“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.”
— John 5:8–9 (ESV)
Through the Bible: John 5
ohn 5 is a beautiful picture of a longing fulfilled. A man who had been waiting beside a healing pool for nearly four decades is suddenly restored from paralysis. It should have been a day of praising God and rejoicing with friends and family. But if any of that happened, John doesn’t tell us about it. Instead, we find a story marked by apparent indifference and fear on the part of the healed man, and a stern warning from Jesus.
So let’s look at the story again through that lens—when the gifts become more important than the grace.
The Gift Without Gratitude
Jesus’ command was simple: “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And the man obeyed—instantly. No expression of faith, no declaration of worship, not even a thank-you. Just movement. Later, when he is asked about who healed him, verse 13 tells us that the man had no idea who Jesus was. Jesus had slipped away in the crowd. I’d love to believe that the man looked for Jesus to thank him, or to fall at this feet, but again, John doesn’t give us any indication that he did.
Some scholars, like D.A. Carson and Leon Morris, note that this man receives the miracle without showing the slightest sign of devotion or curiosity. He obeys Jesus’ command to walk, but not His invitation to believe. He takes the gift, but misses the grace.
The Blessing That Becomes a Burden
John adds one seemingly small detail: “Now that day was the Sabbath.” The man’s new life immediately puts him in conflict with the old system. When the religious leaders challenge him, he doesn’t defend Jesus—he distances himself:
“The man who healed me—that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’”
He blames the one who blessed him. Contrast that with the lame man in Acts 3, who “went walking and leaping and praising God.” This man just goes walking. Or compare him to the one leper who returned to give thanks to Jesus in Luke 17. Or the woman at the well (John 4). Or the man born blind (John 9). Nearly every other person in the gospels that encountered Jesus demonstrated a change of heart that corresponded to their change in circumstances. But not this paralytic.
It’s sobering to realize how often God’s gifts expose what’s in our hearts. Freedom, when unaccompanied by gratitude, easily turns to self-justification.
A Note of Grace
Some scholars read this man as an almost tragic figure—a warning about what it means to receive the gift of healing without embracing the grace of the Healer. Commentators like Carson and Morris highlight his lack of gratitude and his later betrayal. Yet others, like Gail O’Day and Craig Keener, remind us that John never explicitly condemns him. When Jesus finds him in the temple, it may suggest a flicker of faith or thanksgiving. Perhaps John means for us to hold both truths in tension: that Jesus’ mercy reaches even the uncomprehending, and that grace, when left unacknowledged, becomes a gift wasted.
The Warning in the Temple
Jesus finds the man again—not to shame him, but to confront him:
“See, you are well again. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
The tone here is firm, almost parental. The “something worse” can’t mean physical illness; it points to eternal separation—the deeper sickness sin brings. Grace comforts the broken, but it also confronts the stubborn.
What Happened Next
After this second encounter, the man goes to the authorities and identifies Jesus by name. Verse 16 presents a clear cause-and-effect: “And this was why the Jews were persecuting Him.” Maybe he thinks he’s doing the right thing. There’s no explicit hint that his actios were intentionally hostile. One scholar, described his actions as “at best naive, at worst treacherous.”** Maybe he’s just shifting blame. Either way, his words fuel the persecution of the One who healed him.
It’s one of the saddest turns in John’s Gospel: a man who had waited thirty-eight years for a miracle now becomes the reason the miracle worker is harassed. He chooses safety over Savior, approval over adoration.
The Mirror Turn
Before we condemn him too quickly, we should look closely in the mirror. How many times have we received God’s gifts—healing, provision, mercy—and walked away unchanged?
How often have I encountered Jesus in a stirring worship service or at an emotional revival and allowed Him to “slip away into the crowd”?
How often have I, like this man, carried my blessing as proof of my own strength instead of a testimony to His grace?
When the gifts become more important than the grace, worship becomes performance, faith becomes transaction, and gratitude becomes optional.
Yet even then, Jesus keeps pursuing us. He finds us again—in our temples and our routines—and calls us back from superstition and self-sufficiency. He reminds us that mercy is not a reward for faith but the doorway to it.
Prayer:
Lord, keep me from mistaking Your gifts for Your grace.
When You heal me, help me follow You.
When You bless me, make me grateful.
And when You find me again, let me say what the man never did:
“My Lord and my God.”
Related Reading:
🪣 Day 281: What Happened to Verse 4? (John 5)
** Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I–XII (Anchor Bible 29; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), p. 207.
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