When Jesus sought out and graciously and lovingly healed the paralyzed man lying by the Pool of Bethesda, He said these words to him – “Do you want to be made well?” What an odd thing to ask a man who hasn’t been able to move for 38 years. You would then think that paralyzed man would have screamed out YESSSSSSSS! But no. He first did some complaining about how no one had helped him.
THE STORY OF THE CRIPPLED MAN
“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked…Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.” (John 5:1-9,15)
Back to the beginning – the paralyzed man – by actual definition paralyzed means: “to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move.” So, in his case he was physically unable to move. Another word for paralyzed is crippled, disabled, immobilized, incapacitated and prostrated. I wonder how many of us today are paralyzed – maybe not externally, but for sure internally. Perhaps we could even refer to it as mental illness. Maybe depression. Maybe anxiety. We feel helplessly locked in its confines.
When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be well, all he could see was the failures of others towards him. This is a normal response and is referred to as a victim’s mentality. “Victim mentality is an acquired personality trait in which a person tends to recognize or consider themselves a victim of the negative actions of others, and to behave as if this were the case in the face of contrary evidence of such circumstances.” (Merriam Webster Dictionary) And yes, he was a victim of his circumstances as well as the seeming neglect from others, but what happened NEXT was UP TO HIM. (wow)
TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK
Jesus then asked him to RISE up/take up his bed and walk. Seemed pretty simple, and it was. He did it. I wish the Bible went further to tell us how he felt – I can only imagine. Did he run through the fields, roll down a mossy hill, and stay awake for days just so not to miss anything? Did he feel like the guy on the movie Titanic, at the helm of the boat, when he exclaimed, “I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD”. I am guessing, yes.
God has healed me from my abuse (not my fault) like He healed the paralyzed man of his disease (not his fault). He walked on – I am walking on. (Abuse had emotionally crippled me, so I feel a kinship to this man. Like, I understand how he must have felt.) So WHY after healing him, did Jesus say GO AND SIN NO MORE? And then tag on lest WORSE could come upon him (worse than being paralyzed?) This confuses me, but feels like it holds a powerful message of freedom for the rest of my journey.
Perhaps, up to now (for him/for me) what had crippled us both was NOT our fault but perhaps our future choices (if birthed in sin) WOULD then become our fault and reap havoc on our lives. It seems that the healing creates a new and improved version of us that we NOW need to deny. “Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24) The healing is being sanctified/the purifying and being set free, and now we must REMAIN that way. Why it is worse is – if we then CHOOSE to UNDO what Jesus JUST DID.
“I don’t wanna abuse Your grace;
God, I need it every day.
It’s the only thing that ever really makes me wanna change.”
(“Holy Water” by We The Kingdom)
THE JOURNEY OF HEALING
You can be healed. Yes. 100% fully healed. And still FALL afterwards while enjoying your new freedom. Freedom can come with the pleasures of sin now being made available to you. (whoa) That man couldn’t move for 38 years – ALL the voices calling to him after that, when he could finally move and walk, must have been loud and overwhelming. Come here! Try this! I know you never….! What about THIS! What about THAT!
If you put yourself in his shoes that he NOW needed to wear, the temptations must have been staggering. (They have been for me). It doesn’t say if he fell prey to any or all – all it says is, “The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.” Nothing could be as great as his ability to function and move. No temptation was worth risking a far greater curse to fall upon him. I mean, right? Wouldn’t you think so if it were YOU?
Hopefully his healing was more than enough, and nothing else could take the place of the Jesus who made him well. I hope for him, and for me and for any of us in the same boat, that the gratefulness of being made whole would outweigh the injustice that broke us.
FREE TO WRITE A NEW ENDING
“And this is my cross to bear
This is my story to tell
That no matter what I’ve gone through
I’ve been tried and come out true
So let Your will be done –
You will get the glory from this.”
(“You Get The Glory” by Jonathan Traylor)
When we are finally free, it comes with a different price – the price of OUR choice of what is next. What if THAT is why I am fighting and struggling and battling and flailing SO hard, so I can get it right to help someone else? Is it worth my sacrifice? Is it worth my pride? Is it worth the price? It is. I don’t want to be so close, and miss it by an inch. Or a quarter of an inch. I don’t want to miss it. It really boils down to an “all or nothing” moment and THAT IS THE BATTLE.
Perhaps THIS is the crossroads of blessings OR curses to be passed on to the next generation. THIS is the swell/the crest of the meaning of WRITE YOUR OWN ENDING.
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