Unity in Kindness & Sacrifice: (John 5:2-18)

In this study of John 5, I’ve been considering the unmerited kindness of God revealed through the actions and words of Jesus Christ, and through His heavenly servants and earthly Saint’s.

In John, there’s notable exhortation to the Saint’s, to understand our earthly knowledge and experiences, relative to the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, the Pharisees, the woman at the well, and Jesus’s disciples were all taught this; some comprehended it reasonably quickly, some grew to understand it over time, and some never came to comprehend it at all.

In Colossian’s 3:2-4, Paul exhorted the Saints to comprehend and govern their lives by this knowledge, and persevere in it, looking for Christ’s appearing, and our being with Him in glory:

… seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

With this in mind, the focal reading is from John 5:2-18, where we’re told of Jesus’s interaction with a lame man:

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 invalid folk, of blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
4. For an angel went down at a certain time 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, who had an infirmity thirty eight years.
6. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been now a long time in that condition, he said unto him, Will you be made whole?
7. The invalid 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 steps down before me.
8. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up your bed, and walk.
9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.
And that day was the Sabbath. 
¹⁰ The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
¹¹ He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”
¹² Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 
¹³ But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 
¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
¹⁵ The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
¹⁶ For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 
¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
¹⁸ Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

John 5:2:18

Before considering the aspect of unmerited kindness; there’s a matter of textual content which I’d like to briefly give my perception on.

• Some commentators have expressed disagreement of the authenticity of verse 4. The first point of their contention seems to be: That some believe because verse 4 isn’t in the older manuscripts, they see its presence in the later manuscripts as being man’s addition rather than inclusion by God’s will.
  • But despite man’s many historical efforts to corrupt and dispose of God’s Word, God has miraculously preserved it and will continue to do so; consider for example the maintenance and addition to God’s written Word through the prophet Jeremiah, in 36:19-32

Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.”
And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words…
Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned…
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.

Jeremiah 36:19-32

I believe we can rest in the fact that God miraculously preserves His Word even now, just as He did with Jeremiah, and from the account of creation onward. A primary test of the validity of scriptural text is to compare it with other scriptural text, just as the Bereans did; I see the content of verse 4 as being consistent with verse 7 and with other scriptural examples of God’s miraculous works.

• The second point of their contention appears to be a perception that the text stating that “an angel troubled the waters”, is an introduction of “superstition” into the story; This seems to me, to be based on a perception that this type of interaction is inconsistent with God’s means of delivering miracles in other verses.
  • Scripture teaches that God’s sovereign way is God’s sovereign way; In verse 7 the lame man tells of the result of being the first person who enters the pool after the waters are troubled, which is consistent with verse 4, (though he doesn’t mention an angel troubling the water).
  • There’s no indication that the water itself momentarily contained healing properties after being troubled; but whether the water was momentarily endued with healing power or not, all healing power comes from God, He can provide healing however He likes, He healed the Israelites who looked up at the serpent on a pole; the serpent, the pole and the craftsman that made it, had no power.

https://biblehub.com/q/Evidence_for_John_5_4_s_authenticity.htm

Unnatural events.

Some think it’s questionable that God would heal people in such a way at a pool that had likely served for Jewish ritual cleansings for about 800 years, but the following peculiar accounts of God’s healing power are worth considering:

And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying,
“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”… So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy and he was clean.

2 Kings 5:10,14

Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

2 Kings 13:20-21

When He had said this, He spat on the ground, made clay of the saliva, and rubbed the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.

John 9:6-7

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

Acts 19:11-12

God employs His creation, to impart His blessings to His creation.

Here’s an excerpt from the Morrish dictionary which gives an overview of what miracles are:

There are no laws of nature, as if nature made its own laws: there are laws in nature, which God in His wisdom as Creator was pleased to make; but He who made those laws has surely the same power to suspend them when He pleases. Though laws in nature previously unknown are being discovered from time to time, they in no way account for such things as dead persons being raised to life, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, and demons being cast out of those who were possessed by them. Neither has natural philosophy discovered any law that will account for such a thing as an iron axe-head swimming in water. The simple truth is that God, for wise purposes, allowed some of the natural laws to be suspended, and at times He put forth His almighty power, as in supplying the Israelites with manna from heaven, and in feeding thousands from a few loaves and fishes, or by recalling life that had left the body.

Though not called a miracle, isn’t the conversion of a sinner a miracle? It seems impossible for one who has been turned from darkness to light, and has been created in Christ Jesus, with the fruits and effects following, to doubt the reality of other miracles recorded by God in His sacred writings.

Multifaceted kindness:

The kindness of God is evident in the healing aspect of this passage, and it’s also visible in other facets, including the name of the place, and the number of portico’s:

• The Hebrew name “Bethesda”, means “flowing water” or “house of kindness” as “Beth” is Hebrew for “house” and “esda” from the word “chêsêd” which subject to context means “goodness, kindness, faithfulness or merciful“, so the place was likely named not only because the waters were a means of receiving kindness from God, but also because His kindness extended to the provision of 5 substantial covered areas around the pool, which were similar in function to the roof of a house, they are estimated to cover about 450lm, these allowed the sick to rest under shelter from the heat of the sun, and seasonal rain. Although God doesn’t always heal, we see here that His love for the people at Bethesda worked to protect them from the weather while they waited.
  • God’s kindness still works similarly today, He eases the weight of sickness by giving peace to the Saint’s; Someone spoke of their Christian friend who was dying of cancer, a nurse who had been assisting the dying man, wrote on his hospital medical record “he is unreasonably happy“.

So here in John 5 verses 4 & 7, we see the kindness of God, in making healing available to some of the sick people who were waiting under cover next to the pool. But His blessing of healing, isn’t random, He has purpose in the timing and selection of the recipient, just as much as He has purpose in withholding healing at any time. Abraham said: “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Gen 18:25. The lame man had been in that condition through his sin, for the same number of years that the children of Israel had been wandering in the wilderness, 38 years. It was by God’s will that he was lamed from his sin for that particular length of time, and now that the penalty was complete, it was God’s will that Jesus words released him from his physical impediment, just like the Israelites who had wandered in the wilderness for 38 years due to their sin, were freed and empowered to fight and possess the promised land according to God’s will.

Whether our present experience is sickness, hardship, prosperity or any other place in the spectrum, we need to consider what we are doing with the time and resources God has granted us today. Are we so focused on our present state, that we’re not quietly listening to, and obeying God’s instruction to show His kindness to others. I wonder if that man had spent his 38 years mourning his condition, or was he using the time in each day as an opportunity to grow in the knowledge of God and serve others in kindness, even by just some kind words? There’s usually someone in a worse condition than ourselves. God will one day require us to give an account of what we’ve done with our time, and He’s provided all we need, to serve for His glory and our joy. He’s a merciful loving God full of compassion and kindness, and desires that we are filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding, being lights in this dark world, no matter what our temporary physical state consists of. Our present circumstances can overshadow our responsibilities to God, but that shadow of circumstance is opportunity to see the supremacy of Gods Light. We need praise God in all our circumstances, and be ready to give account of the hope that’s in us through Jesus.

Having been made in the image of God, man can also serve to ease the discomfort of the sick in numerous ways, just as God ordained through man making the 5 covering porches around the pool.
These 5 porches express kindness, even numerically, as “5” is sometimes used both in singular and multiple forms in scripture where God’s kindness is expressed, such as in the following verses:

Genesis 43:43 When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others…

Genesis 45:22 He gave new garments to each of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.

And when 5 is multiplied by itself we have expressed what is written of in John 1:16, “From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.“.

Matthew 16:9 tells of God’s multiplication of five to benefit over five thousand.

Do you not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?

The aspect of the application of kindness being taught to us by way of example from God here, is of course throughout scripture, including being more directly expressed in Hebrews 13:15

Through Jesus, therefore,
let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise,
the fruit of lips that confess His name.
And do not neglect to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

The relationship of kindness to sacrifice, is expressed in the verse above where praising God, doing good and sharing with others are written of as being “such sacrifices“. The pool and surrounding covered areas had been built through the labours of men under the instruction of God; our labours for God also ease the lives of others and He is no man’s debtor; having been made in God’s image and likeness, when we perform act’s of kindness in Jesus name, by providing comfort and relief for those who are sick or in need, our acts of denying ourselves to serve, are a form of sacrifice to God, which He observes and acts on, as we read in Psalm 18:

With the merciful you will show yourself merciful;
with an upright man you will show yourself upright;

Psalm 18:25

The Sheep Gate Sacrificial Relationship:

Sacrifice and Godly kindness are united in purpose, they both work to glorify God in service to the body of Christ. An interesting inclusion in verse 2 of the text, again showing a relationship between sacrifice and kindness, is that the pool was by the “sheep gate“, this is where sheep were brought into the city to the temple, to be used as sacrificial offerings to atone for sin; so here in close visible proximity, we have a contrast of two means of God’s kindness delivered to man; The first was a legal system of sacrificing sheep for atonement, where the sacrifice bore the penalty rather than the perpetrator, and the other was God’s kindness in unmerited covering and healing at this specific geographical location, Bethesda, where God granted forgiveness without the recipient earning it. God had provided both means of reconciliation, but they were just about to cease, because the very One who healed the man who was lame for 38 years, Jesus Christ, was about to fulfil His roll as the sacrificial Lamb of God, to atone for the sins of all those that the Father had given Him, from the first Saint Adam, through to the last yet to be named.

Transition heralded by Christ:

Up until the birth of Christ, God had revealed Himself to man in various ways such as His presence in the middle of the burning bush Exo 3:4, Him speaking to Moses out of the mountain Exo 19:3, and speaking audibly and in dreams and visions to the prophets, but as we read in Hebrews 1:1-2

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

John 1:16 

Considering application of kindness by God’s children.

This new dynamic of salvation to the Gentiles, sometimes causes people to ask: “What’s God’s will for me?“, and although there are many instructions directing us in The Way, the simple selfless acts of kindness which are instructed through scriptural example and exhortation, are what God’s will is for each of us; such as James tells us:

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 1:27

and we’re told in Galatians 6:10

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Then in Matthew 25 we read of God recognising the kind works of the post tribulation Saint’s, as instruction for Gentiles also:

For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you clothed me,
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

Matthew 25:35-36 

Godly kindness is given in humility without expecting to receive, knowing that it was God’s provision to start with, and that in serving others, we’re serving Him.

In regard to sickness, verse 3 tells of there being “a great multitude of invalid folk, of blind, lame and paralyzed,” at the pool. The effect of the first sin and our subsequent sins are 2 factors that brought the “great multitude” to the pool and also contribute to the current hospitals and doctors surgeries being so busy.
Although sickness isn’t always the result of personal sin, it was in the case of the man who’d been sick for 38 years, because Jesus said “Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”. But God’s kindness is revealed again by Jesus healing the man of the penalty of his sin, and notice that there’s no record of the man apologising, but Jesus didn’t wait for an apology, He said “Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And immediately the man became well, and picked up his mat and walked.“, Jesus didn’t require repentance or confession of his sin before healing him, and the healing wasn’t dependent on the man obeying any instruction: his sin was forgiven, so he was immediately made well, so he took up his mat and walked; but notice that he didn’t walk to the places of the pleasures of the world, instead, he went to the temple, where Jesus later spoke to him.

When we understand we’re a recipient of God’s kindness it’s right to thank and praise Him and share the joy of what God has done in our life, but the Pharisee’s who were custodians of the Word of God, who were supposed to deliver it in love and humility to the people, and share in the joy of the work of God in this man’s life, didn’t meet the man at the temple with joy and praise to God, they actually saw this healing which they acknowledged as reality, as an opportunity to condemn Jesus, their corrupt legal teaching had become a corrupt religion of itself, their focus was so strongly on elevating and justifying themselves, that they had no room for Jesus, and were murderers awaiting the opportunity. In Matthew 23:4, Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees “…they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.“, what a contrast this is to Jesus who kindly invites us in humility, with His words in Matthew 11:29-30

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

We all have various responsibilities within our families, external associations and daily interactions, and it’s in these that we each have opportunity to show Christ through selfless kindness in words and works, as spoken of in Ephesians 2:

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:4-10

It’s about LOVE.

We have opportunity to show the love of God to the community and those we live with, but road rage, complaining about the service at a restaurant, arguing with public servants, and being impatient with school teachers, or your spouse, aren’t consistent with showing God’s kindness to others. Denying self facilitates kindness to others, and this starts in the home.

When Jesus found the man in the temple, he warned him not to sin again, we can all express our gratitude for God’s sustained kindness in warning us at times when we’ve been fixed on our own will and rights, instead of His, but God patiently and sometimes sternly reiterates corrective instruction to His children. Sometimes we’re slow to apply what we’ve learned from Him, but wisdom doesn’t test God’s patience, it immediately humbly obeys, denying self, and this results in blessing and being blessed.

This grace isn’t to be kept in a bottle, it’s to be distributed through our works and words, first to our family then to all we interact with. Jesus didn’t wait for repentance by the lame man, we’re not to wait for others to repent before we deliver the kindness of God to them, the angels obedient service to God, is immediate and unconditional. The Saints obedience in service to others is not by our strength, but is through the strength that God provides through Christ Jesus, to serve to save the lost.

As each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God— whoever speaks, as one speaking the oracles of God; whoever serves, as one serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:10-11

Dear Heavenly Father please help us to selflessly serve others, to take the gospel to those who are still in darkness, to grow in our knowledge of yourself through Christ Jesus and Holy Spirit, for your glory, in Jesus name, amen.

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