John Chapter 5: “Rise, Take Up Your Mat, and Walk”
1. The Setting: By the Sheep Gate
“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, called in Hebrew Bethesda, which has five porticoes.” (John 5:1–2)
Christ goes up to Jerusalem for a feast — perhaps Pentecost — but the true feast will be the mercy He brings.
The Sheep Gate leads towards the Temple; here lambs for sacrifice would be washed.
How fitting that the true Lamb of God comes to the pool where the sick and helpless wait.
The five porticoes symbolise the five books of the Law, under which Israel lay waiting for grace.
St. Augustine remarks:
“The five porticoes signify the Law, which could show the sickness but not heal it.” (Tractates on John XVII.2)
2. The Multitude of the Infirm
“In these lay a multitude of invalids — blind, lame, and paralysed.” (John 5:3)
This is a picture of fallen humanity: blind to truth, lame in virtue, paralysed by sin.
The pool represents the Old Covenant — holy, but powerless to give life.
St. John Chrysostom explains:
“The water of the Law could cleanse the body, but it could not give strength to the soul. Grace had not yet descended.” (Homilies on John XXXVI.1)
All await the stirring of the water — a hint of the baptismal mystery soon to be revealed.
3. The Man Who Had Been Ill for Thirty-Eight Years
“One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.” (John 5:5)
His long illness mirrors Israel’s long wandering in the desert — thirty-eight years of waiting to enter the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 2:14).
Both await the mercy of God.
St. Augustine sees in this man a symbol of the soul under sin:
“The sick man was the image of the people under the Law, sick for lack of grace; for without the Saviour, the Law made manifest sin but did not take it away.” (Tractates on John XVII.3)
Christ approaches precisely where human effort has failed.
4. The Divine Question
“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’” (John 5:6)
The question is not ignorance but invitation.
Christ awakens desire before granting healing.
St. Ambrose comments:
“He asks, not to learn, but to stir faith. He who longs to heal first kindles the will to be healed.” (On the Mysteries IV.21)
Grace does not act without consent. Salvation begins when the will turns to the Saviour.
5. “Sir, I Have No One”
“The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up.’” (John 5:7)
These are some of the saddest words in Scripture: “I have no one.”
Here stands the loneliness of fallen man — isolated, helpless, waiting for aid that never comes.
St. Augustine says tenderly:
“He had no man; yet there stood before him the God-Man. The sick man found grace, for the Law had found none to help.” (Tractates on John XVII.5)
The pool could heal one person at a time; Christ heals all who believe.
6. The Word That Heals
“Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your mat, and walk.’ And at once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and walked.” (John 5:8–9)
The command creates what it commands — divine speech that does what it says.
The paralytic hears and obeys, and in obeying receives strength.
St. John Chrysostom comments:
“He spoke as Lord; the word was work. He gave not help to enter the pool but power to rise above it.” (Homilies on John XXXVI.2)
“Rise” recalls resurrection; “take up your mat” signifies leaving behind the old life; “walk” means living in grace.
7. The Sabbath Controversy
“Now that day was the Sabbath.” (John 5:9)
Here the true conflict begins.
The Law had forbidden work, but the Lord of the Sabbath brings rest in a deeper sense — rest from sin.
St. Augustine teaches:
“The Sabbath was a sign; its fulfilment is the rest of the soul in God. The Jews kept the sign but lost the meaning.” (Tractates on John XVII.6)
By healing on the Sabbath, Christ declares that mercy is the heart of divine law.
8. The Accusation and the Identity
“The Jews said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’” (John 5:10)
The healed man obeys Christ rather than men — a foretaste of apostolic courage.
When asked who healed him, he does not yet know.
Later Jesus finds him again and says:
“See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.” (v.14)
Physical healing leads to moral conversion.
Grace restores not only the body but the soul.
St. Ambrose writes:
“He who had lain thirty-eight years was healed in a moment, but to preserve the gift he must keep the command.” (On Repentance II.11.103)
9. “My Father Is Working Still”
“But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working still, and I am working.’” (John 5:17)
This statement reveals Christ’s divinity more clearly than any miracle.
He claims equality of action and purpose with the Father.
St. Augustine explains:
“When God rested from creation, He did not cease from governing. The Son works with the Father, for all His works are one and the same.” (Tractates on John XVII.8)
By calling God His own Father, Jesus declares that His work is divine — an explicit claim to deity.
10. The Response of Hostility
“This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)
Faith sees in this claim the glory of the Son; unbelief sees only blasphemy.
Revelation divides hearts — the same word heals and hardens.
St. John Chrysostom remarks:
“It was not the Sabbath He broke, but their blindness; not the Law He transgressed, but the letter that kills.” (Homilies on John XXXVII.1)
The One who had healed the paralytic now confronts the paralysis of the spirit — hearts stiffened against grace.
11. The Son’s Obedience and Power
“The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing.” (John 5:19)
This is not limitation but perfect unity.
The Son’s will is never apart from the Father’s — what the Father does, the Son does likewise.
St. Cyril of Alexandria explains:
“He means not inability but inseparability. The Son sees the Father because He is of the same nature and participates in all His works.” (Commentary on John V.2)
Thus Christ’s miracles are the visible expression of the Father’s eternal compassion.
12. The Gift of Life and Judgment
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will.” (John 5:21)
Here Christ claims the divine prerogative of life-giving power.
Raising the body from sickness prefigures raising the soul from sin and the dead from the tomb.
“The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” (v.22)
The Judge of all is the same One who died for all.
St. Augustine says:
“He who was judged will judge; He who was condemned will condemn only those who refuse mercy.” (Tractates on John XIX.5)
Mercy now, justice later — both from the same divine heart.
13. Hearing and Believing
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24)
Eternal life begins now — in faith.
Believing is already a participation in resurrection.
St. Ambrose teaches:
“He who believes rises daily from death to life; for faith renews the heart, even before the body is restored.” (On the Holy Spirit II.11.123)
14. The Two Resurrections
“The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)
There is a spiritual resurrection (the soul raised by grace) and a bodily resurrection (the final rising at the last day).
St. Augustine distinguishes:
“Now the dead are raised in soul by faith; then they shall be raised in body by sight.” (Tractates on John XIX.9)
The miracle at Bethesda prefigures both.
15. Theological Summary
| Theme | Revelation |
| Five porticoes | The Law revealing sin but not healing it |
| Thirty-eight years | The long weakness of fallen humanity |
| “I have no one” | Human helplessness without grace |
| “Rise, take up your mat” | The command of faith and new life |
| Sabbath healing | Mercy fulfils, not breaks, the Law |
| “My Father is working” | The Son’s equality with the Father |
| Judgment and life | The Son as both Redeemer and Judge |
St. Augustine sums up:
“The pool was the Law, the angel was the prophet, the water was the people’s heart, the first to enter was healed; but now grace heals all who believe, for the Lord of the pool has come.” (Tractates on John XVII.2)
16. Moral and Spiritual Application
Recognise your paralysis. Sin leaves the soul unable to rise without Christ.
Listen to His word. His command carries the power to obey.
Keep the Sabbath inwardly. Rest in His mercy rather than mere ritual.
Remember you have a Man. You are not alone; the God-Man stands beside you.
Live the resurrection daily. Each act of faith is a rising from death to life.
17. Christ the Lord of Life
The healing at Bethesda prefigures the whole work of redemption:
The pool → the font of Baptism.
The word “Rise” → the grace of resurrection.
The Sabbath → the eternal rest of heaven.
St. Ambrose rejoices:
“He heals on the Sabbath to show that our true rest is not idleness but renewal. The Lord’s rest is our resurrection.” (On the Six Days of Creation VII.76)
18. Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, Giver of Life,
You came to the pool of our misery and spoke the word of healing.
Raise us from the paralysis of sin; teach us to walk in the power of Your grace.
Let us rest not in the letter but in Your mercy,
and hear even now the voice that will one day call us from the tomb:
“Rise, and walk.”
For You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 