Friday, Aug. 26

Friday

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 day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”  But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’  So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?  The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 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.”  The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  – John 5:8-15

One of the most remarkable things about this passage is in verse 14, the text says that Jesus found this man (again) after he had been healed.  Why did Jesus go looking for him a second time?  He found him the first time at the pool of Bethesda and healed him and sent him on his way, shouldn’t that be the end of the story?  What else does Jesus want with this man?  John indicates that Jesus actually went looking for this man again. Jesus knew exactly where to find him, the Jewish law required a person that had been healed to go to the Temple and make a thank offering to God.  Apparently, Jesus was not through with this guy just yet.  When Jesus catches up with him, He says a very curious thing, “See, you are well again.  Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

There are some who interpret this passage to mean that this man’s condition was the direct result of his personal sin, and that God had actually afflicted him for 38 years until Jesus showed up and healed him.  Now there are some sins and behaviors that can and do lead to serious physical consequences, even death.  However, what we don’t want to do is assume that anytime something’s wrong it must be your lack of faith, trust or lack of belief. That’s a very dangerous thing to say. Jesus in fact balances this out because He makes it very clear that sometimes things happen and it’s no one’s fault.  In John 9, Jesus heals a man who had been born blind. “His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” 

Let’s be clear, Jesus is NOT threatening this man.  He is NOT saying that if this man steps out of line again, God is going to strike him down even worse than before, He is NOT saying that!

So what is Jesus saying?  First he reminds the man that he has been healed, “See you are well again.”  The word translated well actually means whole (in fact many modern translations translate it as such).  Jesus is telling this man that he has been restored, made completely whole physically, and spiritually.  The second thing Jesus is does is to give a rather strange warning to this guy, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”  I can’t help but ask the question – what is worse than 38 years as an invalid?  I can’t think of too many things from a human point of view to be honest.  However, an eternity apart from God is infinitely worse than any fate you can imagine for any length of time on earth.  What is worse?  To separated from God for all eternity, that is worse!

Finally, Jesus is telling this man WHY he has been made whole.  Jesus has not just healed his body so that the man will have a few years of relative physical comfort.  Think about this for a minute, if Jesus had showed up at the pool that day and said to the man, “I forgive you”, but done nothing at all about his desperate physical condition, most people would think that pretty insensitive of Him.  But how much more tragic would it have been if Jesus only healed the man’s physical body, but done nothing at all for his soul?  So what if the man walks around for a few years, if he is headed for an eternity apart from God!?

This is never Jesus’ primary agenda!  Jesus is after a much deeper healing than whatever physical disease or disability this man had suffered from, He is after a healing of his soul.  Jesus is showing this man (and us) that the physical miracle is really a gateway to the greater miracle – a transformed heart!  This is the real miracle, because this is the real disease (sin) that disables us all.  This man has been made whole so that his life may be lived for the glory of God.

Jeff Frazier