John 5:1-18 CSB
After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [2] By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. [3-4] Within these lay a large number of the disabled-blind, lame, and paralyzed. [5] One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. [6] When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to get well?" [7] "Sir," the disabled man answered, "I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I'm coming, someone goes down ahead of me." [8] "Get up," Jesus told him, "pick up your mat and walk." [9] Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath, [10] and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat." [11] He replied, "The man who made me well told me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" [12] "Who is this man who told you, 'Pick up your mat and walk'?" they asked. [13] But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. [14] After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn't happen to you." [15] The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. [16] Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. [17] Jesus responded to them, "My Father is still working, and I am working also." [18] This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
Take up your Mat
There are times in my life when I have been sick—really sick. I have lost count of the number of surgeries I have had to endure just to continue in this life. Especially in my old age, I know what it is to long for a miracle. Surgeries often do not restore you to one hundred percent; they frequently leave you with less than you had before, unable to do the things you once did. Then, age creeps up to complete the job.
Yet, for me, I have life. I know that one day I will see the Lord face-to-face and receive a new body and a chance to truly live again. But more importantly, I know that my past is forgotten and I am forgiven. How wonderful it is to know the Lord! Many do not know Him and, as our reading today shows, they languish in their pain, looking only for physical help to make life a little better.
As our story begins, Jesus had returned to Jerusalem for a festival. We don’t know which one—it could have been Passover, Pentecost, or the Feast of Booths—but we see that Jesus honored the Jewish calendar, as all males were commanded to attend.
Many times in the Bible, we see Jesus and the Apostles healing as a result of a person’s faith. However, in the Gospel of John, we often see Jesus healing not because of a person’s faith, but as a demonstration of the Father’s love and power, intended to bring that person to a faith that saves. This is exactly what we see at the pool of Bethesda. It wasn’t even a “major” public miracle; Jesus could have healed everyone there, but instead, He came to one specific person.
Jesus is personal. He meets us face-to-face. He did not even wait for a request; He went to this man in loving-kindness and compassion. He didn’t go merely to offer comfort, but to ask a stirring question: “Do you want to get well?” It was a question designed to increase the man’s desire for what he truly longed for. Heaven was waiting for the sick man to voice his request to be made whole. Jesus still asks that question of us today: Do you want to be made well? Do you want a new life? Do you want to put down your burdens and follow Me?
The sick man responded with an earthly solution: “I have no one to help me into the pool.” In today’s terms, he might have said, “I have no one to take me to the doctor,” or “I don’t have medical insurance.” It was not a response of faith, yet Jesus responded with power: “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” Despite the man’s lack of faith and his failure to look heavenward, he picked up his mat and walked.
It was the Sabbath. While it is good to honor the Lord’s day as a time of reflection and worship, it is also a time to do good. Our Heavenly Father works on special days, whether it is the Jewish Sabbath or a Christian Sunday morning. Babies are born, the sun rises and sets, and pastors shepherd their flocks. This miracle showed our loving Father actively working to heal.
Unfortunately, those more concerned with legalism than mercy confronted the man: “How dare you carry a mat on the Sabbath!” As humans, we are often quick to deflect anger directed at us, so the man simply replied, “The man who made me well told me to.”
Jesus found the man later in the temple and warned him to stop sinning, lest something worse happen. We cannot be certain if the man ever reached a saving faith, especially since his next move was to report Jesus to the authorities. Helping someone does not always bring gratitude; sometimes it brings more pain. The religious leaders, blinded by legalistic requirements, could not see the good that was done or that the miracle was God working through His Son. When Jesus pointed this out, they didn’t rejoice—they decided to work even harder to kill the One who brings Light into the world.
Reflection Questions
- Why do you think Jesus chose only one man to heal out of the “large number” (v. 3) at the pool?
- When Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?”, the man gives excuses instead of a “Yes.” What excuses do we often give God when He offers to heal our spiritual or emotional wounds?
- Jesus said, “My Father is still working.” Where have you seen God “working” in your life this week, even in small ways?
Prayer
Father,
We thank You that You are a personal God who meets us in our long-term suffering. We confess that, like the man at the pool, we often look to earthly solutions and insurance rather than looking to You. Thank You for Your grace that heals us even when our faith is weak. Help us to value mercy over legalism and to rejoice in the work You are doing every day.
Amen.
