After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. 3 In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. [4] 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13 The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. 14 After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. 16 Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.
Jesus goes up to Jerusalem for a feast and enters an area near the Sheep Gate where there is a pool called Bethesda. Archaeology has confirmed the presence of this site: a large double pool surrounded by five porticoes, just north of the Temple area. Many sick people gathered there—blind, lame, and crippled—with the hope of being healed, because a tradition held that when the water was stirred, the first person to enter the pool would be healed.
Among them was a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. The length of his illness emphasizes his helpless condition. When Jesus sees him lying there, He asks a simple question: “Do you want to be well?” (v. 6). The man explains that he has no one to help him into the pool when the water is stirred. Like many others there, he believes that entering the water first might bring healing. His response shows both his desire to be healed and his complete dependence on others. Jesus does not send him to the water. Instead, He simply commands, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk” (v. 8). Immediately the man is healed and begins to walk. The miracle happens instantly and entirely through the power of Jesus’ word.
But the narrative quickly shifts from healing to controversy. John notes that the event takes place on the Sabbath. When the religious authorities see the man carrying his mat, they object because carrying such a load was considered work under the traditional interpretation of the Sabbath law. Instead of rejoicing that a man long disabled has been healed, their concern centers on the violation of Sabbath regulations.
The man explains that the one who healed him told him to carry his mat. At first he does not even know who Jesus is. Later Jesus finds him in the temple and gives him a warning: “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you” (v. 14). Jesus warns him that sin places a person in a far more serious condition than physical illness.
When the authorities learn that Jesus performed the healing, they begin to persecute Him because He acted on the Sabbath. Jesus responds with a striking statement: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work” (v. 17).
Jewish teachers recognized that although God rested on the seventh day after creation (Gen. 2:2-3), He continues to sustain the universe. If God stopped working even for a moment, creation itself would cease to exist. Jesus now claims the same prerogative. Just as the Father continues His life-giving activity, so does the Son.
This statement goes far beyond a discussion about Sabbath rules. The authorities understand its meaning immediately. John explains that they seek all the more to kill Him because He not only appears to break the Sabbath but also calls God His own Father, “making himself equal to God” (v. 18). The issue is no longer simply a healing; it is the identity of Jesus Himself.
The miracle at Bethesda therefore leads to a deeper revelation about Jesus. What begins as a healing quickly becomes a controversy about the Sabbath and about who Jesus is. When He declares, ‘My Father is at work until now, so I am at work’ (v. 17), He identifies His work with the work of God Himself. For this reason the authorities conclude that He is making Himself equal to God (v. 18).
This passage also fits well within the season of Lent. Lent invites us to recognize our own spiritual weakness and our need for the healing that only Christ can give. Like the man lying beside the pool, we cannot save ourselves. During this season we are also called to place our hope in Jesus, who alone can restore what sin has wounded. The Gospel reminds us that Christ continues His work. The Father is still working in the world, and the Son continues to bring healing to those who turn to Him in faith.
Lord Jesus Christ, you see our need for healing just as you saw the need of the man beside the pool. Speak your word into our lives, heal what is broken within us, and lead us away from sin so that we may walk in the new life you give. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), Jn. 5:1-18 and accompanying notes.
- José María Casciaro, gen. ed., The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition (Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008), commentary on Jn. 5:1-18.
- Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010), notes on Jn. 5:1-18.
- Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990), p. 959, paras. 73-76.
- John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, and Donald Senior, eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022), pp. 1398-1400.
- Frank J. Matera and Daniel J. Harrington, eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (New York: Paulist Press, 2018), commentary on Jn. 5:1-18.
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