7 Signs Of The Gospel Of John: Healing Of The Lame Man At The Pool

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7 SIGNS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: HEALING OF THE SON NEAR DEATH

Pastor Mike here.

(This is Part 3 of the seven signs of the Gospel of John where we’re considering the third sign: Healing Of The Lame Man At The Pool.)

The Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle John the words of his Gospel account surrounding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

JOHN’S GOSPEL CONSTRUCTED AROUND SEVEN MIRACLES

One of the ways John constructed his Gospel is around seven signs (or miracles) that our Lord performed.

The third of the seven signs is found in John chapter 5, verse 1 through 14 where it reads…

1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”

9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”

11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”

12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

HEALING OF THE LAME MAN AT THE POOL

And so we have the third sign of the seven signs of the Gospel of John: Healing Of The Lame Man At The Pool.

And before we dive in to the text, let me just remind you of the main point of the seven signs of the Gospel of John.

John himself gives it to us in John chapter 20, verse 30-31…

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these (the seven signs of the Gospel of John) are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And so the signs are meant to be convincing proof that Jesus is the Messiah promised from the Garden of Eden that God would send to die in your place on the cross so that you would be saved from your sins and have eternal life.

Which brings us to the text.

VERSE 1

In v. 1 we find there is a feast of the Jews taking place.

Maybe it was the Feast of Booths (commemorating the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt under Moses) or it may have been Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of the New Year.

Whatever the case, Jesus goes “up to Jerusalem” at this time.

VERSE 2

And now v. 2 goes on to explain the location of a pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem.

Sheep were washed here before entering the sanctuary.

Further description of the pool includes how “in Aramaic” it was “called Bethesda” and it had “five roofed colonnades.”

(A colonnade is a row of columns supporting a roof. -Google)

The word, Bethesda, means “house of grace” or “house of mercy.”

VERSE 3

And v. 3 reveals that there are “a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed” lying at the pool of Bethesda.

VERSE 3B AND 4 ARE OMITTED

Now the second part of v. 3 and then also v. 4 are not included in the ESV, but they are included in other versions of the Bible.

I want to talk about this omission for a moment.

Beginning with the first part of v. 3 again,

“In these (underneath the five roofed colonnades) lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.”

And now “some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part” the following as the second part of v. 3…

[T]he disabled people lying there “are waiting for the moving of the water;

And then now v. 4 goes on…

4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had[.]”

Again, “some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part” the last part of v. 3 and then also v. 4.

The point here is that there was a certain Greek cultic belief / a myth about miracles (signs, wonders) that drew the disabled to the pools.

VERSE 5

Continuing now in v. 5 we learn of a man “lying there” among the disabled who himself has been “an invalid for thirty-eight years.”

VERSE 6

In v. 6 Jesus sees the man “lying there,” he knows the length of his condition (“he had already been there a long time”) and, to get his attention, Jesus asks the man a question, “Do you want to be healed?”

VERSE 7

The man may think Jesus can help him to reach the pool in time according to the myth and the stirring of the water by an angel which the next v. 7 suggests…

7 The sick man answered [Jesus], “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

VERSE 8

But Jesus will have none of that.

In v. 8, as the Messiah who has come to free humankind helpless in its sin condition, of which the 38-year long invalid is an example of, Jesus says to the man lying at the pool…

8a “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”

VERSE 9

At Jesus’ word the man is immediately healed (v. 9).

He takes up his bed and walks.

The bed (ESV) or pallet (NASB) was a mat or pad that could be rolled up and carried.

And this all takes place on the Sabbath.

The Jewish religious leaders and others under their influence view the man carrying his bed as a violation of Sabbath law.

VERSE 10

And so they confront him about it.

Notice v. 10…

10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”

No work was to be done on the Sabbath including carrying burdens from one domain to another. (Cf. Ex 31:12-17)

Necessary works, however, were not forbidden.

God desires mercy, not sacrifice.

Therefore, to show mercy on the Sabbath is actually keeping the Sabbath which is what Jesus did which now had the once disabled man carrying his bed.

How is it possible that the Jews did not rejoice at the man’s healing?

VERSE 11

In v. 11 now the man responds to the leaders confronting him…

11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”

VERSE 12-13

Lastly in v. 12 we learn that the man has been literally healed without knowing the identity of the person who healed him.

Notice…

12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

And this is a very key point.

Again, the man is healed without knowing who Jesus is.

This completely blows out of the water so-called faith preachers that say you must have faith to be healed and/or the reason you aren’t healed is due to a lack of faith.

VERSE 14

Jesus will find the man later so that he knows it was Jesus who healed him.

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

DR. PAUL KRETZMANN ON THE HEALING OF THE LAME MAN AT THE POOL

In his commentary on the the entire Bible including the Gospel of John, Dr. Paul Kretzmann puts it this way…

The purpose of the Jews in asking the invalid the question[, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?,”] was not to seek the Lord in faith, but to accuse and condemn Him. Even so many people in our [day] that must acknowledge the miracles of Christianity study the Bible, not for the sake of knowing the great works of God, but for the sake of finding fault and discovering so-called contradictions.

Dr. Kretzmann goes on…

But Jesus did not lose sight of the former sick man. He deliberately arranged it so that He came upon [him] in the Temple; for his body had been healed, but the soul still needed attention. Therefore the Lord told him: Behold, well thou hast become; sin no more, lest worse things come upon thee. The sin of man is the reason and cause for all manner of physical evils and ills, though individual sicknesses may not be due to specific sins, as in, this case. The man’s long illness had not been brought about by some special sin. But this the Lord means to emphasize: Sickness and all physical evils would never have come into the world if sin had not come first.

Dr. Kretzmann concludes…

To realize the horror and heinousness of sin in general is a very important step in the work of justification and sanctification. He that has realized the abomination of sin in itself, and has then accepted Jesus as his Savior, will shun sin with all the might of his regenerated heart. Such a person will not make his members servants of sin, also for that reason that the greater punishment awaits such as do not heed the warning of the Savior, namely, the punishment of hell-fire.

THE SEVEN SIGNS ARE CONVINCING PROOF THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH

And so we have the third sign of the seven signs of the Gospel of John: Healing Of The Lame Man At The Pool.

This third sign, along with the other six signs of the Gospel of John, are meant to be convincing proof that Jesus is the Messiah promised from the Garden of Eden that God would send to die in your place on the cross so that you would be saved from your sins and have eternal life.