Now this happened on the Sabbath day, 10 so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”

11 But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

12 “Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked.

13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.

14 Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”

15 And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Paul Bogg

Today we return to the man who was an invalid for 38 years and was miraculously healed by Jesus.

Two things stand out to me today. First, when the Pharisees notice him and see that he can walk, the first thing they say to him is not, “How is this amazing thing possible?” Instead they say, “It is unlawful for you to carry your mat” – because it was the Sabbath day. How often do we, even as well-meaning Christians, forget to marvel at the amazing work of the gospel of Jesus Christ in people's lives, and instead get caught up in personal differences or even grievances we have about how something is said or done, or even whether someone is or isn’t doing what we think is right? I can recall a conversation I had with a Pentecostal friend who talked enthusiastically about how the Spirit was leading him – only for my mind to be questioning whether it really is the Spirit, or whether he really is in his right mind. What I should have been thinking instead is how wonderful it is that my brother calls Jesus Lord, and that the transforming work of the Spirit is calling him to do things for God’s great kingdom, to the praise of his wonderful name.

The second thing that stands out for me is Jesus’s stern warning to the man who had received this miraculous healing: “Stop sinning.” Jesus was not saying that sin had caused the man to be an invalid. This was Jesus saying to the man: “Recognise who I am. Remember me by the proof that you have been made well. Respond appropriately by stopping sinning.”

I too have received the miracle of Jesus having mercy upon me. I was once dead in my sins, but now I have been made alive by faith in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. So what should my response be? Recognise who Jesus is, remember him by the proof that I have been made well, and stop sinning.

The passage ends with the man going back to the Pharisees and telling them that it was Jesus who made him well. I kind of wish it had ended more like this: “And the man went away, put to death the sin in his life, and committed the remainder of his life to faithful service in worship to the one who made him well.”

What will your response be to Jesus today?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul is a member of our Bossley Park morning congregation.