2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Wednesday in the Word

Second Baptist Church

July 9, 2025

John 5:3-9

1. On last week we began teaching about the man who was healed at the pool in Bethsaida near the sheep gate. We shared how the sheep gate had no bars or bolts, meaning it wasn’t locked symbolizing an open door. Jesus is the open door. We also shared that the door was where the sacrificial animals entered. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb that is prepared to take away our sins. These elements were foreshadows of Christ. We didn’t get a chance to talk about how the name Bethsaida meant house of grace or house of mercy. Grace means free gifts, and mercy means second chances. Jesus is in a place that symbolizes that access to the presence of God is always open.

2. Verses 3-6. It is here that Jesus finds a man who was paralyzed for 38 years. What do we know about this man? The text doesn’t say much. It just says that he had been in the condition he was in for 38 years. We don’t know if he was thirty- eight or 78 all we know is that for thirty-eight years he had been like this. The number 38 is significant for the ancient Jews. In Deut 2:13-15, it says that God told the Israelites to get up and cross over the Zared Valley and 38 years had passed since the time that God’s hand was against the people who failed to trust him. For 38 years God had punished the children of Israel to wander in the desert, but after 38 years of punishment, he allows them to move from punishment of the desert to the promise of the promise land. Is it possible that this brother becomes a living metaphor, that the time of punishment is over, and time of grace has begun? Just like the children of Israel were allowed to go into the promise land after 38 years of God’s wrath, so this man has the opportunity after 38 years to meet the promise of God and move from the situation of just going nowhere to being able to walk in the newness of life. We don’t know how he got this way. We don’t know if he was born like this, had an accident or was injured by someone. All we know is that he is stuck lying on a mat. We don’t know if he can’t move at all or just can’t move real fast. This brother is lying there. He was waiting to get into the pool for superstition had it that when the pool bubbled one could get healed. This spot was ideal because it offered shade and cool breezes for those who were sick and people could ask people passing by for money. Notice the man doesn’t ask for Jesus, but Jesus approached him. As a matter of fact, this man doesn’t even know who Jesus is. But nevertheless, Jesus approaches this man with a question. Jesus asks the man does he want to get well. Jesus doesn’t ask him if he wants to walk or see or hear or be delivered from a demon. He just asks do you want to be well? Beloved what a question. Jesus doesn’t ask the brother for a lot of detail about his situation. Jesus doesn’t ask what the doctors have said. He just wants a simple yes or no. And all he really wants is a yes. When Jesus asks this question, but the brother doesn’t say yes, he goes into something else.

3. Verses 7- 9. He tells Jesus he can’t get healed because he can’t get to the water, he has no one to help him. And when he tries, someone else gets in the pool before him. This man has it that he is attributing his being in the condition so long due to lack of   assistance help. He puts the blame on the fact that no one has shown him some mercy. His excuse is that no one has helped him get into the water. His excuse is focused on what others have not done for him. “I have no one.” I have no one. I have nobody that can help me. I have no one that can assist me. The main problem is that Jesus did ask the man why he could not get whole, he ask the man if he wanted to get whole. This man just assumed the only way he could get whole was if someone helped him into the pool. He said he had no one, beloved if God is present, you always have someone. The second excuse was that his timing was always off. He declared that when he tried, he was always beaten by someone else into the water. His excuse was about missed opportunities. He was telling Jesus that he almost got there, but others were too fast. Missed opportunities. The good news is that God can turn it around at any time. Just because it seems like you missed your opportunity, God can still turn it around for you. His ability to turn it around is not based on your timing, but his. Your timing might be ok, but his is just right. You might be too slow, but he is never late. The third excuse was that he was placing all his hope in something that could not heal him anyway. His excuse was that the pool was limited to only helping one person at a time. Whoever got in there first. The pool probably never healed anybody; it was just a superstition. It was just a myth. This brother was putting his eggs in the basket of a myth. He was trusting in something that could not do what he needed. This man was trusting in a pool that really could not do anything for him. This brother limited how he could get blessed. He was expecting his blessing to come in one way and through one door only. This brother had a lot of excuses, but Jesus was determined that despite this brother’s excuses he was going to perform a miracle. This is odd, because usually the bible usually highlights someone’s faith before a miracle. Blind Bartimaeus had faith when he called Jesus and Jesus said your faith has healed you. The roman centurion had faith that Jesus would heal his servant and Jesus said he had never seen such faith. The woman with the issue of blood got her healing by just touching Jesus in faith. But here in this text Jesus shows us that he can do a miracle on your behalf even when you don’t have any faith at all. See miracles aren’t always about your faith, but they are always about God’s will and God’s bigger plan. Jesus doesn’t even wait for the man to say yes or no. The bible says that Jesus just told the man to get up, pick up his mat and walk. This man leaves without even doing his best to find out who just changed his life. Jesus did this miracle not only for the man, but to provoke the Jews by doing a miracle on the Sabbath day.

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