Tag Archives: Bethesda

JOHN’S GOSPEL… HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS-11

Bible Study,

In our quest to discover the Jesus, Son of God, in John’s gospel, we may need to see Him, the Light, against the backdrop of the darkness that opposed Him. “Opportunity” was His watchword, every impossiblity an opportunity to create a new reality through creativity.

John 5:1-2, 5 NIV
[1] “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. [2] Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades…
[5] One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.”

Thirty-eight years! That’s a long time to be without hope. Jesus’ question didn’t even arouse anything but pessimism.

John 5:6 NIV
[6] “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

The paralytic didn’t know this crazy stranger who asked a stupid question. “Do you want to get well?” What did He think? Of course he wanted to get well! Why would he lie there, day after day, next to a pool that was reputed to have healing powers when it bubbled up, if he didn’t want to get well?

His tired, worn-out response said it all. “No one! I have no one to help me!” So, that settled it. He would always lie there, helpless and alone, to the end of his days, and never walk again.

Opportunity!

What if he walked, not because he went into a pool that could do nothing for him but because he did what this crazy stranger told him to do?

John 5:8-9 NIV
[8] “Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” [9] At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath…”

Oops! Big Brother was watching! Something this amazing had to have been noticed. The ever-watching Pharisees were also on the lookout for…opportunity! Not to recognise God when they saw Him but to find another excuse to get rid of Him. He was a threat to them and they hated Him for it.

The Sabbath! The religious leaders’ flash point.

John 5:9-10 NIV
[9] “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, [10] and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

The hypocrites’ opportunity was not to praise God for a great miracle but to embroil the healed man in Jesus’ “guilt”.

John 5:13-15 NIV
[13] “The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. [14] Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” [15] The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

So, it was Jesus who healed the man, was it! They went in the attack.

John 5:16-18 NIV
[16] “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. [17] In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” [18] For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

Sabbath was their trigger, using their view of the law to condemn Jesus. Now they had Him. He was actually saying the unthinkable…calling God His Father!

Let’s think about this situation.

It’s amazing what people will do to achieve their ends. Jesus saw opportunity in the lame man’s dilemma. Grace stepped in and the lame man walked again. The Pharisees saw opportunity to condemn their opponent. They accused and added another nail to His coffin and, inadvertantly, to their own…

DON’T INTERFERE WITH ME

Bible Study, ,

DON’T INTERFERE WITH ME

“Some time later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

“Now there was in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'” John 5:1-6 (NIV).

What a question! Thirty-eight years lying paralysed and helpless on a mat and Jesus asks a question like that!

However, Jesus knew the inner workings of this man better that we give Him credit for. Thirty-eight years is a long enough time in which to get used to a certain way of life and to develop an attitude. To this man, it was normal for him to lie there, day after day, to feel sorry for himself and to watch the world go by and not be a part of it. He had his “spot”, no doubt; he was probably given food by his family and, since he had long given up hope of a miraculous cure in the pool, he just lay there….and even stopped thinking.

Then a strange man came along and asked him an even stranger question, ‘Do you want to get well?’ On the surface, it seems like a foolish and unnecessary question but wait a minute, to whom was Jesus talking? Not to someone who had ‘flu or even pneumonia but to a man who had been useless and helpless for a very long time. He had no dreams, no ambitions, nothing to look forward to, and nothing to plan for. He just was.

What would it take for this man to have to start thinking and living again? He was used to his condition which required no effort at all. Who did this strange man think He was, coming here and trying to shake him out of his comfortable nothingness? What was the point of even trying to raise his hopes when it was all hopeless anyway?

“‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no-one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’” John 5:7 (NIV).

The man’s spontaneous response was to retreat into self-pity mode. ‘Sir, don’t you understand that I am useless, helpless and alone? No one cares enough about me to help me into the pool.’ He was so locked into his situation and mind-set that he did not hear Jesus’ question. He had a pat answer that played in his mind like a stuck record.

What would it take to rekindle hope in the heart of this man? Without hope, healing could never happen. Somehow Jesus had to get beyond his wall of despair and begin to help him to dream again.

A simple command changed everything for the paralysed man. “The Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” John 5:8, 9a (NIV). There was no need for Jesus to enter into a counselling session with him. Having gauged his state of mind, He spoke a word and the man responded. There was authority in His command. Healing flowed through the man’s body as he acted.

Is that not the key that opens the door of hope for us too? When Jesus speaks a word to us, it requires an act of faith to respond to His command before the miracle happens. Whatever miracle we are needing takes more than a passive “believing”; it needs the active “responding” to activate the power of God.

What is your state of mind? Have you lost hope? Has despair clouded your spiritual hearing and sight? Jesus is asking you, ‘Do you want to be healed?’ That’s the real issue. Do you want to be alive again or are you so comfortable in your misery that it has become the normal for you?

Jesus is saying to you today, ‘Get up!’

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Don’t Interfere With Me!

Bible Study, , ,

DON’T INTERFERE WITH ME

“Some time later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

“Now there was in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'” John 5:1-6 (NIV).

What a question! Thirty-eight years lying paralysed and helpless on a mat and Jesus asks a question like that!

But Jesus knew the inner workings of this man better that we give Him credit for. Thirty eight years is a long enough time in which to get used to a certain way of life and to develop an attitude. To this man it was normal for him to lie there, day after day, to feel sorry for himself and to watch the world go by and not be a part of it. He had his “spot”, no doubt; he was probably give food by his family and, since he had long given up hope of a miraculous cure in the pool, he just lay there….and even stopped thinking.

Then a strange man came along and asked him an even stranger question, ‘Do you want to get well?’ On the surface it seems like a foolish and unnecessary question but wait a minute, to whom was Jesus talking? Not to someone who has ‘flu or even pneumonia but to a man who had been useless and helpless for a very long time. He had no dreams, no ambitions, nothing to look forward to, and nothing to plan. He just was.

What would it take for this man to have to start thinking and living again? He was used to his condition which required no effort at all. Who did this man think He was, coming here and trying to shake him out of his comfortable nothingness? What was the point of even trying to raise his hopes when it was all hopeless anyway?

“‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no-one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’” John 5:7 (NIV).

The man’s spontaneous response was to retreat into self-pity mode. ‘Sir, don’t you understand that I am useless, helpless and alone? No one cares enough about me to help me into the pool.’ He was so locked into his situation and mind-set that he did not hear Jesus’ question. He had a pat answer that played in his mind like a stuck record.

What would it take to rekindle hope in the heart of this man? Without hope, healing could never happen. Somehow Jesus had to get beyond his wall of despair and begin to help him to dream again.

A simple command changed everything for the paralysed man. “The Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” John 5:8, 9a (NIV).

There was no need for Jesus to enter into a counselling session with him. Having gauged his state of mind, He spoke a word and the man responded. There was authority in His command. Healing flowed through the man’s body as he acted.

Is that not the key that opens the door of hope for us too? When Jesus speaks a word to us it requires an act of faith to respond to His command before the miracle happens. Whatever miracle we are needing takes more than a passive “believing”; it needs the active “responding” to activate the power of God.

What is your state of mind? Have you lost hope? Has despair clouded your spiritual hearing and sight? Jesus is asking you, ‘Do you want to be healed?’ That’s the real issue. Do you want to be alive again or are you so comfortable in your misery that it has become the normal for you?

Jesus is saying to you today, ‘Get up!’