He replied, 

"The man who made me well told me, 

'Pick up your mat and walk.' "

"Who is this man who told you, 

'Pick up your mat and walk' " they asked. 

But the man who was healed 

did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

John 5:11-13 CSB

Jesus slipped away. 

Jesus was so anonymous and this healing may have happened so quietly that the crowd pressing around didn't realise what had happened.

The Jewish leaders were so fixated on their rules being broken, they missed the sign.

John is writing about signs. 

Signs point somewhere.

Jesus impact was unmistakable, but he was not able to be seen, except in a man who had been disabled for 38 years was now able, wandering around with his bedding.

The religious practice of being good enough for God by keeping all the rules was gone. A new way, a better way, was being signaled. 

Heaven met earth in our guy's life and he got up.

Walked.

And Jesus was seen in this mini resurrection, a life changed, transformed.

The sign was wandering around carrying his bedding with him.

Every time we see a life changed, transformed, that person is a living signpost, pointing to Jesus, the one who heals the outcast and slips away into the crowd.

#gospelofJohn

#signpost