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TEXT: John 5:1-15
IT was the Sabbath. Jesus and His helpers were walking to the city of Jerusalem when they came to a pool. It was called “The Pool of Bethesda.” This was a very special pool of water. There was not another one like it.
At the edge of the pool there was a poor sick man lying on a mat or a hard kind of a bed. This poor, sick man was looking and looking into the water. My, how he did watch the water in the pool! What was he looking for?
He wanted to be made well. He had not been able to walk or move himself all alone for thirty-eight years. Many sick people had come to this special Pool of Bethesda to be healed.
Most of the time the water was quiet like all pools, but sometimes an angel would stir up the water. The very first one to get into the water, after the angel had been there and made the water move, would be healed. He would be well.
This poor sick man wanted to be the first one in the water so he could be well too. He wanted to walk again.
As he lay by the pool he had often seen the water stir and splash, but someone always got in ahead of him. By the time he could get into the water the healing power was all gone again.
This poor man could not get into the water by himself. He did not have anyone to help him. He would just lie there and watch and watch for the angel to make the water move again. Maybe this time someone would put him in. But no one ever helped him.
One day the poor sick man looked up. He saw a Man he had never seen at the pool before. This Man looked so good and kind. You know who He was, but the sick man did not.
The Stranger walked right over to the sick man and asked him if he would like to be well and strong again. Oh, yes, yes. He did want to be well. He did not know the Stranger talking to him was Jesus, but he told Jesus that he had been there for a long, long time and when the water moved he had no one to help him get into it. He said, “While I am trying to get into the water somebody else gets in first.”
Then Jesus said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”
The man was so surprised to hear Jesus say that. Of course he did not know He was Jesus. The man did not say, “I can’t walk.” He knew in his heart that he could do what this Man was telling him to do. He felt the Jesus-love touch him.
Up jumped the lame man. Look! Look! He could stand all alone. He had not been able to walk for many, many years. He was standing tall and strong. It felt so good to be able to walk after lying on that old, hard bed for such a long time.
The man was so happy that he was well and strong again! He did not have to get into the water to be healed. He picked up his bed and looked for Jesus so he could say, Thank You. Jesus was gone.
The man was so glad to be walking and strong! He went to the Temple Church to say “Thank You” to God. There in the church he met Jesus again, and talked to Him.
That is the way Jesus does. He helps us. He can still make us well today when we are sick. We can pray and ask Him and He will come with His Jesus-love and take the sickness away.
Jesus told the man who had been healed not to sin or do any wrong things any more.
Some men with sin in their hearts saw the man walking around carrying his bed. It was something like a blanket rolled up. They said, “Who told you to carry your bed around on the Sabbath?”
The lame man told them that Jesus had made him well by the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus had said, “Take up thy bed and walk,” and he did.
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