Take Up Your Bed And Walk

Text:

John 5:1–15 ESV

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

john 5:1-15

I. The Place of Grace (

John 5:1–3 ESV

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Five: The Man Who Was Equal with God (John 5)

When you visit St. Anne’s Church in Jerusalem, they will show you the deep excavation that has revealed the ancient Pool of Bethesda. The Hebrew name Bethesda has been spelled various ways and given differing meanings. Some say it means “house of mercy” or “house of grace,” but others say it means “place of the two outpourings.” There is historical and archeological evidence that two adjacent pools of water served this area in ancient times.

The pool is situated near the northeast corner of the Old City, close to the Sheep Gate (Neh. 3:1; 12:39). Perhaps John saw some spiritual significance to this location, for he had already told his readers that Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 5:1

5:1. Jesus … later returned to Jerusalem for a feast. The feast is not named (some mss. read “the feast”), but it may have been the Passover. Jesus attended three other Passovers (2:23; 6:4; 11:55). John probably intended only to give a reason why Jesus was in Jerusalem.

5:2. To the north of the temple area was a pool … called Bethesda (see the map showing the pool’s location). The excavations of a pool near the Sheep Gate have uncovered five porticoes or covered colonnades, confirming the accuracy of the description given here in the Fourth Gospel. The pool was actually two pools next to each other.

jn 5:1-3

John 5:1 ESV

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Illustration 1

sii

1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 331: Your Worth

If someone offered you a twenty-dollar bill, would you take it? What if that person wadded up the bill and threw it on the ground—would you still want it? What if he stepped on it, kicked it, and even spit on it? Could you still go to the store and spend it?

The answer is yes. That bill has value because of what it is, not because of how it looks, where it’s been, or what it has been used for. A crisp, clean twenty-dollar bill is worth the same amount as an ugly, old, abused one.

You may feel like you’ve been stepped on, beat up, or kicked around. You may feel dirty, unworthy, or useless. But be encouraged by the twenty-dollar bill—no matter what you’ve been through, you still have value to God!

John 5:1–5 ESV

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

John 5:2 ESV

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

John 5:1–3 ESV

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

jn 5:1-3

john 5:1-5

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 5:1

5:1. Jesus … later returned to Jerusalem for a feast. The feast is not named (some mss. read “the feast”), but it may have been the Passover. Jesus attended three other Passovers (2:23; 6:4; 11:55). John probably intended only to give a reason why Jesus was in Jerusalem.

5:2. To the north of the temple area was a pool … called Bethesda (see the map showing the pool’s location). The excavations of a pool near the Sheep Gate have uncovered five porticoes or covered colonnades, confirming the accuracy of the description given here in the Fourth Gospel. The pool was actually two pools next to each other.

he

he