The Healing Miracle at Bethesda: A Deep Dive

There are always deeper truths to be found in sacred Scripture than you can imagine. Even what appears to be a simple story has significant eternal value.

When you prayerfully engage in Scripture, the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth.

As we enter the fifth chapter of John’s Gospel, we immediately encounter the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda.

Afterward, Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches, crowds of sick people – blind, lame, or paralyzed – lay on the porches. One of the men lying there, had been sick for thirty-eight years. John 5:1-5 NLT.

Another Sign – A Miracle

The last time we met Jesus in John’s Gospel was at the healing of the nobleman’s son. Afterward, Jesus returns to Jerusalem for an unnamed feast. We’re not sure which one, but that’s not significant to what’s happening.

Let’s focus and see what’s happening.

Jesus comes down to Jerusalem and passes by the Sheep Gate, on the northern side of the city wall. Just outside this gate is a pool called Bethesda (house of grace/steadfast love). Surrounding the pool are crowds of invalids of every kind: blind, lame, paralyzed, and so much more. They hope an angel stirs the water to heal someone. A bit superstitious, but they were seeking healing wherever they could find it.

What they don’t see is the Son of God, who is our only hope.

The Sick Man

How many sick people were there? We don’t know, but it was a crowd or multitude – a lot of sick people. Jesus clears the fog of numbers for us to see one man, an invalid for thirty-eight years.

Jesus knew how long he had suffered and still asked him the ultimate question: “Would you like to be healed? The sick man, still looking at the pool, tells Jesus he cannot cure himself.

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” John 5:7 NLT.

The Sick Man Healed

Just then, Jesus spoke eight simple words: “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Instantly, something happens. The man recovered and was made whole again.

Here, I wish I could read the healed man’s mind. He didn’t know this was Jesus, the Son of God. All he knew was that this man had told him to do the impossible. He had only one choice: obey or not.

When he took Jesus at his word and obeyed, the power of God healed him. He picked up his mat and walked away from the pool of Bethesda. He encountered grace and steadfast love, and so he stood up as a healed man!

Obedience

What made the difference?

Obedience!

This was the third sign we’ve observed in John’s Gospel. The first was water turned to wine, and the nobleman’s son. The servants took Jesus at his word and filled the jars with water. The nobleman believed Jesus and left, convinced his son was healed. The invalid also took Jesus at his word and obeyed.

Could it be that we do not see more divine healing today because we do not take God at his word and obey?

It’s something worth thinking about.

The Aftermath

Confinement to a bed for thirty-eight years would have left anyone so weak and unable to walk or stand up for any length of time. This man was utterly helpless.

At the sound of His voice, Jesus had the power to heal. The sick man was not content with his situation and could see no change after thirty-eight years. When our will and God’s will are in harmony, then we’ll see a miracle.

The sick man stood up, he was cured, and walked away with his mat.

Where are the leaps for joy, the gratefulness, and the celebration? Nothing. Only as the cured man walks away, we’re told it’s the Sabbath Day.

Jewish Response

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” John 5:9-10 NLT.

We discover something interesting here. Jesus was unknown to the cured man! The healing didn’t come from knowing Him or His reputation. The healing was the combination of power and obedience.

The Jewish leaders didn’t care. Only the rules, not God’s hand, were visible to the “morale police”. The cured man could even tell them who had healed him. So, they may or may not have led him to the temple.

Jesus wasn’t finished yet.

We know that Jesus wasn’t finished with the cured man yet. There’s something important that he needs to know.

But afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well, so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” John 5:14 NLT.

Was there something in this man’s heart that needed to be dealt with? He was well enough now to continue sinning. Sin sickness is real; maybe he thought he’d paid his dues and now could go on sinning. I don’t know, but Jesus knew something about this man we couldn’t see.

So, Jesus gives him a warning. Something worse could happen if you keep on sinning.

Response to Jesus

Again, I see no gratefulness in the cured man. We’re only told that now that he knew who healed him, he went and told the Jewish leaders.

Now the Jewish leaders had someone to blame. It was Jesus, the Sabbath breaker. Their anger and indignation were real. They harassed Jesus, but the tide turned with Jesus’ response.

But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” John 5:17 NLT.

Blinded by their own self-righteousness, the Jewish leaders couldn’t accept that Jesus was the Son of God, equal to God. So with murder in their hearts, they tried all the harder to find a way to kill him.

If only they could see!

God so Faithful

Here is Jesus about the Father’s business.

God is continually working to sustain the universe and set everything in order. He rested on the Sabbath from creation. His compassion, tender care, and faithfulness do not take a rest.

The work of Jesus and God is one. Is there not a greater need than to relieve someone of their pain and suffering?

Christ’s compassion was identical to God’s – never ceasing.

Jesus healed the man and forgave him, and yet warned him to stop sinning. The grace of God does not leave us at liberty to sin again and again and again. There’s no excuse for sin. True repentance wishes to sin no more.

Why?

Sin separates us from God.

In Conclusion

So, Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He does only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. John 5:19 NLT.

Jesus is still in the healing business. Yet, what happens in our hearts is even more critical. Once we were blind, but now we see. Once we were crippled by sin, but now we’re cured and made whole.

What happened to the cured man? Did he come to faith in the Son of God? Did he keep sinning, or did something even worse happen to him? We don’t know. But one thing we do know is that God’s compassion and faithfulness are genuine. We do not deserve it, but with grateful hearts let’s not forget.

Think what God’s forgiveness cost. The cross is not something taken lightly. Let’s learn to hate sin, not for sin’s sake but for how it breaks the heart of God.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT.