POOL OF BETHESDA

READ IT AGAIN
By Professor E.M.Blaiklock M.A., D.Litt

XXIX.
POOL OF BETHESDA.
John 5

1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Is the competitive miracle of the pool of Bethesda true to the spirit of the Bible? No. God's grace is a matter of faith, not of competition. The presence of such an anomaly in the text of Scripture would puzzle and confuse were it not for one fact. Some of the most ancient and important manuscripts do not include John 5:4. It is v.4 which is the stumbling block. The fact that the pool was considered a place of healing is of no sig-nificance, although it is noteworthy that the Lord uttered no word of confirmation. Mind is strangely potent over matter, and healing may well have taken place there. It may even be true that at times gaseous exhalations from the pool made the waters more potent, or stimulated faith more effectively.
It is the angel with his periodic visit, the apparent scramble for a gift of God, which constitutes the difficulty. Strong textual objection to v. 4, supported by the exegetical difficulty, make a very strong case for the exclusion of the passage. It is of the exact nature of a "gloss." A copyist writes a traditional explanation in the margin of his manuscript, and someone else, copying from him, includes the explanation mistakenly in the text. It is to be noted that the Lord did not use the pool to heal the paralytic, but gave the grace of His Divine help as grace is always given—that is, in response to an act of faith.