John 5:1-14 KJV After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? 13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
John 20:30-31 KJV And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Revelation 21:6-7 KJV And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Zechariah 13:1 KJV In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
Jeremiah 2:12-13 KJV Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. 13 for my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 17:13 KJV O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Having first looking at the story as it happened we observe some notable points in the incident.
It was a feast time and Jesus was in Jerusalem. Jesus was always in Jerusalem for the feasts.
There were many sick folk waiting by the pool
They were waiting for a particular event to occur...in order to enter into their season.
Only the healing of one by Jesus is recorded
The healed man did not even know who it was that healed him but received healing anyhow!
He never bothered to inquire after his healer until he was accosted by the Jews for carrying his bed on the Sabbath!
He had this infirmity for 38 years and maybe was laying there for that long a time.
From Jesus' statement to him later his sickness was probably due to sin. Contrast with
John 9:1-3 KJV And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
WILT THOU BE MADE WHOLE?
God does not ask questions because he does not know the answers. Of course HE knows the answers. He usually asks questions to get us headed back in the right direction. We know the man was waiting for the stirring of the water, with just one intention in mind, to get in first because he wanted healing! Sometimes however, the long process of waiting can deaden the edge of our fervency and desire. We can end up more engrossed in the waiting than in the expectation. We therefore need a recall back to our original purpose for being where we are. We need to rediscover our intense desire and longing for that which we first came to where we presently are. Tradition has a way of desensitizing our desire, lessening our longings, inhibiting our insight and reducing us to religion that no longer recognizes reality when it stands by us asking the question Wilt thou be made whole?
THE POOL IS LIKE A LONG TRADITION
The pool is like our traditional beliefs and whatever we were brought up on...the safe, the familiar, what we know...
We have fallen into the habit of expecting things to be done the way they have always been done, according to our traditions and practice.
We have waited a long time beside our traditional pool, jealously watching it, pitifully hoping in it, vainly waiting on it and nothing is happening. All our traditions and built up knowledge over our lifetime has produced nothing except a routine resignation to our ritualistic waiting and hoping...and waiting and hoping...Sometimes we find ourselves waiting so long it becomes a habit. We begin to accept our lifestyle as the norm. The enemy imperceptibly tightens the knots on our lives ever so slowly that we are not even aware that we have increased our burden and pain. We live life, becoming ever so slowly adjusted to our pain, and sorrow, and hurt, and disappointments, as we wrap them up in layers of resignation, and fatalism, accepting them as the normality of our existence. We end up living with bundles of hurts and disappointments that weigh us down heavily, severely limiting us in our scope of effectiveness. Yet we treat them as an accepted part of everyday existence. They have become like old friends and we will miss them if they are not there.
Mark 7:8-9 KJV For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
1 Peter 1:18-21 KJV Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Colossians 2:6-9 KJV As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
THE POOL IS LIMITED IN ITS EFFECTIVENESS
Bethesda means house of mercy or kindness but we need more than kindness to bring deliverance. The pool is always there but is only stirred at certain times. The times of stirring are the only times it becomes effective for healing. The pool has been pictured to be somewhat like the logos of God's Word from which occasionally we obtain a rhema and it is the rhema that produces the healing. So we wait and wait for another stirring which may or may not happen in our lifetime. Can we afford the wait?
But look who is standing next to us while we are waiting? The Living Word Himself waiting to challenge us and to speak into our need! We do not have to wait for a stirring, for HE is the embodiment of all healing, miracles, deliverance and faith! And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14 KJV
John 1:10-13 KJV He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
THE MAN HAD POSSESSION OF SOMETHING THAT ACTIVATED A HEALING
The man was patient, waiting, waiting on the time he could take advantage of the stirring. He was awaiting his season.
He did not complain and had probably accepted the inevitable, that he would be there for a long, long time. But he was committed to waiting. He was not complaining. He seemed to have cheerfully accepted that he may never get to his goal but he waited anyhow. For 38 years he laid there with no one to assist him into the pool but he never gave up. I use to see hopelessness and discouragement in this man but today I see something else...a hope...a faith that would not give up. It is possible that maybe one day he would actually have made it to the water effecting his recovery. It may be one day your traditional expectations may bring fruit but are you really content to wait that long?
The man lived in hope...hoping that one day it will be his turn. The man had to do something...obey! Who knows a miracle could occur. And one day his miracle appeared in person and asked 'Wilt thou be made whole?' Do you really want it? How much do you want it?
The man did not know who Jesus was but he still obeyed because an encounter with Jesus does something special. We however know who Jesus is, don't we? We have a long standing relationship with Him. Has this degenerated into something of a hopeless wait because our healing seems to tarry? Have we slid into a gradual acceptance of our state while the enemy gleefully takes advantage of our resignation to a wait without expectations?
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:7-8 KJV
Many of us still sit on the sidelines waiting in queue for the stirring of the pool, hoping to get into it for our healing. And we've been sitting or lying there for a long time and nothing is happening. We have continued to tarry by our respective pools waiting in vain for a stirring. We have been afraid to move for fear that we will miss our chance. In our fear we have failed to see that we no longer need the pool because Jesus has opened up a fountain and it is flowing like a river where all can plunge into.
Here stands God with outstretched hands calling to us, pleading with us, and we sit there staring suspiciously at the fountain, skeptically eying the river and then looking back at the pool we are familiar with and shake our heads.
But God wants us to see beyond the pool and its occasional stirring. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV
Life more abundantly is not dependent on an occasional stirring but a constant living presence, a vital awareness of His Spirit in us Who "...is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:20 KJV
We need to see God standing there and He is not locked in or limited by our traditions. While we continue to wait and look longingly at the pool awaiting the assistance of somebody who will never come we fail to realize that the fountain...the river of power, blessing and healing is standing right there unrecognized, asking us if we will be made whole.
God has a way of doing things that surprises us. He asks us to do the unexpected, the impossible, but only because He stands there waiting, waiting to make it possible.
He is standing next to us! Hear what He is asking us! Wilt thou be made whole? And many times we merely strengthen our resolve to wait and lock our doors while HE still stands out there knocking...and saying...'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20 KJV
The fountain of life is with you and the fountain flows with perpetual healing and refreshing. Hear Him speak to you. Hear Him command you. Obey Him for with him you have no need of the traditional pool. Healing is present with Him.
