{"id":920,"date":"2022-09-23T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=920&2022"},"modified":"2022-09-20T18:01:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T00:01:09","slug":"taking-simple-steps-john-5-1-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/taking-simple-steps-john-5-1-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Simple Steps: John 5:1-15"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: John 5:1-15 (HCSB)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>1\u00a0<\/sup>After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  <sup>2\u00a0<\/sup>By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades.  <sup>3\u00a0<\/sup>Within these lay a large number of the sick\u2014blind, lame, and paralyzed [\u2014waiting for the moving of the water,  <sup>4\u00a0<\/sup>because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had].<\/p> <p><sup>5\u00a0<\/sup>One man was there who had been sick for 38 years.  <sup>6\u00a0<\/sup>When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, \u201cDo you want to get well?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cSir,\u201d the sick man answered, \u201cI don\u2019t have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I\u2019m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cGet up,\u201d Jesus told him, \u201cpick up your mat and walk!\u201d  <sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.<\/p><p>Now that day was the Sabbath,  <sup>10\u00a0<\/sup>so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, \u201cThis is the Sabbath! It\u2019s illegal for you to pick up your mat.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>11\u00a0<\/sup>He replied, \u201cThe man who made me well told me, \u2018Pick up your mat and walk.\u2019\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWho is this man who told you, \u2018Pick up your mat and walk\u2019?\u201d they asked.  <sup>13\u00a0<\/sup>But the man who was cured did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.<\/p> <p><sup>14\u00a0<\/sup>After this, Jesus found him in the temple complex and said to him, \u201cSee, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn\u2019t happen to you.\u201d  <sup>15\u00a0<\/sup>The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John 5:1-15&amp;version=hcsb\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">John 5:1-15<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>During one of the miracles that John selected for his gospel, Jesus visits a sick man lying next to a pool. However, instead of simply healing the man, Jesus asks him a question, \u201c<strong>Do you want to get well?<\/strong>\u201d (v. 6b)<\/p>\r\n<p>The man responds by saying, \u201c<strong>Sir, I don\u2019t have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I\u2019m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 7)<\/p>\r\n<p>While the man doesn\u2019t respond directly to Jesus\u2019 question, he does indicate that he tries to get to the pool when the water is stirred. This answer does indicate that he wants to get well. We don\u2019t know how often the water of the pool was stirred, but in 38 years, the man likely missed out on at least several dozen chances of healing.<\/p>\r\n<p>In response, Jesus simply tells the man, \u201c<strong>Get up, pick up your mat and walk!<\/strong>\u201d (v. 8)<\/p>\r\n<p>The challenge was simple but also impossible. If the man had been able to get up and walk, he would have easily been able to get to the pool in time and he wouldn\u2019t have been stuck at the pool for close to four decades of his life. But the task was worth the effort. John describes what happened next by saying, \u201c<strong>Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 9a)<\/p>\r\n<p>Standing up and picking up his sleeping mat is something that sounds small, but it was a huge \u201csimple\u201d step forward towards being healed. In my mind\u2019s eye, the healing the man experienced happened as he tried to stand up. The more energy he put towards getting up, the more strength he had to fully stand.<\/p>\r\n<p>Following standing, the only things left to do were to pick up his mat \u2013 something that would take a little bit of balance and coordination, and then to walk. When the man ultimately left the pool area, he was completely healed and back to full strength.<\/p>\r\n<p>I see a parallel in this healing to our own lives. Chances are God won\u2019t bring us a vision, mission, or purpose into our lives before we have taken any steps. If He were to do this, chances are that we would run away like Jonah being sent to Nineveh. God also typically doesn\u2019t heal people from 100% sick to 100% well. Usually there is a transition period as we are learning what \u201cwell\u201d really is like.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>This miracle points me to the truth that God directs our path as we choose to walk down it. God shows up as we move towards Him and His will. As we move along the path God has for our lives, He brings the next step of that path into view. As this man put forth energy and strength towards standing, picking up his mat, and then ultimately walking, God gave him healing, restored muscles, and strength to accomplish each task.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--920\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '920');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During one of the miracles that John selected for his gospel, Jesus visits a sick man lying next to a pool. However, instead of simply healing the man, Jesus asks him a question, \u201cDo you want to get well?\u201d (v. 6b) The man responds by saying, \u201cSir, I don\u2019t have a man to put me [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Taking Simple Steps: John 5:1-15 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/taking-simple-steps-john-5-1-15\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking Simple Steps: John 5:1-15 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During one of the miracles that John selected for his gospel, Jesus visits a sick man lying next to a pool. 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