Heal of the invalid for 38 years

Heal of the invalid for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda

John 5

The Healing at the Pool

1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.

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.

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. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

10 and so the Jews 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." 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Sabbath, Life Through the Son

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.

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.

19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.

21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

23 that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.

24" I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.

27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice

29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Testimonies About Jesus

31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid.

32 There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.

33 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.

34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved.

35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

36 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.

37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,

38nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,

40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

41 "I do not accept praise from men,

42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.

43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

45 "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.

46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.

47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

The without Faith:

This a most unusual miracle to an invalid man waiting

38 years to be healed at the pool of Bethesda... there were many sick people there, Jesus only healed him... this miracle is got to do with patience, and faith, and life through the Son, and the Sabbath...Do you need a miracle in your life?... it will happen!, and may be in less than

38 years, whenever Jesus wants.

No Faith of the Invalid

The man had no faith in Jesus, in fact he didn't even knew his name... he called Jesus the "man" in vs.11. Afterwards he learned his name, "Jesus" in vs.

14. Then Jesus proclaimed Himself "God", equal to God in vs.18... and still more: the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

23 that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him. (Jn.5:21-22).

The raising a dead person is also not the result of the person’s faith. Only a few of the 56 miracles were the consequence of faith of the person.

When Jesus asked him, "Do you want to get well? "... the invalid did not ask for a miracle from Jesus, but to help him to get into the pool,

7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.

Many people in life have no one, they need you and me! You and I are the arms and feet of Jesus on earth, you and I are another Christ on earth, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Gal.2:20).

The Miracle, the complete, immediate healing: Jesus didn't help the invalid to get into the pool, instead,

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.

The Controversy, the Sabbath: Another miracle on a Sabbath!... a good work on a Sabbath!... and the invalid with the mat, his bed, on his shoulders, on a Sabbath!

God continually works on a Sabbath, people are born and die on a Sabbath, and that's the work of God in the Bible,There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. (Deut.32:39). God also heals on a Sabbath, and does a lot of good and merciful acts on a Sabbath.

Jesus’ answer in vs.18 is that he is doing his Father’s work and has the prerogative of working on the Sabbath just as God does because he is equal with God.

The Hebrews set up 39 prohibitions to supposedly protect the Sabbath. #39 was that you can’t carry your mat, your bed, on the Sabbath. Jesus goes right for that to challenge the tradition. In reality, their Sabbath prohibitions kept them from bringing rest to mankind as the Sabbath was originally intended. Jesus was going to bring rest to this man who had been sick for 38 years.

The Jews here persecuted Jesus.

Because of their Sabbath traditions, they missed the Saviour.

Yes, the Sabbath laws are changing with Jesus,"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."(Mr.2:27-28).

The Sabbath was the Lord's Day of Creation (Gen.2:1): There is no greater description of God and man than this one: God is the Creator and Lord of everything in heavens and on earth; man is the one trusted by the Lord to lead and master all his Creation; but man has to dedicate one full day a week to worship the Lord of Creation, the Sabbath, and it was instituted in remembrance of the perfect work of Creation. (Ge.1:1, 1:26-27).

As For Jesus himself, while observing the Sabbath as a Jew, set himself in word and act against the absurd rigorism which made man a slave of the Sabbath. He proclaimed the principle that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath", that "the son of Man is master even on the Sabbath" (Mk.2:27-28), and reproved the scribes and Pharisees for putting an intolerable burden on men's shoulders (Mt.23:4).

The Mishna treatise "Shabbath" enumerates 39 main heads of forbidden actions, each with subdivisions. Among the main heads are such trifling actions as weaving two threads, sewing two stitches, writing two letters… To carry an object of the weight of a fig on a Sabbath was a sin, hence to carry a bed (Jn.5:10). Jesus defended his disciples for plucking a few ears of corn to eat on the Sabbath. It was unlawful to cure a man on that day, and Jesus healed several on the Sabbath. … He showed that the Sabbath is not broken in cases of necessity or by acts of charity (Mt.12:1-5, Lk.14:1-6).

The Sabbath Celebration: It is the simplest celebration of the Jews, and the most important, the one that has maintained the Jewish family for centuries... "more than Israel has kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept Israel." It is the only ritual observance instituted in the Creation and in the Ten Commandments (Ge.2:2-3, Ex.20:8-11, Lev.23:1-3).

Sabbath, in Hebrew, means "rest", but it is mush more: It is a precious gift from God, a day of great joy eagerly awaited throughout the week, a time when a Jew can set aside all of the weekday concerns and devote himself to higher pursuits.

It is celebrated every 7 days, on Saturdays, beginning Friday at sundown and closing Saturday at sundown. Sabbath, like all Jewish days, begins at sunset, because in the story of creation in Gen.1, you will notice that it says, "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day." From this, Jews infer that a day begins with evening, that is, sunset.

It begins on Friday night, about 6 PM, with the wife igniting the two candles, with solemnity, simplicity, devotion and joy... Two candles are lit, representing the two commandments: zachor (remember) and shamor (observe). The family then attends a brief evening service at the synagogue (45 minutes).

After services, the family comes home for a festive, leisurely dinner. By the time all of this is completed, it may be 9 PM or later. The family has an hour or two to talk or study Torah, and then go to sleep.

The next morning, on Saturday, Shabbat services begin around 9AM and continue until about noon. After services, the family says kiddush again and has another leisurely, festive meal until about 2PM. The family studies Torah for a while, talks, takes an afternoon walk, plays some checkers, or engages in other leisure activities. A short afternoon nap is not uncommon. It is traditional to have a third meal before Shabbat is over. This is usually a light meal in the late afternoon.

Shabbat ends at nightfall, when three stars are visible, approximately 40 minutes after sunset. At the conclusion of Shabbat, the family performs a concluding ritual called Havdalah (separation, division).

Saturday... Sunday... the Day of the Lord (Ex.20:8-11, 31:12-18):

Sabbath, which means "rest" was the Day of the Lord for the Jews, and still is (Ex.20:8-11, 31:12-18)... Sunday is the Day of the Lord for the Christians.

The Sabbath was the Lord's Day of Creation. Sunday is the Lord's Day of the New Creation, of the Redemption of new man and the new world.

For the Christians, they had nothing to celebrate on the Sabbath of Passion, but much to celebrate on Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord, the apparitions to the women, the angels on the open tomb, the apparition to the two disciples of Emmaus, the first apparition to the apostles… it was a day of excitement and joy all over…

The next week, they celebrated not Saturday, but again the glorious joys of the past Sunday, and the next week, and the next… till now, in the third millennium…

For the Christians, Sunday begun to take the place of the Jewish Sabbath in Apostolic times, exactly the Sunday after Eastern Sunday, as the day set apart to rest and for the public and solemn worship of God.

In the New Testament:

The four gospels state that the Resurrection of Jesus was on Sunday (Mt.28:1, Mk.16:1, Lk.24:1, Jn.20:1).

After Christ, only Sunday is mentioned as the Lord's Day, the day when they rested and met to celebrate the Eucharist, the breaking of the bread, for the religious instruction, and made the collection for the poor (Act.20:7,1Cor.16:2)… just what we do today on the Lord's day… and that's why Paul went on Sunday to preach to the Christians.

However, the Jews were still celebrating Saturday as the Lord's Day, and that's why Paul was going on Saturdays to the synagogues to preach to the Jews on their Sabbath (1Cor.1:11, Act.18:4).

The Lord's Day is mentioned only once in the New Testament, in Rev.1:10, and it is the Lord's Day of the Christians, a Sunday.

At The beginning of Christianity, Sunday was the Lord's Day:

The Didache, the catechism of the first Christians, says, "On Sunday, the Lord's Day, come together and brake the bread".

St. Justin describes the worship celebrated by the Christians on Sunday.

Tertullian mentions Sunday as the Day of Rest.

Later on, of course, came rules and regulations from the Church to celebrate Sunday, mainly the rest and the Eucharist.

The Adventists:

The Adventists, keep Saturday as the Day of the Lord. They are about 6 million people, and claim that all other 2,000 million Christians are of the Antichrist because for them the Lord's Day after the Resurrection of Christ is Sunday, instead of Saturday. Every Catholic or Presbyterian or Pentecostal is of the Antichrist, and, every Pastor, and Bishop, and Billy Graham and the Pope, of course.

It is curious to notice that all the Adventists celebrate Saturday as he Lord's Day, not even one Adventist read in the Bible what other 2,000 million Christians do. Why at least one Adventist do not celebrate on Sunday the Day of the Lord?. It is not because they read it in the Bible and in the history of the Church since its beginnings, but because their leaders say so. And if anyone claims otherwise, he is expulsed from that church.