The Third of the
Significant Miracles in John – Healing a Disabled Man[1]
The third sign is the healing of a severely disabled man.
It was in Jerusalem, the nation’s capital, and
at the pool of Bethesda,
near the sheep gate. It was at the time
of an un-named feast. Whereas in the
previous miracle those in need approached the Messiah, here with evident
intent, He took the initiative. Out of
the crowd at the poolside, He selected a physical wreck of a man, and asked him
if he wished to be healed. The Bible tells us that the waters of Bethesda had healing
virtue at certain seasons.[2]
The “certain seasons” were probably feast times. So among the “multitude of those who were
sick, blind, lame, and paralysed”[3]
was this paralytic. He responded to the
stranger’s invitation by saying that the only resource, the healing waters,
were out of his reach during the short time they were blessed. Jesus permitted no further objections and
healed him with the words, “take up your bed and walk”.[4]
Not knowing the identity of his benefactor, the
now healthy Israelite climbed the Temple
mount for the first time in nearly four decades, there to give thanks and
praise to God for His beneficence. The merciful Messiah had given yet another
person a new start, both physically and spiritually. Later that day, the One
who not only had the power to loose from sin, but also to bind, found the man
still in the Temple,
and warned him, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”[5]
This sign, performed as it was in the nation’s capital, has
somewhat of a national application. The
Sanhedrin had not yet published their decision, so Jesus offers, in Jerusalem, a further
fingerpost sign. The cure at the poolside demonstrated that the ‘miqweh’, ‘the
immersion pool’, ‘the fountain of living waters’, ‘the Hope of Israel’
Himself, was present to heal.[6] If
they rejected Him they would be guilty of the same two sins as the generation
that was taken into captivity: “they have forsaken me the fountain of living
waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water”.[7]
The long-term invalid was a man whose
condition was the result of obdurate sin. He had been chronically ill and
disadvantaged for 38 years. This period
of time reminds us of the generation which wandered in the wilderness for a
further 38 years after God had found them guilty of ‘stiff-necked’ sin. If this
sign is for the nation, then it must be a warning to those rebel leaders of the
current generation. The warning to the
newly invigorated man contained the pregnant phrase, “lest a worse thing come
upon you”. Later, when Jesus was accused
of being demon-possessed and formally rejected by the Sanhedrin, he told the
leadership that a worse thing would come upon them. Their condition would deteriorate by a factor
of seven because of their rejection of His Messianic claim.[8]
The emphasis here is on the matter of
sin. The principles are: “the invalid is
not healed until his sins are forgiven”,[9]
and: “who can forgive sins, but God alone?”[10] At
the pool of Bethesda, served by the fountain of
Siloam, Jesus brings into focus the prophecy of Zechariah: “there shall be a
fountain (wellspring) opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for
uncleanness”.[11]
This healing took place on the Sabbath, and the
reaction of those that had political power was to persecute Jesus and conspire
to kill Him. Their Messiah indicated that He had had no alternative but to
follow His mission, obey His Father, and heal the invalid: “My Father is
working until now, and I Myself am working”.[12]
The Sanhedrists were further incensed: “for this reason therefore the Jews were
seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath,
but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God”.[13]
[1] John
5.1-16
[2] John 5.4
[3] John 5.3
[4] John 5.8
[5] John
5.14
[6]
Jer.17.13,14
[7]Jer.2.13
[8]
Matt.12.45
[9] Nedar
41.a; cf. James 5.15
[10] Mark
2.7; Luke 5.21
[11]
Zech.13.1
[12]John 5.17
[13] John
5.18
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