Week 9, John 5
Hook
Main Point: Jesus is the one who reveals.
Main Application: Confront your unbelief.
Historical Event: John F. Kennedy took to the podium in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
on July 14, 1960, after receiving 52.89 percent of the voting delegate’s vote to nominate him as
the Democratic candidate for president of the United States. In his acceptance speech, Kennedy
famously stated,
"We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through
that darkness to a safe and sane future. As Winston Churchill said on taking office some
twenty years ago: if we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in
danger of losing the future." 1
Kennedy’s famous speech referenced a Chinese proverb which states, “It is better to light a
candle than curse the darkness.” As light shines in the dark, the darkness is defeated and the
light reveals what the darkness has hidden.
Discussion Questions:
1
Ready References: John F. Kennedy Quotations, www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/ReadyReference/JFK-Quotations.aspx
How is God revealed to us in Scripture?
How does Jesus reveal the Father to us?
John 5
Book
Main Point: Jesus is the one who reveals.
Main Application: Confront your unbelief.
Text Summary: Jesus’ authority is greatly confronted. Jewish authorities demand that Jesus
explain why He healed on the Sabbath and how He can claim He and God the Father are equal.
This is not a small offense in their eyes. Jesus explains in several ways how He has come to
reveal the Father and to do the Father’s work. All that He does is to show the wondrous and
glorious nature of God to man in a way unlike ever before. Jesus has been sent to reveal.
John 5:1–17 (Read)
Sub Application: Find trust and belief in Jesus who heals.
Jesus heals an invalid. The Sheep Gate mentioned in these first verses was a small gate on the
north wall of the temple where sheep would enter to be cleaned and washed for sacrifice. 2 The
man that Jesus encounters had been an invalid for 38 years. Scripture does not tell us what was
wrong with him, but he may have been lame or paralyzed since he stresses the fact that no one
has come along to help him go down into the pool (5:7). When Jesus inquires if he wishes to be
healed, the man replies that no one has helped him get in the pool. Because the man has no
one to help him enter the water, he thinks healing is not possible. Once again, we see those
with whom Jesus interacts focus on the physical and the immediate. But Jesus wasn’t talking
about the pool. Jesus knew that He was the ultimate healer.
Again, by His words, Jesus heals and transforms. After telling the man to rise and walk, the man
does just that. This causes much tension and anger among the Jewish authorities. In Jewish law,
it wasn’t the act of healing that broke the Sabbath code. It was the fact that this man was
carrying his mat. The law forbade the carrying of one object from one place to another. 3 This
man’s violation came as a direct result of Jesus’ act of healing. Therefore, Jesus is held
responsible.
2
Andreas Kostenberger, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John. Grand Rapids:
Baker Academic, 2004, p. 178.
3
D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1990, p. 245.
But what of the man? What happens to him beyond his healing? Verses 13–15 give us a deeper
look. Not once does the man give any sort of “thank you” to Jesus for what He had done.
Clearly, when confronted by the authorities and as soon as the man knew it was Jesus, he gave
Jesus up. It’s clear he was physically changed, but that was it. There was no sign of belief for
this man.
Jesus goes on to tell the officials that Sabbath regulations don’t apply to Him. Just as God
doesn’t need rest, neither does Jesus. Jesus’ activity is one in the same with God’s and if God is
over and above the Sabbath, so too is Jesus.
Why do you think in verse 7 the man assumed Jesus was referring to the pool when He asked
the man if he wanted to be healed?
Not having record of the man ever coming to faith and belief in Jesus, what may have kept
him from professing belief?
How does Jesus in these first 17 verses show His equality with the Father?
John 5:18–29 (Read)
Sub Application: Do not separate the authority of Jesus and the authority of the Father.
Jesus claims equality with God. It wasn’t just that Jesus had no intention of following the
Jewish authorities’ laws; it was that He claimed to be over them and equal to God the Father.
This claim moved the Sabbath issue to the background. However Jesus doesn’t claim
independence, but rather great dependence on the Father.
The purpose of Jesus’ actions and His abilities is to do just what He is proclaiming: show that He
and God are one, that Jesus of Nazareth is the God of all and over everything. This is what
makes denial of Him so severe. Denial of Him and His authority is at the same time denying God
and the Father that sent Him.
Scholars point out that ambassadors, or government representatives, were not uncommon in
this culture. In certain aspects, an ambassador’s relationship to his government is similar to
Jesus’ relationship to the Father. Scholars show that failure to honor an ambassador is a failure
to honor the government that he or she represents. 4 This is what Jesus is saying in these verses.
Rejection of Him is the same as rejecting the Father.
For the Jewish authorities, why is Jesus’ claim to be God more severe than working on the
Sabbath?
4
Andreas Kostenberger, Baker Exegetical Commentary On the New Testament: John. (Baker Academic:
Grand Rapids, 2004), p. 188.
How might the Jews interpret Jesus’ claims as self-centered and prideful?
In verses 27–29, what does Jesus say will be an even greater sign than His words?
Pluralism is the belief that all religions lead to the same God; how do these verses dispute this
idea? If someone rejects Jesus, and they therefore reject God, how should this affect the way
we view evangelism? Missions?
Another Perspective: ESV Study Bible
5:28–29. Jesus reaffirms the resurrection on the last day. Cf. Dan. 12:2. Those who have done
good … those who have done evil does not imply that people’s deeds in this life are the basis on
which judgment is pronounced (for that would contradict John’s strong emphasis on belief in
Jesus as the way to gain eternal life: see John 3:16; 5:24–25; etc.). Instead, good works function
as evidence of true faith, and if good works are lacking they show an absence of true faith. All
those who truly believe will be brought “from death to life” (v. 24) and as a consequence will do
good and will therefore enjoy the resurrection of life.5
Discussion: Read John 5:28–29 and Ephesians 2:8–9. How do you reconcile these two passages?
How do an individual’s works reflect the condition of his or her heart?
John 5:30–47 (Read)
Sub Application: When God speaks, listen.
Jesus explains that the testimony of John the Baptist, the Father and the Scriptures all point
to Jesus. In this passage we see Jesus explain four elements that were all intended to point out
His nature and mission: the testimony of John, the testimony of Jesus’ own work, the testimony
of the Father, and the testimony of the Scriptures.
Jesus’ goal: to please the Father. Jesus doesn’t desire to please Himself or execute His own
mission. The desire of the Father is that many would be saved by seeing and believing in Jesus.
Jesus is doing His work and His ministry to show the world, in a manner never seen before, who
God is and what He is like. We see this in His testimony in verse 33. His words and deeds are
that people may be saved. He has come to reveal God’s plan for salvation by revealing God
Himself.
5
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008, p. 2032.
Notice in verse 36 that Jesus explains the very reason He presents signs and performs miracles:
these events bear witness about Jesus in efforts that man might know that the Father sent Him.
But the signs and miracles Jesus displayed during his earthly ministry were not the only
elements to point to Jesus’ divinity. Jesus explains to the Jewish authorities that they search the
Scriptures because they believe that the Scriptures hold eternal life. Yet the Scriptures point to
Jesus, the One who can truly bring eternal life. The Scriptures foreshadow the coming of Jesus.
Jesus tells the Jewish authorities that if they read the Scripture rightly, they’d understand and
believe in Him. Jesus’ words in this conversation are foundational. He tells the Jewish leaders
that if they believed Moses and read the writings of Moses correctly, they would have no
problem believing in Jesus because the very Scriptures Moses penned tell of Christ! The
Scriptures and Jesus are one and the same. To believe the words of Moses is to believe Jesus,
and to believe Jesus is to believe the words of Moses. Jesus tries to tell these men it is
impossible to do one or the other.
God had been speaking. Through the testimony of John the Baptist, the testimony of Jesus’ own
work, the testimony of the Father, and the testimony of the Scriptures, Jesus’ nature and
mission had been revealed.
In verse 35, why do you think people were more willing to rejoice and listen to John the
Baptist’s testimony about Jesus and not Jesus’ testimony about Himself?
Jesus says they believe the words of Moses but don’t believe the words of Christ. How does
this reveal their misguided belief of the Scriptures and their wrongful interpretation of the Old
Testament?
What does this passage show about Jesus’ concern for the Jews to read the Scriptures
correctly?
Week 9, John 5
Took
Main Point: Jesus is the one who reveals.
Main Application: Confront your unbelief.
In Today’s Culture In 1991, Prestonwood Baptist Church, under the direction of Pastor Jack
Graham, founded the Prestonwood Pregnancy Center. The Pregnancy Center served as a way
for the church and its members to continuously light candles that would push back the
darkness as well as provide ample opportunities for the grace and love of Christ to be revealed
in individual’s lives.
As believers in Christ, it is our responsibility to walk in the light as Christ is in the light and to
practice the truth. When we do this, we have true fellowship with one another, and we can
further defeat the darkness of today’s world (1 John 1:5–7).
Class Exercise: Divide your class into groups and invite each group to name three specific ways
they can overcome darkness by revealing Jesus Christ to their friends, neighbors, family, etc.
Ask your class members to be specific, practical, and to challenge their comfort zone.
Lesson Conclusion: Jesus has revealed the very nature of God to man. One must confront his or
her disbelief, choosing to listen and respond to the words of Jesus.
Challenge: Jesus made radical claims in John 5. Not only did He heal an invalid, He addressed
His very nature. Jesus clearly stated His ability to forgive sin, His authority, and the fact that He
was the Messiah that John the Baptist, God the Father, and the Scriptures had all pointed to.
Challenge your class to confront any disbelief they may carry. Everyone is confronted with the
question, “What will you do with this Jesus?” It may be time for someone in your class to
answer.