Jesus Heals An Impotent Man

Free online resources based on Jesus healing an impotent man by the pool named Bethesda. This miracle can be found in the Gospel of John. See below for links to sermons, stories and entertaining sites for this important story.

When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, Do you want to become well? [Are you really in earnest about getting well?] — John 5:6 <AMP>

Jesus Heals An Impotent Man Miracle – Summary

Jesus approached a man that had been impotent for 38 years. He was lying near a pool in Jerusalem where there was a legend that an angel would stir the water, and when this happened, the first person that entered the pool would be healed.

Even if there was any truth to the rumor of the water’s miraculous properties, the man was unable to move himself into the pool before someone else would beat him into the water. So for almost four decades, he lay near the pool, bitter at his life and his situation.

When Jesus arrived, he noticed the man. Well aware of his plight, he asked him an odd question, “Wilt thou be made whole?”

The man explained his predicament, that he had no man to help him enter the water. His focus was on the natural, not the supernatural healer standing in front of him.

Jesus did not even sympathize with the situation. Instead, he commanded the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat, and walk!”

Without saying another word, that is exactly what the man did. He got up, picked up his mat, and headed home.

Those words Jesus spoke to the man were Spirit, Light, and Truth. The man knew he was unable to walk. But Jesus spoke to the man on the inside, who recognized a higher reality. What God says is Truth. When the impotent man received Jesus’ words, believed them, and acted on them, he walked!

Jesus knew the desire of the man was not just to make it into the pool. He needed to be whole. God had a much higher purpose in mind for this man. Languishing poolside prevented him from accomplishing God’s perfect will for his life.

On the way home, a religious leader condemned him for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. The healed man informed him that the man that made him whole told him to pick up his mat. The religious leader demanded to know who would say such a thing, because apparently, it was the wrong day to heal folks. The man did not know, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.

Imagine after 38 years of suffering you are set free. Think of the joy of experiencing God’s supernatural power flowing through you. But like the Parable of the Sower reveals, Satan comes immediately to steal the Word. This time in the form of religious persecution.

Later, the healed man saw Jesus again. Jesus told him, “See you are whole. Stay away from sin or something worse may happen.”

There is a connection between sin – disobedience, strife, fear, or violating the law of Love, and all demonic attacks. Walking in fellowship with the Lord, and obeying the Law of Love, keeps you under God’s Covenant protection. Like the blood placed on the doorposts by the children of Israel in Egypt, the Precious Blood of Jesus, by faith, forms a protective shield, and cleanses you from all unrighteousness. (Exodus 12:12-13, Ephesians 2:11-13, Hebrews 9:11-12, 10:19-23, 1 Peter 1:18-25, 1 John 1:5-10, Revelation 12:11) And by the beaten and bloodied body of Jesus, the Word made flesh, you were healed and made whole! (Exodus 15:26, Psalm 23, 91:1-16, 103:1-5, 107:20, Isaiah 53, John 1:14, Acts 10:37-38, 1 Peter 2:24-25)

The man returned to the religious leader to report that it was Jesus that had healed him. The religious folks immediately began persecuting Jesus for violating their interpretation of Sabbath laws, and for making himself equal to God.

Jesus responded, “My Father is still working, and I am also working.”

Those words are very reassuring. If anyone, religious or not, attempts to rob you of God’s Blessing and promises, remember these words of Jesus in John 5. God loves you and sent Jesus to set you free.

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. — John 5:19-21 <NIV>

Read the story in five popular translations – AMP, KJV, HCSB, NIV, The Message:

Jesus Heals Impotent Man Miracle – John 5:1-23

Additional Resources

The Pool At Bethesda – Coloring and activity pages

Wilt Thou Be Made Whole – A brief commentary from Life Healing Ministries

Wilt Thou Be Made Whole – My blog commentary

Search for Other Christian Web Sites.

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