John 5: The Faith of the Lame Man

One of my favorite moments of the week is our staff ‘Family Time’. We get together once a week to eat together, sing, learn about God and pray for each other.

Click the picture to see us singing and dancing before the bible study!

We were reading John 5 last night and we asked each person to share what verse they liked and why. Verse 11 really stood out to me.

⁶ When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

⁷ “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

⁸ Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

⁹ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,¹⁰ so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

The lame man obeyed Jesus despite breaking the rules of the Sabbath and trying to people please. He chose to follow and obey a higher command from a person of a higher authority.

Being in a shame based culture has really opened my eyes to honor and shame. In my personal devotion times, I have been keeping a special eye out for scriptures that talk about honor and shame and my understanding has taken new depths!

Not only did the lame man obey Jesus, he did so with confidence. He communicated with the Jewish Leader….someone from a higher social status than he was! By Jesus healing this man, his social standing/honor was restored and even more was given to him. From the lowest level to one that can now speak to the Jewish Leaders is pretty incredible.

I hope I can be like the lame man in John 5. I pray I will choose to follow His commands over the world’s, no matter what may be at stake for doing so.

How has Jesus restored you? Share your response in the comments below. I love hearing how He has restored people’s lives….both from the Bible days to today!