“Pick up your mat and walk.” John 5:11
Jesus demonstrated His power over illness, disease and disability to signify that He was God. John records only 3 healing miracles; the healing of Jairus’ daughter, the healing of the cripple at the pool called Bethesda and the healing of a man born blind. The Jews believed that only God, or a man sent from God could heal. These healings by Jesus should have been the litmus test of His Godhood, yet most people rejected Him even after seeing His miraculous healing power.
Today’s passage tells the sad story of a healed Jewish man. Why sad? Read on and find out. Jesus was walking up to Jerusalem to attend a Jewish festival. Outside the city was a pool that appears to be built and operated like the Greek religious sanatoriums. People lay about waiting for a supernatural healing. There were no physicians present, or medicines available. How sad that a man out of God’s chosen race was in a pagan healing place outside the city where God’s temple was.
When Jesus questions the man about whether he wants to get well (v6), he reveals that his hope was really in humanity, not God, or even a pagan god. He wanted a man to stay with him to put him in the pool at the right time. (v7).
Jesus immediately healed him (v8-9). Imagine the excitement of being able to immediately walk after 38 years. He didn’t need physiotherapy or a gradual return to full strength; he was miraculously healed to perfect physical ability. Yet, when questioned by the Jewish leaders who appear to be prowling about on the Sabbath day looking for those who were breaking their man-made sabbath rules, he didn’t acknowledge that God had healed him, only an unknown man. How sad!
Jesus met him later on and cautioned him to forsake sinning so that nothing worse would happen to him. Some mistakenly have equated all sickness with God’s judgement for sin. If that were the case, humanity would have died out long ago! Later, in chapter 9, Jesus corrects this misunderstanding and tells His disciples that sickness is often for the purpose of displaying God’s glorious works. Jesus was telling this man that there is something far worse than sickness, disease and disability. The consequence of sin is spiritual death – being cut off from God forever. You can be sick and yet spiritually healthy, or physically healthy and spiritually dead. Jesus was warning him of the consequences of spiritual death if he did not turn from his sin. Instead of glorifying God and following Jesus, what did this man do? He went straight to the Jewish leaders to report that it was Jesus who had healed him on the Sabbath.
The English words do not portray the full meaning of this verse. The Greek word “went” in this instance portrays the meaning of “went after”, to go after as a follower. This man, who had been healed by God, did not follow Jesus. He went after social acceptance. He would rather follow the leaders of the day and their approval, than follow Jesus with all the disapproval, disrespect and rejection that that following him would entail. How sad.
God’s Word tells us that this life is full of suffering and hardship. We only need to listen to the news for 10 minutes to know this is true. But the suffering in this life is only temporal. There is a new life without any pain, suffering grief or death for those who choose to follow Jesus in this life. How sad, that despite all the evidence that demonstrates the accuracy of God’s Word, so many choose not to follow. How truly sad.