WEAKNESS MADE STRENGTH John 5:1-9 An interval of some months lies between the previous chapter and this, in which many of the incidents of our Lord's Galilean life took place. John does not touch on them, because they had been described in the Synoptic Gospels, and because he wished to concentrate... [ Continue Reading ]
SABBATH WORK THAT PLEASES THE FATHER John 5:10-18 In the foregoing incident our Lord not only healed the sufferer after thirty-eight years of deferred hope, but did so on the Sabbath, and bade him carry his bed home. This clashed with Pharisaic prescriptions; but the man was of course right to inf... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FATHER WORKING THROUGH THE SON John 5:19-29 The relationship of our Lord to the Father was such that He felt Himself competent to fulfill all the functions of the Divine Being. Is it God's prerogative to raise the dead? It is also Jesus Christ's. _The Son quickeneth whom He will,_ John 5:21. I... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS' WORKS HIS SUFFICIENT WITNESS John 5:30-38 The one desire and purpose of our Lord was to do God's will. We cannot penetrate the mystery of His ineffable being, but clearly, so far as His human nature was concerned, he had a will which could be denied and subordinated to the Father's. See Joh... [ Continue Reading ]
WILLFUL REJECTION OF TRUTH CONDEMNED John 5:39-47 Our Lord was accused by the Jews of Sabbath breaking. There were many grounds on which He might have claimed exoneration, but He forbore to use them. He dwelt on these things very lightly, lest He should direct men's attention to Himself, His one a... [ Continue Reading ]