The Gospel of John, Chapter 5
This version includes verse 4.
There is a Jewish festival in Jerusalem, so Jesus goes to Jerusalem. It’s not clear that the disciples went with him.
Jesus goes to a place with a pool of healing waters (the “Pool at Bethesda”), with lots of invalids hanging around hoping to be healed. One man had been there, sick, for 38 years. Jesus asks him “Do you want to be made well?” The implication is, here you are at the place of healing, for many years, but you have not gotten well. This could be a deep insight into human nature. Often it is far easier for us to stay in the bad place we are in, because it takes a lot of effort to get out of the bad place, and after that we have to manage an unfamiliar situation. A lot of times, our answer is “no, I don’t really want to be made well.”
Or maybe the man’s answer to Jesus’ question indicates the sick man’s disadvantages. He has no friends to help him get to the water, and he is too slow getting there himself.
I must pause to point out that the NRSV, NIV, NLT, NASB (etc) translations skip verse 4. The footnote says:
Other ancient authorities add, wholly or in part, waiting for the stirring of the water; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well from whatever disease that person had.
“Ancient authorities” means various ancient manuscripts.
The sick man says to Jesus, I don’t have anyone to carry me to the healing water, and when I try to get there myself, someone else gets there before me. Jesus, dispensing with the need for the healing water, simply says, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” And the man is immediately healed, stands up, picks up his mat, and walks.
This is wonderful! Except, as the author points out next, this healing happened on the sabbath. “The Jews” immediately object, saying to the newly cured man, it’s against Sabbath laws for you to carry your mat on the Sabbath. The gospel author sets up “The Jews” to be the bad guys. The Jews ask the healed man, who told you to carry your mat? But he doesn’t know the identity of his healer.
Jesus meets up with the healed man later, in the temple, and exhorts him to sin no more. The healed man tells “the Jews” that it was Jesus who healed him. They confront Jesus, who replies by equating himself with God. The gospel writer tells us that “The Jews” sought “all the more to kill him.”
I am not a scholar, but rabbis have told me that in Judaism in general, healing is lawful, even on the sabbath. It is imperative to save a life if it can be done, no matter what day it is. Strictly speaking, in our passage, the law broken is the law against carrying something on the sabbath. But in verse 16 it is made clear that “The Jews” persecute Jesus because he is “doing such things on the sabbath.” Perhaps it is a direct rebuke of the law against work on the sabbath when Jesus says “My Father is still working, and I am also working.”
Jesus embarks on a long speech, doubling down on equating himself to God. He says, whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. … The Father has given the power of judgment to the Son. Those who hear and believe the Son will have eternal life. Then Jesus switches from third person (“the Son”) to first person, saying, my works show that the Father has sent me.
Jesus then makes the stark accusation: “But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me…”
The story of the healing at the pool is beautiful, and could have deep lessons for us. But this chapter also contains a lot of disturbing elements. We must recognize the gospel as a polemical text. It is easy to see how this chapter could be used to foster anti-Jewish sentiment and action.
The contrast continues between those who believe and those who don’t.
Metaphors: almost none? There is the metaphor of a lamp, referring to John the Baptist.
Images and themes: healing on the Sabbath, helplessness, working, Jesus equating himself with God, judgment, testimony, resurrection.
People/Beings: Jesus, the sick man at the pool, “the Jews,” God, the dead who will hear God’s voice.
Places: The pool at Bethesda in Jerusalem, the temple in Jerusalem.
2 comments:
I've also read this scene as the crippled man being a bit of a victim and content with that and being truly helpless--it could be read either way.
Your insights on this are interesting, I usually chalk up the criticism Jesus got as coming specifically from legalistic Pharisees, not all Jews. Now I'm going to have to re-read. Does he specify in this text?
In this chapter (Chapter 5) the text says "the Jews" but sort of implies that these are people with knowledge of the law. In another chapter later on, the text specifies "Pharisees". I agree that most of the time we readers can assume that the author's phrase "the Jews" refers to Jewish authorities. But it would be very easy to assume that it is referring to all Jews. I still struggle with the phrase "the Jews."
Post a Comment