RSV ~ John 5 Notes

Jn 5:1 | ISB Notes

a feast of the Jews: John usually identifies the religious festivals that Jesus attends, whether it is Passover (2:13), Tabernacles (7:2), or Dedication (10:22). Here the unnamed feast may be Pentecost (Weeks), which celebrates the spring harvest as well as the giving of the Torah to Israel. It is one of three pilgrim feasts that required Israelite men to travel to Jerusalem (Deut 16:16; 2 Chron 8:13) (CCC 583).

Jn 5:2 | ISB Notes

the Sheep Gate: An entryway in the northeastern wall of Jerusalem used in bringing sheep to the Temple for sacrifice (Neh 3:1). Two pools were built in the same area of the city; they were surrounded by four colonnade walkways and separated by a fifth portico running between them. One of these pools was called Bethzatha and was believed to possess healing properties.

Jn 5:5 | ISB Notes

thirty-eight years: The man’s protracted suffering is evident to Jesus (5:6).

• The duration of the man’s illness, due to some unspecified sin (5:14), recalls the duration of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness after rebelling against Yahweh at Kadesh (Num 13:25-14:11). The grueling journey from Kadesh to the threshold of Canaan lasted 38 years (Deut 2:14).

Jn 5:8 | ISB Notes

Rise … and walk: According to Jewish tradition, medical attention could be given on the Sabbath only when someone’s life was in danger. The boldness of Jesus in neglecting this convention reflects his own theological stance that giving rest to suffering souls, whether or not they are on the brink of death, fulfills the true intent of the Sabbath (CCC 2173). See note on Lk 6:1.

Jn 5:13 | ISB Notes

Jesus had withdrawn: i.e., from the man just cured of paralysis.

• Morally (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Sermon on the Paralytic 16): Jesus disappears into the crowd to teach us to shun worldly praise. Though we are inclined to boast of our accomplishments, or at least be recognized for them, humility must turn us away from whatever acclaim might lead us to pride.

Jn 5:14 | ISB Notes

Sin no more: The Bible reveals a link between sin and suffering, with the former being the cause of the latter (Ps 107:17). This general truth, however, does not extend to every individual case (9:3).

Jn 5:17 | ISB Notes

My Father is working: God the Son imitates God the Father and obeys all that he hears from him (5:19-21). Jesus thus depicts himself as the apprentice of Yahweh, drawing on the familiar custom of sons learning by observation and imitation the trade skills of their fathers.

Jn 5:18 | ISB Notes

equal with God: By calling God his Father, Jesus kilkJ claims a status of divine Sonship for himself.

• The three Persons of the Trinity equally possess the same fullness of divine life and Being. Although the Son is less than the Father in his humanity (14:28), he is equal to the Father in his divinity (10:33) (CCC 253-54).

Jn 5:24 | ISB Notes

from death to life: Signifies a spiritual transfer from the curses of the Old Covenant to the blessing of the New (Deut 30:15-20; Eph 2:1-5). Believers are rescued from the fallen family of Adam and reinstated in the divine family of God (Rom 5:12-21) (CCC 580, 1470).

Jn 5:26 | ISB Notes

life in himself: The Father is the first link in a chain of supernatural life, since he alone has not received divine life from anyone else. His capacity to give life, however, is shared by Christ, who receives life from the Father and gives it to the world through the sacraments (6:53; 10:10).

Jn 5:27 | ISB Notes

execute judgment: The Son is given absolute sovereignty over life and death, being authorized by the Father to judge the living and the dead and decide their eternal destiny (Mt 25:31-46; Acts 10:42; CCC 679).

Jn 5:29 | ISB Notes

the resurrection: Christ claims the authority to raise all men from death, the righteous and wicked alike (Acts 24:15).

• Two oracles from the OT stand in the background of Jesus’ teaching. (1) Dan 12:2 envisions a final separation of saints and sinners once their bodies have awakened from the sleep of bodily death. (2) Ezek 37:1-4 envisions the resurrection, where bones and flesh are reassembled and made to live again. Rising from the grave is made possible by the spoken words of Ezekiel, called the Son of man, and the life-giving breath of the Spirit.

Jesus casts himself in the lead role of these prophetic narratives: he is the “Son of man” (5:27) whose powerful “voice” (5:25) raises the dead from their “tombs” (5:28) and separates them for everlasting “life” or eternal “judgment” (5:29) (CCC 997-1001).

Jn 5:30-47 | ISB Notes

Jewish legal tradition required two or three witnesses to sustain a claim in court (Deut 19:15). Jesus has a list of witnesses beyond the required number: (1) John the Baptist (5:33), (2) his miracles (5:36), (3) the Father (5:37), (4) the Scriptures (5:39), (5) and Moses (5:46) all bear witness to his divine authority and mission.

Jn 5:35 | ISB Notes

burning and shining lamp: The ministry of John the Baptist lights the way for Israel to see and accept its Messiah (1:31).

• Elijah is similarly depicted as a fiery torch in Sir 48:1. See note on Jn 1:21.

Jn 5:46 | ISB Notes

he wrote of me: Jesus follows the Jewish tradition that Moses authored the Pentateuch (Gen—Deut). Moses thus described the Messiah as a Redeemer (Gen 3:15), a universal King (Gen 49:10), and a Prophet like himself (Deut 18:15-19).