Christ sure fills the Christian’s life with the best things for time and eternity, doesn't he? In today's message, we learn how He blessed a man who had been sick and needy for thirty-eight years.
Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. He replied that no man ever came to put him in the healing waters. So Jesus said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” And the poor man, after thirty-eight years of suffering, rose up and walked!
If you have your Bible close by, turn to John 5:1-9. Let's join Jesus as He delivers this man from the bondage of his affliction and, as we do, please know that He can do the same for you if you will allow Him the same opportunity!
There are some important events transpiring within these verses. We'll take a look at each one in succession starting with John 5:5. Here we are introduced to the sick, disabled man. According to the Scriptures, this man had lived with this infirmity for 38 years. He had been sick longer than Jesus had been on the earth!
The Bible says that this man had an "infirmity." This word means that he had some "weakness or frailness" that prevented him from walking about as other men. Notice his desperation. The very fact that he is here at this pool in his condition is proof positive that this man is desperate for healing. Imagine him dragging his broken body toward that pool.
He tells Jesus that every time he is about to get into the water, someone else beats him there and goes away with the healing instead. Year after year, he has seen his hopes and dream shattered as another person beats him into the healing waters (John 5:7).
Sadly, this man was surrounded by others who were in the same shape as himself. They offered him no comfort, and they offered him no help. They were as desperate as he was to be released from their own prisons. Even if these people had been able to help this man get into the pool when the time came, I am sure that it would have been every man for himself! They wouldn't have helped him, because they needed the healing for themselves (John 5:3)!
This is a sad, but true, picture of the lost sinner. These sad people picture the sinner in all of his helplessness, his brokenness, his blindness and his uselessness before the Lord (Ephesians 2:12). He is surrounded by others who are in the same boat. Others who are just as lost as he is and others who can no more help him than he can help them.
But, as they say, misery loves company! Often, sinners will surround themselves with others who are as bad, or often who are worse than, they themselves are. This is a vain attempt to justify their condition.
But hold on! In John 5:6, we see a sympathetic Messiah! Jesus is pictured here as the compassionate Savior. He is shown doing three great works that prove this true. Let's examine them....
First, He is shown choosing the sinner. According to the Bible's own witness, there was a "great multitude" there that day. Jesus could have gone to any person in that place, yet for His own reasons, He went to this man. This is nothing but pure grace! Second, He is shown caring for the sinner. Jesus knew everything there was to know about this man!
He knew that he was crippled, that he was unable to walk, that he was unable to stand and carry his own bed. Jesus knew that this man was totally dependent upon others for everything he had in life. Yet, Jesus reached out to him anyway! What a picture of His grace!
Jesus knows all about the condition of the sinner. He knows that we love our sins, that we cannot control our passions, that we desire the things of the world that gratify our flesh, yet He loves us still! Jesus refuses to look at man as he is and chooses, rather, to see man as he can become through the power of grace.
Jesus looks beyond our faults and our failures and cares for us in spite of our sins. Isn't it an awesome thought that Jesus knows every sinful thing we have ever done, yet He loves us? That, He knows all our evil thoughts yet He loves us? That, He knows we will fail over and over again as the years go by, yet He loves us?
Third, He is shown coming to the sinner. In what may be the greatest move of all, Jesus literally comes to where this poor man is lying and reaches out to him in genuine grace, and love. Now, it's one thing for Jesus to love us and to do so in spite of our wickedness. However, it isn't until He actually comes to us that we have the opportunity for salvation.
Finally, in John 5:6-9, we see a striking miracle! Now pay close attention here because these verses also contain three important components. First, there is an offer. Jesus asks the man if he would like to be healed. The man responds by appealing to the flesh and tells Jesus that he has no one to help him into the pool. This man is guilty of the same thing that so many others are guilty of; he is confusing the physical with the spiritual. Jesus came to offer him physical healing from a spiritual source, but this man still has his eye on the what he can accomplish.
Second, there is an order. Jesus tells the man to get up and walk. Jesus just told this man to do something that he hasn't been able to do in 38 years, if ever. To me, this is a pretty incredible command! However, all that was required on the part of this man is simple, child like faith and obedience to the call of Jesus. When the call comes to the sinner lost in his sins, the only necessary response is faith.
Third, there is an outpouring. When this man responded to Jesus' command by faith, he was immediately healed and he was able to get up an walk. This miracle required no in put from the crippled man, all he had to do was get up and walk at the command of Christ.
Salvation works the exact same way. Jesus comes to the sinner and calls him to salvation. All that is required of the sinner is humble obedience to the call of Jesus. When this obedience comes, the sinner is immediately and instantly made right with God, transformed into God's child, delivered from wrath and made an heir of all that Heaven has to offer. All of this simply because the sinner turns to the Savior in pure, humble faith.
Clearly, Jesus demonstrates His power as the Great Physician by healing this man's body. Yet interestingly, there is no indication that this man ever became a believer in Jesus (John 5:10-15). What a sad thing!
You see, the important thing to remember about Jesus is not that He can heal the body, but that He can heal the soul! If he heals the body, that is wonderful, but eventually, the body will still perish. However, what Jesus does for the soul is eternal.
Scripture: Acts 4:30; John 4:48; Matthew 17:20; John 20:30; Exodus 14:31; Acts 14:10; John 20:31
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me be more understanding and forgiving as no one is perfect, least of all me. Amen
Have a blessed day!
K.C.
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