The Healing At The Pool Of Bethesda
THE HEALING AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA
JOHN 5:1-9
What makes us unwilling to be helped by Jesus?
The word which has recently given life in Galilee now gives healing in Jerusalem. There the emphasis had been on the rescue from the jaws of death, here there is the return of lost powers. Once again water plays a prominent part. At Cana water was turned into wine (2:1-11), at Sychar water was unable to satisfy true human thirst (4:13f.), and now at Jerusalem water cannot make a man’s paralysed limbs function again. As “water” was one of the terms used by the rabbis to describe the Law, there is probably an implied contrast between the impotence of the Law and the life-giving power of the word of Christ.
The Pool of Bethesda was a shrine for sick people who wished to be healed and, presumably having despaired of a cure by other means, came in the superstitious hope that they might be able to benefit from the mysterious powers of the pool. Some manuscripts include 5:3b-4 which state that an angel of the Lord went into the pool and troubled the water and the first person in after that was cured. This is no doubt simply a deduction from the authentic text and describes what was believed to happen. Jesus comes to this scene of helplessness and superstition and as always his eye picks out an individual in special need of help. He altogether removes the idea of healing from the realm of chance and puts it in the realm of will. The man proves his real desire to be healed by his obedience to Jesus’ startling three-fold command to rise, take up his bed and walk (cf. Mark 2:11). But there is one snag, forgotten no doubt by the man in his joy. It is the Sabbath.
Notes 5:1: it is uncertain which festival is referred to but it was not a major one. 5:2: manuscripts differ as to the name of the pool. It may be Bethzatha, Bethesda or Bethsaida. The pool seems to have been discovered just north of the temple. “Five porticoes”—some see this as symbolic of the Law with its five books. 5:5: some have seen symbolism in the thirty-eight years, for this was the time of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 2:14). The primary reason for its mention is to show that he had been ill a long time.