A multitude of sick people lay in the porches. This signifies that under the law-keeping shelter, in religion’s fold, there are many people who are blind, unable to see; lame, unable to walk; and withered, being short of life. They have no joy or peace, only suffering. The impotent man had no joy, even on the joyful day of the feast (5:1), and he had no rest, even on the Sabbath day (5:9). The sick people were helpless and hopeless, dead in the eyes of the Lord.
There was the means of healing in the law-keeping religion, but it did not profit the impotent man, because he had no strength to fulfill its requirements. Religion’s law-keeping depends upon man’s effort, man’s doing, and man’s make-up. Since man is impotent, religion’s law-keeping becomes inadequate. The holy city, the holy temple, the holy feast, the holy Sabbath, the angels, Moses, and the Holy Scriptures—all of these were the good things of that religion, but they could do nothing for this impotent man. In the eyes of the Lord, he was a dead person, in need not only of healing, but also of enlivening. With the Lord’s enlivening there is no requirement. As we shall see, the impotent man heard His voice and was enlivened. The significance of this sign is that when the practice of law-keeping in the Jewish religion became an impossibility due to the impotence of man, the Son of God came to enliven the dead. The law could not give life, but the Son of God gives life to the dead (5:21). “While we were yet weak” (Rom. 5:6), He came to enliven us.
We have seen that this case on the negative side exposes the inadequacy and vanity of the law-keeping religion. That religion had so many good things—the holy city, the holy temple, the angels, the Holy Scriptures, the holy feasts, the holy Sabbath, and the pool, but none of these good things could help the dead people. The holy city could not help the impotent man; neither could the holy temple, the Holy Scriptures, nor the holy days. Although it was a feast day, he had no joy, and although it was the Sabbath day, he had no rest. Nothing could help him. He was a hopeless and helpless case. Suddenly, a little man came into this situation. It was not an archangel, but a little man named Jesus. He had no beauty or attraction, and no one paid attention to Him. He came directly to the sick man. Just as the Father in eternity past foresaw the Samaritan woman and the Son went to find her at Jacob’s well, so the Father also foresaw the impotent man, and the Son came to him while he was lying at the pool. He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” That meant, “Would you like to be healed?” The impotent man knew nothing beyond the pool, the water, and the angel who stirred the water. He also knew that he had no hope or ability in himself. So he explained the situation to the Lord Jesus. Then the Lord Jesus said, “Rise, pick up your bed, and walk.” The impotent man heard the enlivening word of the living, life-giving Lord and was healed. We may think that he rose up and walked before he was healed. But this is not true. He was healed before he rose up, took his bed, and walked. Note the sequence in verse 9. “And immediately the man became well, and picked up his bed and walked.” “And immediately the man became well” precedes “picked up his bed and walked.” He was cured before he rose up. He was cured when he heard the voice of the living Son of God. It was his hearing of the living word of the Lord that quickened him. Formerly the bed carried the impotent man, but now the enlivened man carried the bed.
If I had been the impotent man, I probably would have said, “Sir, I can’t make it. I have been relying upon this bed for thirty-eight years. The bed has been carrying me all this time. How can you tell me to pick it up? I can’t do what you say.” We should never argue with the Lord’s word. We should simply say, “Amen,” to whatever He says and do it accordingly. Do not argue or reason. If you reason, you will lose His blessing. How good it was that the impotent man not only rose up, but also picked up his bed and walked. He was not only healed; he was enlivened. According to verses 24 and 25, this is for him as a dead man to pass out of death into life and live. In the principle set forth in chapter two, this is the changing of death into life.
We do not need religion’s pool with its water and we do not need the angel. Compared with Jesus, religion’s pool and angel are poor indeed. When we have Jesus, we do not need anything else. What is the use of the holy city, the holy temple, and the holy angel? Neither the feasts nor the Sabbaths mean anything to us. They do not do us any good. It is Jesus who enlivens. We all have to see this. This is life’s enlivening. This is the central point of this case on the positive side.