Big Healing Book - John 5:2-19

John 5:2-19:

Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
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.
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
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?
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.
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
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.
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
But Jesus answered them, my Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
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.
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Notes on John 5:2-19:

The man who was healed was healed through the operation of a gift of the Spirit, not by his faith. That should be obvious! The man had no idea who Jesus was, and he wasn’t particularly warm to the idea of getting healed in a way other than getting into the pool. Jesus equated his healing with the work of God.

This has led to controversy over why Jesus did not heal everyone else at the pool. It has even been used as a “proof” (see the objections under “See also:” below) that healing is not for all. Yes, Jesus did leave the others sick, but He never turned down anyone who came to Him for healing. The other people at the pool seemed to have no idea who Jesus was. They did not expect anything from Him, so they did not receive anything from Him. (Once the man was healed, Jesus apparently left the area quickly. We don’t know for sure why, but it may have had to do with the fact that the Pharisees would be out to kill Him for healing on the Sabbath.)

The gifts of the Spirit operate as the Spirit wills. He will sometimes heal a person who is not in faith when He sees fit to do so, but no man has any guarantee of being healed that way. Every man DOES have a guarantee of being healed if he will believe he receives his healing when he prays. Just as those who came to Jesus in faith for healing were healed then, you can be healed when you come to Him in faith now.

The unusual and unique situation with this angel and this pool could make you wonder whether the whole thing was just a superstition. However, the passage states that an angel troubled the water and that then the first one in the pool would get healed, so we need to stay with the witness of Scripture. To assert that the passage in question was not quite true would be to undermine the entire authority of Scripture.

However, verse 18 is actually significant when it comes to interpreting the book of Job, because it raises a major issue about Scripture interpretation. In this verse, it says that Jesus broke the Sabbath – if you accept the premise that the narrator’s view is always correct. John was not directly quoting anybody. Bible narrators quote plenty of false statements made by others. But Jesus couldn’t have broken the Sabbath from God’s perspective, because then He would not have been “without sin.” But if the narrator’s perspective MUST ALWAYS BE God’s perspective, Jesus sinned. We know He didn’t, so the only conclusion is that a Bible narrator may use a literary device where he explains the mindset of someone who did something while appearing to be narrating. Thus, the Pharisees sought to kill Him because they THOUGHT that He had broken the Sabbath. This can come into play when trying to interpret Job 42:11, which I consider to be one of the most difficult verses in the Old Testament. The principle seen in John 5:18 could be used to explain that Job’s friends comforted him over the evil that THEY THOUGHT that the Lord had brought upon him.

Verse 19 is important because it proves that Jesus ministered as a Spirit-filled Man and not as God. If He ministered as God, His statement would have to have been, “The Son can do EVERYTHING of Himself, because He is God!”

Although the man was healed, the Bible does not teach “Once healed, always healed.” Jesus warned the man, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (verse 14 of the passage above). Jesus did not come to condemn people, but He did warn them to stop sinning. Another example of this is, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:10-11).

This passage also disproves the idea that God has pre-selected who should be healed and who should not be healed. ANYONE who was sick could get into the pool and be healed of ANY disease he had. It was not a matter of God’s choice to heal people but rather a matter of who stepped into the pool.

Although this was an unusual supernatural way to be healed, notice that it still required initiative on the part of the sick person. He had to first take the step of going to the Pool of Bethesda and waiting for the angel to trouble the water. Then he had to take the step of going into the pool. Likewise, God’s will is always healing for every sick person, but God expects the sick person to take the initiative in the matter rather than passively waiting around, begging God to do something. The sick person needs to hear the Word and then respond by receiving the healing that Jesus provided, knowing that God already DID something when He laid his sicknesses upon Jesus.