John 5:1-9

John 5:1-9

After these things was the feast of the Jews and Jesus went up into Jerusalem.  And a pool, that in Aramaic was being called Bethzatha, was in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate.  It has five covered colonnades.  In these places a large number of the ones who were sick were lying down: the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.  And there was a man there having been in his disease for thirty eight years.  Jesus saw this one while lying down and after knowing that he had already spent much time there, He said to him, “Do you desire to be well?”  The one who was sick answered to Him, “Lord, I do not have any man in order that when the water should be agitated he should throw me into the pool.  And in which I come, another goes down before me.”  Jesus said to Him, “Get up, carry your mat away, and walk.”  And at one the man became well; and he carried away his mat and was walking.  And it was a Sabbath in that day.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Here we see Jesus being a friend to the friendless.  This man says he has nobody to help him into the pool.  Everyone always gets into the pool before he does to soak up what the ancient people believed could heal them when the water would stir.  What is interesting is that Jesus doesn’t lecture this particular man on his superstition; He simply is a friend to the friendless.  He sees the man and has pity upon him.

When you are looking for people to meet and to interact, do you look for the popular ones or do you look for the friendless?  Why is it important to look to those on the fringes of society?

Second Thought:

Jesus asks the man if he desired to be healed.  While you would have thought that the man would have given an enthusiastic, “Yes,” that is not what happened at all.  The man begins to make excuses.  The man can only see through the limited perspective of his own humanity.  He doesn’t see the power of God before him; he sees what he cannot accomplish.  He sees life through 38 years of despair.  Speaking of 38, I wonder if Jesus picked this man intentionally.  In Deuteronomy 2:14 we have a reference to the Hebrew people wandering in the wilderness for 38 years.  I wonder if Jesus is intentionally making a theological point to the Jews about their own blindness and their own inability to see the world through anything but their blinded eyes of despair?

What parts of your life paralyze you and keep you from seeing through the eyes of a miraculous God?  How do you get caught up in your spiritual wandering and become unable to see what God is trying to do in your life?

Third Thought:

Notice that again Jesus does not abandon the man.  Instead, Jesus gives him a command.  Jesus tells him to simply get up, carry his mat away, and walk.  Jesus tells him that it is simply that easy.  However, notice that Jesus doesn’t do it for him.  Jesus gives him the grace, but it is up to the man to receive that grace.  Jesus doesn’t force the man to be healed; Jesus opens up the door to that healing so that the man could walk through on his own.  Jesus invites the man into the power of God, but the man must trust and believe enough to actually get up and walk.  If the man did not believe the healing promise of God, he would have remained paralyzed in his worldly condition.

How is this story a parallel to salvation offered to us through God’s grace?  Why do you think Jesus declares the promise but leaves room for the man to respond?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 5:10-17