John 5: 10-11. 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.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

Still with the story of healing the paralyzed at the Bethesda pool. The man healed in this story is perhaps the least willing and the least grateful of all the people Jesus heals in John’s Gospel.

If ever we are tempted to think that God’s healing depends on the quality or quantity of a person’s faith, this passage offers a strong corrective. The man whom Jesus heals shows no sign of faith in Jesus or of gratitude for what Jesus has done for him. When confronted by the religious authorities about carrying his mat on the Sabbath, he deflects blame to the man who healed him, whose name he has not even bothered to learn!

One might wonder why Jesus chose this particular man to heal out of all the invalids lying around the pool. Yet here we see that the compassion and healing power of Jesus And God are not reserved only for those who are “deserving” and that healing is not a matter of having “enough” faith but is a work of God and one of Her many undeserved gifts. Thanks be to God.
Prayer: Thank You Generous Giver for the gifts You pour on all the undeserving, including me!

adopted from the research of Elizabeth Johnson in https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2839