After this there was a Feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water (Jn. 5:1–3). The Sabbath, the Passover, and the Feast of Tabernacles, as forms and witnesses, were fulfilled when Christ, Who ordained them, appeared. Man had degraded them so that they became merely “Feasts of the Jews”; their impotency to give life is contrasted here with Him Who is Life. Sadly and regrettably, men cling to forms and festivals all the more strongly when lacking the life which these forms and festivals symbolized under the First Covenant of works; they used these forms to fight against Him of Whom the forms witnessed. We will find that the healing of the impotent man contrasts the quickening Power of Christ with the powerlessness of the Law. It demanded strength on the part of the sinner in order to obtain the life it promised. But man is without strength (Rom. 5:6). So what the Law could not do because of the weakness of that upon which, and through which, it was to act, i.e., the carnal nature of man, Christ, as sent by God, effected, for He brought with Him the power to accomplish that which Grace willed. A single word from Him sufficed. Jesus asked the man, “Will you be made whole?” That is, in effect, the same question that the Lord is asking all. Man is undone, impotent, wandering as a lost sheep, all because of sin. So, down through the ages comes the cry, just as potent today as it was then: “Will you be made whole?” And yet, it is so hard for men to believe. The man answered Christ, saying, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool.” In those words, we have the plight of the entirety of the human race. They are looking to other men, but the other men to whom they are looking are just as impotent as they are. While some men definitely may have this world’s riches, still, that which man really needs cannot be supplied by man. If we look to man, we always will be disappointed. Jesus said to the man, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” This man had been sick for 38 years, the same period of time that Israel spent in the wilderness. All of this time, the impotent man vainly sought life in the Pool of Bethesda, just as Israel had vainly sought life in the Law. In both cases, strength was required on the part of the person who sought what was promised, but they found that they could not receive. Upon the Word of Christ, “immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.” What a day that was for him! He was a picture of helpless humanity, unable to help himself, and finding no one who could help him. But Jesus came …! The man not only now could walk, he also carried his bed, that which once had carried him. More still, it was sin that had caused the sickness in the first place. To be sure, sin is the cause of all problems. So Jesus told him, “Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (Jn. 5:14). While we should relish that which the Lord did, and rejoice thereby, still, we must also not fail to take in the lesson that continued sinning brings continued judgment.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 12:38:52 +0000
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