John 5:1-18 – “Do you Want to Be Healed?”
(Matt Koerber)
John 5:1-18 After this 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, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 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?” 7 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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 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.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well!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.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
18 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.
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Our passage begins with Jesus returning to Jerusalem. The occasion is an unnamed feast, possibly the feast of tabernacles. The action takes place at the pool of Bethesda near an entrance to the city. Perhaps Jesus and his disciples stopped there to wash after the long walk from Galilee.
What happens next advances the story in some important ways. First of all, the power and mercy of Jesus is revealed when he heals a man who has been an invalid for 38 years. We don’t know the exact nature of his ailment, but it seems that he was unable to walk. Jesus found him lying by the pool of Bethesda – a place to which people attributed miraculous powers. However, even his attempt to enter the pool was impacted by his ailments. It was believed that the best moment to enter the pool was at a certain time and he could not get to the water without help. And he had no helpers.
Jesus healed him with a word. The perceived obstacle to his healing melts away before the power of the Word made flesh. The power that brought the created world into being was sufficient to re-create this troubled man.
However, in addition to being a sign that points to the power and identity of Jesus, the miracle also stirs up the opposition. The religious leaders of the Jewish people (John calls them “the Jews”) objected to the timing of the miracle. To begin with, they were concerned that the newly restored man had broken Sabbath Law by carrying his bed. This investigation led them to Jesus who further complicated matters by healing the man on the Sabbath.
This brings us to an interesting observation. The work that Jesus was accused of doing is the work of healing. And not just ordinary healing like a doctor might do, but supernatural healing. So, in order for Jesus to have violated the Sabbath he necessarily had to have done something supernatural. Rather than investigate the meaning of the miracle, or even the validity of the miracle, these opponents seem willing to accept it as real, but find fault with the timing. This reveals something about the hardness of their hearts. In responding to their objections, Jesus justifies his actions by appealing to his unique relationship with God the Father (v.17.) Jesus answers the question that they should have been asking – who is Jesus and how does he relate to God?
Instead of considering his answer, they plunge further down the trail of opposition. John tells us that these religious leaders were seeking to kill Jesus. First for violating the Sabbath, and then for his claims to be equal to God (v.18.) This interaction will initiate a lesson from Jesus in which he will further reveal his own identity and purpose (v.19-29 – covered Saturday), and also the motives of his opponents (v.30-47 – covered Sunday.) But as we close, I would like to return to the interaction between Jesus and the man by the pool.
The exchange is brief, but marked by an interesting question. Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” The man’s response is ambiguous. He lists the problems that he has getting to the water. He doesn’t reveal whether he knows Jesus or has faith in any particular way. Jesus heals him anyway. It reminds me of Paul’s inditement of the human condition – “when you were dead in your sins and trespasses, God made you alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:1-5.) God’s power in Christ goes all the way down to our deepest need.
And yet, I find that the question still hangs there, hauntingly. Do you want to be well? Why wouldn’t someone want want to be healed? Don’t we assume that this man was desperate to get better? That he was waiting by the water all this time because he was desperate for healing? Why would Jesus ask such an obvious question?
I wish John had told us more, but I know that Jesus is in the business of revealing things. He reveals his nature through words and deeds (healing miracles like this.) The opposition of the religious leaders is increasingly revealed. After all, Jesus knows the condition of the human heart (v.2:23-25.) Perhaps this question functions to help the man see the desires that lie at the root of his own heart. The motives that drive us are not as obvious as they often seem. The crippling circumstances that burden our lives also offer a sense of familiarity, identity, and even control. We know little else of this man’s story, but we know that the mercy of God changed him. Perhaps the outer healing of his body tied to the probing question of Jesus brought healing to his soul as well.
Weekly Prayer Focus: New Building Design Process
Daily Prayer Request: “Utility Changes.” We are asking you to pray for a very practical request today. The proposed renovations and construction for 300 Saline St. will require some changes to the utilities. We will need more electricity and more water. This is a normal part of the building process, but it requires a series of approvals and is not something to be overlooked. It is one of the large number of potential snags that could be an obstacle to our process.