John 5 – its similarities and structure

Who is Jesus? part 53 – John chapter 5

I hope you have had a good Christmas and wish you a happy new year.

I’ll be concise. (EDIT: I meant to be brief, but it’s over 2,000 words and takes about 11 to 12 minutes to read.) I’m asking you to read a lengthy passage today. I’m focusing on John chapter 5 every Friday until Lent, and there will be opportunities to explore more in-depth during that time. Think of this as an overview.

Song 1

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic^[a] called Bethesda,^[b] which has five roofed colonnades. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralysed.^[c] 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ⁹ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴ Afterwards Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶ And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Is Equal with God

¹⁸ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Song 2

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[d] does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. ²² The Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son, ²³ that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement.

Song 3

Witnesses to Jesus

³⁰ “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³¹ If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. ³² There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ³³ You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, ³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from people. ⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

John 5 ESVUK

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The Gospel according to John, chapter 5, has similarities to chapter 1 in that it is made up of three passages in the form of chiasms or chiasmus. Chiasm, meaning crossing over, is a form used in nearly all Psalms and is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. For this reason, I am referring to these sections as songs, as I did with chapter 1.

The other similarity is that this chapter, like the first, is based on a single book in the Old Testament. In chapter 1, it was Isaiah 40, here, it is Exodus and Deuteronomy. The Cana Cycle of chapters 2 to 5 is bookended by the prophets and the Law. I see this as no accident, as John is very deliberate in his placement of things in his story of who Jesus is.

Song 1

John Chapter 5	Deuteronomy 2
5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.	13 ‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”	24 ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go

The Israelites had been wandering in the desert for 38 years before God told them through Moses to rise up and start their journey into the promised land.

The man at the pool of Siloam had been disabled for 38 years before Jesus told him to rise up and walk.

Song 2

John Chapter 5	Deuteronomy
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.	2:13 ‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.
25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.	4:33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?
27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.	10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

The second song starts with referring to the same verses ans the first, Deuteronomy 2:13-14, but then goes on to isues of listening to God and to justice.

Song 3

John Chapter 5	Deuteronony and Exodus
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.	16:18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgement.
31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true.	17:6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,	4:33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?
37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,	Ex 33:20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” … 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.	18:18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.	Ex 14:31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”	31:9 Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

The third song picks up from the first, with references to Deuteronomy mostly in order, except one that refers back to the second song. There are two references to Exodus, shown in italics above, that are out of order. I wonder if John considered the Exodus passages when he wrote, as they parallel Deuteronomy.

Yes, the passages from Deuteronomy are selective. They were chosen by John in order to move on his purpose, to say who Jesusu is.

I have written this in tables because it makes things clearer to me how things work. I’ll be referring back to this as I write the next six posts. This post was about the structure of John chapter 5, the next six will be a deeper dive to look at the meaning.

I again wish you all a happy new year.

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