Wednesday 12/21/2022

John 5:9-13

9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 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.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

Jesus spoke these yearning words to his disciples the night before he was crucified. He wanted them to understand that the cross was not an accident, a sad mistake that got him into trouble with the authorities. Giving himself on the cross expressed his deep love for them. Mark 14:26 said Jesus and the disciples ended their Passover supper by singing together. If they followed the usual practice, they sang Psalm 118, in which the first four verses, like Psalm 136, repeated that God’s love endures forever.