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

 

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  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.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

 

Yesterday we read that after the two days He departed from Samaria and went to 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 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.  Traditionally, this feast is viewed as the Feast of Weeks or the Old Testament Pentecost (as it occurs 50 days after Passover).   It is a celebration of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  Later in this chapter, we will see many references to the Law of Moses, which confirm this 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, which was believed to have curative powers.  My study bible says that it has recently been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool was from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  My study bible further comments that this pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  The waters were special in the sense that they offered a way to indirectly participate in the animal sacrifices in the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But in that case, only the first person to enter could receive grace.  By contrast, under the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in the sacrificial death of Christ (see Romans 6:3-6) and without mediation of angels.  Thereby baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, with inexhaustible grace. 

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary as saying that Jesus singled out this particular man who had waited for thirty-eight years so that we are taught to have perseverance, and also as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.

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.  My study bible comments that Christ's question to the man is relevant for many reasons.  First, it makes public the fact that the sick man kept his faith although in a seemingly hopeless circumstance.  How could a paralytic ever be the first in the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water and toward the need that we have for a man to help us.  This is fulfilled in Christ, who became that human being in order to heal all.  Finally, not all those who are ill actually desire healing.  Some might prefer to remain infirm for varying reasons, such as the capacity to freely complain, to avoid responsibility in some sense for their lives, or to continue receiving the pity of others.

 

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.  Although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, my study bible notes that it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and also explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.   It is made clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath by His command, "Rise, take up your bed and walk," and also by the man's obedience in response.  As we frequently note, in John's Gospel, the term the Jews -- as in this example -- refers to the leaders and not to the Jewish people in general.  My study bible comments on the malice of these leaders, who focus solely on the Sabbath violation in asking him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk?" and ignoring altogether the 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."  A note in my study bible remarks on the fact that this man was found in the temple:  it shows his great faith, for he had gone there directly to thank God for his healing, rather than leaving to someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus tells him, sin no more.  My study bible comments that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is not always one-to-one, for the innocent frequently suffer, and the guilty are also often spared earthly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).   But there are times when our sins do lead directly to our own suffering in this world.  St. Chrysostom states that this was the case with the paralytic.  But, my study bible adds, Christ's warning is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The only hope is to flee from sin altogether.  

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.   My study bible notes that the man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to the goodness of Christ.  Although these leaders only show an interest in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man nevertheless emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and he says nothing about carrying his bed.  

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.  Here is an explanation of the effort to persecute Jesus, but once again, Christ's response is on the work of the Father which He is working.  As Jesus declares God to be "My Father," the leaders clearly understand that it implies Christ is equal with God.  

In the first chapter of John's Gospel, John the Baptist introduces Jesus to His future disciples as the Lamb of God (1:29, 36).  Here in today's reading, the commentary of my study bible ties in that title and understanding with this reading about the pool at the Sheep Gate.  It is the pool in which the sacrificial lambs are washed before they are slain, and that is part of the perception that this water has properties through which one may indirectly participate in the sacrifice.  But, as my study bible explains, those properties are limited:  they are restricted only to the first one to enter the water, and that grace is mediated by an angel.  Expanding on this understanding, we take on the meaning of the name of Christ as Lamb of God.  In our understanding of the Cross, and Christ's sacrifice as Lamb of God, we are each invited to participate fully in His grace and His healing for us.  Thus, we understand the viewpoint of our earliest ancestors in the Church:  that Christ is an expression of the fullness of the potential in our ancient expressions of faith and reaching toward God.  Where the man with the infirmity hoped for decades to reach the pool first, now Christ is fully in the world for each of us, as is the grace with which we've been bestowed, which my study bible calls "inexhaustible."  We should not think it strange that the water that washed the lambs was hoped to heal, and also through the intervention of an angel.  In the long history of the Church, and from the beginning, it was understood that objects could retain healing power through contact with the holy.   In today's reading, we're given the third sign in John's Gospel.  It exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness, an important expansion on what we already understand of Christ's power and identity as divine Person.  In our previous reading, we were given the healing of the nobleman's son, a presumably youthful and ill boy.  But here the text goes out of its way to let us know that this is an older man with a long degenerative illness, seeking a cure here at the Sheep Gate for thirty-eight years.  His immediate restoration to wholeness through Christ tells us of the abundant grace available in the Person of Christ, and also that time is no object to His power.  That Jesus tells the man, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you," is, to my ears, an affirmation of that power, as to go and sin would be a type of deliberate violation of the grace and power that has so fully been bestowed to heal.  What has been given is given freely and abundantly, and through faith:  to go and sin would be a deliberate act against both faith and the gift of grace, and thereby risking the effects of rejection of the presence of Christ in the paralytic's life, a turning away from the gift of participation.   This is a theme from the beginning of John's Gospel, that to turn away from the light is to risk the effects of the darkness.   Let us consider the ways in which we participate in Christ's sacrifice and in the grace of God.  What good things have come to you?  Is there healing that has happened in your life in response to faith?  Let us remember that gifts of grace are myriad, and seldom spectacular, except to the one who understands God's work in oneself and one's life.  To be grateful is a key here, as my study bible notes that Christ finds this healed man giving thanks in the temple.  Let us always refresh our connection and participation in the life and grace we're offered.  The man tells Jesus, "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."  Let us remember that in the communion we're offered and the fullness of our Pentecost, there are countless saints, and always a Helper present -- even when we feel alone.