Healing at the Bethesda Pool (John 5:1-16)
In John 5:1-14, Jesus goes to Jerusalem for a Jewish festival and encounters a disabled man at the pool of Bethesda. The man has been unable to walk for several years. The pool is believed to have healing powers, but this man has no one to help him get into the water when it's stirred up, which is supposedly the presice moment its healing properties are activated.
Jesus asks the man if he wants to get well, to which the man explains his predicament. Instead of assisting him into the pool, Jesus directly tells him to "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." (John 5:8) The man is instantly healed and picks up his mat to walk, as instructed.
The miracle occurs on the Sabbath, which leads to religious authorities questioning the man for carrying his mat. When asked who healed him, the man initially doesn't know, as Jesus had slipped away. Later, Jesus finds the man in the temple and tells him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (John 5:14) The man then goes and tells the Jews that Jesus is the one who healed him. Because Jesus performed this healing miracle on the Sabbath, the Jews begin to persecute Him and seek to kill Him.
Vocabulary
Word | Meaning | |
---|---|---|
μετά | with (with G); after (with A) | |
οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο | this | |
εἰμί | I am; be | |
ἑορτή, ῆς, ἡ | festival, celebration | |
ὁ, ἡ, τό | the | |
Ἰουδαῖος, ία, ον | Judean | |
καί | and | |
ἀναβαίνω | go up, ascend | |
Ἰησοῦς, οῦ, ὁ | Jesus, Joshua | |
εἰς | to; in (with A) | |
Ἱεροσόλυμα, ων, τά | Jerusalem | |
δέ | however, but | |
ἐν | in (with D) | |
ἐπί | on (with G, D, A); on the account of (with D); against (with A) | |
προβατικός, ή, όν | of sheep | |
κολυμβήθρα, ας, ἡ | a pool | |
ἐπιλέγω | call/name | |
Ἑβραϊστί | in Hebrew |