Jesus went to the sheep market in Jerusalem, which is right near the pool called Bethesda (Jn. 5:1-16). The word “Bethesda” means, the house of mercy, but to many it was a house of misery. In verse 1 John links this miracle with the healing of the nobleman’s son in the previous chapter. Having dealt there with human doubt, Jesus now prepares to deal with human disability.
1. A Sad Group Of People
A group of sick and sad people were around the pool. Perhaps, they were rejected by doctors and forsaken by the relatives and the society. The King James Version tells us that at a certain season an angel would trouble the water of the pool; at such times, the first person who stepped into the water would be healed of whatever disease he had. Apart from this indication in the gospel account, John also describes the activity of “the angel of the waters” accomplishing the divine purpose in the book of Revelation (Rev. 16:5). Throughout the Old Testament we see angels and ministering spirits going about their work. This may have been one such case.
“And a certain man was there, who had been thirty-eight years in his sickness.” (Jn. 5:5). The man had been waiting patiently beside the pool of Bethesda for several years, watching for an angel to appear, ruffle the waters, and to attend to his needs. During his lonely vigil he had been witness to several heavenly manifestations. Many had received healing in that place, but no one had helped him down into that healing pool. He had watched God answering other people’s prayers, but never his own. But God had heard his prayers. The waters did not move for him but God did move in his life, in his own time.
Imagine, what he would have missed if God had merely sent an angel instead of coming himself in the person of Christ to heal him! Oh, how we long to see a moving of the waters and our loved ones or ourselves made whole; but we have to realize that, it is all a matter of the timing of God and not a question of whether he hears or answers prayers. I am not saying that God will always heal when we ask him to, but I do believe that prayers for healing always get answered eventually, even if we have to wait until he takes us to heaven to enjoy it!
It is not a matter of “can God”, but “will God.” If he wills, ‘when’ he wills is his business and not ours. In other words, don’t lose faith in the ability of your awe-inspiring God just because the waters do not move the moment you tell him to move them! The waters may not move at all. But take courage, God will move in your life. Your situations may not change at all. But cheer up! Certainly, God will raise you up, above your situation.
2. A Miracle With A Message
There were many sick people there, but Jesus focused on this man because he had a purpose in mind and a lesson to teach. He was about to perform a miracle with a message for us.
It’s important to understand that Jesus was not merely in the healing business. A great multitude of sick people were there that day, but Jesus healed only this man and silently slipped away (Jn. 5:13). Had he stayed, the people would have clamored after him to be healed. The primary purpose of his coming into this world was not to heal the sick but to save the sinners (Lk. 19:10).
According to the purpose of this Gospel, John very vividly brings out the omniscience of the Son of God (Jn. 5:6). When Jesus saw this man he knew all about him. He did not ask his name or his disease or how long he had been there. He could discern that this man was sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus knows all things. In the Old Testament we find the words, “Thou God sees me.” Yes, God sees us in the blackness of the mid-night and in the brightness of the mid-day.
3. Omnipotence Meets Impotence
Now at the pool, omnipotence met impotence. Jesus speaks to this man. He took the initiative as He did with the Samaritan woman and with the two disciples. He always begins his work in a man’s heart before the man begins with him. The two disciples of John the Baptist followed Jesus. Probably they were too shy to approach him directly. They followed at a respectful distance. Then Jesus did something entirely characteristic of him. He turned and spoke to them. He opened a conversation with them. Here we have the symbol of the divine initiative. It is always God who takes the first step. When the human mind begins to seek and the human heart begins to long, God comes to meet us far more than half way.
Jesus said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” The impotent man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” The mighty physician told the miserable patient, “Arise, take up your bed, and walk.” And immediately the man was made whole, he took up his bed and began to walk (Jn. 5:6-9).
Hence, the first step is to get up. Some effort on the part of the sick is called for. The old maxim, “You never know what you can do till you try,” still holds well. The ability and the will to try are made largely out of past efforts that have brought good results. Time and again we have surprised ourselves by completing tasks, which we first thought were beyond our capability.
Don’t you wonder at the superfluous question of Jesus, “Do you wish to get well?” The daily presence of the impotent man at the pool was sufficient evidence that it was his greatest desire to be made whole. Trench suggests that the question of Jesus had its purpose, since the man had been so often denied a cure and consequently hope became dead within him. In other words, Jesus was asking him, “What is your will in this matter?” He wanted the man to activate his will. Jesus wasn’t just asking him if he wanted to walk again. He used a word for ‘whole’ that means basically “fullness, or wholesomeness.”
Now it’s true that this man could never have said ‘yes’ to Jesus unless Jesus took the initiative. God does not force our will, but he does enable our will.
4. An Aggressive Attitude Of Blaming
When Jesus was offering him some help by asking him, “Do you wish to get well?” the sick man started complaining and blaming people who were not willing to help him. He said, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming another steps down before me.” (Jn. 5:7). This is an aggressive attitude, which reacts to circumstances with blame. Most of the time we blame others for our failures and problems. Sometimes we even tend to blame God.
Blaming is a system of avoiding responsibility. We have an impulse to blame because it promises an escape. This impulse started with Adam. His first instinct in reaction to his circumstance was three-fold blame: it is the woman, the snake and God who are responsible for the fault. Spiritual growth and maturity comes to a Christian only by owning responsibility and working at resolving it.
We should have no excuses for our failures, and no escapes for our mistakes. The first thing we must do is to admit that we are weak. The man readily admitted to Jesus that he was too weak to make it into the pool on his own (v.7). But he still blamed others. The primary source of this man’s sickness was his sin. Not everybody is sick because of sin, but evidently this man was. We are sinners by birth, sinners by nature, sinners by choice and sinners by practice.
Charles R. Swindoll says: Blame never affirms, it assaults. Blame never restores, it wounds. Blame never solves, it complicates. Blame never unites it separates. Blame never smiles it frowns. Blame never forgives, it rejects. Blame never forgets, it remembers. Blame never builds it destroys. Let us admit it, until we stop blaming others we will not start enjoying health and happiness again. Rather if we own up to the mess we are in, there is hope for us. We will receive help.
5. A Command To Obey
Jesus not only offered this man a choice, but he commanded him to do something. He did not help him to his feet and fold up his mat for him. The man had to initiate to get up. Jesus would then do the rest. Jesus did not say, “I will put you in the pool.” That was what the man expected someone to do for him. God works beyond our expectations and in different ways. In this command Jesus was expressing to him that he was above and beyond the he
Get your free registration and log in to view entire article
Post new comment