Walk Of Life – Day 18, June 2022 – Thoughts From The Words Of Christ
Jesus Heals An Invalid At Bethesda (John 5:1-14)
Lord Jesus being a Jew followed all Jewish customs and travelled to Jerusalem for all the important festivals like the Feast of Passover, Feast of Tabernacles and Feast of Pentecost. There were many gates to enter Jerusalem. One of the gates was Sheep Gate from where sheep were brought into the temple for sacrifice. Near this gate was the pool of Bethesda. There was a common belief among people that an angel would come on an appointed time during the feasts and stir the water in the pool. The first to enter the pool after that would be healed of their sickness. So, people who could not find cure for their condition through medicines would flood this place waiting for an angel to stir the water. Whether actual healing would happen or not is not mentioned in the Holy Bible.
Among them was a man crippled for thirty-eight years who took help to be carried to the pool during the festivals but was left alone to struggle to enter the pool for healing. Every time he would try to enter the pool someone would jump in, so he had lost all hopes of getting healed. When Lord Jesus was passing by the pool, He learned of this man’s condition. Lord Jesus felt compassionate for this man who had suffered a long time due to his sin. By now his wish for healing had withered away like his legs and he had stopped trying to jump into the pool. So, to remove this man’s discouragement and build his faith, Lord Jesus asked if he wanted to get well.
Not many people had known about the Lord by then. So, the man like the other people thought that the pool is the only way of healing for him. When Lord Jesus spoke to him, he thought, He would help him by carrying him to the pool. Instead, Lord Jesus asked him to do the very thing he was not able to do. “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” John5:8. Being paralyzed, it was impossible for him to rise or to take up his bed-mat or to walk. But Lord Jesus challenged the man to believe Him for the impossible.
The man who was strengthened by the Lord in his spirit showed faith and picked up his mat and walked. What a miracle it would have been for all those people to witness who thought that the pool was their only hope instead of looking unto the God of heaven and earth.
The man went into the temple to give thanks according to the Jewish customs carrying his mat with him. Since carrying the mat was in violation of Sabbath rules, the Jewish leaders rebuked the man. But he was not able to identify who had healed him as Lord Jesus had slipped away into the crowd. Later when he met Lord Jesus in the temple, He warmed him and said, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” John 5:14. After this, the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Lord Jesus who had made him well.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Like this crippled man who had suffered for thirty-eight years due to his sin, God has given you a second chance to stand before the throne of God through Christ. Do not take this lightly by taking his grace for granted and live your life by your own terms, lest something worse could happen.
I pray that the Lord will help us not to forget the price He had to pay at the Cross to save us from death. Amen!
