John 5:1-18
A Man Healed at Bethesda
Read the passage
1Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
3On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
5One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”
8Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”
9Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day,
10so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”
11But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12“Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked.
13But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.
14Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
15And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
16Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.
17But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
18Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
There is a feast of the Jews, and Jesus goes up to Jerusalem. At the Sheep Gate is a pool called Bethesda, surrounded by five covered colonnades. Many sick people lie there: blind, lame, and paralyzed.
One man has been disabled for thirty-eight years. Jesus sees him lying there and knows that he has already been in that condition a long time. Jesus asks whether he wants to be healed.
The man explains that he has no one to put him into the pool when the water is stirred, and while he is going another steps down before him. Jesus tells him to get up, pick up his bed, and walk. At once the man is healed.
It is the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders tell the man that it is not lawful for him to carry his bed. He says the man who healed him told him to do so, but he does not yet know Jesus' name. Later Jesus finds him in the temple and tells him to stop sinning, or something worse may happen to him.
The healing began with Jesus seeing the man, not with the man presenting an impressive faith. He describes the help he lacks; Jesus gives him the ability he lacks. Yet the later warning shows that restored health is not the whole of his need. The One who makes him well also calls him to turn from sin.
When Jesus is persecuted for His Sabbath work, He answers, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.” The dispute reaches beyond the mat or the day of the healing. Jesus claims a relationship with the Father that His opponents recognize as equality with God, and they seek all the harder to kill Him. The act of mercy confronts them with the question of who has performed it.
How We Know
John names Bethesda and describes five covered colonnades. The BYU Library catalogues a photograph of excavated pools in Jerusalem under the title “Excavation of Pools of Five Colonnades (Pool of Bethesda), Jerusalem.” The record shows remains at a site identified with Bethesda and helps us picture a plausible setting. A photograph and its catalogue description do not establish every detail of the site's first-century form or prove that the healing occurred.
- Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collections, [Bethesda excavation photograph, catalogue record 1123](https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/RelEd/id/1123/).
Questions
1 How long has the man been disabled?
AnswerHe has been disabled for thirty-eight years. Jesus sees both the length of his suffering and his lack of anyone to help him into the pool.
2 What does Jesus command him to do?
AnswerJesus tells him to get up, pick up his bed, and walk. The man is healed immediately and obeys.
3 Why do the leaders object?
AnswerThey object because the healing occurs on the Sabbath and the man is carrying his bed, which they regard as unlawful work.
4 What does Jesus later tell the man?
AnswerJesus tells him to stop sinning, or something worse may happen to him. The warning makes clear that being physically well does not remove his need to turn from sin.
What This Means for Us
Jesus notices a person who has suffered for decades and asks a question before acting. The leaders notice a rule violation and miss the mercy standing in front of them.
Jesus does not identify a particular sin that caused the man's condition. His warning takes sin seriously, and we should take our own need for repentance seriously too. It gives us no license to accuse sick people of secret wrongdoing. Care for those who suffer without making them defend themselves against our guesses.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, see people whose suffering has lasted a long time. Give our household compassion that acts, wisdom that refuses harmful blame, and lives that respond to healing with faithful change. Amen.