Healing of Lame Man at Pool of Bethesda
The healing of the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda is a significant miracle recorded exclusively in the Gospel of John (John 5:1-15) [4]. This event took place in Jerusalem, unlike many of Jesus's other miracles which occurred in Galilee [4]. The timing of this miracle was during "a feast of the Jews," which is commonly understood to be the Passover [4].
The narrative describes a man who had suffered from an unspecified infirmity for thirty-eight years [2]. He was among a multitude of "impotent folk" gathered at the Pool of Bethesda, which had five porches or cloisters [2]. While the specific nature of his illness is not stated, some traditions suggest it may have been palsy [2]. Jesus approached the man and, knowing his long-standing condition, asked him if he wanted to be made well (John 5:6). When the man explained his inability to enter the pool, Jesus commanded him, "Rise, take up your bed, and walk" (John 5:8). Immediately, the man was cured, took up his bed, and walked [3].
This miracle sparked controversy because it occurred on the Sabbath [3]. The Jewish authorities confronted the healed man for carrying his bed, which they considered a violation of the Sabbath law (John 5:10) [3]. Jesus later defended his action, stating, "I have done one work, and ye all marvel" (John 7:20), referring to this healing as a single act that they deemed a breach of the Sabbath [3]. This event is cited as one of the many miracles Jesus performed openly in Jerusalem, alongside the healing of the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus, which served as evidence of his divine authority [1]. The healing at Bethesda demonstrates Jesus's power to restore health and his challenge to rigid interpretations of the Sabbath.
Sources
- John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 12:36: But though he had done so many miracles before them,.... Openly, and in the presence of them; meaning those miracles which were done at Jerusalem, as those which brought Nicodemus to him, and to an acknowledgment of him as a teacher sent from God; and particularly the cure of the lame man at Bethesda's pool, the giving sight to the man that was born blind, by anointing his eyes with clay, and sending him to wash in the Pool of Siloam, and the raising Lazarus from the dead at Bethany, which was within two miles of Jerusalem, in the presence of many of them who were come”
- John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 5:5: And a certain man was there,.... At Bethesda's pool, in one of the five porches, or cloisters, that belonged to it: which had an infirmity thirty and eight years; what his infirmity was, is not said; he was one of the weak, or impotent folk, for so he is called, Joh 5:7. Some think his distemper was the palsy, and though he had had this infirmity so many years, it is not certain that he had waited so long in this place for a cure; though it may be, for that he had attended some time, is clear from Joh 5:7. Nor indeed can it be known how long there had been such a prete”
- John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 7:20: Jesus answered and said unto them,.... Taking no notice of their passion, reproach, and blasphemy; but proceeding upon the thing he had in view, and which he was determined to reassume, and vindicate himself in; I have done one work; that is, on the sabbath day; meaning, his cure of the man that had had a disorder eight and thirty years, who lay at Bethesda's pool; which single action, they charged with being a breach of the sabbath, he mentions with a view to their many, and daily violations of it: and ye all marvel; at it, as a thing unheard of, as a most shocking”
- John (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on John 5:1: This miraculous cure is not recorded by any other of the evangelists, who confine themselves mostly to the miracles wrought in Galilee, but John relates those wrought at Jerusalem. Concerning this observe, I. The time when this cure was wrought: it was at a feast of the Jews, that is, the passover, for that was the most celebrated feast. Christ, though residing in Galilee, yet went up to Jerusalem at the feast, Joh 5:1. 1. Because it was an ordinance of God, which, as a subject, he would observe, being made under the law; though as a Son he might have pleaded an exem”