Our Lord’s first two miracles recorded by John were somewhat private in nature. The servants and the disciples knew that He transformed the water into wine, and the servants and the nobleman’s family knew that He had healed the sick son. The miracle recorded in John 5 was not only public, but it was performed on the Sabbath Day and incited the opposition of the religious leaders. We see here the beginning of “official persecution” against the Savior.

This is the second paralytic that Jesus heals (cf. § 53; Mt 9:1-8; Mk 2:1-12; Lk 5:17-26). Edersheim observes four points of similarity between the two incidents: (1) Jesus uses identical wording: “Rise, take up your bed and walk” (Mk 2:9; Jn 5:8). (2) Jesus is, without words, accused of blasphemy for forgiving sins (Jn 5:18). As a result, the religious hierarchy wants to kill him. (3) In both instances the real issue is Jesus’ authority (Jn 5:27). And (4) in both cases, Jesus appeals to his works as evidence of his authority (Mk 2:10; Jn 5:36).

Jesus’ Galilean ministry is punctuated with a visit to Jerusalem during one of the feasts. We really can’t know which one it was, but Hendricksen builds a strong case for Passover (pp. 188-189). If that is true, then this marks the beginning of Jesus’ second year of ministry.

When you visit St. Anne’s Church in Jerusalem, they will show you the deep excavation that has revealed the ancient Pool of Bethesda. The Hebrew name Bethesda has been spelled various ways and given differing meanings. Some say it means “house of mercy” or “house of grace,” but others say it means “place of the two outpourings.” There is historical and archeological evidence that two adjacent pools of water served this area in ancient times.

The pool is situated near the northeast corner of the Old City, close to the Sheep Gate (Neh. 3:1; 12:39). Perhaps John saw some spiritual significance to this location, for he had already told his readers that Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29).

We do not know which feast Jesus was observing when He went to Jerusalem, and it is not important that we know. His main purpose for going was not to maintain a religious tradition but to heal a man and use the miracle as the basis for a message to the people. The miracle illustrated what He said in John 5:24—the power of His Word and the gift of life.

While it is true that some manuscripts omit the end of John 5:3 and all of verse 4, it is also true that the event (and the man’s words in John 5:7) would make little sense if these words are eliminated. Why would anybody, especially a man sick for so many years, remain in one place if nothing special were occurring? You would think that after thirty-eight years of nothing happening to anybody, the man would go elsewhere and stop hoping! It seems wisest for us to accept the fact that something extraordinary kept all these handicapped people at this pool, hoping for a cure.

John described these people as “impotent, blind, lame, paralyzed.” What havoc sin has wrought in this world! But the healing of these infirmities was one of the prophesied ministries of the Messiah (Isa. 35:3-6). Had the religious leaders known their own Scriptures, they would have recognized their Redeemer; but they were spiritually blind.

Jesus went to this public water hole, which was surrounded by five covered porches. The pool was called Bethesda, “house of mercy.” It was near the Sheep Gate, probably named after the sacrificial lambs which were led through it into the temple.^6-28 It looked like some kind of a sick ward. For some reason, people gathered there hoping for a healing.

Verses 3b-4 explain why, “They waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.” But these words are not included in the niv main text because they are not found in any manuscript before the fourth century.^6-29 How then did they become part of the kjv text? This is only guesswork, but it seems reasonable to assume that early in the second century,^6-30 some scribe wrote a note in the margin explaining verse 7, which later was adopted as part of the text itself.

This addition likely represents the popular perception at the time of Jesus. We do not need to assume, however, that John (or even the scribe who inserted this note), accepted the truth of the statement; only that the populace did. In fact, it is unreasonable to assume that God would act in such a whimsical manner. Furthermore, it seems a bit unfair that those who needed healing the least would have the greatest chance of obtaining it by beating everyone else to the pool. We have no other example of God healing in such a manner. Thus we (1) reject vv. 3b and 4 as part of the original text,^6-31 (2) reject the truth of the statement, but (3) accept that it accurately describes the popular belief of Jesus’ day.

One of the invalids at the pool had suffered some sort of paralysis for thirty-eight years. There is no need to assume that he was at the pool for thirty-eight years, just sick for that long. Here we have a room full of sick people; Jesus selects only one and heals him. He could just as easily have waved his hand and healed them all. But he chooses only one. Why? Jesus is obviously not performing this miracle out of compassion (alone). In fact, it would appear that Jesus wants to start a fight with the religious leaders over this Sabbath controversy. It was a dandy!

John 5 reveals Jesus to be the Authority over all of life. He is due the same worship, obedience, and service as God; for He is equal with God (John 5:17-18). As God possesses life within Himself, so Jesus possesses life within Himself (John 5:26). As God has authority over all of life, so Jesus has authority over all of life.

In revealing His authority, Jesus first demonstrated the truth of His authority. He healed a man who had been ill for 38 years—and He healed him on the Sabbath. Both acts pictured the truth of His authority. The healing of the man showed His authority over the physical world, and the breaking of the Jewish Sabbath law showed His authority to determine the rules of worship.

After demonstrating the truth of His equality with God, He then began to teach the truth. This procedure, first demonstrating some truth and then teaching it, was to be followed time and again as Jesus revealed who He was throughout the Gospel of John.

No matter how you look at this miracle, it is an illustration of the grace of God. It was grace that brought Jesus to the Pool of Bethesda, for who would want to mingle with a crowd of helpless people! Jesus did not heal all of them; He singled out one man and healed him. The fact that Jesus came to the man, spoke to him, healed him, and then met him later in the temple is proof of His wonderful grace and mercy.

John noted that the man had been ill for thirty-eight years. Perhaps he saw in this a picture of his own Jewish nation that had wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years (Deut. 2:14). Spiritually speaking, Israel was a nation of impotent people, waiting hopelessly for something to happen.

Jesus knew about the man (see John 2:23-24) and asked him if he wanted to be healed. You would think that the man would have responded with an enthusiastic, “Yes! I want to be healed!” But, instead, he began to give excuses! He had been in that sad condition for so long that his will was as paralyzed as his body. But if you compare John 5:6 with verse 40, you will see that Jesus had a spiritual lesson in mind as well. Indeed, this man did illustrate the tragic spiritual state of the nation.

The Lord healed him through the power of His spoken word. He commanded the man to do the very thing he was unable to do, but in His command was the power of fulfillment (see Mark 3:5; Heb. 4:12). The cure was immediate and certainly some of the many people at the pool must have witnessed it. Jesus did not pause to heal anyone else; instead, He “moved away” (John 5:13) so as not to create a problem. (The Greek word means “to dodge.”)

The miracle would have caused no problem except that it occurred on the Sabbath Day. Our Lord certainly could have come a day earlier, or even waited a day; but He wanted to get the attention of the religious leaders. Later, He would deliberately heal a blind man on the Sabbath (John 9:1-14). The scribes had listed thirty-nine tasks that were prohibited on the Sabbath, and carrying a burden was one of them. Instead of rejoicing at the wonderful deliverance of the man, the religious leaders condemned him for carrying his bed and thereby breaking the law.

It is not easy to understand the relationship between this man and Jesus. There is no evidence that he believed on Christ and was converted, yet we cannot say that he was opposed to the Saviour. In fact, he did not even know who it was that healed him until Jesus met him in the temple. No doubt the man went there to give thanks to God and to offer the appropriate sacrifices. It seems strange that the man did not actively seek a closer relationship with the One who healed him, but more than one person has gratefully accepted the gift and ignored the Giver.

Did the man “inform” on Jesus because of fear? We do not know. The Jewish leaders at least turned from him and aimed their accusations at Jesus Christ; and, unlike the healed blind man in John 9, this man was not excommunicated. The Lord’s words (John 5:14) suggest that the man’s physical plight had been the result of sin; but Jesus did not say that the man’s sins had been forgiven as He did in dealing with the sick man lowered through the roof (see Mark 2:1-12). It is possible to experience an exciting miracle and still not be saved and go to heaven!

Verse-by-verse

Through this healing miracle, Jesus was claiming to have supreme authority over the Sabbath. However, there are also other striking lessons: the Lord’s compassion (John 5:6-9), the problem of formal religion (John 5:10-12), and the charge to a converted man (John 5:13-14).

1. Jesus attended a Jewish feast in Jerusalem (v.1).
2. Scene 1: the diseased and the ill—a picture of the world’s desperate need (v.2-4).
3. Scene 2: Jesus and the man—a picture of Jesus’ power to meet the world’s need (v.5-9).

(5:1) Feasts—Jesus Christ, Worship of God: Jesus attended a Jewish feast in Jerusalem. The feast is not named, but it was probably one of the three Feasts of Obligation: the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, or Pentecost. These were called Feasts of Obligations because every male Jew who lived within twenty miles of Jerusalem was required by law to attend them. It is significant that Jesus was seen attending the feast.

1. It gave Him an opportunity to reach a large number of people. Most of the people who attended the feast would be God-fearing people and have their minds upon God; therefore, they would be more prepared for the gospel.
2. It gave Him an opportunity to teach people to be faithful to the worship of God. He, the Son of God Himself, was faithful.

(5:2-4) Needy, The: the first scene was that of the diseased and the ill. These—the diseased and the ill—picture those in the world who are gripped by desperate need. The setting is a pool by a sheep market. The word market is supplied by the translator; it is not in the Greek text. It may have been a sheep market or sheep gate or sheep stall where the animals were kept. Whatever it was, there was a pool to provide water for the animals to drink and five porches to provide a resting area for the comfort of the people. The pool and a “great multitude of impotent folk” lying around the pool were the focus of attention. Note two points.

1. Their need—which is a picture of all in the world who live in desperate need.

• There were the blind who could not see.
• There were the lame who could not walk.
• There were the withered who were deformed and paralyzed.
• There were so many who were poor and beggarly.

2. Their desperate hope and faith. Either the description given in Scripture is to be taken literally, or else men of that day gave their explanation as to what caused the pool to be troubled. If this account is man’s description of what happened at the pool, then there was apparently a subterranean pocket of energy, either air or a stream underneath the pool that caused the pool to occasionally bubble up. The people of that day, grasping for something to help them in their daily lives, said that a supernatural occurrence was happening when the water bubbled. An angel was thought to be swimming around in the water. The first person to move into the water after the bubbling was believed to be healed.

Men are always grasping for something to help them in their daily lives. It may be some supernatural or destined power in a pool of water or in the astrology of stars above or in some magical person on earth. Men never change, regardless of the generation. In their grasp for help in life, they continue to seek everywhere except in Christ, the Son of God Himself. They hope and put their faith in everything except Him.

(5:5-9) Jesus Christ, Compassion—Power—Healing—Faith—Obedience: the second scene was that of Jesus and the man. This is a picture of Jesus, who has the power to meet the needs of the desperate in the world. The outline of this point is adequate to see what happened.

1. The man’s plight. He was either paralyzed or lame; he had been that way for thirty-eight long years.
2. Jesus’ compassion: it was heart-warming, touching, and revealing—demonstrating how He wants to reach out to every person. He saw the man lying there, and knew all about his desperate condition. Note the striking point: it was Jesus who initiated the relationship, approaching the man and reaching out to help Him.
3. The man’s helplessness. He was all alone in this world, having no family or friend who could help him.
4. The Lord’s power. This is a significant point: the man did not know he was healed until he obeyed the command of the Lord. Jesus did not pronounce a “word of healing”; He merely commanded the man to act. In the act the man was to show his faith. If he believed, he would arise and walk; if he did not believe, he would simply continue to lie there and continue on just as he had always done.

No man has to continue on and on through life just as he has always been, enslaved to the sin and corruption and desperate needs of the world. He can experience the healing power of Jesus Christ, the power to change his life and make him into a new man. All he has to do is one simple thing: believe the Word of Jesus Christ enough to obey, doing exactly what Jesus says. It is a clear fact: if we believe Him, we obey Him; if we do not believe Him, we do not obey Him. To be made whole and changed into a new man—a new man who is freed from the sin and desperate needs of this corruptible world—we have to believe Him enough to obey Him.

5. The sinister problem: Jesus had healed the man on the Sabbath. By healing the man on the Sabbath, Jesus was breaking the Jewish ceremonial law; He was committing a serious sin, violating a ritual and rule of religion. The rest of the man’s story centers upon this fact.

In verse 6 Jesus asks an odd, almost silly, question, “Do you wish to get well?” His presence at the pool should make that obvious enough. Who would NOT want to get well after thirty-eight years of sickness? Paradoxically, there are people who would rather be sick than well, for a number of reasons. Others, especially after years of sickness, lose the will to be well.

The man’s problem is obvious; he has no help getting into the pool. The other not-so-sick people beat him to the punch, so Jesus helps him out. He deliberately heals this fellow on the Sabbath. To make matters worse, Jesus orders him to pick up his mat and leave. The man slips out in silence, but the fireworks are about to begin.

The Sabbath, along with circumcision and dietary regulations, set the Jews apart from the other cultures that surrounded them. This was a critical part of their heritage and they took it seriously. Rabbinic Judaism had surrounded the Sabbath with literally hundreds of peripheral rules to insure that their disciples did not break God’s simple command to rest on the Sabbath. Within this vast body of oral traditions were precise regulations about healing. You could save a person’s life on the Sabbath, but healing merely to help someone would have to wait until the next day. Jesus knew precisely what he was doing by healing this man and ordering him to carry his cot. He was confronting the institutional authorities of Judaism over this very serious matter of Sabbath keeping.

(5:10-12) Religion: the third scene was that of the religionists and the man. This is a picture of dead religion trying to meet the world’s desperate need. Note three things.

1. Dead religion is a religion of legalism. The religionists were trying to meet the needs of people through rules and regulations, ceremony and rituals. They were more concerned with the man who was violating the ritual of the Sabbath than with the man who was suffering in a pitiful condition.
2. Dead religion is a religion ignorant of true authority. They should have known that the power of God had healed the man, and should have been eager to share with the man Jesus, the man upon whom such power rested. But note: they cared little about the power of God and His messenger. They cared only that the status quo be maintained, that their religious practices continue as they were and not be violated. Their thoughts were upon their own religious position and security.
3. Dead religion is a religion blind to love and good. Note the question of the religionists. It was not, “Who is the man who has healed and helped you so much?” but, “Who is the man that broke the religious law?” They did not see the good that had been done. They saw only that their position and security was threatened and that someone had more power and influence and was doing more good than they were.

How many true messengers of God are criticized by powerless religionists, criticized because they do things differently or do more good than others? Men fear the loss of their position and security, fear that people may begin to wonder about their lack of true power—power that honestly helps men.

(5:13-14) Follow-up—Maturity—Growth: the fourth scene was that of Jesus and the man after healing. This is a picture of the believer’s responsibility. Note that Jesus had left the man right after healing him because of the large crowd on the porches. For some unstated reason, Jesus did not want to attract a crowd at this time. The point is striking: Jesus sought the man out again! Remember, Jesus had reached out to save the man; now He was reaching out for another purpose. When He found the man, a picture of the believer’s responsibility was painted.

1. There was the duty to worship. The man was found in the temple worshipping and giving thanks to God.
2. There was the duty to remember his healing, his salvation. The moment should never be forgotten or lost (cp. 2 Peter 1:9).
3. There was the duty to sin no more. Apparently the man had been lame or paralyzed because of some accident caused by sin. Jesus cautioned the man: “Sin no more.”
4. There was the duty to fear the judgment. Jesus warned the man that if he did not repent and turn from his sin, he would face a more terrible judgment than his crippling paralysis.

(5:15-16) Jesus Christ, Rejection: the fifth scene was that of the religionists and Jesus. This is a picture of the world rejecting God’s Savior.

Note two things.

1. The man told the religionists who had healed him. He did not do this to bring harm to Jesus. He thought the religionists should know and would want to benefit from knowing Jesus personally.
2. The reason the religionists opposed Jesus needs to be studied closely.