12/16/2014

Gift of Healing

John 5:5-9 - "5A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 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?’ 7 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.’ 8 Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’ 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.”

One of the most surprising things about this passage is Jesus' response to the seeing the man lying there. “Do you wish to get well?”

It seems almost absurd to ask. In that era, being unable to walk would have been seen as a curse or a punishment for sin. The man would have been scorned and hated his entire life. Why would anyone not want to end this?

What is even more intriguing is the response that Jesus gets. The man doesn’t answer in the affirmative, he instead explains that by his own strength he is unable to be healed. Though he can see where he needs to be, and knows where the source of healing comes from, he does not have the power to attain it without help.

Jesus, rather than promising to help the man enter the pool, demonstrates his own authority by healing him instantly. The story becomes the perfect illustration of Jesus’ mission. He has come to break the bondage of sin that so thoroughly binds us and offers freedom to any who are willing to be healed.