Introduction: A Healing at the Pool of Bethesda.
The fifth chapter of the Gospel of John opens with a powerful and controversial event: Jesus’s healing of a disabled man at the Pool of Bethesda. This miracle, performed on the Sabbath, ignites a fierce debate with Jewish authorities that goes far beyond a simple disagreement over religious law. It becomes a pivotal moment where Jesus not only defends his actions but also reveals his divine nature, asserting his equality with God and his ultimate authority over life, death, and judgment.
The Long Wait for a Miracle.
The story begins in Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda, a place of hope for many disabled people—the blind, lame, and paralysed. This pool was believed to have healing properties when its waters were “stirred,” and a multitude of sick people would gather there, waiting for a chance to be the first one in. Among them was a man who had been disabled for thirty-eight years, a particularly pitiable case.
When Jesus saw him, he didn’t wait for a sign or a request. Instead, he asked a seemingly obvious question: “Do you want to be healed?” The man’s response revealed his despair and helplessness. He didn’t say, “Yes, I want to be healed,” but rather, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going to the steps others go down before me.” He was trapped in a cycle of near-misses and constant frustration.
Jesus, however, bypassed the entire process of the pool. With a simple command, he said, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” The effect was immediate and complete. The man, who had been disabled for nearly four decades, was instantly healed. This wasn’t a slow recovery but a supernatural, instantaneous cure, a clear sign of divine power. To prove the perfection of the healing, Jesus instructed him to carry his mat, an action that would soon become a point of contention.
The Controversy of the Sabbath.
The man’s healing occurred on the Sabbath, a day of rest strictly governed by religious law. When Jewish authorities saw the healed man carrying his bed, they immediately challenged him. Their focus wasn’t on the miraculous cure but on the perceived violation of the Sabbath law, which forbade carrying burdens.
The man, grateful and bewildered, simply pointed to his authority: “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” This response shifted their anger from the man to Jesus, whom they began to persecute. Jesus’s actions were intentional. He was deliberately challenging their rigid interpretation of the law to reveal a higher truth.
Later, Jesus found the man in the temple and gave him a solemn warning: “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” This statement hints at a connection between the man’s long illness and a past life of sin, revealing Jesus’s deep insight into human character and the consequences of sin. When the healed man went and told the authorities that it was Jesus who had healed him, their persecution intensified.
The Authority of the Son.
The conflict over the Sabbath led to a profound discourse where Jesus made some of his most significant claims about his identity. In response to their persecution, he declared, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” This statement was a direct claim to divinity. He was equating his work with God the Father, suggesting that just as God’s creative and sustaining work never ceases, neither does his. The authorities understood the implication perfectly: Jesus was making himself equal with God.
Witnesses to Jesus.
Jesus then provided irrefutable testimony to his claims. He first referenced the witness of John the Baptist, whom the people had once revered as a “burning and shining lamp.” John had testified that Jesus was the Messiah, but their temporary admiration for John’s light had waned when he pointed them to the true Light.
However, Jesus says he has an even greater witness: his own works. The miracles he performs—like healing the invalid man—are not just displays of power but are living proof that the Father has sent him. These works bear a greater testimony than any human could.
Finally, Jesus points to the ultimate witness: the Scriptures themselves. He challenges the Jewish leaders, who diligently studied the Scriptures in the hope of finding eternal life, to see that those same Scriptures testify about him. Yet, in their pride and obsession with human praise, they refused to come to the one who could give them the life they sought.
Jesus warns them that Moses, on whom they pinned their hopes, would be their accuser. If they had genuinely believed Moses, they would have believed Jesus, for Moses wrote about him. Their rejection of Jesus was not a new problem but a deep-seated spiritual one rooted in their failure to believe the very writings they professed to follow.
Conclusion.
This chapter presents a stark and powerful revelation of Jesus’s identity. What begins as a miracle on the Sabbath quickly escalates into a profound theological confrontation. Jesus asserts his divine equality with God, his authority over life and death, and his role as the final judge of humanity. He backs these claims with the powerful witness of his works and the testimony of the Scriptures. The message is clear: true belief requires not just an admiration for religious texts or traditions, but a personal, transformative acceptance of Jesus as the Son of God, the one who holds the keys to eternal life.
Further Reading.
The Gospel of John Chapter 5
• “The Historical Reliability of the Gospels” by Craig L. Blomberg
• “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel
• “The Gospel of John: A Commentary” by D.A. Carson
