Overview of John 5:1–47

John 5 finds Jesus once again in Jerusalem. He encounters a lame man who has vain hopes based on unreliable superstition, and Jesus heals him. This healing on a Sabbath provokes controversy (vv. 1–18), to which Jesus responds that, if God can work on the Sabbath, so can he (v. 17). Jesus asserts that he does what the Father does, that he will raise the dead, and that those who believe him will have eternal life (vv. 19–30). Knowing he has made claims difficult for his opponents to embrace, Jesus points to the testimony about him from the Baptist, the Scriptures, and the Father, asserting that those who know God will believe the one God has sent (vv. 31–47).