John 5: 1 – 18
Moving Day
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. 10 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Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 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.
As I have mentioned there ere are seven signs described in John’s Gospel. Each of the ‘signs’ points to our Lord Jesus, as either being the Messiah, or speaks of His divinity. So far we have witnessed two of them.
,The turning of water into wine (2.1-12).
.The healing at a distance of the son of the high official at Herod’s court (4.46-54).
Today we are going to hear about the Lord Jesus healing of the lame man on the Sabbath. This third sign has in mind that in the coming age the lame would be healed, and demonstrates that Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath.
Chapter 5 begins with the healing of the disabled man on the Sabbath, a Messianic sign, together with the resulting controversy and the first indications of a desire to kill Him because He made Himself equal with God, but expressed in such a way as to indicate that those desires were already there. It then leads on to Jesus’ revealing His equality with God as the Co-worker with God, the Source of Life and the Judge of all.
The chapter will conclude with The Lord Jesus declaring the different ways in which God has borne witness to Him:
. (verses 33-35) - By John the Baptist through His mighty works
.(verse 36 - 37) -Through God’s own voice, including His voice at His baptism
. (verses 38-39) - Through God’s word
. (verses 45-47). - Through Moses
Included also is the counter accusation that they do not believe because they seek their own glory (verses 43-44).
When John recounts an incident in the life of Jesus we must always ask what it is intended to illustrate, for he always has a purpose in mind. Here the aim is to demonstrate that God is working through Jesus. We learn here, ‘The lame walk’, and indication that Messianic day has arrived. The Judge is here and among them Is the One Who makes whole
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Sometime later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for ‘a feast of the Jews’.The manuscript evidence strongly favors no definite article. We do not know which feast it was. What the author could not remember he did not invent. It is clear from this that Jesus made a practice of attending the regular feasts, as the Old Testament had commanded, even though with the dispersion of the Jews the practice had become less widespread due to problems of distance and of travel. John is still concentrating His attention on Jerusalem and Judea.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
The pool was clearly renowned for its healing properties which occurred at various times at ‘the moving of the water’, and the five colonnades had presumably been built round it to aid those who came seeking healing. Today if you go to Jerusalem a pool adequately fits the description has been excavated in Jerusalem. It was ‘near that which pertains to sheep’, therefore possibly ‘the Sheep Gate’ which was near the Temple. It probably means ‘place of outpouring’.
3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
Many people with all kinds of disablement would lie round the pool because the belief was that when there was a stirring in the water, it had healing powers.
5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
Please note that John makes a point of the time of the man’s illness -‘For thirty eight years’. I have learned that the things in the bible which we have a tendency to overlook have some significant facts. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 14 we read this, “And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them.”
We are reminded of Israel’s thirty eight years of disfavor as a result of their unwillingness to obey God. We will read later that the man is told to cease from his sin hinting at the fact that the man’s disablement is due to his too having disobeyed God in some way. Like Israel he was under God’s disfavor and was about to be given a new beginning. ‘Thirty eight years’ would immediately remind a Jew of that period, and the story would then indicate to him that in the coming of Jesus a ‘lame’ nation of Israel was to be healed.
It is significant that Jesus did not deliberately practice mass healing. He healed each person individually, usually as they came to Him. It draws attention to the fact that there was a purpose for sickness and disease in the world, and that to heal on such a broad scale without being asked would actually have thwarted God’s purposes. There were indeed many sick people around that pool that day, and yet as far as we know He only healed this one
7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
Someone may have brought the man there each day, or he may have been there permanently, but no one was concerned enough to stay with him to help him down into the water. There was always going to be someone else there who was more agile. What a sickening position this poor guy was in -constant hope - yet hopelessness.
8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
Then Jesus said, ‘Rise, take up your bed and go home’, and at once the man was made well or whole. The healing was immediate, the more remarkable because his muscles must have atrophied and would need instant restoration. And he took up his mat and walked. Some response was, of course, required. Had the man lain there and made no effort he might have been there for many years to come. But something about Jesus, and what he felt to be happening in his own body, made him make the effort and he found that he could walk. The phrase ‘made ‘whole’ or ‘well’ is stressed in the passage (verses 11, 14, and 15). John is stressing that the One Who makes whole Is here.
But there was a problem. It was the Sabbath, and, according to Scribal teaching, to carry furniture on the Sabbath was forbidden, possibly on the basis of Jeremiah 17.19-27 which teaches, “19 Thus the LORD said to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the LORD: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction. 24 “And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the LORD, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, 25 then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the lowland, from the mountains and from the South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing sacrifices of praise to the house of the LORD. 27 “But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.”?’?”
To lift the man together with the mattress was allowable for that would be giving assistance to a disabled man, but just to lift the mattress was against the Pharisaic regulations. In general their principle was in accordance with the Law’s requirements, but they lacked the compassion to differentiate special cases.
It is probable that we have here a deliberate attempt by Jesus to make the Scribes and Pharisees face up to the inadequacy of their teaching. He did not need to tell the man to carry his mat, and the fact that He did so was a direct challenge to their beliefs, and a declaration of His own authority to override them. Would they really attack a situation where the power of God was so clearly revealed?
10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
At first this could have been an innocent comment by the religious people. They spotted a man carry a mat which was against their traditions so they told him so.
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.
The man knew that these men dressed in flowing rich robes were important so he told them that a man who healed him told him to do so. Wouldn’t you obey?
Instead of considering the most important fact of the man being healed and praising God for the miracle of the man’s healing, and recognizing that carrying his ‘stretcher’ went with the miracle, they focus on the violation of their man made rule.
The man did not put two and two together. I have witnessed people who have been stricken with some grievous physical infirmities which our Merciful God has done for them react the same way this guy did. A man who I have known for the last twenty years was out of work due to a back injury. He had over 10 major operations on his back and spinal column and was taken about 15 major pain medicines. Over this time he greatly drew close to the Lord and was an active participant in church services. I can testify that the Lord healed him. In addition, he ended taking any drugs. Now, if you were this individual what would you do? Would you commit your life to serving the Lord? Well, this guy went back to work and I have not seen him again at any church services.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
Jesus later sought the man out in the Temple area. He did not just want the incident to stop with healing; He was concerned for the whole man. ‘Do not sin any more in case worse things happen to you’. This might suggest that the illness was associated directly with the way he had lived.
15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Many teachers just skip over this action by the man who was made whole. We see that the Lord Jesus specifically came and warned the man about how he got in the physical problem to begin with and that was due to his sinful life. . Let me ask you would you do the same thing as he did. Look again at what he did. He went and told on Jesus. Do you think he wanted to let these religious leaders know about how great Jesus was? I do not think so.
When he finds out he goes and tells the religious leaders who had threatened him probably because he feels that he is seen as blameworthy and wants to clear himself, although they may have left him with the impression that if he could point out the real Sabbath-breaker he himself could be spared the punishment that a synagogue court could inflict.
This does suggest that he recognized that he was ‘in trouble’ with the authorities and wanted to clear himself. He could otherwise have found himself excluded from the synagogue. But to his credit the man told them, not that it was Jesus who had told him to carry the bedding, but that it was Jesus who had made him whole. Here he is trying to clear himself while trying to be somewhat soft on telling on Him. I believe many times we try to justify our actions as righteous when in fact they are not, would you agree?
16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.
The Lord wasn’t trying at this point in time to irritate the religious leaders. Look back again at the scripture passages. There were many people in need of healing. The Lord had compassion on this poor guy who had been physically severely handicapped and heals him. He then disappears so as not to bring any attention on Himself. After a while He goes and finds the man to advise him to not return to the same sinful lifestyle that caused his serious condition in the first place and goes away. Instead of being overjoyed about having a second chance in life the guy goes and squeals’ on Jesus. What was the outcome of his actions? The Jews persecuted the Lord Jesus and schemed on how to kill Him.
17 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’ reply to the charge of breaking the Sabbath is a powerful one. ‘My Father is still at work, and I also am working’. No one will attack God for working on the Sabbath in maintaining the universe, and performing miracles (‘works until now’), why then should they attack the One Who uniquely works on God’s behalf, as the miracle proves?
If God stopped every kind of work on the Sabbath, nature would fall into chaos, and sin would overrun the world. We learn right off the start in Genesis chapter 2 verse 2 that our Holy Maker rested on the seventh day. He didn’t stop for all totality in doing good. He created as we come to find out that the Sabbath was created for us so we could have a break in our busy lives.
The reply linked His work with God’s work in a very intimate way. He was saying that He had the same authority over the Sabbath as God had. Because God could work, He could work when He was doing the work of God. His use of the phrase ‘my Father’ was also very intimate. He was putting Himself on God’s side of reality. The implication was that they should see Him as having a unique relationship with the Father, which put Him above men’s interpretations of the Law, an implication that they recognize.
The Lord Jesus plainly understood that He was identifying Himself with God, His Father. There could be no doubt that He was claiming to be God Himself. The Pharisees also called God their Father, but they realized that our Lord Jesus was claiming a unique relationship with Him. In response to our Lord Jesus remark the religious leaders had two choices to make. One, believe in Him or two, accuse Him of blasphemy. Guess which one they choose.
In our next study we will pick up in verse 19.
