John 5 Verses 1-9 

John 5:1 “After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.”   

There are several lessons that we can learn from the above passage: 

1.  All the people waiting for the angel to come down and trouble the water were impotent (feeble).  Thus, all of them would have required some help to get into the water after it was troubled. 

2.  The pool was a place of hope for these impotent folks.  There waiting for the troubling of the water by the angel indicates that they were patient.  They would not have known when the angel was going to trouble the water, so they had to wait until the time came.

3.  The word, Bethesda mean house of kindness.  The angel coming down and troubling the water manifest God’s kindness toward the very needy that lay there. 

4.  The man who had been there 38 years had no helper, yet he was still hopeful of one day being healed. 

5.  Jesus went to the man who had been so long there and asked him if he would be made whole.  Jesus, of course, already knew the answer to that question. 

6.  Jesus manifest his kindness to the man. 

7.  Jesus manifest his power to the man by healing him. 

8.  Jesus showed to us that he is the helper to the helpless. 

9.  Jesus showed to us that he only has to speak and his work is perfect.  The man who was healed not only immediately had strength, but he did not have to learn to walk. 

10.  Such manifest power should encourage us in our times of great need that we have a helper and that helper has power over our infirmities and our troubles.  We also need to learn to be patient in the midst of those infirmities and troubles. 

John 5 Verses 10-18 

John 5:10 “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? 13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. 15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. 16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. 17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” 

From the reaction of the Jews above, it is apparent that it did not matter to them that a great miracle of healing had taken place that could only have happened through the power of God.  Moreover, it didn’t matter to them that the man healed had been shown much compassion and kindness from Jesus.  To them, their legalistic self-righteous works system had been violated.  They showed that they had no understanding of the purpose of the Sabbath to begin with.  God established the Sabbath for man to give praise and glory to God for his finished work of creation.  When a great work of healing had taken place by the power of God, they became mad and this, of course, gives no glory to God.  Furthermore, they never stopped to think that God works on the Sabbath Day.  While God has completed his work of natural creation, God is still upholding all things by the word of His power.  He has always been actively involved in the lives of his people throughout time even on the Sabbath Day.  Their reaction to Jesus healing the man on the Sabbath Day was to persecute Jesus and seek to slay him. 

Many in our day deny that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh.  That is they deny the Deity of Christ. They also deny the eternal Sonship of Christ. Jesus answered the Jews: “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”  The Jews understood that Jesus was claiming to be God as he had said that God was his Father, and that made himself equal with God.  To be equal with God one must be eternal.  Thus, Jesus claimed himself to be the eternal Son of God and verily God.  For this, the Jews sought the more to kill Jesus.  They were a legalistic self-righteous murderous group of people.