of the spring, only the first to enter
the pool after the agitation of the water might expect to be healed.

Jesus recognized in the man a fit subject for blessing, and said to him:
"Wilt thou be made whole?" The question was so simple as almost to
appear superfluous. Of course the man wanted to be made well, and on the
small chance of being able to reach the water at the right moment was
patiently yet eagerly waiting. There was purpose, however, in these as
in all other words of the Master. The man's attention was drawn to Him,
fixed upon Him; the question aroused in the sufferer's heart renewed
yearning for the health and strength of which he had been bereft since
the days of his youth. His answer was pitiful, and revealed his almost
hopeless state of mind; he thought only of the rumored virtues of
Bethesda pool as he said: "Sir, I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another
steppeth down before me." Then spake Jesus: "Rise, take up thy bed, and
walk." Immediately strength returned to the man, who for nearly four
decades had been a helpless invalid; he obeyed the Master, and, taking
up the little mattress or pallet on which he had rested, walked away.

He had not gone far, before the Jews, that is to say, some of the
official class, for so the evangelist John employs the term, saw him
carrying his bed; and it was the Sabbath day. To their peremptory
reprimand he replied out of the gratitude and honest simplicity of his
heart, that He who had healed him had told him to take up his bed and
walk. The interest of the inquisitors was instantly turned from the man
toward Him who had wrought the miracle; but the erstwhile cripple could
not name his Benefactor, as he had lost sight of Jesus in the crowd
before he had found opportunity for question or thanks. The man who had
been healed went to the temple, possibly impelled by a desire to express
in prayer his gratitude and joy. There Jesus found him, and said unto
him: "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come
unto thee."[444] The man had probably brought about his affliction
through his own sinful habits. The Lord decided that he had suffered
enough in body, and terminated his physical suffering with the
subsequent admonition to sin no more.

The man went and told the rulers who it was that had healed him. This he
may have done with a desire to honor and glorify the Giver of his boon;
we are not