5. Great Physician
| One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 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?" 7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. John5:5-9 |
This account of the healing of the paralysed man is a happy-sad one...
The paralysed man is by the pool of Bethesda where, from time to time, the waters of the pool would be stirred and the first person to get into the water would be healed.
Jesus asks the man "Do you want to get well?"
Instead of answering "Yes please - of course I want to get well!" The man launches into a complaint that there was no one to help him get into the water. The man has a shrunken spirit - he believes that the world owes him a favour and he is angry that it won't help him!
But Jesus heals him. There's just one problem though... the healing takes place on a Sabbath and the man gets into trouble with the Pharisees (John calls them "the Jews") for breaking the fourth commandment by picking up his mat on the Sabbath.
The man immediately blames the man who healed him but he doesn't even know who Jesus is and he can't point Him out to the Pharisees.
If we read on in the chapter, we see the sad twist to the story:
"Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well."
Here we see the full extent of Jesus care and love. Not only does Jesus want to heal the man's body, but He wants to heal him from the bitter cynicism that seems to rule his soul. He seeks the man out, and, when He finds him, He warns him to soften his heart. The man, however, decides to throw his lot in with the Pharisees and acts as an informer, betraying Jesus to them.
It's a sad end to the man's story but a beautiful insight into Jesus' persistent pursuit of us.
