Why Doesn’t Everyone Believe in Jesus. (Pt 1) John 5:1-18
If we have the truth and can demonstrate that Christianity is true, why don't more people recognize this truth and come to trust in Jesus Christ as their saviour?
The reality is that the majority of people in the world do not trust Jesus Christ as their saviour, nor do they recognize Him as the answer to all of life’s big challenges.
Let's consider those who have read or heard the gospel account of the Life of Jesus. The majority who have heard it have not responded properly—not in the time of our Lord and not in our time today. Why is that?
The question I am attempting to grapple with today is profound:
If it's their job to find truth and we can prove our case, why don't more people come to Christ? That's the question, and I believe the Bible answers it in John chapter 5.
Welcome to today edition of TBCDP
Before I read for you today’s passage of scripture let me remind you that in the Gospel of John, the author starts out by giving us a prologue. In that prologue, he tells us that Jesus Christ was full of grace and truth. In the very opening verses, he goes so far as to say that the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
After that introduction, he then commences the body of his book. It starts in chapter 1, verse 19. In the first major section of the book, from 1:19 to about 2:11, he tells us about the call and the confirmation of his disciples.
Then, beginning in chapter 2, verse 12, and going through chapter 12, he tells us about the public ministry of Christ.
We’ve been looking at this so far, verse by verse and so far, what we have encountered is one story after another where Christ preached, worked miracles, or had personal conversations, and people trusted in Him.
As a matter of fact, in the first four chapters, it seems that everyone who came in contact with Christ believed in Him. There are hints in those first four chapters that it wasn’t always the case, but most of the recorded incidents show that those who heard Him and saw what He did trusted in Him.
However, when we come to chapter 5, we encounter the first overt case of unbelief. As a result, we see the Lord defending Himself, and in the process, I believe He tells us why even today many do not believe Christianity is true.
So, today we will look at chapter 5 but let me begin by suggesting that this chapter can be divided into three parts.
First, we could call the initial section a demonstration of divine power.
Then, beginning at verse 10 and going through verse 18, we have a dispute resulting from this miracle, this healing that led to a conflict between the Jews and Jesus. I’ll try and cover up to this point today.
This, in turn, provokes an address starting at verse 19 and continuing to the end of the chapter in verse 47, where our Lord gives an extended discourse. It’s almost what we today would call a sermon and in it He makes claims as to who He is, and he offers proof for those claims.
Which we will look at tomorrow.
As we explore this chapter, we will uncover the reasons behind the unbelief and learn more about the truth of who Jesus is and why even today many fail to recognize Him.
Let's begin then by looking at this demonstration of divine power.
Verse, one tells us….
5 Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralysed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’
7 ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’
8 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’
(John 5: 1-10)
There’s a great debate about which feast this was. I am of the opinion that it was not the feast of Passover. John often tells when events are occurring at Passover. The implication seems to be that had this been the Passover, he would have told us.
Furthermore, if this was the Passover, it would add another whole year to the ministry of Christ. Many have concluded that because of the way John refers to the Passover repeatedly, this is not one of those feasts.
Rather, this is likely the feast of Purim, which was the celebration of the deliverance of the Jews during the time of Esther. It was not one of the divinely instituted festivals; it was of historical origin. At any rate, the Lord goes to Jerusalem during one of their important feasts.
Verse two tells us that in Jerusalem, by the sheep market, there was a pool which is called in the Hebrew language ‘Bethesda’, and it had five porches.
To get a picture of what was happening, imagine an area the size of a tennis court. That gives you something of an idea of what the pool looked like. Actually, it was two pools divided in the centre just off centre with one pool on each end, and five porches.
There were five little arcades around it where people could gather—one on each side of the court, one on each end, and then the arcade in the middle dividing this large pool into two pools.
The Bible goes on to tell us in verse three that in those porches were a great many sick and disabled people. Some were blind, some were physically disable or as the King James says, and some were withered. The Greek text seems to indicate this means they were paralyzed in one way or another, and so probably some had had strokes.
But they were waiting for the moving of the water. Crowded in these porches were sick and suffering people waiting for the stirring of the water.
Some manuscripts include and extra verse that four explains that an angel went down at certain times and the pool water began to stir and bubble. Whoever stepped in first after the water was moved in this way was healed of whatever disease they had.
This presents some controversy. Some have said that this verse was simply one of the popular beliefs at the time—that the population thought when the water was moving and the first person in would be healed.
I have concluded, it is being presented not just as a popular belief but as a reality and perhaps that’s exactly what happened, which is the reason why this extra verse is included in the KJV.
Whether it was literally true or not, it is clearly what the people thought, and it was what the man who had been there for so long believed.
It then tells us that this man had had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. He had this physical problem for thirty-eight years. You’ll recall that in other Gospels, there’ is a case of a man who was born blind. That’s not the case here. He was probably much older than thirty-eight. I’m going to guess he was perhaps fifty or more and he was there waiting for the troubling of the water.
Jesus comes to Jerusalem and goes to the pool of Bethesda. He sees the crowded, packed porches and notes in particular this one man who had not been able to walk for thirty-eight years. The text tells us that when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in that condition for a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to get well?"
This is unusual because the Lord didn’t very often approach people like that—they usually came to Him. In the vast majority of cases, when they did, He didn’t ask them this kind of question at the beginning; they initiated the conversation.
But in this case, He walks over to the man and says, "Do you want to be made well?"
Some commentators say this man had lost hope. I personally disagree with that. I think the whole point of this passage is that the man was there because he had not lost hope. If he had lost hope, he probably wouldn’t even have been there.
A conclusive indication to me that he really wanted to be well is the next verse. The man answered Him, "Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is moved, while I trying to get there someone always gets there before me." So, he says, “I do try”.
This indicates he was powerless; he lacked the ability to walk, and others, perhaps with ailments not affecting their legs, were able to make it to the water first. So, I think that verse indicates he is saying, "Yes, I want to be healed. I crawl and scratch my way to the water every time, but somebody else beats me in. The first gets the prize, and I lose every time."
The Bible tells us that Jesus simply said to him, "Rise, take up your bed, and walk." Another indication to me that he had hope was he was willing to exert the effort to see if he could walk. He had to be willing to pick up his pallet, which is probably what the word "bed" here means—something like a stretcher with bedding on it. Jesus said, "Arise, take up your bed, and walk," and the Bible tells us in the next verse that immediately the man was made whole. He took up his bed and walked.
This is another case of Jesus Christ coming along and healing someone.
This again is a demonstration, a sign of the deity of Jesus Christ.
Remember, John says at the end of his book that these signs were written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is another in a long list of cases where Jesus is demonstrating His deity.
Yes, we are also meant to see the free will of this man and His faith because it becomes clear in the passage a litlle later that one of the major points is that the man said, “Yes, I want to be made well”, and he was willing and God provided the power, and he walked.
You see, the story although telling us about the power of Christ, and the faith of the man I’m sure it does.
But all of that is eclipsed by the statement at the end when he says, ". The day on which this took place was a Sabbath."
And because it was the Sabbath, a dispute broke out, and that’s what John will now tells us about in verses 10 through 18.
10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’11 But he replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ 12 So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’ 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defence Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
(John 5: 11-18)
So, the Jewish leaders said, "You’re breaking the Sabbath," because to them to break one of their laws was to break one of God's laws.
The text tells us that the healed man answered them and said, "The man who healed me is the one also said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"
The man was essentially saying, "Look, I’ve been sitting down for thirty-eight years. Then someone comes along, heals me, and tells me to walk. If he’s got enough power to make me well and help me walk, surely he’s got the authority to tell me to walk on a Sabbath."
The Jewish leaders are focusing on the penalty for breaking the Sabbath rules, (For carrying a load on the sabbath was considered working) and they ask him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" They were essentially asking, "Who would dare to tell you to do such a thing on the Sabbath day?"
The man honestly says who was healed didn’t know who it was specifically because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd, but he believed he was the Messiah.
Now please note there is an implication, here though it’s not explicitly stated, seems to be that the man's sickness was related to some sin. Jesus was warning him that if he continued in sin, something worse might happen to him in the future, perhaps even losing his life.
The healed man simply went and told the Jewish leaders that he was healed and that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
We see their response to this news. "That the Jewish leaders plan to persecute Jesus and seek to kill him because he had done this on the Sabbath."
This is the first time in the Gospel of John that we’re told someone plotted to kill Christ. Up to this point, the plot was just a small seed of an idea, but it will grow in the days, and months to come until it fully develops into the crucifixion of Jesus.
They confront Jesus and accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath, and He responded by saying, " My Father is always at his work so am I."
Instead of addressing the charge about working on the Sabbath and discussing their made-up traditions, Jesus simply said, "My Father works, and I work."
This statement is deeply significant. Jesus was essentially saying, "We are one. Just as God works, I work," clearly implying His unity with the Father and His deity. Notice He says, "My Father" and not "our Father," embedding clear implications of His deity in the statement.
The text that follows confirms they recognised what this meant because they planned to kill Him all the more because He not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."
There are two clear accusations here:
Breaking the Sabbath and making and making Himself equal with God.
It then tells us they sought even more to kill Him and they started plotting in small groups.
Perhaps up to this point, it was just a discussion: They are saying we have got to eliminate this man. He is breaking our traditions, and if we do not stop Him, there is no telling where it will end.
So, the plot to kill Him grows and this demonstration of His deity in the healing and the dispute that follows form the backdrop to the long discourse our Jesus will give beginning at verse 19.
Going all the way to the end of the chapter he gives an extended discourse in which he first makes several claims and then proves those claims.
So, we’ll take a look at his claims next time.
