John 5:7-17
It has been stated that the Roman Army conquered Greece, but Greek philosophy conquered Rome. In Greek Mythology, the Greek God Asclepius, the god responsible for medicine and healing, is said to have come down and stirred the waters of the pool of Bethesda, and whoever was first in the water after the waters were stirred was healed. It is further believed that these porches were built when the Greek ruler Epiphanies attempted to wipe out Jewish culture and religion around 170-168 BCE.
The gospel writer of John’s gospel wants you to understand that this crippled man beside the pool believes but that his belief is based upon a wrong system. A wrong understanding. A philosophy or religion that is based both upon heaven and man’s traditions.
The sick man is essentially saying three things in verse 7.
- I have faith that I can be made well. Although he has misapplied faith, he does believe he can be made whole or well.
- He readily admits that he cannot do it on his own. I attempted doing it on my own, and each attempt ended in failure in that others had entered the water before I ever got there.
- To achieve healing even within the false system of belief and understanding, he needs help from another to achieve the goal he cannot do on his own.
It took Israel 38 additional years of wandering in the wilderness to realize they could not do it on their own. They needed help entering the promised land. For this man of Israel who is near the point of death, it has taken him 38 years to admit he cannot achieve his goal on his own, no matter how hard he tries. He must rely upon another to do what he cannot do for himself. He has the belief, but he cannot do it on his own. He has the misguided belief that the movement of the water will heal him, but he cannot get there without the help of another.
This is why, at the Passover, Jesus is on his way to the temple and must enter Jerusalem by the sheep gate because the Lamb of God is coming to show mercy to those who believe yet are crippled because of sin and are unable to achieve healing for themselves and have come to realize they need help from another.
Christ stopped at Bethesda, called the House of Mercy, where no mercy was shown to show the Father’s tender-hearted compassion and mercy and the Father’s great sense of love and justice toward those who believe and finally realize they cannot achieve healing on their own and have none other but Christ to help them achieve what they cannot do for themselves.
Verses 8 and 9: “Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately, the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.”
Notice the maturity in the statement that is made. The man had a belief that he could be made well. Jesus acted upon that faith and showed the Father’s love, compassion, mercy, and God’s sense of justice toward this man of Israel, and immediately, the man was made well. There was a maturity in what God did. There were no varying degrees of healing that took place. After 38 years of being unable to walk, there was no having to relearn; the healing was complete and mature in that the man in verse 9 takes up his bed and walks as if he had been walking his entire life.
As the water turned to wine, it was a miracle of maturity; the healing by the Lamb of God by the Sheep Gate was healing in maturity, for the man instantly took up his bed and walked.
But in performing the miracle and commanding the man to take up his bed on the Sabbath, Jesus was now about to engage in a discourse with the religious leaders to drive home the point of the miracle. But first, we need to look at the reaction of the Jews. This is classic. I hate to say it, but I see their response to this miracle all the time.
Verse 10: “The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, ‘It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” Hey, aren’t you the guy that has for all these years lay under the five porches hoping to be healed? What happened? Did the water finally stir, and you got in first? Congratulations, I am, and we are all so happy for you. No, there was none of this. Instead, it was, “Hey buddy, what are you doing? It is not lawful to carry your bed on the Sabbath. See, that is rule number 39 of the 39 main rules on how to keep the Sabbath.”
Therefore, with this miracle on the Sabbath, Jesus is illustrating His care, love, mercy, and fair sense of Justice over the law. And by so doing, Jesus fulfills what the law cannot do. It cannot forgive sins, and it cannot save us. If we believe our own works will get us there, we will never make it to the water to be healed without the help of another. Verses 16 and 17: “For this reason the Jew persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’” That other is none other than Christ, who came to show us the Father’s love for us, and in so doing, Christ fulfills what the law cannot do in giving us rest and Showing the Father’s love, mercy, compassion, and His fair sense of justice. All that is necessary is to believe and allow Christ to do for us that we cannot do ourselves.
Therefore, Jesus is illustrating through this miracle His care, concern, and mercy, which take precedence over the law. Therefore, this miracle serves as an illustration of what the new wine of John 2:1-11 looks like.
In another illustration of the laws as an ineffective means of salvation, Jesus used the illustration that in being blind about the things of God, “you strain the gnats out of the water, yet you still swallow camels” (Matthew 23:24). And remember, camels are not clean animals. So, your adherence to the law is the wine that failed, and the law failed to bring cleanliness. The new mature wine is the love, mercy, and right sense of justice that I am bringing, and by doing so, I am illustrating God the Father’s great and tender love for you.
In verse 11, the healed man shifts the blame for his actions from himself by responding to the accusation of his breaking the law by saying, “It is the man that healed me who said, take up your bed and walk.
We will stop right here and pick this story up again in our next post. It is about to get very interesting.
Pastor Lester Bentley 