NOTES for Joh 5:1-16
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. |
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. |
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. |
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. |
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. |
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? |
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. |
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. |
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. |
10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. |
11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. |
12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? |
13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. |
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. |
15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. |
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. |
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Judging by everything, the people who gathered near the pool of Bethesda were precisely those longing for healing. And Jesus asks the sick man what seems a foolish question: "Do you want to be made well?" Why, one asks, is he lying here if he does not want to recover? But not everything is that simple. At times doctors encounter this kind of situation: a person runs from doctor to doctor, scrupulously follows every instruction; it appears that everything is being done as it should be, yet there is still no improvement. And the illness, it would seem, is not serious, but nothing helps. Experienced doctors in such situations often say that this is work for a psychiatrist or psychologist: the person is simply comfortable being sick. The body refuses to recover because this is familiar, this is comfortable. The person has something to do: he is undergoing treatment. Having recovered, such a person would simply lose the meaning of life!
The same thing happens with our sins. Blessed Augustine described this attitude toward sin with remarkable wit and self-criticism: "Lord, grant me chastity! Only, please, not today." We come to God and ask, ask Him to heal us, to free us from sins... But in reality we simply do not see our life without sin. We are used to sinning and repenting, and do we in fact need the help we ask Him for? He asks a simple question: "Do you want to be made well?" And until our answer is a sincere "Yes" coming from the heart, no healing will be possible.
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