The Healing at the Pool of Bethesda
After some time had passed, there was a Jewish religious festival, and Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there was a pool surrounded by five covered walkways. This pool was called Bethesda in the Hebrew language. Along these walkways lay many sick people—those who were blind, unable to walk, and paralyzed. Among them was a man who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw this man lying there and understood that he had been in this condition for such a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to be healed?" The disabled man answered, "Sir, I don't have anyone to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. By the time I try to get there myself, someone else always gets in ahead of me." Jesus said to him, "Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk." At that very moment, the man was completely healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. This healing took place on the Sabbath day.
The Sabbath Controversy
The Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat and said to him, "Today is the Sabbath! Our law forbids you to carry that mat." The man replied, "The one who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk." "Who was this man who told you to pick it up and walk?" they demanded. But the man who had been healed didn't know who Jesus was, because Jesus had quietly disappeared into the crowd while everyone was gathered there. Later, Jesus found the man in the temple and said to him, "Look, you've been made well. Stop living in sin, or something even worse might happen to you." The man left and went to tell the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. Because Jesus was doing these miraculous works on the Sabbath day, the Jewish leaders began to harass and persecute him. But Jesus responded to their accusations by saying, "My Father has been working right up until now, and I am working too." This statement made the Jewish leaders even more determined to kill Jesus. Not only was he breaking their Sabbath laws in their view, but he was actually calling God his own Father, which meant he was claiming to be equal with God.
Jesus' Authority as Son of the Father
Jesus answered them with these words: "I tell you the absolute truth—the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can only do what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does exactly the same thing. The Father loves the Son and reveals to him everything he does. And he will show him even greater works than what you have seen so far, works that will absolutely astonish you. "Just as the Father brings dead people back to life, the Son also gives life to anyone he chooses. The Father has decided not to judge anyone himself. Instead, he has given all judgment to the Son, so that everyone will honor the Son in exactly the same way they honor the Father. Anyone who refuses to honor the Son is also refusing to honor the Father who sent him. "I tell you the absolute truth—anyone who listens to my words and believes in the one who sent me already has eternal life. They will never face judgment. They have already crossed over from death into life. "I tell you the absolute truth—the time is coming, and it has already begun, when dead people will hear the voice of the Son of God. And everyone who truly hears his voice will come alive. Just as the Father has life within himself, he has also given the Son the power to have life within himself. The Father has given him the authority to carry out judgment because he is the Son of Man. "Don't be shocked by this, because the time is coming when everyone who has ever died and been buried will hear his voice. They will all come out of their graves—those who did good will rise to eternal life, and those who did evil will rise to face judgment. "I cannot do anything by myself. I judge only according to what I hear from the Father. My judgment is completely fair because I am not trying to do what I want to do. I only want to do what the Father who sent me wants me to do."
Testimonies to Jesus
Jesus continued speaking to them: "If I were to speak only about myself, my words wouldn't carry proper weight as evidence. But there is someone else who speaks about me, and I know that what he says about me is true. You sent messengers to John the Baptist, and he told you the truth about who I am. Now, I don't need human witnesses to prove who I am, but I'm telling you these things so that you might be saved. John was like a burning lamp that gave off light, and for a while you were happy to enjoy that light. But I have evidence that's even stronger than John's testimony. The Father has given me specific work to do, and the very things I'm doing right now prove that the Father sent me. The Father himself, who sent me, has spoken about me. But you have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like, and his word doesn't live in your hearts, because you don't believe in the one he sent. You study the Scriptures carefully, thinking that by knowing them you'll have eternal life. But those same Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me so you can have real life. I don't care about receiving praise from people. But I know what you're really like—you don't have God's love in your hearts. I came representing my Father, and you won't accept me. But if someone else comes representing only himself, you'll welcome him gladly. How can you possibly believe when you're so busy trying to impress each other, but you don't care about the honor that comes from God alone? Don't think I'm going to be the one to accuse you when you stand before the Father. Moses will be your accuser—Moses, the very one you claim to trust. If you really believed what Moses wrote, you would believe in me, because he wrote about me. But since you don't believe what he wrote down, how can you believe what I'm saying to you now?"