Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda. 3 On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.

5 One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, 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 on my way, someone else goes in before me.”

8 Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”

9 Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk.

REFLECTIONS

Written by MIchael Legaspi

The power of God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – always astounds me. But even though God has the power to heal and remove all sickness and disease in the world, he does not – well, not yet. There is a purpose and intention to all that God does.

The miraculous healing in today’s passage happens at a large pool called Bethesda, which was discovered by archaeologists in the 1880s. When Jesus arrives there, the pool is surrounded by the desperate, the dependent, the distressed and despairing. What could they do to help themselves, being blind, lame and paralysed? Where are their families? Where are their friends? These people are almost entirely dependent on others, and they long to have what most of us take for granted: the ability to walk and see.

The scene focuses on one man – an invalid for 38 years. His helplessness is illustrated in verse 7: “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.” He is a picture of human limitation and the need for divine help.

What stands out in verse 6 is that Jesus knows the man’s situation, his limitation, and his need. In the ESV translation, it says: “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’”

Jesus knew. But Jesus doesn’t just know about people’s physical needs. Jesus has a deep understanding of our real situation, a deep understanding of our life. Jesus has the true wisdom of knowing our situation of sin and rebellion, our limitation that we can’t save ourselves, and our need to be saved from judgment.

What was this man’s greatest need? And what is yours?

Let us ask God to help us remember the reality of humanity’s situation and the limitations we face. But even more, ask God to help us know and trust the one who has the deepest wisdom and understanding of us: Jesus Christ. And let us remember Jesus’ power to solve our real need – just as he said to the man “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk,” and at once the man was cured, picked up his mat, and walked.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.