Healing at pool of Bethesda

Introduction

John 20:30–31 (ESV)

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Jesus heals, Jewish Leaders hate.

Water to Wine = Belief of Disciples, Healing of Official’s Son = Belief of official and household.

Today: Healing at pool of Bethesda.

Not every healing of Jesus resulted in praise and belief.

“Jesus heals a lame man at the pool of Bethesda. Responding to harassment by the Jewish leaders, Jesus affirms that he is the divine Son of God.” (Willmington, H. L. The Outline Bible.)

Outline adapted from: Willmington, H. L. The Outline Bible. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999. Print.

Event (1-15)

The disabled man and the Messiah—their first meeting (5:1–9)

The misery beside the waters (5:1–5)

John 5:1–5 (ESV)

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

Pool of Bethesda

Jerusalem

Sheep gate

Artist rendition (Pool of Bethesda)

Man seeking Healing

Around the pool were people seeking healing.

Man

Invalid - “a state of incapacity to do or experience something—‘incapacity, weakness, limitation.’ (Louw, Nida)

38 years

The moving of the waters (5:6–7)

John 5:6–7 (ESV)

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

Interaction

Jesus asks, “Do you want to be healed?”

The Man answers, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me."

“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." (Wiersbe, Warren)

Expectation

Healing through the stirring of the waters.

We (People) have through archeology compiled many NT Manuscripts. By use of Textual Criticisms have made decisions on the age and reliability of the manuscript. This method is striving to recreate the original manuscript.

“Some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part, waiting for the moving of the water; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had” (English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016. Print.)

“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." (Wiersbe, Warren)

This man has been disabled for 38 years (5), and sitting by this pool for a long time (6)

The miracle beside the waters (5:8-9)

John 5:8–9 (ESV)

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

Jesus Words

“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”

Jesus Power

The Man got up, took up his mat and walked.

Sabbath

The day of the healing.

The disabled man and the critics (5:10–13)

Their denunciation (5:10)

John 5:10 (ESV)

So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”

"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.” (Wiersbe, Warren)

His defense (5:11–13)

John 5:11–13 (ESV)

But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

Man did not know who healed him (13)

It’s interesting to think that this man does not know who healed him. There is nothing in the account of faith or belief in Jesus for healing.

Jesus (God) heals as he chooses, not based on our prayers, asking, or faith. Those things can make a difference, but are not a formula to get God to do what we want.

Weather we receive the healing or not, we are to trust and rely on God.

Jesus withdrew.

Withdrawn - to depart from a place without being noticed—‘to withdraw quietly, to slip out.’ (Louw, Nida)

Jesus purposely slipped away and did not stay with the disabled man. (others at the pool, knowing the religious leaders were watching)

The disabled man and the Christ—their final meeting (5:14–15)

John 5:14–15 (ESV)

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Jesus says

Well/Healed - (an idiom, literally ‘to have well’): the state of being healthy, well (in contrast with sickness)—‘to be well, to be healthy. (Louw, Nida)

Sin no more...

Was this disability because of his Sin? Don’t know.

Sin in general brings death, separation and consequences. Jesus seems to be saying that in general, sin will make your life worse.

Man’s reactions.

He went away to tell the religious leaders that it was Jesus who healed him.

Jesus (16-18)

He heals on the Sabbath (5:16).

John 5:16 (ESV)

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

Jesus chose to heal this man on the sabbath.

Mark 2:23–28 (ESV)

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Mark 3:1–6 (ESV)

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

“Apart from His claim to be the Messiah, there is no subject on which Our Lord came into such sharp conflict with the religious leaders of the Jews as in the matter of Sabbath observance. He set Himself squarely against the current rabbinic restrictions as contrary to the spirit of the original law of the Sabbath. The rabbis seemed to think that the Sabbath was an end in itself, an institution to which the pious Israelite must subject all his personal interests; in other words, that man was made for the Sabbath: man might suffer hardship, but the institution must be preserved inviolate. Jesus, on the contrary, taught that the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit. If there should arise a conflict between man’s needs and the letter of the Law, man’s higher interests and needs must take precedence over the law of the Sabbath (Mt 12:1–14; Mk 2:23–3:6; Lk 6:1–11; also Jn 5:1–18; Lk 13:10–17; 14:1–6)” (Sampey, John Richard, and W. W. Prescott. “Sabbath.” Ed. James Orr et al. The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia 1915 : 2631. Print.)

He makes himself equal with God (5:17–18).

John 5:17–18 (ESV)

But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Working (17)

Jesus is answering the religious leaders by saying that His Father (God) is working to heal, and He is working to heal.

Equal with God (18)

The religious leaders understood what Jesus was saying. He was declaring to them that he is equal to the Father.

As I see this event in Jesus’ life unfolding, the miracle was not really about the healing, but a declaration of Jesus that He is God. John is putting this miracle in not because of the the miracle developing faith but to make known Jesus declaration of himself.

Jewish Leaders (16, 18)

Jewish Leaders (16, 18)

John 5:16 (ESV)

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

Persecuting Jesus.

Persecuting - to systematically organize a program to oppress and harass people—‘to persecute, to harass, persecution.’ (Louw, Nida)

They were persecuting him because he was healing on the Sabbath. He was doing what they persevered as unlawful.

John 5:18 (ESV)

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Seeking to Kill Jesus.

They were seeking to kill Jesus. Why?

To claim to be God was seen as Blasphemy.

Matthew 26:63–68 (ESV)

And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

Jesus was making himself equal with God.

Takeaways

Jesus used the Miracles to testify who he really was. God in the Flesh.

What is our response to the testimony of Jesus?

Unbelief and Rejection.

Belief and Acceptance.