Bible Study Notes - John 5:1-15

Bible Study Notes - John 5:1-15

“Do you want to be made whole?”  Jesus asks this forthright and possibly unnecessary question of a lame man who has been at the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years.  Does it not stand to reason that the ma n would welcome healing?  For 13,870 days, this man traveled to this pool with the daily superstitious wish he could jump into the healing waters when an angel stirs them before anyone else in the numerous competing crowd.  Jesus’ blunt question appears rude and insensitive.  Yet, it is necessary to consider whether this man slowly but surely develops a victim’s complex.  Practically, he possibly surrenders any hope of healing as he has lived as a paralytic for such a lengthy period.  In psychological terms, his familiarity with this physical and emotional pathology creates normality for his daily existence which healing would irreversibly disrupt.  Hence, Jesus starkly inquires about the man’s authentic desire for healing and wholeness.

Fortunately, the Johannine evangelist does not name the man.  Anyone can place his or her name in the paralytic’s stead.  His brokenness symbolizes the myriad pain, trials and tribulations of humankind, individually and collectively.  His extensive period of illness parallels the long “dark night of the soul” in which many people live.  His perplexity about his circumstances, their origins and continuance, is the bewilderment many people feel about their own adversities.  His reach toward superstition demonstrates the desperation of persons afflicted with difficult, longstanding and complex illnesses.  Once a congregant who suffered with cancer remarked, “Pastor, I have been in pain so long that I have forgotten what it feels like to be well and not in pain.”  At the time the paralytic encounters Jesus, he assuredly confirms her dilemma and emotions. 

Nevertheless, the sun rises on the 13, 871 day of his predicament.  Past practice proving instructive, the paralytic assumes his usual daily routine.  He cannot conceive any difference in this day from one that precedes it nor does he imagine it will change fundamentally any days which will follow it.  He proceeds to the pool at Bethesda with the remaining embers of a wish and prayer for healing and wholeness.  Undoubtedly, he asks his friends and helpers to assist him as usual in securing a pivotal spot near the pool.  Amazingly, the paralytic encounters Jesus who eventually transforms the broken man’s life.  This day would prove to be a very different day as the paralytic would decide unequivocally to seek inner healing and physical wholeness.

For anyone who similarly encounters Jesus, he or she equally receives restoration and completeness.  To encourage and empower with hope, I list eight subjects we covered in our recent sermon series on “Inner Healing and Wholeness.”  I suggest there are eight dimensions in life which correspond to the eight components of human existence where we progress toward individuation, a precise, unequivocal and spiritually and emotionally healthy understanding of your uniqueness as a child of God.  With the daily practice of spiritual disciplines as we progress within an interdependent relationship with Almighty God, in Carl G. Jung’s phraseology we find our previously “Undiscovered Self’” a person of who shares God’s unconditional and unfailing love in private and public relationships, possesses moral and ethical integrity, stands for truth and justice within the sphere of his influence,  passionately pursues his mission and purpose in life and experiences the additional enduring riches of joy, gratitude and peace.   The eight dimensions are

1. Unconditional Self-Acceptance
2. Creativity
3. Freedom from Fear
4. Total Forgiveness of Anyone who harms you
5. Gratitude
6. Joy
7. Mission and Purpose
8. Spirituality and Service

It is impossible to experience life’s joy if you fail to accept yourself unconditionally.  We do not allow society to determine who we are.  We cease the need to explain, defend, justify or apologize for who we are.  Additionally, we discover both assets and liabilities within our character as we progress in self-awareness and self-understanding.  Ultimately, self-acceptance liberates a person to enjoy the unique and wonderful life Almighty God intends for him or her.  (Psalm 139:13-16)

The “Parable of the Talents” teaches that God graciously gives at least one talent to every individual.  No one can say legitimately he or she was overlooked by God as it relates to talents, abilities and skills.  An important component of finding joy in life is cultivating creativity to utilize your God given talents and natural endowments.  Some of the greatest inventions emerged from the creative musings of imaginative people who possess courage and skill.

Fear is life’s greatest enemy as it robs so many people as they fail to pursue their heartfelt dreams and goals because they are afraid they will not succeed.  Fear stands for the acronym, False Evidence Appearing Real.  When we appease fear, it paralyzes us and impedes our ability to enjoy abundant and eternal life.  Fundamentally, fear is irrational.  It heightens our emotions.  In response, we retreat to the fallacious security of inertia.  Like the third servant in the foregoing parable who buries his talent and fails to make a return on his master’s investment, we face the existential challenge of defeating the Goliath which threatens our spiritual and mental wholeness.

To eliminate the potent forces of past pain and its potentially crippling effects, unreserved and unqualified forgiveness of anyone and everyone of anything and everything he or she has done to harm us is essential.  Professor Martin E. P. Seligman in his bestselling book, Authentic Happiness, posits the necessity of rewriting the past through the lenses of forgiveness in order to experience happiness and joy in life.  The failure to forgive imprisons us to the past.  It prevents us from progressing toward the brilliance of our present and future.  Cataloging past pain eventuates in a mountainous burden.  I recall the dilemma of a young clergyperson who maintained a resentment for many years in which he detailed the offenses he suffered at the hands of two hundred and forty people.  Imagine the illimitable fear, anger, bitterness and strife he stored in his mind and heart.  Consider further the impediments to his creative energies and abilities! 

The foregoing Seligman book, based upon social scientific and psychological research, asserts gratitude is a prerequisite to happiness.  The effects of a pay raise or promotion wears off within three months.  Research also substantiates other external factors of positive change yield additional diminishing returns.  In contrast, people who learn to appreciate the people, places and things that enrich and fulfill their lives are the ones who find happiness.  Plus, it is hard to conceive you can be happy if you remain in a perpetual mode of complaining, grumbling, and expecting something other than what you have.

What gives you joy?  Only you can answer this question for yourself.  When you do, you do not have to defend, justify, explain or excuse your answer.  In the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the gospel of John, the evangelist discourses upon the Holy Spirit.  In these passages, he records Jesus’ reassurance to the disciples that He will give them joy to sustain them in His absence which is imminent as Jesus teaches them on the night of His betrayal and the eve of His trip to Calvary.  Jesus states He gives joy unlike that of the world.  His joy does not come from the world and cannot be taken away by any human force or power.  Essentially, joy comes from living fully within the unique life that God gives graciously to each of us.  The specifics of your joy’s components depend upon your relationship with Almighty God.

Pastor Rick Warren’s groundbreaking book, The Purpose Driven Life, struck a nerve within our nation and possibly the entire world.  Why am I here on earth?  What is my mission and purpose in life?  These questions plague us until we satisfactorily answer them.  Freud posits life is a combination of the polarities of love and work.  Jung proffers a mid-life crisis occurs because we do not have sufficient answers to these primary questions.  The way we answer them in the morning of life will not suffice in the afternoon.  Seligman’s research stipulates the necessity of transforming a job or career into a calling in order to be happy.  To be whole, you need to know your mission and purpose in life.

As life progresses and we mature spiritually and develop personally, inevitably we strip ourselves of self-seeking motives, self-centered fears and self-aggrandizing ambitions.  Like the Lord Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, we solely seek the will of Almighty God.  In fulfillment of The Great Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40), we strive to worship God through our practical and daily service to humankind.  Spirituality and service are primary objectives for disciples as they progress in the Christina marathon of life. 

Consider the following ideas, thoughts and questions as you study the text.

·        The context of this miraculous healing is a religious festival in the crowded city of Jerusalem.  Obeying the Law, many pilgrims travel to the holy city to observe the festival.  During these major religious holidays, these pilgrims hope to commune with Almighty God in an especial way.  Recall the perennial expectancy that Christmas and Easter conjure in our minds and hearts.  Yet, the evangelist assures us that large religious crowds do not necessarily yield an experience of God.  In fact, special occasions may be the last place where we may find Him.

·         At the pool of Bethesda, a large number of disabled, blind, lame and paralyzed people gather with their uninformed religious hopes for healing.  John does not wager a number for the infirm.  Yet, this particular paralytic encounters Jesus on this day.  Was he special?  Why did divine grace favor him on that occasion?  Was it fair to the others who equally showed up that day?

·         Similarly, what led Jesus to choose indiscriminately this man for this miracle?  As we cannot satisfactorily answer these questions, we realize divine favor potentially enters our lives as any moment.  Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian and Christian existentialist, posits the Incarnation of Christ as the definitive point in human history when eternity enters time and redefines it irreversibly.  Likewise, Jesus’ seemingly impromptu and haphazard recognition of this paralytic forever changes the man’s life.  Should you or a loved one, friend or neighbor similarly encounter Jesus, you will never be the same.  Mostly, you will then know the reality of divine, unconditional and unfailing love.

·         Note the Lord’s compassion for the paralytic.  As Jesus learns of the man’s thirty-eight years of affliction, He asks the paralytic the pivotal question, “Do you want to get well?”  Rather than being an insult, the question reveals Jesus’ care for the paralytic.  The Lord never intended for anyone to linger in brokenness.  He desires wellness, healing and wholeness for each of His seven billion children.  Having given each person talents, abilities and skills, God desires that each of us actualize this divine potential.  For thirty-eight years, this paralytic was unable to do so.

·         In the seventh verse, the paralytic explains his extended helplessness.  He states his difficulty in getting into the water when the angel mystically and mysteriously stirs the healing and medicinal pool. 

·         Note the superstitious nature of the paralytic’s beliefs.  Contemporarily, many disciples in the Church also hold beliefs as erroneous and misguided as this paralytic’s futile hopes for an angel to impart magical potions to a pool.

·         Interestingly, Jesus does not entertain any lengthy summary of the paralytic’s predicament.  He also does not listen to any explanations about the paralytic’s dilemma and his inability to win the lottery amongst the crowd of superstitious lame and broken people.  Simply and forthrightly, Jesus instructs the paralytic to pick up his mat and walk.  What an incredibly succinct, simplistic and yet significant cure for a disease spanning nearly four decades.

·         The chagrin of the religious leaders follows this miracle as it occurs in the Sabbath.  They prioritize strict adherence to the Law over this man’s healing.  They engage in “moral infantilism” as they condemn this former paralytic for carrying a mat on the Sabbath not realizing it represented his triumph over years of destitution, depression and disease.  How regrettable it is when seasoned disciples inhibit the presence of new believers because of the way they dress, speak or their taste in music.

·         Fortunately, the former paralytic does not engage them in any meaningless theological debates.  He summarizes the Lord’s miraculous work and thereby expresses his gratitude for this encounter with Jesus.  The gospel addresses human need directly.  What is the benefit of adhering correctly to doctrines and principles when they leave people in destitution and illness?  As recent theological debates yield, orthodoxy (right and reasonable religious beliefs) assuredly results in orthopraxis (the wise application of those principles to improve the lives of people who encounter Jesus Christ).

·         The miracle ends with a second encounter between Jesus and the former paralytic.  The evangelist notes that the Lord Jesus finds the man near the temple.  Perhaps, this signifies a new religious life for the healed man.  However, Jesus relationally cautions the man against “sinning” any further.  Pragmatically, sin equals a pattern of harmful behavior that undermines a person’s divine heritage as a child of God; impedes the actualization of his divine abilities and gifts and prevents his physical health and spiritual wholeness.  Rather than formulating a new set of religious beliefs and rituals, the former paralytic needs to establish a vibrant relationship with God which will sustain the transformative healing and change which occurred when he encounters Jesus.

·         To the credit of the former paralytic, he returns to the religious leaders and informs them that Jesus heals them.  In so doing, he conceivably decides he will prioritize his embryonic and genuine relationship with God over their demands relating to religious traditions and rites.

Wholeheartedly, I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ resolves any human challenge or dilemma whether spiritual, mental, intellectual, emotional, physical or psychological.  I consider the Bible as the ultimate textbook of life.  It addresses every component of human life.  This story detailing the healing of the paralytic serves as an allegory for the perpetual brokenness of humankind.  Just as this man finds holistic healing and transformation when he encounters Jesus, each broken and hurting person similarly finds resolution.  Beyond physical healing, wounded people find wellness and wholeness as they experience Almighty God’s unconditional and unfailing love through a personal relationship with Jesus.  Amazingly, love heals and yields wholeness.  Possibly, Jesus’ extension of divine love heals the paralytic rather the supernatural suspension of natural law.  Arguably, we most effectively and successfully obey “The Great Commandment” (Matthew 22:34-40) and “The Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16-20) as we share Christ’s love without any expectation of reciprocity or benefit.