One day, Jesus went to Jerusalem, to the pool of Bethesda, which was flooded with the blind, deaf, and crippled. Jesus approached one man who could not stand, and after asking him if he wished to be well, ordered him to pick up his mat and walk. The man was instantly healed and walked for the first time in his life. The Jews were enraged by this because it was the sabbath, and Hebrew law held that carrying a mat should not occur on such days of worship. When asked who had told him to do so, the healed man could not recall Jesus' name. He soon found Jesus, who told him to go forth and sin no more. The man then remembered the name and told the Jews it had been Jesus who had healed him and ordered him to carry his mat.
In reflecting on this passage, it is clear that the issue of controversy at hand is that of supremacy between the Law of Moses and Jesus' teachings. The Law of Moses forbade anyone to carry a mat or walk more than a small handful of steps on the sabbath day. But Jesus had ordered the man He healed to take his mat and walk home. As Christians, we are taught that when it comes to the Bible, Jesus' New Testament teachings overrule any conflicting teachings from the Old Testament. We are taught that on an issue like this, when doing the Lord's will is made impossible by a law of religion, the obligation to do God's will supercedes the religious practice. In the three verses that follow, rounding out the story, it is revealed that when persecuted by Jews for His actions, Jesus reveals that He must work on the sabbath, because His father does so (this would lead to further attempts by the Jews to kill Jesus because by referring to God as His father, Jesus puts Himself at an equal level to God). This is the ultimate support for the above mentioned ideas, specifically that Jesus overrules the Law of Moses when in conflict and that when trying to do God's will, one is justified in not observing religious traditions.
God's will is more important than any law. Jesus is persecuted for doing what God wants, and the Jews take offense to His acts of kindness. In helping the blind man, Jesus does what God would have wanted and heals him, but because it is the sabbath, the Jews become angry because His actions go against the Law of Moses. Christians believe that all people should be helped at all times, and there is no day of rest from helping others. Furthermore, to be persecuted for these actions and scorned upon is ridiculous. Jesus was simply doing the work of God and nothing should stop us as Christians from doing the same.
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