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Lesson 13 – Jesus Heals a Man at Bethesda

Lesson 13 – Jesus Heals a Man at Bethesda

Lesson for May 4, 2025

The Book of John

Lesson 13

Jesus Heals a Man at Bethesda

Chapter 5:1-18

Verses 1-9

“After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or paralyzed. 5 Now a man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, said to him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ 7 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.’ 8 Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’ 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was a Sabbath on that day.” 

This is an interesting story because there was a myth that had been around for many years, regarding this pool of water. In the King James Version of the Bible, this myth is recorded in John 5:4. However, in the oldest manuscripts of the Bible, this myth does not appear. Therefore, we can conclude that the myth was added by the translators in some of the versions of the Bible. Here’s the myth, “For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.”

“By the Sheep Gate” has helped archaeologists identify this pool in modern times, once again confirming the authenticity of the Bible. The Sheep Gate was the gate through which the sacrificial lambs were brought to the Temple to be sacrificed. Could this have been a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, entering the city on His way to the Cross?

For 38 years this man had been a victim of a superstition, which did nothing for him. Jesus, however, would change his life forever. And even today, Jesus can change a person’s life forever. Even though we do not live in an age of miracles, when a person puts their faith in Jesus for salvation, their life is immediately changed. The change is from spiritual death to spiritual life, instantaneously.

Now it was a Sabbath on that day. This fact upset the Pharisees. So, the Pharisees began an inquisition of the man who was healed in an attempt to entrap Jesus and give them “legal ground” to kill Him.

Verses 10-18

“So, the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, ‘It is a Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.’ But he answered them, ‘He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’ They asked him, ‘Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk?’ But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him, ‘Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ The man went away and informed the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. But He answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ For this reason, therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father: making Himself equal with God.”

These religious Jews had rejected the Scriptures and ignored the miracle. Why? This kind of miracle said one thing to Israel – your Messiah is here. Jesus knew that there was going to be trouble about this, so He disappeared into the crowd. This was the day of Feast of the Passover, which depicts Jesus Christ dying for the sins of the world. And here He is in Jerusalem at the feast that speaks of His sacrifice for sin. Jesus was once again letting Israel know their Savior had arrived, as the Scriptures had prophesied for thousands of years.

Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you. Jesus was certainly not telling this man that he could become sinless. What He was saying, sin brings many bad things into a person’s life. So, Jesus was saying that he should do his best to avoid sin, so that something worse than being unable to walk wouldn’t happen to you.

For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. Like religion today, they hated anyone who defies their traditions and false teachings. This is exactly what Jesus did when He healed this man on a Sabbath, the Feast of the Passover.

The Pharisees were sticklers for following their interpretation of the Law of Moses and their traditions to the letter, without considering the spirit of the Law. Religion is the greatest evil there is because it’s the devil’s “ace trump” to deceive, distract, entrap, and destroy people.

I Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

But He answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father: making Himself equal with God. This one statement by Jesus annihilates the false teaching of a number of religions that teach that Jesus is not co-equal with God the Father. The reason we know Jesus was saying He was equal with God the Father is that the Pharisees clearly understood this was the meaning of His statement. There are a number of verses in the Bible where Jesus said that He is equal with the Father. (John 10:30, 12:45, 13:20, 14:9; Philippians 2:6)

This idea of equality with the Father by Jesus infuriated the Pharisees and breaking the Sabbath was just a way to bring Him up on charges and have Him killed. The Pharisees’ opposition to Jesus was based on their lack of knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, which teach the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union. (Psalm 16; Isaiah 9:6)

In His essence, Jesus Christ is God, but as God, He could not go to the Cross and die for the sins of the world, so He became a man. Therefore, He is the God-Man. He is different from God in that He is man; He is different from man in that He is God. He is unique! Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was designed to show His grace. (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28)

Everything we have seen so far, from the beginning of this book, has been the presentation of Jesus Christ to the nation of Israel. He presented Himself to them as Messiah, in fulfilment of the Davidic Covenant. The religious Jews had already rejected Him and plotted to kill Him. They had taken the Sabbath out of its biblical context and had made something out of it that was never intended. Their legalistic attitude caused them to be “holier than thou” and they resented anyone calling them out on it.

The whole concept of the Sabbath was grace – setting aside a day of rest to appreciate and worship God. That is the true biblical meaning of the Sabbath. But the religious Jews had distorted it. In the Jewish books of tradition, the Talmud and the Mishnah (that were wrongly held in the same regard as the Scriptures), we have a series of taboos. The Jewish Torah and the Pentateuch are the same thing, the first five books of the Old Testament.

Here are some examples of Jewish tradition:

  1. It was unlawful to carry food from one house to another on a Sabbath day.
  2. A donkey could be let out of wherever he was kept on a Sabbath day but the saddle, etc. had to be put on the day before, and you could not use the animal unless he had been harnessed or saddled the day before.
  3. It was unlawful to move furniture on the Sabbath. There was an exception. People often lived in lofts, and when they wanted to go upstairs on the Sabbath, they could move the ladder using only four footsteps.
  4. It was unlawful to wear any jewelry or any ornaments on the Sabbath because it might be considered carrying a burden, and you could not carry a burden on the Sabbath.
  5. It was unlawful to fix a leaking water barrel on the Sabbath, and it was also unlawful to stop a wound on the Sabbath.
  6. They were allowed to eat radishes on the Sabbath, and apparently a lot of the Jews liked to dip their radishes in salt. But you could not dip the radish in salt for too long a time because it was a taboo to pickle a radish on the Sabbath. And if you left it in the salt too long it might become pickled. So, they used to have a great theological controversy as to how long you could leave a radish in the salt before it was pickled.
  7. If a lady got mud on her dress, she had to wait until it dried, and then she was allowed to wrinkle up the dress in her hands once and crush it. After she had crushed it, she was allowed to shake it out once.

It is no wonder that Jesus hated the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who themselves were guilty, time and again, of violating their own religious laws and traditions and distorting the Mosaic Law. These religious hypocrites were always criticizing Jesus, and the traditions of the Sabbath were always an issue. (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:24-27; Luke 13:14-16; John 5:17)