John 5 Jesus Heals an Invalid at the Pool and Equates Himself with the Same Authority as God.

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The Healing at the Pool

We don't know which one of the three festivals this story is referring to. It could either be: Passover, Purim, or Pentecost.  Many sick and diseased people hung around this pool thinking that if the pool were stirred something supernatural would happen in the water producing healing. People lined up to encounter this healing water, so the man who was invalid for 38 years virtually had no chance of getting into the pool. After all, who would help him up.  

I love when Jesus says to this man, "Do you want to get well?" What does this mean when he says this?

 This was a sincere question. Jesus knew that not every sick person wants to be healed, and that some are so discouraged that they put away all hope of being healed. Jesus dealt with a man who may have had his heart withered as well as his legs. Jesus therefore attempted to build the faith of this man. Guzik

Jesus responded to the man by saying, "Pick up your mat and walk", and as he did he was healed. Notice the man had to act on Jesus' Word. He needed to pick up his mat and walk. This was his response to Jesus' offer. Many people who are sick may actually not want to get well. Either they are so discouraged or have just given up. It's hard for anyone to help someone like this perhaps even God if they are not willing to get up and walk! 

Instead of being joyous the man had been healed of this 38 year old disease, the Pharisees accuse the man of breaking the Sabbath by picking up his mat. They accuse him of "doing work". This is so preposterous and shows how far the religious leaders had lost sight of the true purpose of the Laws about the Sabbath. Jesus later said, "The Sabbath is made for man, not man made for the Sabbath." 

The man did not have time to thank Jesus properly, as Jesus had silpped back into the crowd. Interestingly Jesus says, "Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you!" This seems like an odd statement. 

Jesus found him because He was concerned for his spiritual health (sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you), not only his physical health. Living a life of sin is worse, and will bring a worse result, than being crippled for thirty-eight years. - Guzik

The Authority of the Son

Next, Jesus says something that is sure to infuriate the leaders, as he teaches them about the relationship between the Father and the Son. Even using the language that He is the Son of God equated Him with God.  He goes on to say that everything he does is a result of seeing what the Father is doing and then doing it Himself. He is essentially claiming equality with God. Calling God the Father and referring to himself as the Son shows His unique relationship with the Father. John employs this language more than any other gospel, which is why again we call it the "relational gospel". 

Then, he goes even further to say that as the Son he can raise the dead, give life, and even judge men and women because of his status as God's Son. 

“He is explaining also, by inference, the mystery of the Incarnation – that God The Son in becoming Man ceased not to be God, and that the Personality of Jesus is the Personality of God The Son.” (Trench)

Not only does the Son have authority in this life, but he also is the arbiter of who will pass from this life into eternal life. This will namely be those who hear God's Word and obeys it. Finally, he says that there will be a time when the dead are raised and those who have done good will be raised to eternal life and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. Is this advocating "works righteousness"? Ie. If I do good I will have eternal life?

“This does not mean that salvation is on the basis of good works, for this very Gospel makes it plain over and over again that men enter eternal life when they believe on Jesus Christ. But the lives they live form the test of the faith they profess.” (Morris)

Testimonies About Jesus

Though Jesus has spent time testifying to who He is and about His divine nature, he points to John the Baptist's testimony about him. In this sense John was the first witness of Jesus. 

Jesus noted that the religious leaders knew of and heard John the Baptist for themselves. They needed to think of and believe what John said about Jesus.

But even greater than John's testimony are the works Jesus has done that testify to His power and authority. No one could do the work that Jesus did unless He were doing it in the power of God. 

Finally, the Word testifies concerning the nature of who Jesus is. Though they have not seen the Father, they should have at least been familiar with the Word of God, which was the Hebrew bible, or what we know as the Old Testament. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law considered themselves experts in the Law, but in fact they missed the purpose of the Scripture, which was to lead them to Christ. In rejecting Jesus they clearly show they didn't REALLY KNOW God's Word. 

Someone can quote the bible chapter and verse and knnow church doctrine but as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, "Without love it is worth nothing. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up!" 

I love what Dallas Willard says about bible knowledge. People can quote the verses of the Great Commission, but then not live the life as Jesus' disciple. Dallas says, "Christians can often be educated beyond their obedience."