Jesus Heals The Lame Man At Bethesada Series

“The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed." (11) He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, "Take up your bed and walk."’ (12) Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, "Take up your bed and walk’?" (13) But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. … (15) The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

The healed man is intercepted by the religious leaders who inform him that he is breaking the law by carrying his bed on the Sabbath. They are not concerned about this man – they do no even acknowledge that he has been healed – let alone rejoice over it. Their only concern is that this man is breaking the rules – their rules. He tells them that the one who commanded him to get up and walk is the one who also commanded him to carry his bed.

Once informed that Jesus is the one who healed the lame man, the Jews cease to harass the healed man and fix their attention on Jesus.

Third, the miracle results in the religious leaders rejection of Jesus

“For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.”

John tells us that the religious leaders began to “persecute Jesus.” An important feature of this miracle is that it began an open conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders that would culminate at the cross. Because this miracle was done on the Sabbath day, it gave raise to the first demonstration of rejection on the part of the religious leadership.

Jesus now further added to the rejection of the religious leaders in verse seventeen, by declaring the he was equal with the father. “But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." (18) Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”

Jesus defends His actions by pointing out that He is mere imitating His father. Jesus states that that God’s creative and sustaining work upon which the world depends has never ceased nor will it. He says, “My Father is working and I am working too!”

The Jews immediately grasp what he was saying. Jesus is stating He is equal with God. The religious leaders did not reject Christ because they did not understand who he claimed to be, they understood perfectly, and rejected him because of these claims.

Notice that John does not tells us that from this point on the Jewish authorities are trying to kill Jesus, it says for this reason “the Jews were trying even harder to kill Him.” The authorities have already determined that he must be put to death. This incident only provided them with added incentive for doing it as soon as possible.

There are some that suggest that this miracle is “not so much a story of an actual event as it is an allegory. [An allegory is a story in which every event has an inner meaning.] …It has been suggested that in this story the helpless man stands for Israel. The thirty-eight years stand for the thirty-eight years during which the people wandered in the wilderness (Deut. 2:14). The five porches stand for the five books of the Law (the first five books of the O.T.). The Law could tell a man what was wrong with his life and show him his sin, but it could never help him mend himself or cure his sin. The Law, like the porches, was the shelter of people who were ill and knew it, who were morally helpless and could do nothing about it. The pool stands for the waters of baptism through which a man enters a new life with a new goodness and a new power, leaving his sins behind him.’ [William Barclay. And He Had Compassion: The Miracles of Jesus. (Valley Vorge: Judson Press, 1992) p. 174]