Rise, take up your bed and walk

 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 him, '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  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.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

Yesterday, we read that after spending two days with the townspeople at Jacob's well in Samaria He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet had 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 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.  The feast in this chapter is considered to be the Feast of Weeks, the Old Testament Pentecost, which celebrates the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.  The references to the Law of Moses later in this chapter confirm the interpretation.

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.  This was a double-basin pool, believed to have curative powers.  My study bible tells us that it has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs and was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  This pool functions as a "type" of Christian baptism, my study bible adds.  Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters were special in that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But this grace was limited to the first person to enter.  In the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as direct participation in Christ's sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6), without the mediation of angels.  Thereby, baptism gives healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, with a grace that is inexhaustible.

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.   This is the third sign of seven in John's Gospel.  According to commentary by St. John Chrysostom, this man who had waited for thirty-eight years was singled out by Jesus in order to teach us perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles that last a far shorter time.  Jesus asks, "Do you want to be healed?" for several reasons.  First it makes clear to all the fact that this man kept his faith even in a situation that seemed hopeless.  How could a paralytic be the first into the water?  Secondly, Jesus draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for someone to help us.  This "someone" is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became Man, says my study bible, in order to heal all.  Finally, and importantly, not everyone who is ill actually desires healing.  There are those who prefer to remain infirm in order to complain, avoid responsibility for their lives, or continue exciting the pity of others, each a kind of "currency" in itself.   The question also invites a kind of prayer; regardless of the fact that Jesus knows all about us, and knows better than we do what we actually need, we often find in the Gospels that He asks of those who benefit from His grace to state exactly what they desire.

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 him, '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.   The Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, but this is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:27.  It is also explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  That Christ is Lord over the Sabbath is clear from His command ("Rise, take up your bed and walk") and by the man's immediate obedience.  (See also Matthew 12:1-8.)  We note once again that John uses the term Jews to refer to the leadership and not to the people in general (after all, all the characters here, including Jesus, are Jews).  My study bible points us to the malice of these leaders:  all they focus on is the Sabbath violation, wanting to find "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" but ignoring altogether this man's extraordinary and joyous miraculous healing.

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."  That this man was found by Jesus in the temple shows his great faith, says my study bible.  He had gone there directly to thank God for his cure, rather than departing to someone's home or to the marketplace.  Jesus tells him, "Sin no more" as a way of affirming the divine help he's been given, and maintaining this communion with God.  My study bible adds that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), it's not always one-to-one, because in our world the innocent often suffer and the guilty are often spared earthly sufferings.  Sometimes, however, our sins do lead directly to our own suffering in the world.  For St. John Chrysostom, this was the case with the paralytic.  But Christ's warning also teaches us that the sins that destroy the soul give us a worse result than affliction of the body.  Our hope is to flee from sin altogether.

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.   This man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to the goodness of Christ.  Even those these leaders were only interested in the violation of Sabbath, the healed man asserts that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about carrying his bed.  The leaders understand that Jesus' words imply absolute equality with God. 

Here we have a miraculous pool, with a sort of "enchanted" quality to modern ears, one in which the sheep are bathed for the sacrifice.  There are many who desire to go down into it; all are waiting to be first, because it is only the first who is said to be healed.  We are given an image of the desperation of mankind for help and assistance, some kind of holy water or bath which can help them, available in this basin only once in awhile -- and only for the first one in.  There is competition here, and limitation, and loss, and heartbreak, and even a kind of injustice.  (Why are not all healed?)  But Christ comes offering the living water He spoke of to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (see readings from Saturday and Monday).  He comes with a grace which, as my study bible says, is inexhaustible.  It's for all people.  He offers a kind of faith, a steadfast love that won't let go.  It's also important that we think back to something else He told the Samaritan woman, that "the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."  In this kind of relationship, this kind of worship in spirit and truth, one need not be only in one particular place and at one particular time.  Rather it is God who determines those times and places, and God is limited by nothing.  The grace of the living water that Jesus brings into the world in not only inexhaustible, it is unlimited by any worldly reality.  It is reliant only on God and on our communion with God.  It's important to note that Jesus asks the man in today's reading if he wants to be healed.  Certainly a man waiting there for decades seems to want to be healed!  But being able to articulate what we want from God is part of our communion.  Jesus lets us know this is not a one-sided relationship:  we have our part to play, we must engage with God ourselves, we must seek dialogue.  It is in that communion that we know God's love, and that we find ourselves.  Let us remember the inexhaustible grace that comes from this love, that the One who is sent to us brings.