Dual PanelJesus Heals a Man at a Pool
1Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish festival.
2In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In the Jewish language
3Many sick people were lying on the porches {beside the pool}. Some of the people were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed.
5There was a man lying there who had been sick for 38 years.
6Jesus saw the man lying there. Jesus knew that the man had been sick for a very long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be well?”
7The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no person to help me get into the water when the water starts moving. I try to be the first person into the water. But when I try, another person always goes in before I can.”
8Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your bed and walk.”
9Then immediately the man was well. The man picked up his bed and started walking. The day all this happened was a Sabbath day.
10So some Jews said to the man that had been healed, “Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day.”
11But the man answered, “The person (Jesus) that made me well told me, ‘Pick up your bed and walk.’”
12The Jews asked the man, “Who is the person that told you to pick up your bed and walk?”
13But the man that had been healed did not know who the person was. There were many people in that place, and Jesus had left.
14Later Jesus found the man at the temple.
15Then the man left and went back to those Jews. The man told them that Jesus was the one that made him well.
16Jesus was doing these things (healing) on the Sabbath day.
17But Jesus said to the Jews, “My Father never stops working. And so I work too.”
18This made these Jews try harder to kill him. {The Jews said}, “First this man (Jesus) was breaking the law about the Sabbath day.
Jesus Has God’s Authority
19But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. The Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what he sees his Father doing. The Son does the same things that the Father does.
20The Father loves the Son, and the Father shows the Son all the things he does. {This man was healed.} But the Father will show the Son greater things than this to do. Then you will all be amazed.
21The Father raises dead people and gives them life. In the same way, the Son gives life to the people he wants to.
22Also, the Father judges no one. But the Father has given the Son power to do all the judging.
23God did this so that all people will respect the Son the same as they respect the Father. If a person does not respect the Son, then that person does not respect the Father. The Father is the One who sent the Son.
24“I tell you the truth. If a person hears what I say and believes in the One (God) who sent me, that person has life forever. That person will not be judged guilty. He has already left death and has entered into life.
25I tell you the truth. An {important} time is coming. That time is already here. People that are dead {in sin} will hear the voice of the Son of God. And the people that {accept the things they} hear {from the Son} will have life {forever}.
26Life comes from the Father (God) himself. So the Father has also allowed the Son (Jesus) to give life.
27And the Father has given the Son the power to judge all people. Why? Because that Son is the Son of Man.
28Don’t be surprised at this. A time is coming when all people that are dead and in their graves will hear his voice.
29Then they will come out of their graves. The people that did good in this life will rise and have life forever. But the people that did evil will rise to be judged guilty.
30“I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told. So my judgment is right. Why? Because I don’t try to please myself. But I want to please the One (God) who sent me.
Jesus Continues Talking to the Jewish Leaders
31“If I tell people about myself, then people cannot accept those things I say about myself.
32But there is another person that tells people about me. And I know that the things he says about me are true.
33“You have sent men to John. And he has told you about the truth.
34I don’t need a man to tell people about me. But I tell you these things so that you can be saved.
35John was like a lamp that burned and gave light. And you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.
36“But I have a proof about myself that is greater than John. The things I do are my proof. These are the things my Father gave me to do. These things show that the Father sent me.
37And the Father that sent me has given proof about me himself. But you have never heard his voice. You have never seen what he looks like.
38The Father’s teaching does not live in you. Why? Because you don’t believe in the One the Father sent.
39You carefully study the Scriptures.
40But you refuse to come to me to have that life {you want}.
41“I don’t want praise from you or any other human.
42But I know you—I know that you don’t have God’s love in you.
43I have come from my Father—I speak for him. But you don’t accept me. But when another person comes speaking only for himself, you will accept him.
44You like to have praise from each other. But you never try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe?
45Don’t think that I will stand before the Father and say that you are wrong. Moses is the person that says that you are wrong. And Moses is the one that you hoped would save you.
46If you really believed Moses, you would believe me. Why? Because Moses wrote about me.
47But you don’t believe what Moses wrote. So you cannot believe the things I say.”