John 5:1-11 1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 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.’ ” We’re in and of ourselves V. 1-5 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” John 5:6 Question: Do you get well? V. 6 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” John 5:7 Do you want to get ? Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” John 5:8 Command: Believe and . V. 8 Do you want to get ? Get up! Pick up your mat and walk. V. 8 Questions for Discipleship group and/or personal study: Opener: What is a funny excuse that you have used or heard someone use? Go to the Source: Read John 5:1-11 How do you picture the setting of this pool? What do you see? Smell? Hear? What is the atmosphere like? Are you uncomfortable in settings like this? Why or why not? Why do you think Jesus asked the unusual question in v. 6? Live it out: Do you want to get ? What word do you think Jesus would put in the blank for you? Jesus gave the man the command: ‘get up, pick up your mat and walk.’ What action is Jesus calling you to take? What excuse in your mind is holding you back? How can your group help you?