Rise, take up your mat, and walk

REFLECTIONS TODAY

The man had been ill for 38 years. When Jesus asks him if he wants to be well, he begins to tell Jesus about his situation — he has no one to put him into the pool when the water is stirred up and that someone else gets into the water ahead of him. The stirred-up water is believed to have a curing effect. The man wants to be healed, but nobody really cares! When Jesus tells the man to rise, take up his mat, and walk, we may reflect on Jesus’ invitation to care for others. The mat can be a symbol of isolation due to uncaring attitude. Such attitude must be removed.

Gospel •  John 5:1-16

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for 38  years. Then Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a Sabbath. *Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023.” E-mail: [publishing@stpauls.ph](mailto:publishing@stpauls.ph); Website: [http://www.stpauls.ph](http://www.stpauls.ph).*