Scripture: John 5:1-23
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. [2] Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. [3] Crowds of sick people-blind, lame, or paralyzed-lay on the porches. [5] One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. [8] Jesus told him, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!" [9] Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, [10] so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, "You can't work on the Sabbath! The law doesn't allow you to carry that sleeping mat!" [11] But he replied, "The man who healed me told me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" [16] So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. [17] But Jesus replied, "My Father is always working, and so am I." [19] So Jesus explained, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
(John 5:1-3, 5, 8-11, 16-17, 19 NLT)
Have u ever noticed from the story above that Jesus healed only one person out of the multitude we are told are gathered there? I didn't notice either until today.
Why would Jesus go to a place filled with sick people and heal only one? Is there a subtle message in that act?
Jesus arrives at the pool of Bethesda, home to multitudes of sick people awaiting the stirring of the water so they could jump in first and be healed. No doubt, many would have been there for many years because the water was stirred only once a year, and that could heal only one person!
We are not told what drew Jesu's attention to the man in the story but, we are told Jesus knew he had been there a long time! Thirty-eight years precisely. Had he been the longest there? We can't say. However, we know the man also 'had no one'. He was completely helpless. He was at the brink of a miracle, but he had no one to help him with the final stretch to reach it.
On this day however, time was collapsed as Jesus zoomed in on his case! Nothing could hold him back from his healing. Indeed, the stirring of the water became inconsequential!! That is, the natural and expected process, a process he had queued up for, for thirty-eight years no longer mattered as Jesus issued a command: 'Stand up, pick up your mat and walk!!' (Verse 8).
Why did Jesus break the protocol? Why didn't he just encourage the man and say, 'Don't worry friend, I will stand by you and when the water is stirred, make sure you get in first!' ? And moreover, it was a Sabbath day!! You don't work on Sabbaths as the Jewish leaders were all too anxious to point out! (Verse 10).
Some of the answer lies in verse 17 and 19 of John chapter 5: [17] But Jesus replied, "My Father is always working, and so am I." [19] So Jesus explained, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. Jesus was saying in effect that he had no option but to break protocol because he had to follow his Father! Jesus saw his father opening this man's file so he had no option but to zoom in on him! He saw his father healing this man (possibly out of turn) so he could not but issue the command to perfect the healing in the physical!!
Simply put, the man's day had come!! The books of remembrance had been opened. His long years of waiting had come up for a memorial before God. And nothing on earth could stop him! Not the protocol and not even the legislation!!
Dear friends, God is up to something in your life! It may look like you've been there for thirty-eight years but hold on, God may just be about to break protocol and overturn legislation for your sake!! So, get ready to: Stand up, take up your mat, and walk!!! Hallelujah!!
