John 5:1-3,5-16 NRSVue
1After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many ill, blind, lame, and paralyzed people. 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7The ill man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am making my way someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a Sabbath.
10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the Sabbath.
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Reflection on John 5:1-3,5-16
Inspiration from 2025-04-01 Daily Prayer
The fact that Jesus asked the invalid if he wanted to be cured showed great sensitivity. An invalid for almost forty years, he would face many big changes in his life if suddenly made well again. We should be careful with what we ask for in prayer. The request of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane was followed each time with, ‘Yet not my will but thine be done.’ Let us ask God to give us whatever he knows is best for us.
The Jewish religious leaders made many laws that they claimed were to honour God but in reality were to give themselves authority and control over people’s lives. Jesus, knowing their hypocrisy, ignored these laws. Our human laws should always be motivated by love and compassion for the welfare of all. In my dealings with others do I put human laws above the good of others? Do I season justice with mercy?