Cure on a Sabbath
John 5: 1-45
John 5:2-5
- "Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years." (John 5:2-5)
John 5:6-9
- "When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be well?' The sick man answered him, 'Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.' Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your matt, and walk.' Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked." (John 5:6-9)
John 5:10-18
- "So the Jews said to the man who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.' He answered them, 'The man who made me well told me "Take it up and walk?"' The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, 'Look, you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you.' The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who has made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, 'My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.' For this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God." (John 5:10-18)
Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath
A man has been crippled for 38 years. Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be well and the man showed faith in God. Jesus said, "Rise, take up your matt, and walk." The man was healed and left. At first he did not remember who healed him, but later on he ran into Jesus and recognized him. The man then told everybody what Jesus had done.
Map of Jerusalem
Jesus healed the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda. The pool is circled in the top right of the picture.
Prince of Peace
An image of Jesus painted by 8-year-old Akiane in 2003.
Eyewitness
This man has healed me! He simply told me to get up and walk, and when I tried I did not struggle. All hail the Messiah, Jesus!
- Lame man
Why this event is important
Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath who had been lame for thirty- eight years. Some observers thought that healing a non-life threatening illness on the Sabbath was work forbidden by the Roah, but Jesus said that God indeed does work on the Sabbath. This is a newsworthy event because it notes how Jesus boldly claimed to be equal to God. This is shown, because like the Father, the unique Son actively works on the Sabbath. The Son, also like the father, give life to whomever he wants. This is all because the Father gives His Son the right to judge. The importance in this third sign is that Jesus is the source of life.
Facts for test
Cure of a man on a Sabbath
healing miracle