Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 5:15
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
15. told the Jews ] Not in malice against Jesus, nor in any hope of converting His opponents. Neither of these is probable, nor is there the least evidence of either. Rather, he continues his defiance of them ( Joh 5:11). He had given as his authority for breaking the Sabbath ‘He that made me whole.’ Having found out that it was the famous teacher from Galilee, he returns to give them this additional proof of authority.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 15. The man departed, and told the Jews] He did not say it was Jesus who had ordered him to carry his bed, but it was Jesus who had cured him; and he left them to draw the inference, viz. That this Jesus must be the miraculous power of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It were very uncharitable to judge that this poor man went to the Jewish magistrates to inform against Christ, who had been so kind to him; and much more probable that he went in the simplicity of his heart, desirous both to publish what Christ had done to his honour, and also to do good to others, who might also stand in need of his help.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. The man departed, and told,c.little thinking how unwelcome his grateful and eager testimonywould be. “The darkness received not the light which was pouringits rays upon it” (Joh 1:5Joh 1:11) [OLSHAUSEN].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The man departed,…. From Christ, and from the temple, not through displeasure, or as resenting what was said to him, but as highly delighted that he had found his kind benefactor and physician; and went either to Bethesda, where the miracle was wrought, and where a multitude of people were, and where he might expect to find some of the persons that had questioned him about carrying his bed, and who it was that bid him do it; or rather to the sanhedrim; see Joh 5:33 compared with Joh 1:19;
and told the Jews; the members of that great council, the chief priests, “scribes”, and elders, whose business it was to judge of a prophet, and of anyone that should set up for the Messiah:
that it was Jesus; of Nazareth, of whom so much talk was about his doctrines and miracles, and who was thought to be the Messiah:
which had made him whole; this he did, not out of any ill will to Christ, with any bad design upon him, to impeach and accuse him as a violator of the sabbath, for what he had said and done to him; for this would have been most ungrateful, and even barbarous, brutish, and diabolical; but with a good intention, that Jesus might have the glory of the cure, and that others of his fellow creatures in distress might know where, and from whom to have relief; and chiefly that the sanhedrim might be induced hereby to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and to declare and patronize him as such: and that his end was good, is clear from this, that he does not say it was Jesus that bid him take up his bed and walk, which was what the Jews cavilled at, not caring to hear of the cure; but that made him whole: he observes the miracle to them with a grateful spirit, to the honour of his physician, and that he might be thought to be what he really was.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Went away and told ( ). Both aorist active indicatives. Instead of giving heed to the warning of Jesus about his own sins he went off and told the Jews that now he knew who the man was who had commanded him to take up his bed on the Sabbath Day, to clear himself with the ecclesiastics and escape a possible stoning.
That it was Jesus ( ). Present indicative preserved in indirect discourse. The man was either ungrateful and wilfully betrayed Jesus or he was incompetent and did not know that he was bringing trouble on his benefactor. In either case one has small respect for him.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Told [] . See on 4 25. The best texts, however, read eipen, said.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “The man departed,” (apelthen ho anthropos) “The man then went away,” from the temple, with a glad report — One that the “natural man” can not receive or enjoy, 2Co 2:14. He went as a witness of Jesus, Act 1:8, to suffer rejections of his testimony, Mat 5:11-12; Joh 15:20; 2Ti 3:12.
2) “And told the Jews that it was Jesus,” (kai eipen tois Ioudaiois hoti lesous estin) “And explained to the Jews that it was Jesus;- It was an indiscreet, unwise, or imprudent thing to do, though his motive was good, Mat 5:15-16; Psa 107:3. He had asked and learned who Jesus was and could not but speak the things he had seen, experienced, felt, and heard, Act 4:20; Jer 20:9; 1Jn 1:1; 1Jn 1:3.
3) “Which had made him whole.” (ho potesas auton hugie) “Who had made him whole,” who had cured him, Joh 5:9. He was restored to complete health by the word of the Lord, by a miracle, a priority means that Jesus used to make men know that He had come from God and had power to save, Joh 3:2; Mar 2:5-11; Joh 20:30-31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15. The man went away Nothing was farther from his intention than to make Christ an object of their hatred, and nothing was farther from his expectation than that they would rage so furiously against Christ. His intention, therefore, was pious; for he wished to render to his Physician the honor which was justly due to him. The Jews, on the other hand, show their venom, not only in accusing Christ of having violated the Sabbath, but in breaking out into extreme cruelty.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) The man departed, and told the Jews.We are not told what reason underlay his report to the Jews. It is natural that he should give the answer which he could not give before (Joh. 5:13), and that he should wish to secure himself from the charge of Sabbath-breaking by supplying his authority. The narrative does not suggest that he did this in a tone of defiance, which has been found here from a remembrance of John 9, still less that he used his new strength immediately to bring a charge against the Giver of it. The impression is rather, that he felt that this power came from a prophet sent by God, and that he told this to those who were Gods representatives to the nation, supposing that they would recognise Him too.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Jesus made whole The man still thinks and tells of the miracle of mercy; the Jews in the following verse can only think of the Sabbath-breaking He meant his statement for a eulogy and justification of Jesus; they used it for his persecution.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The man went away and told the Judaisers that it was Jesus who had made him whole.’
This may suggest that he recognised that he was ‘in trouble’ with the authorities and wanted to clear himself. He could otherwise have found himself excluded from the synagogue (the local Jewish place of worship). But note the statement. The man told them, not that it was Jesus who had told him to carry the bedding, but that it was Jesus who had made him whole. He wants Jesus to get the credit and perhaps possibly thinks that now the Scribes and Pharisees will recognise their error. But the Scribes and Pharisees think only of the carrying of the mattress. They ignore the greater sign. It is typical of man’s fallen state that he is able to overlook what God does because he is so taken up with petty affairs.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 5:15-16. The man departed, &c. Overjoyed to have discovered the author of his cure, the man went away, and innocently informed the Jews of it; perhaps because he thought it his duty to give his benefactor the honour of the miracle, and believed that the Jews would have been glad to see so great a prophet: but instead of that, they attacked Jesus tumultuously in the temple, and, it may be, tried him before the sanhedrim, with a view to kill him, because, as they imagined, he had prophaned the sabbath, by performing a cure upon it, and by ordering the person cured to carry away his bed. It seems plain from Joh 5:33 that by the Jews, Joh 5:16 we are to understand the rulers; for the messengers who were sent to John, we are told, ch. Joh 1:19 were priests and Levites, persons of character, who would not have undertaken the office, unless by the appointment of the rulers, called on that occasion, as well as here, the Jews. Moreover, the apology which Jesus now made for himself, is such as was proper to be pronounced before the most capable judges, the chief priests and scribes, and the elders; for it is one of the most regular defences of his character and divine mission, that is anywhere to be found in the gospels, comprehending the principal arguments in behalf of both, and setting them forth with the greatest strength of reason, clearness of method, and conciseness of expression.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. (16) And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath-day. (17) But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. (18) Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also, that God was his father, making himself equal with God. (19) Then answered Jesus, and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the son likewise. (20) For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. (21) For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. (22) For the Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (23) That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father; he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (25) Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (26) For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; (27) And hath given him authority to execute judgement also, because he is the Son of man. (28) Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, (29) And shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (30) I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just: because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (31) If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. (32) There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. (33) Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. (34) But I receive not testimony from man; but these things I say that ye might be saved. (35) He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. (36) But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. (37) And the Father himself which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me, ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. (38) And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. (39) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (40) And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (41) I receive not honour from men. (42) But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. (43) I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him will ye receive. (44) How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (45) Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. (46) For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. (47) But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
No doubt the poor man concluded, that the Jews would rejoice in the information that it was the Lord Jesus who had healed him. How little did he know of human nature! Very different is Christ’s account. Verse 44, Joh 12:40 . Very different also the testimony of the Holy Ghost. 1Co 2:14 .
This precious discourse of Christ is in itself so very plain, that it can need no comment. I shall therefore only detain the Reader with a few short observations upon it, which under the divine teaching, may be made helpful, both to the Writer and Reader, in attending to some of its beauties.
And, first, I beg the Reader to remark with me, how blessedly our Lord insists upon his own eternal Power and Godhead; and with what indignation the Jews received it. That the Lord Jesus preached this grand momentous truth himself: and that the Jews understood it as such; is as plain and palpable a fact, as any in the Bible. And when they charged him with blasphemy, for so doing; the Lord confirms what he had said, with a double Amen: that is, His own most blessed name as the faithful and true witness. Rev 3:14 . Reader! what an awful thought is it, that while Jesus asserts it, proves it, and confirms it; and the Jews actually brought him to the cross for it: (Joh 19:7 ) many who call themselves by his sacred name, deny it. Oh! the delusion of every mind untaught of God See Joh 10:20 .
Secondly: In this divine discourse of Jesus, we discover no less, how blessedly the Lord speaks in his Office-character, as God-Man Mediator. Reader! I pray you not only in this place, but in every part of our Lord’s discourses, when speaking in similar language to what he here useth, to note it down as a very sweet, precious, and incontrovertible truth; that Jesus is thus to be considered in his twofold nature: God and Man, in one Person, Mediator. Hence, he saith: The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. Hence Christ speaks of having life given to him in himself; as the Father hath life in himself. And hence he hath power and authority given to him to execute judgment, raise the dead, and to quicken whom he will. That all these things, and every other of a like nature, Christ thus exerciseth; are in his Office-character, as God-Man Mediator, is evident from hence: they could not be said of Him as God only; for as God, all were his own by right in common with the Father, and the Holy Ghost. Neither could they be said of Him as man only: for such powers as are said to be in the possession and exercise of Jesus as are here, and elsewhere described, are beyond all human excellency, unconnected with divine. But when considered, as Christ all along is, and must be considered, God, and man united, in One Person, every difficulty is removed.
Reader! pause over the sweet view. And though as our Lord told the Jews in this very Chapter, when speaking of his Father; as it may be said, and must be said, to every unregenerated sinner upon earth: Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape; yet every child of God, in whose heart God that commanded the light at the old creation of nature to shine out of darkness, hath shined in the new creation of grace, hath given the light of the knowledge, both of God’s voice, and shape, in the face of Jesus Christ. For the invisibility of Jehovah, in his threefold nature of Person, is made known, as far as any revelation can be made known, in time and to all eternity, in the Person of the God-Man Christ Jesus. For all the glory of Jehovah capable of being manifested, is manifested in Him. And it is in this high character of God-Man Mediator, making known Jehovah, which Christ is here speaking of, through all, and in all, the departments of nature, providence, grace, and glory.
One word more on this blessed discourse of the Lord Jesus. As Jesus is here chiefly speaking in his Mediator-character, and the several glorious offices in which he is said here to act; as the giver of life, the quickener of dead and living, and the sole judge to whom all judgment is committed, are everyone of them His, by virtue of Covenant settlements: what an endearment of Christ’s Person do they bring with them, to the hearts of all his people? Reader! do not fail to connect with those views of Christ, the interest which all his members have in them. As the head of his body the Church, the fullness that filleth all in all; he communicates all that is communicable of gifts, and graces, and royalties, and the whole members of his body, are made blessed in him and by him. As in this union of nature, he hath all power in heaven and earth; so is He at the head of all principality and power, both for the final destruction of his enemies, and the gathering together to himself his friends. Eph 1:10 . It is his, to have life in himself, and to communicate life to others. His to save, and his to destroy. His to keep from going down to the pit of hell; and his to cast into it. And what makes both the Person and the Power of Jesus so exceedingly dear, under all these, and every other, in his office-character, is, that all authority is given him to execute judgment; because he is the Son of Man. Not because he is the Son of God; for had this been the case, as hath been before observed, it was impossible as God he could have had any of these given him. But it was, and is, in his Mediator-character, God and Man, in one Person. Reader! never dismiss the sweet thought! He that is to be the final judge of quick and dead, is now, and will be then, the Church’s Brother, Head, Surety, and Husband! Oh! the preciousness of those scriptures! See Joh 6:62 .–I must no longer trespass. May He of whom I speak, unveil all and every other of his gracious characters, to the heart.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
Ver. 15. Told the Jews ] Of a good intent, surely, to honour Christ, however it were taken by the spiteful Jews, Probi ex sua natura caeteros fingunt. The disciples could not imagine so ill of Judas as it proved. Mary Magdalene thought the gardener (whoever he were) should have known as much and loved Jesus as well as she did.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15. ] The man appears to have done this partly in obedience to the authorities; partly perhaps to complete his apology for himself (Bengel). We can hardly imagine ingratitude in him to have been the cause; especially as speaks so plainly of the benefit received: compare Joh 5:11 and note.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 5:15 . . “The man went off and reported to the Jews that the person who healed him was Jesus. He had asked His name, and perhaps did not consider that in proclaiming it he was endangering his benefactor.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
15.] The man appears to have done this partly in obedience to the authorities; partly perhaps to complete his apology for himself (Bengel). We can hardly imagine ingratitude in him to have been the cause; especially as speaks so plainly of the benefit received: compare Joh 5:11 and note.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 5:15. , reported) He wished to please the Jews, who had asked him the question, Joh 5:12 : nor however did he bring them back word with bad intention; for whereas he had said at Joh 5:11, , He who made me whole, and also , , He said, Take up, of which statements the former was favourable to Jesus, the latter might seem to His prejudice; and whereas the Jews had laid hold rather of the latter of these, Joh 5:12, What man is that, which said unto thee, Take up thy bed and walk, the man himself rather dwells on the former in his report to them.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 5:15
Joh 5:15
The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole.-On their meeting in the temple, Jesus made himself known to the healed man, and he seems to have sought the inquiring Jews at once and told them it was Jesus.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
and told: Joh 4:29, Joh 9:11, Joh 9:12, Mar 1:45
which: Joh 5:12, Joh 9:15, Joh 9:25, Joh 9:30, Joh 9:34
Reciprocal: Luk 13:14 – with Joh 11:46 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
The meeting of Jesus and the man in the temple, and the conversation which they had, revealed to the former impotent man who his benefactor was. He seems to have thought the Jews had asked him the question about the identity of his friend, for the sake of information. Now that he has learned who he was, he felt that he should give them the information he could not before.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 5:15. The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. The Jews asked who had commanded him to take up his bed. The mans reply, given as soon as he had learnt the name of his Deliverer, was that Jesus had made him whole. The careful variation in the expression seems to repel the supposition that he gave the information through ingratitude or in treachery. Probably his motive was a sense of duty to those who, whatever might be their spirit, were constituted authorities who had a right to be satisfied as to all breaches of the law, with whom also would rest the decision whether he must bring a sin-offering to atone for his violation of the sabbath. Whilst, however, this may have been the mans motive, we can hardly doubt that John (who here uses a word, declared, which with him often has a solemn significance) sees in the act a Divine mission. In his eyes the man is for the moment a prophet of the Most High, a messenger of warning, to the guilty Jews.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
After the man understood who his healer and benefactor was, he went and told the Jewish magistrates that it was Christ that had healed him. This he did, not with any evil design, no doubt, to inform against him, and stir up the Jews to persecute him; but desirous to publish what Christ had done, to his honour, and to direct others to make use of him.
Learn thence, That it is the duty of all those that have experienced the power and pity of Christ themselves, to proclaim and publish it to others, to the intent that all that need him may experience help and healing from him. This seems to be the poor man’s design: but behold the blindness, obstinacy, and malice of the Jews, who persecuted Christ, and sought to kill him for doing good, and healing a cripple that had been thirty-eight years so: Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him:
Yet observe the cloak and pretence they have for their malicious persecution of our Saviour; namely, the supposed violation of the sabbath-day; They sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath-day.
Learn hence, That great cruelty against Christ and his members has always been, and still is, masked and disguised with a fair pretence of zeal for God and his commands. The Pharisees mortally hated our Saviour, therefore to cover their malice, they traduce him as a profaner of the Sabbath, and seek to take away his life.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
LXIII.
FIRST WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD’S TERRITORY AND RETURN.
(Spring, A. D. 29.)
Subdivision C.
THE TWELVE TRY TO ROW BACK. JESUS WALKS UPON THE WATER.
aMATT. XIV. 22-36; bMARK VI. 45-56; dJOHN VI. 15-21.
d15 Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone. [Jesus had descended to the plain to feed the multitude, but, perceiving this mistaken desire of the people, he frustrated it by dismissing his disciples and retiring by himself into the mountain.] a22 And straightway he constrained the {bhis} adisciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, bto Bethsaida [the suburb of Capernaum] atill he should send the multitudes {bwhile he himself sendeth the multitude} away. [The obedience of the disciples in leaving him helped to persuade the multitude to do likewise.] 46 And when he had taken leave of them, a23 And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up {bdeparted} ainto the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone. [The news of John’s assassination was calculated to exasperate him in the highest degree, and also to deeply distress him. He needed the benefits of prayer to keep down resentment, and to prevent despondency. For this he started away as soon as he heard the news, but the people prevented him till night.] d16 And when evening came, his disciples went down unto the sea; 17 and they entered into a boat, and were over the sea unto Capernaum. b47 And when even was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. dand it was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. [They evidently expected that he would follow. Possibly they skirted the shore, hoping that he would hail them and come on board.] 18 And the sea was rising by reason of a great wind that blew. a24 But the boat [379] was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves; for the wind was contrary. [That is, it blew from the west, the direction toward which the disciples were rowing.] b48 And seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them, about {ain} bthe fourth watch of the night [from 3 to 6 A.M.] he cometh {acame} bunto them, awalking upon the sea. [The disciples of Jesus can rest assured that the eyes of the Lord will behold their distresses, and that sooner or later the Lord himself will arise and draw near for their deliverance.] d19 When therefore they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs [that is, about three and a half miles, or about half way across the sea], they behold Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the boat: band would have passed by them: a26 And {b49 but} awhen the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, dand they were afraid. bthey supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; asaying, It is a ghost; and they cried out for fear. b50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. [Their fears would probably have been greater if Jesus had approached the boat, for they were severe enough to make them cry out, even when he was seen to be passing by them.] a27 But straightway Jesus spake unto {bwith} them, and saith unto them, {asaying,} Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. [There was no mistaking that voice. If Isaac knew the voice of Jacob ( Gen 27:22), Saul the voice of David ( 1Sa 26:17), and Rhoda the voice of Peter ( Act 12:13), much more did the apostles know the voice of the great Master.] d21 They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. [Superstitious fears are not always so soon allayed. His voice brought great assurance.] a28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters. 29 And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus. [This scene comports with the character of Peter, who had always a rash willingness [380] to go into danger, and a lack of steadfastness to hold out through it.] 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. [So long as the attention of Peter was fixed upon the Lord’s command he succeeded in his venture; but so soon as he let the power of the tempest distract his thoughts, his faith failed and he began to sink.] 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? [Fear is a source of doubt and an enemy of faith. Those who would achieve the victories of faith must overcome their fears.] b51 And he went up unto them into the boat; a32 And when they were gone up into the boat, the wind ceased. band they were sore amazed in themselves; 52 for they understood not concerning the loaves, but their heart was hardened. dand straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going. a33 And they that were in the boat worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. [The disciples showed the hardness of their hearts in that the working of one miracle did not prepare them either to expect or to comprehend any other miracle which followed. They ought to have worshipped Jesus as the Son of God when they saw the five thousand fed, but they did not. But when he had done that, and had walked upon the water, and quieted the wind, and transported the boat to the land, they were overcome by the iteration of his miraculous power, and confessed his divinity.] 34 And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, unto Gennesaret. band moored to the shore. [The land of Gennesaret was a plain at the western end of the lake of Galilee. Josephus describes it as about thirty furlongs in length by twenty in average width, and bounded on the west by a semicircular line of hills.] 54 And when they were come out of the boat, straightway the people knew him, a35 And when the men of that place knew him, they sent into band ran round about that whole region, and began to carry about on [381] their beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. aand brought unto him all that were sick; b56 And wheresoever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, a36 and they besought him that they might only touch bif it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole. [Though the apostles had started their boat toward Capernaum, the storm appears to have deflected their course, and the language of the text suggests that they probably came to land at the south end of the plain, somewhere near Magdala, and made a circuit of the cities in the plain of Gennesaret on their way to Capernaum. As he did not stop in these cities, the sick were laid in the street that they might touch him in passing through. Moreover, as they knew the course that he was taking, by running ahead they could anticipate his arrivals and have the sick gathered to take advantage of his presence. The story of the woman who touched the hem of his garment had evidently spread far and wide, and deeply impressed the popular mind.]
[FFG 379-382]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
The man did not seem to have wanted to glorify Jesus by telling the authorities about Him. He knew that they wanted to find Jesus because they considered Him a lawbreaker. Clearly the ungrateful man wanted to save his own skin by implicating Jesus. He did not appreciate Jesus’ warning (Joh 5:14). It is possible that the man was simply stupid. However the evidence seems to point more convincingly to a hard heart rather than to a hard head.
"The lame man is an example of someone who responded inappropriately to Jesus’ signs. . . . Thus he ’represents those whom even the signs cannot lead to authentic faith.’" [Note: Howard, p. 72. His quotation is from R. Alan Culpepper, Anatomy of the Four Gospel: A Study in Literary Design, p. 138.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 13
JESUS LIFE-GIVER AND JUDGE.
The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. And for this cause did the Jews persecute Jesus, because He did these things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work. For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only brake the sabbath, but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing: for what things soever He doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth: and greater works than these will He shew Him, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son also quickeneth whom He will. For neither doth the Father judge any man, but He hath given all judgement unto the Son; that all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which sent Him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgement, but hath passed out of death into life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself: and He gave Him authority to execute judgement, because He is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done ill, unto the resurrection of judgement. I can of Myself do nothing; as I hear, I judge: and My judgement is righteous; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. It is another that beareth witness of Me; and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of Me is true. Ye have sent unto John, and he hath borne witness unto the truth. But the witness which I receive is not from man: howbeit I say these things, that ye may be saved. He was the lamp that burneth and shineth: and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light. But the witness which I have is greater than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me. And the Father which sent Me, He hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. And ye have not His word abiding in you: for whom He sent, Him ye believe not. Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of Me; and ye will not come to Me, that ye may have life. I receive not glory from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves. I am come in My Fathers name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not? Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?- Joh 5:15-47.
As soon as the impotent man discovered who it was that had given him strength, he informed the authorities, either from sheer thoughtlessness, or because he considered that they had a right to know, or because he judged that, like himself, they would rather admire the miracle than take exception to the Sabbath-breaking. If this last was his idea, he had not gauged the obtuseness and self-righteous spite of honest and pious literalism. For this cause did the Jews persecute Jesus, because He did these things on the Sabbath.[15] In what particular form the charge of Sabbath-breaking was brought against our Lord, whether formal or conversational and tentative, John does not say. He is more concerned to give us in full the substance of His apology. For the first time our Lord now gave in public an explanation of His claims; and this five minutes talk with the Jews contains probably the most important truth ever uttered upon earth.
The passage embodies the four following assertions: that the healing of the incurable on the Sabbath resulted from and exhibited His perfect unison with the Father; that this giving of life to an impotent man was an illustration or sign of His power to quicken whom He would, to communicate life Divine and eternal to all in whatsoever stage of spiritual or physical deadness they were; that His claim to possess this supreme power was not mere idle assertion, but was both guaranteed by this miracle, and otherwise was amply attested; and that the real root of their rejection of Him and His claims was to be found, not in their superior knowledge of God and regard for His will, but in their worldly craving for the applause of men.[16]
1. Our Lords reply to the charge of Sabbath-breaking is, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. He did not make any comment on the Sabbath law. He did not defend Himself by showing that works of mercy such as He had done Were admissible. On other occasions He adopted this line of defence, but now He took higher ground. The rest of God is not inactivity. God does not on the Sabbath cease to communicate life to all things. He does not refrain from blessing men till the sun of the Sabbath is set. The tides rise and fall; the plants grow; the sun completes his circuit on the Sabbath as on other days. Why does not God keep the Sabbath? a caviller asked of a Jew. Is it not lawful, was the answer, for a man to move about in his own house on the Sabbath? The house of God is the whole realm above and the whole realm below. For God the Sabbath has no existence; it is a boon He has given to His creatures because they need it. His untiring beneficence is needful for the upholding and for the happiness of all. And it is the same superiority to the Sabbath which Jesus claims for Himself. He claims that His unceasing work is as necessary to the world as the Fathers-or rather, that He and the Father are together carrying out one work, and that in this miracle the Jews find fault with He has merely acted as the Fathers agent.
From this statement the Jews concluded that He made Himself equal with God. And they were justified in so concluding. It is only on this understanding of His words that the defence of Jesus was relevant. If He meant only to say that He imitated God, and that because God did not rest on the Sabbath, therefore He, a holy Jew, might work on the Sabbath, His defence was absurd. Our Lord did not mean that He was imitating the Father, but that His work was as indispensable as the Fathers, was the Fathers. My Father from the beginning up till now worketh, giving life to all; and I work in the same sphere, giving life as His agent and almoner to men. The work of quickening the impotent man was the Fathers work. In charging Him with breaking the Sabbath they were charging the Father with breaking it.
But this gives Jesus an opportunity of more clearly describing His relation to God. He declares He is in such perfect harmony with God that it is impossible for Him to do either that miracle or any other work at His own instigation. The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing. I can of myself do nothing. He had power to do it, but no will. He had life in Himself, and could give it to whom He pleased; but so perfect was His sympathy with God, that it was impossible for Him to act where God would not have Him act. So trained was He to perceive the Divine purpose, so habituated to submit Himself to it, that He could neither mistake His Fathers will nor oppose it. As a conscientious man when pressed to do a wrong thing says, No, really I cannot do it; as a son who might happen to be challenged for injuring His fathers business would indignantly repudiate the possibility of such a thing. What do I live for, he would say, but to further my fathers views? My fathers interests and mine are identical, our views and purposes are identical. I cannot do anything antagonistic to him. So Jesus had from the first recognised God as His Father, and had so true and deep a filial feeling that really it was the joy of His life to do His will.
This, then, was the idea the Lord sought to impress on the people on the first occasion on which He had a good opportunity of speaking in public. He cannot do anything save what is suggested to Him by consideration of Gods will. Even as a boy He had begun to have this filial feeling. Wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers business? That in Him which is most conspicuous and which He wishes to be most conspicuous is perfect sonship; filial trust and duty carried to its perfect height. It is this perfect filial unanimity with the Father which makes His life valuable, significant, different from all other lives. It is this which makes Him the perfect representative of the Father; which enables Him to be Gods perfect messenger to men, doing always and only the will of God in mens sight. He is in the world not for the sake of fulfilling any private schemes of His own, but having it as His sole motive and aim to do the Fathers will.
This perfect filial feeling had no doubt its root in the eternal relation of the Son to the Father. It was the continuance, upon earth and under new conditions, of the life He already had enjoyed with the Father. Having assumed human nature, He could reveal Himself only so far as that nature allowed Him. His revelation, for example, was not universal, but local, confined to one place; His human nature being necessarily confined to one place. He did not assert superiority to all human law; He paid taxes; He recognised lawful authority; He did not convince men of His Divinity by superiority to all human infirmities; He ate, slept, died as ordinary men. But through all this He maintained a perfect harmony with the Divine will. It was this which differentiated Him from ordinary men, that He maintained throughout His life an attitude of undoubting trust in the Father and devotion to Him. It was through the human will of the Lord that the Divine will of the Eternal Son uniformly worked and used the whole of His human nature.
It is in this perfect Sonship of Christ we first learn what a son should be. It is by His perfect loyalty to the Fathers will, by His uniform adoption of it as the best, the only, thing He can do, that we begin to understand our connection with God, and to recognise that in His will alone is our blessedness. Naturally we resent the rule of any will but our own; we have not by nature such love for God as would put His will first. To our reason it becomes manifest that there is nothing higher or happier for us than to sink ourselves in God; we see that there is nothing more elevating, nothing more essential to a hopeful life than that we make Gods purposes in the world our own, and do that very thing which He sees to be worth doing and which He desires to do. Yet we find that the actual adoption of this filial attitude, natural, rational, and inviting as it seems, is just the most difficult of all difficulties, is indeed the battle of life. Who among us can say that we do nothing of ourselves, nothing at our own instance, that our life is entirely at Gods disposal?
To this filial disposition on the part of the Son the Father responds: The Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth (Joh 5:20). If we ask how Jesus saw the Fathers works, or how, for example, He saw that the Father wished Him to heal the impotent man, the answer must be that it is by inward sympathy the Son apprehends what the Father wills. We in our measure can see what God is doing in the world, and can forward Gods work. But not by mere observation of what God had done and was doing through others did Jesus see what the Father did, but rather by His own inward perception of the Fathers will. By His own purity, love, and goodness He knew what the Fathers goodness willed. But the Father was not passive in the matter, merely allowing the Son to discover what He could of His will. Godet illustrates this active revelation on the Fathers part by the simile of the father in the carpenters shop at Nazareth showing the son the things he made and the method of making them. This simile, however, being external, is apt to misdirect the mind. It was by a wholly inward and spiritual process the Father made known to the Son His purposes and mind.
2. This quickening of the impotent man was meant to be an object lesson, a sign of the power of Jesus to communicate life, Divine and eternal, to whom He would. Greater works than this of curing the paralytic will the Father show to the Son, that ye may marvel (Joh 5:20). As through His word vigour had been imparted to the impotent man, so all who listen to His word will receive everlasting life (Joh 5:24). As the impotent man, after thirty-eight years of deadness, found life on the moment by believing Christs word, so every one who listens to that same voice as the word of God receives life eternal. Through that word he connects himself with the source of life. He becomes obedient to the life-giving will of God.
The question, How can the spiritually dead hear and believe? is the question. How could the impotent man rise in response to Christs word? Psychologically inexplicable it may be, but happily it is practically possible. And here, as elsewhere, theory must wait upon fact. One thing is plain: that faith is the link between the Divine life and human weakness. Had the impotent man not believed, he would not have risen. Christ quickens whom He will; that is to say, there is no limit to His life-giving power; but He cannot quicken those who will not have life or who do not believe He can give it. Hence necessarily the Father hath committed all judgement unto the Son. To the impotent man Jesus put the question, Wilt thou be made whole? and by that question the man was judged. By the answer he gave to it he determined whether he would remain dead or receive life. Had he not on the moment believed, he would have doomed himself to permanent and hopeless imbecility. Christs question judged him.
Precisely so, says Jesus, are all men judged by My presence among them, and My offer of life to them. For the Father has not only given to the Son to have life in Himself, that He may thus communicate it (Joh 5:26), but He hath given Him authority to execute judgement also, because He is a Son of man. For these words do not mean that Jesus will be Judge because men should be judged by one who shares their nature, [17] or because they must be judged by the holiest and most loving of men[18]-as if God Himself were not sufficiently loving-but, as the object-lesson shows us, Jesus is necessarily Judge by appearing as Gods messenger, and by offering to men life everlasting. By becoming a son of man, by living in human form as the embodied love and life of God, and by making intelligible Gods good-will and His invitation to life, Christ necessarily sifts men and separates them into two classes. Every one who hears the word of Jesus is judged. He either accepts quickening and passes into life, or he rejects it and abides in death. This human appearance, Jesus seems to say, which stumbles you, and makes you think that My pretensions of judging all men are absurd, is the very qualification which makes judgment one of My necessary functions.
And this explains why we find Christ uttering apparent contradictions: at one time saying, For judgment came I into this world, and at another time saying, I came not to judge the world. The object of His coming into the world was to give life, not to condemn men, not to cut them off finally from life and from God, but to open a way to the Father, and to be their life. But this very coming of Christ and the offers He makes to men constitute the critical test of every soul that is brought into contact with them. Judgment is the necessary accompaniment of salvation. Mans will being free, it must be so. And this judgment, determined in this life, will one day appear in final, irreversible, manifested result. The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
3. But naturally the Jews would say: These are extraordinary and apparently extravagant claims to make. It is not easily credible that this voice which now so quietly speaks to us is one day to wake the dead. It is not easily credible that one whom we can carry before our courts is to judge all men. To which thoughts Jesus replies: I do not expect you to take My word for these things, but there are three guarantees of My truth to which I point you. There is first of all (1) the testimony of John[19]-a man in whose prophetic gift you for a while prided yourselves, rejoicing that God had sent you so powerful and enlightening a messenger. His whole function was to testify of Me. This lamp, in the light of which you rejoiced, was lit solely for the purpose of making quite visible to you that which you now say you cannot see. But this is not the best witness I have, although those of you who cannot see for themselves might be saved if only you would believe Johns testimony. But (2) I have greater witness than that of John. John said that I should come as the Fathers agent. Well, if you cannot believe Johns words, can you not believe the things you see? This impotent man raised to health, is this not a little hint of the Divine power that is in your midst? And are not all the works I do the Fathers works, done by His power and for His purposes? Is not My whole career its own best evidence? But besides, (3) the Father Himself has borne witness to Me. He has not appeared to you. You have not heard His voice nor seen His shape, but His word, His own sufficient account of His nature and connection with you, you have. You search the Scriptures, and rightly, for they are they which testify of Me. They are the Fathers word which, had you listened to, you would have known Me as sent by Him. Had you not mumbled only the husk of Scripture, counting its letters and wearing it on your foreheads, but had you, through Gods law, entered into sympathy with His purpose on earth, had you, through all that Scripture tells you of Him, learned His nature, and learned to love Him, you would at once have recognised Me as His messenger. Ye have not His word abiding in you; ye have not let it lie in your minds and colour them; ye have not chewed, and digested, and assimilated the very quintessence of it, for had you done so you would have learned to know God and seen Him in Me.[20] But whom He sent, Him ye believe not.
The very Scriptures which had been given to guide them to Christ they used as a veil to blind themselves to His presence. Jesus points out where their mistake lay. You search the Scriptures, because you suppose that in them, a mere book, you have eternal life; the truth being that life is in Me. The Scriptures do not give life, they lead to the Life-giver. The Scriptures, by your superstitiously reverent and shallow use of them, actually prevent you from finding the life they were meant to point you to. You think you have life in them, and therefore will not come to Me. So may a book, lifted out of its subordinate place, be entirely perverted from its use, and actually hinder the purpose it was given to promote. To worship the Bible as if it were Christ is to mistake a finger-post for a house of shelter. It is possible to have a great zeal for the Bible and yet quite to misapprehend its object; and to misapprehend its object is to make it both useless and dangerous. To set it on a level with Christ is to do both it, Him, and ourselves the gravest injustice. Many who seem to exalt the Scriptures degrade them; and those who give them a subordinate place truly exalt them. God speaks in Scripture, as this passage shows, but He speaks for a definite purpose, to reveal Christ; and this fact is the key to all difficulties about the Bible and inspiration.
4. The unbelief of the Jews is traced by Jesus to a moral root. They seemed very zealous for Gods law, but beneath this superficial and ostentatious championing of God there was detected a deep-seated alienation from God which unfitted them for knowing either Him or His messenger. Glory from men I do not receive (Joh 5:41). But the reason of this is that ye have not the love of God in you, and cannot appreciate Divine glory or recognise it when you see it. How can you believe, when your hearts crave the glory you can give to one another, your ambition rising no higher than to be spoken of by ignorant people as the upholders of religion? You have taught yourselves to measure men by a wholly spurious standard, and cannot believe in one who is a transparency through which the glory of God shines upon you. Had some one come in his own name, seeking a glory the Jews could give him, adapting himself to their poor conceptions, him they would have received. But Jesus being sent by God had that glory which consisted in being a perfect medium of the Fathers will, doing the Fathers work and never seeking His own glory.
This, then, was the reason why the Jews could not believe in Jesus. Their idea of glory was earthly, and they were unfitted to see and appreciate such glory as He showed in deeds of kindness. And those sayings of Jesus penetrate deeply into the permanent roots of unbelief.
It was certainly a great demand on their faith which Jesus made. He asked them to believe that the most Divine of prerogatives, life-giving and judging, belonged to Him. But He gave them evidence. He only asks them to believe what they have seen exemplified. He does not as yet even ask them to draw inferences. He does not blame them for not seeing what is implied regarding His eternal relation to the Father. He adduces evidence that they may be saved; that they may be induced to partake of the life He dispenses; and He laments that they will not believe that He is commissioned by God to speak words of life to men, although He has given them demonstration of His commission and power to give life.
To us also He speaks-for plainly such powers as He here claims are not such as can be capriciously given and withdrawn, rendered accessible to one age but not to another, exhibited on earth once but never more to be exercised. They are not powers that could be given to more than one messenger of God. To suppose more than one source of spiritual life or more than one seat of judgment is against reason.
[15] Similarly in the Synoptical Gospels the hostility of the Jews is traced to His apparent breach of the Sabbath law.
[16] The following division of the former part of this Apology may help the reader to follow the sequence of thought. In Joh 5:19-20, Jesus enounces the general features of His relation to the Father. In Joh 5:21-23 the works dictated by this relation and resulting from it are spoken of generally as quickening and judging. These works are in Joh 5:24-27 exhibited in the spiritual sphere, and in Joh 5:28-29, in the physical sphere. The first part of the defence is closed in Joh 5:30 with a re-affirmation of His absolute unison with the Father.
[17] Westcott.
[18] Stier.
[19] It is very doubtful whether Joh 5:32 refers to John. I think it refers to the Father. Still Jesus, in Joh 5:33-35, refers the Jews to the testimony of John, although for His own part He depends on higher testimony.
[20] The same idea is resumed in Joh 5:45-47. If you have not understood the writings of Moses which you have heard from Sabbath to Sabbath, and have not received the knowledge of God they were meant to give you, how shall ye believe the once heard words of Him whose coming was meant to be prepared for, and His identification made easy by all that Moses wrote and by the institutions he established.