When we were in Jerusalem we got to go to the Pools of Bethesda. This is where Jesus healed an invalid. John 5: 3-9 "Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 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?” “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.” Then 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.
The man is alone and has no help. He has no hope of healing because he cannot get to the pool. Jesus approaches him but the man does not know who Jesus is. Jesus knows the man has been ill for a long time. And he knows the mans heart.
Jesus asks him, "Do you want to be made well?" The man may be used to being ill and the thought of being well with new responsibilities could be frightening. The man gave Jesus his excuses. Instead of Jesus helping him get in the pool, like the man expected, he gave him immediate and complete healing.
Jesus has healed me so many times and will continue. He has healed me spiritually when he opened my eyes. He has healed me emotionally when I accept his forgiveness and let go of a burden of shame. And he has healed me physically when doctors did not know if it was possible.
Many of us are like the invalid. We still feel bound by our circumstances and environment. Many of us are lame in that we have been stuck in one place for a long time. Many of us are waiting for something. Maybe we are waiting for the healing that only Jesus gives.
Jesus does not want us to sit by the pool of despair. Jesus wants to know, "do you want to be made well?"
What a beautiful picture and message, thanks Jill!