40
The Story of Jesus
times he had been brought to Bethesda; but when the waters were
troubled, another would step in before him.
On this Sabbath he had tried once more to reach the pool, but in
vain. Jesus saw him as he crept back to the mat which was his bed.
His strength was almost gone. Unless help should come soon, he must
die.
As he lay thus, now and then lifting his eyes to look at the pool,
a loving face bent over him, and he heard a voice say, “Wilt thou be
made whole?”
The man answered sorrowfully, “Sir, I have no man, when the
water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming,
another steppeth down before me.”
He did not know that the One beside him could heal, not one only,
but all who should come to Him. Christ said to the man: “Rise, take
up thy bed, and walk.”
At once he tried to obey the command, and strength came to him.
He sprang to his feet, and found that he could stand and could walk.
What a delight it was!
He took up his bed and hurried away, praising God at every step.
Soon he met some of the Pharisees, and told them of his wonderful
[73]
cure. They did not seem glad, but reproved him for carrying his bed
on the Sabbath day. The man told them, “He that made me whole, the
same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.”
John 5:1-11
.
Then they were no longer displeased with him, but they blamed
the one who had told him to carry his bed on the Sabbath day.
At Jerusalem, where the Saviour now was, many of the learned
rabbis lived. Here their false ideas about the Sabbath were taught to
the people. Great numbers came to worship at the temple, and thus
the rabbis’ teaching was spread far and wide. Christ wished to correct
these errors. This was why He healed the man on the Sabbath day,
and told him to carry his bed. He knew that this act would attract
the attention of the rabbis, and thus would give Him an opportunity
to instruct them. So it proved. The Pharisees brought Christ before
the Sanhedrin, the chief council of the Jews, to answer the charge of
Sabbathbreaking.
The Saviour declared that His action was in harmony with the
Sabbath law. It was in harmony with the will and the work of God.
“My Father worketh hitherto,” He said, “and I work.”
John 5:17
.