Sunday School

THE LESSON BACKGROUND. Those who have carefully studied the chronology of Jesus’ life tell us that John chapter 5 recounts the events near the beginning of His second year of public ministry. At the time of our lesson, we find Jesus visiting Jerusalem to attend a feast that is not identified (see John 5:1). He faced antagonism there after He miraculously healed the man beside the pool of Bethesda who had been crippled with an infirmity for thirty-eight years (see John 5:5). Once the man told the Jewish leaders who had healed him (see John 5:10-15), they determined to kill Jesus, primarily because He had done this healing work on the Sabbath (see John 5:16). When the Jewish leaders confronted Jesus, He told them that He was simply carrying on the work that His Father had been doing (see John 5:17). That angered them even more because they understood His words to mean that He had made Himself equal to God, so they sought to kill Him (see John 5:18). This is where our lesson begins.