Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
The question was put to the man healed at the Pool of Bethesda by the Jewish rulers and authorities when they met him carrying his bed. He could not tell them who had healed him, for he did not know it was Jesus, who had slipped away into the crowd. They overlooked the miracle and pressed him about who had ordered the carrying, not to learn the truth but to gain proof to condemn Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker. Jesus had healed on the Sabbath and told the man to carry his bed in order to make the work public and to challenge narrow human restrictions about what is lawful on that day. Such healing was in harmony with God's law and honored the Sabbath rather than violating it.
Bethesda Healing Setting
This question belongs to the healing at the Pool of Bethesda and to the dispute and discourse that followed when the man was accused of breaking the Sabbath. It stands within the questioning before the Sanhedrin that arose from that healing, after which Jesus declared Himself the Son of God. At Bethesda many sick people waited for the stirring of the pool's waters, believing the first to enter afterward would be healed. The porches were crowded, and sufferers often struggled to reach the water.
The man healed had been afflicted for thirty-eight years and had been carried to the pool a helpless sufferer. When told to take up his bed and walk he rolled up his mat and blanket and went his way with joy and ease in perfect soundness, made whole. He hurried toward Jerusalem rejoicing, and filled with gratitude he could not refrain from telling all with whom he came in contact of the wonderful work that had been wrought for him. In his joy he had forgotten it was the Sabbath, yet he felt no condemnation for obeying one who had power from God to heal him.
The questioners who met him and asked what man had told him to take up his bed and walk were the Jewish authorities, the rulers, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin. Their response to the Sabbath healing was hostility, and their malice grew until they plotted against Jesus' life and sought His death. The healed man could not identify who had healed him, because he did not know it was Jesus. Jesus had withdrawn and slipped away into the crowd, quietly passing on His way. The man answered boldly that the one who made him whole gave the order.
Sabbath Challenge Purpose
The question fastened not on the healing but on the command to carry the bed on the Sabbath, showing no joy over the cure. Those who met the rejoicing man were cool toward his story of recovery, overlooked the miracle, and sternly charged that bearing burdens was not lawful on the Lord's day. The healed man answered boldly that the one who had made him whole had given the order, feeling no condemnation for obeying one with power from God to heal him even though in his joy he had forgotten it was the Sabbath.
They already knew that only Jesus could have performed such a deed, for Christ alone had shown Himself able to do it. Yet they pretended ignorance and pressed for His identity, not for information but to get direct proof from the man so they could condemn Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker. Their questioning was meant to perplex and entangle the man, hoping to make him doubt or discredit his testimony, because they treated carrying the mat as a violation and rejected the evidence of divine power.
The rulers excused the healed man himself from blame but treated the one who assumed responsibility for the order as guilty. They counted both healing on the Sabbath and bidding the man take up his bed and carry it away as law-breaking and sacrilege. Their prejudice was unmoved by mercy, for the questioning did not lead them to recognize the healing as an act of mercy, and they would have harmed Jesus if they had opportunity.
Jesus had deliberately healed on the Sabbath and instructed the man to carry his bed so the cure and its Doer would become known and be made public. The carrying was meant to bring the Sabbath restrictions into question and raise what is lawful on that day, giving opportunity to expose narrow traditions. The instruction challenged burdensome Jewish restrictions and traditions, not the dignity of God's law.
Healing the suffering man on the Sabbath was in harmony with God's law and honored the Sabbath, upholding its spirit rather than desecrating or violating it. While the rulers opposed Jesus over His Sabbath work, the people defended Him. Their malice grew until they plotted against His life and sought His death and an opportunity to harm Him.
The question was put to the man healed at the Pool of Bethesda by the Jewish rulers and authorities when they met him carrying his bed. He could not tell them who had healed him, for he did not know it was Jesus, who had slipped away into the crowd. They overlooked the miracle and pressed him about who had ordered the carrying, not to learn the truth but to gain proof to condemn Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker. Jesus had healed on the Sabbath and told the man to carry his bed in order to make the work public and to challenge narrow human restrictions about what is lawful on that day. Such healing was in harmony with God's law and honored the Sabbath rather than violating it.
Bethesda Healing Setting
This question belongs to the healing at the Pool of Bethesda and to the dispute and discourse that followed when the man was accused of breaking the Sabbath. It stands within the questioning before the Sanhedrin that arose from that healing, after which Jesus declared Himself the Son of God. At Bethesda many sick people waited for the stirring of the pool's waters, believing the first to enter afterward would be healed. The porches were crowded, and sufferers often struggled to reach the water.
The man healed had been afflicted for thirty-eight years and had been carried to the pool a helpless sufferer. When told to take up his bed and walk he rolled up his mat and blanket and went his way with joy and ease in perfect soundness, made whole. He hurried toward Jerusalem rejoicing, and filled with gratitude he could not refrain from telling all with whom he came in contact of the wonderful work that had been wrought for him. In his joy he had forgotten it was the Sabbath, yet he felt no condemnation for obeying one who had power from God to heal him.
The questioners who met him and asked what man had told him to take up his bed and walk were the Jewish authorities, the rulers, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin. Their response to the Sabbath healing was hostility, and their malice grew until they plotted against Jesus' life and sought His death. The healed man could not identify who had healed him, because he did not know it was Jesus. Jesus had withdrawn and slipped away into the crowd, quietly passing on His way. The man answered boldly that the one who made him whole gave the order.
Sabbath Challenge Purpose
The question fastened not on the healing but on the command to carry the bed on the Sabbath, showing no joy over the cure. Those who met the rejoicing man were cool toward his story of recovery, overlooked the miracle, and sternly charged that bearing burdens was not lawful on the Lord's day. The healed man answered boldly that the one who had made him whole had given the order, feeling no condemnation for obeying one with power from God to heal him even though in his joy he had forgotten it was the Sabbath.
They already knew that only Jesus could have performed such a deed, for Christ alone had shown Himself able to do it. Yet they pretended ignorance and pressed for His identity, not for information but to get direct proof from the man so they could condemn Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker. Their questioning was meant to perplex and entangle the man, hoping to make him doubt or discredit his testimony, because they treated carrying the mat as a violation and rejected the evidence of divine power.
The rulers excused the healed man himself from blame but treated the one who assumed responsibility for the order as guilty. They counted both healing on the Sabbath and bidding the man take up his bed and carry it away as law-breaking and sacrilege. Their prejudice was unmoved by mercy, for the questioning did not lead them to recognize the healing as an act of mercy, and they would have harmed Jesus if they had opportunity.
Jesus had deliberately healed on the Sabbath and instructed the man to carry his bed so the cure and its Doer would become known and be made public. The carrying was meant to bring the Sabbath restrictions into question and raise what is lawful on that day, giving opportunity to expose narrow traditions. The instruction challenged burdensome Jewish restrictions and traditions, not the dignity of God's law.
Healing the suffering man on the Sabbath was in harmony with God's law and honored the Sabbath, upholding its spirit rather than desecrating or violating it. While the rulers opposed Jesus over His Sabbath work, the people defended Him. Their malice grew until they plotted against His life and sought His death and an opportunity to harm Him.