“Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?”
The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. — the healed man's ignorance of Jesus' identity ironically parallels the authorities' ignorance. Jesus' withdrawal (anachoreo) anticipates later passages where he withdraws from hostile contexts. The anonymity of the healer heightens the tension.
Church Fathers on John 5:12
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
The feast of Pentecost. Jesus always went up to Jerusalem at the time of the feasts, that it might be seen that He was not an enemy to, but an observer of, the Law. And it gave Him the opportunity of impressing the simple multitude by miracles and teaching: as great numbers used then to collect from the neighboring towns.
The pool by the sheep-market, is the place where the priest washed the animals that were going to be sacrificed.
Read all 19 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!