There was something wonderful about the pool. At times in the year the water bubbled up—the Jews said an angel made it do so. The first person who stepped into the pool as it bubbled was cured at once. So many sick men waited for the chance. One man was there who had been crippled for thirty-eight years. The Lord Jesus walked down one day to this pool, and when He saw the poor man and heard how long he had been thus, He said to him, "Will you be made well?" The helpless man thought Our Lord meant, "Will you not go into the pool," for he answered, "Sir, I have no man who will put me in when the pool is bubbling, and while I try to get to it another man steps down before me." It was, as you know, only the first who stepped in after the water was troubled that was cured. Then Jesus said, "Take up your bed and walk."
THE CRIPPLE AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA.
And the man who could not move at all at once rose, took up his bed—a rug most likely—and walked.
Now it was the Sabbath day, and you know how strict the Jews were about it. They said at once to the man who was cured, "Why do you carry your bed on the Sabbath day? it is forbidden by the law."
The man said, "He that made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"
