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    John 5:1-18
    Lesson 173

    Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

    In this lesson:
     
    Verse 5:16 opens a new section in Jesus' ministry.
    The start of hostility.​
    Jesus heals at the pool of Bethesda.​
    Study Tip: 
     
    Cling to the Bible, engrave its lessons in your heart, and practice them in your life

    The Gospel According to St. John

    The King James Bible    ​

    John 5:1-18
    The third miracle

    1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

    2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

    3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

    4 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.
     
    5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

    6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

    7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

    8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

    9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

    10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

    11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

    12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

    13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

    14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

    15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

    16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

    17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

    ​18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
    ​Margin notes: 
     
    "After this," (5:1) - Means, after Jesus healed the nobleman's son in lesson 172.
     
    "Feast of the Jews." (5:1) - Refers to one of the four annual Jewish feasts.  1) The Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:5-8) held every April to celebrate the Exodus from Egypt and slavery.  2) The Feast of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:10-21; Numbers 28:27-29) celebrated each June to honor the giving of the Law.  3) The Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-43 Deuteronomy 16:13-15) in October, celebrating the harvest.  4) The Feast of Purim, which took place shortly before Passover.  The Gospels do not mention it. 
     
    "Which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda." (5:2) - "Which is called Bethsaida in the Jewish language (Aramaic)."  The pool of Bethsaida lay within the walls of Jerusalem, just north of the Temple.  In 1888, excavators found a pool near the old sheep's gate not far from the Temple.  It lay beneath the ruins of a 4th-century church surrounded by the remains of five porches, as described in this passage.
     
    "Impotent folk." (5:3) - "Sick people."
     
    "Halt." (5:3) - Means "lame."
     
    "Withered." (5:3) - "Paralyzed.'
     
    "At a certain season." (5:4) - "From time to time." 
     
    "Knew that he had been now a long time in that case." (5:6) - "(Jesus) knew that he had been in that condition a long time."  How did Jesus know?  Read Hebrews 4:13.
     
    "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." (5:8) - This was not the only time Jesus healed the sick (Matthew 9:6; Luke 5:24).
     
    "Immediately the man was made whole." (5:9) - As prophesied in Isaiah 35:5-6, seven hundred years earlier.
     
    "It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed." (5:10) - It wasn't against the civil law to work on the Sabbath.  It only violated the Pharisees' false interpretation of the Mosaic Law.  See "Today's question" below.
     
    "Wist not who it was." (5:13) - "Didn't know who it was."
     
    "My Father worketh hitherto." (5:17) - "My Father works constantly."  By calling God His Father, Jesus is proclaiming Himself the Son of God.  After hearing this, the Jewish Sanhedrin focus' its efforts on killing Jesus.  In two years, they will succeed. 
     
    "Broken the sabbath." (5:18) - On at least seven occasions, Jesus upset the religious leaders by healing the infirmed on the Sabbath (Mark 1:21-27; 1:29-31; 3:1-6; Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-6; John 5:1-16; 9:1-16).


                                                  New Living Translation 
     

    John 5:1-18
    Jesus Heals a Lame Man
     
    1 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.

    2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches.

    3 Crowds of sick people-blind, lame, or paralyzed-lay on the porches.

    5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.

    6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, "Would you like to get well?"
     
    7 "I can't, sir," the sick man said, "for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me."
     
    8 Jesus told him, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!"
     
    9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,

    10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, "You can't work on the Sabbath! The law doesn't allow you to carry that sleeping mat!"
     
    11 But he replied, "The man who healed me told me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'"
     
    12 "Who said such a thing as that?" they demanded.
     
    13 The man didn't know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.

    14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, "Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you."

    15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.
     
    Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God
     
    16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules.

    17 But Jesus replied, "My Father is always working, and so am I."

    ​18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
     
    *Since the earliest Greek manuscripts do not include the last seven words of verse three or any part of verse four, the "New Living Translation" leaves them out. 
    ​This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word for word translation of the Bible.  However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."
    Today's question:
     
    1. Was the healed man breaking the law of Moses by carrying his bed? (5:10) 
     
     
    To strengthen your relationship with God, read your Bible daily.
    Answer: (Do you agree?) 
    ​​
    1.     No, the Law of Moses allowed a person to carry their bed on the Sabbath.  It forbid working on the Sabbath for profit (Nehemiah 13:15-17).  Over the years, Jewish tradition added hundreds of manmade rules to the law, but since there is no profit in carrying your bed, this man didn't break any of God's laws.  The only "law" this man violated was the Pharisees' law. 

    The Pharisees were so disconnected from God that when a man is miraculously healed after thirty-eight years of suffering (5:5), they're more concerned about why he carried a bed on the Sabbath and begin to look for ways to kill Jesus (5:16).
    ​ 
       
    Application thought for the day:
     
    If Jesus were to ask you, "Wilt thou be made whole?" (5:6)  What would you answer?
    Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress Books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies; " "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course the "King James Bible."  All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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