Page 51 - The Gospel of John - Student textbook

Legalism is the establishment of standards carefully selected by people for

the purpose of celebrating human achievement under the guise of pleasing

God.

Why is legalism wrong?
Legalism denies God’s grace and presumes to earn His favor through deeds. It is a man – made righteousness
that exalts humanity rather than the Lord. Legalism produces either pride or depression in the people under its
spell – pride for those who keep the list to their own satisfaction, depression for those who recognize their utter
inability to keep the list perfectly. Criticism is the primary motivation. The goal of legalism is to give as much
criticism as possible and to avoid receiving it at all cost. Legalism is wrong because it produces in people what
the Lord desires least: pride, self-loathing, hypocrisy, and self – righteousness.

Legalism denies God’s grace and

presumes to earn His favor
through deeds.

The Miracle Preformed
John 5:1 After this, a Jewish festival took place,
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. By the Sheep
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Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called
Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five
colonnades. Within these lay a multitude of
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the sick—blind, lame, and paralyzed [—
waiting for the moving of the water, because
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an angel would go down into the pool from
time to time and stir up the water. Then the
first one who got in after the water was stirred
up recovered from whatever ailment he had].
5 One man was there who had been sick for 38
The Pool of Bethesda near the Temple
years. When Jesus saw him lying there and
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knew he had already been there a long time,
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He said to him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the sick man answered, “I don’t have a man to put me into
the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.” “Get up,”
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Jesus told him, “pick up your bedroll and walk!” Instantly the man got well, picked up his bedroll, and started
to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath,

The Master Persecuted
John 5:10 so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It’s illegal for you to pick up
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your bedroll.” He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your bedroll and walk.” “Who is
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this man who told you, ‘Pick up [your bedroll] and walk?” they asked. But the man who was cured did not
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know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. After this, Jesus found him
in the temple complex and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse
doesn’t happen to you.” The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
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16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.

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