But there was one man in the midst of this impotent throng so far gone--so feeble and helpless, that the pool of Bethesda could not meet his case. "A certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He saith unto him, 'Wilt thou _be made_ whole?'" What grace and power in this question! It went far beyond the utmost stretch of the impotent man's thoughts. He thought only of human help, or of his own ability to get into the pool. He knew not that the speaker was above and beyond the pool, with its occasional movement--beyond angelic ministry--beyond all human help and effort, the Possessor of all power in heaven and on earth. "The impotent man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool; but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.'" What a true picture of all those who are seeking salvation by ordinances! Each one doing the best he could for himself. No care for others. No thought of helping them. "Jesus saith unto him, 'Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.' And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: _and on the same day was the Sabbath_." Here we have man's Sabbath again. It certainly was not God's Sabbath. The miserable multitude gathered around the pool proved that God's full rest had not yet come--that His glorious antitype of the Sabbath had not yet dawned on this sin-stricken earth. When that bright day comes, there will be no blind, halt, and withered folk thronging the porches of the pool of Bethesda. God's Sabbath and human misery are wholly incompatible. But it was man's Sabbath. It was no longer the seal of Jehovah's covenant with the seed of Abraham (as it was once, and will be again), but the badge of man's self-righteousness. "The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, 'It is the Sabbath day; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.'" It was no doubt lawful enough for him to lie on that bed, week after week, month after month, year after year, while they were going on with their empty, worthless, hollow attempt at Sabbath-keeping. If they had had one ray of spiritual light, they would have seen the flagrant inconsistency of attempting to maintain their traditionary notions respecting the Sabbath in the presence of human misery, disease, and degradation. But they were utterly blind, and hence when the glorious fruits of Christ's ministry were being displayed, they had the temerity to pronounce them unlawful. Nor this only; but "therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day." What a spectacle! Religious people--yea, the leaders and teachers of religion--the guides of the professed people of God, seeking to slay the Lord of the Sabbath because He had made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day!