I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject. These articles will not run contiguously on this blog but peppered throughout and in the midst of other articles (though some might be posted consecutively). I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
Once again the LORD, the Prince of Peace ascends up and enters into Jerusalem, the City of Peace, which has known stresses and trial for centuries and will sadly continue to do so as we near the end to a nightmarish climax. Yet when the Prince of Peace returns, rescues and is received by Israel, this city will certainly live up to its name:
"Yerushalayim—more specifically, the Temple Mount—was the very spot where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. Look in the narrative there and you'll see that after he was told by an angel of G‑d not to sacrifice his beloved son, it reads:
"And so Abraham named that place "G‑d will see," as it is said to this day, "On the mountain, G‑d will be seen." The Hebrew word for "will see" is yireh. That's the first half.
"Now, what was the city called before Abraham renamed it Yireh? To discover this, we need to backtrack a few chapters. After rescuing his relative, Lot, from captivity, we read how Abraham was greeted by "Malchizedek the king of Shalem," from www.chabad.org, Who Named Jerusalem?
Hence, the conjunction of these two words gives us Yerushalayim or Jerusalem.
The LORD enters into Bethesda, a pool of five porches complete with covered colonnades (there are some who consider '5' to be the biblical numeric representing grace, which is somewhat speculative, but interesting. In my mind, if this has any validity anywhere in Scripture, the best example would be the five points of piercing of our LORD on Calvary hill (The crown of thorns on His head, two nails in each of His hands, a spear into His side and a spike driven through both of His feet). It's fitting then that the Holy Spirit mentions that there are five (not four or six) porches here.
The name of Bethesda means "place or house of kindness or mercy" and we will see Kindness Incarnate, the Merciful Messiah in action once again here.
It was in this place that sick people resorted - "blind, halt, withered" etc. who waited for the waters of the pool to be stirred by an angel, and the first one in would be healed. A rather remarkable phenomena that doesn't seem to have a parallel anywhere else in the Scriptures.
Yet the Bible doesn't attribute this work to demons working false miracles. It seems legitimate. Among this "multitude" of needy people there is a man who had the infirmity of lameness for thirty eight years. We don't know how old this man was, but it's conceivable that this was a life-long burden. Imagine having such a life-long struggle, never knowing what it was like to stand on your own two solid, strong, dependable legs, having no recourse or 'health care' system to fall back on for you and your family!
Enter: JESUS! And our LORD asks the question:
"Will you be made whole?" A question to which He already knew the answer.
Our God asks questions to which He, the omniscient (all-knowing) One already has the answers.
He asked Adam, "Where are you?" Of Moses, "What is in your hand?" Of the rich young ruler, "Why do you call Me good?" Of His disciples, "Who do you say that I Am?".
God asks us questions to draw attention to something, not because He is soliciting information (He is after all, the one and only, genuine Know-It-All; but for all that, supremely humble!). Of this ailing man, He was drawing attention to the fact that he was helpless to even help himself. And this man rightly admits this hopelessness:
"Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me." Imagine the frustration, the angst, the sorrowful stress in wanting to be healed, but after all this time, others always made it before him. Someone else was always "first". This man was always last.
Ever been there? Does it seem that God is at work in everyone's life but yours? Do you feel lonely in your sorrow and sickness? Left out of the blessings of God? Even perhaps a little resentful that others receive answered prayers, but it feels as though yours are bouncing off the ceiling and landing flat on the floor next to your dejected and broken heart?
Yet what do we read here? The LORD could have gone anywhere in Jerusalem. But He specifically entered Bethesda - this place of mercy. This place of kindness. He determinedly walked up to this specific man who suffered this crippling burden for thirty eight years. It was a day appointed that this man was visited by the LORD.
Your day is likewise appointed. And just as this man had no idea that he would be visited by the LORD on this day, you don't know that this long trial just might come to an end today when the LORD visits you. Or perhaps next week, or next month. Perhaps not until the next decade.
Wait for it, have hope that the LORD will in fact visit you.
And even if you endure this burden the length of your days (and what really is the length of our days? a vapor - a momentary wisp that vanishes in a moment; JAMES 4:14), compared to all eternity, our lives here are a blink of an eye, a drop in the bucket. When we saints finally go Home, we ALL will ultimately be healed of whatever we've had to carry in this world!
And even in all of our afflictions, the LORD is with us, and can commune with us in all of them (ISAIAH 63:9); no furnace is so intense that the LORD would refuse to accompany us in it. Consider Daniel's three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in their furnace (DAN 3:18-25). Furnaces refine us - they are absolutely not desirable to our flesh but they are good for us, and fulfill God's intention, plans and purposes (ISAIAH 48:10-12).
This man was always last - he never received a healing at this pool of kindness, that to him, probably over time became more like the pool of cruelty.
Yet today this place lived up to its name, because 'the LORD is in the House' of Bethesda!
The LORD simply tells him,
"Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath."
What disease, ailment, disability, lack, demon-inspired obstacle can stand in our way when once the LORD issues His command that it be removed? He spoke in the power of His Word - something exclusive to the LORD of Glory and all of creation. He alone wields this power of the spoken WORD, for He Himself IS The WORD of GOD.
ISAIAH 14:24,26-27
24 The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
PSALM 10:12-18
12 Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, “You will not require an account.”
14 But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, To repay it by Your hand. The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man; Seek out his wickedness until You find none. 16 The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,
18 To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more (See also PSALM 47 and PSALM 93).
This man who was crippled for nearly four decades heard the Word of the LORD, and responded immediately - imagine the life-surging power of the Spirit rejuvenating the muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and bone and in an instant, to the amazement of those around the two men, he rises up off the floor and stands before His Maker!
Note that this was on the Sabbath - how fatigued this man must have been, when for all his efforts to get to the pool of Bethesda for healing, he was yet again disappointed and all the more tired. Yet this is the sabbath, where he rested from his own labors, and received this holy work of miraculous grace and power of healing!
We wait for the LORD with watchful, expectation (ISAIAH 40:31; check out the previous link and discover all the various meanings of what it is to "wait"!), we await His visitation when He brings His answers to our prayers for healing, for direction, for encouragement, for any and all needs we may ever have. Long before we encounter these needs, long before we come to the bend on the road of life where these, sometimes daunting, burdens come into view: the eyes of the LORD saw them all along, long before He ever spoke, "Let there be light" GEN 1:3. and likewise provided His answer since eternity past. We only need trust, wait and obey what He tells us, to endure in our prayerful seeking of His face. And when once He utters His Word into our lives, we respond, and stand in faith by gratefully receiving His blessed answer and provision.
Just as this man stood upon the command of Christ and His spoken Word, we who are born of the Spirit of God are able to stand in the liberty (GAL 5:1) afforded to us by the grace of God through Jesus Christ and walk with our Prince of Peace (GAL 5:16,25) Who has granted us peace with God (ROM 5:1) as well as the peace of God (PHIL 4:7). Shalom!
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