The Paralytic at Bethesda

The Pool of Bethesda is a set of pools in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. Because of its proximity to the ancient “Sheep Gate” (near today’s Lion’s Gate), it has been called the “Sheep Pool” since the 4th century.

In Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there was a pool called Bethesda. Many sick people—the blind, the lame, and those with withered limbs—lay there. Among them was a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus sought him out, had compassion on him, and healed him. In John 5:8-9, Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” The man was immediately cured and picked up his mat and walked. Since that day was the Sabbath, the Jewish people criticized the man who had been healed for carrying his mat.

At the time, the Jewish rabbis had established 39 categories of work that were forbidden on the Sabbath: sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, sifting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing sheep, washing, beating, or dyeing wool, spinning, weaving, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying a knot, untying a knot, sewing two stitches, tearing in order to sew two stitches, hunting a deer, killing, skinning, salting, or tanning a deer, scraping or cutting it into pieces, writing two letters, erasing in order to write two letters, building, tearing down, extinguishing a fire, lighting a fire, hammering, and carrying an object from one place to another. Carrying a mat on the Sabbath fell under the category of “carrying an object from one place to another,” which is why the Pharisees criticized him.

The Pharisees were not concerned with who had healed the man; they only cared about who told him to pick up his mat and walk. The hallmark of hypocrisy is caring only about outward forms, not the life within. When they learned that Jesus was the one who told him to carry his mat, they began to persecute Jesus for doing such a thing on the Sabbath.

The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. He desires to give people true rest, not to allow the rules of the Sabbath to become a burden. He wants to bring people into the kingdom of heaven, which means calling them to come to Him to find the rest of that kingdom.

Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version of the Bible and a comprehensive biblical interpretation.