Rise, take up thy bed As in the case of the paralytic (Mark 2:9), Christ makes no enquiry as to the man's faith. Christ knew that he had faith; and the man's attempting to rise and carry his bed after 38 years of impotency was an open confession of faith. His bed would probably be only a mat or rug, still common in the East.

It is scarcely necessary to discuss whether this miracle can be identical with the healing of the paralytic let down through the roof (Matthew 9; Mark 2; Luke 5). Time, place, details and context are all different, especially the important point that this miracle was wrought on the Sabbath.

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