The Book of John Continued, Chapter Five, the Healing at Bethesda
Slides on the Pool of Bethesda
A brief analysis of John 5: 1-15 is as follows:
1. Jesus in Jerusalem at the feast, v.1.
2. The pool of Bethesda and the sick congregated around it, vv. 2-4.
3. The paralytic man and Christ's healing of him, vv. 5-9.
4. The healed man and his critics, vv. 10-12.
5. The man's ignorance, v. 13.
6. Christ's final word with him, v. 14.
7. The man confesses Jesus, v.15.
8. In Service of the Father vv. 16-18.
I. Verse 1___What was this feast?
A. Most hold it as the Passover but it might be Pentecost. For Passover Look Here
B. If this is the Passover, then there were four Passovers in the Ministry of Jesus.
II. Verse 2____Verse two also is a problem.
a. There is no word in the original language for "gate." The Traditional site of the pool is beneath the Church of St. Anne. Church of St. Anne, built by the Crusaders.
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The
Church
of St. Anne
is
a beautiful 12th-century Crusader church, erected over the
traditional site of the birthplace of Anne (Hannah), the mother of
Mary. It is an excellent example of Romanesque architecture. The church is right next to the Bethesda Pool, believed to be the site where Jesus healed a paralytic (John 5:1-15). Here you can see ruins of a Roman temple to the god of medicine and remains of a Byzantine church built over the temple. As the church is just a few hundred feet east of the Sanctuaries of the Flagellation and the Condemnation, at the beginning of the Via Dolorosa, you might want to visit it before following the stations of the cross. Saint Anne's acoustics, designed for Gregorian chant, are so perfect that the church is virtually a musical instrument to be played by the human voice. Pilgrim groups come to sing in the church throughout the day, and you, too, are welcome to prepare a song of any religion--only religious songs are permitted. The church's acoustics are most amazing when used by a soprano or a tenor solo voice. St. Anne's Church is located in the Muslim Quarter, near the Lion's Gate. Enter through a wooden doorway leading to a hidden garden enclave.
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b. The literal translation, "there is in Jerusalem by the '"place or thing," belonging to the sheep, or pool.
c. So, it could be the sheep market, or sheep gate or sheep something. Sheep gate is tradition.
d. Different names have been given to the pool. Bethzatha (the house of the Olive) or Bethesda (The house of Mercy). The latter is probably the correct fit.
C. The five porches were ancient versions of present day hospital wards. The sick were brought in on stretchers and there they lay.
III. Verse 3-4___The latter half of verse three and all of verse four as they appear in the KJV have been taken out of modern translations.
IV. Verse 5-6____Anyone confined to a bed for 38 years would have lost all sense of muscle tone and be too weak to walk. His case thereby was completely hopeless. It is under these conditions that Jesus ask, "Do you wish to get well"?
V. Verse 7___The invalid's reply shows that he had lost his determination. He was waiting for someone to assist him.
VI. Verse 8___In this case, the healing was not a response to faith, nor was the healing a response to a request. Jesus here was asking the man to do something that was impossible. "Stand up."
VII. Verses 9-10___ The outcome of this miracle was two fold.
A. The paralytic was healed
B. A controversy ensued.
C. Since this healing took place on the Sabbath, it brought Jesus into direct conflict with the religious authorities. The Rabbinic applications of the 4th commandment involved all kinds of casuistic interpretations. (Remember a former study where this was discussed.)
VIII. Verses 11-12___The paralytic seems to have felt no particular gratitude for Jesus and the healing. He took no responsibility for doing this on the Sabbath. In fact, after Jesus had dealt with him a second time, he immediately informed the Jewish leaders that the Sabbath had been broken.
IX. Verse 13___ John indicates that at least on four occasions Jesus quietly withdrew from a scene of controversy. Each of these occurred after an argument with the Jews over His claims (8:59; 10:39; 12:36). All of this reinforces the idea that found in the 4th Gospel that Jesus was immune to danger until the hour of His passion arrived (7:30; 8:20).
X. Verses 14-15___We now find Jesus searching for the man. We here find the interesting charge "stop sinning." This pre-supposes that the man did something that brought on his affliction. We are not told.
XI. Verses 16-18___The reasons are stated as to why the Jews want to harm Jesus.
1. He was working on the Sabbath
2. He was claiming to be equal with God.
3. In the words of a notable commentary, we must at least give the Jews credit for intellectual honesty. More so than a great deal of modern scholarship. I have personally read and heard pronouncement from modern scholarship that the concept of Jesus being equal with God (the Father) was a late second century development and is not taught in the Bible at all.
A Brief analysis of John 5: 19-30 is as follows. The Qualities of Equality!
1. In Will, v. 19
2. In Intelligence, v. 20.
3. In Sovereign Right, v. 21.
4. In Divine Honors, vv. 22-23.
5. In Imparting Life, vv. 24
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19Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22"For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. |
I. Verse 19___In verse nineteen Jesus expands on the idea of how He is equal to the Father. He has the will of the Father and does exactly what the Father does. He said the same in 5:30; 7:28; 8:28; 14:10. Jesus claims that unless He sees the Father doing something, He also does not do it. He then fulfills only the will of the Father (Mt. 11:27; Jn. 8:29).
II. Verse 20___The Father is active in this relationship. He does not simply allow Jesus to discover His will but the Father converses with Jesus and tells Jesus His will.
And now Jesus tells His enemies of the "greater works" the Father will show them. It is important to remember the context here. Apparently the Jews are astonished at the healing of the invalid. It is possible to have several different interpretations as to what are these "greater works" that were yet to come.
A. Some say that Jesus is referring only to the general resurrection and judgment that is to come.
B. Others that He speaks of specific resurrections, e. g. Lazarus, the window's son etc. plus the final resurrection and judgment.
C. Yet others have an even broader interpretation. Jesus here is referring to the raising of the spiritually dead, the bodily dead and the final judgment. This interpretation is more compatible with the context.
D. It is in this context that we must remember Jesus' promise to His disciples. "They will do even greater works than He (John 14:12). In this context, the disciples who we later call apostles convert many, many people to Jesus and the greater works is that of saving these people. By that we mean rescuing the spiritually dead.
II. Verse 21___Jesus is equal with the Father (YHWH) in giving life, especially having the power to raise the dead. This was a power the Israelites ascribed to YHWH (Deut. 32:39 and I Sam. 2:6). In this verse I don't think we are speaking of a particular resurrection but a general claim. Not only does Jesus have to power to give life, Jesus gives life to whomever He wants to give life.
III. Verse 22___The Father has also relegated to the Son the power of judgment (Jn. 3:17; Mat. 25:31-36). As one author states. If the Son has the authority to establish the "assemblies of Christ, " then the Son must legislate who enters the assembly and on what terms. All who are not receiving life through His kingdom are necessarily condemned by their refusal (Jn. 3:18).
IV. Verse 23____In verse 23 we have a statement that seems to be the end of a particular context. We are told:
1. The Father and son are equal in Person.
2. This claim is proved substantiated by equality of works.
3. Therefore, to honor one is to honor the other. In other words, Jesus is God!
V. Verse 24___This is a summary of all that has been said. Since Jesus is God and Jesus has the power give eternal life, then salvation comes by Jesus. It is the Words of Jesus where we find hope. It is by those words we escape from death to life.
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Two Resurrections ("We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds." Thomas Watson) an Older Thesis for more reading on the subject 25"Truly, truly, I say to you,an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26"For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. 28"Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. 30"I can do nothing on My own initiative As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. |
1. The Dead will hear the voice of God! v. 25
2. The Father and the Son the Source of life. v. 26
3. The Son has judgment since He is God. v. 27
4. The raising of the dead. v. 28
5. The final judgment is by deeds. v. 29
6. Whatever Jesus does, it is as the will of the Father. v. 30.
I. When we left off in verse 24 we were speaking of judgment. The man who trust in Jesus enough to keep His word will not come into judgment. Even now, the Christian is in a state of eternal life. But the opposite is true. The man who persists in unbelief is, even while physically alive in a condition of separation (death) from God, and this condition persisted beyond physical death, becomes permanently fixed (Lk. 16:26).
There are to be none excused. Even the sanctified will participate in the general resurrection and appear before the judgment seat of God. All of humanity will be there (II Cor. 5:9-10; Rom. 14:10; Acts 17:30:31; Rev. 20:11-15). The saved and the unsaved will all make an appearance. The saved will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and under no sentence of condemnation (Rev. 3:5,18;Rom. 8:1).
II. Whenever we read of this section of scripture we need to be careful. Jesus speaks of a "spiritual resurrection" as well as a bodily resurrection. The spiritual resurrection is also called spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5).
A. The prodigal son was said to be dead when he was separated from the father (Lk. 15:32).
B. The Gentiles were said to have been dead while living in their unregenerate condition (Eph. 2:1; 5:14).
C. Thus, the person who has sinned (as all of us have) has incurred the wrath of God and God's sentence is on him/her. The sinner in reality is dead---alienated from God (Isa. 59:2; Ezek. 18:4, 20).
D. The good news now that Jesus says in verse 24 and 25 that those who hear His voice and obey it may be made alive or as our Baptist friends say "quickened."
Notice the following comparison:
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First Resurrection (Spiritual) John 5:24___Time has come when the dead shall hear his voice of the Son of God....and live and not come into condemnation. Revelation 20:5b-6 This is the first resurrection. Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power. |
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Second Resurrection (bodily) John 5:28 Time is coming when all who are in tombs will hear His voice and come out---the good unto resurrection of life---evil unto resurrection of condemnation. Revelation 20:13-15 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it: and death and hades gave up the death were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works (notice, not according to accepting Jesus in their hearts). And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast in the lake of fire. |
III. Verse 26___ is a continuation of the same thought. The Father is the source of all life but so is the Son. This was demonstrated through "signs" in John's Gospel.
IV. Verse 27___This is a verse in dispute since the article is left off in front of "son of man." ὅτι υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν.) Since Jesus was "one after the nature of man" He then is a fitting judge for man.
V. Verse 28___In this verse Jesus speaks of the universal resurrection of the saved and the unsaved. This is the bodily resurrection where departed spirits will be united with those bodies. These will be new bodies of a type (See 1st Cor. 15).
VI. Verse 29___All men will be given a body (it looks like the one we have now) to prepare them for their eternal destiny. The "saints" will be pronounced not guilty.
The word for evil here is the word phaula which means worthless. The condemned are "worthless."
In summary:
The Bible reveals that judgment will be:
1. Universal (Rom. 14:10; II Cor. 5:10).
2. Individual (Rom. 14:12; II Cor. 5:10).
3. According to the New Testament (Jn. 12:48; Rom. 2:2, 16).
4. According to man's works (Rom. 2:6; II Cor. 5:10).
5. As certain as the resurrection of Christ (Acts 17:31).
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30
"I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my
judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of
him who sent me. |
An analysis of John 5: 31-47 is as follows:
1. The Power of the resurrection.
2. In Judicial Power and Authority, vv. 27-30.
3. Christ's Witness not independent of the Father: vv. 31, 32.
4. The Witness of John: vv. 33, 34.
5. Christ's Witness to John: v. 35.
6. The Witness of Christ's Works: v. 36.
7. The Witness of the Father: vv. 37, 38.
8. The Witness of the Scriptures: v. 39.
9. Christ's Witness against the Jews: vv. 40-47.
I. Verse 30____ This is a restatement of facts as to the Son's oneness with the Father declared back in verse 19. The reason that the judgment of Jesus is perfect, just, or infallible is that He does what the Father does. The Father shows Jesus how to do all things. In other words, Jesus uses not His own will to make judgments but uses the will of the Father to make judgments.
II. Verse 31___We have a question in this passage as to how the text should actually read. Should the punctuation marks make it read:
1. "If I bear witness concerning Myself, My witness is not true?"
2. "If I should testify to my Own deity without other witnesses, My testimony is not according to the Law of Moses, therefore I adduce the following witnesses, the Father, John the Baptist, the Scriptures and etc..."
3. "If I bear witness to Myself, My witness is not true in your estimation."
If we pay attention to the context, then I see it as Jesus making another claim as to His oneness with the Father. Jesus is simply saying here He can do nothing without the Father.
4. As pointed out in the Old College Press textbooks, John 5:31 and John 8:14 have been the subject of criticism for years. Allegedly they are contradictory. However, if one pays close attention to the context they say the same thing from different angles.
John 5:31
My witness is untrue if given independently of God.
John 8:14
My witness to Myself is true because I and the Father are one in knowledge and will.
In verse 32 Jesus is expressing His confidence in the witness of another. This other One is the Father. Later, Jesus will expand on this idea of the Father being His witness.
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33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. |
Verse 33___They indeed (the Jews) sent to John and asked John about this Jesus (1-19) and John told the truth (1:20, 26, 29, 35, 36). So you asked John and he told the truth about Me.
Verse 34___But, I really don't need a mortal man to take the stand on my behalf. But I use John as my witness so that you in your lack of spirituality may see. (You cannot understand heavenly things so I use earthly things, i.e. John).
Verse 35___From Barclay on the lamp.
1. A lamp bears a borrowed light. It is not the source of the light but is lit!
2. John's message was warm---not coldly intellectual or ritualistic.
3. John had light__light guides___John guided men to repent in preparation for the coming King and His Kingdom.
4. A lamp burns itself out. John decreased as the Lord increased. Thus, a true witness for God will be as John. They will burn out in the service of God.
A. The Jews flocked to John the Baptist at the start of his ministry like insects attracted to a lamp.
B. They rejoiced in his message of the coming Messiah until the light turned on them and revealed their wickedness.
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36But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. |
The Father's Witness
I. Verse 36___As if Jesus needed a greater testimony than His miracles and signs, He now says He does in fact have such a witness.
a. His miracles were such proof on their own that even Nicodemus could not deny Him (Jn. 3:2).
b. Jesus' own brothers admitted them as factual (Jn. 73).
c. Jewish rulers could not deny the miracles of the apostles (Acts 4:16).
d. The "sign" and "miracles" should have been enough on their own!
II. Verse 37___The Son has already introduced the Father as a witness (v. 32) and this witness is connected with Jesus' miracles (v. 36) and Scriptures (vv. 38-39).
So what does Jesus mean when He says "His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen"?
a. This cannot be a literal statement because some did hear His voice and Jesus' baptism (Mt.3:17; Mk.1:11).
b. Some heard His voice on the Mt. of Transfiguration (Mt. 17:5-6; Mk. 9:7).
c. Jesus is referring to spiritual hearing or perception (Jn. 4:12).
d. Their failure to hear and see God has a connection with their failure to hear and see Jesus as God incarnate (v. 38).
e. If they had understood the Old Testament as they should have, they would have recognized the Messiah as the fulfillment of the shadows, prophesies and types.
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39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
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I. Verse 39___Without entering a long grammatical argument, suffice it to say that this verse (v. 39) probalby should be stated as "they were searching the Scriptures."
A. Searching the Scriptures:
a. Jesus here is basing His argument on the perverted use of the Bible.
b. The Jesus "search the Scriptures" and often after studying a particular word, came up with some wild allegorical interpretation or something of that nature.
B. Yet, with all this searching, they still rejected the Messiah of which the Scriptures spoke about.
a. They were afflicted by what we see in the modern church congregations. Their minds were made up before they searched the Scriptures.
b. They were Bibliolatrist (Bible worshipers): They worshiped the "words" of the Bible but not what those words spoke about.
II. Verse 40___In this verse there is a complete refutation of Calvinism or Augustiniansim. For Augustine and company, when God decides to give you His grace it cannot be refused (Irresistible Grace). Irresistible grace in their theology is linked to "Predestination." Verse 40 teaches that humans have a free will and "can" and "do" reject God.
III. Verse 41___ This section is a continuing conversation between Jesus and the Jews. Jesus does not do miracles to please men. "He does not receive glory from people."
IV. Verse 42___It is here that Jesus states their real reason for failure to acknowledge or accept Him. They (the Jews) did not love God (1st John 2:5; 4:7-9).
V. Verse 43___This verse shows the truth of the above verse. There was a complete lack of fellowship with the Jews and God's will. Here is the argument. If a mortal came as the Messiah and patterned His claims after what the Jews "wanted the Messiah to be" they would accept Him. But Jesus who comes as the "will of God the Father" is rejected.
VI. Verse 44___The root of their problems was seeking glory on this earth. They like to receive glory from each other. Gee, I have never heard of such a thing before.
VII. Verse 45__It isn't me (Jesus) who will bring condemnation on you. You study the words of Moses and it is by the words of Moses you will be condemned.
VIII. Verse 46___In fact, it was Me that Moses was writing about.
IX. Verse 47___You don't really believe Moses and that being the case, you don't believe me.
