Light & Life - The Pool of Bethesda – January 28, 2024
Welcome, Introduction, and Opening Prayer
In this new year, we are exploring the life and ministry of Jesus according to the Gospel of John. This Gospel has been called the “Spiritual Gospel” and is vastly different than the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Whereas these three Gospels follow a very similar narrative, John’s Gospel diverges into a different portrayal of Jesus’ life. John is more concerned about the signs and symbols that point us to a deeper spiritual truth.
SHARE – Icebreaker –This Sunday’s story takes place at the healing pool of Bethesda. The man in Sunday’s text has been waiting by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years. Are there things in your life that you have had to wait for? Is there something that you are currently waiitng on God to do for you in your life?
STUDY - Text: John 5:1-9 (NRSV)
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.
One paralyzed man, who has suffered for 38 years, has been waiting by the poolside. Again and again, as the water is stirred, he crawls toward the edge of the pool, but he never makes it in time. Have you ever felt like the paralyzed man, always coming up short? Why or why not?
There were a number of people hoping to be cured, but there was a limit on the healings. Only the first to reach the water was healed. Why are some people healed but others are not? Why do people suffer at all?
By healing the paralyzed man without using the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, Jesus breaks open a corrupt system design to keep people down. What are some corrupt systems in place in our world today that need to be dismantled?
Jesus asks the paralyzed man, “Do you want to get well?” What are some ways that you can find healing and wholeness in your own life? How might God bring about wellness for you?
SUPPORT - Blessings and Burdens: What has been life-giving for you this week? What has been life-draining for you?
Closing Prayer