Gospel of John 09.vp

Ses s i on 3: Our Sav i or , Our Judge , and Our Bread 59

B. The healing of the official’s son as the second sign of Jesus’ glory, 4.54

III. Jesus Heals the Lame Man at the Pool of Bethesda, John 5.1-18

A. The healing at the pool of Bethesda, 5.1-9

1. The pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, 5.1-3

a. Associated with divine favor

b. Attracting those who had need of healing: blind, lame, and paralyzed, 4.3b

2. The textual dispute over verse 4: John 5.4 (NASB) – for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.

a. Many hold that verse 4 was later added by a scribe learned in the tradition of grace and healing associated with the Bethesda pool.

b. This verse may explain the mysterious rendering of verse seven.

3. The invalid of thirty-eight years, and the pathos of invalidism, 5.5-7 – One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. [6] When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” [7] The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to