Photo Credit: downloaded from "redrocksbaptistchurch.org"
Caution: this post is wordy, but worth the read as well. Enjoy!
The question Jesus posed to the man with infirmity (for thirty-eight years) is a question we all have to answer.
"DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?"
Although the answer might seem a forgone conclusion for a man with infirmity, the obvious is not the case. His answer to Jesus was, "Sir, I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."
The question by Jesus perhaps exposed human inability, as the man's response clearly indicated. Again, maybe it revealed the object of the man's faith as being in others, who he hoped would help him, and, ultimately, in the power of the pool. Perhaps, for this man, and like many of us, his hope of salvation may have been a mixture of faith and works. And the INEFFECTIVENESS of that formula had been all too obvious for thirty-eight long years.
The reason with Jesus asking the obvious might be because, for many of us who have been in "challenging circumstances" for quite a long time, the reality is that, our circumstances have become a part of us. We only long for the obvious escape route out and nothing whatsoever Jesus presents us.
But today, just like He said to this man, Jesus commands you and I to "GET UP, PICK YOUR PALLET AND WALK" (5:8). Although the man has the responsibility to act according to this word from the Lord, which he responded appropriately, it is simply a sovereign act of healing on Christ's part. And perhaps to strike this more strongly, we should not forget that this man in question was by the pool of "BETHESDA" which simply means "House of Mercy". Indeed Jesus had mercy on him!
This act of mercy was not clearly understood by the Jews who sort to distort what had happened to the man by accusing him (the sick man) of breaking the Sabbath. They (Jews) still had not known that the man who restored the sick was the LORD they claimed to worship!!!
Jesus then answered those Jews who sort to persecute Him, saying, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working" (5:17). Indeed now it has become apparently clear that the one they (Jews) are dealing with is the LORD.
"For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also calling God His own father, making Himself EQUAL WITH GOD (5:18- emphasis is mine). When it becomes clear to them the claims of Jesus (one that is equal with God), they sort to kill Him even the more. You see, we go round fighting those claim that our Jesus is Lord, how sad!!!
Stop doubting because whether you believe it or yes, He is LORD, the God of the heaven and earth!!!
May God have mercy on us this week that we might experience the miraculous, in Jesus name....AMEN!!!
In His service and Yours!