My Greatest Need

Last week we started talking about what Jesus has done for us as we approach the Easter season. We looked at the long list of things that Jesus has done for us but finally decided that the greatest thing that Jesus did for us was to provide Himself.

Today I want to look briefly at how Jesus restored my life as I am sure He has restored yours.

Many of you know that my little great niece was admitted to the hospital in Houston, Texas on December 1st of last year. She was literally on life support all of December, January, and most of February. She was born premature and her lungs still have not fully developed. She is 2 years old now. She contracted RSV and then pneumonia. It was a daily fight to keep her lungs cleared. During this time, we actually lost her three separate times but they were able to bring her back. Our church began to pray as did hundreds of others. They were finally able to take her off life support just a couple of weeks ago. She is still in the hospital but her lungs have cleared.

Everyday was like a roller coaster. She could be doing so well and within minutes be fighting for her life. When we would hear the words that she coded, it can cause you to lose your breath. There were times when we thought we had reached the end of any medical options. But when those times came, we began to explore what God was capable of doing. She is improving daily, but not quite yet ready to be released from the hospital.

During those troublesome times, we learned to pray like never before, and as we did, God showed up. In our time of desperation, we turned to the only One who could meet our need, and He did. Today we are going to be introduced to another man who was desperate. His story is found in the Gospel of John chapter 5. Prayer.

John 5: 2-5 – “By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.”

We don't know much about the pool of Bethesda, but it was by the sheep gate. We come across a man who was paralyzed and had been in that condition for 38 years. We don't know his name but we are about to learn a lot about him. And then Jesus shows up.

John 5:6-7 – “When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

This pool at Bethesda was a pool that seemed to have some kind of Divine healing powers. When the waters would be stirred, the first one in the pool would miraculously be healed of whatever ailment they had. This man, being paralyzed, could never get in the pool before anyone else. The man apparently believed in the healing power of the waters when they were stirred. His health condition prevented him from having full mobility.

I'm reminded of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well that we studied last week. This man also misunderstood what his greatest need was. The woman at the well thought her greatest need was a drink of water, and this man thought his greatest need was someone to help him get into the water.

In both cases, they had met the only One who could help them. In this man's case, he had been suffering for 38 years. We're not told that this man had been suffering from this his entire life, or if he acquired this problem later in life. Either way, this man was well acquainted with suffering.

So Jesus comes along and meets this man, Jesus already knew what the man's ailment was and how long he had suffered. His encounter with this man was no accident. But having compassion upon him, Jesus asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

Now you would think that the easy answer would be yes. But, like we so often do, the man only gave Jesus an excuse. He didn't answer Jesus's question. Instead, he blamed other people for his hopelessness. "I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but when I'm coming, someone goes down ahead of me."

I think that many times in our lives we miss out on the blessings of God because we make excuses for our sin, our failure, and our situation instead of responding to God with humility. But, just like in our lives today, Jesus ignored the man's excuse and stepped in with His power and His grace. He is so good to us like that. He meets us right where we are in our hopelessness and provides just what we need.