John 5:1 (WEB)
After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Catechism · 1
“His public ministry itself was patterned by his pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Jn 2 13-14; 5:1, 14; 7:1, 10, 14; 8 2; 10:22-23.
Fathers and councils · 23
Irenaeus of Lyons
“Afterwards He went up, the second time, to observe the festival day of the passover in Jerusalem; on which occasion He cured the paralytic man, who had lain beside the pool thirty-eight years, bidding him rise, take up his couch, and depart.” — editor's note: John v. 1, etc. It is well known that, to fix what is meant by the ἑορτή, referred to in this passage of St. John, is one of the most difficult points in New…
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John Chrysostom
“This paralytic, however, was different from that one who is set forth in John.” — editor's note: John v. 1.
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Tertullian
“An angel, by his intervention, was wont to stir the pool at Bethsaida.” — editor's note: So Tertullian reads, and some copies, but not the best, of the New Testament in the place referred to, John v. 1–9. [And note Tertullian’s textual testimony as…
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“Yesterday you were flung upon a bed, exhausted and paralyzed, and you had no one when the water should be troubled to put you into the pool.” — editor's note: John v. 1, &c.
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Catena Aurea on John
- Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
After the miracle in Galilee, He returns to Jerusalem: After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
The feast of Pentecost. Jesus always went up to Jerusalem at the time of the feasts, that it might be seen that He was not an enemy to, but an observer of, the Law. And it gave Him the opportunity of impressing the…
Read the whole comment - Alcuin of YorkCatena Aurea on John
The pool by the sheep-market, is the place where the priest washed the animals that were going to be sacrificed.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
This pool was one among many types of that baptism, which was to purge away sin. First God enjoined water for the cleansing from the filth of the body, and from those defilements, which were not real, but legal, e.…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
It was a greater act in Christ, to heal the diseases of the soul, than the sicknesses of the perishable body. But as the soul itself did not know its Restorer, as it had eyes in the flesh to discern visible things,…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
He did not, however, proceed immediately to heal him, but first tried by conversation to bring him into a believing state of mind. Not that He required faith in the first instance, as He did from the blind man,…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Three distinct biddings. Rise, however, is not a command, but the conferring of the cure. Two commands were given upon his cure, take up thy bed, and walk.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Behold the richness of the Divine Wisdom. He not only heals, but bids him carry his bed also. This was to shew the cure was really miraculous, and not a mere effect of the imagination; for the man’s limbs must have…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on John
There is a wide difference between our Lord’s mode of healing, and a physician’s. He acts by His word, and acts immediately: the other’s requires a long time for its completion.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
This was wonderful, but what follows more so. As yet he had no opposition to face. It is made more wonderful when we see him obeying Christ afterwards in spite of the rage and railing of the Jews: And on the same day…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
They did not charge our Lord with healing on the sabbath, for He would have replied that if an ox or an ass of theirs had fallen into a pit, would not they have taken it out on the sabbath day: but they addressed the…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Had he been inclined to deal treacherously, he might have said, If it is a crime, accuse Him Who commanded it, and I will lay down my bed. And he would have concealed his cure, knowing, as he did, that their real…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Judging on low and human notions of this miracle, it is not at all a striking display of power, and only a moderate one of goodness. Of so many, who lay sick, only one was healed; though, had He chosen, He could have…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on John
It is fitly described as a sheep pool. By sheep are meant people, according to the passage, We are Thy people, and the sheep of Thy pasture. (Ps. 95:7)
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
The water then, i. e. the people, was enclosed within five porches, i. e. the five books of Moses. But those books only betrayed the impotent, and did not recover them; that is to say, the Law convicted the sinner,…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on John
Lastly, many kinds of impotent folk lay near the pool: the blind, i. e. those who are without the light of knowledge; the lame, i. e. those who have not strength to do what they are commanded; the withered, i. e.…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
So then Christ came to the Jewish people, and by means of mighty works, and profitable lessons, troubled the sinners, i. e. the water, and the stirring continued till He brought on His own passion. But He troubled…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on John
What mean the words, Arise, and walk; except that thou shouldest raise thyself from thy torpor and indolence, and study to advance in good works. Take up thy bed, i. e. thy neighbour by which thou art carried, and…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Carry him then with whom thou walkest, that thou mayest come to Him with Whom thou desirest to abide. As yet however he wist not who Jesus was; just as we too believe in Him though we see Him not. Jesus again does…
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Cross-references · 6
Cited together in On Baptism Chapter 4.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on John 5:1–13 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Bede on John 5:1–13 (2) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in John Chrysostom on John 5:1–13 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in On Baptism Chapter 4.
Cited together in On Baptism Chapter 4.