Faith at the Pool After Thirty-Eight Years

BibleVibe EditorialMay 31, 20262026년 8월 2일 업데이트읽기 5분

번역본：ESV

요한복음 5:1-20

After these things there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a multitude of them that were sick, blind, halt, withered, for an angel of the Lord went down at certain times into the pool and stirred up the water, and whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. And a certain man was there, who had been thirty and eight years in his infirmity. When Jesus saw him lying, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wouldest thou be made whole? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And straightway the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked. Now it was the sabbath on that day. So the Jews said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed. But he answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. They asked him, Who is the man that said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? But he that was healed knew not who it was; for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in the place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee. The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole. And for this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work. For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show him, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, even so the Son also giveth life to whom he will. For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son; that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself: and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. It is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye have sent unto John, and he hath borne witness unto the truth. But the witness which I receive is not from man: howbeit I say these things, that ye may be saved. He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light. But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father that sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not. Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me; and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life. I receive not glory from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not? Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote o

John 5:1–20 records the healing of a man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years. Jesus' question, 'Do you want to be healed?' exposes the deeper need: not merely physical restoration, but trust in the Son who speaks with the Father's authority. The man's response reveals helplessness; his obedience reveals faith.

📖 요한복음

🕰️ Second Temple Period 📍 Jerusalem (Pool of Bethesda)

Narration

배경

The events of John 5 occur during one of the Jewish pilgrimage festivals (likely a feast in Jerusalem, possibly Shavuot/Pentecost or another of the three required feasts listed in the TSK cross-references from Exodus 23, Exodus 34, Leviticus 23, and Deuteronomy 16). Pilgrims filled the city, and at the Sheep Gate near the temple mount, the pool of Bethesda with its five porticoes served as a kind of ancient public clinic. The famous reference in the pool's margin—about an angel troubling the waters—reflects a popular first-century Jewish belief, attested also by the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who mentions that such pools were associated with healing superstition in the Second Temple period (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 18.2.2; and his remarks in Wars of the Jews on pools and healing traditions). Jesus enters this crowded, hope-laden, superstition-saturated place and does something the waters themselves could never do: He speaks a word, and the man rises. The setting is deliberate—Jerusalem, near the temple, on a Sabbath—because the dispute that follows is not about healing but about identity. Jesus claims His work is the Father's ongoing work, an authority that breaks every human category of rest and ritual.

시대와 장소

Set in the First Temple period within the Davidic heart of Jerusalem, where faithful trust in God's covenant was tested and refined.

의미

The faith this passage teaches is not the faith that competes. For thirty-eight years the man had been engaged in a desperate race he could never win—'while I am coming, another steps down before me.' His religion had been defined by what he lacked: no man, no strength, no timing. Into that emptiness, Jesus speaks a creative word: 'Rise, take up your bed, and walk.' Notice the order. Before the man has any evidence that he is healed, Jesus commands him to act as if he already is. This is the grammar of faith and trust. Faith is not the certainty that the water will ripple; it is the willingness to stand on the word of Christ before the body confirms it. The man's obedience—rising, picking up the bed, walking—becomes the outward evidence of an inward trust. Then comes the harder lesson in the temple: 'Sin no more, lest a worse thing befall you.' Healing is not the deepest mercy; restoration of soul is. And finally, Jesus reveals the foundation of it all: 'My Father is always working, and I too am working.' The pool was a superstition. The Sabbath was a symbol. Jesus is the substance. Faith and trust, then, are not optimism about water or ritual—they are confidence that the Son shares the Father's ongoing, life-giving work, and that His word is sufficient to make whole.

적용

First, bring your 'thirty-eight years' honestly to Jesus. The man did not pretend to be strong; he confessed, 'I have no man.' Faith and trust begin where self-reliance ends. Naming our helplessness is not weakness—it is the doorway the Savior stands at. Second, respond to Christ's word before your circumstances change. When Jesus says 'Rise,' the act of standing is itself faith. You may not feel whole yet; you obey because the One who spoke is faithful. Third, treat the healing of soul as more urgent than the healing of circumstances. Jesus' warning 'sin no more' shows that what crushes us most is not our affliction but our alienation. Seek first the deeper restoration, and the lesser things will fall into place. Fourth, remember that faith rests in a Person, not a pool. Our hope is not in stirred water, lucky timing, or self-effort. Our hope is in the Son who works because the Father works. Whatever you have been racing toward, stop racing and look up: He is already there, already asking, already speaking.

되새김

I wonder, sometimes, how many of us have lain beside our own Bethesda, exhausted by the race we can never win. We have tried to outpace others, outpace our past, outpace our sin. And still we do not move. The man at the pool had given up on the water but had not given up on hope—otherwise he would not have stayed. Perhaps that is the soil in which faith grows: not optimism, but a stubborn refusal to despair entirely. And then Jesus arrives. He does not ask the man to believe in the pool's schedule, or in his own ability, or in religious effort. He asks, 'Do you want to be made whole?'—a question that cuts through every excuse. The man wanted it. That wanting, exposed to the word of Christ, became the seed of faith. Trust, then, is not muscular. It is the trembling 'yes' that lets the Creator step into the place where human effort has failed. The same Jesus finds him later in the temple—not the pool, but the temple—and warns him of a worse fate than paralysis. We too are being sought in the temple, in the place of worship, not in the place of superstition. He is saying: I have made you whole; now walk with Me in holiness, because I love you too much to leave you with only an easy healing. The Father is always working. The Son is always working. And so, beloved, today, you can trust the One who never stops.

자주 묻는 질문

Why did Jesus ask, 'Do you want to be made whole?' Isn't the answer obvious?

For a man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years, 'wanting to be healed' had become a weary, habitual hope. Jesus' question awakens genuine desire and confronts helplessness—the very soil in which faith and trust take root.

How is faith demonstrated in this passage?

Faith is shown in obedience: before any evidence of healing, the man rises, takes up his bed, and walks in response to Christ's word. Trust is standing on His command before the body confirms it.

Why does Jesus warn him, 'Sin no more, lest something worse befall you'?

Physical healing is a temporary mercy; the restoration of the soul is the deeper blessing. Jesus warns that sin's end is worse than thirty-eight years of illness. True faith and trust respond to God's deeper love.

What does 'My Father is always working, and I too am working' mean?

Jesus declares He shares the Father's ongoing work of sustaining life and saving. The Sabbath is not the cessation of good works but an entrance into the rest the Son provides. Faith and trust rest on His never-ending work.

Faith at the Pool After Thirty-Eight Years

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