Michael-Grams: M-G: 4.4.20 // Some Comments on Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda, John 5:1-15, Part 2 of 4

(Jn 5:4) For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

Apart from John 5:3b-4, all we know is that people with an array of health issues were flocking to the pool of Bethesda (v3) and awaiting the water to stir (v7). In addition, there seems to be a concerted effort when the water is stirred up to make it down to the pool first to receive their healing! The rule of the pool was every man for himself!

(Jn 5:5) Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.

This man had been unsuccessful for an undetermined amount of time at Bethesda because he obviously came in second; all came in second but the one reaching the pool first. No one would take pity on him and help him to the pool, but while I am coming, another steps down before me (v7, emphasis mine). Apparently, he was not completely immobile. Being second wasn't going to cut it!

Imagine being afflicted from 1982 until now in 2020. This man’s only hope was making it down to the pool before anyone else. Jesus offered this man a more realistic hope, a totally unexpected hope! Another observed that he had been in that condition before Jesus was born!8 Physically speaking, there was no hope he would ever make it to the pool first. Spiritually speaking, his life was characterized as having no hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12).

Even in the slightest of chance he made it down to the water first, and if there were truly healing properties in the stirring of the waters, he would only be a healed sinner, still with no hope and without God in the world. His thoughts were dominated only on the physical, nothing spiritual. The hope (elpsis) that Jesus gives is expectational, never does it carry the meaning of uncertainty. Here in this man’s physical healing is where we see a great irony. This man will be healed by Jesus, but there is no biblical evidence that he ever accepted Jesus into his heart, only an opinion.

(Jn 5:6) When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, Do you want to be made well?

When Jesus saw him lying there.

Saw (eido, intellectual knowledge)

And knew that he already had been in that condition a long time.

Knew (ginosko, experiential knowledge). All we know is that Jesus saw and knew the length of this man’s physical condition. Whether this knowledge was supernatural (omniscient), or experiential (observational or overheard) is uncertain. I lean toward the former.

He said to him, Do you want to be made well?

Admittedly, this translation makes it sound like a duh question! the man could have thought, “You are kidding me, right?” And he might even sarcastically add, “No, I just come down here to bet on who makes it first into the water!” Perhaps he took a more positive spin, “You can’t win if you don't play, right?” This sounds like someone playing the lottery today!

Of course, he wanted to be healed as much as anyone there with a physical problem, if not more, being in his condition for the last 38 years. We don’t even know if his infirmity was due to an accident or from birth; Jesus knew. If ever there was an illustration of striving against all odds, this man had it. What Jesus was actually saying encompassed far greater healing, “Do you want to be made whole?” This would include physical and spiritual. The only hope of ever becoming whole was for him to get into the pool before anyone else when the water became troubled. But his thinking on becoming whole was not the same degree as what Jesus had in mind.

So, the question Jesus asked wasn’t a “do-dah” question at all. Bear in mind that whenever God asked a question to someone in the Bible, it was never a solicitation for information for He is all-knowing. It was for the benefit of the one being asked. Whole to this man had no spiritual dynamic; his hope was merely physical. He saw no need for spiritual healing. The issue he had was limited to his physical infirmity, not sin!

We learn at least two things from this question. (1) Jesus will not heal us without our permission. I believe that this man was so cynical and hardened by his condition that repeated failures to successfully make it down to the pool only made him bitter? If he had said no to Jesus for whatever reason, the Lord would have moved on to someone else (cf. Jn 5:13). However, Jesus knew beforehand that he would take Him up on the offer physically but not spiritually, but He would give him a spiritual opportunity later on at the temple to make that choice.

(2) Jesus wanted the man to acknowledge his helplessness or hopelessness in healing himself. There could be no way this man could claim that he had any part in his healing, except obeying His commands. Let’s be clear here; this man was only interested in physical healing. Unfortunately, when Jesus approached him the second time at the temple, this man took a different tack and was unreceptive to spiritual healing (Jn 5:15)! He failed to see that his greater infirmity was spiritual, not physical.

(Jn 5:7) The sick man answered Him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.

The sick man answered Him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool.

This man only saw his physical need and was blinded to his spiritual need for deliverance. His immediate problem, besides his infirmity, was no one was helping him get down to his physical “healing.” He was convinced that the answer to his malady was to be found in the troubled waters. That was his focus, his only focal point to the exclusion of any spiritual considerations.

Put (ballo, to throw)

This man realized in his condition he would have to be thrown into the pool, not carefully placed when the waters stirred in order to beat the stampede. This suggests the intensity of the desperation of his heart, “Don set me in the pool; throw me in! This was his assessment and his action plan, but he needed someone to help him in beating the odds.

When the water is stirred up.

It was commonly believed that when the waters were troubled, there was healing power in the water for the first one to get into the pool. I am more inclined to believe that people are so weary of their affliction that they will grasp for anything for they have nothing to lose. Even superstition transforms into false hope. It is a picture of helplessness investing in hopelessness.

I am of the opinion that this man at the pool had such an intense focus on the physical aspect of his life for so long that when the opportunity came to address his spiritual need at the temple, he squandered it in selfishness and unthankfulness! The Pharisees probably threatened physical harm for violating the Sabbath day to his newly healed body; this man had already decided that he was going to protect himself at all costs; so, he succumbed to revealing the name of his Healer to the religious authorities.

But while I am coming.

How many times has he done this over the years? Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. The pursuit of futility is insanity; Solomon said as much, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Eccl 1:2).

Another steps down before me.

Another (allos, another of the same kind). Contrast another in Jn 19:37 (heteros, one of a different kind; the distinctions can be a fuzzy one)! This man’s situation was utterly hopeless in getting into the pool before anyone else. Why would the people gather around knowing the odds that the rule of the pool was not going to be in their favor? Why play the lottery, having hope against hope? Because of the rationalization that someone has to win (contrast Php 4:11; Heb 13:5).

Save it and give it to Yahweh! I have asked Christian lottery players, “What makes you think it is God’s will for you to be rich?” The answers are disappointing. Let me just say that spiritual needs should always trump physical needs; you may disagree, but this man at the pool, who didn’t know Jesus, believed in just the opposite – physical trumps the spiritual. In fact, the world of unbelievers naturally attests to the physical over the spiritual; it is a byproduct of being spiritually blind; for believers, it is the result of spiritual ignorance.

(Jn 5:8) Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your bed and walk.

What was about to take place had absolutely nothing to do with the stirring of the water or beating everyone down to the pool. Jesus didn’t have to wait for any conditions to be just right, like the stirring of the waters. When Jesus physically healed someone, that person was physically healed whole, with no partial healings. Jesus was certainly not there to put this man in the pool, but instead, He commanded him to get up (on his own); pick up his bed (at once), and continue walking away! As a mountain man once said, “Thar’s power in them thar words!” <><