And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
The verse tells of a helpless paralytic at Bethesda, incurable and unable to walk, who had suffered in misery for thirty-eight years as the worst and most friendless case among the sick there. His disease was largely the fruit of his own sin and evil habits and felt as God's judgment shutting him from mercy, and though carried to wait day and night for the troubling of the water, stronger ones plunged in ahead of him and left him without help at the edge until his strength and hope were nearly gone. Jesus, knowing how long he had suffered, singled him out in pity and by commanding him to rise, take up his bed and walk restored him to vigorous health by divine power. He healed purposely on the Sabbath and had him carry his bed publicly to show that relieving suffering honors the Sabbath as a blessing, though the Pharisees overlooked the mercy and condemned Him as a Sabbath-breaker for healing and for ordering the burden borne. The man could not heal himself, but when he believed Christ's word and tried to obey, God gave him power, showing that Christ as the great Physician forgives and cleanses the soul bound by long-indulged sin and then warns the healed to turn from sin lest worse come.
The Man and Infirmity
At Bethesda lay a helpless cripple who had suffered an infirmity for thirty-eight years. His affliction was incurable and paralytic, leaving him unable to walk or to use his limbs. No physician had been able to cure him, and his strength was nearly gone. He did not know that healing could come to him apart from the troubled water.
He was the worst case among all the sick gathered at the pool. His disease was in great degree the result of his own sin, dissipation, and evil habits. It was looked upon as a judgment from God, and he felt shut out from God's mercy. Afterward he showed his gratitude by coming to the temple with trespass, sin, and thank offerings for the mercy he had received.
He was alone, helpless, and friendless, with no one to help him at the decisive moment. He had no friend to carry him into the pool when its waters were stirred. Though those who pitied his helplessness sometimes carried him to the porches, at the favored moment he was left without aid.
Years of Helpless Waiting
For thirty-eight years he had lived in supreme wretchedness and misery under his infirmity. That long affliction at Bethesda was his condition when Jesus met him, helpless and still without knowledge that Christ could heal him.
He repeatedly came to the pool and waited day and night at its porches for the troubling of the water, which was held to be his only supposed chance of relief. Those who pitied his helplessness carried him there when the water was expected to move. He depended on others even to be brought to the place, so helpless was he.
Yet at the favored moment he had no one to put him in, and stronger people rushed ahead and plunged in before him and seized the healing he hoped for. He was unable to reach the pool before others, getting no farther than the edge though he saw the rippling of the water. The helpless sufferer could not contend with the scrambling, selfish crowd. For years he hoped in this way at Bethesda but could not reach the water in time and had no one to help him.
His was longing and praying for healing through years of persistent effort toward that one object, with anxiety and continual disappointment. That long struggle and anxious waiting steadily weakened what little strength remained and was fast wearing away the remnant of his strength. He became weak and despairing and nearly hopeless, with his strength nearly gone. He faced death unless help came, with little hope of living long enough for another chance. Jesus knew how long he had suffered.
Christ's Merciful Healing
Jesus singled out this long-suffering case above all the sick gathered there, deliberately choosing the worst sufferer for His work. He came walking alone in meditation and prayer, longing to pour healing waters into every soul and to make every sufferer whole. He met the man with pity and compassion, knowing how long he had suffered, and asked whether he wished to be made whole.
He healed him by commanding him to rise, take up his bed and mat, and walk. At the word strength and vigor came, and the helpless, despairing invalid of thirty-eight years was restored to vigorous health and made whole. It was a great miracle showing divine power from God, a deed only Jesus had shown Himself able to do.
Jesus purposely healed him on the Sabbath and told him to carry his bed through the city, making the healing public. In this way people would notice the cure and consider what the Sabbath law permits and what is lawful on the Sabbath. He chose the Sabbath in order to rid the day of burdensome restrictions and to raise the question of its true claims.
The healing was an act of mercy and relief for suffering humanity, in harmony with God's law even though it took place on the Sabbath. It belonged to His mission to care for the friendless, the suffering, the hopeless, and to heal the brokenhearted. In it many recognized Him as a friend who healed disease and comforted sorrow.
Sabbath Meaning and Conflict
Jesus deliberately chose the Sabbath to heal the worst case among the sick at Bethesda and told him to carry his bed through the city, making the cure public so people would notice it and consider what the Sabbath law permits. The healing showed the Sabbath was meant as a blessing and not a burden of human restrictions, exposing and challenging the burdensome Jewish restrictions heaped upon it. Relieving suffering, making the afflicted whole, and doing such acts of mercy belong on the Sabbath, accord with its purpose, and honor it. The work freed the law from senseless restrictions while teaching the sanctity of God's statutes, and it exposed that those who insisted on its exactions failed to carry out its principles in their lives. If circumcision could be performed on the Sabbath, relieving an afflicted person and making him whole was certainly right and lawful.
The Pharisees' traditions obscured the Sabbath's purpose, so although the healing showed divine power from God that only Jesus had shown Himself able to do, they were not delighted at it and overlooked its greatness and mercy. They seized on the cure as a violation of the Sabbath law according to their understanding and used it as an excuse to oppose Jesus despite the evidence of who He was. They excused the restored man from blame yet condemned Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker both for healing the man on the Sabbath and for the added sacrilege of ordering him to take up his bed and bear it away. They then further charged Him with making Himself equal with God when He claimed equal rights with God in doing a work equally sacred and of the same character as His Father's work. The accusation that He broke the Sabbath was followed by Christ's discourse answering that charge.
The miraculous cure caused uproar in the court of the temple and sharp controversy over the true claims of the Sabbath law. It began the setting for Christ's discourse after the healing and the accusation of Sabbath-breaking. The healing gave evidence of who He was, and with His other miracles in Judea it proclaimed His divine identity and Sonship to the Eternal.
The healing was right, and the common people openly listened to Jesus and justified Him in healing this long-suffering man of thirty-eight years, putting the rulers to shame. The rulers had no argument to answer Him, evaded His teaching about the Sabbath, and tried to stir up anger against Him for making Himself equal with God. But the support of the people forced the priests and elders to restrain their hatred for the time and wait for a more favorable opportunity to carry out their evil designs. The leading Jews' malice was kindled until they persecuted Him with determined purpose to compass His death, pursued Him, plotted against His life, and watched eagerly for opportunity to accomplish it. All this took place on the Sabbath day while multitudes were going to the temple for worship, when such healing would stir the strong prejudice of the Jews who desired to accuse Jesus and put Him to death and cut His work short. It was no longer safe to remain in Jerusalem, so after that healing Jesus withdrew to Galilee, avoided the national gatherings, and restricted His work there to avoid needless conflict with Jerusalem's leaders.
Faith and Spiritual Healing
For thirty-eight years the man at Bethesda had been unable to use his limbs, and that long helplessness makes clear that he could not heal himself. The command to rise and walk seemed impossible from a human point of view. Yet when he believed Christ's word and tried to obey without giving doubt a place, acting on it in faith, God gave him power to walk and strength and vigor came so that he was made whole.
Just as Christ made the paralytic whole, so God forgives and cleanses those who trust His promise. The healing is a showing of Christ's power for the healing of the soul.
His thirty-eight-year bound condition shows how an evil practice or master passion, through long indulgence, binds both soul and body. It shows Christ as the great Physician, with infinite wisdom to reach disease of both body and soul, who is able and longs to deliver and will do His utmost to set free the captive held by weakness. His long illness makes clear the great mercy of his healing. His suffering was in part the result of his own dissipation, and after healing him Jesus warned him to turn from the sins that had contributed to his suffering, lest a worse thing come upon him. In gratitude for the mercy he had received he came to the temple with trespass, sin, and thank offerings.
The verse tells of a helpless paralytic at Bethesda, incurable and unable to walk, who had suffered in misery for thirty-eight years as the worst and most friendless case among the sick there. His disease was largely the fruit of his own sin and evil habits and felt as God's judgment shutting him from mercy, and though carried to wait day and night for the troubling of the water, stronger ones plunged in ahead of him and left him without help at the edge until his strength and hope were nearly gone. Jesus, knowing how long he had suffered, singled him out in pity and by commanding him to rise, take up his bed and walk restored him to vigorous health by divine power. He healed purposely on the Sabbath and had him carry his bed publicly to show that relieving suffering honors the Sabbath as a blessing, though the Pharisees overlooked the mercy and condemned Him as a Sabbath-breaker for healing and for ordering the burden borne. The man could not heal himself, but when he believed Christ's word and tried to obey, God gave him power, showing that Christ as the great Physician forgives and cleanses the soul bound by long-indulged sin and then warns the healed to turn from sin lest worse come.
The Man and Infirmity
At Bethesda lay a helpless cripple who had suffered an infirmity for thirty-eight years. His affliction was incurable and paralytic, leaving him unable to walk or to use his limbs. No physician had been able to cure him, and his strength was nearly gone. He did not know that healing could come to him apart from the troubled water.
He was the worst case among all the sick gathered at the pool. His disease was in great degree the result of his own sin, dissipation, and evil habits. It was looked upon as a judgment from God, and he felt shut out from God's mercy. Afterward he showed his gratitude by coming to the temple with trespass, sin, and thank offerings for the mercy he had received.
He was alone, helpless, and friendless, with no one to help him at the decisive moment. He had no friend to carry him into the pool when its waters were stirred. Though those who pitied his helplessness sometimes carried him to the porches, at the favored moment he was left without aid.
Years of Helpless Waiting
For thirty-eight years he had lived in supreme wretchedness and misery under his infirmity. That long affliction at Bethesda was his condition when Jesus met him, helpless and still without knowledge that Christ could heal him.
He repeatedly came to the pool and waited day and night at its porches for the troubling of the water, which was held to be his only supposed chance of relief. Those who pitied his helplessness carried him there when the water was expected to move. He depended on others even to be brought to the place, so helpless was he.
Yet at the favored moment he had no one to put him in, and stronger people rushed ahead and plunged in before him and seized the healing he hoped for. He was unable to reach the pool before others, getting no farther than the edge though he saw the rippling of the water. The helpless sufferer could not contend with the scrambling, selfish crowd. For years he hoped in this way at Bethesda but could not reach the water in time and had no one to help him.
His was longing and praying for healing through years of persistent effort toward that one object, with anxiety and continual disappointment. That long struggle and anxious waiting steadily weakened what little strength remained and was fast wearing away the remnant of his strength. He became weak and despairing and nearly hopeless, with his strength nearly gone. He faced death unless help came, with little hope of living long enough for another chance. Jesus knew how long he had suffered.
Christ's Merciful Healing
Jesus singled out this long-suffering case above all the sick gathered there, deliberately choosing the worst sufferer for His work. He came walking alone in meditation and prayer, longing to pour healing waters into every soul and to make every sufferer whole. He met the man with pity and compassion, knowing how long he had suffered, and asked whether he wished to be made whole.
He healed him by commanding him to rise, take up his bed and mat, and walk. At the word strength and vigor came, and the helpless, despairing invalid of thirty-eight years was restored to vigorous health and made whole. It was a great miracle showing divine power from God, a deed only Jesus had shown Himself able to do.
Jesus purposely healed him on the Sabbath and told him to carry his bed through the city, making the healing public. In this way people would notice the cure and consider what the Sabbath law permits and what is lawful on the Sabbath. He chose the Sabbath in order to rid the day of burdensome restrictions and to raise the question of its true claims.
The healing was an act of mercy and relief for suffering humanity, in harmony with God's law even though it took place on the Sabbath. It belonged to His mission to care for the friendless, the suffering, the hopeless, and to heal the brokenhearted. In it many recognized Him as a friend who healed disease and comforted sorrow.
Sabbath Meaning and Conflict
Jesus deliberately chose the Sabbath to heal the worst case among the sick at Bethesda and told him to carry his bed through the city, making the cure public so people would notice it and consider what the Sabbath law permits. The healing showed the Sabbath was meant as a blessing and not a burden of human restrictions, exposing and challenging the burdensome Jewish restrictions heaped upon it. Relieving suffering, making the afflicted whole, and doing such acts of mercy belong on the Sabbath, accord with its purpose, and honor it. The work freed the law from senseless restrictions while teaching the sanctity of God's statutes, and it exposed that those who insisted on its exactions failed to carry out its principles in their lives. If circumcision could be performed on the Sabbath, relieving an afflicted person and making him whole was certainly right and lawful.
The Pharisees' traditions obscured the Sabbath's purpose, so although the healing showed divine power from God that only Jesus had shown Himself able to do, they were not delighted at it and overlooked its greatness and mercy. They seized on the cure as a violation of the Sabbath law according to their understanding and used it as an excuse to oppose Jesus despite the evidence of who He was. They excused the restored man from blame yet condemned Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker both for healing the man on the Sabbath and for the added sacrilege of ordering him to take up his bed and bear it away. They then further charged Him with making Himself equal with God when He claimed equal rights with God in doing a work equally sacred and of the same character as His Father's work. The accusation that He broke the Sabbath was followed by Christ's discourse answering that charge.
The miraculous cure caused uproar in the court of the temple and sharp controversy over the true claims of the Sabbath law. It began the setting for Christ's discourse after the healing and the accusation of Sabbath-breaking. The healing gave evidence of who He was, and with His other miracles in Judea it proclaimed His divine identity and Sonship to the Eternal.
The healing was right, and the common people openly listened to Jesus and justified Him in healing this long-suffering man of thirty-eight years, putting the rulers to shame. The rulers had no argument to answer Him, evaded His teaching about the Sabbath, and tried to stir up anger against Him for making Himself equal with God. But the support of the people forced the priests and elders to restrain their hatred for the time and wait for a more favorable opportunity to carry out their evil designs. The leading Jews' malice was kindled until they persecuted Him with determined purpose to compass His death, pursued Him, plotted against His life, and watched eagerly for opportunity to accomplish it. All this took place on the Sabbath day while multitudes were going to the temple for worship, when such healing would stir the strong prejudice of the Jews who desired to accuse Jesus and put Him to death and cut His work short. It was no longer safe to remain in Jerusalem, so after that healing Jesus withdrew to Galilee, avoided the national gatherings, and restricted His work there to avoid needless conflict with Jerusalem's leaders.
Faith and Spiritual Healing
For thirty-eight years the man at Bethesda had been unable to use his limbs, and that long helplessness makes clear that he could not heal himself. The command to rise and walk seemed impossible from a human point of view. Yet when he believed Christ's word and tried to obey without giving doubt a place, acting on it in faith, God gave him power to walk and strength and vigor came so that he was made whole.
Just as Christ made the paralytic whole, so God forgives and cleanses those who trust His promise. The healing is a showing of Christ's power for the healing of the soul.
His thirty-eight-year bound condition shows how an evil practice or master passion, through long indulgence, binds both soul and body. It shows Christ as the great Physician, with infinite wisdom to reach disease of both body and soul, who is able and longs to deliver and will do His utmost to set free the captive held by weakness. His long illness makes clear the great mercy of his healing. His suffering was in part the result of his own dissipation, and after healing him Jesus warned him to turn from the sins that had contributed to his suffering, lest a worse thing come upon him. In gratitude for the mercy he had received he came to the temple with trespass, sin, and thank offerings.