◆“Two People Healed by Jesus” (John 5:1–15) June 29, 2025

The setting is the Pool of Bethesda. This pool was discovered in the 19th century by a German archaeologist named Conrad Schick. It is located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Originally built in the 8th century BC to collect rainwater, by the 1st century BC it had come to be regarded as a healing spring. Healing springs were called Asclepieion, dedicated to the Roman god of medicine. In other words, it was a pagan sacred site. It was also associated with superstition: whoever entered the water first when it was stirred would be healed.

Many sick people gathered there. Jesus approached one of them—a man who had suffered from illness for 38 years and had been lying by the pool for a long time. We don’t know why Jesus chose him specifically, but surely it was due to God’s sovereign choice. Later, I’ll mention the reason: this man was chosen to become a source of blessing.

Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?” The answer should have been a simple “Yes” or “No.” But instead, the man explained why he couldn’t be healed—how he had no one to help him into the pool when the water was stirred, and how others always went in ahead of him.

From his response, we can sense a reliance on others—a certain dependence or even desire for someone to take control.

Jesus, however, paid no attention to those words and simply said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Verse 9 says, “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”

Let’s consider Jesus’ words here. First, “Get up”—these are words that prompt a decision. There is no room for argument. They call for a response. And that response to the Lord is action.

Perhaps the man thought, “There’s no way I can get up. I’ve suffered for 38 years.” He could have asked, “What do you mean? How should I interpret your words?” But someone who says that still believes they have options—they remain the main actor in their life.

But this man had exhausted all his options. He bet everything on Jesus’ words. He obeyed—and to his surprise, he was able to stand. He had been healed.

Then Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat.” Why? He no longer needed it—he could walk now. Carrying it around would only make him stand out. It wasn’t cool. But Jesus commanded it: “Pick up your mat and walk.”

This means that the healing also came with a calling—a mission to testify. It was an invitation to share God’s work.

Did he respond to that calling?

Let’s compare him with another man healed by Jesus, introduced in John 9. We won’t read the whole chapter here, but it tells the story of a man born blind. Jesus’ disciples asked him whose sin caused the blindness—his own or his parents’. Jesus replied that it was neither, but that God’s works might be displayed in him.

He then made mud, applied it to the man’s eyes, and told him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. The man obeyed Jesus’ strange and unreasonable instructions. He must have thought, “Well, it’s better than doing nothing.” And miraculously, he could see.

Since he was blind at the time, he didn’t know who had healed him. But people recognized him as the beggar who used to sit and ask for alms. Then the religious leaders started investigating whether the healing violated the law.

In the back-and-forth questioning, the man says in verse 17, “He is a prophet.” When the Pharisees insist that the one who healed him must be a sinner, he responds in verse 25, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know: I was blind but now I see!”

Finally, in verse 30, he says, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.”

In this way, through the process of questioning and opposition, he came to confess that “that man” who healed him was the Messiah.

As a result, he was cast out from the Jewish community. But Jesus came looking for him (verse 35) and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”—in other words, “Do you believe that the one who healed you is the Messiah?”

In verse 36, he replied, “Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

Then the man, recognizing the voice, must have thought, “Yes, this is the voice—the one who healed me. He is my Savior, the Messiah.”

Verse 38 says, “Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.”

His healing did not end with physical restoration. It bore the fruit of a personal encounter and confession of faith in the Savior Jesus.

Now, let’s return to John 5. What about the man who had been sick for 38 years?

In verse 14, we read that Jesus again came to find him and said, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

These are strong and sobering words. Jesus didn’t say anything like this to the man born blind. Why did he speak this way here?

I believe it’s because this man was not yet saved. His healing had not led to faith.

So Jesus challenged him again: “What you need is repentance. You must not stop at physical healing. Your soul needs healing. Your spirit needs restoration. You must receive the forgiveness of God and be reconciled with Him.”

That, I believe, is the true intent of Jesus’ words.

So how did the man respond? In verse 15, it says, “The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

“He went away.” Where did he go? More than a physical location, it implies something deeper—he walked away from the presence of the Savior. He did not respond to Jesus’ invitation.

Unlike the man born blind, who came to believe and worship Jesus, this man was satisfied with the healing alone.

To him, Jesus was a healer—but not necessarily a Savior. What mattered most to him was the benefit he had received.

Neither of these two men are named. Perhaps that is because they represent many others.

Which one are we? Which one are you?

Do we live our lives only seeking good things, blessings, and advantages from Jesus?

Or do we desire a right relationship with God—to know the true God, to encounter Him, and to walk with Him through Jesus?

A very important question is being asked of us today.

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Sermon script modified based on proofreading and translation with ChatGPT.