1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, 4 and they waited for the moving of the waters.
7 “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.”
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, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
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 Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Anyway, I skimmed/read parts of Matthew Henry's complete commentary on this chapter. There is a LOT of information there, some of it very interesting, but I just want to pull out one portion for you today. In verse 7, the man says "While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." This man had been an invalid for 38 years. He'd been waiting there who knows how long (probably not the whole 38 years, I would assume). No one knows how often the water was stirred. The commentary says "The angel descended, to stir the water, not daily, perhaps not frequently, but at a certain season; some think, at the three solemn feasts, to grace those solemnities; or, now and then, as Infinite Wisdom saw fit. God is a free agent in dispensing his favours."
The thing I wanted to point out was this:
Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool, John 5:7. He seems to take Christ's question (Do you want to get well?) as an imputation of carelessness and neglect: "If thou hadst had a mind to be healed, thou wouldest have looked better to thy hits, and have got into the healing waters long before now." "No, Master," saith the poor man, "It is not for want of a good will, but of a good friend, that I am unhealed. I have done what I could to help myself, but in vain, for no one else will help me." (1.) He does not think of any other way of being cured than by these waters, and desires no other friendship than to be helped into them; therefore, when Christ cured him, his imagination or expectation could not contribute to it, for he thought of no such thing. (2.) He complains for want of friends to help him in: "I have no man, no friend to do me that kindness." One would think that some of those who had been themselves healed should have lent him a hand; but it is common for the poor to be destitute of friends; no man careth for their soul. (3.) He bewails his infelicity, that very often when he was coming another stepped in before him. But a step between him and a cure, and yet he continues impotent. None had the charity to say, "Your case is worse than mine, do you go in now, and I will stay till the next time;" for there is no getting over the old maxim, Every one for himself. Having been so often disappointed, he begins to despair, and now is Christ's time to come to his relief; he delights to help in desperate cases. Observe, How mildly this man speaks of the unkindness of those about him, without any peevish reflections. As we should be thankful for the least kindness, so we should be patient under the greatest contempts; and, let our resentments be ever so just,yet our expressions should ever be calm. And observe further, to his praise, that, though he had waited so long in vain, yet still he continued lying by the pool side, hoping that some time or other help would come, Habakkuk 2:3.
(the bold is my emphasis, the italics were present already)
Bold #1 - This man had no expectation, nor did he imagine, that Jesus could heal him or that anything other than the pool could do so, therefore when he was healed by Jesus, he knew it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with the miracle Jesus performed.
Bold #2 - Oh, it made me so sad to think of that poor man lying there and others who were obviously capable of getting into the pool themselves cutting in front of him, rather than helping him in. It also made me wonder, "How often do I overlook someone who could use my help because I'm too busy looking after myself?"
Bold #3 - This man didn't show any bitterness at the way things had gone down. How often do we get all upset and riled up about something relatively unimportant when we feel we've been slighted somehow or been treated unjustly? Here is a man who cannot walk, who has been waiting for what he believes is his last resort at being healed of his affliction, and no one will help him but rather they cut in front of him and then leave without another thought for him. But is he upset or angry? Maybe, but he doesn't show any resentment or bitterness. Does he give up and leave? No. He waits patiently, hoping that some time or other, help would come. And it did. Did it come in the form of someone who helped him into the pool? No. But someone had compassion on him nevertheless, and helped him in a way he had not imagined or anticipated.
May we have the strength of character to not allow our resentments to control how we treat others, to have patience when awaiting an answer to prayer or the will of God to be revealed, and faith that, while our answer or help may not come as we expected, what comes will be what is best and all the glory will be to God.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: John 5:16-30.
1 comment:
Wow - so many good points, many of which I've never noticed, from such a familiar story! Thanks Miriam.
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