January 7th Lesson Plan: John 5:1-15

Written by Jon Soden

John 5

Take some time to read about the man and the healing pool in John 5:1-15.

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Reading the Bible in the 21st Century can feel hard to relate to because of how outdated it may seem. The culture was obviously very different 2000+ years ago, and many aspects of their lives then seem unusual. For example, take the healing pools mentioned in John 5, where “a great number of people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed--and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had” John 5:3-4. At first glance, this idea of a healing pool may seem odd; they are not a part of culture anymore today, especially in Western society. However, as we will soon talk about, today’s society relies just as much on their own versions of these “healing pools.”

Before diving into modern day healing pools (no pun intended), let’s mention a couple main takeaways from Jesus’ encounter with this man at the pool.

Jesus did not come to heal the healthy, but the sick. Throughout his ministry, Jesus repeatedly says (and more oftentimes shows) that he came to earth to help those that are broken, sick, outcasts, and every other unwanted title you can experience. In Luke 5:31, Jesus states that “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” In Matthew 18:12 He states, “If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wondered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.” 

While Jesus would perform miracles to heal people physically, his ultimate goal was to heal them eternally through salvation. Jesus tells the man from the pool in verse 14, “you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” In another story, where Jesus saves a woman about to be stoned to death due to committing adultery, Jesus tells her afterwards, “Go now and leave your life of sin” John 8:11. In both of these stories, Jesus steps in to help these people physically, but the ultimate goal is to use this healing to change their heart. This change of heart can be seen in the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector and despised because he worked for the Romans and oftentimes would financially take advantage of his fellow Jewish people. However, Jesus goes to his house one day and causes Zacchaeus to have a complete change of heart. “All of the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost’” Luke 19:7-9.  Notice that the crowd jeered at Jesus for spending time with Zacchaeus. These were Pharisees, who were the ultimate standard of religion at the time. But Jesus states that salvation has come to this man, not because of any religious background or ceremony, but because of the new posture of his heart.

As mentioned before, healing pools may not physically exist today, but what they represent is still very prevalent in society. The pools represent a reliance and hope through something other than God. You might not be physically paralyzed, but we all have our issues and challenges that make us feel stuck in place. What do you rely on to fix your problems? It might be money. It might be something more subtle such as built up worry and anxiety instead of trusting in God. The less we trust in God, the more we will spiral in our own shortcomings. 

When I read this chapter I cannot help but think about the other people at the healing pool—the ones that were not healed by Jesus. Surely there was someone else there that had also been waiting for years trying to be healed. What did they think when they saw Jesus heal this man, but not heal them? Were they angry at Jesus? How would I feel if I was waiting for healing as this miraculous man Jesus seemed to just pass me by? A lot of people face similar questions today. Why was this person healed from cancer while my family member was not? Why did that guy get the promotion over me when I worked harder than him? The reality is that we cannot know the answers to many of these questions right now. But what we do know is that this world has been contaminated by sin, leading to things such as sickness and inequality that was never part of God’s initial plan for us. Our time here on earth is short, and while God cares about our well-being now, He is much more concerned about our eternity. 

We all have challenges that we are facing—some are physical, some financial, some emotional, or all of the above. Some started yesterday and some have been persisting for years. Of course we should always use the resources God has given us to help our problems, such as medicine, money, etc. What this story at the healing pool shows is that we need to be careful not to place these remedies above God, and in a sense, idolize them. Instead, it’s about trusting that God is in control. And if God seems to not “pick you” to solve your problem, have patience, trust, and resilience. We will all face troubles here on earth (John 16:33), but we must continue to run the race (Hebrews 12:1) and carry our own cross (Luke 9:23). Always remember that God assures us in Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.”

Discussion Questions:

The man in this story went 38 years relying on a pool to heal him. What things to we place our trust in in our lives instead of God?

How would you feel if you were next to the man in the pool and saw Jesus heal him, but not you?

Think back to a time you faced a challenge in your life, but you overcame it. Are there aspects of that trial that you are grateful for? 

Jesus faced many trials here on Earth; how did He handle them and what can we learn from His example?

Some Additional Info:

Verse 4:  Depending on the version of the Bible you are reading, John 5:4 may be missing. In fact, most modern translations omit verse 4 and part of verse 3 because the Greek manuscripts do not contain it and skip directly from 5:3 to 5:5. Verse 4 is first found in medieval translations. Scholars attribute this verse being added as a note for why sick people would gather at the Pool of Bethesda. Just like us, people did not understand the culture of the time and needed an explanation. For that reason, if you have a King James Version Bible, 5:4 is probably included, but if you have NIV or ESV, it is either omitted or placed as a footnote. Discrepancies are a favorite for people to attack—oftentimes a quick Google search or Chat GPT can provide simple and sensible explanations.

Pool of Bethesda: Excavation in the late 1800s confirmed the site of the Pool of Bethesda. A large number of pools found near St. Anne’s Church in Jerusalem match John’s description of a pool with five “colonnades” described in John 5:2. The pool was also found just north of the Temple Mount, confirming it is near the ancient Sheep Gate area mentioned in 5:2.