God’s Word of Life
Introduction
John 5:1-29: Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, and his action angers the Jewish authorities who are now determined to kill him. Jesus describes his relationship with God and promises eternal life to those who believe in him.
Scripture Reading
The Healing at the Pool
1After this, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a religious festival. 2Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool with five porches; in Hebrew it is called Bethzatha. 3A large crowd of sick people were lying on the porches—the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. 5A man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6Jesus saw him lying there, and he knew that the man had been sick for such a long time; so he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7The sick man answered, “Sir, I don’t have anyone here to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am trying to get in, somebody else gets there first.”
8Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” 9Immediately the man got well; he picked up his mat and started walking.
The day this happened was a Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish authorities told the man who had been healed, “This is a Sabbath, and it is against our Law for you to carry your mat.”
11He answered, “The man who made me well told me to pick up my mat and walk.”
12They asked him, “Who is the man who told you to do this?”
13But the man who had been healed did not know who Jesus was, for there was a crowd in that place, and Jesus had slipped away.
14Afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “Listen, you are well now; so stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
15Then the man left and told the Jewish authorities that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16So they began to persecute Jesus, because he had done this healing on a Sabbath. 17Jesus answered them, “My Father is always working, and I too must work.”
18 This saying made the Jewish authorities all the more determined to kill him; not only had he broken the Sabbath law, but he had said that God was his own Father and in this way had made himself equal with God.
The Authority of the Son
19So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own; he does only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. He will show him even greater things to do than this, and you will all be amazed. 21Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, in the same way the Son gives life to those he wants to. 22Nor does the Father himself judge anyone. He has given his Son the full right to judge, 23so that all will honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24“I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life. 25I am telling you the truth: the time is coming—the time has already come—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life. 26Just as the Father is himself the source of life, in the same way he has made his Son to be the source of life. 27And he has given the Son the right to judge, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.
Today’s Key Verse: John 5:26
[Jesus said:] “Just as the Father is himself the source of life, in the same way he has made his Son to be the source of life.”
Reflect
How did Jesus respond to those who challenged his healing the man on the Sabbath (verse 17)? What does this verse tell you about God? What angered the Jewish authorities (verse 18)? What authority has been given to Jesus?
Pray
Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God and source of life. Open my ears and my heart to hear your voice, and teach me to be obedient to your will. Help me when I am weak and tempted to sin, and remind me that you are “always working,” ready to reach out to me in mercy and love. Amen.
Tomorrow’s Reading
John 6:1-24: Jesus feeds 5,000 people and walks on water.