The Healing at the Pool
Read: John 5:1-30
Focus: Have you ever gotten into trouble for doing what you thought was the right thing?
Inform
v. 1 All Jewish males were required to go to Jerusalem for 3 festivals each year: Passover, Pentecost & Tabernacles. This may have been the Feast of Pentecost.
v. 2 In Hebrew, Beth ‘Esda means “House of the Flowing”
– the five covered colonnades enabled people to sit around the pool and be shaded.
v. 7 the Greek word here “kurios” could mean “sir” or “Lord.” The man did not acknowledge Jesus as his Lord. Instead, he reported him to the authorities.
v.9 “mat” could also mean “pallet,” mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.”
v. 14 “stop sinning” –the grammar suggests that this is not a prohibition of a particular action, but a general statement. It could have been translated “don’t sin anymore.”
v.17 Jesus not only broke the Sabbath but also claimed the divine prerogative to continue to work on the Sabbath just as God the Father continues to work on the Sabbath. This is why there was such as strong reaction against Jesus.
vv. 25-27 Just like the Father, Jesus gives life and judges.
Connect
- Jesus asked the paralyzed man, “Do you want to get well?” Why would Jesus ask that question?
- Are there any indications that the paralyzed man believed in Jesus?
- Is there a connection between faith and healing? If so, what is that connection?
- Are some people healed today even if they don’t believe in Jesus?
- Why did Jesus warn the man in v. 14?
- Do we need to hear that warning too?
- What healing has Jesus done in your life?
Vision
- What healing will he do in the future?
- What difference does it make in my life now to know that Jesus will raise me from the dead in the future?
Summary
Next time: John 5:31-47
Farewell to Shadowlands 