We were in Bible study recently. The question came up as to how we deal with anxiety. I could answer that question quickly. I deal with anxiety by trying to know that all the things around me are under control, and by trying to control everything I am able to control. This way the out of control outcomes will not happen. If I can prevent all the negative outcomes, I do not have to worry about them. I know. You are thinking “Are you crazy?” There is very little under your control. I know this. But, I don’t know how to stop.
John 5:1-17 (ESV)
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”
11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
As I read this passage I am challenged to think about a few things.
Many details are given to us. This was a real event in a real place. We are given a detailed description of the location. First-century readers would have been able to reference the place of this encounter. We cannot spiritualize and symbolize this healing. It took place at a certain time and place with details recorded. Jesus had the capability of ending this man’s paralysis. He was more than a good teacher. He did the things that simply can not be done.
Jesus picks this man out of the large crowd. It is interesting that he did not heal the whole group. It is also interesting that he did not supply what the man knew he needed….a friend to take him to the pool when the water is stirred. He had been at the pool for 38 years waiting for an opportunity to be healed.
Jesus asks him “Do you want to be healed?” What might this reveal to us? Is He asking us the same question? “Do you want to be……?” Do I? Am I comfortable with my life in its current state? Have I not created the environment around me that suits my needs and my will? What do I need to be “healed” of that, I am coming up short in terms of “wanting?” Often we have created a very careful environment that suits us. To have this upended by God is very uncomfortable. It causes us to be shaken out of all the things we have created in order to manage our lives. What is the problem? We are all given two choices. The first choice will I save myself and manage my world through my own efforts? This can be attempted in two ways. We can do bad things, or we can do good things. Either way, we are doing OUR thing. The call to follow Christ is one where He saves us and orders our lives by His grace. The question, daily, before us? Will I put aside myself and my will or will I ground the entirety of my life, work, and identity in the person of Jesus Christ.
Are you willing?
We see in many of these healing accounts, the Jews and Pharisees freaking out. Why? In this account, it is because the man is carrying his bed on the Sabbath. This is prohibited. Even when he tells them what happened, they totally miss it. They miss that the impossible has been done. A man paralyzed for 38 years is now walking around. No paralysis, no permanently atrophied muscles. They cannot see the work of Jesus through their religious haze. They are holding tightly to religious tradition and influence. They would rather have what they have always known than a world that God enters and begins to radically change and heal human lives, both physically and spiritually. Do we do the same?
Lord, open my eyes to see.
Lord, forgive my unwillingness to surrender to You.