THE WITHERED HAND.

thee.” The man was now healed of
his bodily disease ; but Jesus re-
minded him of that worst disease,
sin. If his sin was not taken away,
he must at last suffer much more
in another world, than he had suf-
fered while lying at the pool of Be-
thesda.

The man went away and told
the Jews that 1t was Jesus who had
cured him. Then those unbelieving
Jews persecuted Jesus, and tried to
kill Him, because they thought He
had broken the Sabbath day. How
foolish and wicked these people
were.

We read no more about the man
who was made well. We may hope
that he attended to the words of

391

Jesus, and that he found a cure for
his sinful soul, as well as for his
sick body.

There is no pool of Bethesda
now. We hear sometimes of heal-
ing springs, and many sick persons
go to them, as anxious to be cured
as the poor man who lay so long at
the pool of Bethesda. But the pool
of Bethesda may remind us of some-
thing else—of that fountain of
which the Bible tells us, “ the foun-
tain opened for sin,” which can heal
our perishing souls. Sinners may
come to that fountain every day,
and be cured; none need perish,
and none need wait. “ Whosoever
will, let him come.”

lay any

 

CCLXITI.

JHE WITHERED JIAND.

T was the Sabbath day,
J and Jesus, with His disci-
ples, was walking through
the fields of corn. He
was going on some holy
work ; for all He did was holy,
and wherever He was, He “ went
about doing good.” How pleasant
it-~was for the disciples to be with
Jesus, and to ask Him questions,
and to hear His blessed words, as
they walked along! They did not
talk of the things of this world ;
their conversation was about holy
and heavenly things,—the only con-
versation fit for the Sabbath day.

- The disciples were hungry. They
were poor men; perhaps they had

 

 

little or no food that day; or, per-
haps, no time to eat it; and now
they felt faint as they walked along,
so they gathered some of the ears of
corn, and began to eat. There was
nothing wrong in this; but there
were some people there who said
that it was wrong. These people
were the Pharisees who were always
trying to trouble Jesus, and to ac-
cuse him of breaking the law. So
they spoke to the disciples, and
said, “ Why do ye that which is not
lawful to do on the Sabbath day?”
Jesus heard what the Pharisees
said, and He answered, “ Have you
not read in the Bible what David
did when he was hungry, and the