(Suggested Reading: John 5)
The Pool of the Impotent Man
The Lord chose two pools as the setting for two of His mighty works in John's gospel. A pool, of course, is a dormant body of water confined by the earth. Lacking energy in itself, or motion, it is in sharp contrast to a fountain or a river. The pool of Bethesda, like its counterpart at Siloam, tells us the story of what man is without God, although each pool has its own teaching. God had worked at the waters before in the old creation when all was ruin. Now man himself is ruin. Jesus came to the ruin as the Spirit of God had come to the deep. He went up to Jerusalem where the pool was.
The occasion was a feast of the Jews. These feasts were called the feasts of the Lord in the Bible, but because God's people had got away from Him, John calls this one a feast of the Jews. Although the Lord was there personally the Jews didn't own Him as Lord; therefore He will not own their feasts as His.
God Is Willing to Bless an Unwilling People
Yet God retained a link with His people. His angel troubled the waters of the pool of Bethesda. As already remarked this pool was at the city of David and by the sheep market. Doesn't this remind us of David's words "the Lord is my Shepherd...He leads me beside the still waters" Psa. 23:1,21<<A Psalm of David.>> The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. (Psalm 23:1‑2) for what body of water is stiller than a pool? And so we find the True David at a sheep market, in Jerusalem, for the Lord was still the Shepherd of Israel even though they were unwilling sheep. Do you get the picture? There are five porches a porch leads out, and five is characteristic of man we have five fingers, five toes, five senses, etc. The Lord is leading them beside the still waters, for all that ever went before Him were thieves and robbers.
If He led them beside the still waters He also troubled those same waters with His angel in a ministry of bodily healing. For He is both the God "who healeth all thy diseases" Psa. 103:33Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; (Psalm 103:3) and the Lord "who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire" Heb. 1:77And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. (Hebrews 1:7). Angels are subject to God's Son and they troubled the pool at His bidding. Man must be troubled before he can be blessed. Yet he would rather be left alone without God, unruffled like the pool. Satan too likes it this way he prefers to have man at ease in this world, untroubled by words like `heaven,' hell, "eternity, ‘salvation.' A strong man armed keeps his goods in peace his goods are those without Christ but here a stronger than Satan is present. Everything about Christ troubles man. At His birth the king was troubled; so were all his subjects at Jerusalem. Now the water of the pool is troubled by His angel, and we shall soon see that religious man is to be troubled. I have no doubt that God has good reason to trouble man. Whenever you find a soul in exercise, but still out of Christ, God is troubling that man, making him anxious about his soul's lost condition.
Well, the impotent man was at the place of blessing this pool at Jerusalem, yet he could get no blessing for himself. What was the matter? Oh, under the law there is blessing if you can keep it, but who can? Some other man must always take you to the pool, where God was working. You have no strength to go there yourself for the cure. As an unknown author wrote long ago:
“Work, my soul, the law demands,
And gives you neither feet nor hands.
But better news the gospel brings—
It tells you 'fly' and gives you wings.”
The Law Had Failed to Bring Blessing to Man
This poor man was a picture of all this of Israel, man under trial by law but powerless to please God. Man loves the principle of law which is responsibility. It gives him self respect because with it he can compare himself with other men and deceive himself into thinking he has come out well. Long before Israel had the law the ancient Egyptians knew about man's responsibility but not how to meet it. They embellished their tombs with drawings showing a pagan god weighing the good and bad in their lives. The law had promised life in this world only, if man could keep it. But this man had been powerless thirty eight years. So he was a type of Israel under law. We see this in Moses' words to Israel "Now the time in which we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we crossed the brook Zered, was thirty eight years, until the whole generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, as the Lord swore to them" Deut. 2:1414And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord sware unto them. (Deuteronomy 2:14). Well, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth subsists by Jesus Christ. That is why when Christ came we hear no more of the angel who troubled the pool. That angel was the outward symbol of the law see Acts 7:5353Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (Acts 7:53). But Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes Rom. 10:44For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4). If you want a good illustration of this, consider the angel in Matt. 28:22And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. (Matthew 28:2). When he rolled back the stone from the sepulcher he sat on it. By this act he indicated he was at rest his service finished. So angelic service in connection with the law ended when Christ rose from among the dead. The law, which could only promise life and only natural life at that disappears before Christ who gives life to man, and that life eternal life.
The Lord Probes the Root of Man's Trouble His Will
The Lord begins by touching the root of every man's trouble. He asks the man "will you be made whole?" The impotent man avoids the question. He complained that he had nobody to help him into the pool. Worse still while he was trying to get in somebody else beat him to it. The Lord didn't ask him about these superficial things. No. He probed the hidden root of all man's troubles his will. It is the will of man resisting God that makes him powerless to come into God's blessing.
Every time a man sins, the spring of his actions is his will. The will is sin itself, since a creature should have no will. Men without God, for this very reason, are called children of disobedience, and the sad fruits of this disobedience are displayed in their lives. Sins are quite distinct from sin in Scripture. Sin, the will, may be compared to the root of a tree sins to the fruit the tree bears. Men's sins are many and varied but can be broadly classified under two groups violence and corruption. (Corruption could be fraud, deceit, lies, etc.) God never forgives sin the root but always judges it which explains why Christ was made sin for us at the cross that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Man is offered the forgiveness of his sins because Christ not only bore them in His own body on the tree, but was made sin the root itself and so came under the judgment of God.
His Mighty Voice Brings Us Out of Death Into Life
Notice how gracious the Lord is to the impotent man although He knows his real moral state. He says "rise, take up your bed and walk" the bed here is what we would call a sleeping bag. Now let's take a hard look at the three separate things in this command:.. "Rise" The First Command: To whom is this command addressed? Why, to every man, for "unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Here is the man who can't enter. How can an impotent man, a man who can't walk, who can't even rise be expected to enter? The impotent man is a figure of man without Christ he lacks power to walk with God because his will is opposed to Him. On the surface his case seems hopeless. Man might argue, "How could he obey a command to get up when he was powerless to do so for thirty eight years?" That all depends on who is giving the command. Here is God manifest in the flesh, the One who said "all power is given unto Me" Matt. 28:1818And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18). The prodigal son is another illustration of the breaking of the will as the first step back to God. When he came to himself he said, "I will rise and go to my father." The will once broken, we are free to do the Father's will, not our own. If it is kept broken and not allowed to re assert itself, we will have power with God in our lives.
.. "Pick up your bed" The Second Command: This means, `now that you have got up, demonstrate your new power to others by taking up your bed.' When a man is born again he leads captivity captive as Sampson did with the gates of Gath. You see, for thirty eight years that bed had the same power over the man that prison walls would have had. It held his body as securely as a vise. The practical meaning of the figure is that the newborn soul is given power over the sins which once ruled him. He not only walks away holding his old sins captive but publicly shows this strength. The man carried his bed so all could see the change in his life now that Christ had come into it. When you are saved a new power takes over your life, giving you power over the things that had power over you.
.. "Walk" The Last Command: What a change! "Unless a man is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Now he is equipped to enter that kingdom, walking in ways that are pleasing to God, using the power God has given him, and attributing it all to the Savior before his fellow men.
Religious Man Objects to the Lord Exercising His Power
Now the religious people, the Jews here, don't want us to display the Lord's mighty power to save in the world. They would keep this as quiet as possible. They questioned him "who told you to pick up your bed and walk?" This question should tell us something. When it becomes clear to the world that a man is saved and his life shows it, they want to know what happened. "Who gave you power over your old sins?" is their real question. Since the impotent man doesn't know, he goes to the temple to find out. That was the wrong place to go. Those who sat in Moses' seat did not want their authority questioned or their uselessness exposed. When it was, they were the ones who rallied the rabble to demand the Lord's crucifixion. Even Pilate knew that the religious leaders brought the Lord to His judgment seat because they envied Him. It is the same today. The unsaved, modernist, liberal clergy those who have the greatest authority over the people, and whose opinions are widely sought, are the bitterest enemies of all the cardinal truths of Christianity those concerning the Lord's person, His work, His resurrection. Here they quibbled about the Lord's healing on the Sabbath. Who had given the Sabbath anyway? Was it not God?
And God was present in their midst. The Sabbath was the sign of God's rest in the old creation, but sin had come into that creation and God could not rest where sin was. "My Father worketh hitherto and I work." The same God who gave the Sabbath had the right to set it aside when sin disturbed His rest. But how blessed that where sin abounded grace did much more abound! Did the impotent man recognize this and glorify the God who had healed him? Alas, there is much to suggest that he sided with the religious leaders who, during his thirty eight years' distress had never helped him. This sign teaches us a lesson, but I doubt that it taught him anything. All he tells his questioners is that it was the Man who healed him who told him to pick up his bed and walk. Note that he omitted the word "rise." Man hates to think that because of self will he has no power himself and can only rise in the power of Jesus. If he can only hide this truth, then whatever good he may do in the world will reflect on himself rather than give glory to Christ. Man will approve this, for the good works will then exalt the man under judgment and deny his fall. Look at the world of today and you will see what great works they have worked in their own name. Any why? because "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" John 12:4343For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (John 12:43).
So he tells the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. This brings out the hatred of the Jews to Christ and they seek to kill Him. It also brings out on the Lord's part a solemn witness to who He is, and the eternal consequences of rejecting Him. "The Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who honors not the Son honors not the Father who has sent Him" John 5:22, 2322For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. (John 5:22‑23). God the Father was not made flesh God the Son was. Not only so, but it was the Son who was humbled at His creature's hands and crucified. God the Father will have all honor Him throughout the universe Phil. 2:10, 1110That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10‑11).
People forget this. I have seen men wearing the ring of a fraternal society on which there is a picture of a compass. Ask them what it means and they will tell you that in this way they acknowledge God as the great architect of the universe. But this does not save a man..."You believe in God? Good (for you!) the devils also believe, and tremble" James 2:1919Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19). Many believe in God but deny He will judge them. The devils know better and shudder.
Christ Is the Man of Power Because He Is the Man Who Did God's Will
It is blessed indeed to turn away from the impotent man to Christ, the Man of power. What was the great thing I say it reverently that made Christ the Man of power as opposed to man in Adam who lacks power? It is that in Christ we see a Man entirely devoted to the will of God. This was the mainspring of everything He did. "I can of My own self do nothing," He says John 5:30,30I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30) and then as proof that His thought went not beyond His Word Psa. 17:33Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. (Psalm 17:3) He would not turn stones into bread although hungry, for His Father had not told Him. "Not My will but Thine be done," He says again Luke 22:4242Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42) when the bitter cup of death and the forsaking of God passes before His soul. And again, "Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour" John 12:2727Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. (John 12:27). When all is over the Father's answer is to raise Him from among the dead and give Him glory. If Israel, like Rachael, calls Him "the Son of my sorrow" as they do in John 5, the Father changes His name to Benjamin "the Son of My right hand" Gen. 35:1818And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. (Genesis 35:18).
Thus in John 5 the moral basis is established for leading man out of Judaism into Christianity, an act that must await the tenth chapter when the Lord leads His own sheep out. But the foundation is laid here it is a Man who does the will of God. Here the believer is taken out of death our old condition both as belonging to the old creation, and as having failed to keep the law when tested into life in the Son of God John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).
To conclude this chapter, the Lord has to break our will so we will listen to His Word and through that learn His will and do it. The natural man will not listen. "Ye will not come to Me that ye might have life," the Lord said in John 5:4040And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:40). A day is coming when Israel will do the will of God "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power" Psa. 110:33Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. (Psalm 110:3). But God is looking for obedience in His people now, not in a day of power but in a day of outward weakness. This He greatly values. A prayer that God will always answer is "teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God" Psa. 143:1010Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. (Psalm 143:10). This is what marks us as God's people.
All this happened at the sheep market. "My sheep hear My voice." We know that we are His sheep and that the Lord is our Shepherd when we obey His voice. May this be our delight. What is needed today is willing devotedness of heart to Christ.