John 5:1 Commentary and Bible Study

This happened very early in the great Galilean ministry of the Lord, and the time is early AD28. It is the Lord’s second recorded visit to Jerusalem. It is probably one of the great pilgrim feasts, but we are not told which one, and we can only guess. We are not even told whether the disciples were with him, but we presume so. They were with him pretty well all the time, but they are not mentioned because the focus is entirely upon the Lord. There will be no distractions in the narrative for our view of Christ, and what he did, and what he said.Christ had performed many miracles in Jerusalem. John 2:14-15 records the miraculous expulsion of money changers and merchants from the temple with only a symbolic whip of cords. John 2:23 alludes to the many miracles which the people had seen in Jerusalem, and in John 3:2 Nicodemus says that the many miracles done by Christ make it clear he has come from God. Many Galileans had been in Jerusalem, and had seen what he did, and therefore welcomed him on his arrival in Galilee.