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After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 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. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 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?" 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." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.
And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed." He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'" Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
- John 5:1-18
In yesterday's reading, Jesus had departed once again for Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe." The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!" Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!" Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." And he himself believed, and his whole household. This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. This is the second feast Jesus has attended in John's Gospel. The first was the Passover feast at which He cleansed the temple. My study bible gives us some details on this feast: "St. John Chrysostom and other Fathers state that this feast is the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (or the Feast of Weeks), due to references to the Law of Moses later in the chapter. The Feast of Pentecost centers around the theme of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai."
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. Again, my study bible gives us important information: "This double-basin pool, believed to have curative powers, has been discovered by archaeologists about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate. The water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs, and it was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain. The pool has led some Christians to see in the imagery a prefiguration of baptism."
In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 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. My study bible tells us some more interesting details: "This passage, explaining the presence of the sick around the pool, is often omitted from modern English translations because it appears in none of the oldest extant Greek manuscripts. . . . The disturbance of the water may actually have been caused by bubbling up of the intermittent underground springs, which was understood as an angelic action. On the other hand, it is possible that angelic activity was indeed the cause for the stirring of the water. The role of spiritual powers in the world must never be discounted."
Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 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?" My study bible says that Jesus asks this man an obvious question in order to stimulate his faith. But I find this action interesting: Jesus is initiating what is to happen -- while fully allowing this man to make his own petition, to engage in dialogue and express himself and his desire to Christ.
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." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. In the man's answer, we gain insight further into Jesus' compassion. It's a sad story! He's infirm and can never reach the pool in the throng and the competition. He has no one to help him. Jesus has reached out to the one with no one to assist him. As in yesterday's reading, with simply a word from Jesus, the man is made well.
And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed." My study bible says here: "Although the law of the Sabbath (Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15) does not specifically prohibit the carrying of burdens, this activity is mentioned in Jer. 17:21 and Neh. 13:19 and was explicitly forbidden by rabbinical regulations. The Jews again refers not to the Jewish people (for the paralytic was a Jew), but to the authorities, who thought of themselves as guardians of the Law."
He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'" Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." My study bible points out that it was "a common belief that illness and misfortune were divine retribution for sin. The Savior, however, does not ratify this as an absolute principle. The paralytic's cure is to lead to conversion and a righteous life." I see in Jesus' words a kind of warning about what we do with grace in our lives -- we embrace and follow where it leads. To spurn grace, an intervention of God's mercy, is to tempt ourselves to a worse position than we were in before.
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus gives a "defense" of Himself and His works; He explains what He is doing and will continue to do. My study bible puts it this way: "Confronted by His Jewish critics, Jesus argues that God's sustaining and redeeming work in the world does not cease on the Sabbath. Hearing these words, the Jews [meaning the leadership] are doubly offended: Jesus not only violates scribal law, but also presents Himself as equal with God." We take Jesus' words about Himself to be a statement of truth, and of revelation; but they are stumbling blocks for those whom these words outrage.
When Jesus tells this healed man to "sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you," I think we can be tempted to hear an over-strictness to these words. Doesn't Christ Himself instruct us to forgive seventy times seven? How can the man "sin no more?" But I think what we hear is something empty of the love of Jesus if we hear this in some sort of conventional way we may have heard it in our own lives or experience. To sin no more, in Jesus' words, is to maintain covenant with God, with Himself. The healed man has received God's grace, a loving intervention, and to be told to "sin no more" by Christ is an important affirmation that God wants this love to be returned! If we think of "sinning no more" as a loving relationship to our Creator, and maintaining that relationship unbroken, I think we can understand Christ better than we do if we can't "hear" that love in these words. God wants God's sheep back in the fold: healing and intervention work to bind us in that love, and Jesus wishes to keep this man in that love, one of His sheep that has come to Him -- or rather that Christ has come to in offer of restored relationship and wholeness. The Shepherd has found one sheep by the Sheep Gate! If we see it in that context, we understand that love is an invitation, and God's love -- just like Jesus' question, "Do you want to be made well?" -- is an invitation to relationship and to healing with this man. The fact that Jesus finds him again tells us something more about Christ and this relationship: as long as we want His love, He will never let us go. Even when we don't know where we can find Him, He will never let us go. And even if we break this relationship, He will always reach out to find us. This is love in action, love in words and deeds, and love that calls to us to keep that bond of love and return it: by dialogue (a response to Jesus' question, "Do you want to be made well?") and by communion, covenant ("sin no more"). Can we embrace that faith and find His love? Can we return it and ourselves with love? There is so much to heal; perhaps in the words to "sin no more" Christ teaches us that the healing is to be ongoing!
