Within the first 12 chapters of the Gospel of John, we fortuitously witness Jesus perform seven wondrous and awe-inspiring miracles; each one being uniquely significant in painting a more coherent picture of the gentle nature and heart of Jesus.
One of these remarkable miracles in particular is documented in chapter five of John, where we come across Jesus and His disciples entering Jerusalem to attend a Jewish festival. I like to imagine that the streets of the city were congested with uncontrolled throngs of people trying to maneuver their way through the hefty masses and that the entire atmosphere of Jerusalem was radiating with feelings of excitement and commotion. And yet, all of this elation and frenzy was the last thing that Jesus was interested in. Instead of ingraining himself into the very core of all the grand feasts and the energy of the festival, Jesus first wanted to visit a pool near the Sheep Gate of Bethesda. Though, it wasn't just a typical swimming pool that Jesus desired to see. This was a pool that was believed to acquire the power to heal, making it a popular dwelling place for those that were disabled. Every day vast amounts of the lame and the blind and the paralyzed would surround this pool in the hopes of eventually submerging themselves entirely to experience it's reviving waters.
We as readers are never exactly informed on the specific reasons of why Jesus wanted to seek out this pool. Maybe it's because He has a heart for those that are broken and for those that are hurting. Maybe it's because "He delights in mercy" (Micah 7:18.). Or maybe it's because He knew that the people encircling the pool were searching for help, and by the cries of their suffering, He knew that He was greatly needed.
Once Jesus reached the pool, he encountered a man who had been disabled for 38 years, and upon learning of this man's prolonged impairment, Jesus asked a seemingly obvious question: "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6.) To this, the man responded to Jesus by expressing that he has no one to help him into the pool that has healed so many others.
It's at this point in the story that I can envision myself, and I'm sure many of you can as well, as the handicapped man at the pool. I mean, doesn't it sound familiar? We are the broken and damaged and forgotten, and we are constantly lying beside this pool just waiting for someone to help us in so we can finally flourish and thrive. So we can finally be healed. Our lives are overflowing with hurt and heartache and grief, but we just can't find a way to delve into those stirring waters. Which brings me back to Jesus' relatively odd question: "Do you want to get well?" Initially, my first response to this question is usually something like, "This man had been lingering at this pool for 38 years, Jesus! Of course, he wants to get well!" But, how confident are we in knowing that? What if Jesus' question isn't so odd after all? What if this question is far more weighty than we originally thought?
Like the disabled man, we have grown accustomed to our life of impairment. Though we struggle and gripe and cry out for help, we have developed a sense of comfort in all of our despair. We give up hope. We establish a mindset that we must accept and endure this life of lying beside the pool because that's just the way life is, and we live by that. We so often inhabit ourselves in viscous thoughts convincing us that our lives won't get much better that we ultimately find normality in them. We make these thoughts real elements of our being, but truthfully, that life is so much more diminishing than the life that God has so divinely planned out for us.
One of the most powerful explanations of this comes from Jim Branch in his book Being With Jesus: "We settle for far less than what God truly desires for us. But God calls us to much more than that. He calls us to fullness. He calls us to wholeness. He calls us to obedience."
God calls us to a life where we are simply and honestly ourselves before Him. A life where He exceeds all of our expectations. A life that is overloaded with adventure and affection and fellowship. We are told to abandon our sorrows and stresses, and to wholeheartedly follow Him. He does not call us to earnestly wait by the pool because He has given us life and given us life to the full (John 10:10).
We, again parallel to the disabled man, are each told to leave behind our disadvantages and restrictions, and to, "Pick up your mat and walk" (John 5:8).
We are called to have hope. We are called to find discomfort in the patterns of discouragement and anguish within our lives. We are called to seek out Jesus and to confidently chase after His heart. We are called to walk.
If you're interested in reading an expansion on this type of devotional (as well as a whole bunch of other great ones,) check out Jim Branch's book "Being With Jesus."
