John 5:1-18
1 Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews (Judean festival). 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."
11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'"
12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Observations for living today:
Scholars speculate on what feast is referred to, the Passover (Matthew Henry) or Pentecost (Calvin), and many discuss the purpose of Jesus’ visit, to fulfill the Law or to expand His message. Both are pilgrim festivals, requiring all Jewish men to come to Jerusalem to worship, therefore Jerusalem would have been full of God’s people seeking His presence.
Jesus first went to a place where “a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.” From the multitude there Jesus spoke to one who had suffered 38 years, asking him if he wanted to get well? Strange question until you consider the follow-up Jesus provided to this encounter in the Temple: “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The real problem, the issue impacting eternal life, was not the temporary physical external issue, rather the non-temporal internal challenge concerning dissonance with God’s will for the man.
God meets us where we are, where we need Him the most, and helps us with things that impact us eternally—our character. He does this through His Son. Cain (Gen 4:7), the Jewish leadership (Jn 2:19), Nicodemus (Jn 3:3), the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn 4:10), the royal official and his son (Jn 4:48), and now the man crippled for 38 years.
The man was looking for the wrong answer; he was asking the wrong question! Instead of asking how do I cure this diseased body, he should have asked what must I do to receive the “praise of God” (Jn 5:44)?
From the garden to now, God is working to accomplish His purpose. Everything Jesus said and did; everything He speaks and does even now; communicates clearly God loves us and wants us to be complete in Him.
Reality in Christ:
When John the Baptist was in prison, about to die, maybe even discouraged because he did not see the Kingdom of God unfolding as he envisioned it; he sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask if He was the “One” to come or should they expect another (Mt 11:2-6/Lk 7:16-23)? Jesus sent John an answer he would clearly understand, focusing John on the fulfillment of the scripture in Isaiah 35:3-6 and 61:1-3 describing what the Messiah would do – “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”
When the people saw the things Jesus was doing they exclaimed: “God has come to help his people” (Lk 7:16). When the Jewish leadership was offended by His actions, Jesus spoke clearly, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
After supper on the night He was betrayed and turned over to the Romans Jesus told His disciples many things the Father was going to do. In the moments before His prayer in John 17, Jesus said (Jn 16:33), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The reality in Christ is “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Ro 8:28). Whether the body is healed is irrelevant, for what good is it for a man to be whole in hell or live healthy/whole while he is displeasing to God (Mt 5:30; Mt 18:8; Mk 9:42-48)?
Jesus taught us not to be afraid of anyone or anything, which can only hurt and kill the body, but after that can do nothing more; rather we are to recognize and respect the authority of one who after the body is destroyed can create an eternal condition. Always remember at the same time, in the same breath, He taught us the death of every sparrow is known and not forgotten by God and we are worth more than many sparrows—every hair on our head is numbered/known by God (Lk 12:4-7; Mt 10:28-31).
Both the creation and those in Christ, who are the fruit of the Spirit, are going through difficult times and as Paul said, “groan inwardly” waiting for “the redemption of our bodies.” Things happening to us are challenging, frustrating, confusing, unfair and hard to explain, but when the promised glory is revealed all will agree with Paul, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Ro 8:18-23).
We are confident in Jesus, that is, we hope for, look forward to and are certain of what God said. We know God hears our prayers for healing, for a reduction in the trouble we are experiencing now. If He does not remove the pain now, He will heal us then; He will resurrect our bodies just like He did His Son and “we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him” (1 Jn 3:2). This redemption of our bodies, this restoration to what God created and the removal of all things contrary to His will, this is what we hope for but have not yet seen and yet patiently wait for (Ro 8:24-25).
Living in hope of something not seen is very difficult. Jesus said He would not leave us as orphans, but would come to us (Jn 14:18). He asked and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are working as one to accomplish God’s eternal purpose. Need help, not sure what to pray for; unsure of the answer or the question, just don’t know? Consider who is already “interceding” in Heaven before God on your behalf: the risen Christ (Ro 8:34; Heb 7:25) and the Holy Spirit (Ro 8:10-11; 26-27). Paul wrote: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”
God is at work today, even when you are surrounded by the troubles of this life, when you feel helpless and confused and cannot even express in words how much you long for His restoration to be completed; then you can be certain Christ and the Spirit He caused to dwell within you continues to intercede, to ask for what you need to accomplish God’s purpose.
1 Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews (Judean festival). 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."
11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'"
12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Observations for living today:
Scholars speculate on what feast is referred to, the Passover (Matthew Henry) or Pentecost (Calvin), and many discuss the purpose of Jesus’ visit, to fulfill the Law or to expand His message. Both are pilgrim festivals, requiring all Jewish men to come to Jerusalem to worship, therefore Jerusalem would have been full of God’s people seeking His presence.
Jesus first went to a place where “a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.” From the multitude there Jesus spoke to one who had suffered 38 years, asking him if he wanted to get well? Strange question until you consider the follow-up Jesus provided to this encounter in the Temple: “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The real problem, the issue impacting eternal life, was not the temporary physical external issue, rather the non-temporal internal challenge concerning dissonance with God’s will for the man.
God meets us where we are, where we need Him the most, and helps us with things that impact us eternally—our character. He does this through His Son. Cain (Gen 4:7), the Jewish leadership (Jn 2:19), Nicodemus (Jn 3:3), the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn 4:10), the royal official and his son (Jn 4:48), and now the man crippled for 38 years.
The man was looking for the wrong answer; he was asking the wrong question! Instead of asking how do I cure this diseased body, he should have asked what must I do to receive the “praise of God” (Jn 5:44)?
From the garden to now, God is working to accomplish His purpose. Everything Jesus said and did; everything He speaks and does even now; communicates clearly God loves us and wants us to be complete in Him.
Reality in Christ:
When John the Baptist was in prison, about to die, maybe even discouraged because he did not see the Kingdom of God unfolding as he envisioned it; he sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask if He was the “One” to come or should they expect another (Mt 11:2-6/Lk 7:16-23)? Jesus sent John an answer he would clearly understand, focusing John on the fulfillment of the scripture in Isaiah 35:3-6 and 61:1-3 describing what the Messiah would do – “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”
When the people saw the things Jesus was doing they exclaimed: “God has come to help his people” (Lk 7:16). When the Jewish leadership was offended by His actions, Jesus spoke clearly, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
After supper on the night He was betrayed and turned over to the Romans Jesus told His disciples many things the Father was going to do. In the moments before His prayer in John 17, Jesus said (Jn 16:33), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The reality in Christ is “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Ro 8:28). Whether the body is healed is irrelevant, for what good is it for a man to be whole in hell or live healthy/whole while he is displeasing to God (Mt 5:30; Mt 18:8; Mk 9:42-48)?
Jesus taught us not to be afraid of anyone or anything, which can only hurt and kill the body, but after that can do nothing more; rather we are to recognize and respect the authority of one who after the body is destroyed can create an eternal condition. Always remember at the same time, in the same breath, He taught us the death of every sparrow is known and not forgotten by God and we are worth more than many sparrows—every hair on our head is numbered/known by God (Lk 12:4-7; Mt 10:28-31).
Both the creation and those in Christ, who are the fruit of the Spirit, are going through difficult times and as Paul said, “groan inwardly” waiting for “the redemption of our bodies.” Things happening to us are challenging, frustrating, confusing, unfair and hard to explain, but when the promised glory is revealed all will agree with Paul, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Ro 8:18-23).
We are confident in Jesus, that is, we hope for, look forward to and are certain of what God said. We know God hears our prayers for healing, for a reduction in the trouble we are experiencing now. If He does not remove the pain now, He will heal us then; He will resurrect our bodies just like He did His Son and “we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him” (1 Jn 3:2). This redemption of our bodies, this restoration to what God created and the removal of all things contrary to His will, this is what we hope for but have not yet seen and yet patiently wait for (Ro 8:24-25).
Living in hope of something not seen is very difficult. Jesus said He would not leave us as orphans, but would come to us (Jn 14:18). He asked and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are working as one to accomplish God’s eternal purpose. Need help, not sure what to pray for; unsure of the answer or the question, just don’t know? Consider who is already “interceding” in Heaven before God on your behalf: the risen Christ (Ro 8:34; Heb 7:25) and the Holy Spirit (Ro 8:10-11; 26-27). Paul wrote: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”
God is at work today, even when you are surrounded by the troubles of this life, when you feel helpless and confused and cannot even express in words how much you long for His restoration to be completed; then you can be certain Christ and the Spirit He caused to dwell within you continues to intercede, to ask for what you need to accomplish God’s purpose.
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