John 5:1

The Pulpit Commentary - John 5:1-9

The Help of the helpless. Here we have— I. JESUS ATTRACTED BY MISERY . Why was Jesus found at Bethesda? Because there were such misery and need. He was ever found where he was most wanted, and where he might do most good. He was not found in places of luxury, but in the haunts of misery. 1 . The misery was great. There was presented to the eye of Jesus there such pain, degradation, poverty, and misery, physical, mental, and moral, as could scarcely be described, and all... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 5:1-47

1. Christ proved, by signs and wonders and testimonies, to be Source of life. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - John 5:1

A feast - Probably the Passover, though it is not certain. There were two other feasts - the Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles - at which all the males were required to be present, and it might have been one of them. It is of no consequence, however, which of them is intended. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - John 5:1

John 5:1. After this there was a feast Greek, η εορτη , the feast; of the Jews This, in all probability, was the feast of the passover; because that solemnity was called the feast, by way of eminence, (Matthew 27:15; Mark 15:6;) and because immediately after it, we find the disciples on the sabbath in the fields, rubbing the ears, probably of barley, a kind of grain which was always fit for reaping at the passover. It is generally thought this was the second passover that Christ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - John 5:1-29

IN JERUSALEM AGAIN46. Healing at Bethesda and its outcome (John 5:1-29)Jesus came from Galilee to Jerusalem for a Jewish religious festival. While there he visited a pool where many blind and crippled people hoped to find healing (John 5:1-5). One of the men asked Jesus for help, not to heal him (for he did not know who Jesus was) but to assist him into the pool. Jesus responded by healing him instantly (John 5:6-9). As the healing took place on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders were anxious to... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - John 5:1

After, &c. A phrase common in John. See John 21:1 . Ten times in the Revelation. After . Greek. meta. App-104 . this = these things, a feast. Perhaps Purim, but uncertain. the Jews. See note on John 2:13 . Jesus. See App-98 . to. Greek. eis. App-104 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - John 5:1

Like practically all of John, this chapter is a narrative of proof that Jesus is equal to God. Here, the proof is that of the healing of a long-time cripple at the pool of Bethesda on a sabbath day; following which, Jesus gave an organized testimony of his oneness with God and of his being the Messiah. Discounting his own witness to that effect, for the moment only, he appealed to the witness of the Father himself, the witness of his mighty works, and the testimony of the sacred Scriptures.... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - John 5:1

John 5:1. There was a feast of the Jews,— This, in all probability, was the feast of the passover, called the feast, by way of eminence; and therefore it might be rendered, was the feast of the Jews. See Matthew 27:15.Mark 15:6; Mark 15:6. A further proof that this was the feast of the passover, arises hence, that, immediatelyafter it, we find the disciples on the sabbath in the fields, rubbing the ears, probably of barley, a kind of grain which was always fit for reaping at the passover. See... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - John 5:1

1. a feast of the Jews—What feast? No question has more divided the Harmonists of the Gospels, and the duration of our Lord's ministry may be said to hinge on it. For if, as the majority have thought (until of late years) it was a Passover, His ministry lasted three and a half years; if not, probably a year less. Those who are dissatisfied with the Passover-view all differ among themselves what other feast it was, and some of the most acute think there are no grounds for deciding. In our... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - John 5:1

Some time later Jesus returned to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the Jewish feasts and to use that occasion to minister. John did not specify which feast it was. Elsewhere in his Gospel when John identified the feast in view he did so because the events and teaching that followed had relevance to that particular feast (cf. John 2:13; John 6:4; John 7:2; John 10:22; John 11:55). Here they did not. Consequently the identity of the feast is unimportant for the interpretation of the text. Hoehner... read more

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