John 5:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

NIV: The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

NASB: But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.

CSB: But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

NLT: The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.

KJV: And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

NKJV: But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.

At the start of chapter 5, Jesus went to the Pool of Bethesda, near the temple (John 5:1–2), where there was a large group of people suffering from disabilities (John 5:3). There, He heals a man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years and instructs the man to take his bed and walk (John 5:8–9). Local religious leaders saw the man carrying a load on the Sabbath. So, they questioned him (John 5:10). Rather than being amazed at a miraculous healing, these officials are more concerned about a violation of their traditions (John 5:12, 16).

It might seem odd that a man who has been miraculously cured would know nothing about the man who healed him. This verse provides some explanation. At all times during His earthly ministry, Jesus is sensitive to God's timetable. This not only affects where He goes and what He does, it also influences the amount of attention He draws at any given time. In this case, Jesus seems mostly interested in provoking a confrontation with the Pharisees. As upcoming verses show, these clashes allow Jesus to defend His ministry, His divinity, and the evidence proving He is legitimate.

There are other moments in the four Gospels where Jesus suddenly removes Himself from a situation. In some cases, these exits have a supernatural tone (John 10:39). In others, such as this, the explanation seems mundane: Jesus simply turned and walked away into the large crowd before the man had a chance to find out more about Him.

John 5:1–15 contains the third of John's seven ''signs'' of Christ. A man crippled for decades expresses no prior knowledge of Jesus, nor an immediate desire to be healed. Jesus heals the man and tells him to walk. For carrying his mat—working—local religious leaders then confront the man. Yet he still doesn't know who Jesus is. Jesus meets the man in the temple and warns him about the dangers of sin. Once the city's leaders find out that Jesus was responsible for the healing, they will confront Him for violating the Sabbath, and for claiming to be equal with God.

Jesus again returns to Jerusalem, as required for the various feast days. While there, He heals a man who had been crippled for nearly forty years. Since this occurred on the Sabbath, local religious leaders are angry. In fact, they are more upset with Jesus for working on the Sabbath than amazed at His miracle. In response, Jesus offers an important perspective on evidence. Jesus refers to human testimony, scriptural testimony, and miracles as reasons to believe His declarations. Christ also lays claim to many of the attributes of God, making a clear claim to divinity.

Chapters 1 through 4 showed Jesus avoiding major publicity. Here, in chapter 5, He will begin to openly challenge the local religious leaders. This chapter is Jesus' first major answer to His critics in this gospel. The fact that Jesus is willing to heal on the Sabbath sets up a theme of His upcoming disagreements with the Pharisees. Jesus also provides an important perspective on the relationship between evidence and faith, which He will expand on in later chapters. This chapter also establishes a key point made by Jesus' critics: His claims to be God.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.