John 5

Verses 1-15

• Verses 7-9. Jesus healed this man even though he did not expect at all to be healed, nor did he have faith. 

  • Remember that anyone can be healed, even if they don't have faith. Pray for anyone you feel convicted to pray for, and don't worry about whether they believe it will happen or not.

• Verses 13-14. Understand that real healings happen, and yet the person ends up sick again afterwards. The reason is that after being healed, if a person does not stop sinful practices, sicknesses come back, and they come back even worse than before.

  • It's similar to casting out demons. If a demon is cast out, but the person does not repent and believe, they are re-possessed and end up seven times worse (Matthew 12:45).

• Understand that, today, some people God will only heal through their repentance, rather than through a spontaneous miracle (Luke 4:23-27, Matthew 13:57-58). If God knows that a person will not repent of sin or believe in Jesus, often He will not have them healed, otherwise He would be doing them a disservice.

  • While you are praying for people to be healed, always teach people to repent and obey God's Word. This will make sure that they stay healed and prevent some future infirmities.

 

Verses 16-18

• Even the Jews, who rejected Jesus, were sensible enough to deduce that Jesus claimed to be God. Know that this is a good verse to use to support the doctrine that Jesus is God.

 

Verses 19-20, 30

• Jesus, as the perfect Son of God, did only what He saw the Father show Him to do, and He only taught what He heard the Father tell Him to teach (John 8:28). Look at the life of Jesus and you are looking at a life in perfect submission to God.

  • Just as God loved Jesus by showing Him His works, God shows love to us—and we experience relationship with Him—when we hear from Him and are able to do what He shows/tells us to do.

  • While Jesus heard directly from the source—from the Father—we hear from the Spirit.

• Verse 30. And just as Jesus could do nothing by Himself, in that He required the Father's authority, we can do nothing apart from Christ.

  • Understand that you depend on Christ and His authority to do anything. If you learn to hear from the Spirit, you will learn to be more guided in your actions.

  • Those who hear God have the best capacity follow Him. So, grow in hearing the voice of the Spirit and you will be able experience true relationship with God and accomplish the most for the kingdom. Desire this!

  • And like Jesus, your judgments and discernments of situations will be accurate if you seek to hear and do the will of God and not your own will.

    • Wanting to hear God's will from the Word and the Spirit, and to do it, will make your thoughts and judgments accurate. But if you focus only on your own feelings and ambitions, seeking your own will, you will think incorrectly.

 

Verses 21-27

• Verses 21-23, 26-27. Jesus has all authority from the Father. He had the authority to forgive sins and save them from God's judgment. This is how He had authority to execute judgment or not. As such, in order to honor God the Father, we must honor Jesus to the same degree that we honor God.

  • Verse 23. This is a great verse to use with people who believe that Jesus should not be worshiped. Jesus, in His own words, said that we must revere Him to the same degree that we revere God.

• Verse 24. Those who are saved by belief in Jesus will not experience the wrath of God—death in hell. We are saved from the judgment that must be experienced by unbelievers.

  • Verse 25. Sinners (the dead) hear the gospel and are saved by it.

 

Verses 28-29

• Even the dead heard Jesus speak, after He died and descended low into the earth (1 Peter 3:19, Ephesians 4:9).

  • Again, at a later date, the dead in Hades/Hell will come forth to receive a final judgment (Revelation 20:13-20

• Understand that all people, believers and unbelievers alike, will all receive a new body. 

  • Believers enter heaven with a new, glorified body, while unbelievers enter the lake of fire with a new, different body that can burn forever (Revelation 20:13-15, Matthew 10:28).

 

Verses 31-40

• Jesus did not act on His own, so that “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15).

  • Verses 33-35. John gave evidence of Jesus' identity in his preaching.

  • Verse 36. Jesus' miraculous works gave evidence of His identity.

  • Verses 37-39. God gave evidence of Jesus in the Scriptures that speak about Him.

• Verse 40. There always has and always will be plenty of evidence that Jesus is Lord. People reject Him because they are unwilling. Trust that what God has given us, to show Jesus to the world, is enough.

 

Verses 41-44

• The Jews here did not respect Jesus, but He didn't care about this because He knew that His honor and approval came from God and not from man.

  • Be like Jesus. Don't take your sense of value or approval from what people think about you. Seek the honor that comes from God by taking actions that God approves of.

 

Verses 45-47

• The Old Testament law (Moses) agrees with Jesus. A person cannot receive Jesus if they cannot receive the Old Testament, and they cannot receive the Old Testament if they cannot receive Jesus (see Matthew 5:17-19).

  • Use this verse to help people who don't want to believe the Bible but want to believe in Jesus. Show them that we must believe both.