After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic[a] called Bethesda,[b] which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.[c] 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 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?” 7 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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews[d] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well!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.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
Personal Reflection and Discussion
1. What is your favorite story about someone accomplishing the impossible? What is it about their story that is worth sharing?
2. Read this passage carefully.
Is there anything that surprises you?
Is there anything that you had not noticed before?
3. Do you find Jesus’ question in v. 6 surprising? Why or why not?
¨ With healing comes response-ability. Do people ever find it easier to be sick than to face the response-ability they would have if well (e.g. facing a test at school; a situation at work)?
¨ Have you ever found being sick more advantageous than being well?
4. In v. 7 the man offers an excuse for his condition. In v. 8 Jesus in essence takes away his excuse.
¨ React to the statement: “Healing robs us of excuse.”
¨ What excuses do you hear people offering for reasons they “can’t”? What reasons might/do you offer for response-abilities?
¨ What do you think: Are excuses ever justified or legitimate? Explain.
5. How does the man respond to his healing – v. 10-11,15? Do you think it was an appropriate response? Explain.
6. When someone goes to the doctor and is healed due to surgery or some other medical procedure, a doctor gives the patient ways to remedy a situation. What is Jesus’ advice to physically heal someone? And why?
7. What healing(s) or the like have you experienced? How did/are you responding?
Prayer
Jesus, all the time, we are hearing about people who rise above their apparent limitation to accomplish the seemingly impossible. You are a God who transcends the impossible. Use me as You see fit to accomplish things that might seem impossible.
Greek Word of the Day
English Word: Sin | Transliterated Word: hamartano (ham-mar-tan-o)
To miss the mark and so not share the prize, commit offense, swerve from the way. To err, swerve from the truth, go wrong, speaking of errors of doctrine or faith Generally, to sin, spoken of any sin, used in an absolute sense.
Family Engagement Activity
Heal a lonely heart, specifically someone who is hurt, sick, handicapped, etc. Send a card, spend some time with them, write them a song or poem. Make something. Pray for healing.
Going Activities To Consider
Heal a lonely heart, specifically someone who is hurt, sick, handicapped, etc. Send a card, spend some time with them, write them a song or poem. Make something. Pray for healing.