John 5:4, commentary and pictures

At Bethesda it was believed that at a certain season an angel went down into the pool and troubled the water, and that whoever first stepped in afterward was made whole of whatever disease he had. That hope drew crowds of sick people to watch beside the water as their only chance of cure, yet when it moved the rush was so fierce that the stronger reached it first while the weaker were pushed aside and many waited day after day in vain, and some died at the brink. Among them was one helpless man ill for thirty-eight years who repeatedly tried to reach the water but had no friend to carry him and was always left behind uncured and nearly without hope. Jesus healed that worst and most helpless case directly without his entering the pool, and He chose to do it on the Sabbath to free the day from burdensome human restrictions and show that making a man every whit whole is lawful and merciful. That cure reveals Him as the great Physician with power to heal soul as well as body and to set free every captive bound by long indulgence, and faith in Him is the victory that looks beyond present burdens to the mansions, the robe and crown, and the song of the redeemed.

The Pool at Bethesda

The verse records the current belief that at a certain season an angel went down into the pool and troubled the water, and that whoever first stepped in after the troubling was made whole of whatever disease he had. The troubling was understood as a stirring of the water by supernatural power at certain or appointed times, giving the water healing virtue for the first person to enter afterward. This belief explains why crowds of sick people with many kinds of illness gathered at Bethesda, watching and waiting beside the water in hope of relief. Hundreds came to watch for the moving of the water as their only chance of cure.

When the water moved the crowd rushed forward so fiercely that stronger people reached it first. Weaker men, women, and children were pushed aside, trampled underfoot, and kept from the water, so many never got near. Many endured repeated disappointment and hardship day after day, and some died at the brink without reaching the healing they sought. Shelters stood around the place and porches were built to protect the sick from heat by day and chill by night, and some spent night after night there, creeping to the edge of the pool day after day in vain hope of relief.

One helpless man had been incurably ill for thirty-eight years and repeatedly waited and tried to reach the healing water. He could not move fast enough and had no friend to carry him, so others entered before him. Because stronger people reached the water before him he remained uncured, weak, despairing, and nearly without hope.

Healing on the Sabbath

John 5:4 belongs to the account of Jesus healing the worst and most helpless case among the afflicted at Bethesda, a poor sufferer who had been incurably ill for thirty-eight years. He chose to do it on the Sabbath day to free the Sabbath from burdensome human restrictions and reveal its true claims. The healing took place on the Sabbath and upheld the sanctity of God's statutes freed from senseless human restrictions, against men who were strict for the outward exactions of the law yet failed to carry out its principles in their lives. It was one work at which all marvelled.

Jesus told the healed man to carry his bed through the city so the cure would become public, draw attention to the circumstances and to Himself, and raise the question of what is lawful on the Sabbath. The man's cure and the command to carry his bed made the healing public, bringing attention to the circumstances and to Jesus. The healed man carried away the mat on which he had long lain.

The healing showed that relieving physical suffering is lawful on the Sabbath and serves the Sabbath's purpose rather than violating it. Relieving suffering on the Sabbath honored God's law, for the Sabbath had been burdened by human restrictions, and Jesus acted to restore its intended dignity. The healing challenged the burdensome restrictions and traditions that had made the Sabbath a burden instead of a blessing. Relieving the afflicted and making a man every whit whole on the Sabbath is certainly right and in accordance with the Sabbath law, for if it is lawful to circumcise a man on the Sabbath day, healing is certainly right, and judgment is to be not according to appearance but righteous judgment. God's work continues continually through nature and the ministration of angels to sustain and bless humanity, and Jesus' healing work was in harmony with His Father's work.

The Sabbath cure caused uproar and sharp controversy. The Pharisees used the carrying of the mat as a pretext to condemn Jesus. Their traditions had turned the Sabbath rest from a blessing into a burden and blinded them to the evidence of divine power in a miracle that should have convinced the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. Blinded by tradition to the evidence of divine power, they charged Him with breaking the law and making Himself equal with God when He declared that His Father works and He works. Because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, the Pharisees persecuted Him with a determined purpose to compass His death and watched eagerly for an opportunity to accomplish it, while Jesus penetrated their purposes and questioned them about it. That healing stirred the leading Jews' hostility and led them to plot against His life, so that only the people's interference kept them from slaying Him on the spot. The people justified Jesus for healing the poor sufferer. Afterward Jesus left Jerusalem to work in Galilee and made Capernaum the scene of His labors, stopping attendance at the national gatherings and restricting His work to Galilee to avoid needless conflict with Jerusalem's leaders.

Christ the Healer

The cure of the helpless man did not depend on getting into the troubled water, for Christ could heal him directly without requiring him to enter the pool. The pool was a place where the sick waited for the water to be troubled, believing that whoever first stepped in afterward would be made whole of whatever disease he had. The man could not reach it ahead of someone stronger, and his repeated waiting and failure left him weak, despairing, and nearly without hope.

The healing at the pool illustrates Christ's power for healing of the soul as well as the body. He is the great Physician with infinite wisdom to reach disease of body and soul, able and longing to deliver whatever evil practice or master passion binds soul and body through long indulgence. That healing belonged to His appointed work of 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 was labor to care for the friendless, the suffering, and the hopeless, doing His utmost to set free the captive held by weakness.

The verse teaches that faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith looks beyond the present with its burdens and cares to the great hereafter where all that now perplexes will be made plain. Faith sees Jesus standing as Mediator at the right hand of God. Faith beholds the mansions He has gone to prepare for those who love Him, sees the robe and crown prepared for the overcomer, and hears the song of the redeemed.