After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
After earlier events Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews, introducing the Jerusalem setting for what follows at the pool of Bethesda. Its porches held many sick people waiting for the water to stir in hope that the first one in would be healed, yet crowding was violent and many could not reach the water and some died waiting. The healing there took place on the Sabbath while many were going to the temple, when Jesus came alone longing to heal all the sufferers but held back a general healing because a Sabbath act would meet prejudice and cut His work short. He fixed instead on one supreme case of wretchedness, a helpless paralytic ill for thirty-eight years with no one to help him, and restored him by commanding him to rise, take up his bed, and walk. He deliberately did this on the Sabbath and sent the man publicly carrying his bed to draw attention and raise what is lawful on the Sabbath, in order to oppose burdensome human restrictions, free the Sabbath from senseless traditions, and show that making a man every whit whole is in harmony with its purpose as a holy blessing and with the Father who continually works to sustain humanity.
Feast and Pool Setting
After earlier events there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem for that feast. This going up to Jerusalem establishes the place and occasion for all that follows. It is the introduction to what took place at the pool of Bethesda, including the healing of the impotent man and Christ's discourse after the Jews accused Him of breaking the Sabbath.
At Bethesda the porches held a multitude of sick people waiting beside the pool hoping for relief when the water was stirred. They believed the water had supernatural healing power and that the first person into it after the stirring would be healed. Crowding and competition to reach it were intense and could turn violent, so many sufferers were unable to reach the water, and some died beside it while waiting.
The healing there took place on the Sabbath. Jesus came to the pool at a time when multitudes were going to the temple for worship.
He came alone, in meditation and prayer, and found wretched sufferers watching for what they supposed their only chance of relief from the troubled water, not knowing that One always ready to hear the cry of the oppressed and give immediate relief stood among them. He longed to exercise His healing power in their behalf and to pour His healing waters into every soul to make every sufferer whole. But He held back a general healing because it was the Sabbath, and He knew such an act would meet strong Jewish prejudice and a desire to find something to accuse Him of and put Him to death, and would cut His work short.
So He fixed on one case of supreme wretchedness. It was a helpless cripple, paralytic and impotent man who had been ill for thirty-eight years, borne to the porches when the waters were expected to be troubled but with no one to help him in, so that at the favored moment he could get no farther than the edge while stronger ones plunged in before him. Jesus drew near to this helpless, nearly hopeless sufferer and asked him whether he wished to be made whole. He then restored him by command, bidding him rise, take up his bed, and walk.
Sabbath Healing and Aftermath
Jesus deliberately chose the Sabbath for the healing at Bethesda and told the man to rise, take up his bed, and carry it publicly through the city, so that the cure could not pass unnoticed but would draw attention and raise the question of what is lawful on the Sabbath. His purpose was to correct false ideas about Sabbath-keeping and to oppose the burdensome human restrictions and traditions that had turned the Sabbath from a blessing into a burden. He acted to free God's statutes from senseless restrictions, to teach the sanctity of God's law, and to uphold and honor its dignity rather than lessen it.
Relieving the afflicted and making a man every whit whole on the Sabbath is in harmony with the Sabbath law and its purpose as a holy blessing, just as it is lawful to circumcise on the Sabbath. His work was in perfect harmony with the Father, who continually works through nature and angels to sustain and bless humanity. In connection with the healing He declared His equality with God by referring to God as His own Father, which His opponents understood as a claim to equality with God and called blasphemy. His Judea ministry of temple cleansing, healing miracles, and teaching revealed His divine identity and proclaimed His Sonship to God, which He declared before the Sanhedrin after the healing at Bethesda.
The healing led to accusation of Sabbath-breaking and to His discourse afterward. The miracle was evidence that He was the promised Messiah, but those determined to doubt used it as a pretext to reject Him. His pointed teaching before the people exposed the hidden iniquity of their lives and their purpose to kill Him. The Sabbath healing caused dispute and persecution by the Pharisees and leading Jews, with a determined purpose to compass His death while they eagerly watched for opportunity. The people listened candidly and defended His healing, forcing the rulers to hold back their hostility for a time.
That hostility so kindled the malice of the leading Jews and their plotting against His life that Jerusalem was no longer safe, so He left Jerusalem for Galilee and made Capernaum a center and scene of His teaching and labors. The encounter shows Christ's pity for the helpless and nearly hopeless sufferer and teaches that a person should trust and obey the Saviour's command rather than let doubt and hesitation prevent receiving the offered blessing. The healing belongs to His announced work on earth, fulfilling what He read from Isaiah at Nazareth about preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, setting at liberty the bruised, and preaching the acceptable year of the Lord. It shows His labor to care for the friendless, the suffering, and the hopeless as the great Physician with infinite wisdom to reach the diseases of both body and soul, able and longing to deliver whatever evil practice and master passion binds soul and body through long indulgence. Together with the healing of the paralytic and the healing of the man in the synagogue, the story of the impotent man at Bethesda illustrates Christ's power for the healing of the soul.
After earlier events Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews, introducing the Jerusalem setting for what follows at the pool of Bethesda. Its porches held many sick people waiting for the water to stir in hope that the first one in would be healed, yet crowding was violent and many could not reach the water and some died waiting. The healing there took place on the Sabbath while many were going to the temple, when Jesus came alone longing to heal all the sufferers but held back a general healing because a Sabbath act would meet prejudice and cut His work short. He fixed instead on one supreme case of wretchedness, a helpless paralytic ill for thirty-eight years with no one to help him, and restored him by commanding him to rise, take up his bed, and walk. He deliberately did this on the Sabbath and sent the man publicly carrying his bed to draw attention and raise what is lawful on the Sabbath, in order to oppose burdensome human restrictions, free the Sabbath from senseless traditions, and show that making a man every whit whole is in harmony with its purpose as a holy blessing and with the Father who continually works to sustain humanity.
Feast and Pool Setting
After earlier events there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem for that feast. This going up to Jerusalem establishes the place and occasion for all that follows. It is the introduction to what took place at the pool of Bethesda, including the healing of the impotent man and Christ's discourse after the Jews accused Him of breaking the Sabbath.
At Bethesda the porches held a multitude of sick people waiting beside the pool hoping for relief when the water was stirred. They believed the water had supernatural healing power and that the first person into it after the stirring would be healed. Crowding and competition to reach it were intense and could turn violent, so many sufferers were unable to reach the water, and some died beside it while waiting.
The healing there took place on the Sabbath. Jesus came to the pool at a time when multitudes were going to the temple for worship.
He came alone, in meditation and prayer, and found wretched sufferers watching for what they supposed their only chance of relief from the troubled water, not knowing that One always ready to hear the cry of the oppressed and give immediate relief stood among them. He longed to exercise His healing power in their behalf and to pour His healing waters into every soul to make every sufferer whole. But He held back a general healing because it was the Sabbath, and He knew such an act would meet strong Jewish prejudice and a desire to find something to accuse Him of and put Him to death, and would cut His work short.
So He fixed on one case of supreme wretchedness. It was a helpless cripple, paralytic and impotent man who had been ill for thirty-eight years, borne to the porches when the waters were expected to be troubled but with no one to help him in, so that at the favored moment he could get no farther than the edge while stronger ones plunged in before him. Jesus drew near to this helpless, nearly hopeless sufferer and asked him whether he wished to be made whole. He then restored him by command, bidding him rise, take up his bed, and walk.
Sabbath Healing and Aftermath
Jesus deliberately chose the Sabbath for the healing at Bethesda and told the man to rise, take up his bed, and carry it publicly through the city, so that the cure could not pass unnoticed but would draw attention and raise the question of what is lawful on the Sabbath. His purpose was to correct false ideas about Sabbath-keeping and to oppose the burdensome human restrictions and traditions that had turned the Sabbath from a blessing into a burden. He acted to free God's statutes from senseless restrictions, to teach the sanctity of God's law, and to uphold and honor its dignity rather than lessen it.
Relieving the afflicted and making a man every whit whole on the Sabbath is in harmony with the Sabbath law and its purpose as a holy blessing, just as it is lawful to circumcise on the Sabbath. His work was in perfect harmony with the Father, who continually works through nature and angels to sustain and bless humanity. In connection with the healing He declared His equality with God by referring to God as His own Father, which His opponents understood as a claim to equality with God and called blasphemy. His Judea ministry of temple cleansing, healing miracles, and teaching revealed His divine identity and proclaimed His Sonship to God, which He declared before the Sanhedrin after the healing at Bethesda.
The healing led to accusation of Sabbath-breaking and to His discourse afterward. The miracle was evidence that He was the promised Messiah, but those determined to doubt used it as a pretext to reject Him. His pointed teaching before the people exposed the hidden iniquity of their lives and their purpose to kill Him. The Sabbath healing caused dispute and persecution by the Pharisees and leading Jews, with a determined purpose to compass His death while they eagerly watched for opportunity. The people listened candidly and defended His healing, forcing the rulers to hold back their hostility for a time.
That hostility so kindled the malice of the leading Jews and their plotting against His life that Jerusalem was no longer safe, so He left Jerusalem for Galilee and made Capernaum a center and scene of His teaching and labors. The encounter shows Christ's pity for the helpless and nearly hopeless sufferer and teaches that a person should trust and obey the Saviour's command rather than let doubt and hesitation prevent receiving the offered blessing. The healing belongs to His announced work on earth, fulfilling what He read from Isaiah at Nazareth about preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, setting at liberty the bruised, and preaching the acceptable year of the Lord. It shows His labor to care for the friendless, the suffering, and the hopeless as the great Physician with infinite wisdom to reach the diseases of both body and soul, able and longing to deliver whatever evil practice and master passion binds soul and body through long indulgence. Together with the healing of the paralytic and the healing of the man in the synagogue, the story of the impotent man at Bethesda illustrates Christ's power for the healing of the soul.