John 5:12

John 5:12 says, Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?  The Jews wanted to know who told the man to walk, not so they could thank him for healing the man, but so they could admonish him.  The violation of religious rules was more important than doing good works for God.  Again, may we never be that way.  In honoring the Sabbath Day, or Lord's Day for us, let us never fail to do a good deed because of the day. Verse thirteen adds, And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.  Jesus had disappeared into the crowd, so the man could not tell them Who had healed him.  We might ask why he didn't know Who Jesus was, but I am sure that in his excitement he wasn't thinking about having to point Jesus out at that moment.  Still, if we are asked Who made us whole, we need to quickly point to Jesus Christ, the Only One Who can make a person whole.  Verse fourteen states, Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.  Jesus found the man at the Temple and told him that he was made whole so sin no more.  This does not mean that Jesus was warning him that forgiveness and restoration depended on the man's future actions.  Jesus was warning him not to fall back into a life ruled by sin.  We are to put aside the rule of sin in our lives when we accept Christ as our Savior.  Verse fifteen adds, The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.  The man, when he left the Temple, went back to the Jews and pointed out Jesus as the One Who healed him.  He was most likely expecting them to praise Jesus for what He did.  We cannot determine how people are going to react when we tell them about Jesus.  Verse sixteen continues, And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.  Some may be like these Jews and seek Him simply to persecute Him.  Our task is to witness and then it is up to the people how they react.  Some will believe on Him, some will persecute, and still others will simply ignore Him.  Verse seventeen declares, But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.  The Jews may have been persecuting Jesus, but His reply was that His Father worked, so He did also.  All we can do is obey God’s commands, even if the conflict with religious rituals. Verse eighteen adds, Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Instead of celebrating the miracle of the man being healed, the Jews became even more determined to kill Jesus.  Some people are so caught up in ritual today that they ae the same way.