The Pool of Bethesda

 Temple Baptist Church - 11-16-2022

John 5:1-16

 

A.  Verse 1-2.  The time and place of the miracle.  “After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

 

a.  The time was one of the 3 feast days where God required all the males of Israel, along with Jewish Proselytes, to appear before Him in Jerusalem.  Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles.

 

b.  The sheep market where displaced Jews who sold their sheep in their homeland could now buy sheep for their sacrifices at the feast.

 

c.  Bethesda – House of Kindness or Mercy.  A pool with five porches (5 in the Bible is the number of grace) where people with physical infirmities were brought to sit in hopes of healing.

 

B.  Verses 3-4.  The mystery of the Pool of Bethesda.

 

a.  In the transitional period of the “400 Silent Years” between Malachi and Matthew, God—for whatever reason known only to Him—instituted a way of healing for the people of Israel that was unique to its time.  God did the same type of miracles in the transitional books of the New Testament prior to the completion of the Word of God at the conclusion of the Apostolic Age.

 

b.  A certain angel came to a certain place with a certain healing.  It was a physical healing, not a spiritual one. The healing was evidently a cure for the chastisement of God upon the sinful. 

 

John 5:14  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.

 

c.  The healing was because of the grace of God and not by the knowledge of earthly physicians.  “Bethesda.”

 

d.  The healing was not uniform, or “across the board” because only the first one to step into the pool received the healing.  A great lesson here is that sinfulness may continue to bear consequences for either a long time or for a lifetime.

 

C.  Now, I want to look at the physical healing that this man received and make a spiritual application. 

 

1.  The Condition of the Sinner.  Verses 5-7.  A Certain man who was helpless but not hopeless!  After 38 years of helplessness, he was still at the pool and hopeful for his own personal miracle.  Lesson: never give up.  “It ain’t over until it is over.”

 

2.  The Certainty of the Season.  Verse 4. 

 

a.  The impotent man did not know when the stirring of the waters would take place again, but he knew that it would stir once more. 

 

b.  Oft times we give up on the Lord when we have “open ended waiting” ahead.  He knew!  God is always on time: not early nor late.

 

3.  The Complexity of the Situation.  Verse 7. 

 

a.  “Sir, I have no man.”  The situation of the impotent man was one of human impossibility but still one of hopefulness. 

 

b.  Most of us would have given up and stayed at home after a few days, weeks, months, or years.  With God all things are possible because He alone can do all things.

 

4.  The Compassion of the Sovereign.  Verse 6. 

 

a.  “When Jesus.”  It will never cease to amaze me that the God of this universe, eternal existing and eternally sovereign, would look down on an impotent man sitting among the sick, maimed, and afflicted sitting on the porches of the Pool of Bethesda!  Even more so, that God would look down on a sinner such as I! 

 

b.  God, in His sovereignty, comes in His time and in His way.  Acts, chapter 9 and Paul’s conversion, is a great example.  Our Lord knew where this man was all the 38 years previous but came to him at the right time.  The question is often asked, “Does God really care?”  He does!  “Does God really love us?”  He Does.

 

5.  The Confrontation with the Solution.  Verse 6-7. 

 

a.  The question asked, “Will thou be made whole?”  The answer given, “Sir, I have no man.”  We see the honesty of the impotent man.  He was frank with the Lord concerning his inability and future.

 

b.  He answered, “Sir, I have no man.”  “No!”  His expectancy was for the help of some man to help when the solution was found in the Lord Jesus.

 

6.  The Charge of the Saviour.  Verse 8.

 

a.  “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”  For an impotent man, this was a solution far beyond his human ability.  It took an act of faith get up and get gone. 

 

b.  The Lord demanded the impossible; He required the unthinkable; He only asked for the man to place his face in Him.  “Go forward” was the command to Israel when faced with the Red Sea!  Go forward and trust God to make a way.

 

7.  The Change of the Salvation.  Verse 9. 

 

a.  “And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.”  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 38 years of suffering and disappointment were over, and a new life began for the impotent man.

 

b.  Can you imagine the thrill, the utmost joy, the amazing hope in the impotent man’s heart and mind?  To walk again after 38 years of impotency.  It is amazing that God can fix things as quickly as He can slowly.  He can test our faith slowly  or He can reward our faith instantly.

 

8.  The Criticism of the Spectators.  Verse 10. 

 

a.  “It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.”  The religious crowd chose this wonderful time as to criticize instead of a time of joy and happiness for the cured.  The world does not comprehend, cannot comprehend, and cannot explain spiritual change that brings about an outward change. 

 

b.  People tend to malign what they cannot understand.  What they cannot understand, they tend to reject and or attack.  Why would it anger a righteous man when God heals a crippled man?  These Jews were so religiously pious that such a wonderful thing done on the Sabbath became a thing of sin instead of a thing of joy.

 

9.  The Confession of the Saint.  Verses 11-15. 

 

a.  “He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk ... The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.”  He gave glory and praise to the One who changed his life in a moment of time.

 

b. God did a wonderful thing for us when He took all our sin away.  How can we remain silent in the presence of the world?  Someone once said, “The Gospel is the best kept secret in the Bible Belt!”

 

10.  The Command of the Saviour.  Verse 14. 

 

a.  “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.” Evidently, the impotence of this man was a result chastisement. 

 

b.  Not all sickness and affliction are results of personal sin, but they are results of Adamic sin.  We all have our sicknesses and afflictions, but God is able to deliver us from the all or through them all.

 

11.  The Clarification of the Son of God.  Verse 16-17. 

 

a.  “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.” This was an act of God, not that of an angel or the help of a man.  

 

b.  When a problem is fixed, remember that it is of the Lord’s mercies.  He loves us and He cares.