When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
JOHN 5:6–8
He lay in his usual place by the pool of Bethesda along with crowds of miserable people just like him. Their sick bodies were strewn around the porches, each clamoring for a place in the shade under the colonnade roofs. Some were blind or disfigured. Many limped. Some were paralyzed just like him. When they weren’t distracted by grumbling over whose plight was worse, they watched the pool with their eyes peeled, hoping to see some bubbles near the center. Some in Jerusalem believed that the Lord would occasionally send an angel to dip its wings in the pool, and the first one to get into the water when it was stirred would be healed. But it never really happened. The most desperate ones like him seldom made it into the water first. Only the most able-bodied among them had a chance to win the competition. When they came out, they felt better. A little, anyway.
After thirty-eight years, he had grown very used to this routine. He was an old-timer, with weather-worn skin and long, tangled gray hair to prove it. He had a certain reputation at the pool. He had his spot in the shade, and no one dared fight him for it. Years ago when he lost the use of his legs, he had begged God to heal him. But his prayers fell on deaf ears. He gave up on praying a long time ago. His limp legs hurt constantly, but they still refused to move. Sometimes he thought if his legs were so useless, then he shouldn’t be able to feel them, either. Wishful thinking. All he had left was his life at the pool—long and boring days of waiting for the water to stir and grumbling with the others. And begging, of course.
And today was a good day for begging. It was the Sabbath feast and the people who passed by would occasionally throw a few coins their way. In the early afternoon, he spotted Him. A man he hadn’t seen before. He seemed to have a following. There were murmurs among his sick friends. A teacher, some speculated. The Teacher was surveying all those waiting to jump into the pool when His eyes stopped and locked onto the paralyzed man’s. The Teacher approached, and the man thought he might have pity and give him something.
Instead, the Teacher looked directly at him and asked, “Would you like to get well?” What? I gave up on that a long time ago. Can’t you see how old I am? There’s no way an old guy like me can beat all these people into the pool. It never stirs anyway! Instead of answering with the obvious, he said: “I can’t, sir, for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” The Teacher looked intently at him. Those eyes. Can He read my mind? He had to look down. The Teacher finally said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, his legs began to tingle and twitch. He wiggled his toes and bent his knees. His legs came alive and he leapt off the mat! The pain was gone. He could walk! He could jump! “I’m healed! I can walk!” he shouted. The crowd became delirious. How had they missed it? “When did the water stir?” they all shouted at once. Not waiting around to explain, the man quickly rolled up his sleeping mat and scurried away on his new legs (John 5:1–13).
Hopelessness had been a way of life for this man. No one helped him, he had no hope of ever being helped, and he had lost hope in helping himself. Instead of responding with a resounding “Yes!” when Jesus asked if he wanted to get well, he focused on his circumstances, the pool, and all his limitations. There was no one to help him get in. Someone always got there first. Jesus knew, after thirty-eight long years, the man had grown content in his hopelessness.
You can always focus on how bad things look and all the reasons your situation seems bleak. The drugs don’t work. The doctors can’t help me. It’s always been this way. Nothing ever changes. Or you can refuse to let your desperate circumstances destroy your hope. You can refuse to allow yourself to become content in your depression. No matter how hopeless things seem, God can reach places no human solution can touch. If you have Jesus, you always have hope. He can walk into your life anytime and ask, “Child, do you want to get well?” Nothing is impossible for Him. When you are tempted to say “I can’t,” remember He can.
Lord, forgive me when I have settled for my circumstances. Forgive me for letting the world know how big my problems are, while forgetting how big YOU are. Help me never to grow complacent and give up my hope for wholeness and wellness. Even in the most hopeless circumstances when the world says no, You can say yes. You can restore all that appears lost. You can do what no doctor can do, and what modern medicine would call impossible. You can do for me what I can’t do for myself.
Jesus, You spoke words of life to this hopeless man and immediately he was healed and restored. Speak those same words to me, Lord. I am ready. Lord, I want to get well!