The Pulpit Commentary - John 5:1-9
(1) A sign on a paralyzed body and an unsusceptible soul. read more
(1) A sign on a paralyzed body and an unsusceptible soul. read more
The cure of the impotent man. The scene changes once more to Jerusalem. There unbelief develops very rapidly, and. there is a foreshadowing of the dread reality: "It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem." Jesus finds himself once more in the very focus of controversy. I. THE TIME OF THIS MIRACLE . "After these things there was a feast of the Jews." It is generally believed that this was the Feast of Purim. 1 . It was not one of the three great feasts. 2 ... read more
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
1. Christ proved, by signs and wonders and testimonies, to be Source of life. read more
And immediately £ the man became whole (well, sound in health), and took up his bed, and walked. This act of obedience was an act of faith, as in every other miracle upon paralyzed nerves and frames. The imagery of the sign explains the rationale of faith. The impotent man, the paralytic, and the man with withered hand, were severally called by Christ to do that which without Divine aid seemed and was impossible. The spiritual quickening of the mind was communicated to the ordinary... read more
Now it was the sabbath on that day . The form of the expression implies that it was one of the festival sabbaths rather than the weekly sabbath. These days, however, received the same reverence, and were observed with nearly the same rites and restrictions, as the ordinary sabbaths. This statement is the keynote of the great discourse which fellows, and it is made to prepare the way for the subsequent incidents. The Jews ; i.e. the authorities, either the rabbis or Sanhedrists who were... read more
(2) The outbreak of hostility due to the breach of the sabbatic law. read more
Outbreak of Jewish hostility. It is not against the miracle, but against an imagined infringement of Mosaic law. I. THE CHARGE AGAINST THE IMPOTENT MAN . "It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed." 1 . It seemed justified in the letter by the Divine commandment. "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day" ( Jeremiah 17:21 ). 2 . But the command related to matters of trade, not of mercy or comfort. ( Nehemiah 13:15... read more
And he answered them, He £ that made me whole, that very same man ( ἐκεῖνος ,, "even he;" cf. for this use of the pronoun, John 1:18 , John 1:33 ; John 14:21 , John 14:26 , etc.) said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. This was justification for him. The Prophet-like Healer must know what was right, and upon his shoulders the responsibility must rest. There was a rabbinic saying, which the cured man may or may not have heard, that conferred a dispensing power upon a... read more
John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 5:10
Verse 10 10.It is the Sabbath. It was the duty of all to maintain the sanctity of the Sabbath, and, therefore, they justly and properly accuse the man. But, when the excuse offered by the man does not satisfy them, they already begin to be in fault; for, when the reason was known, he ought to have been acquitted. It was a violation of the Sabbath, as we have said, to carry a burden; but Christ, who laid the burden on his shoulders, discharges him by his own authority. We are therefore taught by... read more