John 5 - Jon Courson's Application Commentary

The feast referred to is most likely the Feast of Pentecost-the celebration of the giving of the law.

No matter from which direction or elevation one traveled, it was always “up” to Jerusalem because Jerusalem was where the temple was, where worship took place, where the Word was taught.

The very location speaks of Judaism, of the law, of men’s traditions-for it was through the sheep gate that sacrifices were brought into the city of Jerusalem.

Although for years critics doubted its existence, the site of the pool of Bethesda, which means “House of Mercy,” has been confirmed archaeologically and is today a must-see site of the Holy Land.

The pool had five porches-a covered “deck” on each side and one across the middle. Five speaks of the Pentateuch-the first five books of the law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. With one of the covered porches extending across the pool, the pool itself created a physical likeness to the stone tablets Moses brought down from Sinai. Thus, the pool portrays a perfect picture of the law.

Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee visited a sanitarium many years ago, where, during the Sunday morning devotional service, one of the residents read this passage as, “There lay a great multitude of important folk.” McGee was about to correct him, when he realized the man was right. The people at the pool of Bethesda were important folk.

When people are spiritually blind, they are also “halt.” That is, no matter what rules and regulations, ordinances and laws are placed upon them, they cannot walk in righteousness or freedom. And because they are “halt,” they are also “withered”-unable to reach out practically, unable to give lasting and beneficial assistance to those who are hurting. Blind, halt, and withered is a description of the condition of every culture globally and of you and me personally without Jesus. If we are not reborn, if the Spirit of Christ does not dwell in us, we will not see; we will not walk uprightly; we will not reach out with impact. Many lay by the pool, sheltered and covered, but not healed. So, too, although religion can shelter people with good values and disciplines, it cannot save them.

Kolumbethra, the Greek word translated “pool,” is a very precise term that means “a deep pool from underneath that comes bubbling.” Thus, it would seem that the stirring of the water was due to the occasional eruption of an underground spring. “But doesn’t the text say an angel came down?” you ask. Yes, but I believe that is a quote. You see, Greek text has no quotation marks. If it did, I believe this phrase would be enclosed in them as reference to the conventional wisdom of the day.

Tradition said the first one in the pool after the water stirred would be healed. That’s what the law, religion, and man’s regulations always say. “Be the first. Be the best. Try harder. Fight your way to the top. God helps those who help themselves.”

Jesus singled out one man, just as Israel-one of many nations-was singled out by God to be His people.

This man was lame for thirty-eight years, just as Israel wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years (Deuteronomy 2:14).

To whom did Jesus come? Not to those closest to the edge of the pool, but to the one who was clear at the back, farthest out of the way. He came not to the aggressor, the initiator, the leader-but to the one who was the least competitive of them all.

“Every time I try to get up, someone else gets there first.” Maybe you can relate. You’re just about to get a break in business or in a relationship, but someone comes along and beats you to it. You who, like me, have a tendency to be competitive, please note the fact that Jesus was not interested in helping the lame man be the first one into the pool. His purpose was to take him out of the competition altogether.

The picture is perfect. Jesus comes and delivers a man in the place of competition and tradition, rules and regulations. Jesus delivered the one who was lame, withered, and unable to get the help he so desperately needed. The lame man was delivered not by “a man to help him,” but by the Son of Man who saved him.

For topical study of John 5:8 see “Read Your Bible,” turn to page 477.

Rather than rejoicing that a man was healed, the Jews were upset that he was carrying his bed. You see, Jewish law said a man could bear no burden on the Sabbath. This meant he could not wear a wooden leg or even his false teeth. Thus, you can imagine the outrage of the Jews at seeing a man flaunting his disobedience by carrying his bed.

Isn’t this amazing? I mean, here’s a guy, lame for thirty-eight years, suddenly walking around-and the clergy is uptight and upset. In all fairness, however, although the violation of tradition might not be a point of contention for you and me, we get just as upset when Jesus violates our expectations-when He doesn’t work the way we are claiming, believing, praying, or demanding. We have our own arena of anger. It’s not tradition. It’s expectation. “Now, Lord,” we say, “we fasted. We spoke the Word. We believed. But You didn’t come through-and we’re ticked off.” Oh, we might not say it that straightforwardly, but when Jesus blows apart our expectations-just as He blew apart Jewish tradition-we can get angry.

If indeed this event took place during the Feast of Pentecost, all of Jerusalem would have been packed with people.

Why didn’t the lame man know who healed him? Was it because Jesus was busy posing for publicity pictures? No. Was it because He was talking to His agents about appearing on the cover of Judaism Today? No. Was it because He was giving an interview on Christian radio? No. The man didn’t know who healed him because Jesus had simply left the scene. I really like this. After enabling a man to do the impossible, Jesus splits.

To this man’s credit, he wasn’t on the testimony circuit, saying, “I was lying there when suddenly I perceived a Power on the deck with me, and with great faith, I embraced His word.” No, he humbly went to the temple to worship God. And Jesus met him there. So, too, you will discover that the Lord meets you in the place of praise. You will often find the Lord has just the word you need to hear or just the touch you need to feel when you come to the house of prayer. Quite frankly, it’s hard for me as a pastor to hear people say, “I just don’t sense the Lord. I just don’t feel Him,” when I know they haven’t been to Bible study for months or at the Lord’s table for weeks. I know the Lord will find them if, like this man, they’ll just go to the temple-to the house of prayer, to the place of praise.

Many scholars believe this man’s lameness was caused by a sexually transmitted disease. Whether or not this was the case, Jesus’ warning was very pointed and practical. He didn’t say, “Behold, you’re made whole. Now call My secretary for therapy.” No, He said, “You’ve been made whole. Now don’t sin anymore. Walk in a new way.”

The war is escalating. Tensions are mounting. And because Jesus violated their traditions, the Jews are seeking to destroy Him. So, too, some, even in our midst, have turned their back on Jesus because He violated their expectations. These things are written as a warning to me. Because He is Lord, and I am not, He can sovereignly touch whoever He wants on the deck of lameness and say, “Rise. Take up your bed. Walk.” Therefore, if I try to instruct him, or order Him, like the nobleman in the preceding chapter, I will hear Him say, “No. You’ve got it wrong, Jon. I’m the Lord. You’re the servant. I want you to share your heart with Me, and cast all your burdens upon Me. But be careful you don’t start advising, demanding from, or directing Me.”

Allow the Lord to be the Lord, gang. Be like the centurion in Matthew 8. Say, “Lord, here’s the situation. Now just speak the Word, and what You want will happen.”

The Jews sought to slay Jesus for desecrating the Sabbath, when, in actuality, they themselves were guilty of distorting the Sabbath. You see, the true Sabbath is not based upon inaction, but upon satisfaction; not upon simply refraining from work, but upon rejoicing in work well done. When God the Father took a Sabbath break after six days of activity, He looked at all He had made and saw it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Thus, because He was satisfied with His work, He rested from His work. This allowed us the glorious freedom to follow His lead and say, “Lord, through Your grace, You’ve blessed. And now I am going to rest.”

1. Reflection of the Father. Truly, the Father works on the Sabbath. The sun rises; rain falls; crops grow; life is sustained. Furthermore, God’s Sabbath was “broken” in Genesis 3:8 when He went on a rescue mission to track down Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. In order to help them, the Father broke the Sabbath He Himself had established. With that in mind, here Jesus is saying, “The reason I do what I do is not based on doctrine, philosophy, or tradition. The issue is singular: My Father works on the Sabbath and I simply reflect Him.”

At this point, as tension is heightened and the war is at hand, Jesus gives an incredible, insightful, and important defense of why He could blow apart Jewish traditions, of why He was not bound by religious systems, of why He did what He did. Jesus lived the most attractive, powerful, beautiful, joyful, wonderful life ever lived. There was a quality about Him, a joy emanating from Him, a peace within Him, a love flowing through Him that attracted the common people to Him like moths to a flame (Mark 12:37). When He said He had come that they might have life abundantly (John 10:10), no one challenged him, saying, “Why don’t we see abundant life in You?” No, so abundant was Jesus’ life that people left everything to be near Him.

Hebrews goes on to say Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness “more than any of His fellows” (1:9). That is, He had a gladness about Him unparalleled in any other person. Truly, whoever looks at the Lord cannot help but be impressed with Him. One would think the secret to such attractiveness, effectiveness, and joy would be very complex. One would think that Jesus must have understood esoteric mysteries and implemented difficult methodology. But such is not the case, for in the remainder of the chapter, we see the simplicity of the secret Jesus understood that produced in Him the life that was so successful and so beautiful. What was this secret? In the following defense, we see not only why Jesus healed on the Sabbath, but the very foundational principle that governed His entire life: His relationship with His Father.

If I were to question you about the defining principle of your life, you might say, “It’s my ministry,” or “It’s my family,” or, “It’s this vision,” or, “It’s this attempt to see the kingdom grow.” But as valid as those things might be, they are insignificant in comparison to your relationship with the Father. That’s all there is-no other agenda, no other ministry, no other vision, no other priority. Jesus was so focused on His relationship with His Father that nothing else mattered. As a result, everything else fell into place beautifully. His life was fruitful. His relationships were special. His ministry was bountiful. In the following passage, we see eight statements Jesus makes about His relationship with His Father.…

The phrase “making himself equal with God” employs a present perfect tense verb, which means Jesus was continually making Himself equal with God. Regardless of what the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, or the Way International declare, the fact is, those who heard Jesus knew He was claiming deity. That’s why they were out to kill Him.

2. Contact with the Father. The psalmist picks up this theme, when, in six occasions, he talks specifically about the “blotting out of the names of those who are against God.” Why could “the Son do nothing of Himself”? Because in Philippians 2, Paul declares Jesus emptied Himself of all powers, privileges, and abilities He had enjoyed previously in order to become a Man just like you and me, yet without sin.

“Well, what about all of those miracles He did?” you ask.

Jesus performed miracles only because He was in contact with His Father and empowered by the Spirit in the exact same way we can be. You see, in the Garden of Eden, the forbidden fruit came from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And once man ate of the knowledge of good and evil, he said, “I know what’s good and what’s evil, what’s right and what’s wrong. I can intellectually figure it out.” In so doing, he became independent of the simple childlike relationship that asks, “Father, what about this? Father, should I do that?”

How do you know from which tree you’re eating? It’s so simple! Do you pray? That’s the whole issue. If I pray, I’m saying, “Father, I’m not sure what’s right here, and I just pray Your will be done, that You will nudge me in the right direction, that You will inspire my thoughts, that You will guard my heart.” If you’re praying today-just today-then you’re on the right course. But if you haven’t prayed today, it’s indicative of pride because you think you can pull it off by yourself. Have you eaten of the forbidden fruit today? There’s no condemnation, but how I pray you might move into maturation and say, “Lord, I’m tired of thinking I know what to do.” The solution is simply prayer.

3. Security in the Father. What a day you will have if, like Jesus, you’ll simply say, “The Father loves me and shows me everything necessary for me to navigate through this day successfully. And I know He’s going to show me greater things down the road.” How simple your life will be if you find your security not in what your spouse, the crowds, or society thinks of you, but in what the Father thinks of you. How does the Father feel about you? When you were your most rotten and vile, God said, “I’m so in love with you that I am going to send My Son to die for you (Romans 5:8). Why did the Father send the Son? Why didn’t He die for us Himself? He did. He was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). When the Son, pinned to the Cross, cried out, “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken Me?” the Father felt the pain, the Father felt the agony, and something in the Father was dying at the same time, for God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. How dare you or I say, “I’m not sure God loves me.” God demonstrated His love for us conclusively in that while we were dirty, rotten, foul sinners, He died for each of us personally.

4. Harmony with the Father. “The Father raises the dead, so I too raise the dead,” declared Jesus. This would be a mindblower to the Jews who taught that God alone is the keeper of three keys: the key to the heavens, which He uses when rain falls (Deuteronomy 28:12); the key to the womb, which He uses when a couple conceives (Genesis 30:2); and the key to the grave, which He used when the dry bones came to life (Ezekiel 37). But here comes Jesus, saying, “I have the same key. Just as the Father opens the grave and gives life, so do I. Just as the Father receives honor, so must I. If you don’t honor Me with the same honor you give Him, then you’re not honoring Him at all.” This is a good passage to use when talking to the cultist because all cults diminish Jesus. All cults make Him a created being, less than the Father.

Why does the Father let Jesus do the judging? Because Jesus walked in the same places we walk. He was tempted in all points like you and me (Hebrews 4:15). “I’m in harmony with the Father,” said Jesus. “I do the same things the Father does-including judging.”

5. Submission to the Father. Jesus had no program, no agenda, no vision other than the Father’s will. I challenge us to live each day saying, “My only desire is simply to do the will of the Father-not to make it easier on myself or better for my family; not to find more fulfillment in what I do personally or to establish myself financially. I just want to do the Father’s will by the power of the Spirit within Me.”

6. Validation from the Father. “My validation comes not from Myself. John the Baptist told you I am the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (see John 1:29). If that’s not good enough for you, look at the works I’m doing, the miracles happening. Yet even they aren’t the issue, for ultimately the validation for what I do comes from the Father Himself.”

The Father validated the Son when He said, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased,” (Matthew 3:17). And that’s the key. Jesus’ validation came not from John the Baptist, nor even from His own works. It came directly from the Father. Is your validation coming from your own accomplishments, or from others patting you on the back? It’ll never be enough. You’ll always be one pat shy of satisfaction. Validation for your life will not come from someone pointing out how good you are. Nor will it come from your own achievements. True validation comes when you hear the voice of the Father in your heart, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That’s the only validation that brings security, satisfaction, and stability. That’s the only validation that will make your life attractive, fruitful, and effective.

The Greek word translated “search” is ereunao, which means “to track the scent”-like a lion, or a bloodhound. That’s the way to study Scripture: Follow the scent of the blood. Sniff out the scarlet thread of the Cross. Look for Jesus.

“You study the Scripture doctrinally,” Jesus said, “but you’ve missed the point entirely because you’ve missed Me.”

Here Jesus is referring to the peacemaker, the Middle East problem-solver, the anti-Christ who will come in his own name and who will be embraced by the world.

7. Concern about the Father. Jesus cared only about the honor that came from the Father-not the honor that came from men. That’s why He was free to fulfill the Father’s will. Solomon was right when he said that the fear of man will trip you up, but the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 29:25; 9:10). Jesus could say, “Father, I’ve finished the work You gave Me to do, and I’ve glorified You” (John 17:4) because He sought honor from God rather than man.

8. Silence before the Father. To those who were out to kill Him, Jesus said, “All of the sacrifices and prophecies Moses wrote of in the Pentateuch were about Me. Therefore, I don’t need to accuse you before the Father. There is no need for Me to tattle or whine. The Word has condemned you already. Moses nailed you totally.”

Here’s a simple experiment: Go through the next twenty-four hours saying, “I want to be a reflection of the Father in every conversation, in every encounter. I’m going to depend on the Father, making no decisions without prayer. My security is in the Father. I’m going to believe He loves me because He proved it on Calvary. I’m going to be in harmony with the Father, just doing what I see Him do. I will be submitted to the Father, doing nothing on the basis of my own will. My validation will come only from the Father. I won’t be fishing for compliments, or looking for approval from men. My only concern will be about the Father-not what the world says about me, not what my friends think of me, but only how the Father sees me. I will be silent before the Father, resting in the sufficiency and potency of His Word.”

Fellow adventurers on this spiritual pilgrimage, if you try this tomorrow, you will find tomorrow to be the most successful, wonderful, powerful, fruitful day of your life. My prayer is that some of us might make such a discovery and be set free from agendas, vision, and even ministry-to live for the Father and for Him only.