This document contains passages from the Bible describing Jesus healing a man who had been ill for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. It describes how Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed, tells him to pick up his mat and walk, and the man is instantly healed. However, it occurred on the Sabbath, so some Jews criticized the man for carrying his mat. Jesus later finds the man in the temple and tells him to stop sinning. The document emphasizes that a person cannot be both pitiful and powerful, and discusses avoiding self-pity through focusing on others and spiritual maturity.

1. John 5:1-4

2. Self-pity is the psychological state of mind of an
individual in perceived adverse circumstances who has
not accepted the situation and does not have the
confidence nor competence to cope with it.
It is characterised by a person’s belief that he or she is
the victim of unfortunate circumstances and is therefore
deserving of condolences. Self-pity is generally regarded
as a negative emotion in that it does not generally help
deal with adverse situations.
Definition of self pity

3. 
You can be pitiful or powerful.
You can’t be both.

4. 
1 LATER ON there was a Jewish festival (feast) for
which Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is
in Jerusalem a pool near the Sheep Gate. This pool
in the Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five
porches (alcoves, colonnades, doorways). 3 In
these lay a great number of sick folk—some blind,
some crippled, and some paralyzed (shriveled
up)—waiting for the bubbling up of the water.
John 5:1-14 (AMP)

5. 
4 For an angel of the Lord went down at appointed
seasons into the pool and moved and stirred up
the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up
of the water, stepped in was cured of whatever
disease with which he was afflicted. 5 There was a
certain man there who had suffered with a deep-
seated and lingering disorder for thirty-eight years.
John 5:1-14 (AMP)

6. 
6 When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless],
knowing that he had already been a long time in
that condition, He said to him, Do you want to
become well? [Are you really in earnest about
getting well?] 7 The invalid answered, Sir, I have
nobody when the water is moving to put me into
the pool; but while I am trying to come [into it]
myself, somebody else steps down ahead of me.
John 5:1-14 (AMP)

7. 
8 Jesus said to him, Get up! Pick up your bed
(sleeping pad) and walk! 9 Instantly the man
became well and recovered his strength and picked
up his bed and walked. But that happened on the
Sabbath. 10 So the Jews kept saying to the man
who had been healed, It is the Sabbath, and you
have no right to pick up your bed [it is not lawful].
John 5:1-14 (AMP)

8. 
11 He answered them, The Man Who healed me
and gave me back my strength, He Himself said to
me, Pick up your bed and walk! 12 They asked
him, Who is the Man Who told you, Pick up your
bed and walk? 13 Now the invalid who had been
healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had
quietly gone away [had passed on unnoticed],
since there was a crowd in the place.
John 5:1-14 (AMP)

9. 
14 Afterward, when Jesus found him in the temple,
He said to him, See, you are well! Stop sinning or
something worse may happen to you.
John 5:1-14 (AMP)

10. 
“Are you really in earnest about getting well” “Get
up! Pick up your bed and walk!”
JESUS

11. 
You can be pitiful or powerful.
You can’t be both.

13. 
Job 19:21 (MSG)
21 "Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me. God
has come down hard on me!
1. Obsession with yourself.

14. 
Romans 12:3 (NIV)
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of
you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you
ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith
God has given you.
2. Curse of comparisons

15. 
1 Samuel 22:8 (NIV)
8 Is that why you have all conspired against me? No
one tells me when my son makes a covenant with
the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about
me ….
3. Poor understanding of how to handle
difficulty and problems

16. 
You can be pitiful or powerful.
You can’t be both.

18. “Are you really in earnest about getting well”
“Get up” “Pick up your mat and walk”
“Instantly the man became well and recovered
his strength”
“… Jesus found him in the temple”
 “Stop sinning or something worse may happen
to you.”
Freedom

19. 
You can be pitiful or powerful.
You can’t be both.

20. 
Spiritual maturity is being able to pray "Lord use
me" and not pout over the feeling that someone
"used you.“

21. 
You can be pitiful or powerful.
You can’t be both.