Lame Man Is Healed at Pool of Bethesda

Passage: John 5:1-18. Jesus issued a series of commands, and then the man got up because he was healed.

Not everyone was healed at the pool. The Father had his eye on one of them, however.

The translations are mine, but if you would like to see many other translations, please go to biblegateway.com. I include the Greek text to bring out the nuances, but readers may ignore the left column, if they wish.

Let’s begin.

Healing at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18)

¹ Μετὰ ταῦτα ἦν ἑορτὴ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἀνέβη Ἰησοῦς εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα. ² Ἔστιν δὲ ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπὶ τῇ προβατικῇ κολυμβήθρα ἡ ἐπιλεγομένη Ἑβραϊστὶ Βηθζαθὰ πέντε στοὰς ἔχουσα. ³ ἐν ταύταις κατέκειτο πλῆθος τῶν ἀσθενούντων, τυφλῶν, χωλῶν, ξηρῶν.

⁵ ἦν δέ τις ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ τριάκοντα [καὶ] ὀκτὼ ἔτη ἔχων ἐν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ αὐτοῦ· ⁶ τοῦτον ἰδὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς κατακείμενον καὶ γνοὺς ὅτι πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον ἔχει, λέγει αὐτῷ· θέλεις ὑγιὴς γενέσθαι; ⁷ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ ὁ ἀσθενῶν· κύριε, ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἔχω ἵνα ὅταν ταραχθῇ τὸ ὕδωρ βάλῃ με εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν· ἐν ᾧ δὲ ἔρχομαι ἐγώ, ἄλλος πρὸ ἐμοῦ καταβαίνει. ⁸ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἔγειρε ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ περιπάτει. ⁹ καὶ εὐθέως ἐγένετο ὑγιὴς ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἦρεν τὸν κράβαττον αὐτοῦ καὶ περιεπάτει.

Ἦν δὲ σάββατον ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ.

¹⁰ ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ τεθεραπευμένῳ· σάββατόν ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι ἆραι τὸν κράβαττόν σου. ¹¹ ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς· ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν· ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ περιπάτει. ¹² ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ εἰπών σοι· ἆρον καὶ περιπάτει; ¹³ ὁ δὲ ἰαθεὶς οὐκ ᾔδει τίς ἐστιν, ὁ γὰρ Ἰησοῦς ἐξένευσεν ὄχλου ὄντος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ.

¹⁴ μετὰ ταῦτα εὑρίσκει αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἴδε ὑγιὴς γέγονας, μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν σοί τι γένηται.

¹⁵ ἀπῆλθεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἀνήγγειλεν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὸν ὑγιῆ. ¹⁶ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐδίωκον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι ταῦτα ἐποίει ἐν σαββάτῳ. ¹⁷ Ὁ δὲ [Ἰησοῦς] ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι· ¹⁸ διὰ τοῦτο οὖν μᾶλλον ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀποκτεῖναι, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἔλυεν τὸ σάββατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγεν τὸν θεὸν ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ θεῷ.

¹ Afterwards, it was a Jewish feast, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² There is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool which is called Bethesda, having five colonnades. ³ Between them used to lie a number of the sick, blind, lame and paralyzed. ⁴ [For an angel of the Lord at certain times came into the pool and stirred the water; then the first one getting in with the stirring of the water became healthy from whatever sickness was oppressing him.]

⁵ Now a certain man was there having his weakened conditioned for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he was there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healthy?” ⁷ The sick man replied to him, “Mister, I have no person so that when the water is stirred, he can put me into the pool! But as I go in, someone else goes down ahead of me!” ⁸ Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!” ⁹And immediately the man became healthy and picked up his mat and began to walk.

And it was the Sabbath on that day.

¹⁰ Therefore the Jews were saying to the healed man, “It is the Sabbath! It is not lawful for you to carry your mat!” ¹¹ He replied to them, “The one who made me healthy—that one said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk!’ ¹² They inquired of him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” ¹³ The healed man did not know who he was, for Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd which was in that place.

¹⁴ Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See! You have become healthy. Do not sin any longer, so that something worse might not happen to you.”

¹⁵ The man left and announced to the Jews that he is the one who made him healthy. ¹⁶ So for this reason the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus replied to them, “My Father is working until now, and I also am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason, therefore, the Jews sought him all the more to kill him, not only because he loosened up the Sabbath, but also because he was saying that God was his own Father, thus making himself equal to God.

Comments:

Jesus saw his illness and “learned” or “knew” that the unnamed man was lying there for a long time. Did he know this by supernatural knowledge, or did he ask someone for the man’s backstory? The Greek can be translated either way—know or learn. If he learned about this, did he ask the man, or did he ask someone who knew the man by regular contact, like a helper who got drinking water for the sick and lame? I’m not one-hundred present clear, but I believe Jesus learned of the man’s condition and how long it lasted. He asked. It is okay to interview the sick and the lame or their friends and family, to find out how long the disease has afflicted him. Whatever it was, it must not have afflicted his vital organs, like liver or kidney or heart disease or cancer, for he would have died long ago. It must have been lameness of some kind, like paralysis (see. v. 3), which is literally a “withered” condition. It may have been palsy of some kind.

“weakened condition”: it is the noun astheneia (pronounced ah-stheh-nay-ah), and the prefix a– is the negation, and the stem –sthen– means “strength” or “strong,” so literally it means “unstrong.” It means, depending on the context, primarily “weakness”; and secondarily “sickness, disease.” The NIV translates it throughout the NT: weakness (most often), weaknesses, weak, crippled, diseases, illness, illnesses, infirmities, infirmity, invalid, sick, sickness, sicknesses. Here in v. 5 it could be lameness or illness or sickness. I chose “weakened condition,” but lameness works too because Jesus told him to walk, implying that he was not able to walk before.

The Greek says he had his “asthenia” (weakness) for thirty-eight years. The wording is almost saying that he owned it. Please don’t “own” your illness or sickness, as if it belongs to you and is part and parcel of your existence. Instead, see it as an invasive force that does not express wholeness. One day, either now by divine healing, or by your passing into heaven by God’s grace and then the final resurrection, you will be whole, without your lameness or sickness. These crippling conditions don’t belong to you. No, I’m not talking about denying reality, as if you are not in a wheelchair or do not have a missing limb, but ultimately and ideally, the condition is not yours. “Up There,” you will be restored. And God may do this now. Legitimate miracles are happening. Research them online.

“healthy”: This adjective is used throughout this passage (vv. 6, 9, 11, 14, 15). It could also be translated “sound” “physically well” or “free” from your affliction (Mark 5:34). John says “became healthy.” The man “became healthy” in the past tense after Jesus commanded him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk. His whole condition changed from illness to health.

The imperfect tense of the verb can be inceptive (“began to persecute”), but Klink sees it as continuous (“were persecuting”), and concluding, tentatively, that it became a fixed policy at this stage to oppose and harass Jesus. Remember: he cleared out part of the temple (2:13-22), so that was enough to turn persecution into a fixed policy. Whatever the case, they will put him to death in about eighteen months.

Application for Ministry Today

I believe we can follow Jesus and learn how he ministered. He is our model. Let me number the points in this section, for clarity and order.

1.. We are taught by popular Bible teachers that the man may have been deliberately holding on to his malady, because he identified with it. It became who he was. This interpretation seems right because Jesus asked whether the man wanted to become healthy. Jesus must have perceived a reluctance, but the man did say that as he was about to go into the pool, someone gets in ahead of him. Popular pastors say that he should have sat by the pool 24/7 and just roll in. Maybe, but human life is not as tidy as we imagine it, particularly 2000 years ago. He needed to get up and eat, visit family and friends, or his family or friends had to fetch him and take him home, maybe for many hours.

2.. Whatever the case, Jesus listened to him and then issued a series of commands. “Get up!” The man must have stared at Jesus for a split second. “Who are you to say this to me?” He had never heard of Jesus before (v. 13). Yet Jesus spoke with authority. The man obeyed the command. After a split second he stood up. Amazing, he must have said to himself. “Pick up your mat!” He did so, bending back down to get it. “And walk!” This shows the man was lame somehow. Immediately he became healthy. Mounce reminds us that the man seemed to have no faith (comment on vv. 8-9). I add: the faith of the Lord must have carried him. It just shows that people with no faith or weak faith are still candidates for a healing. Let the Lord carry you.

3.. Sometimes you have to walk or do things that you could not do before. But wait for the command of Jesus. On the other hand, don’t be foolish. If you are diabetic, don’t swig a tall glass of sugared up liquid, like a soda drink. Never do this even after you are healed! But if you are in a wheelchair, see if you can stand up. If you have to sit back down again, then don’t feel discouraged. Keep praying for your healing.

4.. “The Word spoke to the man with the same powerful word that made all creation. The abruptness of Jesus’s command echoes the proclamation that the lame will ‘leap like a deer’ (Isa 35:6). They leap because the Word has spoken” (Klink, comment on v. 8).

5.. Next, not everyone at the pool was healed that day, and there is no record that anyone else was healed by Jesus during his visits to Jerusalem. Therefore we Renewalists need to be careful about claiming that Jesus healed everyone, every time. Yes, in summary statements he is said to heal everyone, but those are summary statements, generalizations, but do not over-generalize.

6.. No one knows what his sin was, which prompted his weakened condition or lameness, but yes, sometimes sin does hit the body hard, like taking drugs can tweak the brain and smoking cannabis can harm the lungs. Excessive speeding (e.g. street racing) can result in crashes and injuries and even deaths. Promiscuity can lead to Sexually Transmitted Infections or Diseases (STIs or STDs).

No, I’m not saying this man’s sin were any of those things. Was it bitterness and unforgiveness? Experienced ministers of the gospel tell us that those two roots can lead to all sorts of bad conditions, like arthritis or a weak heart. We don’t know what his particular sin was. Jesus must have sensed, by the Spirit, that sin was at the root. The way forward—always important—was to stop sinning. The verb is in the imperative and present tense, so “stop sinning” is right. My translation “do not sin any longer” is closer to the literal wording, but weak in English. You can go with “stop sinning,” if you wish.

7.. Let’s not over-generalize and believe that every affliction has its root in your personal sin. Sometimes afflictions can be organic. Ask God to show you if the affliction has a root cause and then stake steps forward to get it fixed. If he does not show you anything, keep praying and keep following the doctor’s orders, getting a second opinion, if necessary.

John 9:1-4 also reminds us that we should not assume that every disease comes from specific sins.

8.. Jesus said not to sin anymore, or else something worse may come on the man. It is possible to lose one’s healing. When this happens, don’t be scared or discouraged. Just find out what happened. Did he fall back into sin? His old habits, like bad eating after he was healed of diabetes? Have him repent or change his bad habits. Then pray for the person again. God is willing to forgive and heal again! He is merciful to repentant sinners.

9.. As I write in all the healing posts:

Let it be noted that Jesus never went in for “decree and declare.” Name one time he used such verbiage during his prayer for the sick. Nor did the disciples use those formulaic words in Acts.

Instead, God the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit performed miracles of healing. Jesus clarified that he does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). He lives because of the Father (John 6:57). He speaks only what the Father taught him (John 8:28). He does what he sees the Father do (John 10:37). What Jesus says is just what the Father told him to say (John 12:49-50, 57). Perhaps the most important verse about miracles: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32). (In John’s Gospel, “good works” = miracles, at a minimum.)

And so the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit, performed all miracles during his Son’s ministry (Acts 10:38). The Son obeyed and followed his Father and also did the healings by the Spirit. The Trinity was working together.

9..We too should develop life in the Spirit (Gal. 5), so we can hear from the Father through the Spirit, in Jesus’s name and authority granted to us. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One without limits (John 3:34). But after the cross and the Son’s ascension, the Spirit can distribute the gifts of healings (plural) as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11), not as we “name and claim” or “decree and declare.” Let the Spirit work, and you listen and obey, and then rebuke a disease (not the person) or pray for healing.

4. Gifts of the Spirit: Gifts of Healings

Kenneth Copeland Gets a Pacemaker

Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?

What Is Biblical Confession?

If you would like to read a fuller commentary, click on the chapter:

John 5

Scroll down to the right verses.