THE GOSPELS: LESSON 28:

THE LAME MAN AT BETHESDA

TEXT: JOHN 5: 1 - 18

VERSE 1: THE SECOND PASSOVER OF JESUS’ MINISTRY.

          The public ministry of Jesus is naturally divided into years beginning with each observance of the Passover. The first full year of Jesus’ ministry has ended and now, as all Jewish men were instructed to do, Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, which lasted for one week. There seems to have been nothing unusual at this Passover, for it is only mentioned in passing as a “feast of the Jews.”

VERSES 2 - 9: THE HEALING AT BETHESDA

Figure 1 A map of first-century Jerusalem. The Pool of Bethesda is circled.

Verse 2: In and around the city of Jerusalem are many pools used for ceremonial washings and common bathing and washing. One of these, in the northeast corner of the city was called Bethesda (Greek) or in Aramaic, Bethzatha. The name means “house of kindness.” It had five “porches” or porticoes built around it which provided shade for those who came to bathe in the waters. A portico is a covered entrance to a building or other area. The general belief is that the pool was to be used only by “unclean” persons. But if so, what brought Jesus there? The pool of Bethesda was actually outside the second north wall of the city, not too far from the Sheep Gate. (The word market in the KJV is a mistranslation.) The sheep gate was the gate used by sheep merchants to bring in the many sheep and goats and bullocks used in the temple sacrifices.

NOTE: Aramaic. Aramaic was the language spoken by the common people of the middle east in Jesus’ day. It was derived from the Gentile language used in Aram before 600 BC. Aram was the area north and east of Judea, extending to Babylonia(also called Syria). Aramaic was used by the Babylonian merchants at the time of the captivity, and it is clear that the mass of Jewish people spoke it by 500 BC. It was based on a Semitic language similar to Hebrew. In Jesus’ day, Hebrew was the language of Jewish worship, but all common speech was in Aramaic (except for the Greek and Latin spoken by most Roman citizens). It eventually was replaced by Arabic in about 700 AD.

Verses 3, 4: Local belief in Jesus’ day held that occasionally an angel would come down to Bethesda and “stir up” the waters by actually wading out into the pool. Since the angel was invisible, the people could only see the moving of the water, not the angel itself, or so the story goes. When the calm waters were thus miraculously “troubled,” the first invalid into the pool was healed. There were several tales of miraculous cures attributed to the angelic “stirring of the waters.” How often this happened is unclear. Some claimed every Passover, some said every other Sabbath. Others said that the interval was not set but was at the whim of the angel. Being unsure just when the next miracle might happen, invalids gathered there to await the heavenly visitations. There is no proof from the scriptures or elsewhere that these “miracles” were genuine.

          Many see this episode as a parable of baptism. Such is interesting, but clearly this is a real incident in Jesus’ life which is meant to teach us about Jesus’ power to heal, not the spiritual virtues of being baptized.

Verses 5, 6: One man who had come to the pool had suffered his ailment (not specified) for 38 years. Jesus was 31 years old at this time and this old man had been suffering since seven years before Jesus was born! When Jesus saw him he knew that he had been lying there waiting for a long time. Jesus asks him a question with an obvious answer, “Do you want to be made whole?”

Verse 7: The man explains why he is still waiting for a cure: he has no man [servant] to put him down into the waters when they are troubled. Obviously he was a poor man. Jesus was especially moved by the plight of the poor. While the nature of his infirmity is unspecified, the result was obviously paralysis or near-paralysis of the legs, so he could not walk or easily move himself about. Someone always got to the water before he could make it down the steps to the water.

Verses 8, 9: “Rise, take up your pallet and walk.” Immediately the man is healed and does what Jesus asks. This occurs on the Sabbath. Possibly the Passover Sabbath, but not likely, since the activities prescribed for the Sabbath would not allow much time for lounging around pools.

VERSES 10 - 18: THE AFTERMATH OF THE HEALING AT BETHESDA – A SABBATH CONTROVERSY.

Verse 10: So the Jews said to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet." The “Jews” (scribes, most likely) seemed unmoved by his healing. They were concerned that he was “working” on the Sabbath. This was their strict interpretation of Jer. 17: 21, 22.

Thus says the Lord: Take heed for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the sabbath or do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.

          The men Jeremiah addressed were doing actual hard physical work on the Sabbath. This man was only carrying his “pallet” around. Jesus had given him permission to do so, so obviously only the most egregious interpretation of the scriptures would classify carrying a blanket and pillow as “work” or a “burden.”

Verse 11: Jesus had instructed him to carry his pallet. And Jesus had the power of God to do miracles!

Verse 12: Notice that the “Jews” don’t want to know who healed the man. They wanted to know who had told him to violate their style of Sabbath-keeping!

Verse 13: The man who had been healed didn’t even know who had healed him! Jesus had quickly withdrawn because of the crowd at the pool. If the mass of invalids had recognized Jesus and his power before he had left, he never would have escaped all the clamoring to be healed.

Verse 14: Jesus again sees the man – this time in the temple courtyard. “See, you are well. Sin no more that nothing worse befall you.” Many claim this passage means that the man’s disease must have been caused by some sin of his. But that is failing to see what Jesus is really saying to him, “Don’t sin or something worse that a physical ailment will befall you.” Sin can lead to spiritual death (damnation). Such a fate is far worse than any sickness or deformity of the body! See Matt. 5: 29, 30.

Verse 15: Obviously the second time they meet, the man learns who Jesus is, for he then goes back to the “Jews” and tells them that it was Jesus who healed him.

Verse 16: Because of this, the Jews “persecute” Jesus in some way. This also was the beginning of their quest to put Jesus to death. His “crime” was telling a person to violate the Sabbath (as they saw it, not actually according to scripture). This will not be the first time the Jews make this charge against Jesus and his followers.

Verses 17, 18: These verses imply that these Jews who were so incensed with Jesus were Sadducees. Jesus gently chides them, “My Father still works, and I also work.” This seems a direct jab at their faithless belief that there was no such thing as miracles or works of God by direct divine intervention. They were infuriated. Jesus not only violated the Sabbath, but directly challenged their lack of faith in God. However, they do get one thing right: Jesus didn’t refer to God in an abstract way. When he called God his Father, he meant that he and God were directly related, which means Jesus claimed to be divine. That was the highest form of blasphemy the “Jews” could imagine. Such blasphemy – if proved – called for the penalty of death under the Law of Moses. See Lev. 24: 10 - 16. 

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