39 You make search in the holy Writings, in the belief that through them you get eternal life; and it is those Writings which give witness about me.
And he made clear to them all the things in the Writings, from Moses and from all the prophets, which had to do with himself.
And so the words of the prophets are made more certain; and it is well for you to give attention to them as to a light shining in a dark place, till the dawn comes and the morning star is seen in your hearts; Being conscious in the first place that no man by himself may give a special sense to the words of the prophets. For these words did not ever come through the impulse of men: but the prophets had them from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation; Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.
But see that you keep to the teaching you have been given and the things of which you are certain, conscious of who has been your teacher; And that from the time when you were a child, you have had knowledge of the holy Writings, which are able to make you wise to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teaching, for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness: So that the man of God may be complete, trained and made ready for every good work.
And so, by God's help, I am here today, witnessing to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come about; That the Christ would go through pain, and being the first to come back from the dead, would give light to the people and to the Gentiles.
And he said to them, These are the words which I said to you when I was still with you, how it was necessary for all the things which are in the writings of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms about me, to be put into effect.
Of which God had given word before by his prophets in the holy Writings,
For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him.
Take my teaching and be wise; do not let it go. Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.
<MEM> O what love I have for your law! I give thought to it all the day. Your teaching has made me wiser than my haters: for it is mine for ever. I have more knowledge than all my teachers, because I give thought to your unchanging word.
The wise men are shamed, they are overcome with fear and taken: see, they have given up the word of the Lord; and what use is their wisdom to them?
Now the place in the book where he was reading was this: He was taken, like a sheep, to be put to death; and as a lamb is quiet when its wool is being cut, so he made no sound: Being of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing: who has knowledge of his family? for his life is cut off from the earth. And the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet? about himself, or some other? So Philip, starting from this writing, gave him the good news about Jesus.
If you had belief in Moses you would have belief in me; for his writings are about me.
Have you not seen this which is in the Writings: The stone which the builders put on one side, the same was made the chief stone of the building:
You will make clear to me the way of life; where you are joy is complete; in your right hand there are pleasures for ever and ever.
The Lord your God will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to him;
And I went on my face before his feet to give him worship. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers who keep the witness of Jesus: give worship to God: for the witness of Jesus is the spirit of the prophet's word.
King Agrippa, have you faith in the prophets? I am certain that you have.
There is another who gives witness about me and I am certain that the witness he gives about me is true.
So keep these words deep in your heart and in your soul, and have them fixed on your hand for a sign and marked on your brow; Teaching them to your children, and talking of them when you are at rest in your house or walking by the way, when you go to sleep and when you get up: Writing them on the pillars of your houses and over the doors of your towns:
Let this book of the law be ever on your lips and in your thoughts day and night, so that you may keep with care everything in it; then a blessing will be on all your way, and you will do well.
For with you is the fountain of life: in your light we will see light.
For the rule is a light, and the teaching a shining light; and the guiding words of training are the way of life.
But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they say.
Philip came across Nathanael and said to him, We have made a discovery! It is he of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets were writing, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
I will give them a prophet from among themselves, like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will say to them whatever I give him orders to say.
And when he has taken his place on the seat of his kingdom, he is to make in a book a copy of this law, from that which the priests, the Levites, have in their care: And it is to be with him for his reading all the days of his life, so that he may be trained in the fear of the Lord his God to keep and do all the words of this teaching and these laws:
But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and whose mind is on his law day and night.
He made request to you for life, and you gave it to him, long life for ever and ever.
Then say to them, Put your faith in the teaching and the witness. ... If they do not say such things. ... For him there is no dawn. ...
And a number of those who are sleeping in the dust of the earth will come out of their sleep, some to eternal life and some to eternal shame.
And one came to him and said, Master, what good thing have I to do, so that I may have eternal life? And he said to him, Why are you questioning me about what is good? One there is who is good: but if you have a desire to go into life, keep the rules of the law. He says to him, Which? And Jesus said, Do not put anyone to death, Do not be untrue in married life, Do not take what is not yours, Do not give false witness, Give honour to your father and your mother: and, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself. The young man says to him, All these things have I done: what more is there?
And a certain teacher of the law got up and put him to the test, saying, Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life? And he said to him, What does the law say, in your reading of it? And he, answering, said, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and for your neighbour as for yourself. And he said, You have given the right answer: do this and you will have life. But he, desiring to put himself in the right, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
But as for you who have the name of Jew, and are resting on the law, and take pride in God, And have knowledge of his desires, and are a judge of the things which are different, having the learning of the law,
But now their desire is for a better country, that is to say, for one in heaven; and so it is no shame to God to be named their God; for he has made ready a town for them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on John 5
Commentary on John 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
We have in the gospels a faithful record of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, Acts 1:1. These two are interwoven, because what he taught explained what he did, and what he did confirmed what he taught. Accordingly, we have in this chapter a miracle and a sermon.
Jhn 5:1-16
This miraculous cure is not recorded by any other of the evangelists, who confine themselves mostly to the miracles wrought in Galilee, but John relates those wrought at Jerusalem. Concerning this observe,
Now this is all the account we have of this standing miracle; it is uncertain when it began and when it ceased. Some conjecture it began when Eliashib the high priest began the building of the wall about Jerusalem, and sanctified it with prayer; and that God testified his acceptance by putting this virtue into the adjoining pool. Some think it began now lately at Christ's birth; nay, others at his baptism. Dr. Lightfoot, finding in Josephus, Antiq. 15.121-122, mention of a great earthquake in the seventh year of Herod, thirty years before Christ's birth, supposed, since there used to be earthquakes at the descent of angels, that then the angel first descended to stir this water. Some think it ceased with this miracle, others at Christ's death; however, it is certain it had a gracious signification.
Jhn 5:17-30
We have here Christ's discourse upon occasion of his being accused as a sabbath-breaker, and it seems to be his vindication of himself before the sanhedrim, when he was arraigned before them: whether on the same day, or two or three days after, does not appear; probably the same day. Observe,
Jhn 5:31-47
In these verses our Lord Jesus proves and confirms the commission he had produced, and makes it out that he was sent of God to be the Messiah.