Chapter XIII.--THE PHARISEES' PRETENDED ZEAL FOR THE SABBATH. The man whom Jesus had healed at the pool of Bethesda, seems to have made the first use of his restored power by going into the House of God, to thank and praise Him for having been made whole. Jesus, finding him in the temple, bade him remember the cure which had been worked upon him, and show his gratitude by forsaking all his sins and leading a holy life, so that he might not bring upon himself far more terrible sufferings than any which he could feel upon earth. The man now understood who had cured him, and went "and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole": evidently believing that Jesus was the Messiah, and that His command was quite sufficient to justify a man for doing that which was not strictly lawful on the Sabbath day. The Jews, however, would not allow this: therefore did they "persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day." Jesus, then, in a conversation of which St. John gives us an account, tried to convince the Jews that He was indeed the Messiah, and as such, _had_ authority even to heal on the Sabbath. On this occasion He gave the Jews advice that all of us should listen to and follow; for He said, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." The Jews believed that the Scriptures of the Old Testament, which were all that at that time were written, were indeed the Word of God, and that they showed them how to obtain eternal life: Jesus therefore bids them read and study them honestly and carefully, and that they would then see that He must be the Messiah, of whom those Scriptures testify or speak. We know that the New Testament as well as the Old, is the Word of God; and that it shows us the way to eternal life. Let us then obey our Lord's command, and search the Scriptures, that we may learn His will in order to do it. Jesus also told the Jews, that Moses, whom they pretended to obey exactly, wrote of Him; and that if they really believed Moses, and wished to obey the Law, they would acknowledge Him to be indeed the Messiah, of whom Moses and all the prophets had written. All that Jesus said, does not seem to have had any effect; for on the next Sabbath, something of the same kind happened. The disciples who were following Jesus through the corn-fields, being hungry, began to pluck the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, to take off the husk, and eating them as they went. It might seem to us that the disciples had no right to take ears of corn which did not belong to them, but this was, under the circumstances, allowed by the Law of Moses, or the Levitical Law: a hungry man, who was passing through standing corn, might pluck the ears with his hand to satisfy his wants, though he was forbidden "to move a sickle unto his neighbour's standing corn."