John 5:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

NIV: Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

NASB: After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

CSB: After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

NLT: Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.

KJV: After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

NKJV: After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Jewish men living in or around Jerusalem were required to attend several festivals within the city each year (Deuteronomy 16:16). This passage does not specifically mention which festival, but for the purposes of the story it makes no difference. Jesus had left the area not long after His conversation with Nicodemus (John 3). The Pharisees were beginning to take action against the ministries of both Jesus and John the Baptist. Since that was not the right time for a confrontation, Jesus passed through Samaria on His way to Galilee (John 4:5).

This verse begins with the phrase "after this," which is a reference to the end of chapter 4. Jesus has just healed the son of a court official (John 4:46–54). This was the second of John's seven "signs"—miracles—which are recorded to prove that Jesus in, in fact, God.

The miracle Jesus is about to perform presents several interesting contrasts with the healing of the official's son. That miracle was somewhat private, performed at a distance, and on behalf of a man who specifically sought out Jesus for a miracle. The man Christ will heal in chapter 5 will be healed in public, and in person, even though he is unable to seek healing on his own, and almost seems disinterested.

John 5:1–15 shows Jesus healing a man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years. This is the third of John's seven ''signs'' of Christ. Interestingly, the crippled man expresses no prior knowledge of Jesus, nor any overwhelming desire to be healed. Jesus restores the man, then tells him to walk. For carrying his mat—working—the man is then confronted by local religious leaders, but 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—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 more or less avoiding 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 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 gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 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”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.