Caught in a hurricane or the aftermath of one… how would you cope if you lost everything? Folks do rally, but one wonders how we’d react. Surely some simply cave in.
Ever been in a situation that you thought was absolutely hopeless? Physical, relational, financial.
Scuba story – being stuck and nearly dying in the ocean off Va Beach
How about you? What was your reaction? To work harder, or to give up? Probably says something about our personality, perhaps about our faith and our view of God too.
Picture the scene – like a hospital ward – sick people all around. Tradition has it that an angel would come down from time to time and stir the waters and the first person who could get down into the water would be healed of whatever their ailment was. Not sure whether or not a healing ever happened.
Can’t you just imagine kids from Jerusalem High School throwing rocks into the pool from over the fence… making folks jump into the water?
We are told that he was there for 38 years. Think about it. 38 years is a long time to be doing anything. To put it in some perspective:
Elvis married Priscilla in 1967
Israel captured all of Jerusalem – 6-day war
Bart Starr and the Packers beat the KC Chiefs in Super Bowl 1
Beatles release Sgt Pepper album
Cool Hand Luke and the Graduate were two of the top films
Viet Nam War in full swing
Riots in Newark, Harlem and Detroit
3 Astronauts killed on Apollo 1 in pre-launch fire
George Thurgood Marshall first black justice on Supreme Court
Cost of a postage stamp: 5 cents.
And in 1967 Carl Corson turned 16 and got his driver’s license
So this guy is sitting by a pool for 38 years. Jesus comes into the picture and surveys the situation. He is aware how long this guy has been there. But rather than healing him, he asks him a question. “Do you want to get well?”
What kind of question is that? Doesn’t it seem obvious that this guy would want to get well? After all, he is lying beside a pool that was purported to heal people.
Perhaps. But Jesus asked the question for a reason. And he expected a response. We may think it was a silly question, but Jesus didn’t. There were some dynamics in play that made it a really good question.
This guy is really emblematic of 2 kinds of people. One kind is the person who wants things to be different but is investing in the wrong hope. The other kind is the person who finds themselves in a predicament and decides that they don’t want to change.
Let’s look at the first kind of person. Let’s assume that our friend at the pool, and let’s call him Thaddeus, really did want his situation to change. He really did want to get well.
What was this guy’s plan? He tells Jesus that nobody will help him to get into the water when it is stirred up. Someone else gets there first. That is really unfortunate.
But before we feel lots of sympathy for this poor guy who is unable to get into the water, let’s think for a minute about his plan. He’s at a pool which presumably is the answer to his problem. But it is also the answer to everyone else’s problem. And one would imagine that at least some of those other folks are able-bodied enough to get in first. Yet he stays there, with this as his strategy. How many years would it take for you to figure out that this is a bad plan? Maybe a bit less than 38? This is a guy without any real hope and any real plan.
Dr. James Montgomery Boice in his commentary on John says that our friend Thad is “An eloquent symbol of the helpless spiritual state to which sin has brought all men and women.”
Thad’s situation is not ever going to change by hanging around that pool. You would think he has at least that much figured out by now. But still he stays. Presumably because he doesn’t have a better plan.
As Dr. Boice points out, this is a great picture of people without spiritual hope. You and I see it every day in family and friends. Thad trusted in a rumor about a pool and in invisible friends who would put him in when the water was stirred. How many of the people we know continue to trust in things that are doomed to fail?
Thad was trusting in “if only” and so are people today. Thad trusted “if only someone would help me”. As someone who has worked with teenagers for 30 years I see it all the time. “If only I can make that team.” “If only I can get into the right college.” “If only I could date him or her.” Then my life would be better. But trusting in “if only” is a pointless exercise. Because whatever we put in the space after “if only” is something that does not really change who and what we are fundamentally.
And teenagers are too easy a target. We adults do the same thing. “If only I had that house/car/boat/furniture.” “If only I had ‘x’ dollars saved for retirement or ‘y’ dollars in my portfolio, I’d be ok.” If only I could find the right person to marry, get out of the marriage I’m in, get through my kids’ teenage years with my sanity…” You get the idea.
St. Augustine said, “All hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Indeed. Pascal said, "There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus".
Anything that we depend on, anything that we trust in save the Lord who created us will lead to disappointment. Trusting in anything other than Christ is vanity and futility. Because only Christ can give rest to a human heart, and this is because only Christ created human hearts.
I have a beloved motorcycle – one that I enjoy riding on nice days more than just about anything else. I have an owner’s manual, and it says to use high-octane gas. But let’s say I decide that I need a bit more power and speed – going 85 down Denow Rd. is just not fast enough. I could head down to Trenton-Mercer Airport and get some jet fuel. Would that be a good plan? Well, my bike would run fast for a little while, I would imagine. But then it would almost certainly melt down into a puddle of molten engine parts. Why? Because it was not engineered to run on jet fuel. That’s not what it was designed for.
God allows people fuel up on jet fuel, chicken soup or anything they choose in their quest to get life to work. But that does not mean that people will find satisfaction or success in doing that. It stands to reason that our only real hope is to turn to the One who created us to find a proper understanding of how life is supposed to operate.
It is easy for us to point a finger at those who do not follow Christ as if they are the only ones investing in the wrong things. How about us? What do we really trust in for our own satisfaction? If we are honest, I think that the list does not look significantly different than the list we’d write for non-believers. We still get caught in the same trap of trusting in vain and futile things, don’t we? Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” You and I need this challenge as much as the non-believer!
So, do you want to get well? Or do you just want to continue to trust in what you have been trusting in – the things that will never satisfy you. It’s a fair question!
*What about the second kind of person – the person who does not want to change? I think it is well within the realm of possibility that our friend Thad did not really want to get well at all.
Think about it… He must have been adequately cared for, or he would not have survived. What must life have been like? Probably had friends there, had grown used to this way of life, don’t you think? Surrounded by other folks who were hopeless. The sick, infirm, lame. It certainly is possible to find ourselves in a situation where we become either resigned to our fate, or even accustomed enough to it to even resist changing it.
I was with a friend just this week who was sharing with me that he read a study called “Change or Die”. The study chronicled several thousand people told by their doctors that they must change their health habits or die. Folks with health issues serious enough that they were facing death, but with issues that were changeable or correctable – stop smoking, stop drinking, reduce stress, lose weight. Faced with the choice “change or die”, what percentage do you think changed their behavior and continued in a new pattern after one year? 9%. That’s right – less than one in ten. Nine out of ten people would rather die than change. Frankly, I was not surprised. Because I know myself too well.
Why would people cling so tenaciously to behavior that they knew would kill them? Perhaps the same reasons why Thad might have been inclined to not really want to get well. I think it is for a couple reasons:
If we change, we know that there will be implications. And we don’t have a picture of what life might be like if we do change.
Even if the alternative is a positive one, change is hard to contemplate. We get used to our rut, don’t we? Even if our rut is difficult, it is OUR rut. Sometimes it’s easier to stay put.
I wonder if after 38 years Thad simply decided that this was as good as it could get. If he got well, he’d have to get a job. No more begging, because nobody’s going to give alms to an able-bodied person! He might even have to leave his friends behind. If you are healthy and employed, you can’t hang out at a pool all day.
While his situation was unfortunate, he may have rationalized his way into thinking that it could be better than the alternative, being whole again.
For those who don’t know Christ, and for some who do, I wonder if they have a clear picture of what life can be like. I have known hundreds of folks who are not satisfied with life, but really have no desire to change. It’s their rut and they will stay in it. We see it all the time with folks who struggle with drugs or alcohol, who are in destructive relationships, folks who don’t know Christ and are unhappy, but who simply don’t want to change. If they only knew how much better life could be! Jesus promised that we could have abundant life. But without the eyes of faith, how can they see that alternative?
Paul said in 1Corinthians 2 that The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
If people are not able to see reality through the eyes of faith, how would they ever choose a spiritual alternative? This only happens through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and this is why you and I must pray for people to be able to see through the eyes of faith. Only God can break in and allow people to see what they can and should be. And you and I must faithfully testify in word and deed to that reality so that people can actually see that alternative for themselves!
So many folks think that if they follow Christ they would be trading one bad rut for another. Where do they get the idea that following Christ is a joyless life? Well, I suppose that would be from us. My friends, if you are telling people by what you say or what you do that following Jesus is a bitter, dutiful distasteful existence, then may I suggest that you take a good look at the life that you are calling the Christian Life? It really ought to be a life of joy, of peace, and of satisfaction. Oh, it is not without difficulty. Christians have every bit as much trouble as anyone else in this world. But Jesus told us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. And he promises to be there with us in the midst of trouble and to help us to make some sense of it. I hope that you are not telling folks anything other than that!
If your words or your life communicate anything other than the fact that following Christ is ultimately an abundant, victorious and freeing lifestyle, do the Kingdom a favor and stop following Christ and giving him bad press! Don’t sugar coat it either – we still experience problems and we should not paint a picture of a life with no problems and no pain. But you and I need to stop giving folks a reason not to want to change!
I think one other reason why people who want to change do not change is because they do not believe that they can change. If it’s pretty much hopeless, why try?
Why on earth would any situation be hopeless? We worship the God of the Universe, who holds everything and every situation in His hands. God can and does change hearts. And God can and does deliver us from our predicaments, no matter how bad or how deep.
I think it is interesting to note that Thad never really even responded in faith. Jesus healed many people in response to their faith. The woman with a hemorrhage who touched his cloak, Jairus’s daughter in response to his faith, various blind people, a prostitute at a feast. All were healed because they sought out Jesus and had faith. But Thad was not like this at all. He didn’t find Jesus, Jesus found him. This is a great picture of the grace of God. He finds us and he desires to change us, even if we don’t have the faith to believe that this can happen.
I don’t know what your predicament is, but I do know that God can work change in the midst of it. And even if God does not intervene in exactly the way we might wish, even in those situations that he allows us to struggle though he gives us the grace to deal with the situation. Paul says that he prayed three times that his particular ailment might be taken away. And God did not grant that request. But Paul says he was granted an even greater blessing by receiving grace to deal with his situation to God’s glory.
God may not change some of our situations, but he can and will change our rut. He can and will deliver us to a place where even if we are in the same situation, we will not be in the same place. He will use all that he allows to come to pass to his glory if we yield ourselves to him. My friends, real change is possible with the God who holds everything in his hands!
How about you and me? What is the comfortable predicament that we find ourselves in? I would imagine that for each one of us there is a situation or two that we say we want to change, but we really don’t. Perhaps it is because we kind of like our rut and fear the change that it might bring to get out of it. Perhaps we simply think it’s hopeless and we doubt that God could do anything about it. But in either case, God is ready and willing to intervene.
Thad never really responded to Jesus’ question, “Do you want to get well?” Jesus simply takes command of the situation and tells him to get up and walk. Jesus is funny like that. As Lord of the universe, he really doesn’t need to ask our permission to change our lives. He tends to do these things for His glory, and for our benefit.
Jesus simply commands Thad to get up and walk. He tells Thad to do something that is impossible. Paralyzed men cannot walk any more than spiritually blind men can see truth. But Jesus is always commanding folks to do the impossible and then making those things possible.
So, do you want to get well? It’s a fair question for Thad and for all of us. My today is that we would each take stock of those predicaments in which we find ourselves and respond to Jesus in faith. My friends, there will never be a better day than today to begin to get out of our comfortable predicament. Amen.
