John 5: 1-15- Jesus, Rules & Dependence

 Read John 5: 1-13- The Lame Man at the Pool of Bethesda.  This man had been lame for 38 years.  Considering those days and times, what kind of physical shape do you think this man was in? Unless another person came along and helped him, he had to drag himself to get anywhere, and that was why he had not been healed.  He was dependent upon other people for everything.  How did he get food and drink? How was he able to use the bathroom?  Can you imagine the difficulty this man encountered on a daily basis just to be close to the Pool of Bethesda whenever it was stirred and desperately hoping someone would be there to get him into the pool?  He had failed for so many years. He was dependent on other people for everything in his life.  You can also assume there was not much in this man’s life to start with, if anything more than the clothes someone had apparently provided for him.  This man was destitute and totally dependent on others.  We are all dependent on others for many things in our lives.  So many people want to think they are independent and don’t need anyone else, but if they really examine their day-to-day lives, we see it doesn’t work that way.  There are so many things I cannot do so I depend on others who do have skills I don’t have to do things so I can live my life.  If my car quits working, I am dependent on someone else to fix that car so I can do the things I think I need to do.  This lame man was dependent at the highest level of dependence.  Then Jesus came to the Pool of Bethesda.  

Jesus asked the lame man a simple question, “Do you want to be healed?”  After sitting there existing at the lowest level of life for thirty-eight years, you have to wonder what went through the man’s mind?  One thought might have been, “Are you kidding me?  Look at me!  Of course, I want to be healed!”  The man’s first thought may have been an unequivocal, “Yes!” The man, however, knew his challenges in life and as far as his world was concerned, the only way to be healed was to get into the pool at a very specific time.  The lame man did not know who he was talking to. Unknown to the lame man, he was now dependent on Jesus for what was going to happen in his life.  Jesus knew the man wanted to be healed.  Jesus did not make this a complicated situation for the lame man either.  Jesus simply told the man, “Stand up and walk. Oh, don’t forget your bed either.”  Now think again what the lame man must have thought.  Was he thinking or was he wondering what was happening to his body.  At that moment in time, he began to have the strength and coordination he had not had for thirty-eight years.  What must that sensation have felt like?  How wide were the lame man’s eyes at that moment when he realized he miraculously had strength and coordination he had forgotten could exist?  That moment of transformation had to be earth shattering for the lame man. Then he obeyed.  With Jesus’ command and the strength Jesus provided, the lame man stood, picked up his bed and walked. The lame man was strengthened by his dependence in Jesus. Do you think the lame man ever forgot about what Jesus did for him?  I don’t.  The lame man quickly found out there are those in our lives who aren’t that concerned about the specifics of our lives though.   

 The Jewish leaders had laws that must be followed regardless of circumstances and the Jewish leaders saw the no longer lame man carrying his bed and rebuked him.  This scene also makes you wonder if the Jewish leaders were ever at the Pool of Bethesda because they did not recognize this man as the person who had been lame for so long. Can you imagine what these Jewish leaders thought when the no longer lame man told them, “Hey, the man who just healed me told me to pick up my bed, so I picked up my bed!” That moment for the Jewish leaders had to make them pause and wonder what was really going on. They wanted to know who it was because they probably felt immediately threatened.  Their spiritual positions may be at risk.  They also may have been so dense as to wonder why someone was going around healing people on the Sabbath.  They may have been that blind because of their laws.  Jesus was and is more concerned about the condition of the person and that’s person’s soul than any other laws or conditions.  Jesus showed that when he saw the no longer lame man in the temple and told him to sin no more.  Does that mean, it was no longer the lame man’s fault he was lame?  I think not, but Jesus wanted the no longer lame man to know to not allow his soul to become lame and prevent him from being able to get into heaven as his physical lameness had prevented him from entering the Pool of Bethesda.  

I think we’re all lame to some degree.  We are all dependent on others to help us in life just as others are dependent on our help.  We need to know as the lame man found out, our total well-being can be changed in a minute by Jesus if we say “Yes” to Him and follow His principles.  We have to be willing to stand up, pick up our beds and walk when Jesus says it’s time.