John 5:1-18 (ESV)

¹ After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵ One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ⁹ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶ And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” ¹⁸ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the feasts. In the northern section of Jerusalem, two pools lay near a small gate known as the Sheep Gate. These pools were surrounded by colonnades, which supported a roof to enclose the pools. Sick people would gather around the pools, believing that the water could heal them. These pools were probably fed by natural springs, and often the water would “stir.” The popular conviction was that when the water stirred, an “angel” moved it, and so the sick rushed into the water, thinking the first one in would be cured. One man who waited to get into the pool’s stirred water had been an invalid for 38 years! He was probably paralyzed and depended upon others to carry him whenever the water was expected to move. Jesus approached him and asked him if he wanted to be healed. The man said he did, but explained to Jesus that he didn’t have any friends who could rush him down to the water when it stirred. He was waiting, but never able to get to the water first. Jesus told him to get up and walk. He was immediately healed.

The mat on which the man rested was made of straw. After the man was healed, he rolled it, picked it up, and walked. This all took place on the Sabbath. The Jews said it was illegal for the man to carry his mat on that day. Instead of rejoicing and praising God for the healing, the Jews were angry that the man carried a mat on the Sabbath. They asked him to reveal who healed him. He said he didn’t know. But when Jesus later told him to repent of his sin, he ran and told the Jews that it was Jesus who healed him and instructed him to carry his mat. This man was not interested in the Lord. Now that he had what he wanted, he saw no need for Jesus. Some will always engage with Jesus simply for what they can get. And often, after they have received from his hand, such people have no further use for him. What if Jesus allowed you to struggle with your current difficulties for the rest of your life? Would you still love him? Be faithful to Jesus because of his great love for you today.