John Chapter 5

Afterwards, there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus came to Jerusalem to see them. In Jerusalem, at the Sheep Gate, there was a pool called Bethzatha, which belonged to the five colonnades. Within the pool, there were many sick, blind, lame, and withered-limb people lying down. Among them was a man who had been sick for 38 years. Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had been sick for a long time. Jesus asked him, "Do you want to get well?" The man replied, "Sir, right now I don't have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am on my way, someone else always goes down ahead of me." Jesus said, "Rise! Take up your mat and walk." Immediately, the man was healed, and he began to walk after picking up his mat. It was the Sabbath day.

The Jews told the cured man, "Today is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your mat." He responded, "The man who healed me said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" They asked him, "Who is this man who told you to take it up and walk?" The cured man didn't know who Jesus was, but Jesus found him in the temple and said, "You have been healed. Sin no more, so that nothing worse may happen to you." The man left and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. The Jews began to persecute Jesus because He had done these things on the Sabbath. Jesus responded, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working." This is why the Jews were even more determined to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus said to them, "Truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, He can only do what He sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He does. And He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it. The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Truly, I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By myself, I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies in My favor, and I know that His testimony about Me is true. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. But I have a testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified concerning Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, nor does His word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one He sent. You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not accept Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

Our PECS/Picture Exchange Communication System for John Chapter 5

Questions

1. Why did Jesus describe Himself as the true witness to the Father?
2. How did the man feel when Jesus said to take up your mat and walk?
3. Where did the healing take place?
4. Why were the Jews beating Jesus on the Sabbath?