John 5 - Preacher's Commentary

5:1-8

A Cripple Walking Home: “Do You Want to Be Made Well?”

Chapter 5 begins with “After this.” There is a sequence in the events, movement from one sign to the next, each deepening in intensity and meaning. John’s Gospel makes it clear that Jesus delighted in the feast days of His people that celebrated the saving acts of God. So He journeyed again to Jerusalem. Which feast it was in this case is incidental to the main point. The fact that He deliberately healed a needy, lonely man on the Sabbath (see v. 9) becomes the crucial issue of this visit. This act of mercy caused suspicion and anger among the Jews and a determination that this blasphemer must be killed.

Again we have the “feel” of an actual happening. The details of this encounter, which are included so naturally, can only come from one who was an eyewitness. The Sheep Gate was in the northeast area of the temple, so called because here the animals were brought for the sacrifices. The pool was called Bethesda in the native Hebrew tongue. There is now evidence from the copper scroll found at Qumran that the name of this area or pool seems to have been “Bell ‘Esda” meaning “house of the flowing.”¹ “The pool was trapezoidal in form, 165 to 220 feet wide by 315 feet long, divided by a central partition. There were colonnades on the four sides and on the partition—thus John’s ‘five porticos.’”²

Apparently there were underground springs, and it was believed the waters had curative powers whenever they bubbled or moved. Here lay a “great multitude” of the crippled, blind, and paralyzed waiting for some movement. Imagine the shuffling sounds of those needy, hurting people struggling to get into the water as it began to gurgle and move a bit. I have haunting memories of seeing a vast throng of people bathing in the supposedly sacred, but filthy, water of the Ganges River in Calcutta, even though a mile or two up the river sewage was being dumped into the water.

Here lay “a certain man,” one single, solitary human being in the midst of this vast throng (v. 5). And “Jesus saw him.” This is the gospel! Jesus sees and cares for the one person—whether it is Nicodemus, the woman at the well, this needy man, or any one of us. Jesus was never falsely impressed by a crowd, whatever its size, and never let it get in the way of the one who desperately needed Him. This man had been sick for thirty-eight years. His situation is hopeless. He has given in to his illness, become a prisoner of his own despair. What chance is there he will ever get into the pool?

So Jesus’ question, “Do you want to be made well?” seems quite unnecessary. But how can Jesus cut through the excuses and defenses that have grown with the years like layers of fat and get through to who the man really is? Is there some deep, untouched shred of hope within the man, a longing to just get up and go home, to take on again the frustrating, challenging responsibilities of everyday life? Will he hear and obey?

So often people succumb to their illness, “bedding down” with their alcoholism or heart trouble or partial paralysis, or whatever. They become psychological and spiritual invalids, retreating within themselves, avoiding responsibilities, becoming more and more self-centered as they demand sympathy from others. Every now and then in dealing with this kind of defeated person in the office or at a hospital bed or in a luncheon appointment I have asked that question, “Do you want to be made well?” Otherwise we will go on visiting, skirting the issue. Sometimes the response is puzzlement. “What do you mean?” Sometimes it has been anger, and every now and then an urgent, “Yes, come on, let’s go!”

Something in this crippled man clicked. Deep within there was a small opening. Perhaps this friendly Stranger could do something for him. He addressed Jesus with a respectful “Sir.” He put himself under the authority of Jesus. But even then, there is a note of self-pity in his answer, “I have no man to put me into the pool … another steps down before me.” He has waited in vain so long one gets the feeling he has become a permanent loser, a complainer who is avoided by the others.

5:9-15

The Controversy: “Who is the Man?”

Jesus sees that small glimmer of hope and cuts through all the cripple’s hopelessness. Jesus gives a simple command, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And the quiet, creative power of God begins to flow through his crippled limbs and spirit, and once again he knows the warmth of life. “And immediately … made well… took up his bed … walked.” These strong words describing the action signify that life has broken in. The man is on his way home.

Then John adds a simple phrase, almost an afterthought it seems, “And that day was the Sabbath” (v. 9). They are words that are laden with potential controversy. It is almost as if Jesus has done this work of mercy on the Sabbath to get an explosive issue into the open. By this act He has declared His authority and mission at a place and time which will cause confrontation.

The Sabbath originally was set as a day of rest and worship, but also of celebration, to rejoice before God who was in the midst of His creation. But it had become a dreary institution hedged in by all kinds of scribal regulations as if the holiness of God could be protected by legalisms. For example, “carrying things from one domain to another” on the Sabbath was one of the works forbidden and “carrying empty beds” was implicitly forbidden, as were “works of healing.”³ So when the healed man comes carrying his bed, he is immediately confronted by the Jews who remind him of the rules.

His defense is to blame the Man who commanded him to take up his bed and walk. And when he is then asked, “Who is the Man?” he can only confess ignorance. He has accepted the gracious gift of healing without discovering who has dealt with him so kindly. The Healer has slipped away in the crowd. But once again Jesus’ identity has become the crucial issue!

Jesus is eager that this man should know who it is that has healed him. So He seeks him out in the temple—does He not seek us all out?—and reminds this man who is so uncertain in his witness that he has been made totally whole. There is no halfway healing with this Physician. But He also warns him not to sin again lest a “worse thing come upon [him].” This is not a characteristic teaching of Jesus, who was never too interested in speculating about the causes for illness, but was passionately concerned that any healing be to the glory of God. So we cannot help but wonder if some lustful, fleshly sin had caused this man’s illness.

In this temple encounter, the healed one discovers the identity of his Healer. One wonders at what point and in what way that happened. For each person the coming of that awareness is a unique and personal mystery. The man then “departs”—almost too quickly—to give the Jews this choice bit of news. He is obviously too eager to please the Jews to take his stand with Jesus.

5:16-20

The Issue: The Relation of Father and Son

Now the issue is in the open, and Jesus’ enemies react quickly and violently. They “persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.” In response to their anger, Jesus declares His relationship to His Father. He is not off on His own defying tradition as a lone star faith healer. He has healed this man on the Sabbath because He is doing the work of His Father.

And God does His unique work even on the Sabbath. Even with their intense desire to regulate and control the Sabbath, Jewish theologians knew that all created things would cease to exist, that all birth and growth and life would come to an end, if God did not continue His work on even this holy day. So, in this work of mercy, the healing of this man, Jesus has done the work of His Father.

The crux of the matter is Jesus’ relation to God, whom He calls “My Father.” For this itinerant, free-wheeling, unorthodox wonder-worker to dare call God “My Father” is the ultimate blasphemy. He has made Himself equal with God! And for these rigid, angry monotheists, this is the sin which deserves only death!

5:21-30

Life and Judgment are in the Son

The Father has given His power of life to the Son. The work of the Father is revealed in the works of the Son as He freely shares life with whomever He chooses. Every devout Jew knew that God was the Source of all life—not only in the act of creation, but even in raising the dead. They accepted the accounts of life being given to the dead in the Old Testament records, but for this itinerant preacher to claim that gift of life was an affront to their rigid orthodoxy. Yet, specific proof that the life of God was in Him was before them in the one who had been healed.

With that power came the authority of judgment. This, too, the Father had committed to the Son. In His coming, “the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:11). Those who reject the gift of life come under that judgment. These very Jews who refused to hear and accept this One who stood before them are even now experiencing judgment! All through the Gospel there is a “division of the house” wherever Jesus goes. His words and deeds either bring men to acceptance or rejection, to life or death. There is no neutral ground. Since life and judgment have been given to the Son, He is to be honored as is the Father; and if the Son is dishonored, the Father will be dishonored.

There is both life and judgment in the challenging invitation Jesus issues to the very antagonists He faces. If they hear His Word—His whole message—and through that Word come to believe in the One who sent Him, they have eternal life at this moment. But there is judgment for those who refuse to hear. They remain in death. This invitation and challenge comes to each of us. It is addressed to me! At His bidding I can either take up my bed and walk or linger in death among the lame and blind.

For the third time in this discourse Jesus says, “Most assuredly” (v. 25). These are life and death words, for the destiny of those who listen hangs on how they hear and respond. There is an “hour coming … when the dead will hear the voice of the Son” and come forth to face judgment. The Father has given Him the authority to speak that final word. But that time of crisis and judgment is also now! In Jesus, the present moment of decision and the final hour of judgment are brought together. The word of life and death that He will speak at the end is heard now. And the response given in this moment of faith or rejection will be clearly known at the end. So all of us live in an eschatological tension between this time of decision and the final revelation of all things.

But the place and time for making that decision is now, in this fleshly situation. The One who faces these men does not call for some kind of mystical, unearthly vision or activity, but for a concrete, specific decision in the midst of life. They are invited to hear and believe and follow in their rabbinic robes or at their fish nets or carpenter benches. Here is where we all know either life or judgment.

The man Jesus, who issues this invitation, calls Himself the “Son of Man,” in this context the One spoken of in Daniel 7:13, 14.

“And behold, One like the Son of Man,

Coming with the clouds of heaven! …

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him… .

And His kingdom the one

Which shall not be destroyed.”

This mighty Man of God, now clothed in flesh, confronts these men. This is the “place of decision.”

That authority to call forth the dead to life or condemnation is not His own. It has been given Him by His Father. Since Jesus lives only to do the will of His Father, His judgments are righteous.

5:31-39

The Witnesses Who Surround Him

Day after day all kinds of needy people come to our church doors asking for some kind of help—a few dollars for gas to get up the road a bit, some morsels of food for hungry stomachs, or some rent money so they will not be evicted. And so often they will pull out some dog-eared papers which are supposed to prove their identity and need. And so many of us are trying to do the same thing, trying to prove who or what we are to people around us. “Let me tell you who I am.” “Look at me; I’m really doing some things that are important.”

But Jesus had no need to prove who He was or why He had come. If He had constantly pointed to Himself, His own witness would have eventually become a lie. He had come to glorify His Father, not Himself. He was a Man of transparent integrity surrounded by witnesses who eagerly validated His mission.

His Father gave these differing witnesses their authority, and was constantly placing His stamp of approval on Jesus and His work!

At the outset of Jesus’ ministry there was one witness who prepared the way for His coming. For some, John the Baptist had been a passing fad or another interesting prophet. Yet the power of his influence lived on. In faithfully pointing to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” John had been a “burning and shining lamp,” a witness to the Truth.

And the works which Jesus was doing could not be divorced from who He was! Nor could they be divorced from the One who had sent Him! They, too, were a witness. So while many were dazzled and intrigued and even made shallow commitments because of His signs and wonders, there were others who knew they could only be the work of God. What they saw Jesus doing revealed the glory of the Father.

I have just asked a man I hardly know to “scalp” our lawn, which he has agreed to do for ninety dollars. And the reason I have hired him is because a dear neighbor whose word I trust said, “Oh yes, Tony does great work. He really took care of my lawn.” It is the same with Jesus! He could be trusted because of His works!

Nothing would have happened—no work of mercy, no teaching with authority, no sharing of life—if the Father’s approval had not rested on the Son. He could do nothing of Himself! All that Jesus was and said and did witnessed to the intimate, eternal, loving relationship He shared with the Father!

And finally, the Scriptures bear witness to Him. On every page there is some promise, some claim, some echo which speaks of His living presence. The Scriptures, rightly understood, are centered in Him and lead us to Him!

5:40-47

The Tragic Rejection

What an awesome tragedy, then, that the very ones who searched the Scriptures, who prided themselves on being experts as they worked over every jot and tittle, thinking in all this they had eternal life, were not willing to come to the One of whom the Scriptures spoke. They rejected Him! Here He was standing before them, bold and clear, inviting them and challenging them, and they turned on Him in anger—all the time believing they were being faithful to the Scriptures. So they did not hear the voice of the Father, nor could they perceive His form, and in the end, the words they studied did not abide in them.

Because they would not come to Him, they did not have the love of God in them. They had rejected the love of God, and in their rejection, they would not allow the One who came in love to bridge the chasm. So they ended up honoring one another, which almost sounds like what goes on at some ministers’ conventions. They became spiritually blind, accepting anyone who came along as an authority, rather than the One who had come in the Father’s name!

I have seen much power and life released in a great variety of Bible study groups. As a matter of fact, I have helped initiate and encourage the formation of many of these groups since my first encounter with Faith at Work years ago. But I am also aware that these groups can become self-righteous ghettos filled with criticism and pride, spiritual dead ends, where the members strain over commentaries, as well as one another’s opinions and interpretations, but where there is no love or obedience. The Scriptures then do not lead to life, but to death. The participants may honor one another, but in so doing have neither heard the voice nor seen the form of the Lord of the Scriptures. It is better then to deal with unlettered, fresh, and at times almost vulgar, new believers who are eager to devour the Word because here they have found life—hot and powerful!

The great irony in all this is that the very one these Jewish leaders felt they knew and trusted, Moses, ended up being their accuser. For if they really understood and believed what Moses had written, they would have accepted Jesus, the One to whom he bore witness. But they misread and misinterpreted because they came to the Scripture with hard, unbelieving hearts. So they missed His message and consequently missed life. They were condemned, having rejected the One of whom he spoke!