Monday | Week 4
Chapter 5 of John starts with Jesus having great compassion on a man who’s been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. This leads to the Jewish leaders questioning the man that was healed and ultimately persecuting Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Jesus responds to their questioning with grace but also with clarity as to what spiritual healing must look like.
When Jesus first sees the paralyzed man He asks, “Do you want to get well?” (v.6)—a question He most certainly asks us occasionally. The man’s response is also familiar. He tells Jesus what is in the way of him getting help. He can’t get down into the pool. Jesus was offering healing, but the man was offering excuses instead of simply responding to the invitation. Jesus chooses to heal the man anyway.
Once the Jewish leaders learned it was Jesus who had healed the man, they began questioning Jesus about His authority. In verses 24 and 25, Jesus states,
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, 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.”
John 5:24–25
Jesus is alluding to both the spiritually dead who will be raised to newness of life, as well as the faithful who have died before, and their promise of eternal life. Jesus is establishing Himself not only as someone under the authority of the Father, but also as the Messiah Himself!
Jesus finishes with a powerful point about testimonies. Even though He is Jesus He still invites them not to just take His word for it. He points out that not only has John the Baptist been talking about Him being the One that was promised, but that the Scriptures they study so thoroughly also testify that Jesus is the Messiah.
Jesus wants to be clear about His position, His authority, His character, and His place. He also wants to lay out a clear path to healing. Just as He helped the man that couldn’t help himself at the pool, He continues to show the Jewish leaders that they can’t help themselves spiritually. True righteousness comes from trusting Jesus wholly.
Discussion Questions
How is the paralyzed man’s response like ours sometimes?
What do verses 16-23 teach about the relationship between Jesus and the Father?
The religious leaders mentioned in verse 16 seem to be set on getting Jesus in trouble for not following the rules. Would Jesus break any rules today that would upset some people?
When Jesus was talking about the testimonies concerning Him, there was really only the Scriptures and John the Baptist. How does it strengthen your faith that we have 2000 years of testimony from men and women following Jesus?