In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
John 5:3 pictures the pool of Bethesda by the sheep market at Jerusalem, with its five porches sheltering the sick from heat and cold. In those porches lay a great multitude of hundreds of blind, lame, withered and paralyzed sufferers, waiting day and night for the stirring of the water in the belief that supernatural power troubled it and the first to enter afterward would be healed. From that helpless and competing crowd Jesus chose on the Sabbath the most afflicted case, a man helpless for thirty-eight years, and made him whole as a public sign of His power. He did so purposely on the Sabbath to free the day from senseless human restrictions and to show that relieving suffering and making a man every whit whole is lawful and upholds its sanctity. The waiting multitude stands within His labor as the great Physician, for their bodily disease pictures disease of soul, which He has infinite wisdom to reach and longs to deliver, and the healing with His teaching and cleansing of the temple is evidence that He is the promised Messiah, the Son of the Eternal.
The Waiting Crowd at Bethesda
The pool lay at Jerusalem by the sheep market, ringed with five porches where shelters had been built to shield the sick from heat by day and cold by night. In those porches lay a great multitude, hundreds of impotent folk gathered together in one place. They were the blind, the halt or lame, the withered, the weakened and paralyzed, people of different illnesses and disabilities lying helpless together.
At certain seasons the waters were agitated, and it was commonly believed the stirring came from supernatural power, that an angel troubled the water. Whoever first stepped in afterward was believed to be healed of whatever disease he had. They lay waiting and watching for the moving of the water as their hoped-for chance for healing and life. Many stayed day and night, spending nights in the porches, creeping to the edge and lying on the brink day after day in vain hope of relief.
The crowding and rush for the pool left the setting helpless and competitive. When the water was troubled the crowd rushed forward, and stronger sufferers pushed aside, trampled, or entered before weaker men, women and children. So many could not get near, were disappointed when another stepped in before them, and some died beside the pool or on its edge without relief. Among them was a paralyzed man, helpless for thirty-eight years, with no friend to carry him in. He repeatedly waited but was passed by while stronger people entered first, never getting farther than the edge before another stepped in before him, and the struggle and anxiety weakened him further.
Sabbath Healing and Opposition
The waiting multitude belongs to the healing of the paralytic, the impotent man at the pool, and that healing took place on the Sabbath day. After the cure Christ gave a discourse in answer to the Jews' accusation that He had broken the Sabbath.
From the many sick and disabled gathered there Jesus chose the most afflicted person, the most severe case, to heal. He made the cure a public sign of His power and thereby opened the question of what the Sabbath law permits. He then directed the man to carry his bed publicly, so that people would notice the cure and its circumstances and attention would be drawn to the Sabbath law.
He purposely chose the Sabbath to perform that miracle at the pool in order to free the Sabbath day from the burdens the Jews had heaped upon it. Relieving the afflicted and making a man every whit whole is lawful on the Sabbath and in accordance with the Sabbath law once freed from senseless human restrictions. That teaching upheld the sanctity of God's statutes against men who insisted strictly on the exactions of the law while failing to carry out its principles in their lives.
That healing is evidence of divine power and of Jesus as the promised Messiah, though some used it as an excuse to oppose Him. Together with His earlier miracles, teaching, and cleansing of the temple, it proclaimed His divine identity. Afterward He declared before the Sanhedrin that He was the Son of the Eternal. The sufferer He healed there was recognized as one whom Jesus had helped, and the people supported the healing.
The act caused marvel, yet because it was done on the Sabbath the Pharisees and leading Jews persecuted Jesus. They charged Him with breaking the law as they understood it and with declaring Himself equal with God. The healing caused a great uproar in the court of the temple and a sharp controversy over the true claims of the Sabbath law. They formed a determined purpose to kill Him, plotted against His life, and watched eagerly for an opportunity to accomplish it.
That Sabbath healing so kindled the malice of the leading Jews that it was no longer safe for Him to remain in Jerusalem. So He left for Galilee and made Capernaum the scene of His labors. This healing at Bethesda marked the last time He had attended the national gatherings before restricting His work to Galilee to avoid needless conflict with Jerusalem's leaders.
Christ the Great Physician
Jesus came to the pool alone in apparent meditation and prayer and saw the great company of wretched sufferers lying in the porches waiting and watching for the moving of the water as what they supposed was their only chance of relief. They did not know that among them was One always ready to hear the cry of the oppressed, the suffering, and the sorrowing and to give immediate relief. He longed to exercise His healing power in their behalf, to pour His healing waters into every soul and make every sufferer whole, but He refrained from general healing because it was the Sabbath day when multitudes were going to the temple. He knew such an act would meet strong Jewish prejudice and cut His work short, so from the multitude He singled out one case of supreme wretchedness, a man helpless for thirty-eight years who was carried to the porches when the waters were expected to be troubled yet at the favored moment had no one to help him in and never got farther than the edge before another stepped in before him.
The great multitude of friendless, suffering, hopeless and helpless sufferers waiting at the pool stands within the sphere of His labor to heal the brokenhearted as the great Physician. Their bodily disease pictures also disease of soul, and He has infinite wisdom to reach both. Whatever evil practice or master passion binds soul and body through long indulgence, He is able and longs to deliver, doing His utmost to set free the captive held by weakness.
The account of the multitude, including the impotent man He healed, illustrates His power to heal the soul. The chapter to which the verse belongs presents truth to enlighten people who need to be reconverted before they can become righteous.
John 5:3 pictures the pool of Bethesda by the sheep market at Jerusalem, with its five porches sheltering the sick from heat and cold. In those porches lay a great multitude of hundreds of blind, lame, withered and paralyzed sufferers, waiting day and night for the stirring of the water in the belief that supernatural power troubled it and the first to enter afterward would be healed. From that helpless and competing crowd Jesus chose on the Sabbath the most afflicted case, a man helpless for thirty-eight years, and made him whole as a public sign of His power. He did so purposely on the Sabbath to free the day from senseless human restrictions and to show that relieving suffering and making a man every whit whole is lawful and upholds its sanctity. The waiting multitude stands within His labor as the great Physician, for their bodily disease pictures disease of soul, which He has infinite wisdom to reach and longs to deliver, and the healing with His teaching and cleansing of the temple is evidence that He is the promised Messiah, the Son of the Eternal.
The Waiting Crowd at Bethesda
The pool lay at Jerusalem by the sheep market, ringed with five porches where shelters had been built to shield the sick from heat by day and cold by night. In those porches lay a great multitude, hundreds of impotent folk gathered together in one place. They were the blind, the halt or lame, the withered, the weakened and paralyzed, people of different illnesses and disabilities lying helpless together.
At certain seasons the waters were agitated, and it was commonly believed the stirring came from supernatural power, that an angel troubled the water. Whoever first stepped in afterward was believed to be healed of whatever disease he had. They lay waiting and watching for the moving of the water as their hoped-for chance for healing and life. Many stayed day and night, spending nights in the porches, creeping to the edge and lying on the brink day after day in vain hope of relief.
The crowding and rush for the pool left the setting helpless and competitive. When the water was troubled the crowd rushed forward, and stronger sufferers pushed aside, trampled, or entered before weaker men, women and children. So many could not get near, were disappointed when another stepped in before them, and some died beside the pool or on its edge without relief. Among them was a paralyzed man, helpless for thirty-eight years, with no friend to carry him in. He repeatedly waited but was passed by while stronger people entered first, never getting farther than the edge before another stepped in before him, and the struggle and anxiety weakened him further.
Sabbath Healing and Opposition
The waiting multitude belongs to the healing of the paralytic, the impotent man at the pool, and that healing took place on the Sabbath day. After the cure Christ gave a discourse in answer to the Jews' accusation that He had broken the Sabbath.
From the many sick and disabled gathered there Jesus chose the most afflicted person, the most severe case, to heal. He made the cure a public sign of His power and thereby opened the question of what the Sabbath law permits. He then directed the man to carry his bed publicly, so that people would notice the cure and its circumstances and attention would be drawn to the Sabbath law.
He purposely chose the Sabbath to perform that miracle at the pool in order to free the Sabbath day from the burdens the Jews had heaped upon it. Relieving the afflicted and making a man every whit whole is lawful on the Sabbath and in accordance with the Sabbath law once freed from senseless human restrictions. That teaching upheld the sanctity of God's statutes against men who insisted strictly on the exactions of the law while failing to carry out its principles in their lives.
That healing is evidence of divine power and of Jesus as the promised Messiah, though some used it as an excuse to oppose Him. Together with His earlier miracles, teaching, and cleansing of the temple, it proclaimed His divine identity. Afterward He declared before the Sanhedrin that He was the Son of the Eternal. The sufferer He healed there was recognized as one whom Jesus had helped, and the people supported the healing.
The act caused marvel, yet because it was done on the Sabbath the Pharisees and leading Jews persecuted Jesus. They charged Him with breaking the law as they understood it and with declaring Himself equal with God. The healing caused a great uproar in the court of the temple and a sharp controversy over the true claims of the Sabbath law. They formed a determined purpose to kill Him, plotted against His life, and watched eagerly for an opportunity to accomplish it.
That Sabbath healing so kindled the malice of the leading Jews that it was no longer safe for Him to remain in Jerusalem. So He left for Galilee and made Capernaum the scene of His labors. This healing at Bethesda marked the last time He had attended the national gatherings before restricting His work to Galilee to avoid needless conflict with Jerusalem's leaders.
Christ the Great Physician
Jesus came to the pool alone in apparent meditation and prayer and saw the great company of wretched sufferers lying in the porches waiting and watching for the moving of the water as what they supposed was their only chance of relief. They did not know that among them was One always ready to hear the cry of the oppressed, the suffering, and the sorrowing and to give immediate relief. He longed to exercise His healing power in their behalf, to pour His healing waters into every soul and make every sufferer whole, but He refrained from general healing because it was the Sabbath day when multitudes were going to the temple. He knew such an act would meet strong Jewish prejudice and cut His work short, so from the multitude He singled out one case of supreme wretchedness, a man helpless for thirty-eight years who was carried to the porches when the waters were expected to be troubled yet at the favored moment had no one to help him in and never got farther than the edge before another stepped in before him.
The great multitude of friendless, suffering, hopeless and helpless sufferers waiting at the pool stands within the sphere of His labor to heal the brokenhearted as the great Physician. Their bodily disease pictures also disease of soul, and He has infinite wisdom to reach both. Whatever evil practice or master passion binds soul and body through long indulgence, He is able and longs to deliver, doing His utmost to set free the captive held by weakness.
The account of the multitude, including the impotent man He healed, illustrates His power to heal the soul. The chapter to which the verse belongs presents truth to enlighten people who need to be reconverted before they can become righteous.