JOHN LESSON 13


     We will begin this lesson in John 5:1.

     V-1, "After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up
to Jerusalem."

     This is probably the second Feast of the Passover here.  Of
course, it could have been any of the Feasts, but Jesus seemed to put
more emphasis on Passover.  Jesus went to Jerusalem for the major
feasts the same as all dedicated Israelites.

     V-2, "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which
is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches."

     This place with the five porches means place of grace.  Bethesda
means house of grace or mercy.  This would go right along with the
number five which means grace.  These porches were probably shade for
the people waiting to get into the water.  Many believe this to be
Siloam.  It really doesn't matter, just Jesus' act matters.

     V-3, "In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind,
halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water."

     Here we see a scene of numerous people lying on these porches
waiting for the water to move.  On a small scale, this was a place
people came to receive a miracle.

     V-4, "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool,
and troubled the water:  whosoever then first after the troubling of
the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."

     This healing was on such a limited scale.  Just one out of all
these numbers who waited would be healed.  What a disappointment to
wait and then not be healed.  This water being troubled here in the
Bible has caused many to believe in miracles such a s this.  Possibly
the most famous being the one in Europe called Fatima.  These seem to
have very little spiritual significance, so they say an angel did it.

     V-5, "And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty
and eight years."

     This man had literally drug himself to this pool over and over
waiting to receive his healing.  This disease had been of such a long
standing time that the man had become despondent, probably, and
thought that he would never be whole.

     V-6, "When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a
long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?"

     This may seem to be a strange question to you, but Jesus would
not make him whole against his will.  It is just like sin, you may
have walked away from God for this long or even longer, but Jesus will
not force Himself upon you.  The Lord is saying, "Will you be made
whole?" It is the same question.  He asks the man if he will accept
healing in his flesh.  He asks the sinner will he be made whole in the
spirit.  God will not overrule your will.  To be healed in the body or
the spirit, you must desire to be made whole.

     V-7, "The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the
water is troubled, to put me into the pool:  but while I am coming,
another steppeth down before me."

     Just as it is with the spirit, many times a person floundering,
needing to be made whole,  needs the help of a friend to help him
plunge in.  This man needed a friend.  Most people who come to the
Lord are helped by family or friends to come.  The sad thing is, there
are millions of people waiting to be made whole with no one to help
them.

     V-8, "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

     Jesus tells him to do something to show that he has received his
healing.  Had the man just laid there, he would have died in that
condition.  He answered the call.  He did just as Jesus said and was
healed.

     V-9, "And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his
bed, and walked:  and on the same day was the sabbath."

     This crippled man obeys the voice and takes up his bed and walks.
Sabbath or not, if this Jesus can heal him, He certainly has the right
to tell him to carry his bed.  We see nowhere that this crippled man
questioned, he just obeyed.  This is the very same thing we must do
that have been crippled by the sins of life.  When Jesus saves you,
then you must obey.  He will not be your Saviour unless He can be your
Lord, as well.

     V-10, "The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the
sabbath day:  it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed."

     This is just the way a lot of people think.  They were completely
ignoring the fact that a man who had been crippled thirty-eight years
could walk.  They were so caught up in the law that all that meant
anything to them was the formality of religion.  We, too, must not get
so caught up in the routine of going to church, that we overlook the
Lord and His Spirit.  Formality means nothing to God.  He wants your
obedience and love.  These religious people were not interested in
helping people.  They were just interested in them keeping the law.
Religion without Jesus is no good at all.

     V-11, "He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said
unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk."

     These religious leaders were not really interested in the man.
They wanted Jesus, to punish Him.  They were jealous because His
powers were far beyond anything they had.

     V-12, "Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto
thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?"

     They already knew that this was Jesus.  They just wanted this man
to give His name, so that they might accuse Him.

     V-13, "And he that was healed wist not who it was:  for Jesus had
conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place."

     The man had not stopped to ask Jesus who He was.  Probably this
man had spent so much time waiting at the pool, that he had never
heard of Jesus.  We read there was a multitude there, so we know it
would have been easy for Jesus to just walk through the crowd and be
lost.

     V-14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto
him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come
unto thee."

     We see from this above that this man's sins had brought this
disease upon him.  Not all disease is from sin, but it is apparent
that was the case here.  The first thing this man did was go into the
temple which had been denied him for thirty-eight years.  Perhaps he
went to give an offering for his healing.  Jesus tells him, as He told
the woman who had been caught in adultery: "Go and sin no more".  In
this case, Jesus gave a warning, "lest a worse thing come unto thee".

     V-15, "The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus,
which had made him whole."

     We did not see Jesus telling the man not to tell, so there is
really nothing wrong in him telling.

     V-16, "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to
slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day."

     Personally, I believe they were jealous.  He was doing things far
beyond their capability.  They were caught up in the law to the extent
that they cared not that this man had been healed.

     V-17, "But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I
work."

     Jesus is saying here that truly God's help for mankind has never
ceased.  Even the fact that Jesus came to this earth to save all of
mankind shows that God's labours never ceased.  God's creation of the
world ceased, but His caring for mankind never ceased.  We must enter
into the sabbath of rest with God.  That is actually what we do when
we turn our lives over to Him and let Him be Lord.  We can rest from
the worry and trials of this world while still occupying until He
comes.  This will certainly stir up these Jews.


     V-18, "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he
not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his
Father, making himself equal with God."

     The amazing thing to me is how these learned men of the law could
overlook the predictions in the Scriptures of Messiah.  Why they did
not realize that no mere man could do all of these miracles is amazing
to me.  Jesus was equal with the Father.  It should not have come as
any surprise to them that Jesus (Messiah, Christ) was among them.
They should have believed the Bible which they proclaimed to uphold.


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                          John 13 Questions


1.  Why did Jesus go back to Jerusalem?
2.  What was the name of the pool near the sheep market?
3.  How many porches did it have?
4.  What does that number mean?
5.  What does Bethesda mean?
6.  What were these blind, halt, impotent folk waiting for?
7.  Who troubled the water?
8.  How many were healed when the water was troubled?
9.  How long had the man had the infirmity?
10. What question did Jesus ask the man?
11. What does that have to do with Christianity?
12. How did the impotent man answer Jesus?
13. What did Jesus tell the man to do as an act of faith?
14. What day had Jesus healed the man?
15. Jesus will not be your ____________________________________ unless
    He can be your __________________________________.
16. What reaction did the Jews have to the man being healed?
17. Why did they ask the man who healed him?
18. How did Jesus get away without being seen?
19. When Jesus saw the man in the temple, what warning did He give
    him?
20. Is all disease because of sin?
21. When the man told the Jews that Jesus healed him, what did they do
    to Jesus?
22. In verse 17, what did Jesus say that further angered the Jews?
23. What did the Jews want to do to Jesus?
24. What angered the Jews more than His breaking sabbath?


                                 Notes