During a prayer meeting at church last night I was reminded of the lame man by the pool of Bethesda. John 5 relates how a great number of sickly, blind, lame, and withered who waited for the moving of the water. These were desperate people who hoped for a miracle, and patience alone was not enough to bring healing. The great irony of the situation is healing came not only to the alert but the fittest among them. The first one to enter the pool after being stirred by an angel would be the only one healed of any infirmity. The blind couldn't see the water move and the lame couldn't move to respond fast enough. For nearly all who languished hope had been swallowed by despair.
John 5:5-7 says, "Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 7 The sick man answered Him, "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." Verse 5 introduces the reader to a lame man who had suffered from an infirmity for almost four decades and long remained at the pool's edge. Jesus walked up to the man and asked, "Do you want to be made well?" The man did not answer the question at all. His response shows a preoccupation with his hopeless situation: I am alone, I have no help, I am too slow, and others too fast. In his mind healing could only come one way, and this could not happen in his current circumstances.
Into this pitiable and hopeless situation entered the Son of God, Jesus Christ! John 5:8-9 says, "Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath." Jesus is the Healer and Saviour who found the man in his time of need, and He comes to you and me today in our time of trouble ready to save. What I love about this passage is the man had a very limited view of how he might be healed, yet without meeting any of his criteria Jesus spoke and simply overruled! It is true healing does not always occur immediately and none of us will be without troubles in this life, yet Jesus is able to heal abundantly, exceedingly beyond what we can ask or think when we look to Him.
How the world needs Jesus, and this lame man needs Him more than ever. What a great and awesome God we have who seeks us out in our time of need. Who are we to criticise the timing of God who allowed 38 years of infirmity or allowed it in the first place? The ways of God are past finding out, for without sorrow and despair we could not recognise joy if it looked us in the eye and shook our hand. There the Prince of Peace stood, and the man poured out his lame complaints. Jesus knew the man's weakness, his infirmity, and how long it had been since he had been well. Jesus loved him, came to him, spoke with him, and healed him. Let us look to Jesus and praise Him rather than focusing on our lameness or circumstances. This is the true path to life and joy forevermore!
John 5:5-7 says, "Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 7 The sick man answered Him, "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." Verse 5 introduces the reader to a lame man who had suffered from an infirmity for almost four decades and long remained at the pool's edge. Jesus walked up to the man and asked, "Do you want to be made well?" The man did not answer the question at all. His response shows a preoccupation with his hopeless situation: I am alone, I have no help, I am too slow, and others too fast. In his mind healing could only come one way, and this could not happen in his current circumstances.
Into this pitiable and hopeless situation entered the Son of God, Jesus Christ! John 5:8-9 says, "Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath." Jesus is the Healer and Saviour who found the man in his time of need, and He comes to you and me today in our time of trouble ready to save. What I love about this passage is the man had a very limited view of how he might be healed, yet without meeting any of his criteria Jesus spoke and simply overruled! It is true healing does not always occur immediately and none of us will be without troubles in this life, yet Jesus is able to heal abundantly, exceedingly beyond what we can ask or think when we look to Him.
How the world needs Jesus, and this lame man needs Him more than ever. What a great and awesome God we have who seeks us out in our time of need. Who are we to criticise the timing of God who allowed 38 years of infirmity or allowed it in the first place? The ways of God are past finding out, for without sorrow and despair we could not recognise joy if it looked us in the eye and shook our hand. There the Prince of Peace stood, and the man poured out his lame complaints. Jesus knew the man's weakness, his infirmity, and how long it had been since he had been well. Jesus loved him, came to him, spoke with him, and healed him. Let us look to Jesus and praise Him rather than focusing on our lameness or circumstances. This is the true path to life and joy forevermore!
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