John 5:1-18

A Healing at the Pool of Bethesda John 5:1-18 (NLT) John 5:1-6 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people-blind, lame, or paralyzed-lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, "Would you like to get well?" (Thought) I would like to stop here for a moment. What would you say if you had been sick for thirty-eight years and were asked if you wanted to be healed? I know I would say yes right away. But this man did not as we will find out in the next part of the reading. I wonder why he did that? John 5:7 "I can't sir," the sick man said, "for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me." (Thought) My thought is he didn't know who Jesus was otherwise he would have said yes without the explanation. He had a point though. He was unable to get himself up to get to the pool so he did need help getting there. John 5:8-13 Jesus told him, "Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!" Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath day. So the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, "You can't work on the Sabbath! It's illegal to carry that sleeping mat!" He replied, " The man who healed me said to me, 'pick up your sleeping mat and walk.'" "Who said such a thing as that? they demanded. The man didn't know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him "Now you are well; so stop sinning or somethings even worse may happened to you?" Then the man went to find the Jewish leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him. (Thought) A wonderful thing has taken place. A man was healed and all the Jewish leaders concentrated on was the man carrying his mat. So what did the Jewish leaders do? We read this in verse 16-18. The Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, "My Father never stops working, so why should I?:" So the Jewish leaders tried all the more to kill him. In addition to disobeying the Sabbath rules, he had spoken of God as his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. WHAT A STORY! Jesus was not afraid to tell the Jewish leaders who He was even thought He knew it would mean death in His future! Praise the Lord.