The Miracles of Jesus

The Lame Man by the Pool

John 5:1-15 ^NLT

“Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish Holy days. Inside the city near the Sheep Gate was the pool of Bethesda with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people - blind, lame or paralyzed - lay on the covered porches waiting for a certain movement of the water, for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and stirred up the water. And the first person to step in after the water was stirred was healed of whatever disease he had.”   - John 5:1-4

            Here we have another healing only this time there’s a bit of a twist. This particular man wasn’t asking to be healed. According to scripture this man had been lame for 38 years. No doubt he had lost all hope of being healed, for he couldn’t get into the pool himself and had no one to place him in the pool either. Jesus asked the crippled man what may appear on the surface to be a naïve question by asking the him if he would like to be made well.  Instead of simply saying ‘yes’, he said “I can’t, sir.” His explanation told the story.  There was no one to put him in the water at the appropriate time. To that Jesus replied, “Take up your mat and walk!” It was the Sabbath.

            The religious leaders of the day already had several run-ins with Jesus regarding breaking their restrictive, man-made rules. No working or walking on the Sabbath. So this man had broken two of their religious rules. The Pharisaic leaders quizzed the man, wanting to know who would do such a thing. The man didn’t know for Jesus had disappeared into a crowd. 

            Shortly after the man’s encounter with the religious leaders, Jesus returned to him to continue by telling him to stop sinning or something worse might happen to him. That statement leads us to believe that some sin may have caused the condition he had been in for the 38 years. There is no indication that this man came to faith in Christ, nor expressed any gratitude for his healing. I suppose that would show us that not all who are healed are thankful to the extent that they take the initiative to thank God. That is irrelevant in the respect that God does what He does regardless of the response He receives in return. 

            What does this event mean to us today?  No matter how helpless and hopeless you may feel in your situation, there is nothing God cannot do for you. There is no emotional hurt, or physical disease that is so firmly and deeply embedded in us that God cannot reach it and heal it. We must never let any situation cause us to lose hope. God always knows what He’s doing and does what He does for a very specific purpose. That applies even if the healing doesn’t come this side of heaven. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resources: The Life Application Study Bible, p. 2294, c.2007; Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament, c.2004.