Read John 5:8-15 NIV
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Jesus healing on the Sabbath Reading
“He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ So he did, and it was completely restored.” — Luke 6:10
The man with the withered hand was asked to do something simple but vulnerable — show his brokenness and trust Jesus to heal it. Sabbath healing starts with trust. Will you bring your weakness to Him today?
“Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion…” N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was & Is
Reflection Questions:
Am I willing to expose my weakness and trust Jesus to restore it?
What part of my life feels “withered” or paralyzed right now?
What small step of obedience might God be asking me to take toward healing?
