John 5:1-9

A HELPLESS MAN HEALED

Text 5:1-9

1

After these things 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 multitude of them that were sick, blind, halt, withered.

4

And a certain man was there, who had been thirty and eight years in his infirmity.

5

When Jesus saw him lying, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wouldest thou be made whole?

6

The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

7

Jesus saith unto him, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.

8

And straightway the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked. Now it was the sabbath on that day.

Queries

a.

Why were the people gathered at this pool?

b.

Why would Jesus ask such an obvious question?

c.

What did the man mean by when the water is troubled?

Paraphrase

After a considerable ministry in Galilee, there was the (Passover) feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is a pool in Jerusalem near the sheep gate which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five covered porches. In these porches lay great crowds of sick people, some blind, some crippled and some shrunken and emaciated. There was a certain man there having had a lingering illness for thirty-eight years. Jesus, seeing him lying there, and knowing that for a long time he had been an invalid, said to him, Do you want to be made healthy? The sick man answered, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and when I try by myself to get down to the pool another person steps down to it before me. Jesus said to him, Arise! take up your pallet and walk. Immediately the man became well, and took up his pallet and walked. But that day was a Sabbath day!

Summary

Jesus heals a helpless man who was hopelessly ill and manifests His deity. But it was performed on the Sabbath, and the Jews will attack Him for breaking the Sabbath.

Comment

What feast is this? There is great diversity of opinion among scholars. Andrews, Hendriksen, and Foster, among others, hold that it is probably the Passover, It cannot be Purim, for Jesus would hardly celebrate such a riotous, unspiritual festival as Purim. Furthermore, Purim came sometime in February and would not allow sufficient time for the early ministry in Galilee. Jesus arrived in Galilee in December (four months before harvest). The feasts of Tabernacles and of Dedication are ruled out because they come in October and December respectively. Were this feast either of these two, it would allow only four or six months for the later great Galilean ministry. It is extremely improbable that all the events which transpired in this great Galilean ministry took place in only four to six months. Between the two feasts (John 5:1-47 and John 6:1-71), Jesus traveled extensively in Galilee. He returned to Capernaum from Jerusalem, went into the mountains and delivered the Sermon on the Mount, healed the Centurion's servant, went to Nain, returned to Capernaum, toured the cities and villages of Galilee, crossed the Sea of Galilee to Gergesa, recrossed the sea, went to Nazareth, toured again the cities and villages of Galilee, and finally crossed the sea to Bethsaida for the sermon on the Bread of Life after feeding the five thousands. See Map No. 3, page 170, for an outline of this great Galilean ministry.

This feast could be either Passover or Pentecost (50 days after Passover), but hardly any of the other feasts will fit the chronology. Passover makes more allowance for the subsequent ministry in Galilee. As R. C. Foster says, The indentification of the feast is a decisive factor in determining the length of Jesus-' ministry. If it was the Passover, then there are four Passovers in the ministry of Jesus which must have lasted through three years and a fraction.
Verse two also poses its problems: (a) There is no word in the original for the word gate. Literally, this verse would be translated, ... there is in Jerusalem by the (place or thing) belonging to the sheep, a pool. Some have surmised the probatikos (place belonging to the sheep) to be a sheep-gate, others a sheep-market, still others a sheep-pool. It is difficult to determine just what John speaks of when he says the place belonging to the sheep. Most scholars claim that sheep-gate is the meaning, since Nehemiah 3:32; Nehemiah 12:39 mentions a sheep-gate. This gate would depend for its location upon the location of the pool of Bethesda. (b) Various names have been given this pool. The word for pool comes from kolumbethra, and means a pool large enough to swim in. Some manuscripts have Bethesda (House of Mercy), some have Bethzatha (House of the Olive), and others have Bethsaida. Bethesda fits the evident use made of this pool. Certain archaeologists locate the pool just inside the gate of St. Stephen (on the east wall, just north of the temple area); Robertson and Foster claim Bethesda to be none other than the Virgin's Pool. See Figure No. 1, page 175. The reason for associating Bethesda with the Virgin's Pool is that the latter periodically bubbles over from a natural spring, which also forms a sort of natural syphon. It is called the Gusher. The Virgin's Pool is south of the Temple, on the east side of the Hill of Ophel. The bubbling nature of the Virgin's Pool might account for the man's description in John 5:7.On the other hand, the former pool (north, near St. Stephen's gate) has in its favor the recent discovery of five arches seemingly indicating the five porches, and a fresco depicting the troubling of the water by an angel. (c) These five porches were ancient versions of present day hospital wards. The sick were brought on their stretcher-pallet beds and laid there. There were no nurses, and it seems as if every man was left to care for himself. In Palestine then, as in most Asian countries now, the incapacitated were the cast-offs of society. Their only means of livelihood was begging or stealing.

In these five porticoes lay crowds of sick people. What man could walk among these helpless, hopeless masses and not have compassion upon them? How the Lord's heart must have gone out to the multitudes, but, as far as we know, He healed only one man. The infirm here are classed in three sicknesses; blind, crippled and withered (shrunken or shriveled a sort of paralysis).

The latter half of John 5:3 and all of John 5:4 (as they appear in the King James Version) have been omitted in the American Standard Version. All the most ancient and best manuscripts omit these verses. And now we have further evidence in the Bodmer Papyrus II for their omission, for this very ancient Codex also omits John 5:3 b - John 5:4. See our Introduction for the value of the Bodmer Papyrus.

John 5:5 tells us that the man had suffered thirty-eight long years. We wonder how long he must have lain in one of the five porches trying to get someone to help him down to the pool. How would he survive? What a bitter cup to drink! Some commentators guess that the man's infirmity was due to youthful excesses (cf. John 5:14). We wonder why Jesus healed only one man from such a multitude. We can only guess, but the severe hopelessness and helplessness of the case offers Jesus an opportunity to demonstrate His great power.

Singling out this man, Jesus asks him a most obvious question. We are told that Jesus knew the man had been a long time infirm. John does not tell us how He knew, but what need is there to conjecture when He Himself knew what was in man. Could He not know this by reason of His omniscient nature? Jesus-' question to the man is probably to call the attention of the crowd to the miracle He is about to perform. The Lord's question was also to arouse hope in the heart of the man, but the man is resigned to hopelessness. The man's answer seems to say, Sir, it is not a question of whether I want to be healed or not, but it is a question of opportunity or inopportunity.

Although John 5:3 b and 4 seem to be the invention of some scribe who inserted them in late manuscripts, John 5:7tells us the water was disturbed in some manner. The man felt there was some therapeutic value in the bubbling water. This should present no problem, for today we have our whirlpool baths, and our mineral springs, etc. This invalid's problem was that no one would help him into the pool. The word he used for put is ballo, and usually means to throw. Perhaps the man means he has no one to take him, even roughly if need be, and roll him off his pallet into the pool. Whatever be the case it is plain that the man expresses no faith. As Lenski says, Here is a plain instance where the miracle precedes the faith.

It is strange to some commentators that Jesus would heal anyone without some evidence of faith. What of the widow's son at Nain of Lazarus of Jairus-' daughter? After Jesus commanded the man, Get up, pick up your pallet and walk, John 5:9 informs us the man was made whole immediately. John's use of the particular adverb straightway seems to indicate his desire to emphasize the immediacy of the miracle. Note also the completeness of the cure. An invalid who had not walked in thirty-eight years arises to walk at once. There is no experimenting, no learning all over to walk again.

The last phrase of John 5:9, Now it was the Sabbath on that day, is very significant. Surely Jesus knew of the absurdly strict Sabbath laws of the Pharisees. Why then would He open Himself to controversy by commanding this man to carry his bed on the Sabbath? We should like to quote here a paragraph from R. C. Foster's Studies in the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, page 246.

Why did Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath day, if He knew it would bring such bitter criticism upon Him? Jesus made a deliberate choice in the whole matter as to the man and the time, for He approached the man, and He commanded the man to take up his bed and carry it home, even though He knew that the sight of this man carrying such a burden through the Sabbath day crowds which thronged the temple would create controversy. The difference in the methods of Jesus is most pronounced: in Galilee, where such intense excitement prevailed over His ministry that it threatened to get out of hand, He counseled a leper to tell no one of his cure; here in Jerusalem which was so full of hostility on the part of leaders that even the people who favored Him only dared to talk of Him in whispers, Jesus boldly threw down the gauntlet to the cold and callous unbelief of the leaders by sending this man right through their midst on the Sabbath day carrying his bed in proof of the miracle. Moreover, Jesus did not attempt to hide behind the man when the storm of criticism arose. The man evidently acted in harmony with the will of Jesus when he immediately reported to the Pharisees who had cured him. This completed the testimony of the man to them concerning the miracle.

In addition to the external evidence (omission in oldest manuscripts), there are three internal reasons for rejecting the spurious John 5:3 b and 4: (a) Miracles of the Bible are always connected inseparably with the gospel message. Neither Jesus nor the apostles healed primarily to relieve suffering. As R. C. Foster points out, the best way to show the unscriptural nature of modern faith-healers is to point to the fact that there are a great number of religious sects claiming to heal yet they teach absolutely contradictory doctrines. If their so-called miracles are genuine, they make God the author of division, confusion, and thus a liar. Miraculous healing by the waters of a pool, without a gospel message, is unscriptural. (b) If people had actually been healed by the pool, then only the rich and the strongest would have been able to obtain. This also contradicts the tenor of Scripture. (c) Again Foster points out, Four hundred years of silence concerning miracles since the close of the Old Testament emphasizes the miracles of Jesus. Not even the great man who came in the spirit and power of Elijah worked miracles. If miracles were being worked by a pool of water before and during Jesus-' ministry, this emphasis is lost.

Quiz

1.

What feast of the Jews is referred to in John 5:1? Give reasons for your answer.

2.

What does the identification of this feast have to do with Jesus-' ministry?

3.

Which pool of Jerusalem today is more likely to be the pool of Bethesda?

4.

Give 4 reasons why John 5:3 b and 4 are not a part of the inspired record of John.

5.

What measure of faith in Jesus Christ did this man have before his healing?

6.

Why did Jesus choose the Sabbath day to perform this miracle?