John 5
1 Later,a there was a Jewish festival and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 In Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool called Bethzatha in Aramaicb that has five covered walkways. 3 Very many people who had chronic health conditions, were blind, had disfigured limbs, and had atrophied muscles were lying in the walkways. 5 c Someone was there who had been debilitatingly ill for 38 years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized how much time had already passed for him, he said to him, “Do you want to become healthy?”
7 “Lord,” the person who was sick responded, “I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool when the water is agitated.d I try to go myself, but someone gets in before me.”
8 “Get up!” Jesus told him. “Pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Immediately, the person became healthy and picked up his mat and walked (It was Shabbat that day).
10 Then the Judean authorities started saying to the person who had been healed, “It’s Shabbat, and it’s not allowed for you to carry your mat.”
11 “But the one who made me healthy,” he answered them, “he told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 “Who,” they asked, “is the person who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 But the who was restored to health didn’t know who he was. Jesus had left unnoticed since the place was crowded.
14 Later, Jesus found him in the sacred groundse and said, “Look. You’ve become healthy. Don’t deviate anymore so that something worse won’t happen to you.”
15 The person went away and announced to the Judean authorities that Jesus was the one who had made him healthy. 16 Based on that, the Judean authorities began to pursue Jesus because he was doing these things on Shabbat.
17 He responded to them, “My Father is still working now, so I am also working.”
18 Then because of that, the Judean authorities tried to kill him even more because not only was he letting go of Shabbat, but he was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 “Truly, truly, I’m telling you,” Jesus then responded to them, “The Son can’t do anything by himself, only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Fatherf does, the Son does the same things. 20 You see, the Father cares aboutg the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him more impressiveh things to work oni than these, soj you’re going to be shocked. 21 Just like the Father awakensk the dead and makes them live, in the same way the Son also makes whomever he wants live. 22 The Father doesn’t assess anyone; instead, he has given all assessment to the Son 23 so that everyone would honor the Son just like they would honor the Father who sent him.
24 “Truly, truly, I’m telling you that whoever hears what I am sayingl and trusts the one who sent me has agelong life and is not going toward assessment but, instead, has moved across from death to life.m
25 “Truly, truly, I’m telling you that a time is coming—and is already here—when the dead will hear the voice of God’s Son, and those who hear will live.n 26 Exactly how the Father has life in himself, he has also given the Son life to have in himself. 27 He also gave him authority to make an assessment because he is the Son of Humanity. 28 Don’t be shocked at this because a time is coming in which everyone who is in a tomb will hear his voice, 29 and the ones who have done beneficial things will come out into the rising upo for life, but those who have practiced rottennessp will come out into the rising up for assessment.
30 “I can’t do anything by myself. I assess exactly what I hear, and the decision from my assessment is justq because I don’t seek what I want but what the one who sent me wants.r 31 If I vouch for myself, my assertion is not trustworthy. 32 Someone else vouches for me, and I have seen that the report which he tells about me is trustworthy.s 33 You sent an inquiry to John,t and he has presented the truth 34 (I do not accept human affirmation, but I say these things so that you can be liberated). 35 That man was a burning and shining lamp, and you wanted to celebrate in his light at the time.
36 “Now, I have a more significant reference than the one John gives. That’s because the actions which the Father has given to me to complete—the very actions I’m doing—vouch for me that the Father sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has affirmed me himself. Neither have you ever heard his voiceu nor have you seen his appearance,v 38 and you don’t have his conversationw presentx among youy because you do not trust the very one whom the Father sent.z 39 You examine the scriptures because you think you can have agelong life through them, and those scriptures are the very things vouching for me. 40 And you don’t want to come to me so that you can have life.aa
41 “I don’t accept flattery.bb 42 Besides, I’ve gotten to know you, that you do not have God’s love between yourselves.cc 43 I have come as a representative ofdd my Father, and you haven’t accepted me. If another were to come on their own authority,ee then you would accept that person. 44 How can you trust me while accepting praise from each other and not seeking the praise that is from the only God? 45 Don’t think that I will accuse you to God. The one who accuses you is Moses, the one you’ve placed your hope in. 46 If you really trusted Moses, you would trust me, because he wrote about me. 47 But, if you don’t trust his scriptures,ff how will you trust the things I say?”gg
FOOTNOTES:
a Literally, ‘after these things’
b The Greek word means ‘Hebrew’ but the actual language Bethzatha is from is Aramaic, which was very closely related to Hebrew and was what was spoken at that time by the Hebrew people.
c The traditional verse 4 is not included in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts and has not been included. The traditional English translation of that verse is “For an angel of the Lord went down and stirred up the water at certain times. Whoever first stepped in after the stirring of the water was healed from whatever disease he suffered.”
d Traditionally, ‘stirred up.’ That translation works, but the word doesn’t specify a cause of the movement of the water. The word just means ‘agitated’ or ‘disturbed’ or ‘unsettled’ and is used about people and their emotional state as well as physical movement. This seems to be about the requirement for ritual cleansing involving ‘living water’ or ‘flowing water.’ Stagnant water was not considered clean for ceremonial purposes.
e He would not have been allowed there for the entire 38 years of his condition because it made him ritually unclean. His cleansing by Jesus requalified him for temple worship. This specific area was the temple courtyard where Jesus overturned the tables in John 2:14-16.
f Literally, ‘that one’ or ‘he.’
g Traditionally, ‘loves.’ The Greek word here is phileo rather than agapao. In order to attempt to differentiate them, I have translated agapao as ‘love’ and phileo as ‘care about’ or ‘have affection for.’ Phileo carries for of a meaning of a relational bond, emotional care and affection between family members or close friends. Agapao has more to do with a commitment to pursue benefit, take care of, or advocate on behalf of someone or something.
h Traditionally, ‘greater.’ Literally, it means ‘bigger.’ It is often used in scripture to mean ‘more impressive’ or ‘more important’ or ‘more significant’ or even ‘more powerful’ or ‘treated as more important,’ which would be translated as ‘more respected’ or something along those lines.
i Or maybe ‘more impressive accomplishments’ or ‘more important actions’
j This word, hina, is often translated as ‘so that.’ It can be used for several things, including to show ‘purpose’ and ‘result.’ The context here seems to suggest this is about result (‘so the result will be that you are shocked’) and not purpose (‘for the purpose of shocking you’). Since ‘so the result will be that you are shocked’ is overly cumbersome, the same affect was attempted by translating it as ‘so you’re going to be shocked.’
k Or ‘roused,’ traditionally, ‘raised.’ This word egeiro is most often used for getting up from sleep. Sleep was a common euphemism for death. According to The Cambridge Greek Lexicon (2021), this word carries these possible uses: 1) stir from sleep, rouse, waken; 2) be awake, alert, be awakened; 3) rouse, stir up [to action or thought]; 4) stir up, provoke; 5) awaken, rouse [to singing, praise, shouting]; 6) rouse (into new or renewed existence, such as “stir into flame”), stimulate, revive; 7) raise up (foundations of a building, city wall), and 8) [citing the New Testament] restore to life. This is a different word, though a synonym, from the word in verse 29.
l Literally, ‘whoever hears my logos.’ See note about logos in John 1:1.
m Reference to Deuteronomy 30:15-20.
n Again, see Deuteronomy 30:15-20.
o Or ‘the getting up,’ or ‘the uprising.’ It would be appropriate even to say ‘the revolution.’ Traditionally, it’s ‘the resurrection.’ Even the English word ‘resurrection’ shares origins with ‘insurrection.’ They have to do with standing up (being ‘erect’). The ‘re-‘ in ‘resurrection’ is about returning to a state that was previously experienced. This word is anastasis. Here are the meanings for it listed in The Cambridge Greek Lexicon (2021): 1) act of raising or rising up (from death); 2) rising, awakening, 3) rise (of persons, opposite of ptosis ‘downfall’), 4) erection (of walls), 5) removal (from one’s usual abode); evacuation (of people), 6) withdrawal (of an army), 7) breaking up, adjournment (of an assembly), 8) overthrow, destruction (of a city, country, nation, family). This is not related to the word egeiro in verse 21, though they share overlap in definition..
p The word phaulos means something like ‘low quality,’ or ‘low value,’ and is usually but not always used in contexts about character and behavior. Words like ‘ineffective actions’ or ‘mediocre behavior’ or ‘crappy actions’ or ‘cheap behavior’ could be appropriate. Traditionally, ‘evil deeds’ is how many translate it, adding yet another Greek word to the list of things that just gets lumped into ‘evil’ or ‘wicked.’
q As in, based in justice.
r Possibly a reference to Isaiah 12:3-4 (and context of verses 1-10 and beyond)
s Or ‘true’
t Or ‘You sent for John.’ Literally, it just says, ‘You sent to John.’
u See Exodus 19:9; 20:18-19
v See Exodus 33:18-23; 34:1-9
w Greek, logos. See note in John 1:1.
x Or ‘residing’ or ‘staying’ or ‘remaining’
y See Exodus 19:4-6; 25:8; 33:13-14; Deuteronomy 30:1-20
z See Exodus 19:9
aa See Exodus 20:18-21; Deuteronomy 30:19-20
bb Literally ‘praise of the flesh,’ seeming to indicate ‘skin-deep’ praise or ‘shallow’ or praise that is for promoting the ego rather than about what is genuinely praiseworthy.
cc The preposition en designates location, such as ‘in the house,’ and it is often translated as ‘among’ when addressing the group as the location. The words in this sentence are plural: echete – ‘you(all) have’ and heautois – ‘yourselves.’ This is referring to having the love that comes from God being enacted reciprocally between them.
dd Literally, ‘in the name of’
ee Literally, ‘in their own name’
ff The Greek word gramma can be translated as ‘writing’ or ‘scripture’ or ‘document’ or ‘letter (of the alphabet).’
gg This word is rhema, which is often translated as ‘word.’ It’s worth noting that it is not logos, which is what is traditionally translated as ‘word’ in John 1:1.