June 16, 2026 • 20 mins
A man lies helpless for thirty-eight years, surrounded by a crowd of suffering, and the moment Jesus notices him the story gets uncomfortably personal: “Do you want to be healed?” We trace John 5 from the streets of Jerusalem to the Pool of Bethesda, the “house of mercy,” including the fascinating historical and archaeological details that anchor this passage in a real place near the Sheep Gate.
We slow down for a question many listeners may have when they notice missing lines in some translations. Why do certain manuscripts omit the “stirring of the water” explanation, and how should that shape our reading of the text? Rather than getting lost in legend, we keep our eyes on what John emphasizes: Redemption and life is not found in the pool but in Jesus Christ as he speaks wholeness into a body that has known only defeat.
Then comes a defining moment: the healing happens on the Sabbath. The religious leaders obsess over a carried mat while a restored man stands right in front of them. The clash exposes how easily human rules can smother God’s heart for life and healing. Jesus’ follow-up in the temple adds weight: “Sin no more,” a reminder that God's grace aims at transformation. The episode closes with Jesus’ stunning claim, “My Father is working until now, and I am working,” setting up the next wave of controversy about his divine authority.
If John 5 challenges you, share it with a friend, subscribe for the next passage, and leave a review with the line that made you stop and think.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
Grace and peace to you.
Thank you once again for joiningme for the mysteries of God's
Word.
Today we are in John chapterfive, and we begin at verse one.
After this there was a feast ofthe Jews, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by thesheepgate a pool, an Aramaic
(00:40):
called Bethesda, which has fiveroofed colonnades.
These first two verses inchapter five once again give us
some detailed movement of Jesus'ministry.
Jesus had been in Cana ofGalilee, and after that he's
moving back to Judea, toJerusalem for a feast of the
(01:02):
Jews.
This is the only feast in theGospel of John that's not named
specifically.
Now Jewish men were required tocome to Jerusalem to attend
three feasts the Passover,Pentecost, and the Festival of
Booths.
While we can't say with absolutecertainty what specific feast
(01:27):
this is, we do know that thisoccurred after the healing of
the official's son in chapterfour.
So it's likely that this was thefestival of the booths, as Jesus
had gone down for the Passoverearlier.
One of the things that confusedme initially was it says that
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
(01:48):
Well, where I live, when we saywe're going up somewhere, we
generally talk about going upnorth.
But Jerusalem is south of Cana.
The reason we're told that Jesuswent up to Jerusalem is
Jerusalem is elevated in thehills from Cana.
You can only imagine when youhave to walk up the path rather
(02:10):
than drive a car, you noticethose inclines quite a bit more.
Therefore, Jesus goes up toJerusalem.
And then we're told that Jesusgoes to a pool that's in
Jerusalem by the sheepgate.
A pool named Bethesda.
Now the sheep gate was simply asmall opening in the north wall
(02:32):
of Jerusalem, just west of thenorthwest corner.
It was for letting sheep in.
And the very word Bethesda heremeans a house of mercy.
So the pool's very name Bethesdameans house of mercy.
Recent excavations in Jerusalemhave found this very pool near
(02:55):
the sheepgate.
They have found the five coveredwalkways or covered colonnades,
confirming the accuracy ofJohn's gospel.
And there were actually twotrapezoid shaped pools next to
each other, with four of thecovered walkways on the four
sides and one in between thepools.
(03:17):
Picking up in verse three.
In these lay a multitude ofinvalids, blind, lame, and
paralyzed.
One man was there who had beenan invalid for thirty eight
years.
When Jesus saw him lying thereand knew that he had been there
a long time, he said to him, Doyou want to be healed?
(03:42):
In verses three through five,we're told that there are a
multitude of invalids here.
It was a custom at this time forpeople with disabilities to
gather at this pool.
They would lie under the fivecovered walkways and they were
looking for supernaturalhealing.
People would make pilgrimages tothis pool to receive what they
(04:04):
believed would be supernaturalhealing from the water.
And the large number of disabledpeople that are just living at
this pool gives a sad picture ofthe spiritual state of Israel
and the world.
Some of you may recognize thatthe end of verse 3 and verse 4
have been omitted in sometranslations.
(04:26):
And there's a good reason forthat.
Those verses are not found inthe earliest and best Greek
manuscripts, and therefore itwasn't penned by the Apostle
John.
It's highly possible that ascribe added those words to
explain why people were going tothat pool for healing.
Local legend had it that anangel would stir the pool, and
(04:50):
the first one in would behealed.
And that's why people would makepilgrimages to this pool to gain
its healing.
The apostle John probably leftthis out because it was a local
superstition, and it wasn'tbased in truth.
Picking up in verse six.
When Jesus saw him lying thereand knew that he had already
(05:14):
been there a long time, he saidto him, Do you want to be
healed?
The sick man answered him, Sir,I have no one to put me in the
pool when the water is stirredup, and while I'm going another
steps down before me.
Jesus said to him, Get up, takeyour bed and walk.
(05:37):
And at once the man was healed.
He took up his bed and walked.
In verse six, Jesus knew howlong this man had been laying
here at the pool, perhaps foryears, maybe even decades.
He'd been disabled now forthirty eight years.
Again we see the supernaturalknowledge that Jesus had of this
(06:01):
man's physical condition and hisspiritual condition.
Jesus singled this man out fromamong all of the sick and
invalid people.
Then Jesus asks this man aquestion to get his attention.
Do you want to be healed?
To stimulate this man's will, togive him hope, Jesus asks, Do
(06:26):
you want to be healed?
How many times in our lives canwe feel beaten down?
Do we lose hope?
And we become so depressed thatwe feel there's no way forward.
Perhaps on an even deeper level,Jesus is asking this man if he's
willing to be healedspiritually.
(06:48):
Man's greatest need is to behealed from his sinful
condition.
But at times man is blinded tohis own broken and beaten down
condition, accepting it asnormal, failing to even
recognize he is sick.
And the man's reply shows thathis thoughts are focused on the
(07:11):
pool.
How the pool could save him.
He didn't recognize who stoodbefore him.
He had a desire to be physicallyhealed, but in his mind he
trusted that superstition thathad come from local legend.
While he admits he needs help,his hope for healing had become
(07:32):
hopelessness, because he couldnever be the first in the water.
In spite of this man's lack offaith and inability to recognize
who's standing before him, Jesussays, Get up, take your bed and
walk.
And the man is healed.
(07:52):
What an incredible picture ofGod taking a sinful, unbelieving
man and breathing life into him.
With the same power of creationthat Jesus used to bring
creation into being, Jesusspeaks wholeness into this
broken body.
(08:14):
The Greek word for get up meansto awaken, to arise, to be
resurrected.
It's used to refer to theresurrection of Lazarus.
It's used to refer to theresurrection of Jesus.
Jesus has the power to awakenlife from death.
(08:38):
At once the man was healed.
This didn't take time.
There was no slow mending of thecells, not even a minute or
seconds.
The moment Jesus spoke the word,this man's body was made
healthy.
The supernatural power of Godwas shown by the man's ability
(08:59):
to stand up, pick up his mat,and walk.
Muscles that had wasted away andbecome useless, now working like
they were new.
Isaiah prophesied that in thedays of the Messiah the blind
would see, the deaf would hear,and the lame would leap like a
(09:19):
deer, in Isaiah thirty five,five and six.
Now after thirty eight years ofbeing lame, can you picture this
man leaping through the streetsafter getting a new pair of
legs?
And the last part of verse nineI saved for now.
That day was the Sabbath.
(09:40):
Jesus intentionally healed thisman on the Sabbath.
Jesus did so to show that he isLord of the Sabbath to the
Jewish people.
The Old Testament had laws fornot working on the Sabbath, and
that the Sabbath was a day ofrest.
These laws were intended toprovide rest from one's
(10:02):
employment.
However, the Jewish rabbis addedthirty nine different activities
beyond your employment.
One of their extra laws includedcarrying anything from one place
to another.
But God desires life and healingfor his people, not unnecessary
(10:23):
restriction or punishment.
If the waters of the pool wouldhave healed this man on the
Sabbath, the religious leaderswouldn't have argued against
that kind of healing, but nowthat Jesus did this, they were
not about to allow God in theflesh to break their rules.
And this is a milestone inJesus' ministry, because Jesus
(10:46):
goes from being hardly knownamongst the Jewish leadership to
open debate with the religiousleaders of Jerusalem over the
Sabbath.
And in the next four chapters ofthe Gospel of John, we will see
this controversy continue.
Picking up in verse 10.
So the Jews said to the man whohad been healed, It is the
(11:07):
Sabbath, and it's not lawful foryou to take up your bed.
But he answered them, The manwho healed me, that man said to
me, Take up your bed and walk.
They asked him, Who is the manwho said to you, Take up your
bed and walk?
Now the man who had been healeddid not know who it was, for
(11:28):
Jesus had withdrawn, and therewas a crowd in the place.
In verses ten through thirteen,we see the Jewish leaders trying
to enforce their regulations onthis man who had been healed.
And the man who had been healedanswers the Jews that the man
who healed me told me to take upmy bed and walk.
(11:50):
While on the surface, someonemight think that this man is
attempting to shift the blamefor disobeying the local customs
from himself to Jesus, he'sactually pointing to the one he
believes is from God, ratherthan these rabbinical Jews.
The man reasoned correctly.
(12:11):
If Jesus had the power to heal,surely he was from God, and he
has the right to explain thelaw.
Another interesting note on thewords that are used here is that
when the man said, the man whohealed me, he's actually saying,
the man who made me or producedme.
(12:32):
The very word that the man usesfor the word heal here actually
means to create, like when Godcreated the universe.
It's used in Acts 4.24, when itsays, who made the heaven and
earth, or in Hebrews 1.2,through whom also he created the
world.
(12:52):
These are the same words usedfor healed here.
What the man is saying is notsimply the one who healed me,
but he's saying the one who mademe.
The man clearly believed thatJesus was sent from God after
being made whole.
(13:13):
The Apostle John's use of thisword to describe this healing
with the same power that broughtthe universe into existence
shows how Jesus can speak lifeinto death.
And when this man is pressed totell the Jews who did this, he
says, I don't know who it was.
And we see here just how littlethis man knew about Jesus.
(13:37):
Despite the fact that Jesus hadalready performed many miracles
and cleared the temple inJerusalem on his previous visit,
this man did not know orrecognize him.
And while the Jewish leaders arefocused on the rules about
carrying a mat, this man's onlythoughts were on his new legs
and obeying the one who made himnew.
(14:01):
We also see that Jesus hadwithdrawn.
We know that Jesus was notafraid to speak the truth to the
Jewish leaders during hisministry, but Jesus was wise in
his actions.
When Jesus perceived there wouldoften be a political conflict
with the Jewish leaders, hewould withdraw and go to a
different area.
(14:23):
And again, part of Jesus'withdrawal is because there's a
crowd in the place, whichreminds us just how packed out
this pool area was.
Picking up in verse 14.
Afterward Jesus found him in thetemple and said to him, See, you
are well.
Sin no more, that nothing worsemay happen to you.
(14:46):
The man went away and told theJews that it was Jesus who had
healed him, and this is why theJews were persecuting Jesus,
because he was doing thesethings on the Sabbath.
But Jesus answered them, MyFather is working until now, and
I am working.
Here in our last four verses fortoday, we see that Jesus finds
(15:11):
this man in the temple.
Jesus sought out this man againin the temple complex to speak
to him, and Jesus tells him, Sinno more.
It is a very important lesson tounderstand that God's kindness
and favor to us doesn't give uspermission to get away with sin.
(15:31):
Rather, it should compel us toobey God.
We love because He first lovedus.
Second Corinthians 5 14 reads,For the love of Christ controls
us, because we've concludedthis, that one has died for all,
(15:52):
and therefore all have died.
The very thing that empowers usto die to ourself, to put off
our selfish and sinful nature,is Christ.
Christ has conquered sin.
Christ has forgiven us for oursin.
It allows us to get up and livea life that is full and healed,
(16:14):
just like this man.
Jesus says that nothing worsemay happen to you.
And this seems to imply thatthis man's suffering was due to
his sin.
There are times when illness andinjury is simply because of
man's fallen condition.
All of creation groans.
(16:34):
All of creation is under thecurse of sin.
So illness and disease andsuffering are not tied directly
to our sin.
But there are also times whenour illness or sickness is
directly tied to our personalmoral decisions.
When we make bad decisions,there are consequences.
(16:58):
The purpose of Jesus' commenthere is to teach us that all sin
has consequence.
As Romans 6.23 says, the wagesof sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord.
When the man heard these words,he testified to the greatness of
(17:22):
Jesus Christ.
We don't know why this man toldthe Jewish leaders.
Perhaps he was intimidated bythem, or perhaps he thought this
would be a positive witness tothem.
However, the Jewish leadershipused this only to persecute
Jesus.
And the Greek word for persecutein verse 16 means a continued
(17:44):
attack.
The Jews were going to make aheyday out of Jesus breaking the
Sabbath.
Because for the Jewish leaders,following their human regulation
and religion was more importantthan living in truth and in
healing.
There is no prohibition againstdoing things good on the
(18:05):
Sabbath.
In Mark 227, Jesus said, TheSabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath.
Jesus disregarded these extraoral traditions of men, which
were not found in the law ofGod.
It was Jesus that was trulyobeying the scriptures.
(18:28):
And Jesus' reply to them was, MyFather is working until now, and
I am working.
You note here that Jesus didn'tsay our Father or your Father,
he says my Father.
Jesus is suggesting a far closerrelationship to God than these
Jews.
(18:49):
The Sabbath was a day to honorand celebrate the work God had
done in creation.
Exodus twenty, eleven reads, Forin six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the seaand all that is in them, and
rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed theSabbath day and made it holy.
(19:12):
What Jesus is describing here isthat Father God is continually
working.
He is upholding the universeeven on the Sabbath, and so is
he.
God upholds all things by thepower of his word, he neither
faints nor grows weary, andJesus is claiming to be equal
(19:35):
with the Father, and the Jewsunderstand what he's saying.
We'll pick up next week in verseeighteen, but let me just read
it because all of this flowstogether.
Verse eighteen reads This is whythe Jews were seeking all the
more to kill him, but not onlywas he breaking the Sabbath, but
(19:55):
he was even calling God his ownfather, making himself equal
with God.
Thank you for joining me thisweek for the healing of the
invalid at the pool of Bethesda.
God bless you this week.
Grace and peace to you.
Thank you once again for joiningme for the mysteries of God's
Word.
Today we are in John chapterfive, and we begin at verse one.
After this there was a feast ofthe Jews, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by thesheepgate a pool, an Aramaic
(00:40):
called Bethesda, which has fiveroofed colonnades.
These first two verses inchapter five once again give us
some detailed movement of Jesus'ministry.
Jesus had been in Cana ofGalilee, and after that he's
moving back to Judea, toJerusalem for a feast of the
(01:02):
Jews.
This is the only feast in theGospel of John that's not named
specifically.
Now Jewish men were required tocome to Jerusalem to attend
three feasts the Passover,Pentecost, and the Festival of
Booths.
While we can't say with absolutecertainty what specific feast
(01:27):
this is, we do know that thisoccurred after the healing of
the official's son in chapterfour.
So it's likely that this was thefestival of the booths, as Jesus
had gone down for the Passoverearlier.
One of the things that confusedme initially was it says that
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
(01:48):
Well, where I live, when we saywe're going up somewhere, we
generally talk about going upnorth.
But Jerusalem is south of Cana.
The reason we're told that Jesuswent up to Jerusalem is
Jerusalem is elevated in thehills from Cana.
You can only imagine when youhave to walk up the path rather
(02:10):
than drive a car, you noticethose inclines quite a bit more.
Therefore, Jesus goes up toJerusalem.
And then we're told that Jesusgoes to a pool that's in
Jerusalem by the sheepgate.
A pool named Bethesda.
Now the sheep gate was simply asmall opening in the north wall
(02:32):
of Jerusalem, just west of thenorthwest corner.
It was for letting sheep in.
And the very word Bethesda heremeans a house of mercy.
So the pool's very name Bethesdameans house of mercy.
Recent excavations in Jerusalemhave found this very pool near
(02:55):
the sheepgate.
They have found the five coveredwalkways or covered colonnades,
confirming the accuracy ofJohn's gospel.
And there were actually twotrapezoid shaped pools next to
each other, with four of thecovered walkways on the four
sides and one in between thepools.
(03:17):
Picking up in verse three.
In these lay a multitude ofinvalids, blind, lame, and
paralyzed.
One man was there who had beenan invalid for thirty eight
years.
When Jesus saw him lying thereand knew that he had been there
a long time, he said to him, Doyou want to be healed?
(03:42):
In verses three through five,we're told that there are a
multitude of invalids here.
It was a custom at this time forpeople with disabilities to
gather at this pool.
They would lie under the fivecovered walkways and they were
looking for supernaturalhealing.
People would make pilgrimages tothis pool to receive what they
(04:04):
believed would be supernaturalhealing from the water.
And the large number of disabledpeople that are just living at
this pool gives a sad picture ofthe spiritual state of Israel
and the world.
Some of you may recognize thatthe end of verse 3 and verse 4
have been omitted in sometranslations.
(04:26):
And there's a good reason forthat.
Those verses are not found inthe earliest and best Greek
manuscripts, and therefore itwasn't penned by the Apostle
John.
It's highly possible that ascribe added those words to
explain why people were going tothat pool for healing.
Local legend had it that anangel would stir the pool, and
(04:50):
the first one in would behealed.
And that's why people would makepilgrimages to this pool to gain
its healing.
The apostle John probably leftthis out because it was a local
superstition, and it wasn'tbased in truth.
Picking up in verse six.
When Jesus saw him lying thereand knew that he had already
(05:14):
been there a long time, he saidto him, Do you want to be
healed?
The sick man answered him, Sir,I have no one to put me in the
pool when the water is stirredup, and while I'm going another
steps down before me.
Jesus said to him, Get up, takeyour bed and walk.
(05:37):
And at once the man was healed.
He took up his bed and walked.
In verse six, Jesus knew howlong this man had been laying
here at the pool, perhaps foryears, maybe even decades.
He'd been disabled now forthirty eight years.
Again we see the supernaturalknowledge that Jesus had of this
(06:01):
man's physical condition and hisspiritual condition.
Jesus singled this man out fromamong all of the sick and
invalid people.
Then Jesus asks this man aquestion to get his attention.
Do you want to be healed?
To stimulate this man's will, togive him hope, Jesus asks, Do
(06:26):
you want to be healed?
How many times in our lives canwe feel beaten down?
Do we lose hope?
And we become so depressed thatwe feel there's no way forward.
Perhaps on an even deeper level,Jesus is asking this man if he's
willing to be healedspiritually.
(06:48):
Man's greatest need is to behealed from his sinful
condition.
But at times man is blinded tohis own broken and beaten down
condition, accepting it asnormal, failing to even
recognize he is sick.
And the man's reply shows thathis thoughts are focused on the
(07:11):
pool.
How the pool could save him.
He didn't recognize who stoodbefore him.
He had a desire to be physicallyhealed, but in his mind he
trusted that superstition thathad come from local legend.
While he admits he needs help,his hope for healing had become
(07:32):
hopelessness, because he couldnever be the first in the water.
In spite of this man's lack offaith and inability to recognize
who's standing before him, Jesussays, Get up, take your bed and
walk.
And the man is healed.
(07:52):
What an incredible picture ofGod taking a sinful, unbelieving
man and breathing life into him.
With the same power of creationthat Jesus used to bring
creation into being, Jesusspeaks wholeness into this
broken body.
(08:14):
The Greek word for get up meansto awaken, to arise, to be
resurrected.
It's used to refer to theresurrection of Lazarus.
It's used to refer to theresurrection of Jesus.
Jesus has the power to awakenlife from death.
(08:38):
At once the man was healed.
This didn't take time.
There was no slow mending of thecells, not even a minute or
seconds.
The moment Jesus spoke the word,this man's body was made
healthy.
The supernatural power of Godwas shown by the man's ability
(08:59):
to stand up, pick up his mat,and walk.
Muscles that had wasted away andbecome useless, now working like
they were new.
Isaiah prophesied that in thedays of the Messiah the blind
would see, the deaf would hear,and the lame would leap like a
(09:19):
deer, in Isaiah thirty five,five and six.
Now after thirty eight years ofbeing lame, can you picture this
man leaping through the streetsafter getting a new pair of
legs?
And the last part of verse nineI saved for now.
That day was the Sabbath.
(09:40):
Jesus intentionally healed thisman on the Sabbath.
Jesus did so to show that he isLord of the Sabbath to the
Jewish people.
The Old Testament had laws fornot working on the Sabbath, and
that the Sabbath was a day ofrest.
These laws were intended toprovide rest from one's
(10:02):
employment.
However, the Jewish rabbis addedthirty nine different activities
beyond your employment.
One of their extra laws includedcarrying anything from one place
to another.
But God desires life and healingfor his people, not unnecessary
(10:23):
restriction or punishment.
If the waters of the pool wouldhave healed this man on the
Sabbath, the religious leaderswouldn't have argued against
that kind of healing, but nowthat Jesus did this, they were
not about to allow God in theflesh to break their rules.
And this is a milestone inJesus' ministry, because Jesus
(10:46):
goes from being hardly knownamongst the Jewish leadership to
open debate with the religiousleaders of Jerusalem over the
Sabbath.
And in the next four chapters ofthe Gospel of John, we will see
this controversy continue.
Picking up in verse 10.
So the Jews said to the man whohad been healed, It is the
(11:07):
Sabbath, and it's not lawful foryou to take up your bed.
But he answered them, The manwho healed me, that man said to
me, Take up your bed and walk.
They asked him, Who is the manwho said to you, Take up your
bed and walk?
Now the man who had been healeddid not know who it was, for
(11:28):
Jesus had withdrawn, and therewas a crowd in the place.
In verses ten through thirteen,we see the Jewish leaders trying
to enforce their regulations onthis man who had been healed.
And the man who had been healedanswers the Jews that the man
who healed me told me to take upmy bed and walk.
(11:50):
While on the surface, someonemight think that this man is
attempting to shift the blamefor disobeying the local customs
from himself to Jesus, he'sactually pointing to the one he
believes is from God, ratherthan these rabbinical Jews.
The man reasoned correctly.
(12:11):
If Jesus had the power to heal,surely he was from God, and he
has the right to explain thelaw.
Another interesting note on thewords that are used here is that
when the man said, the man whohealed me, he's actually saying,
the man who made me or producedme.
(12:32):
The very word that the man usesfor the word heal here actually
means to create, like when Godcreated the universe.
It's used in Acts 4.24, when itsays, who made the heaven and
earth, or in Hebrews 1.2,through whom also he created the
world.
(12:52):
These are the same words usedfor healed here.
What the man is saying is notsimply the one who healed me,
but he's saying the one who mademe.
The man clearly believed thatJesus was sent from God after
being made whole.
(13:13):
The Apostle John's use of thisword to describe this healing
with the same power that broughtthe universe into existence
shows how Jesus can speak lifeinto death.
And when this man is pressed totell the Jews who did this, he
says, I don't know who it was.
And we see here just how littlethis man knew about Jesus.
(13:37):
Despite the fact that Jesus hadalready performed many miracles
and cleared the temple inJerusalem on his previous visit,
this man did not know orrecognize him.
And while the Jewish leaders arefocused on the rules about
carrying a mat, this man's onlythoughts were on his new legs
and obeying the one who made himnew.
(14:01):
We also see that Jesus hadwithdrawn.
We know that Jesus was notafraid to speak the truth to the
Jewish leaders during hisministry, but Jesus was wise in
his actions.
When Jesus perceived there wouldoften be a political conflict
with the Jewish leaders, hewould withdraw and go to a
different area.
(14:23):
And again, part of Jesus'withdrawal is because there's a
crowd in the place, whichreminds us just how packed out
this pool area was.
Picking up in verse 14.
Afterward Jesus found him in thetemple and said to him, See, you
are well.
Sin no more, that nothing worsemay happen to you.
(14:46):
The man went away and told theJews that it was Jesus who had
healed him, and this is why theJews were persecuting Jesus,
because he was doing thesethings on the Sabbath.
But Jesus answered them, MyFather is working until now, and
I am working.
Here in our last four verses fortoday, we see that Jesus finds
(15:11):
this man in the temple.
Jesus sought out this man againin the temple complex to speak
to him, and Jesus tells him, Sinno more.
It is a very important lesson tounderstand that God's kindness
and favor to us doesn't give uspermission to get away with sin.
(15:31):
Rather, it should compel us toobey God.
We love because He first lovedus.
Second Corinthians 5 14 reads,For the love of Christ controls
us, because we've concludedthis, that one has died for all,
(15:52):
and therefore all have died.
The very thing that empowers usto die to ourself, to put off
our selfish and sinful nature,is Christ.
Christ has conquered sin.
Christ has forgiven us for oursin.
It allows us to get up and livea life that is full and healed,
(16:14):
just like this man.
Jesus says that nothing worsemay happen to you.
And this seems to imply thatthis man's suffering was due to
his sin.
There are times when illness andinjury is simply because of
man's fallen condition.
All of creation groans.
(16:34):
All of creation is under thecurse of sin.
So illness and disease andsuffering are not tied directly
to our sin.
But there are also times whenour illness or sickness is
directly tied to our personalmoral decisions.
When we make bad decisions,there are consequences.
(16:58):
The purpose of Jesus' commenthere is to teach us that all sin
has consequence.
As Romans 6.23 says, the wagesof sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord.
When the man heard these words,he testified to the greatness of
(17:22):
Jesus Christ.
We don't know why this man toldthe Jewish leaders.
Perhaps he was intimidated bythem, or perhaps he thought this
would be a positive witness tothem.
However, the Jewish leadershipused this only to persecute
Jesus.
And the Greek word for persecutein verse 16 means a continued
(17:44):
attack.
The Jews were going to make aheyday out of Jesus breaking the
Sabbath.
Because for the Jewish leaders,following their human regulation
and religion was more importantthan living in truth and in
healing.
There is no prohibition againstdoing things good on the
(18:05):
Sabbath.
In Mark 227, Jesus said, TheSabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath.
Jesus disregarded these extraoral traditions of men, which
were not found in the law ofGod.
It was Jesus that was trulyobeying the scriptures.
(18:28):
And Jesus' reply to them was, MyFather is working until now, and
I am working.
You note here that Jesus didn'tsay our Father or your Father,
he says my Father.
Jesus is suggesting a far closerrelationship to God than these
Jews.
(18:49):
The Sabbath was a day to honorand celebrate the work God had
done in creation.
Exodus twenty, eleven reads, Forin six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the seaand all that is in them, and
rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed theSabbath day and made it holy.
(19:12):
What Jesus is describing here isthat Father God is continually
working.
He is upholding the universeeven on the Sabbath, and so is
he.
God upholds all things by thepower of his word, he neither
faints nor grows weary, andJesus is claiming to be equal
(19:35):
with the Father, and the Jewsunderstand what he's saying.
We'll pick up next week in verseeighteen, but let me just read
it because all of this flowstogether.
Verse eighteen reads This is whythe Jews were seeking all the
more to kill him, but not onlywas he breaking the Sabbath, but
(19:55):
he was even calling God his ownfather, making himself equal
with God.
Thank you for joining me thisweek for the healing of the
invalid at the pool of Bethesda.
God bless you this week.
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