JOHN 5:9-10 NKJV

And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

JOHN 5:9-10 NKJV

John 5:9 John records this miracle because it was a witness to Jesus’ deity. Jesus Himself told John the Baptist that the proof of His messiahship was that the lame would walk (Matt. 11:1–5), for the prophet Isaiah had predicted this long before: “The lame shall leap like a deer” (Is. 35:1–6). Carrying a bed on the Sabbath was considered a violation of the Law of Moses (v. 10).

John 5:10 The Jews probably refers to Jewish leaders who were members of the council (1:19, note). The Law of Moses taught that the Sabbath must be different from other days. On it, neither people nor animals could work. The prophet Jeremiah had prohibited carrying burdens or working on the Sabbath (Jer. 17:21, 22). Nehemiah made it clear that trading on the Sabbath as if it were an ordinary day was forbidden (Neh. 13:15–19). Over the years, the Jewish leaders had amassed thousands of rules and regulations concerning the Sabbath. By Jesus’ day, they had thirty-nine different classifications of work. One of these categories of work consisted of carrying a burden, including carrying a needle in one’s robe. They even argued over whether a person could wear artificial teeth or a wooden leg. According to them, carrying furniture and even providing medical treatment on the Sabbath were forbidden. Jesus did not break the Law; He violated the traditions of the Pharisees which had grown up around the Law.