December 5 - Great Physician

December 5 – Great Physician (John 5:1-9)

The story of the healing at the pool found in John 5 begins with a great deal of descriptive information.  One of the fun things to observe when reading these passages is the use of this to set up a story.  It doesn’t happen often, but John uses it quite beautifully.

There were many gates in the walls of surrounding Jerusalem. In Nehemiah 3:1-2, we find that the priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate when they returned to Jerusalem from being in Babylonian Exile.  They also rebuilt the Fish Gate, the Jeshanah gate, the Valley gate, the Dung gate, the Fountain gate, and the Horse gate in the third chapter of Nehemiah.  The Sheep gate may have been the gate that the sheep being offered for sacrifice at the Temple were brought into the city.

The pool was called Bethesda which either means ‘house of mercy’ or ‘a place of flowing water.’  Don’t you just love the Greek language?  There can be many translations that occur. 

Obviously this pool was a haven for sick and disabled people.  The man that we are about to meet had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  I cannot imagine a life like that, but am certain that it would be difficult to have a productive life. 

Jesus saw this man lying there and learned that he had been sick for a long time.  The first question Jesus asked the man was, “Do you want to get well?”

That is the question that Jesus asks us, “Do you want to get well?  Do you want to live a healthy life?” 

The invalid’s response is one that most of us toss out any time we run into trouble.  It is always someone else’s responsibility.  “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.”

After thirty-eight years, this poor man could no longer fathom any way that he could care for himself.  He had given it all up because there was no one there to help him.  Now, while we believe that we should pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, notice what happens next.  Jesus doesn’t care whether or not we take care of ourselves or rely on others.  He wants us to rely on Him.  At the moment we rely on Him fully, He is there to say, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”