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CHAPTER 5Jesus heals an invalid on the Sabbath—Why men must honor the Son—Jesus promises to take gospel to the dead—Man is resurrected, judged, assigned his glory by the Son—Jesus obeys divine law of witnesses. |
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1 AFTER this there
was aa feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem.
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. |
1a
D&C 128:20; 2a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of; |
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4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. |
1a
D&C 128:20; 2a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of; |
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6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. |
1a
D&C 128:20; 2a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of; |
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BethsedaThis singular miracle performed by Jesus in Jerusalem was quite intentional. It is the only miracle he will have performed in Jerusalem. It will give the Jewish religious leaders an excuse against him to seek his life. It gives Jesus the stage upon which he declares his Divine Sonship. He will testify again against the Jews at the Feast of the Tabernacles. |
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8 Jesus saith unto him, aRise, take
up thy bed, and walk.
9 And immediately the man was made awhole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the bsabbath. |
1a
D&C 128:20; 2a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of; |
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10 ¶ The Jews therefore said unto him that was
cured, It is the asabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to
carry thy bed.
11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? |
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13 And he that was healed awist not
who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in
that place.
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. |
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15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
16 And therefore did the Jews apersecute Jesus, and bsought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath daya. |
16a because he had done these things on the sabbath day The truth was that the Jewish leaders were jealous and feared that Jesus would attract the people from their leadership to his. For it was this leadership and the governing of the people according to the Laws of Moses and the traditions of the Jews by which they made their living in priestcrafts in governing the people as tied to the administering the law and the ordinances of the temple. And the traditions of sabbath day performances was such that almost anything a man would do could be used against him as braking the sabbath. But this only according to the authority of the Jewish leaders. Certainly when they broke the sabbath day in compelling that labor be performed, which they did oversee, in the sealing of the tomb of Jesus. And that was a direct violation of the sabbath day compandment and not merely a traditional interpretation thereof by money grubbing corrupt officials. | |
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17 ¶ But Jesus answered them, My Father
aworketh hitherto, and I bwork.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his aFather, making himself bequal with Goda. |
18a God was his Father, making himself equal with God This is also Satan's argument against those of us who so proclaim that we all are the sons and daughters of God, that He is our Heavenly Father in fact. And this is the corruption which had entered into the religion administered by the Jewish leaders as also had become that same corruption that entered into the great apostasy of the early Christian church. For indeed as Christ will teach, the Old Testament teaches that all were to be considered the sons of God. The Old Testament taught that yet the Jewish leaders would deny it. Jesus in the New Testament again taught it himself in confronting that false doctrine that men are not the sons of God held by the Jewish leaders. Yet again, Satan has developed that lie, that men are not of the race of God, that He is literally the Father of our spirit bodies, our Heavenly Father in the preexistence, Jesus Christ being the Firstborn of us all in the pre-mortal realm; is again taught against by the traditional Christianity. And upon this principle we are on equal footing with God our Father. And we are enabled to become like He Is, at least that is our potential as being his children. And this the Jewish leaders had taken from the understanding of the people, and this traditional Christianity, which is but apostate Christianity, does also take from the understanding of the people, separating them from the family of God, which is the purpose and design of Lucifer from the beginning to so do, making all subject to him and his unrighteous dominion. | |
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19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what
he aseeth the bFather
doa: for what things
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father araiseth up the dead, and bquickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. |
19a The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do What kind of double talk must all this be contrived to be if Christ and God the Father are but one and the same being? How can any serious student of the Bible with half a mind of understanding not see the simple truth that Jesus is the Son of God the Father, a completely separate individual and being apart from his Father? It makes simple logice and reason stare as to just how the simple truth must be twisted and turned, contorted and maligned in order to contrive such an warped understanding as to making a Father and that Father's Son to be but one and the same person, especially when Jesus teaches so clearly of the relationship that he has with His Father. But that is the lies of Satan who loves to make truth into falsehood, and understanding into muddle. And all whom Satan does entreat his web of decit, he has accomplised his goal of making an end of the Father and Son, and the acceptance of but one God, a God of spirit only, which he is. | |
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22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath
acommitted all bjudgment unto the
Son:
23 That all men should ahonour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that bhonoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and abelieveth on him that sent me, hath everlasting blife, and shall not come into ccondemnation; but is passed from ddeath unto elife. |
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25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is
coming, and now is, when the adead shall
bhear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall
clive.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the aSon to have blife in himselfa; 27 And hath given him aauthority to execute bjudgment also, because he is the cSon of man. |
26a so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself Jesus had obtained from his actual father of his physical birth, who was God the Father, Christ being the Only Begotten of the Father; that power within himself over death. He was capable of life without death. Death had no power over him as it did upon all else. Because of Adam all men were to die, that is suffer physical death as well as spiritual death, which is separation from the presence of God. But though Jesus had the capacity to die, as inherited from his earthly Mother, He did not 'have to die' in and of himself, for he had power over death. That he had obtained from God the Father, that 'life in himself'. Thus no one had power to take Jesus' life except as he would so give them such. For Christ could die, being born of Mary. But from his FAther, who was God, he had obtained power over death, not ever having to die except as he would allow himself to so pass. | |
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28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the agraves shall
bhear his voice,
29 And shall acome forth; they that have done good, unto the bresurrection of life; and they that have done cevil, unto the resurrection of ddamnation. 30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is ajust; because I seek not mine own bwill, but the cwill of the Father which hath sent me.
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John the Baptist's WitnessThe word 'only' ought to be used in verse 31, 'If I only bear witness of myself'. For a man is able and is expected to state the truth about himself. What the consideration was here, is not whether a man could say thus of himself, but rather whether just him saying it of himself was acceptible proof in a Court of Law, namely before the Sanhedrin. Thus Christ could state the truth about himself and still be the Christ, but the 'Court' could not accept that as a true witness in and of itself, for it was but that of one man concerning himself. But Christ not only states the truth about himself, but he also brings with his statement the proof of other witnesses, which is allowed in a Court of Law and before the Sanhedrin. The one who came before him, crying in the wilderness was John the Baptist. He bore witness concerning Jesus Christ being the Son of God. And not only that, but John's witness referenced Isaiah's witness also. |
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31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
32 ¶ There is another that beareth awitness of me; and I know that the bwitness which he witnesseth of me is true. 33 Ye sent unto aJohn, and he bare bwitness unto the truth. |
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34 aBut I receive not testimony
from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
35 He was a burning and a shining alight: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his blight. |
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Jesus' Works, His Miracles Do Witness of Him |
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36 ¶ aBut I have
bgreater witness than that of John: for the
cworks which the Father hath given me to finish, the same
dworks that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath
esent me.
37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne awitness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor bseen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye abelieve not. |
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The Scriptures Do Witness of HimThis may seem to be a 'weak test', for any might say it. But the proof is in the putting to the measure of the scriptures the very life of Jesus. And if one so 'searches' the prohecies and see if they are the standard by which Jesus' life measures up to, then the scriptures do become a very strong witness for him, for he completes them every wit. |
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39 ¶ aSearch the
scripturesa; for in them ye
think ye have eternal lifeb: and
they are they which btestify of
mea.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have alife. 41 I receive not ahonour from men. |
39a Search the scriptures ... they are
they which testify of me Jesus has set forth that John the Baptist
did testify and witness of him, that the works that he does which are only
possible as of the Father do witness and testify of him—of which we
this healing of the lame man—Jesus also states that the very voice of
the Father hath witnessed of him—that this might be at his baptism or
as the still small voice of those who are sensitive to it, which the Jewish
rulers were not—and now he sets forth that the scriptures do also
testify of him, that he is he who is the Son of God.
39b in them ye think ye have eternal life The Jews did and do consider that by the keeping of the laws of the Jews alone they are justified and saved. They have some 613 odd traditional rules and commandments which they do keep, not perfectly for such is not possible, but in them they think they have eternal life. But it is indeed in Christ, in and through Him, by whom men are saved by that atoning sacrifice, which all the animal sacrifices to God of Biblical history have pointed to. |
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The Honor that Cometh From God |
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42 But I know you, that ye have not the
alove of God in you.
43 I am come in my aFather's bname, and ye creceive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. 44 How can ye believe, which receive ahonour one of another, and seek not the bhonour that cometh from God only? |
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Jesus' Counter Witness Against the Elders Is Moses |
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45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
46 For had ye believed aMoses, ye would have believed me: for he bwrote of mea. 47 But if ye believe not his awritings, how shall ye believe my words? |
46a he [Moses] wrote of me How extensively Moses wrote concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God to come, we do not know for we no longer have the full extend of Moses' unedited writings. We have them in part due to Joseph Smith's inspired translation which is in part in the book of Moses of the Pearl of Great Price. There in Moses writes concerning Enoch, which Enoch speaks of Adam having known concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God in his days (Moses 6:51-54). Therefore Enoch, by the words written by Moses, himself knew of Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son, and he did pray to the Father in the name of the Son (Moses 7:50). Even Noah, according to the writings of Moses, did know and understand the mission of Jesus Christ to come as he taught the very gospel of Jesus Christ (Moses 8:23-24). Further there is New Testament evidence that Moses had written and spoke of Jesus Christ in plainer terms that have been preserved in the Old Testament (John 1:45 etc.). The Book of Mormon is further proof that the Old Testament era prophets did speak concerning Jesus Christ, as there are referenced recordings of those Old Testament era prophets in which they did profess Jesus Christ and him mission before his age. Of course, the righteous of the Book of Mormon knew of and believed in Jesus Christ and his coming, as we have that recored record in the unedited translated words of those very prophets of the Book of Mormon. Even beyond the New Testament era, there are such of the early Christians who had the understanding that Jesus was well known and understood to those righteous persons of the Old Testament as such are the words of Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea. Whether they had such records of old which supported this or but the true teachings of early Christianity which itself supported it, we can only presume. | |