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John 5:1-15

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1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.

3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

[4]

5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

7“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

10and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

11But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

12So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

13The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

15The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

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1)      According to verse 1 where did Jesus go for one of the Jewish festivals some time later?

o  Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

 

2)      According to verse 2 what is the name of the pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem that was surrounded by five covered colonnades?

o  It was called Bethesda in Aramaic.

 

3)      What language did Jesus speak?

o  Jesus spoke Aramaic.

 

4)      According to verse 3 who used to congregate at the pool?

o  A great number of disabled people used to lie there—

§ The blind.

§ The lame.

§ The paralyzed.

 

5)      According to verse 5 who specifically was at the pool?

o  An invalid for thirty-eight years was there.

 

6)      According to what Jesus said in verse 6 what did he ask the invalid when he saw him lying there and learned that he had been in that condition for a long time?

o  Jesus asked him.

o  If

o  He wanted to get well.

 

7)      According to verse 7 what was the invalid’s reply to Jesus’ question?

o  He said that he had no one to help him into the pool.

o  When

o  The water was stirred.

o  And someone else would go down ahead of him.

o  While

o  He was trying to get in.

 

8)      In accordance with verse 7 what can we deduce concerning the common belief at that time about what would happen to an invalid if the invalid went into the pool ahead of others when the water was stirred?

o  The invalid would be healed.

 

9)      What did the invalid think was the healing Jesus referred to in his question?

o  He thought Jesus was referring to the healing in that common belief.

 

10)   Had any invalid ever been healed by going into the pool ahead of others when the water was stirred?

o  No.

 

11)   Had the invalid seen any invalid getting healed by going into the pool ahead of others when the water was stirred?

o  No.

 

12)   What do we call that common belief?

o  It is a myth.

 

13)   How much did the invalid desire to get well based on his reply to Jesus’ question that he put in the context of the myth?

o  Not much at all.

o  Because otherwise

o  He would have simply responded with a resounding ‘Yes!’

 

14)   What might be the reason the invalid did not have much desire to get well?

o  He had been in that condition for thirty-eight years.

o  Any desire to get well had faded away from him.

o  Besides getting well would actually present him with difficulties in making a living apart from begging.

o  Because 

o  He was well into mid-age.

 

15)   What did the invalid’s reply to Jesus’ question inform us of his knowledge about Jesus’ power to heal?

o  He did t not know anything about it.

 

16)   According to what Jesus said in verse 8 what did he tell the invalid to do?

o  Jesus told him to

§ Get up.

§ Pick up his mat.

§ And walk.

 

17)   According to verses 8 and 9 how was the invalid able to walk?

o  The invalid was cured at once upon Jesus’ utterance.

o  Then he was able to

§ Pick up his mat.

§ And walk.

 

18)   What is the current count of the number of signs Jesus had performed in the current gospel account?

o  This is the third sign.

 

19)   In accordance with verses 8 and 9 was the invalid healed because of his faith in Jesus and why?

o  No, because he did not make an attempt by faith to

§ Get up.

§ And walk.

o  And then Jesus healed him in response to his faith.

o  Rather Jesus healed him first.

o  And then he was able to

§ Get up.

§ And walk.

 

20)   Why did Jesus heal the invalid without his having expressed his faith in him, given John 2:25?

o  Jesus knew that the invalid did not have faith in him for healing.

o  He healed him anyway in order to plumb the depths of his unbelief.

o  As

o  We shall see.

 

·  The facilitator asks a specific participant to read out loud John 2:25 that says,

+++++++++++++++++++++

25He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

+++++++++++++++++++++

 

21)   According to verse 9 what day was it when Jesus healed the invalid?

o  It was a Sabbath.

 

22)   According to verse 10 why did the Jewish leaders say to the invalid that the law forbade him to carry his mat?

o  Because it was the Sabbath.

 

23)   Why were the Jewish leaders not awe-struck by the fact that a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years had just been healed?

o  They were more upset than they were awe-struck.

o  Because

o  The healing was to them a violation of the Sabbath.

 

24)   Did the Jewish leaders not know that God is behind such a healing miracle, given John 3:1-2?

o  They did.

 

·  The facilitator asks a specific participant to read out loud John 3:1-2 that says,

+++++++++++++++++++++

1Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.

2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

+++++++++++++++++++++

 

25)   Why were the Jewish leaders upset about something that God is ultimately responsible for but that was  to them a violation of the Sabbath?

o  It is because they loved their religion more than the God in their religion.

 

26)   According to verse 11 what did the former invalid say to the Jewish leaders in reply?

o  He replied that the man who made him well told him to

§ Pick up his mat.

§ And walk.

 

27)   According to verse 12 what did the Jewish leaders ask the former invalid?

o  They asked him who told him to

§ Pick up his mat.

§ And walk.

 

28)   According to verse 13 why did the former invalid have no idea who it was?

o  It is because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

 

29)   In accordance with what Jesus said in verse 14 was the former invalid born into that condition and why?

o  No, because Jesus said that the former invalid was well again, implying that he had once been well before becoming an invalid.

 

30)   What age group was the former invalid in?

o  He was well into mid-age.

 

31)   According to what Jesus said in verse 14 what was his advice for the former invalid?

o  Jesus told him to stop sinning.

o  Or something worse might happen to him.

 

32)   Did Jesus tell the former invalid to stop sinning altogether when he told him to stop sinning and why?

o  No, because no one can stop sinning altogether.

o  Jesus was simply telling the former invalid to

§ Repent of his sins.

§ Turn from his sins.

§ And ask God for forgiveness.

o  When he sinned.

 

33)   What can we deduce from Jesus’ advice for the former invalid about the cause of his disability?

o  The cause of the former invalid’s disability had to do with his sins.

 

34)   What did Jesus mean by something worse?

o  Something worse than being unable to walk.

 

35)   According to verse 15 what did the former invalid do after hearing from Jesus?

o  He

§ Went away.

§ And told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

 

36)   In accordance with verse 15 did the former invalid heed Jesus’ advice for him to stop sinning and why?

o  No, because he informed the Jewish leaders on Jesus, knowing that they would persecute Jesus for breaking the Sabbath in healing him.

 

37)   Why was the former invalid upset by what Jesus told him and why did he inform the Jewish leaders on Jesus?

o  It is because he

§ Did not have a repentant spirit.

§ And was not willing to turn away from his sins.

o  It could also be because he was upset with Jesus for taking away his livelihood in begging.

 

38)   What kind of a sign did the former invalid experience in light of the magnitude of what happened in his life?

o  It was a life-changing sign.

 

39)   What was the status of the former invalid’s belief in Jesus after he had personally experienced a life-changing sign?

o  He refused to believe in Jesus.

o  Even though

o  He had personally experienced a life-changing sign.

 

40)   What is the contrast in terms of belief in Jesus between the former invalid and the royal official in chapter 4 who both personally experienced a life-changing sign?

o  Upon personally experiencing a life-changing sign

§ The royal official in chapter 4 believed in Jesus.

§ But the former invalid refused to believe in Jesus.

 

41)   What can we expect to happen to the former invalid later?

o  Something worse than being unable to walk happened to him.

 

42)   Who was more obstinate against Jesus in attitude, the former invalid or the Jewish leaders and why?

o  The former invalid was more obstinate against Jesus in attitude.

o  Because

o  Unlike him the Jewish leaders had not personally experienced any life-changing sign.

o  Furthermore he did not need to inform the Jewish leaders on Jesus.

o  But he did it anyway.

 

43)   Who would be held more accountable for their unbelief, the former invalid or the Jewish leaders?

o  The former invalid would be held more accountable for his unbelief.

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John 5:1-15

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