When Jesus healed a lame man by the pool, He told the man, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk” (John 5:8). The man immediately obeyed.
This happened to occur on the Sabbath day (John 5:9). So when the rulers saw this man carrying his pallet, they said to him, “It is the Sabbath, it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet” (John 5:10). The man explained that the one who healed him told him to do this. When he was questioned further, he stated that he did not know who healed him; though he later found out and reported back to the rulers that it was Jesus.
This man rightly listened to Jesus rather than the rulers. By healing him, Jesus demonstrated – at the very least – that God was with Him. Yet as the account continued and Jesus responded to the rulers by saying, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working” (John 5:17), it was clear that Jesus was “equal with God” (John 5:18). The rulers rejected this fact and wanted to destroy Jesus for making this claim.
Since Jesus was God in the flesh, His word was to be heeded over the man-made rules of the religious leaders. This was proven by the fact that Jesus could heal the people (physically and spiritually) and the rulers could not.
So listen to the one who heals you. Only Jesus is able to offer us forgiveness of sins and hope of eternal life. Let us be sure to follow His word over the word of any man.