John 5:16

Responding to Jewish Leaders

5:16 Now because Jesus was doing these things ¹  on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders ²  began persecuting ³  him.

John 6:25

Jesus’ Discourse About the Bread of Life

6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, ⁴  they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” ⁵ 

[5:16]  ¹ sn Note the plural phrase these things which seems to indicate that Jesus healed on the Sabbath more than once (cf. John 20:30). The synoptic gospels show this to be true; the incident in 5:1-15 has thus been chosen by the author as representative.

[5:16]  ² tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.

[5:16]  ³ tn Or “harassing.”

[6:25]  ⁴ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.

[6:25]  ⁵ sn John 6:25-31. The previous miracle of the multiplication of the bread had taken place near the town of Tiberias (cf. John 6:23). Jesus’ disciples set sail for Capernaum (6:17) and were joined by the Lord in the middle of the sea. The next day boats from Tiberias picked up a few of those who had seen the multiplication (certainly not the whole 5,000) and brought them to Capernaum. It was to this group that Jesus spoke in 6:26-27. But there were also people from Capernaum who had gathered to see Jesus, who had not witnessed the multiplication, and it was this group that asked Jesus for a miraculous sign like the manna (6:30-31). This would have seemed superfluous if it were the same crowd that had already seen the multiplication of the bread. But some from Capernaum had heard about it and wanted to see a similar miracle repeated.