April 4th, 2018

Do You Want to Get Well?

“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?”  John 5:6

Jesus is in Jerusalem at the time of this healing, specifically at the pool called Bethesda (House of Grace), and located by the Sheep Gate.  There were five porches by the pool, where the multitude of infirmed lay in wait for an angel to come and stir the pool’s water.  Whoever was the first to enter the stirred water was healed from the infirmity. 

Jesus comes upon a man who had been infirm for 38 years.  He asked the man, “Do you want to get well?”  The man responded that no one was there to help him.  Jesus responds, “Get up!  Pick up your mat and walk.”  The man was immediately made well and did as Jesus instructed.  It is noteworthy that this healing took place on the Sabbath. 

The man was confronted by the Jews wanting to know how it was he was carrying his bed on the Sabbath.  The man responded that the One who had healed him had told him to do so.  The man did not know Jesus by name, or where He was.  Later we read Jesus found the man and said to him, “See, you are well again.  Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 

What can we glean from this healing miracle of the Lord? 

1.  Jesus initiated this healing, not the infirmed man.

2.  When asked if he wanted to be “made well,” the infirmed man did not answer the question; rather, he focused on why he couldn’t be healed.  Some might label this the power of negative thoughts and negative words.

3.  Jesus skips the angel, the water, and the apparent lack of faith of the man.  Instead He simply says to the man, “RISE, take up your bed and walk.”   The man does as Jesus says and is healed!  Indeed, this healing at the House of Grace was a demonstration of grace that visited the man lying in wait for 38 years.  This was one-on-one, simply obey, healing. 

4.  When Jesus finds the healed man later on, He tells him to “sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”    This man and his infirmity had some connection to sin, not mentioned by Jesus until after the healing had taken place. 

Jesus knew exactly how to meet this man where he was at and how to guide him in such a way so that healing would be secured and the man would be set free.  How many times has the Lord met us where we are at and intimately guided us to healing and freedom?  How many times has Jesus been on the scene through His Holy Spirit, even when we are lying down and waiting for help to come – and having little faith that help will ever arrive?  How well does Jesus know us that He tells us what we need to hear, when we need to hear it?