Following the Lord Jesus Christ: #17 The Pool at Bethesda

Sometime around the end of June, 27 A.D. after the healing of the nobleman’s son in Cana of Galilee, Jesus needed to return to Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks, also called the Feast of Pentecost. We’re following along, of course!

John 5:1-5 [NKJV]:
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, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, [waiting for the moving of the water.
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.]*
Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.

*Many critical Greek texts omit the last part of verse 3 and all of verse 4.

We immediately witness a very specific and detailed account of Jesus as he moved into the area of the pool of Bethesda. Out of the great multitude of the sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed, he took note of one particular man who had been stricken with an infirmity for thirty-eight years. Why this one? Because Jesus came to do the works of his Father, and he was listening to the Father as we shall soon see.

John 5:6,7 [NKJV]:
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?”
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.”

Jesus asked the sick man a direct question. But the man did not answer him directly. Instead, he reverted to his own understanding of how he could be healed, and implied that, under these circumstances, he “couldn’t” be healed. Does this remind you of the healing of the nobleman’s son? Remember that the father thought Jesus would have to be physically present to heal his son, and yet Jesus healed him without taking a step toward Capernaum.

We, too, may think that our own circumstances are holding us back from being healed. “I can’t get in to see my doctor,” “I can’t afford medical insurance,” “the disease has progressed too far,” “I’ve had this malady since I was born,” or “I have no one to help me step down into the water.” But Jesus was not hindered by this kind of roadblock.

John 5:8,9 [NKJV]:
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”
And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

Unlike the nobleman who had purposefully sought out Jesus to heal his son, this man with the infirmity did not know who Jesus was at all. How then, was he made well? Our first clue lies in verse 6: “When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time…” Out of the great multitude of sick and infirm at the Pool of Bethesda, God had pointed out this man to His Son and revealed his condition.

Then Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be made well?” A very important question! At first, we might think, “Of course! Who doesn’t?” But the truth is that many don’t. Some, especially after a long-time infirmity, may have settled into a comfortable routine. People pay attention to them, wait on them, feel sorry for them. Others may even use their infirmity to manipulate those around them.

But not this man. Let’s look at his answer again: “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.” This could have been uttered with exasperation, as a kind of complaint that, “How am I supposed to be healed when no one will help me?” Or perhaps with self-pity, as in “Nobody cares enough to help poor me.”

Yet his reply must have been simply a statement of his circumstances, along with a willingness to believe that this man in front of him had the power to heal. So, he obeyed Jesus’ command to “Rise, take up your bed and walk,” and “immediately the man was made whole.”  Then the trouble began.

John 5:9-13 [NKJV]:
…And that day was the Sabbath.
The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”
Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 

Did the Jewish leaders here care at all that the man had just been healed of an infirmity? Had they any interest in the fact that this was the first time he had walked in 38 years? No and no. Instead of rejoicing with him in his deliverance, they were very upset that the man was not following their burdensome addendums to God’s law of the Sabbath! They could not get to the bottom of this issue until they found out who was responsible. (For more on the Sabbath, see Enjoy the Rest!)

Jesus had removed himself from the throng and was nowhere to be found. Then, he purposefully sought out the man to help him stay healed.

John 5:14 [NKJV]:
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.”

What a marvelous truth Jesus revealed to this man! Sin and sickness (sickness is death, in part) are inextricably bound together (Romans 5:12). Sickness and death follow sin—not necessarily our own sin, but simply because of the sin nature of every one born into this world (John 9:1-3). However, in this case Jesus was telling the man that it was his own sin, not just the sin nature of all men, that was the cause of his infirmity. And if he went back to practicing sin, he could get worse.

Yes, sometimes our own sin can be the cause of our illnesses and infirmities (Romans 6:12). Recalling a few of the traditional “seven deadly sins,” it’s easy to see how “gluttony”, an excessive indulgence in food, would eventually lead to many health problems. We also realize that the sin of sloth, or laziness, can produce a weak body, prone to illness or disease. All the rest—pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust—when practiced habitually will also have a deleterious, and sometimes deadly, effect on the body.

We don’t know exactly what the healed man’s sin was, but we do know that Jesus Christ came to redeem man from sin and death, to bring freedom from sin and a new life to all who would believe on him (Romans 5:17). Jesus’ healing of this man at the pool of Bethesda was one more indication of the new life that was to come. So how did this man react after Jesus’ warning? He went directly to the Judean leaders and gave them the answer to their question, “Who healed you?”

John 5:15,16 [NKJV]:
The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 

These Judeans realized that Jesus had great power to win people over to the true God and out of their iron-fisted control. So “For this reason (healing the man) the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him.” The excuse they used to cover their motive? Their hard-hearted interpretation of the law: “Because he had done these things on the Sabbath.”

Honor the Father and the Son

Jesus called them out for their hypocrisy.

John 5:17,18 [NKJV]:
But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
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 was working the works of his Father, the one true God that the Judeans pretended to worship. The Law regarding the Sabbath was given from God to His people so that they would rest from their own work to focus on the work that God was doing among them. Jesus Christ always did the work of his Father, as he said to the Judean leaders in verse 17, and God does His “work” every day of the week.

This perceived challenge to their authority enraged these Judean leaders even more. But Jesus continued to make His Father (and the Father’s work through His Son) abundantly clear.

John 5:19-23:
Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Who would not wholeheartedly embrace this wonderful news? Only those at work for God’s adversary, the Devil, whose works produce only death.

Life and Judgment Are Through the Son

Jesus then taught the people with these marvelous words about God, the Father; about himself, the Son of God; and about the authority of the Word of God that he was speaking. These are matters of life and death, not only to the hearers at the time, but to all people since then—including us today!

John 5:24-30:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 
Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

Jesus Christ as the “Son of man” made “himself equal (isos, similar in amount or kind) with God” (Verse 18). As the Messiah, he claimed to have the full authority of his heavenly Father. He did not claim to be God. He said in verse 19, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what He sees the Father do.”

John 5:17-27 shows the authority of Jesus Christ as “the Son of God” (verse 25) and “the Son of man” (verse 27). As the Son of God, he gives life; as the Son of man, he has authority to execute the righteous judgment of the Father. That is why the religious leaders were so upset—he claimed to be the promised Messiah with God’s backing and power!

Oh, what a glorious Savior we have! Many thanks to him, for it’s by his life we have passed from death to life. And we now have sweet fellowship with the Father, Himself by the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Let our lives be an honor and a glory to the Father as we walk in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ!

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