Healing and Truth

Chapter 5

The things Jesus did defy explanation. And these occurred even in the midst of a people who believed in something beyond themselves, in a realm not seen nor understood completely. Such was the case with the Pool at the Sheep Gate. The people of the tiem believed that angels would come to the pool and stir the waters. It was believed that the first person to enter the water after the stirring would be healed. Whether this happened or not still attracted hundreds of people who were in need of physical healing, the blind, the paralyzed, and the lame. Being lame and paralyzed is not the same thing; the lame can still move, but it is difficult; the paralyzed cannot move at all. What the condition was of this one man we do not fully know. We know he was an invalid. He did not have full use of his capacities. We also know that for thirty-eight years he had been this way. Jesus makes his way there and sees the man and asks him if he wants to be made well. "Duh," would have been the modern response, but the man did add that he was so painfully slow that as soon as the waters stirred he was not able to beat others to the water. Jesus just says, "Pick up your mat and walk." The mat had provided some comfort against lying on the street or ground and it was a symbol of his condition as well. The man believes enough to stir and he gets up, picks up his mat and walks away. All this happened on a Sabbath day.

The religious men among the Jews saw not a miracle but a violation of the Law. The Law forbids work of any kind on the Sabbath and the carrying of a mat is considered work and thus a breaking of the Law. The man just knows to say, "The man who healed me; I would have added, 'Friends, for 38 years I've laid over there unable to do a single thing, now you see me walking and you're not thankful to God for this healing? You're more concerned that I'm carrying my mat??' He told me to get up and carry my mat." He gets questioned about who it was that did such a thing. The man could only remember that he was now healed. Jesus had slipped into the crowd.

Later Jesus sees the man at the temple and says to him, "You're well again. Leave behind the life of sin or you may find yourself again in a sadder situation." This was not a threat from Jesus but an encouragement to realize that his healing was not yet complete; he needed to realize the healing was a gift from God and his gift to God needed to be faith in God. The man goes then to tell the authorities that it was Jesus who had healed him. The Jews were angry at this work and continued their plots to get Jesus. Jesus answers them, "My father never quits working not even on our holy days, and so why I should I quit working too?" Jesus broke the Sabbath and equated himself with God and called God his father.

The Jews could not see nor realize that all the great works in their midst were the works of God who loved his people very much.