Page 408 - Bible History

CHRIST, THE GREAT TEA<JHER 381
isee. Because everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.''
The Law of Moses commanded the Jews to keep holy J and the Sabbath Day. The Pharisees were very strict S lh
about enforcing this law. They taught the people that anything at all that a man did on the Sabbath Day­ even the most innocent enjoyment-was sinful.
Our Savior condemned this false idea of the Phari­ sees. He told the people that the Sabbath was made for man-not man for the Sabbath. God wanted them to look upon the Sabbath as a day of rest, on which they could raise their hearts to God and gather strength for the work of the coming week. He did not want the Sabbath to be a day of su ering and torture.
There was in Jerusalem a pool named Bethsaida. It Jam was a miraculous place. An angel of the Lord
on the descended at certain times into the pool, and the water S h
was moved. The rst person who went into the pool after the motion of the water was cured of whatever sickness he might have. Around the pool there were ve porches, in which lay sick, blind, lame, and crippled people, waiting for the moving of the water.
One Sabbath Day, Jesus came to the Pool of Beth­ saida. There He found a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been waiting a long time, so He said to him, "Wilt thou be made whole?" The sick man answered, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is moved. By the time that I get there, another goes down before me.'' Jesus said to him,