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❖ Audio (Message)
Hearts that are hurt and distorted by society
(John 5:1-18)
Mari Ikeda
Today we continue with the Gospel of John, and today we will read 5:1-18. I thought about dividing this passage into two parts because it is long, but I decided to put it together in one part because I thought there are things we can only see by reading it as a whole. What we can see is that no matter how much our hearts are hurt and distorted in society and we no longer trust anyone, Jesus is the one who comes into our despair and resignation and patiently continues to heal us. The main character of the story is a man who has been suffering from physical paralysis for 38 long years and lay by a pool called Bethesda. I would like to read little by little as usual. Let’s start from verse 1 to 3.
A. society that demands the weak to become strong (1-3(4))
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [ 4 ] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
(Before I get into the content of the story, I would like to address the issue of scene setting in this passage. As you may have noticed, Jesus was in Galilee until the previous passage, but here he suddenly went to Jerusalem again, and in the next chapter, chapter 6, he immediately returns to Galilee again, which makes us wonder how many times Jesus went back and forth between Galilee and Judea. So some biblical scholars have suggested that these chapters 5 and 6 were originally in reverse order. This is a question of the accuracy of the biblical record, but it has little to do with the content, and I don’t have time right now, so if you are interested in this, please look it up yourself!)
Bethesda is said to mean “the house of mercy.” It is said that there were many sick people and people with disability gathering around this pool. The second half of verse 3 through verse 4 are not in the original Bible text, but are explanatory notes added in later times, so they are found outside the text column as notes in both Japanese and English translations. There we can find the reason why the sick and disabled were here, so let’s read it.
[ 4 ] (Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part,) paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.
In other words, people believed that the pool of Bethesda had magical powers to cure diseases and disorders, and people gathered there to seek them out.
When I imagined this scene, I thought it represented the cruelty of our society. No one knows when the water will move. And the only one who will be healed is the first person to enter that moving water. It seems to be demanding the sick and disabled to cure themselves of their illnesses and disabilities, and saying that unless they become only healthy or able-bodied people, they cannot participate in society and will have to suffer there forever. It is a society that forces the weak remain to suffer and demand them to become strong on their own if they don’t like it. I believe that this is by no means irrelevant today, even though social welfare for people with disability and medical technology has developed. I believe the incidents like the ones at Takigawa Hospital and Tsukui Yamayuri En were just the result of a lack of ethics and discrimination against people with sickness and disability in our society, which manifested itself in violence that should never have happened.
Now, let’s move on to verses 5 to the first half of verse 9.
B. Jesus entering our despair (5-9a)
5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
1. Despair over one’s own powerlessness and the indifference of others
I cannot imagine how much suffering it must have been to have been sick and confined to a bed for 38 long years. He probably suffered not only from physical pain, but also from mental bondage, poverty and discrimination. Also, according to verse 7, we see that there had been no one to carry this man to the pool. That is to say, for 38 years this man had been suffering from a disease that he had no control over, and on top of that, no one was willing to listen to his modest request. When Jesus asked this person, “Do you want to get well?” he didn’t say “yes” because he wanted to say, “I can’t, and I can’t because no one will help me.” Perhaps he had given up even the slightest hope because of his own helplessness and despair at the indifference of others.
2. Jesus digging up our giving up
However, Jesus did ask him, “Do you want to get well?” It may be a question that is so obvious that it is cruel to ask it at all. Nevertheless, I believe that Jesus asked it because He was trying to uncover the longing and lamentation deep in this man’s heart that he had covered up and given up on for a long time. I think Jesus sometimes asks us the same question. He speaks to us so that we can see again the longings and lamentations that we ourselves have tried to forget, and so that we can seek healing.
3. It doesn’t matter if we have faith or not
One thing that I think is important to note here is that Jesus never mention this person’s faith or lack of faith at all in relation to his healing. He does not say, “Your faith has saved you,” nor does He say, “If you believe, you will be saved.” To begin with, this person did not know who Jesus was, and all this person wanted was to transport himself to the pool, not expecting Jesus to heal him of his disease. But Jesus healed him. Here we see again that Jesus’ healing is free and unconditional. His healing is not in exchange for faith. With or without faith, Jesus has compassion on us and heals us. We will see more of this in the story that follows, so let’s read the second half of verse 9 through verse 16.
C. Our sin and weakness in not believing in Jesus (9b-16)
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.
Here no one is rejoicing, even though a person was miraculously healed from a disease that had afflicted him for 38 years. The Jews, caught up in keeping the law formally, condemned the man who was healed and started to walk. They wanted to exclude Jesus out of self-protection and jealousy, fearing that He would threaten their position.
And the saddest part of this story is that the man who was healed of his disease also betrayed Jesus. When he was condemned by the Jews, he said, “It was not my will to break the Sabbath. The man who made me well commanded me,” and he shifted the blame to Jesus. Moreover, when he learned that it was Jesus who had healed him, he reported so to the Jews. We can say he tipped them off. He sold Jesus, knowing that the Jews were hostile to Him. Why did this man do this to Jesus, who had delivered him from his long suffering?
I think it was because this person’s suffering was so long and so great. Even though he was healed physically, I think his heart was not healed at all. During the 38 years that no once could or would help him, he may have experienced many times when he expected others to do good for him only to be betrayed. He may have been treated unfairly or violently. The fact that he was able to live for 38 years without moving suggests that he had people who took care of him, but he doesn’t seem to have been ever able to have a close, trusting relationship with anyone. He may have thought that he should not trust people easily and that no one really cared about him. So when Jesus healed his disease, he may have been more puzzled than joyful as to why this man would do such a thing for him. And when the Jews condemned him, I think he sold Jesus in order to protect himself so that he would not be subjected to another terrible punishment.
Jesus told him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” At first glance, this seems to be saying that this person’s disease is due to his sin, but this is not the case. “Stop sinning” is the word directed to all of us. There is no one who has no sin. All of us cannot survive without being forgiven by God of our sins. Jesus asks both this man and us how we are going to live our lives. However, just as this person’s heart was not easily healed, our hearts sometimes get wounded so deeply that we cannot believe in God’s love and we feel we cannot trust anyone. It is the consequence of us hurting each other in our relationships and society due to our sin. It is our sin and weakness.
Let’s read the final part, verses 17-18.
D. God continues to work without rest (17-18)
17 Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
The Sabbath was established because God rested on the seventh day after the creation of the world, but Jesus says that God continues to work without rest. The phrase “to this very day” is emphasizing the continuity of God’s work, that He has been and continues to be at work.
What does this mean to the man who has suffered from a disease for 38 years? It means that for all these 38 years while he felt abandoned by both people and God, God never forgot about him. We wonder why God sis not help him for 38 years. We tend to think if God does nothing helpful, it is as if He does not exist. We question if God’s love means anything if He does nothing for us while He says He has not forgotten us.
However, this man was not living on a desert island, nor was he isolated and alone in the mountains. He was in Jerusalem, a big city at that time, and I believe it was not God but people and society that left him alone for 38 years. I think it is the same today.
v Jesus came into a world so dominated by our sin and weakness. And He continues to work to save us, never giving up, never resting. It takes time to recover from a wounded and twisted heart. The deeper the hurts in relationships, the harder it is to trust others again. But Jesus bore all of this with us on the cross, suffering with us and taking our suffering in his place. In the midst of despair, abandoned by both people and God, Jesus of the Cross is with us. By that ways, He comes into the depths of our hearts and heals our wounds little by little and patiently. Let’s listen to His word well, “Do you want to get well?”
(Prayer) Dear our Lord Jesus, we ask you now to touch our hearts. Please teach us if we have tried to cover up wounds and pains in our heart. And if you are willing, let us lift them up to you. Or help us so that we can leave them to you. When I lose hope and ask you why you don’t answer to my prayer, teach me you are near and suffer with me, and there are people who share my suffering with me. We remember those people in this church and our own families who are struggling against their diseases. Please heal them and strengthen their hearts. Teach us what we can do to help each other. Lord Jesus, thank you for remembering each one of us. In your name we pray. Amen.
Summary
We have all been hurt in our relationships and treated unreasonably in society. If we feel helpless to do anything about our problems and lonely without anyone to help us for a long time, our hearts will be deeply wounded and distorted. It may become difficult to ask for help, to trust others, or to feel the joy of being helped. Jesus is the one who perseveres in our despair and heals us.
For Discussion
1. How do you interpret Jesus’ words in v.14?
2. What does it mean specifically, God continues to work without rest?