Hosanna Restoration Church

I am certain that everyone who has read this scripture has at one time or another thought that Jesus was asking a rather strange question. You would think that it would be obvious that a person who had been ill for 38 years would want to be well. But look at the man’s answer. Instead of saying yes, he said, “I can’t.” He was depending on someone else to watch the water and make sure that he got in on time. In other words, he was lying there everyday never expecting to get well. It is kind of like praying all the time without expecting God to answer. He was just going through the motions. There were obviously some people who wanted him to get well. Someone had to carry him there every day. How sad it would be to never expect God to do anything.

Webster’s dictionary defines the word well as being in good standing or favor; satisfactory, pleasing; prosperous, well-off; being in satisfactory condition or circumstances; free or recovered from infirmity or disease; healthy; etc. Jesus was offering the man a lot more than the opportunity to get up. He was offering the man an opportunity to be whole. No longer would he need to be carried; he could carry others.

Did you notice that man not only pointed out that no one was there to help him, but also that someone else jumped in and got the blessing before he could. I wonder if he ever considered just rolling in anyway and seeing if God might have enough for more than one. I don’t want to be hard on the fellow here; we have all at one time or another declared that we can’t when the word of God is saying we can.

Well, Jesus listened to his excuses and then simply said, “Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat and walk!” He must have said it with some kind of authority because the man did just want he was told. He had a choice. He could have stayed right there and explained to Jesus again why it just would not work. I don’t know what would have happened then. Perhaps Jesus would have just walked on. Fortunately this man decided to give it a try and for the first time in 38 years he got up and took off. In the same way, we have to put the Word into action.

He left the presence of Jesus with more that physical health. He left completely well. He left free from all the things that held him down. He no longer had to blame others for not getting him in the water. He did not have to be envious of the one’s who got in the water before him. He also had been in the presence of the Son of God and did not know who He was. Perhaps Jesus left to quickly, or perhaps the man never bothered to ask.

Later we see him meet Jesus in the temple and though he was now physically healthy, he still was not waking in the wellness that Jesus intended. We are told that afterward Jesus found him in the temple. I don’t know what he was doing or why Jesus went looking for him. Perhaps he was begging, or stealing since he could now move around, or any of a number of things. For what ever reason, when Jesus found him, He reminded him that he was well and that he should stop sinning or something worse might happen to him. There are responsibilities that go with being well in the way that Jesus makes us well and whole. Do you want to be well? Jesus gives us the opportunity to abide in all that His presence offers. We simply need to get up and get going.