John 5 opens with a healing of a man who was paralyzed for 38 years, this healing kicks the hornets nest of evil. This hornets nest being a group of Jewish religious leaders known as the Pharisees, and this hornets nest now plots to take out Jesus for his crime of shining the light of salvation in the darkness of the world which was a way of life counter to what the religious leaders taught.

The Pharisees taught about following the letter of God's law with a strict and iron grip over the law, they followed a mindset of salvation by works. This in contrast to the message of Jesus which was teaching about following the spirit of God's law and having a relationship with the father.

Healing By The Pool

[John 5:1 ESV] After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
[2] Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.
[3] In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
[5] 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 put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
[8] Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
[9] And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath.

Before we discuss this passage, you may have noticed that verse 4 was missing from the passage. I never noticed it before till I started to write this post and noticed it missing. However the reason why it's not included is to do with the textual analysis of the original manuscripts, in this case the older and more reliable manuscripts do not include this verse, while newer manuscripts added it. I will at some point do a deep dive and learn more about the textual analysis of the bible and make a post about what I learned, but here is a link to a website called "Bible Ref" who notes the exclusion.

Here is one of the many cases where Jesus not only shows his compassion, but also his power. He asked a man who was paralyzed for 38 years if he wanted to be healed, and to set a trend, the man had no idea who he was talking to and explained why he couldn't be healed.

But Jesus then commands the man to do something he was not able to do before. To get up, pick up his bed, and walk. And so the man did exactly that! As we will see later, Jesus does this many more times where the healing came in the form of a command or a remark.

Why did Jesus tell the man to get up and walk rather than say "You have been healed"? For those around the previously paralyzed man, how do you think they responded?

The Pharisees

[John 5:9 ESV] And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath.
[10] So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”
[11] But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ”
[12] They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
[13] Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.
[14] Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
[15] The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
[16] And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

The beginning of Jesus's persecution begins as a result of this interaction. After Jesus had healed a man by the pool from his 38 year long paralysis, the leaders of the religious law (Known as the Pharisees) pulled the man who had just been healed up for violating God's fourth commandment by simply carrying his mat.

God's ten commandments are important for us to follow even today as they are essentially the ten golden rules to life, Exodus 20 has those commands if you want to read them. But for example. No murder, no lying, no stealing, no adultery, these are crucial standards to follow. There is wisdom behind these things, murder? Need I explain why that's bad? Lying? Lies hurt people, break trust, and can do all sorts of damage. Stealing? Takes something from someone maliciously to fulfill your desire to have something you didn't that someone else had. It's Jealousy. Adultery? Violates an oath you took to your husband or wife for exclusivity in marriage. There is an emotional connection in marriage and adultery can not only destroy the marriage, it can emotionally destroy the people who have been cheated on.

[Exodus 20:8 ESV] “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
[9] Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
[10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
[11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

So the sabbath day was one of these commands. All the commands have wisdom behind why they exist. Breaking these commands will adversely affect something or someone. And in this case, the wisdom behind the Sabbath is that humans should not be working without breaks, even God himself rested after creating the earth on the seventh day. You need rest. However these Pharisees missed the spirit behind this law, and instead twisted it to make it almost impossible for people to follow.
"How dare you carry your bed today! You are breaking God's law!"

What do you think was God's purpose for the sabbath? Why do you think the Pharisees were being so strict with the sabbath day's rules? What does reading about the Pharisees here teach us about how we read God's laws?

The Coming Resurrection

[John 5:24 ESV] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
[25] “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, 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 also to have life in himself.
[27] And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
[28] Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
[29] and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

At God's appointed time, God will resurrect everyone and either give them life, or give them judgement for their evil. I'm not perfect. The night before I wrote this, I allowed my tongue to set fire to a relationship between myself and a close friend. No matter how hard we try, we will always do something wrong, stuff up and hurt people we should care about. Even in my past, I have done some things that honestly, I deserve nothing more than judgement for all of it.

But here Jesus says, whoever hears his word and believes in him will have eternal life! But this eternal life comes at a cost. This eternal life is not free. If you are a believer, you know what's coming. However if you are not a believer and you are reading this post, I encourage you to read John for yourself, don't wait for me to get there. But as we continue reading John, lets pay attention and see what proves we can trust Jesus, and what the cost for this gift of eternal life is.

What do you think the cost is for eternal life? Can any human besides Jesus (because he is God) ever be perfect?

What do you dear reader think of this chapter in the bible? What draws your interest, raises questions, or speaks to you? Leave a comment below with your thoughts as you read the bible. God Bless you 😄