Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - John 5:9 - 5:18
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_5:9-18
9bNow it was the Sabbath on that day. 10So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." 11But he answered them, "He who made me well was the one who said to me, 'Pick up your pallet and walk.'" 12They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Pick up your pallet and walk'?" 13But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." 15The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." 18For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Joh_5:9 b "Now it was the Sabbath" The Jewish leaders did not even rejoice over the man being healed, but they were offended at Jesus breaking the Oral Tradition (later codified in the Talmud) connected with the Sabbath (cf. Joh_5:16; Joh_5:18; Mat_7:1-23).
Jesus' healings on the Sabbath can be explained in two ways.
1. He healed every day, but controversies developed over the Sabbath healings
2. He chose this issue to cause a controversy as an opportunity to engage the religious leaders in theological dialog
Jesus often healed on the Sabbath (cf. Mat_12:9-14; Mar_1:29-31; Mar_3:1-6; Luk_6:6-11; Luk_14:1-6; Joh_5:9-18; Joh_9:14). Jesus cast out demons on the Sabbath (cf Mar_1:21-28); Luk_13:10-17). Jesus defended the disciples' eating on the Sabbath (cf. Mat_12:1-8; Mar_2:23-28). Jesus initiated controversial subjects in the synagogue on the Sabbath (cf. Luk_4:16-30; Joh_7:14-24).
Joh_5:13 "Jesus had slipped away" Literally this is "to bend the head to one side." Jesus looked like a normal Jew of his day. He just melted into the crowd.
Joh_5:14
NASB, NRSV,
NJB "do not sin anymore,"
NKJV "Sin no more"
TEV "so stop sinning"
This is a present active imperative with the negative particle, which often meant stop an act already in process, but in this context this seems unlikely (cf. NET Bible, p. 1907 #8). Jewish theologians of the first century viewed sickness as related to sin (cf. Jas_5:14-15). This does not explain all sickness, as can be seen from Jesus' dealing with the man who was born blind (cf. John 9) and Jesus' words in Luk_13:1-4.
Jesus was still dealing with this man's spiritual life. Our actions do reflect our heart and faith. Biblical faith is both objective and subjective, both belief and action.
Today there is such an emphasis in the church on physical healing. God surely still heals. But divine healing should result in a spiritual change of lifestyle and priorities. A good question might be "why do you want to be healed?"
hyperlink
Joh_5:15 "The man went away, and told the Jews" The exact motivation behind his informing the Jewish authorities is uncertain.
1. it seems to be a thoughtless, petty act which shows that healing did not always begin with faith or end with faith
2. Jesus told him to do so (cf. Mat_8:4; Mar_1:44; Luk_5:14; Luk_17:14)
Joh_5:16 "because He was doing these things on the Sabbath" The verb is an imperfect active indicative which denotes continual action in past time. This was not Jesus' first (or last) Sabbath healing!
Joh_5:17
NASB "But He answered them"
NKJV, REV,
NRSV, NIV"But Jesus answered them"
NJB "His answer to them was"
The scribes who copied the early Greek manuscripts had a tendency to
1. simplify the grammar
2. make specific the pronominal referents
3. standardize phrases
It is hard to know which form of Joh_5:17 was original.
1. "but He. . ." - P75, à , B, W
2. "but Jesus. . ." - P66, A, D, L
3. "but the lord. . ." or "the Lord Jesus" - Syriac translations
The UBS4 gives option #2 a "C" rating (difficulty in deciding).
▣ "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working" These are both present middle (deponent) indicatives. Jesus was stating that the Father does not stop doing good on the Sabbath and neither does the Son (for a good discussion of this verse see Manfred Brauch, Abusing Scripture, p. 219). This, in a real sense, was an affirmation of Jesus' understanding of His unique relationship with the Father (cf. Joh_5:19-29).
The Jewish concept of monotheism (cf. Deu_6:4) was practically expressed in a "one cause" explanation of events in this world (cf. Jdg_9:23; Job_2:10; Ecc_7:14; Isa_45:7; Isa_59:16; Lam_3:33-38; Amo_3:6). All actions were ultimately the action of the one true God. When Jesus asserted dual agency in God's actions in the world, He asserted a dualism of divine causality. This is the difficult problem of the Trinity. One God, but three personal manifestations (cf. Mat_3:16-17; Mat_28:19; Joh_14:26; Act_2:33-34; Rom_8:9-10; 1Co_12:4-6; 2Co_1:21-22; 2Co_13:14; Gal_4:4; Eph_1:3-14; Eph_2:18; Eph_4:4-6; Tit_3:4-6; 1Pe_1:2). See hyperlink at Joh_14:26.
Joh_5:18 "For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him" There are two reasons the Jews wanted to kill Jesus.
1. He publically broke (lit. "loosed," imperfect active indicative, cf. Mat_5:19) the Oral Tradition (Talmud) concerning the Sabbath
2. His statements showed that they understood Him to be claiming equality with God (cf. Joh_8:58-59; Joh_10:33; Joh_19:7)