Key Thought

One of John's recurring themes is that Jesus comes to Jerusalem during important feasts to make God's love and grace available to the people. Like he so often does, Jesus puts himself in a place that makes him accessible to everyday people. This group of people had serious health problems and had come to a place that legend had made a place of healing. John, however, will remind us once again that Jesus catches up all the legend, tradition, and meaning of his Jewish heritage and makes it all come alive in himself. He is the great healer -- not legend, not tradition, and not the feasts. This healer makes God available to common everyday folks.

Today's Prayer

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Thank you, Father, for walking among everyday folks like me. Thank you for revealing your glory in Jesus. I believe he is my Savior, Messiah, Redeemer, Healer, Teacher, Lord, and friend. I believe you sent him so that I could better understand your heart. Conform my life to his example and his will. I pray this in his name, Jesus my Lord. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish festival. In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In the Jewish language it is called Bethzatha. This pool is near the Sheep Gate. Many sick people were lying on the porches {beside the pool}. Some of the people were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed. There was a man lying there who had been sick for 38 years. Jesus saw the man lying there. Jesus knew that the man had been sick for a very long time. So Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to be well?" The sick man answered, "Sir, there is no person to help me get into the water when the water starts moving. I try to be the first person into the water. But when I try, another person always goes in before I can." Then Jesus said, "Stand up! Pick up your bed and walk." Then immediately the man was well. The man picked up his bed and started walking. The day all this happened was a Sabbath day. So some Jews said to the man that had been healed, "Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day." But the man answered, "The person (Jesus) that made me well told me, 'Pick up your bed and walk.'" The Jews asked the man, "Who is the person that told you to pick up your bed and walk?" But the man that had been healed did not know who the person was. There were many people in that place, and Jesus had left. Later Jesus found the man at the temple. Jesus said to him, "See, you are well now. But stop sinning or something worse may happen to you!" Then the man left and went back to those Jews. The man told them that Jesus was the one that made him well.

— John 5:1-15 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.