of victims, which were figures of the propitiatory sacrifice of the Messiah. As this miracle then began, when the coming of the Messiah drew near, to advise them of the speedy and near approach of that promised salvation, (wherefore also this gift of healing was without the temple,) so there can be no doubt that Christ entered these porches, and performed the following miracle, to shew what was the true intent of this gift of healing, and to what it was designed by God to lead men; even to himself, the fountain opened for sin, and for all uncleanness. The water was thus troubled only at some certain season, to shew them at once the weakness of the law, and the great difference between that and the gospel dispensation; and to teach them, not to rest in the corporal benefit only, as in the ministration of anangel, but to betakethemselves to a careful consideration of the promises of HIS approaching advent, who, not at stated periods of times, but every day, performed, not a single cure only, but healed whole multitudes resorting to him.

John 5:5. And a certain man was there,— Among the crowds who lay in the porticos of Bethesda, there was one, who had an infirmity,— ασθενεια,— most probably a paralytic disorder, which hardly ever gives way to medicine, though recently contracted: how much less curable must it have been, after having continued 38 years! The inveteracy of this man's disorder must have been known to many in the course of so long a time; and the reality of his indisposition, which was even prior to the birth of Christ, must have been equally notorious, and shewn the impossibility of any collusion between them. The lengthand greatness of the man's affliction, well known to Jesus, (as appears from John 5:6.) together with his poverty, (John 5:7.) were sufficient reasons for our Lord's making choice of him, to experience the mercy of his healing power; a power infinitely superior to the virtue of the waters. Had our Lord at this time restored none of these impotent folk to health, he would not have acted contrary to the general account which the evangelists give of his goodness on other occasions, namely, that he healed all who came to him; for such diseased persons as left their habitations with a persuasion of his power and dignity, were fit objects of his mercy; while the sick at Bethesda were no more so than the other sick throughout the country, whom he could have cured barely by willing it, had he so pleased. They had no knowledge of him, or if they knew ought about him, they had no just idea of his power, and were expecting relief from another quarter.

John 5:6. Wilt thou be made whole?— Our Lord proposed this question, that the man might have an opportunity of declaring his case in the hearing of the multitude; (see John 5:13.) because such a declaration tended to make the miracle more conspicuous. It seems he designed to arouse the attention of the inhabitants of the capital; resolving to lay the evidences of his mission before them in the discourse which this miracle was to occasion.

John 5:7. Sir, I have no man, &c.— He complains for want of friends to help him in: "I have no man, no friend to do me that kindness." One would think some of those who had been themselves healed; would have lent him a hand: but it is common for the poor to be destitute of friends; no man careth for their soul. To the sick and impotent, it is as true a piece of charity to work for them, as to relieve them; and thus the poor are capable of being charitable one to another. We may observe how mildly this man speaks of the unkindness of those about him;—a lesson to all in misfortunes.

John 5:10. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, &c.— It is remarkable, that the Jews who met the man, did not converse with him upon his cure,—though in all probability many of them knew he had been long infirm; but upon the unlawfulness of carrying his bed. Such is the force of bigotry and superstition! See Jeremiah 17:21-22.

John 5:11. He that made me whole, &c.— "He that with a word restored my strength in an instant, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed and walk; and his injunctions certainly could not be sinful, as he must have been both a prophet, and a worker of miracles." Instead of the same said unto me, it would be more emphatical, if it was rendered agreeable to the original, even he said.

John 5:12. What man is that which said, &c.— The malignity of the Jews appears most flagrantly in this question. They take no notice of the miracle, which demanded their most serious examination; they do not ask him who it was that healed him; but they ask him with a malicious sneer, who bade him take up his bed? Had they inquired into the miracle, it might have appeared an action which deserved applause; but this was contrary to their intention.

John 5:13. Had conveyed himself away,— Casaubon observes, that the wind εξενευσεν, by which the evangelist expresses Christ's escape, being a metaphor borrowed from swimming, signifies, that he glided through the multitude, leaving no trace behind him of the way that he had taken.

John 5:14. Jesus findeth him in the temple,— Jesus found the man in the temple, whither probably he repaired, to return thanks to God for his signal recovery; when, to render the mercy that he had bestowed upon him complete, our Lord took that opportunityto put him in mindof his having brought the distemper upon himself by his wicked courses; for he exhorts him to abstain from sinning for the future, lest some heavier judgment should be inflicted on him.

John 5:17. My Father worketh hitherto,— Jesus began his defence with shewing the rulers the unreasonableness of their displeasurewith him, because he had restored the infirm man to health on the sabbath-day. He told them, that, in performing cures on the sabbath-day, he only imitated his Father, who wrought every day of the week in doing good to men by his unwearied Providence; for, on the sabbath, as on other days, through the invisible operation of his power, God supports the whole frame of nature, and carries on the motion of the heavens, upon which the vicissitudes of day and night, and of the seasons, depend; which are so necessary to the production of food, and the other means of life. As the Jews built their observation of the sabbath upon God's having rested thereon from the works of creation, this argument was decisive. Some render it, My Father worketh even till now.

John 5:18. God was his Father,— Our Lord's vindication offended the Jews exceedingly, as he claimed a peculiar, proper, and most high relation to God the Father, and, by asserting that he acted like God, set himself on a level with God. The original πατερα ιδιον, is emphatical, and should be rendered his own Father;—his Father in a peculiar manner, as Heylin reads it. The whole nation of the Jews thought God to be their Father, ch. John 8:41. They could not therefore have accounted it blasphemy in Christ, to use the same phrase, had they not interpreted it in so high and appropriating a sense.

John 5:19. Then answered Jesus,— Jesus did not deny the conclusion in Joh 5:18 but shewed that, in all things, he acted agreeably to the will of God the Father, and that he was equal in power to God, doing whatever he saw the Father do; an honour which flowed to him from the immense and eternal love of the Father,and which was a clear and convincing proof of the Father's love towards him. The Son can do nothing of himself, means "nothing in opposition to the economy of the Father

John 5:20. Sheweth him— The word δεικνυσιν, rendered sheweth, has a reference here to the ample, comprehensive, and infinite knowledge which the Son has of the whole plan of the Father's counsels in all their mutual relations and dependencies. He will shew him greater works than these, "Will enable him as man, to do greater miracles than any that he has done hitherto, and which, though they may not convince, will certainly astonish you, and make it impossible for you to gainsay him, at least with any show of reason."

John 5:24. Hath everlasting life,— "He is already entitled to it; yea, it is already begun in his soul; and he, if he be faithful unto death, shall shortly possess it in its full perfection, and shall not come into condemnation for any former offences; but he hath passed from that state of death in which men naturally are, to a state of life and felicity."

John 5:25. Verily, verily, I say unto you,— These repetitions of this solemn asseveration are by no means vain, considering the vast importance of the truth, and how incredible it would appear to the natural mind, that he, who stood before them in so humble a form, was in reality the Lord of life, and universal Judge. "The season cometh, (says our Lord,) and is now just at hand, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear it shall immediately live; for within these few months there shall be some dead bodies raised to life by the word of his power (see Mark 5:41.Luke 7:14; Luke 7:14. Joh 11:43 and compare Matthew 27:52-53.): and many souls that are dead in sin, shall by his grace be quickened, and made spiritually alive." We explain the passage thus, because it is doubtful whether it may not have this joint reference. It is well known, that sinners are often represented in scripture as dead: Matthew 8:22.Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 5:14. 1 Timothy 5:6, and if the expression οι ακουσαντες, is to be taken as we render it, with the most literal exactness, for they that hear, or they, and they alone, that so attend to the voice of Christ as to believe in him, it will then limit it to this sense; which seems also favoured by Joh 5:24 where death plainly signifies a state of sin and condemnation.

John 5:26. For as the Father hath life, &c.— "For as the Father is the Fountain of life, who has it necessarily and in the most perfect manner in himself, and communicates it to all the living; so in the dispensation, whereby he has constituted his own essentially living Son to be the Messiah, he has granted to him, that in his incarnate state, and in the execution of his office, he shall have this life in himself, with authority to communicate life to others, in raising them from the dead, by his own fund of quickening power, which is inherent in himself."

John 5:27. And hath given him authority, &c.— This may refer not only to the future and final judgment upon the sons of men, but also to the inflicting of temporal judgments; and possibly our Lord had the destruction of Jerusalem more particularly in his eye,—an exercise of judgment which he constantly ascribed to himself. See Philippians 2:9; Php 2:11 and the next note.

John 5:31. If I bear witness of myself, &c.— These certainly were very grand assertions, which our Lord made of his own dignity. But he did not require his hearers to believe them merely on the authority of his own testimony; a circumstance by which the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, isdistinguished from Mahomet and every other impostor. He told them, that he had the testimony of John given him in the hearing of their own deputies; but at the same time he observed, that the truth of his divine mission did not depend merely on human testimony, though it was given by one who was a burning and shining Light, and in whom they greatly rejoiced, because the prophetic spirit which had so long ceased seemed to be again revived in him. See John 5:35.

John 5:34. But I receive not testimony from man:— "I stand in no need of the testimony of John, or of any other man; nor do I seek after such kind of evidence with any anxiety. But I say these things to you, on your own principles, out of a tender and passionate concern for your conviction; that you who are now conspiring against my life, may be saved from that destruction which he foretold, as the portion of those who should reject me, and which the greatest of them shall not be able to escape." See Matthew 3:10.

John 5:35. He was a burning and a shining light:— This is the character given of Elias, Sir 48:1 and is properly applied by our Lord to John, who came in the spirit and power of Elias, being both a shining light, as he revealed the mysteries of heaven, and a burning light, as he reproved the vices of the Jews with sacred warmth and zeal.

John 5:36. But I have greater witness— Our Lord told them that he had the testimony of one infinitely greater than John: even the testimony of the Father, who was continually bearing witness to him by the miracles which he empowered him to perform, and who had given him a peculiar and direct testimony at his baptism, by declaring from heaven in a grand, audible, articulate voice, that he was his Beloved Son; which voice many then living had heard, and no doubt remembered. See the beginning of Joh 5:37 and the note on ch. John 3:2.

John 5:39. Search the scriptures;— Because the Jews were exceedingly averse to acknowledge the Lord Jesus for their Messiah, not withstanding that the evidences of his divine mission were so unexceptionable; he desired them, for further proof, to search their own scriptures, and particularly the writings of the prophets; which, says he, is certainly your duty, because those writings, as you justly suppose, contain the knowledge of eternal life,and therefore the knowledge of the Messiah; and I can with confidence refer you to them, knowing that they confirm my pretensions in the most ample manner, the characters of the Messiah pointed out by them being all fulfilled in my person. The word ερευνατε, rendered search, implies the most diligent attention and scrutiny into the meaning of the scriptures. Several great writers contend, that this verse is in the present tense; and that the passage should be rendered, Ye search the scriptures, because you apprehend that you have eternal life in them: that is, the directions of heaven for obtaining it; Now these are they, the very writings, which testify of me; yet, John 5:40. Ye will not come unto me, that ye may have life. The words which express their high opinion of the scriptures, seem rather to suit this translation; and it is highly probable, that, at the time when the Pharisees were so impatient of the Roman yoke, they would with great diligence search the sacred oracles for predictions relating to the Messiah; though it is too plain, they had a most unhappybias on their minds, which prevented the good effects that might have been expected from that inquiry, had it been impartial. It is also well known, that refined criticism on the sacred writings made the most fashionable branch of learning among the Jews; in comparison of which, prophane literature was held in contempt, and indeed by many of the zealots in great abhorrence. Dr. Rutherford would read the verse interrogatively, as by way of reproach; Do you search the scriptures,—and yet will not come to me?

John 5:43. I am come in my Father's name,— He came with a commission from his heavenly Father, to promote his glory, and a spiritual salvation from sin and wrath; and produced several unexceptionable witnesses to establish his divine character and offices; and yet, because he opposed their vices, and did not appear with worldly pomp, nor gave them expectations of secular riches, honour, and power, they would not believe in him. Whereas if any other person came to them in his own name; that is, without a commission from God, they would joyfully embrace him, provided he assumed the majesty of a king, and promised temporal bounties to his followers. The Jews gave many signal proofs of this infatuation during their wars with the Romans, and a little before the destruction of their city; for then, many impostors arose, pretending to be the Messiah, and promising them deliverance; by which they drew away great multitudes, as their own historian Josephus informs us, and we have observed in the note on Matthew 24:26.

John 5:44. How can ye believe, &c.— Our Lord observes, that this infidelity of the Jewish rulers (see on John 5:15.) was owing in a great measure to their pride. They who had all along preached glorious things concerning the empire and grandeur of the Messiah, would not ascribe that august character to one of so low a condition apparently as our adorable Lord, who was destitute even of the ordinary advantages of birth, fortune, and erudition; because it would have been such a confession of ignorance and unskilfulness in the scriptures, as must have exposed them to the contempt of those whom they had misled. How can ye believe, &c. "How can such persons as you believe in me, whose character and station are entirely different from what you have all along told the people that the scriptures teach concerning the Messiah? This confession of your own ignorance is not be expected from you, who in all your actions seek the praise of men, (Matthew 23:5.) and not the praise of God; which is the only true praise, and is to be obtained, through grace, by a steady regard to truth and holiness, in opposition to all earthly passions whatsoever."

John 5:45. Do not think, that I will accuse you, &c.— Do you think, &c.? Syriac. Our Lord told them in conclusion, that they were not to imagine that in rejecting him, they sinned against no person but him, and that he alone would accuse them to the Father for their infidelity. Moses, through whose law they trusted to have salvation, was likewise dishonoured by it; inasmuch as he wrote of him under the names of the Seed of Abraham,—Shiloh,—A prophet like to himself, &c. Wherefore, seeing theyrefused to believe on him, Moses would accuse them as guilty of disbelieving his writings. This is one of the most express passages that can be imagined, in which Moses is represented as looking down with indignation upon these elders, who gloried in being the most distinguishedof his disciples: and seeing how injuriously they treated the Lord Jesus, the great Prophet predicted by Moses, that great lawgiver is represented as turning to God with a severe accusation against them, and urging his own predictions as an aggravation of their inexcusable infidelity.