“Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed…” John 5:3
Over the month of May we will look at this amazing healing from John 5:1-15 that took place at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem pictured above. For the man in the centre of the story, this place represented a ‘faint hope clause.’ No one else could help him!
“Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed…” John 5:3
The ‘faint hope clause’ existed in Canada after the abolishment of the death penalty until 1997. The main idea was that a person convicted of murder one or two could apply for parole and maybe, just maybe, receive it rather than spending the rest of their life behind bars.
Over the month of May we will look at this amazing healing from John 5:1-15 that took place at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem pictured above. For the man in the centre of the story, this place represented a ‘faint hope clause.’ No one else could help him!
It’s hard to tell what this pool looked like in Jesus’ day, but it was a big one near the Sheep gate where sacrifices were brought into the temple. A later manuscript says that an angel would stir the waters every once in a while and the first person in the water would receive healing. Maybe it was an angel, maybe it was a bubbling spring – but it was consistent enough for crowds of people in need to huddle around it.
We who live in our modern society and gripe about our broken medical system (which it is) need to get our head around the fact that if we had not received medical intervention at times in our life, we may be disabled now or even dead. In Jesus’ day there was no one to fix your teeth, no pills for your migraines, no method to stop your bleeding. A parasite would have its way with you. If you had a stroke, there was no coming back from it.
This man had been paralyzed since before Jesus was born. Perhaps Jesus knew that he was the worst off of them all, even though in verse 14 Jesus alluded to the potential that the man’s infirmity had a root in sin.
Aren’t we all in the same situation were it not for Jesus? We lay at the edge of healing and redemption unable to get in the pool. But here comes Jesus to heal with a word and we are new creatures in him. Whatever you are in the middle of right now, the answer is to be found in the Blessed Son. Your healing comes from Him!
Pastor Leon Throness
