John
5:1-9
With thanks to page sponsor:
Rev. Dennis A. Walker
Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Commack, NY
a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
- Reading the Texts:
- NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
- Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
- The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
- The Blue Letter Bible
- The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary & sermons.
- Historical References, Commentary and
Comparative Texts:
- The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
- Comparative texts about Sacred Days and Seasons (inc Sabbath) from DSS, Mishnah, Babylonian Talmud, etc. At (Rutgers University Dept of Religion) Mahlon H. Smith's Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus companion to the historical study of Christian texts.
- "Sickness and Sin," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C. Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation.
- XXII.9-17; XXX.31; Tatian's Diatessaron (c. 150-160).
- II.XXII.3, II.XXIII.2, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
- Chapter XIII, Adversus Judaeos, Tertullian (c. 198)
- Chapter VIII, The Prescription of Heretics, Tertullian (c. 200)
- From Augustine's Tractates on John: Tractate XVII (5:1-18).
- From the
Geneva Notes.
- "That is to say, the house of pouring out, because a great abundance of water was poured out into that place."
- From
Matthew
Henry's Commentary.
- "We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it."
- From
Wesley's Notes.
- "Probably the basin had five sides! Bethesda signifies the house of mercy."
- From the
Commentary on the Whole Bible
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
- "Instead of saying he wished to be cured, he just tells with piteous simplicity how fruitless had been all his efforts to obtain it, and how helpless and all but hopeless he was. Yet not quite. For here he is at the pool, waiting on. It seemed of no use; nay, only tantalizing..."
- From The People's
New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
- "Observe the process: (1) Christ addresses the man; (2) he commands; (3) the man obeys. It is the obedience of faith. (4) In the act of obedience he is healed. Christ is the healer, but he is healed by the obedience of faith."
- Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
- "The Question that Hurts," Debie Thomas, Journey with Jesus, 2019
- "For me, the question stings because I know exactly what it’s like to say I want out, to say I want freedom, to say I want healing — and not quite mean it."
- Living by the Word, Aisha Brooks-Lytle, The Christian Century, 2019.
- "I wonder about the amount of time that went by as he imagined who he could count on and how his life would be different if he could just get to those healing waters."
- "Sabbath Healing," Janet H Hunt, Dancing with the Word, 2019.
- "What does sabbath healing mean to you?"
- "Addressing Poverty When the System Fails," Fritz Wendt, Political Theology, 2019
- "In our own world, the Bethesda story reminds us of the fact that social and economic systems meant to assist the needy often keep them in poverty."
- Commentary, John 5:1-9, Elisabeth Johnson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2016.
- "The man healed in this story is perhaps the least willing and the least grateful of all the people Jesus heals in John's Gospel."
- "Seeking Wholeness in an Inherently Flawed System," Raj Nadella, ON Scripture, 2016, video, discussion.
- "How do we address the problems inherent in our economic system while continuing to participate in them?"
- "Cordera's Dilemma: A Sinkhole of Debt," Robert Hoch, ON Scripture, Odyssey Networks, 2013.
- Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
-
Exegetical
Notes by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks
Christian Resources.
- "We want to "see" Jesus through the lens of our own understanding of what a savior should be like. As long as we "see" in this way, we cannot see."
-
"Courage to be Whole," (John 5:1-9) Kyle Childress, The Ekklesia
Project, 2010.
- "Well, in our story, this man has the guts to be whole."
-
"Discipleship in John: Four Profiles," Mark F. Whitters,
Word & World: Theology for Christian Ministry, Volume XVIII,
Number 4, Luther Northwestern Theological School, 1998.
- "Reviewing Jesus' encounter with four potential disciples in John's Gospel can help us understand our own discipleship -- potential and real."
- "Jesus
Heals the Man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18)," by Robert Deffinbaugh at
the Biblical Studies Foundation.
- "Allow me to raise a question which may be on your mind: ?Why doesn?t Jesus heal the others who are ailing at the pool of Bethesda? If Jesus is able (and surely He is), why doesn?t Jesus heal everyone at the pool that day??"
-
"The Eighth Day," David
B. Capes, (other resources at)
"Sabbath," Christian Reflection, 2006.
- "When they celebrated Sunday as 'the eighth day,' early Christian signaled that God's new creation had begun in the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
- "Miracles,
In Other Words: Social Science Perspectives on Healings," Jerome H. Neyrey,
University of Notre Dame, 1995.
- "...we should attend to the institution in which the healing takes place, either kinship or politics. What roles does the family have in an illness? How are they socially and economically affected? What role do they play in the seeking of a cure? What costs do they pay or debts to they incur? What if the healing occurs in the political realm, even if this is a healing shrine such as the temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus? Healings, moreover, might have important political implications, for "prophets" arose, echoing themes of liberation and freedom. The political significance of the account of the healing by the Jewish Eleazar before the emperor Vespasian and his retinue should not be discounted (Josephus. Ant. 8.45-48)."
- "The Question that Hurts," Debie Thomas, Journey with Jesus, 2019
- Recommended articles
from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are
linked below.
ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of
selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
- Bryan, Steven M.,
"Power in the Pool: The Healing of the Man at Bethesda and Jesus'
Violation of the Sabbath (Jn. 5:1-18)," Tyndale Bulletin, 2003.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Duke, Paul D.,
"John 5:1-15," Review & Expositor, 1988.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Hodges, Zane C.,
"The Angel at Bethesda -- John 5:4," Bibliotheca Sacra, 1979.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Howard, James M.,
"The Significance of Minor Characters in the Gospel of John,"
Bibliotheca Sacra, 2006. (see section beginning on page 71)
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Klinger, Jerzy,
"Bethesda and the Universality of the Logos," St Vladimir's
Theological Quarterly, 1983.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Pidcock-Lester, Karen, "Between Text and Sermon: John 5:1-9,"
Interpretation, 2005.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Ringe, Sharon H., "'Holy, as the Lord Your God Commanded You," Sabbath in the New
Testament," Interpretation, 2005. (See also
entire issue of
Interpretation devoted to Sabbath, 2005.)
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Shore, Mary Hinkle, "Poolside Healing," The
Christian Century, 2007.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Staley, Jeffrey L.,
"Stumbling in the Dark, Reaching for the Light: Reading Character in John 5
and 9," Semeia, 1991.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Thatcher, Tom,
"The Sabbath Trick: Unstable Irony in the Fourth Gospel," Journal for
the Study of the New Testament, 1999.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Thomas, John
Christopher,
"'Stop Sinning Lest Something Worse Come Upon You': The Man at the Pool in
John 5," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1995.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Whitters, Mark F.,
"Discipleship in John: Four Profiles," Word & World, 1998.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Witkamp, L. Th.,
"The Use of Traditions in John 5:1-18," Journal for the Study of the
New Testament, 1985.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Bryan, Steven M.,
"Power in the Pool: The Healing of the Man at Bethesda and Jesus'
Violation of the Sabbath (Jn. 5:1-18)," Tyndale Bulletin, 2003.
- Sermons:
- "The Beginning of the End of the Beginning," the Rev. Canon Louis C. Schueddig, 2013.
- "Down by the Poolside," the Rev. Dr. Homer Henderson, Day 1, 2004.
- With Children:
- "The Pool at Bethesda," children's study, puzzles, coloring sheet, etc. Higher Praise Christian Center.
- John 5 & 6 Word Search, Don Crownover's Bible Puzzles.
- Drama:
- "Discouragement Buster," Nina Wallestad, Dramatic License. Conditions of Use.
- Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
- Clip Art: Jesus Healing the Lame Man, Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld woodcuts, World Mission Collection, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
- Hymns and Music:
- Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
- Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
- Hymns with Scripture Allusions: John 5:3, 6. The Cyber Hymnal.
- Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
- Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
- Study Links and Resources for the Book of John
