Jesus Practices Medicine on the Sabbath
1Jesus later went back to Jerusalem for another religious holiday celebration. [1] 2Near the Sheep Gate entrance into the walled city of Jerusalem there was a five-sided pool called Bethesda. Outside of the pool, there were five shaded areas with open-air roofs supported by columns.3Sick and disabled people would lay there in the shade—people who were blind, lame, and suffering from paralysis. {They would watch the water and wait for it to suddenly stir. 4From time to time, an angel would go down and stir the water. When that happened, whoever jumped in first got healed.} [2]
5One man by the pool had been disabled for 38 years. 6Jesus saw the man lying there. And when he found out how long the man had been sick, he asked him, “Would you like to be healed?”
7The sick man said, “Sir, I don’t have anyone helping me get into the pool. When the water is stirred, someone else always beats me into the pool.”
8Jesus told the man, “Stand up. Pick up that mat of yours and walk.” 9That’s all it took. Instantly the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking. But it happened on the Sabbath. [3]
Jews Criticize the Healed Man
10Some Jews saw the man Jesus healed. They said, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? It’s the Sabbath. It’s against the Law for you to carry your mat.”11He replied, “The man who made me well told me to do it. He said, ‘Pick up that mat of yours and walk.’”
12They started to interrogate him. “Who told you, ‘Pick up that map of yours and walk’?”
13The man didn’t know who healed him. He didn’t know who Jesus was. After the healing, Jesus slipped back into the crowd.
14Later, Jesus saw the man in the Temple. Jesus called out to him, “Look at that! You’ve been healed! Don’t sin anymore. If you do, it could make life even worse for you.”
15The man went to the Jews and told them that it was Jesus who healed him. 16That’s why Jews started criticizing Jesus. He was healing people on the Sabbath, when he should have been taking the day off.
17Jesus told his critics, “My Father isn’t taking time off. He’s always working. I’m working too.” 18For that remark, Jews started exploring ways to kill him. He not only broke the Sabbath but also called God his own Father. That would make him equal to God.
19Jesus said to them, “I’m going to tell you the truest truth. [4] The Son can’t do a thing on his own. All he can do is follow his Father’s lead and do what he does. Whatever the Father does, the Son does. 20The Father loves the Son and lets him see everything he’s doing. I’m telling you, he’s going to show the Son bigger things than you’ve seen before. Get ready to be amazed. 21The Father brings the dead back to life. The Son is going to do it too. And he’ll do it to whomever he wants.
22“Another thing, you should know that the Father doesn’t judge anyone. He delegated all judgment to the Son. 23He did this so everyone would honor the Son like they honor the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son dishonors the Father who sent him.
24“I’m going to tell you another truest truth. [5] I’ve got good news for anyone who hears me and believes in the God who sent me. That person gets to bypass judgment and go straight to eternal life. Everyone else goes from life to death.
The Dead Will Come Alive
25“I’ll tell you another truest truth. The time is coming—and it has already come—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and they’ll come back to life. 26The Father has the power of life. It’s part of who he is. He has given that same power of life to his Son. 27He also gave his Son the full authority to judge and sentence people because the Son of God is also the Son of Humans.28“Don’t be shocked by any of this. The time is coming when everyone lying dead in the grave will hear his voice. 29When they do, they’re coming back. The good ones get resurrected into a new life. The bad ones get resurrected for punishment. 30I can’t do a thing on my own. I make the same judgment calls that I hear my Father making. So, the judgment calls I make are fair and just. That’s because I’m doing what the Father wants. He sent me.
