A hopeless case (Jesus talking with a sick and lonely man) John 5:1-18

I. Personal preparation

Observation, interpretation

Context: Jesus was on His way to one of the most significant religious festivities in Jerusalem. It was the day of the weekly Sabbath (= Saturday; Christians celebrate Sunday), the day when all Jews went to the temple. On His way to the temple, He passed the colonnades erected around the pool of Bethesda. Jesus did not pass them by, but instead went inside. This is the reason: He meets a man who is among the ill there. Instead of festivities, the temple, worship and joy, He encounters misery and hopelessness.

1 feast of the Jews: Sabbath (v. 9) - temple - worship - joy

2 Bethesda = house of mercy

A picture of a reconstruction of the colonnades around the pool is printed in a German encyclopaedia on the Bible, edited by Brockhaus. Similar reconstructions and archaeological images can be found on the Internet.

3b-4 Additional text; not part of the oldest manuscripts. This was probably common knowledge when the gospel was written; later an additional explanation was regarded as necessary. The pool was fed by a subterranean spring which was intermittently active.

God's angel: This expression shows that the healing described here is regarded as being from God.

Thanks to archaeological excavation work, it is now possible to reconstruct what the pool must have looked like. This shows the historic accuracy of John's Gospel.

5 had been an invalid for thirty-eight years: the name of the man remains unknown; however this phrase sums up his ill-fated situation.

6 On His way to the feast, Jesus stops in front of the man who says of himself: I have no one (v.7). Jesus saw him lying there. Jesus' reaction shows His interest in and compassion for the sick man. Instead of taking part in the festivities, Jesus visits the infirmary and the marginalised people there who are excluded from the feast, vegetating away.

Do you want to get well?: This is a sensible, sensitive and important question for people resigned to their fate. Jesus does not enter the man's life without being invited.

7 The man's answer reveals a) how these ill people viewed life: no solidarity, no mutual help; not even a waiting list, but a bitter fight for survival. b) the wretchedness and profound loneliness of this one man worn down by a continual back and forth between hope and disappointment.

8-9 Get up - pick up your mat - and walk: Jesus wants the man to make a decision: Are you going to take Me at My word and trust Me - or are you going to keep clinging to the vague hope of being healed at this pool? Jesus doesn't offer him human solidarity, e.g., to help him get into the pool. Instead, He challenges him to focus his hope on Him and His word. His invitation is an authoritative command: it grants what it demands and accomplishes what it calls for.

9b-11 Sabbath observance (cf. Exodus 31:l2-17; Numbers 15:32-36; Jeremiah 17:21-22): The Sabbath is a special sign of the covenant between God and His people Israel. By observing the Sabbath, the people commit themselves to the God Who created heaven and earth in six days and Who rested on the seventh day. For instance, carrying heavy loads on the Sabbath was forbidden, and disobeying this Sabbath regulation was considered a serious sin. For more information on Jesus' understanding of the Sabbath, read Mark 2:27-28: healing on the Sabbath is, rather, the true fulfilment of observing the Sabbath - freeing people from the weight of their heavy (internal) burdens, allowing them to finally breathe again (Mark 3:4; Luke 13:16).

However, the Jews had no understanding for this interpretation of the Sabbath and no sympathy for the healed man. Instead of joining with him to celebrate his healing, they see only the disregard for the Sabbath rules.

14 During His second encounter with the man, Jesus again takes the initiative. His words to the healed man sound like a threat: Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.

• Jesus does not directly link illness with sin, but warns about the consequences of habitual sinning (cf. John 9:2-3).

• Sin is not regarded as a moral offence but as a rejection of Jesus (cf. John 1:11; John 16:9).

• something worse: not a worse illness, but eternal death, being lost for all eternity. Bethesda was the scene of physical healing; the temple is the scene of the cure for body and soul. In Bethesda the man was alienated by others; but sin is alienation from God.

• Healing and forgiveness of sins are closely linked with each other (cf. Psalm 103:3).

• It is not Jesus' intention to threaten with hell but to warn against sin (= missing the mark) and to secure eternal life (cf. v. 24!).

15-16 Open hostility against Jesus. The reason is not merely narrow-minded interpretation of Jewish laws. There is much more at stake here. Who would dare set himself over and above God's commandments? No one less than God Himself (cf. Mark 2:28!).

17-18 Jesus formulates His claim even more clearly, more provocatively. The entire nation of Israel could be regarded as Son, with God as Father; but one individual claiming God as His Father was an outrageous presumption by which Jesus declared Himself nearly equal with God.

Group discussion

Introduction

See "Context" above.

B. Questions

The House of mercy (v.1-7)

1. How have we ourselves experienced times of illness? What sensations do we associate with being ill?

2. In the text, Jesus meets the sick man twice. The first encounter is at the pool of Bethesda, the second is in the temple. Bethesda means "house of mercy". From the text, how can we accurately characterise this place and what happens here? What is going on? What is the mood among the ill people?

3. Try to "step into the shoes" of this ill man. What is going on inside? What has been endured during those long invalid years?

Jesus' mercy (v.6-9)

4. What specific steps does Jesus take in His approach to this ill man (see ... know ... ask ... answer)? What impresses us about Jesus' conduct? What appears strange?

5. What is the man's actual need? What kind of feelings does Jesus' question Do you want to get well? provoke in the man?

The mercilessness of the leading Jews (v.10-13; v.15-18)

6. Instead of joy, the man's healing prompts annoyance among the Jews. What causes this caustic reaction? What are the differences between Jesus' view of the Sabbath and the Jews' view? (Possibly explain verses 9b-11 and read the respective texts in Mark and Luke together.)

Something worse- and the greater (v14-18, 24)

Going back to the ill man: Jesus again meets him in the temple and speaks with him. What does He mean by His statement in verse 14? What does Jesus want him to gain (cf. v. 24!)? Being healthy is the most important thing - how do you think Jesus would comment on this motto? What is Jesus' objective in meeting and talking with this man?

8. In verse 12, the Jews ask Who is this fellow who told you...? What answer does Jesus Himself give at the end of the story?

C. Application

1. I have no one: Do I know anyone who might say the same thing? Have I ever experienced loneliness, being disappointed by others? What thoughts go through my mind when I imagine Jesus standing in front of me and asking: Do you want to ...? Do I believe that Jesus can come to me in my loneliness and lead me out of my resignation? Or is Jesus more of a stranger to me?

2. Bethesda and what happened there is also an image of our world. One world, in which in the battle for existence everyone is one's own neighbour. A famous theologian once gave this story the following caption: "The world in crisis needs God's revelation -but then it takes it to court". To what extent do you think this caption fits the original story? Could it also be a description of what is happening in our time?

3. Where are we resigned? Where have we given up hope? Where have the ups and downs of hope and disappointment worn us out? Am I prepared to let go of everything I cling to and trust Jesus' words: Stand up, roll up your mat, and get going?