The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and the Priests of the Temple (John 5)
- Chapter 2 -
The Lord attests to Himself and His mission as the Messiah.
After about an hour, I went with the disciples into the Temple, after we had first met the family of Lazarus of Bethany, whom I had known since My twelfth year and with whom I made a habit of visiting annually on our pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and discussed many a thing about the direction of My ministry. The family as well as our familiar innkeeper accompanied us into the Temple, and when we came into the Temple, I found the man who had been healed, and after seeing Me he pushed his way forward to Me, and once again began to praise and to thank Me.
2
I said to him: "Now that you have been healed, see to it that you sin no more in future, so that something worse shall not befall you!" (John 5:14)
3
He affirmed this and learned at this opportunity My name, which was very easy, since many knew Me from previous times. Then the man left us and went to the strict Temple Jews and informed them that it was Me, Jesus, who had healed him. (John 5:15)
5
The innkeeper spied the fierce motions of the Jews who he hated above all else and advised Me to get away as quickly as possible, otherwise something evil could easily befall Me.
6
But I comforted him and said: "Do not be afraid; for they will not be able to do anything to Me before I do not want it to happen Myself! But as soon as they begin to ask Me, I will then tell them straight away who I am, and then you will see their anger, which however no-one needs to fear now!"
7
While I had been saying this privately to the innkeeper, the angered Jews came to Me and attacked Me, saying: "Why did you do such a thing on a high Sabbath and desecrated it before all the people? Could you not have done that tomorrow and the invalid would still have been helped soon enough, and the high Sabbath would not have been desecrated?!"
8
I then looked at the angered Jews very seriously and said very simply to them: "My Father (in heaven) is working until now, and I Myself am working also!" (John 5,17)
9
Then the Temple Jews became even angrier and sought to seize Me and kill Me immediately; for they shouted to the people: "It is not enough that he has desecrated the high Sabbath, but he also blasphemes against God by calling Him his Father and making himself equal to Him! Therefore seize him and strangle him immediately!" (John 5:18)
10
Then a real commotion arose in the Temple, and some got ready to seize Me. But I got excited and commanded silence.
12
As I was saying this, there was the greatest silence and the angered Jews were silent; for I wanted it to be so.
13
And therefore I spoke further and said: "Truly, truly, whoever hears My word and believes truly in Him who sent Me to you, the people of this earth, has eternal life and in his soul never comes into any judgment, which is the death of matter, but instead he has passed out of death into true, eternal life through such serious and living faith! (John 5:24)
14
And again I say to you all: Truly, truly, the hour is coming and now is already here, when the dead in body and soul will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it in faith will also live eternally! (John 5:25) For as the Father has life in Himself, since eternity He also has given to the Son to have life in Himself. (John 5:26) He has also given Him the power to execute judgment over all men, because the eternal Son of God is now for this time also a Son of Man." (John 5:27)