Read John 5:1-47. Verses 1-16 deal with a miracle performed by Jesus. While many of the notes in the different versions say that this was the Passover, the best research indicates this was the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the three feasts in which all males were required to go to Jerusalem to celebrate; the other two being Passover and Pentecost. Since He followed the Old Testament Law, Jesus went as it directed to Jerusalem to attend this religious event. While He was there, He visited the Pool of Bethesda. The common, although not necessarily true belief, was that an angel passed down through the pool, causing the water to be stirred up. If a person stepped down into the water first after this occurred, they would be healed of whatever disease or malady they may have had.
It should be noted that the last part of verse three and verse four of John chapter 5 is not found in the earliest and best ancient manuscripts. Several other early manuscripts include it, but they mark it with an asterisk or a similar mark indicating it was not accepted as Scripture, but instead a very early editor’s note explaining to a reader why these people were waiting at this pool. Jesus found a man waiting there for the water to be disturbed and healed him.
1. In most cases in which our Lord healed a person, that person or others on his behalf came to Jesus. In this instance, our Lord comes to this man and asks him a question. What question did Jesus ask this invalid?
Do you wish to get well?
2. Upon first glance, this may appear to be a duh question. “Of course, I want to be healed! Why do you think I’m here?” So why do you think Jesus asked this man this question?
Not everybody wishes to be healed. Many people grow accustomed to their sickness or weakness. It becomes a convenient excuse, a crutch in handling the difficulties and failures in their lives. This man had been ill for a very long time; to suddenly change his life could well have been a very scary thing!
3. Of what sin was this man accused? Was this man breaking an Old Testament command? Explain.
a. Breaking the Sabbath
b. No, he was only breaking a tradition, man’s interpretation of the law.
4. Do you think this man was genuinely grateful to God for healing him? Why or why not?
Probably not. He shifted the blame to the person who healed him and, even after being warned by Jesus, he pointed him out to his accusers after he learned who he was.
5. From verses 16 and 18, what are two reasons why the Jewish leaders were opposed to Jesus?
a. Breaking Sabbath law
b. Making Himself equal to God by addressing God as His Father.
In verses 17 through 47, Jesus answers his critics’ accusations that He was breaking Sabbath law and making Himself equal to God. He first points out that He is not doing anything that God was not doing. He was, therefore, not going against God’s Sabbath law. Then He shows that, what He does, He only does because God gave Him the authority to do it. The phrases “The Son of God” and “The Son of Man” are two titles used of the Messiah. Although today we use the phrase The Son of God to refer to Jesus in His deity, that is not how the writers of Scripture used it. It referred to the man God had chosen to be Messiah. As Messiah, He is given the authority to do miracles, to raise the dead, and to judge all men. He goes on to tell His accusers that He is not making these claims on His own but that there were other witnesses to the truth of these claims.
6. What things (authority) did Jesus say that God had given Him? (See verses 21-22 and 26-27.)
Authority to judge and to give life.
7. There are at least three other witnesses to the fact that Jesus was the Son of God, that is, the Messiah. What are they? (See verses 33, 36 and 39.)
a. John the Baptizer
b. The works Jesus Himself does
c. The Scriptures themselves.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. We, as sinful human beings, are beset by sin and sickness. We are weak and impotent. We are enslaved to sinful habits. We are spiritual cripples. If someone were to ask most of us, do we wish to be healed, we would probably say, “Of course. Who wouldn’t?” And yet, for many of us deep down inside, we are comfortable with our sin. We say we would like to change it, but deep down inside, we like things just the way they are. Our Lord asks us, “Do you wish to be well?” What do we truly want?
Before we ask God to cure us of physical sickness or to deliver us from some sin or bad habit, stop for a while and listen to the voice of our Savior. He asks us, “Do we wish to be healed? Do we want deliverance, or are we asking because this is what we are supposed to be asking?” Until we come to that point where we are honestly ready to be healed, sincerely prepared to make a life change, any healing our Lord will do is all too apt to be for nothing. Remember what our Lord told this man, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” So too, in our lives, the same warning applies!
2. Our Lord healed this man, who did not come to Him asking to be healed. He did not realize who Jesus was and who He claimed to be. When asked by the religious leaders who had told him to pick up and carry his pallet, he did not know. God healed the man even when he had no faith. Nor was the man particularly thankful. This we know for when he found out who had healed him, he reported it to the authorities.
Did God know this man would remain unrepentant even when a miracle had been accomplished in his life? Indeed, He did. Yet, He chose to heal the man anyway. It is almost certain that not all those that our Lord healed or those He freed from demonic possession ever truly put their faith in Him. That did not prevent our Lord from having mercy upon them and meeting their needs.
Likewise, we too are to have mercy upon all men and strive to meet their needs whenever possible, regardless of whether they believe or not, even when we know they might turn upon us for doing good.
3. Today, John the Baptizer is not testifying to our Lord, nor can we witness His works in person except upon the pages of Scripture. Therefore, the testimony that we are left with is that of the Scriptures. The Scriptures that John referred to were the Old Testament Scriptures. We today have both the Old and the New. And these both testify to the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done. Our faith rests upon their witness. If they are false, then our faith is false. Yet, they have withstood the test of time, the attacks of so-called science, and the attempts of the heathen to discredit them. They have been validated time and time again. Our faith can rest firmly upon them.