General Statement. The Gospel of John leaves untold nearly all the events mentioned in the other gospels, and only relates those incidents which led to important results, or were accompanied by important teachings. Our record at this point passes over the transactions of several weeks, perhaps of several months, and again brings us to Jerusalem at the time of a feast. If it was the second Passover of the Saviour's ministry, as many writers suppose, we can name some of the events in the intervening time. He went to Nazareth, with the intention of opening his ministry in his early home, but was driven away by the unbelief and violence of his towns-people. He then selected Capernaum, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, as his place of labor, and for several weeks preached in the synagogue. His words awakened interest, his miracles inspired wonder, and multitudes gathered to hear and see him. The demons were cast Explanatory and Verse 5. A certain man was there. At the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. This was a basin having five porches, the water of which had an intermittent action, and was supposed to be miraculous and healing. The traditional location of the Pool of Bethesda is north of the temple-area, at the Birket Israil, where there is a large excavation three hundred and fifty by one hundred and thirty feet. Some authorities consider that the Fountain of the Virgin, south-east of the city, is the Pool of Bethesda, since it has still an intermit tent flowing, and is considered curative of disease. An infirmity. The word in the original points to some disease like paralysis, and verse 14 hints that it may have been the result of an evil life. (1) Sin affects the body as well as the soul. Thirty and eight years. Not that he had been so long at the Pool, but that he had been diseased so long. 6. Jesus saw him lie. Rev. Ver., "saw him lying." Nothing escapes the eye of the Son of God. (2) Åre you a sufferer? Jesus sees you too. Knew that he had been. As with the Samaritan woman, this man's entire history lay open to the Lord. In that case. These words are not in the original, but are supplied by the translators. He saith unto him. He selected this man as the subject of a miracle, probably because he saw in him the character that could be developed into faith. Wilt thou be made whole? He asked this question in order to arouse the impotent man from his despondency to awaken his will-power, and fit him for believing. (3) Christ saves no man against his will. 7. I have no man. "No man careth for my soul" is the cry of multitudes to-day. When the water is troubled. At irregular intervals the water ran or bubbled up, and it was believed that those who then stepped in were benefited. The statement that "an angel came down and troubled the water" is not in the true text, and forms no part of Scripture. The water may have possessed medical properties, or the cures may have been wrought by the imagination of the sufferers, just as many are wrought now. Another steppeth down. The place of the bubbling was probably so small that only one at a time could step into it. The man's hope was well-nigh exhausted, but not quite, since but for a faint hope of cure he would not have been found at the pool. (4) Almost every sinner cherishes some hope of being saved in some way. 8. Jesus saith. He needed not to ask the man whether he had faith, for he saw its possibilities in him. Rise. The man must attempt to act, and to do the impossible, in order that he might have the power to do it; but in his attempt he would be assisted by an almighty power. So in the salvation of a soul, the sinner must summon his will and cast himself on God, and believe that he is set free from the dominion of sin. Take up thy bed. His bed was a simple roll of matting or a rug laid upon the ground. In the east, it is rolled up immediately after use, and placed in some corner of the house. 9. The man was made whole. With the command of Christ came the power to obey it. (5) When the Lord lays a duty upon us he gives us strength for it. Walked. For the first time in thirty-eight years he trod the earth free from his impotence. He would never forget that day; nor will the redeemed ones forget the day when they dropped the fetters of sin. The Sabbath. This was no accident. Jesus had a purpose in the miracle, and chose his hour to accomplish that purpose, which out, the lame were made to walk, the sick became well, the lepers were cleansed, and the ministry of Jesus was growing more popular with each day. At this time Peter's wife's mother was healed, and the paralytic let down through the roof was restored. Jesus went up to Jerusalem to attend the Passover, and while there saw the crowds of sufferers at the Pool of Bethesda, waiting for the healing water to bubble up. He chose one man, who had long been helpless, restored him to health, and bade him carry away the roll of matting upon which he had been lying. He knew that this command would lead to controversy, for that day was the Jewish Sabbath, when such acts as bearing burdens were forbidden by the tradition of the elders. But it was necessary that the controversy should come, and that the Son of Man should be revealed as he was indeed, the Lord of the Sabbath. Practical Notes. was to reveal himself to the Jews as "Lord of the Sabbath." 10. The Jews. In John's gospel "the Jews" are always the enemies of Christ; though of course there were individuals of them who believed in him, and, indeed, all his apostles were Jews. But the leaders were against him, and that fact influenced the masses of the people. It is not lawful for thee. The letter of the law was on their side, but not its spirit: for it was unreasonable to require the man to leave his mat at the pool, or else stay all day and watch it. 11. He answered them. There was a boldness and force in this man's answer which showed that Jesus had chosen him wisely. His words mean, "Any man who has the power to make me whole has also the authority to bid me carry my bed." The logic of this lay in the fact that the Jews believed that a prophet, if divinely inspired, had the right to institute laws, and especially to command concerning the Sabbath. 12. What man is that? They do not say, "Who made you whole?" but, "Who commanded you to carry your bed?" ignoring the miracle, but laying stress on the Sabbath-breaking. The words might almost be translated, Who is the fellow?" etc., such is their tone of contempt. 13. Wist not. Knew not. Who it was. Jesus had not been in Jerusalem for a year past, and this man, being lame, had not gone about the city, and hence did not know him. Jesus had conveyed himself away. It was not his purpose to attract attention, and draw a crowd around himself. He chose rather to work in quiet, to let the miracle arouse questioning and inquiry among the people, for he sought to awaken thought rather than excitement. A muititude being in that place. Immediately after the miracle Jesus dropped into the crowd, and passed away unnoticed. (6) Let us do God's work without seeking honor for ourselves as the workers. 14. Afterward. Not long afterward, perhaps on that same day. Jesus findeth him. Jesus knew where he was, and knew how to find him. In the temple. It speaks well for this man that he went to the house of God, doubtless to give thanks for his restoration to health. Sin no more. Evidently, there had been some connection between this man's past course of life and his malady. (7) There are forms of vice which have a present penally on the body here as well as on the soul hereafter. A worse thing. Not merely a greater disease, but also an eternal punish ment. 15, 16. Told the Jews that it was Jesus. He had already noticed their spirit toward the miracle-worker. and hence his confession of Christ was all the more noble. Notice, he did not tell them that it was Jesus who had told him to carry his bed, but Jesus who had made him whole. Persecute Jesus. Not with legal arrest and trial, but in a petty, malicious opposition. Done these things. This was not the only instance of the kind, for there are seven recorded miracles wrought on the Sabbath. 17. My father worketh. God's work ceases not on the Sabbath day, else the universe would fall into destruction. I work. Doing as his Father was doing, works of necessity and of mercy. There is no warrant in any act of Jesus for secular work on the Sabbath. 18. Sought the more to kill him. They would carry their intolerant spirit so far as to slay him, if it were possible. Making himself equal with God. They rightly judged that he claimed a divine authority. In their view this was blasphemy; but they never HOME READINGS. M. Jesus at Bethesda. John 5. 5-18. W. An invitation to be made whole. Matt. 11. 25-30. Th. The sinner helpless. Psa. 130. 1-8. F. Jesus and the palsied man. Matt. 9. 1-8. S. Warning against sin. Heb. 10. 26-31. S. Working for the Father. Luke 13. 11-17. GOLDEN TEXT. Wilt thou be made whole? John 5. 6. LESSON HYMN. C. M. When wounded sore, the stricken soul Lies bleeding and unbound, One only hand, a pierced hand, Can heal the sinner's wound. When penitence has wept in vain One only stream, a stream of blood, 'Tis Jesus' blood that washes white, His heart that's touched with all our joys, And feeleth for our grief. Some TIME.-Jesus' second Passover, probably. weeks later than last lesson, and after the first Galilean tour. PLACE.-The Pool of Bethesda. (For Bethesda, see Descriptive Index.) RULERS.-Same as before. (See Lesson II.) CONNECTING LINKS.-One year of Christ's ministry is finished. The events of the last four lessons have been in that year. It is time for the second Passover. Jesus has passed through Galilee; has preached that he is the Messiah to his own towns-people; has been by them rejected; has moved to Capernaum; has wrought many miracles, each more wonderful than the last, and now goes to the capital to worship at the feast. DOCTRINAL SUGGESTION.-The law of the Sabbath. thought to inquire whether his claim might not, after all, be well founded. Jesus was either a divine being, or a misguided fanatic (a theory at war with all his calm life and wise words), or he was an open blasphemer, which is impossible. 3. There is a religion which keeps all outward forms and yet seeks to destroy Christ's influence in the world. Is mine of that kind? QUESTIONS FOR INTERMEDIATE SCHOLARS. 1. Helplessness, v. 5–7. Who lay at the pool of Bethesda ? What did Jesus know of his case? What question did he ask the sick man? What was the answer? 2. Healing, v. 8, 9. What command did Jesus lay upon him? On what day of the week was he healed? 3. Hatred, v. 10-18. Who rebuked the sick man? For what reason? What excuse did he make? What did the Jews seek to know? Why was the man unable to tell them? What caution did he give him? How did the Jews learn who had healed him? Teachings of the Lesson. Where in this lesson are we taught1. That there is help for the helpless? 2. That Jesus is able and willing to heal? 3. That right-doing secures the hatred of bad men? QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER SCHOLARS. Where did Jesus go one Sabbath day? To the Pool of Bethesda. Where was the Pool of Bethesda ? In Jerusalem. What did Jesus see there? A great many sick people. Why did they come to the pool? To be made well by bathing in the water. Who was there among them? A man who had been sick thirty-eight years. What did Jesus ask him? (Repeat Golden Text.) What did the man reply ? “I have no one to put me into the water." [bed, and walk." What was the reply of Jesus? Rise, take up thy What happened? The man was made well, and took up his bed, and walked. Who reproved him for carrying his bed upon the Sabbath? The Jewish rulers. Whom did he say had told him to carry his bed? The man who healed him. What warning did Jesus give him? "Sin no more, lest something worse than sickness come upon you.' What did he then tell the Jews? That Jesus had healed him. Why were the Jews angry with Jesus? Because he did good on the Sabbath day. What did Jesus tell them? "My Father does good on the Sabbath, and so shall 1.” How does God work on the Sabbath? He gives us the sunshine and the rain the same as on other days. Words with Little People. You know you have sinned, don't you, darlings? You want to be made whole, and you believe Jesus can and is willing to do it, too, don't you? Then go right now and tell him your answer to his wonderful, blessed question in the Golden Text is, "I will.” THE LESSON CATECHISM. [For the entire school.] 1. What power was possessed by the water of the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem? It healed those who bathed in it. 2. Whom did Jesus find lying by the Pool of Bethesda ? A helpless, sick man. 3. What did Jesus say to him in the Golden Text? "Wilt thou?" etc. 4. What command did Jesus give to the THOUGHTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 1. The Pool of Bethesda was a picture of the world, crowded with unfortunate, needy, miserable people; all seeking to better their condition; each eager for his own benefit, and regardless of others. 2. The impotent man was a type of the sinner, in wretchedness and helplessness, seeing only the prospect of death before him, and almost despairing of relief. v. 5-7. 3. Jesus seeks out the man in his condition of need, sees him, and awakens in him the hope of restoration. So before a sinner can be saved Christ comes to his relief. v. 5-8. 4. There is but one way of relief from the impotence of sin, and that is by believing and obeying Christ. The man must act for himself, but must act according to the will of his Saviour. v. 8. 5. In the doing of Christ's will the helpless man finds help and power. We must try to do as he bids, and leave results with God. Wonderful transformation, from impotence to strength, still more wonderful from sin to righteousness! v. 9. 6. The converted man must not be ashamed to acknowledge his new Master, by act and by word. v. 10, 11, 15. 7. The converted man should show his gratitude by worshiping in God's house. v. 14. 8. The converted man must watch, least he fall again under the power of sin, and his last state be worse than his first. v. 14. English Teacher's N THE passage of to-day tells us of and our Lord to Jerusalem, on the occasi the feasts. What this feast was is point, and however important the matte bearing upon chronology it is imma lesson pointed out to us to-day in the The thing to be noticed is that this is visit to Jerusalem which John has re that it was a distinct crisis in our Lord' On the occasion recorded in the sec of this gospel our Lord came, fulfilling eyes of the rulers and the people, a defin concerning Messiah. And yet, with th of some individual cases, they rejected this second occasion he came in a dif There was no striking public appearanc was not to be repeated until immediatel end. His visit was marked by two thi part, a miracle of mercy performed on on their part, the taking up a delibera toward him. Such a little way has Jo in the narrative of his gospel, and yet has to record this of Him who came as the Life, the Saviour, and the Healer: sought to slay him!" ... The mercy of the Lord Jesus Chri hostility of man these, then, are t brought before us in to-day's passage. 1. The mercy of the Lord Jesus. It shines upon us from the Golden Te thou be made whole?" Notice, (1.) To whom the question was p were a "great multitude" of sufferers neath the sheltering porches, charitably for those who sought the benefit of t waters. Into the question of the nature of the s of the belief of the Jews concerning I have not space to enter, and the subje doubt, be fully dealt with in other notes. But the Lord singled out one among th him he put the question. What was the man that the Lord should notice him He was helpless. He had been "a lor that case." After thirty-eight years of there was no hope left for him in any sk Nor, though he lay close to the pool, did any hope of his being able to get bene There was no man to push him into and before he could drag himself to the time that the healing property was belie diffused throughout it had passed. To is for thos fore Jesus came. His mercy help and without hope. 66 Again, the man was evidently an unw ject. His malady was the result of sin (ve there seems to have been nothing in his to draw forth the sympathy of others. circumstances attracted the mercy of the L His mercy comes to the helpless and the Here is something for the unlovely, the the unloved, to note. They are not left out of the notice and the mercy of Jesus. To them he says, "Wilt thou be made whole?" (2.) What the question involved. The sick man did not discern this. He had his answer ready to show why he lay there, so near the healing water, yet unhealed. Just so are many among ourselves, quite ready to show why they cannot be any better; they have tried, but circumstances are always against them, etc., etc. But the Lord does not want such all answer. His question relates to one thing only. It is not, "Why art thou not?" but "Wilt thou?" We all understand what such a question involves in ordinary life. "Will you dine with me?" means "I am able and willing to receive you." "Will you come with me?" means "I am able and willing to take you," etc. So, "Wilt thou be made whole?" carries with it this assurance: "I am able and willing to make you whole." The question is really an offer full of promise. Accepted, the promise becomes fact. And even to this man, so slow to take in the offer made to him, the Lord Jesus presently fulfilled it: "The man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked." It is a sad feature in this story that the man thus healed appears to have shown no gratitude,and gained no spiritual benefit, as we judge from ver. 14, 15. The Lord Jesus had indeed manifested the tenderness and depth of his mercy, but there had been no response in the man's heart, no looking up in faith to the Deliverer, and so the blessing stopped with the mere physical cure. Christ demands just this one thing of sinners: that they should answer his "Wilt thou be made whole?" with "Lord, I will.” 2. The hostility of man. It seems strange that, instead of receiving the congratulations of those who met him, the restored cripple should have been greeted by a rebuke for carrying his bed on the Sabbath. Stranger still, that when the wonderful cure was related it aroused only feelings of anger in the rulers, and that when the name of the Healer was brought to them the result was that they "sought to slay him." Upon this subject the class will probably be of one mind with the teacher. Surely if such a miracle were worked now among ourselves it would be differently received. Would it? How is it, when the Lord Jesus has come to some young man and healed his soul, so that he is a "new creature?" Is such a cure welcomed? Why are the newly converted so often teased, laughed at, persecuted? Because the world because the natural heart of man, is full of hostility to the Lord Jesus. The Healer is the Son of God, he comes in his father's name; he comes as the divine King. And the world will not acknowledge his claims, and hates to see them acknowledged. And why is this? The great reason is that the world obeys another, the "god of this world," the enemy, Satan. This is why the mercy of God is met by the hostility of man. And whoever mocks, or hinders, or tries to mar the work of Christ, is doing service to Satan, whose desire is that sin-sick souls should not be made whole. But mark what the hostility of the Jews came to. Their desire, their purpose, to slay Jesus, was in time fulfilled; and thus the design of God for the redemption of mankind and the making "whole" of sinners was carried out! And all the hostility of the great enemy shall, in the end, but accomplish the purposes of God for the glory of Christ and the good of those who trust in him. Only, let the teacher ask of his class, On which side are you? Berean Methods. Hints for the Teachers' Meeting and the Class. Give the outline of events intervening between the last lesson and this one, but do not spend much time upon them. For the outline, see General Statement.... Show or draw a map of Jerusalem, and upon it the two places supposed by different writers to represent the Pool of Bethesda. (See note on verse 5).... If the teacher can show to the class a picture of the pool, according to either identification, it will add to the interest....Show in the teaching the process of salvation, as presented in the Thoughts for Young People.... With the Analytical and Biblical Outline are given Scripture texts illustrative of the spiritual teachings of the lesson. Let some of these be read by scholars, and the application made by the teacher....Do not fail to give the caution of Christ to the healed man-" Sin no more." The young convert needs especially to be on his guard against temptation. References. bed, 649. FREEMAN. Verses 8, 9, 11, 12: The Songs from the Epworth Hymnal. 104. I'm poor and blind and wretched. 117. There is a Friend. 118. So near to the kingdom. 123. Weeping will not save me. 125. Rock of ages, cleft for me. 131. I am coming to the cross. 173. I need thee every hour. 178. My hope is built on nothing less. 194. Come, ye disconsolate. 206. Whiter than snow. Primary and Intermediate. LESSON THOUGHT. Jesus Makes Whole. To be taught: 1.) That our souls and bodies are broken by sin; 2.) That Jesus can make them whole again; 3.) That our part in the work is just believing Jesus. 1. Tell first part of the story. Get a clear idea of the ancient pools and porches, or you cannot give it to the children. A few simple marks on the board will help the children to imagine the sick people, the blind, the lame, all lying, waiting to be cured when the waters should be troubled. Teach that these poor sick bodies were all broken by disease. Perhaps they had tried to get doctors to mend them. but they were not helped. Then they had heard about the wonderful waters which could mend broken bodies, and they came here. T-11 that not only bodies, but souls, are broken by sin. We do not know how it is, but we know that God made us to walk straight [make a straight line on the board] and something turns us aside so that we walk like this, [making a crooked line]. That something is SIN, a will which chooses self, and not God. 2. Show a broken branch or flower-stalk. Can any one mend this? Teach that what God has made, God only can mend. Ask to whom I must take my watch to be mended, when broken? Not to the carpenter or to the blacksmith, but to the watch-maker. God made our souls and bodies, and when they are broken he can mend them. Sometimes men who have studied much about the body can help God to mend it, and we call such men doctors; but it is God who does the mending after all. Talk about the poor man who had been thirty-eight years broken. He did not know that One was standing by who had power to make him whole! 3. Had the man any thing to do in this great work of getting mended? Yes, he had just to hear what Jesus said, and mind him! Tell the rest of the story, and teach that Jesus has the same power now that he had then. When our bodies are sick, we must ask Jesus to cure them. When our souls are sick, we must ask Jesus to cure them. Then our part is to believe Jesus, and do what he tells us to do. Tell some of the signs of sickness in the soul, ill-temper, selfishness, etc., and show the hand, once nailed to the cross, now stretched out to help and to heal. Who will take hold of that hand now? Lesson Word-Pictures. Sabbath in Jerusalem! Still, hallowed hours everywhere. The people have forsaken their daily pursuits. Bethesda, though, is not forsaken. In the pool's five porches, what a collection of the "blind," the "halt," the "withered," those afflicted with any kind of disease, all waiting for some mysterious troubling of the glassy pool. Jesus walks among them. His eye rests on a poor fellow burdened with an infirmity thirty-eight years long. The man perhaps is watching the water. When the mysterious "troubling" of the water begins, if he can only get down into it, then he fancies there is hope, and just now the water may be disturbed! Some one may be raising the cry, "The water is troubled !" Yes, there it is, the strange bubbling and heaving of the water! The crowd bursts into excitable outcries. Now, what a scramble for the pool! In his eagerness some poor old paralytic has actually rolled off his bed! A blind man has started on the run, feeling his way with extended hands. And that cripple, if he hasn't thrown away his crutches, and dropped on his hands and knees! This man with the long infirmity, he groans, but cannot rise! If a friend would only lift him! He would be glad to have somebody throw him into Bethesda's pool. Hold! There is a voice speaking to him. He raises his tired, anxious, helpless eyes, and somebody with tender, sympathetic face is looking down and saying, "Wilt thou be made whole?" Willing to be made whole? It is the thing above all others desired, but who will put him into the pool? Why does Jesus thrill the man with that strange, searching look, and those thrilling, imperative tones? Does he mean it, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk?" Impossible! But, no, for there is a new, strange power tingling all through his body, arousing his will, moving his muscles, and the man gets up and walks! He even lifts his bed and goes off with it! A multitude have gathered in the meantime, a multitude looking on with wondering eyes, a multitude whose tongues are loosed in an excitable wonder at the sight, while Jesus quietly withdraws amid the tumult. "Ho, ho!" somebody is saying. "Stop there, you man with your bed on your back! Don't you know you are breaking the holy Sabbath day, lugging off your bed? What business have you to be healed on the holy Sabbath day?" He stops. Poor fellow, just out of thirty-eight years of bondage, must he go back into it because the wrong day was selected for his cure? The crowd press about him and watch for his answer. What will he say? "He that made me whole, the same said unto me, 'Take up thy bed, and walk."" Where is that mischief-maker, that Sabbath-breaker, then? People turn and look for him. There is the pool, here is the man, and not beneath him, but on his back, is a bed. The wicked Sabbath-breaker is gone! There he is!"> the man afterward says to himself, for he has found in the temple the miracle-worker, who now bids him "Sin no more!" "It is Jesus," cries the man, and he goes away to scatter the news. "Kill him, kill him!" that is the return they propose to make to the man who dares to heal on the holy Sabbath day. A. D. 29.] ULL ND FREE FULL CAND CHRIST'S TABLE LESSON IX. JESUS FEEDING FIVE THOUSAND. [Commit to memory verses 9-11.] 1 After these things Je'sus went over the sea of Gal'i-lee, which is the sea of Ti-be'ri-as. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Je'sus went up into a mountTwain, and there he sat with his disciples. [May 30. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Je'sus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Phil'ip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 (And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.) 7 Phil'ip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, An'drew, Si'mon Peter's brother, saith unto him, |