"Would you like to be made well?"
This man had never seen Jesus before and did not know who he was.
"Sir," he answered, "there is nobody to put me in the bath when the water rises; but while I am trying to crawl down and get into the water, somebody who can walk steps in ahead of me."
Pool of Bethesda from above
Jesus said:
"Rise, take up your mat, and walk!"
The crippled man had never heard words like these; but as soon as they were spoken, he felt a new power shooting through his body. He stood up for the first time in thirty-eight years, picked up his piece of matting, rolled it up and put it upon his shoulder. Then he started to walk toward his house, carrying his burden.
You remember that it was on the Sabbath day that this took place. The Jews were exceedingly careful in keeping the Sabbath. God had said to their fathers many years before, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." But the Jews had added to this commandment many useless rules. They could not light a fire on that day, for that would be working; they could not hold a pen, for that would be carrying a load. These little rules had not been given by God, but had been made by the scribes or teachers of the law.
Some people saw this man carrying his roll of matting through the street. They said to him: