ACC ~ John 5 v1 - 9

OVERVIEW:

After the miracle in Galilee, Jesus returns to Jerusalem during the feast of Passover (IRENAEUS), at a time when many of the people would be gathered together and he would be able to reach a larger group (THEODORE). There was a pool there called Bethesda, with five porticoes, which suggest the five books of Moses (AUGUSTINE). The priests washed the animals that were to be sacrificed there, and so the people looked for bodily healing to occur at this place when the waters were stirred (THEODORE). But water can also heal diseases of the soul as it does in baptism (CHRYSOSTOM). The waters of baptism are much more abundant than the waters at this pool (CHROMATIUS). For those at the pool, an angel descended; for us, the Spirit descends to consecrate the waters for healing (AMBROSE).

The perseverance of this thirty-eight-year paralytic serves as an example to those who give in too easily when their prayers are not immediately answered (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus’ question to the man shows Jesus is not like a faith healer who seeks to draw attention to himself; he wants to heal the man as well as expose the cruelty of those around him (AMPHILOCHIUS). His question conveys the fact that he possesses the power at hand to heal him (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Despite the immense suffering this person must have gone through, there is no complaint from him; instead there is hope (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus heals him with three distinct commands: “Rise,” which confers the cure (AUGUSTINE), “take up your bed,” and “walk,” which shows the completeness of the cure (EPHREM). He also calls on you to take up your beds, that is, to govern your body, which formerly carried you, and walk in every good work (CAESARIUS). Or it is as if he is saying: when you were sick, your neighbor carried you; now that you have been healed, carry your neighbor (AUGUSTINE).

5:1 | Jesus Went to Jerusalem for the Passover

CHRIST ALWAYS WENT TO JERUSALEM FOR PASSOVER

IRENAEUS: One can examine the Gospels to ascertain how often after his baptism the Lord went up, at the time of the Passover, to Jerusalem, in accordance with what was the practice of the Jews from every land, and every year, that they should assemble at this period in Jerusalem and there celebrate the feast of the Passover. First of all, after he had made the water wine at Cana of Galilee, he went up to the festival day of the Passover…. Afterwards he went up, the second time, to observe the festival day of the Passover [1] in Jerusalem. On this occasion he cured the paralytic man who had lain beside the pool thirty-eight years…. Then, when he had raised Lazarus from the dead and plots were formed against him by the Pharisees, he withdrew to a city called Ephraim. And from that place, as it is written, “He came to Bethany six days before the Passover,” [2] and going up from Bethany to Jerusalem, he there ate the Passover and suffered on the day following. Now, that these three occasions of the Passover are not included within one year, every person whatever must acknowledge. AGAINST HERESIES 2.22.3. [3]

[1] It is well known that to fix what is meant by the“feast” referred to in this passage of John is one of the most difficult points in New Testament criticism. Some modern scholars think that the feast of Purim is intended by the Evangelist. But, on the whole, the current of opinion that has always prevailed in the church has been in favor of the statement here made by Irenaeus, although Chrysostom thought it was the feast of Pentecost (see Homily on John 36.1), as did Ammonius (Fragments on John 155). Christ would therefore be present at four Passovers after his baptism—Jn 2:13; 5:1; 6:4; 13:1—which implies at least a three year ministry. It is from John that we learn of this three year ministry, not the Synoptic Gospels.

[2] Jn 11:54; 12:1.

[3] ANF 1:390-91*.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR REVELATION

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He chose the time when everybody gathered to offer his help to everyone. Therefore he went to Jerusalem at that time. He did not think it was necessary to travel around and go to every place where people were ill, so that it might not appear that he was looking for fame. Instead he healed one only and through him he revealed himself to many. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.5.1. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:98.

5:2 | A Pool with Five Porticoes

AGITATED BY CHRIST

AUGUSTINE: That pool and that water, in my opinion, signified the people of the Jews. For the Apocalypse of John clearly indicates to us that peoples are suggested by the name of waters. When many waters were shown to him and he asked what they were, he received the answer that they were peoples. [1] Therefore that water, that is, that people was shut in by the five books of Moses as by five porticoes.

But those books brought forth sick people; they did not heal. For the law convicted sinners; it did not absolve them…. What happened, then, that they, who could not be healed in the porticoes, were healed in that agitated water? For, suddenly, the water was seen to be agitated, but he by whom it was agitated was not seen. You may believe that this used to happen by an angel’s power [2] but still not without some significant symbolic meaning. After the agitation of the water, the one who was able to thrust himself in, and he alone, was healed. Whoever thrust himself in after him did so without effect.

What, then, does this mean, except that Christ came to the Jewish people, and by doing great things, by teaching useful things, he agitated sinners, agitating the water by his presence and stirring it up in preparation for his passion? But he agitated while being hidden. “For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.” [3] Therefore to descend into the agitated water is to believe humbly in the Lord’s passion. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 17.2.1-3.3. [4]

[1] See Rev 17:15; Augustine Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.11.

[2] Some manuscripts of John’s Gospel have an additional verse 4, which relates how an angel came down and stirred up the water of the pool. This verse is not found in the earliest manuscripts and papyri. Augustine’s words here do not require that he has this verse in mind but strongly suggest it.

[3] See 1 Cor 2:8.

[4] FC 79:109-11*; CCL 36:170-71.

5:3 | A Multitude of Invalids

RARE HEALINGS MAGNIFY THE MIRACLE

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: A great crowd of ill people, struck with different infirmities, had gathered here hoping to be healed as if these waters might effect something because the entrails of sheep offered as victims to God [for the temple] were washed in them. And God also supported this belief by causing the waters to move sometimes. Since they believed that the waters were moved by divine power, they obtained the grace of healing after they had come down [into the water]. It was not that many people were healed at the same time but that the one who came down first obtained the aid afforded by grace. [This happened] in order that the facility of the healing might not diminish the effect of the miracle. And so, because they waited with great attention and anticipation for the movement of the waters, once they recovered their health, they might have a better memory of their healing. Even though many lay ill there, he did not heal all of them. But, in order to show his power, he chose one affected with a very serious infirmity and who was hopeless already about his recovery. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.5.2-5. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:98-99.

THE CURE OF BAPTISM FORESHADOWED

CHRYSOSTOM: What kind of a cure is this? What mystery does it signify to us?… What is it that is shown in outline? A baptism was about to be given that possessed much power. It was the greatest of gifts, a baptism purging all sins and making people alive instead of dead. These things then are foreshown as in a picture by the pool…. And this miracle was done so that those [at the pool] who had learned over and over for such a long time how it is possible to heal the diseases of the body by water might more easily believe that water can also heal the diseases of the soul. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:126*.

5:4 | An Angel of the Lord Stirred the Waters11

THE WATER AT THE POOL AND THE WATER OF BAPTISM

CHROMATIUS OF AQUILEIA: That water [at the pool of Bethesda] was moved once a year; this water of the church’s baptism is always ready to be moved. That water was moved only in one place; this water is moved throughout the entire world. Then an angel descended; now it is the Holy Spirit. Then it was the grace of the angel; now it is the mystery of the Trinity. That water cured only once in a year; this water saves people every day. That water healed the body; this water heals both body and soul. That water healed a person’s health; this heals from sin. There, the body was only healed of its infirmities; here, body and soul are freed from sin. There, many who were weary lay sick at that water because it only cured one person a year. No one will be left lying sick here where the waters of baptism are, if they resolve to come and be healed. SERMON 14. [1]

[1] CCL 9A:62. See also Tertullian On Baptism 5 (ANF 3:671-72).

FOR THEM AN ANGEL DESCENDED, FOR YOU THE HOLY SPIRIT

AMBROSE: No one was healed before the angel had descended. Because of those who did not believe, the water was troubled as a sign that the angel had descended. They had a sign, you have faith; for them an angel descended, for you the Holy Spirit; for them the creation was troubled, for you Christ himself, the Lord of creation, worked. Then, one was healed, now all are made whole…. For that pool was as a type so that you might believe that the power of God descends upon this font. ON THE MYSTERIES 4.22-23. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 10:320*; CSEL 73:97.

THE ANGEL DECLARED THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

AMBROSE: What did the angel declare in this type but the descent of the Holy Spirit, which was to come to pass in our day and should consecrate the waters when invoked by the prayers of the priest? That angel, then, was a herald of the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as by means of the grace of the Spirit medicine was to be applied to our infirmities of soul and mind. The Spirit, then, has the same ministers as God the Father and Christ. He fills all things, possesses all things, works all and in all in the same manner as God the Father and the Son work. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 1.7.88. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 10:105; CSEL 79:52.

5:5 | Ill for Thirty-eight Years

THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE PARALYTIC

CHRYSOSTOM: The perseverance of the paralytic was astonishing. He was thirty-eight years old, and each year he hoped to be freed from his disease. He lay there waiting, never giving up. If he had not persevered as much as he did, wouldn’t his future prospects, let alone the past, have been enough to discourage him from staying around that place? Consider how alert the other sick people there would be, since no one knew for sure when the waters would be troubled. The lame and the limping could observe it, but how would a blind man? [1] Maybe he learned it from the clamor that arose. Let us be ashamed then, beloved, let us be ashamed and groan over our excessive laziness. That man had been waiting thirty-eight years without obtaining what he desired, and he still did not withdraw. And he failed, not through any carelessness of his own but through being oppressed and suffering violence from others. And still he did not give up. We… might persist in prayer for something for ten days or so, and if we have not obtained it, we are too lazy afterwards to employ the same energy [as he did]. And yet, we will wait forever on our fellow human beings, fighting and enduring hardships, performing menial labor, all for the chance of something that in the end fails to meet our expectations. But when it comes to our Master, from whom we are sure to obtain a reward greater than our labors… we exercise no such diligence in waiting on him…. For even if we receive nothing from him, isn’t the very fact that we are able to converse with him continually the cause of ten thousand blessings? HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.1-2. [2]

[1] Chrysostom seems to conflate maladies here.

[2] NPNF 1 14:126-27**.

5:6 | Do You Want to Be Healed?

JESUS’ MODESTY AND THE CITY’S CALLOUSNESS

AMPHILOCHIUS OF ICONIUM: Jesus asked, “Do you want to be made whole?” See his modesty here. He does not say, “Do you desire that I heal you,” for he did not want to make himself appear as someone great by making an announcement, as it were, of his miracles. And the [lame] man says, “I desire,” but “I do not have a man” [to help me]; for where there is no love, there is not even one person [to offer help]. And so, I also ask for this reason, [Jesus says]: not only so that you should know of my plan to make whole those who are sick, but also so that you might see the cruelty of those of the city who were well, because not only did no one give their hand to help you to the streams but they even treated you like an enemy when you asked [for help]. ORATION 9. [1]

[1] TLG 2112.10, 43-50.

JESUS’ QUESTION CONVEYS THE POWER TO HEAL

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: There is clear evidence of the great goodness of Christ in that he does not wait for entreaties from the sick but anticipates their request with his own loving kindness. See how he runs to the one who is lying down and how compassionate he is to one who was sick with no one to comfort him. But the inquiry as to whether he would like to be relieved from his infirmity was not that of one asking out of ignorance what was obvious, but of one stirring up an increased desire and diligent entreaty. The question as to whether he wanted to obtain what he longed for is huge. It has the kind of force and expression that conveys that Jesus has the power to give and is now ready to do so, only waiting for the request of the one who will receive this grace. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.5. [1]

[1] LF 43:237**.

5:7 | No One to Help

CHRIST PROVIDES A SYMPATHETIC EAR, AND MORE

CHRYSOSTOM: What can be more pitiable than these words? What more sad than these circumstances? Do you see a heart crushed through an extended illness? Do you see all the pain and violence he suffered subdued? He utters no blasphemy. He does not curse the day of his birth or get angry at the question, “Will you be healed?” … Instead, he replies gently and with great mildness, “Yes, Lord.” And yet, he did not know who it was that asked him, let alone that he would heal him. Rather, he still mildly relates all the circumstances, asking for nothing further as though he were speaking to a physician and merely wanted to tell the story of his sufferings. Perhaps he hoped that Christ might be of some use to him in putting him into the water and hoped to stir up some sympathy with his words.

Some are of the opinion that this is the same incident that Matthew records of the one who was “lying on a bed.” [1] But he is not since…. that paralytic man had many to wait upon and carry him, whereas this man had not a single one…. The places too were different: one was cured in a house, the other by the pool. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 37.1-2. [2]

[1] Mt 9:2.

[2] NPNF 1 14:128**.

5:8 | Rise, Take Up Your Bed, and Walk

“RISE” CONFERS THE CURE

AUGUSTINE: There are three distinct commands. “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” “Rise,” however, is not a command but the conferring of the cure. Two commands were given upon his cure: “take up your bed, and walk.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 17.7. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:113**.

THE COMPLETENESS OF THE CURE

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Was it not enough to say, “Rise up and go”? For was it not a miracle that the one who could not turn about on his bed could rise up easily and go? Yet to show that he had given him a full healing, he also made him carry his bed—and not like the sick who return [to health] little by little. [Our Lord said], “Take up your bed and go.” And even if he remained silent, his bed would cry out. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 13.2. [1]

[1] CB709:100.

TAKE UP YOUR BED AND GOVERN YOUR LIFE

CAESARIUS OF ARLES: What does this mean, “take up your pallet” except carry and govern your body? Conduct that which carried you. For when you were under the dominion of sin your flesh first carried you to evil, but now since grace is in control you conduct and direct your body to what is good. In the wrong and wicked order your flesh was first in control and the soul served. But now through the mercy of Christ the soul holds sway and the flesh is subject to it in servitude. “Rise, take up your pallet, and go into your house.” When you were thrown out of your house, that is, out of the land of paradise at the intervention of sin, your flesh hurled you down into the world. But now through the gift of divine mercy take up your pallet, and in every good work govern your little body and return to your house, that is, return to eternal life…. From it we were thrown into the exile of this world. Therefore, when you hear it said to the paralytic, “take up your pallet, and go into your house,” believe that it is said to you: govern your flesh in all chastity and return to paradise, as if to your own home and your original country. SERMON 171.1. [1]

[1] FC 47:422-23*.

5:9 | He Took Up His Bed and Walked

ITINERARY OF LOVE

AUGUSTINE: What significance is there, then, in the bed, I ask you? What, except that that sick man was carried on the bed, but when healed, he carries the bed? What was said by the apostle? “Bear your burdens, each for the other, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.” [1] Now the law of Christ is love, and love is not fulfilled unless we bear our burdens, each for the other. “Bearing with one another,” he says, “in love, eager to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” [2] When you were sick, your neighbor was carrying you. You have been healed; carry your neighbor. So you will fulfill, O man, what was lacking to you.

“Take up,” therefore, “your bed.” But when you have taken it up, do not stay; “walk.” In loving your neighbor, in being concerned about your neighbor, you are taking a trip. Where are you taking a trip to except to the Lord God, to him whom we ought to love with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind? For, we have not yet reached the Lord, but we have our neighbor with us. Therefore carry him with whom you are walking that you may reach him with whom you long to stay. Therefore “take up your bed, and walk.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 17.9.2-3. [3]

[1] See Gal 6:2.

[2] See Eph 4:2-3.

[3] FC 79:117-18*.