John 5:1-15
While in Jerusalem for the festivals, Jesus encounters a paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, who had not walked for 38 years. Jesus engages the paralytic, and tells him to pick up his mat and walk. Verse 9 not only tells us that “at once the man was cured,” but it also informs us that it was the Sabbath– a detail that John intentionally suspends for dramatic effect.

When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat after being healed, they did not see a person who had been an invalid in the community for 38 years– they saw someone who was violating the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders were unconcerned with the miracle itself; they simply wanted to know who was responsible for it.

The healing of the paralytic is a sign of Jesus’ authority– a sign that he has authority over the Sabbath. Life in Jesus’ name is not always bound by, or constricted by, the letter of the law.

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