The Babylonians overthrew Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Where was God? It wasn’t God who had changed but His people. The Jews had long forsaken God to worship other deities. Scripture says their hearts had hardened and grew insensitive. They had become callous towards God as well as towards one another.
God desired His people to be compassionate to the weak, specifically to the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the poor (Deut 24:17-22; Isa 1:17; Jer 5:5-7). Yet, by the time Babylon stormed Jerusalem, God’s people no longer cared.
Zechariah 7:8-14—“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.’ But they refused to pay attention… They made their hearts diamond-hard… and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known.”
The Jews eventually returned to the land of Israel, and they never turned to worship other gods. They kept themselves externally pure, but the heart of Judaism had still withered. Greek culture pushed into the region in the late 4th century B.C. The Jewish leaders questioned what it meant to be a pure and faithful Jew. Groups such as the Pharisees arose who crafted rules for the people to gauge their purity and devotion to God. Rules, rules, and more rules evolved over time and reshaped Judaism.
Making our way to the time of Jesus’ ministry, we see a kind of Judaism that looks little like the faith of Abraham or Moses. The letter of the Law was kept, but the spirit of the Law was abandoned. First-century Judaism was a dead orthodoxy clinging to man made traditions.
In our study today, John shows us the time that Jesus healed a paralyzed man. Here we see the deadness all around Judea, and perhaps even a deadness in our own hearts. Jesus healed a man who had suffered greatly, but no one seemed to rejoice. He broke the Sabbath. With hearts as hard as diamond, the people could only see that a tradition had been broken and not the compassion of God in reaching down to heal a man.
The Healing of a Paraplegic
The Ganges River and the spring at Lourdes are healing sites today that attract millions of visitors each year. Whatever happened at these sites centuries ago, the stories continue to grow. It is so sad to me, but hurting people hope in these sites, visit them, and then leave crushed when nothing happens.
John introduces us to an alleged healing site in the first century. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem lay the pools of Bethesda. The pool had five colonnades supporting a canopy that offered shade (John 5:3). A large reservoir kept the pools filled. Great crowds of lame, blind, and paralyzed Jews came to Bethesda with the hope of healing. They would wait day after day in agony, watching and waiting for the pools to suddenly move. Legend held that the one who entered first would be touched by an angel and healed.
In Jewish culture at the time, disabilities and incurable diseases were considered the result of sin (John 9:2). People who had been paralyzed or had leprosy were outcasts, never integrated into society. Compassion wasn’t the norm, and acceptance wasn’t given. The sick congregated in places like Bethesda.
The man in John’s passage had been paralyzed for 38 years. A healing site was all the hope this man ever had until Jesus visited and asked, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:5-6). Consider the heart of God for a moment, because Jesus didn’t need to travel through Bethesda. He went out of His way for the sake of one lost soul. You’ve been here for so long. How can I now help you?
The Lord showed love and compassion to a man who hardly knew the feeling. It seems despair had crippled the man’s soul to such a degree he didn’t even look up at Jesus (John 5:13). He just responded with sad words about the pool until Jesus said: “Get up, take up your bed and walk” (John 5:7-8). And before the man tried to move, Jesus was gone.
A Sabbath Controversy
God desired the Sabbath to be a day of rest (Ex 20:8-10). This day that was meant to bless man, man turned into a curse (Mark 2:27). Take, for instance, that the Law forbade travel on the Sabbath. The rabbis would gather to ask, “What exactly is travel?” So, they defined travel as walking more than 1,000 yards beyond one’s home. Ah, but what is a home? They said a home is any place with enough food for a meal. If one planned ahead, he could place a “meal” within 1,000 yards of his last “meal” and walk all over Jerusalem without leaving his “home.”
Pharisees and scribes tried to nail down the Sabbath. They told themselves it was all for the sake of purity. They preached it was necessary for being a faithful Jew. The truth is that these men wanted control. Rules, rules, and more rules to keep the people in line and to guilt them when they failed.
This helps us see why the leaders were livid with Jesus. By challenging long-established traditions, He challenged their power structure. Restoring a man’s legs should’ve brought joy to all who witnessed the sight. The fact that it stirred condemnation shows us the spiritual rot of the entire religion.
The man stood and lifted the mat he had laid upon for decades. He did something considered work, and the healing itself was viewed as work (John 5:10-12). He didn’t know who had healed him, but he didn’t need a name. Whoever did this miraculous work must be from God.
Notice that the man believed healing proves the healer must be from God. The religious leaders believed healing on the Sabbath proves the healer can’t be from God. The hearts of Israel’s shepherds had become so hard they couldn’t rejoice that one of their sheep had been healed.
Why did Jesus Bother?
Had Jesus stayed with the man, I believe a mob would’ve formed around Him. The area was filled with thousands who had come for an annual feast. Thus, the man who had been healed likely thought he would never know his healer. Jesus, however, sought this out later when the two could speak in private.
Why did Jesus go back? Because He didn’t come just to heal physical issues. The Lord’s mission was to “seek and save the lost” (Lk 19:10). He was after this man’s soul and would make Him a true worshipper of God.
Jesus often healed a man physically in order to reach him spiritually.
Physical help was always a bridge to spiritual matters. So, when Jesus returned, He urged the man to “sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you” (John 5:14). What’s worse than 38 years of paralysis? Future judgment. A gracious healing was followed by a personal offer of salvation. I healed your body in order to heal your soul. Now turn from your sin and believe.
Jesus went to the unlovable. When others were content to let the suffering suffer, He showed compassion. By reaching out, the Lord confronted a religious system that had gone astray.
The shepherds who presided over Israel could look upon those writhing in pain without shedding a tear. That’s not our mission. They took pride in their education and studies. They knew the Law, taught the Law, and kept the people in line according to the Law… or so they thought. These august men knew nothing of the heart of God or His Law.
Does God care about the weak? We find in this passage a God who’s filled with compassion to such a degree He is ever at work showing kindness to every person who has ever lived (Matt 5:45; John 5:18). This is the kind of love that pursued a Samaritan woman and reached out to a paralytic man. This is the God who looked upon ruined men and men and gave up His life to give salvation (Rom 3:23, 5:8; Eph 1:4-5). God is kind, but He is a judge whose kindness does not last forever towards those who reject Him.
John wants us to see what a dead religion looks like. The Pharisees were serious about God and knew the Scriptures, but they had no heart for people, especially outsiders. From this point forward, these men will persecute Jesus. Within two years of this healing, they will have Lord nailed to a cross and killed. Why the hatred? Because the same sun that melts the wax also hardens the clay.