John 5:1-6

¹Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. ²Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³Here a great number of disabled people used to lie - the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [- and they waited for the moving of the waters. ⁴From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.] ⁵One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

This chapter begins a new section in John’s Gospel – with the introduction of Jesus’ monologues, we move from the laver, the ceremonial wash basin, in our tour of the Old Testament Tabernacle to the Tent of Meeting, where the Bread of Presence is kept. In the latter half of the chapter, Jesus refers to four sources of testimony about Himself: John the Baptist, His own works, God the Father, and Scripture itself. Jesus sternly confronts His accusers with their unbelief. He will do this with even more candor in later chapters, namely 6, 8, and 10; so consider this monologue a preview of what’s to come.

John sets the context for Jesus’ miraculous healing. John leaves his timeline behind at this point and gives us no clue how much time passes between chapters 4 and 5. If we presume that it was a matter of days or even weeks, we can argue from the mention of “four months until harvest,” that Jesus mentioned to His disciples in chapter 4 that this is the second of the three major Jewish Feasts, the Feast of Pentecost (Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10; 2 Chronicles 8:13) or Feast of the Harvest of the Firstfruits (Exodus 23:16; Numbers 28:26)). Whatever feast it was, Jesus is obedient to the law, which required His attendance and participation in Jerusalem.

John gives us the context for the miracle he’s about to describe. There was a pool near the sheep gate in Jerusalem, the name of which is hard to translate. You may have a footnote in your translation by Bethesda, which means the place of fishing, with other potential names. These other names mean other things (Betheder means the place of the flock, which fits with “Sheep Gate;” others call it the place of pouring-out). Whatever its name, this pool was a common and well-known place, a busy place with five covered porches for “hanging out,” likely while the sheep to be sacrificed were taken to be watered or where the priests came to get water for cleaning up the Temple area. It was a place, perhaps, for crippled people to beg as passers-by walked to the Temple; it was a place, as John relates to us, of mysterious healing – though it is likely that not many people had been healed there. V3b-4 are included in only a few of the less important manuscripts, so it could be that they were inserted sometime later by someone wanting to add some mystery or some foundation for angel-worship or something. We don’t know. I’ve included it just so we could talk about it. It’s almost like the rumor of the fountain of youth. How many people wasted away waiting for or looking for it? The point is that a great number of disabled people – the blind, lame, and paralyzed – are stuck in this routine of hopelessly hoping in the hopeless.

The invalid man and Jesus’ introductory question. John introduces us now to an invalid man who had been disabled for 38 years. It is likely that this was a typical day for this aging man. Wake up, nothing new, hope to find a way to get to the pool at Bethesda, hope the waters stir that day, hope he gets to fall in first, and hope he is healed. But most days, the water didn’t stir, and even when it did (due to the instability of an underground spring), he was never the first to fall in, and even then, most who fell in when the water stirred went away unhealed. It’s almost hypnotically hopeless. His situation was hopeless. He wanted physical healing and had nothing in mind in terms of spiritual healing. It’s an illustration of the human spiritual condition. Was that you?

But look who comes to the man in his hopelessness: Jesus. Out of a great number of disabled people, Jesus selects this man to address. John points that out to show us the sovereignty of God in election and grace and mercy. It could be that he was the worst off of that great number of ailing folks. It could be that he was situated most conveniently in Jesus’ path through the area. But I think Jesus chose to come to this man, because this man was eternally loved and chosen before the foundation of the world to be a Son of the Most High Creator God. That’s unconditional election. This man contributed nothing to Jesus’ motive for choosing to heal him. And John gives us a glimpse of that here. He’ll detail it later.

And notice the question Jesus asks the man: “Do you want to get well?” Is this a silly question, or what? Of course the man wants to get well. He’s been like this for 38 years; he’s been trying to fall into the pool when it stirs; of course he wants to get well! But wait just a minute… Maybe it was the perfect question. Maybe this man had grown accustomed to his condition over his 38 years of invalidity. Maybe he had forgotten why he did his daily routine. Maybe he was just in a rut. And so Jesus is driving at something that’s at the very heart of this man’s problem. His problem was more than just his physical paralysis. His problem lay deep-rooted in his will and desire. He was at the place where healing was possible. He was in the presence of the One who could make that healing possible. And for us, take note that it’s possible to be in a place of possible healing and yet choose not to have the blessing. That’s our problem as well. Let’s stop and ask ourselves what we want. Do we desire to be healed? Do we know what that means? Do we want it? So many people are in the presence of the Healer, but do they really want what He offers? Do we really want to be filled with God’s Spirit? If we are, we will never be the same. Things must change. Do we want that? Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?”