Remaining a Victim
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Did I want to Get Better?
Did I want to Get Better?
Do I want to get better? That is a tough question at times. For those of us who have found that they have become comfortable in recognizing that they are content with where they are in life without recognizing they are in a different place than where God would like them to be complacency in our surroundings becomes the norm.
For myself, allowing my surroundings and situations to dictate how I see myself, I can allow my worth to be determined by my physical ability, my relationship with others and my ability to get well.
In difficult situations I have found myself so content at times because people often comfort those who are hurting. It is nice to have those people give aid, share their love and comfort. When did it become bothersome for me to remain in that state?
When I recognized that there was a time to stop remaining a victim and taking charge of my life it was only at the same time that I realized that I indeed wanted to get well.
When things became so difficult for me that I was afraid, paralyzed by my inability to control my situation, I knew that I must turn somewhere.
Jesus was the only place to turn for the healing that I needed. From the physical hurt to the emotional pain and turmoil that I experienced, only through Christ asking me if I wanted to get better was I able to turn towards Him.
Do we want to get better?
Do we want to get better?
When we are struggling as people in a place of supposed neglect do we ask ourselves if we want to get better? Do we search our hearts for the depths of what prevents us from seeing the disease that is truly destroying us?
Perhaps we have become so selfish and content in our situation that we place the blame of our situation on the external surroundings instead of where we should truly look.....our hearts.
When God looks into our situation and sees us remaining stagnant in a place of decay, rot, and sin, He does ask us if we truly want to get better. When we make excuses for our situation and attempt to place the blame upon others, He follows up with “Stop sinning.” When the world asks where our joy comes from, it should focus on Christ and not on our own determination.
We are often the paralyzed person remaining on our mats waiting for the right opportunity to be healed.
We look around and see that others appear better prepared to receive their help and pity ourselves when they get it instead of us.
However, Jesus does not let us remain there. He knocks on each of our hearts. It is up to us to decide whether we will allow Him to heal us or not.
How to Remain a Victim
How to Remain a Victim
One of the first things that happened when sin entered the world was that Adam and Eve placed blame on each other and the serpent for their sin.
In the book of John, there are others who are confronted for their situations and they seek to deflect responsibility upon those around them or their situations.
In chapter 5, Jesus comes upon one such person and how He confronts, heals and responds allows us to see the method He uses is applicable to us who wish to remain a victim today.
After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.
In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters;
for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.
A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?”
The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”
But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’ ”
They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?”
But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Explanation
Explanation
After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.
In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters;
There are many who await the miracles of the Lord to heal them.
for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.
A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
Thirty-eight years is a long time for someone to be lame. Many of us can recognize in our own lives the length of time dealing with an injury, a hurt, or something preventing us from being whole.
Think about how long you have dealt with an issue?
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?”
Jesus knew this man’s condition. He knew how long the man had been in that condition. He knows how long each of our hearts have remained in the condition they are. Yet, Jesus asks the difficult question: “Do you wish to get well?”
The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
Does the man hear Jesus’ question correctly? Instead of answering the question Jesus asks, the lame man gives Jesus an excuse.
In it we can hear the explanation that no one cares about him and lets him remain in that situation.
Everyone else is faster, not helping him in.
Commentaries explain there is not much information to give context to the man’s issue however. Was the man’s intentions sincere. Afterwards, we discover that the text speaks to how the man acts once he is healed.
Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”
Jesus does not sympathize with the lame man. Instead He commands the man to get up. He commands the man to do something that was impossible to do before.
Jesus commands that he not only is healed but to become active.
Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
Time for healing was immediate. There was no waiting to see what would happen. When Jesus commanded that the healing should happen, it happened. Just as God creation came into existence with the speaking of God’s Word, God’s Word Himself, Jesus Christ, commands that those who are ill are made well.
So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”
In the very next passage, we see there is a forgetting of what occurred and why it occurred. The Jews surely would have known this lame man who was at the pool for 38 years. Later, they knew there was the blind man in Chapter 9 and his inability to see. Why would they not know that the man was lame?
Was this person one of those who worked well at pretending to be lame? I doubt it as Jesus words are true and He commands that those who are ill are made whole.
But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’ ”
How often do we forget who is was who healed us and made us whole. When confronted with those who would ask us why we have the healing in our life that is only capable through the Hands of God we often balk at proclaiming Jesus’ name.
They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?”
But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.
Jesus allows us to proclaim His glory. Often when asked what has made a person well, we hear many things. “My prayer life is so good.” “My reading the Bible allows Me to become better understanding of what to do,” “I am able to see others in their hurt and take pity on their situation.”
Instead, God wants us to acknowledge Him.
Instead, our words should reflect and point to His story and His glory.
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
The man’s reluctance to proclaim Jesus’ name as the one who heals and offers salvation from sins becomes his testimony.
Instead of hearing “I don’t know why my life is this way,” we hear “It is only through Jesus that I am made well.”
Instead of hearing “I do not understand who it was who did this,” we hear, “Jesus is the one who told me not to sin anymore.”
Instead of denying God before man, we hear the full testimony of the lame who is willing to literally stand up to those in authority but not on his own will but by God’s will and command.
Frey, Jörg, and Koester, Craig R., eds. 2021. Signs and Discourses in John 5 and 6 : Historical, Literary, and Theological Readings from the Colloquium Ioanneum 2019 in Eisenach. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. Accessed November 6, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.