John 5:1-13

The lame man healed at the pool -- John 5:1-13: We read, 'After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches." (John 5:1-2) A multitude of hurting people was gathered around this pool. Many sick, blind, lame, and crippled people were lying close to the pool. We are told that at times an angel would "trouble" or stir up the waters. The first person who entered the pool when the waters were stirred up would be healed of their infirmaries. The lame man and many others were there desiring to be healed. The lame man had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for such a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to be healed?" What about those of us who might be lost in sins? Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Do we want to be made spiritually whole? The man wanted to be made whole but he had no one to help him into the water. Jesus told the man to "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." Right then the man was healed. He picked up his bed and started walking around. This all took place on the Sabbath Day. The Jews witnessed the healing of the lame man, but they rebuked him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath. Sabbath keeping was a part of the Mosaic Law. (Exodus 16:23-29; Exodus 31:12-18) Jesus' question of Matthew 12:12 fits well this occasion also. "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." The self-righteous Jews asked the man why he was carrying his bed on the Sabbath. He responded, "The man who healed me told me to pick up my bed and walk." The man could not identify Jesus because He had slipped away into the multitude that was in the place.