Read John 5:4-7.
Circle the words that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
5 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.”
Digging Deeper
When our loved one is seriously sick, there is desperation in voices and in our actions. We search high and low for a cure, for any hope even clinical trials or experiments. We don’t want to lose hope.
This lame man had hope. There was a rumor that the first person who gets into the Sheep Pool when the water is stirred will be healed. Did he really believed it or was it just a myth, a pipe dream? For this man, there was no harm in trying for he had nothing to lose, but everything to gain. He just wasn’t fast enough to get into the water before someone else got in before he did. No matter how hard he tried, in the end it didn’t matter. Day after day, it was always the same result, someone was always ahead of him. How frustrating.
If he had friends, they probably gave up a long time ago help him too. Maybe by the time they lifted him up, someone else would just jump in before they could get him into the pool. Or after seeing that no one was really healed, they saw not point. It was hopeless. Friends have given up. Family gave up. But this man persisted despite the odds against him. For him, if he could just be first into the pool, it might be possible to be healed.
The burden was alone for him to bear until Jesus came by the pool. Jesus asked a very simple question, “Do you want to get well?” That’s a strange question. I can imagine the lame man’s thoughts as he considered this question, “Are you going to help me into the pool?” Or maybe, “I can get well without getting into the pool?”
Those few words, “Do you want to get well?” brings hope and relief. When we say to others who are weighed down with the burdens of life, “Do you want me to help you?” is like fresh water for someone’s soul. Someone has noticed me. Someone has offered me a hand.
While it’s possible that we may be rejected by a burdened person, let’s offer help to them by saying, “Let me support you.” For those of us in need, let us reveal our it to our community of faith as God may direct someone to help us. And when He does, don’t refuse it maybe be God’s answer for you.
Kingston