Identify the Source of your Wholeness (John 5:15)
There is an adage, “Give credit where credit is due.” For most of us, we understand that to mean that if we or others have been a benefactor of something or from what someone has done for or on our behalf, we should at least have the common
courtesy to acknowledge the thing or person for assisting or helping us get to where we are.
For students this should not be hard to understand either. One of the very first things you learn in writing a research paper is to make sure that any source that you use in composing or writing your research paper should be properly credited. If we use a source or sources and do not properly cite or give credit for using it, we are guilty of plagiarism.
No one ever wants to be guilty or even thought to have engaged in such an act because that would result in a failing grade and all of the time that was utilized in composing the paper would be wasted.
This healed man who finally realized that it was Jesus who was responsible for healing him relays this information to the Jews who had confronted him earlier in the passage.
Why the need to inform them after some time had transpired? One could deduce a few things. He could have been covering himself because the law at that time did forbid persons from doing anything that resembled work on the Sabbath. Or, he could have been
overjoyed at finally being able to pinpoint exactly who was responsible for his healing.
Regardless of his reasoning for letting the Jews know that Jesus was the person responsible for his healing and ultimate wholeness, he definitely made his point.
When asked earlier as to who it was who had been responsible for giving him the directive to leave the place where he had been located and go elsewhere, he could only say to the Jews that the person who made him whole told him to do what he was doing.
Now, after receiving the healing that eluded him for such a long period of time, he was now able to say definitively who it was responsible for healing him and helping him to become whole. He could clearly identify the source of his wholeness. He was not
confused any longer. It was Jesus and he was not going to keep that to himself.
As a result of Jesus’ act of kindness and mercy, this man had a new life. No one other than God Incarnate could have done what had been done for this man.
Although he may have been co-dependent upon others during his period of immobility, he could not
give any of his so-called friends credit because they did not do what Jesus did.
He could not say that he was healed as a result of getting into the pool because he never actually made it in the water. He could only say that it was Jesus who made him whole!
How many of us can be like this man? Having been in situations where we obviously were at a disadvantage and today are able to say I remember when. Can you recall a time when you had a need and it appeared that your need was not going to be met
and then out of the blue something happens to change your circumstance?
What about when the odds where against you on the job or at school and there were persons who had already written you off but something happened to turn your situation completely around?
Have you ever been ill to the point where it was not even certain whether or not you would actually live?
What about being in a bad relationship where you lost hope and felt like it was no use any longer for you to even try to be with someone?
How many of you have had creditors hounding you to pay that bill that you did not have the money to pay?
What about losing hope in a higher power after something catastrophic has occurred?
If you can say that you identify with any of the previously mentioned scenarios and then you situation changed, who did you give credit for it
changing?
Did you change it on your own? Were you able to make things better once you realized that you were in a bad state? How did you get to where you are today despite the fact that you have had some troubled days? I really need to know.
Have you thought about it? What made a difference? What brought the change about? Better yet, who brought the change about?
For the majority of us in here, we cannot take credit for anything that we presently have. We have to say to ourselves and to others just like the man did, ‘It was Jesus who made me whole.’ It was Jesus who brought me through.
When we sit back and assess our present situation or circumstances, if we are honest with ourselves and others, we know that we are not totally responsible for the good that we have.
If we simply thought about everything that we have experienced in this life, we would have to tell the world that something more powerful than ourselves has intervened in our lives on countless occasions.
It does not matter how we understand wholeness. What matters is who we give credit to for our wholeness. If we are ever to become whole beings in this life, it has to come through Jesus Christ.
Are you in need of spiritual wholeness? Are you in need of physical wholeness? Are you in need of emotional wholeness? Are you in need of financial
wholeness? If you have said yes to any of those areas, there is hope this day.
The same one who noticed, listened to and healed the infirmed man is still able to notice, listen to and heal today.
Unlike the time in which the man was not aware of who it was that healed him earlier, we will not have that problem.
We should all be able to identify to others that it was Jesus and Jesus alone who was responsible for healing us and making us whole.
When you are up, identify the source of your wholeness. When you are down, identify the source of your wholeness. When you are lonely, identify the source of your wholeness. When you are emotionally distraught, identify the source of your wholeness. When you are in need of spiritual revival, identify the source of your wholeness. When you have a financial need, identify the source of your wholeness.
Whatever your present state is, identify the source of your wholeness just as the infirmed man did and you will continue to be whole.
Not just for the moment, but for the remainder of your life. Identify the source of your wholeness!
