The Healing at the Pool

I love that Jesus is a rule breaker.

He did not care so much about the rules of “society” when he lived here on earth. Instead he lived by love and that love had no lines or boundaries.

Jesus loves people more than anything. And more amazing than that, He doesn’t just love a certain type of person or  just believers, He loved everybody.

That is what made Him stand out in the crowd during His time here.

 

As I was reading a passage in the book of John in the new testament, this truth about Jesus stood out to me more than ever before:

Jesus was a rule breaker and by breaking the “rules” of society, He changed lives.

And I don’t mean change someones life in a small way, I mean in the biggest ways!

In John 5:1-15, Jesus went to a Jewish festival near a pool. The pool was surrounded by five covered colonnades (row of columns supporting a roof) and this was a typical place were many disabled people used to lie.

These people had different conditions: some were blind, some were lame, which meant having a body part weak/mangled and some were paralyzed.

In this passage they focus on one man in particular and he was lying there for 38 years with a disability.

Imagine that: lying outside, under a roof, with pain for 38 years.

I feel like when I read scripture, I don’t just want to read it, but break it down and put myself in that time/place and imagine what it would be like in real life to witness this or experience it.

I can’t imagine the despair these men and women felt lying under a roof, outside.  I would feel depressed.

But the man who is hope itself, saw the man lying there and knew he was in this condition for so long and asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

Imagine this in real life: the man replied, “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool and when I try to get in, someone else goes ahead of me…”

I feel his answer shows how in despair he is in, because I believe Jesus was the first person to ask him if he wanted to get well and he replied saying, no one even helps me get into the pool when I am struggling and ignores me, how could I even think I will ever get better when I get ignored by society?

But that man did not know who he was talking to…

Jesus sees the ones that no one else sees and cares.

Jesus simply said to the man, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.”

The man was instantly cured and got up and started walking.

After 38 years, this man started walking in an instant.

Another important note to make about this passage is Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.

There was a law in Jewish culture where people were not allowed to carry your mat on the Sabbath day. So, the leaders said to the man you are not allowed to carry your mat today. But the man replied, “the one who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

Jesus did not care about societal rules.  He broke the rules to heal and show His great love to people.

I also loved how the man responded as well. He could have gotten intimidated by the Jewish leaders and backed down to them, but instead he submitted to Jesus first and showed his loyalty to him. The one who healed him.

He recognized that the man who healed him was all powerful because he laid disabled for 38 years! That is a long time..

I love this healing story of scripture, because it shows Jesus’s great power, His love, and that Jesus noticed the ones that everyone already forgot about.

He broke the rules for that man, so he could experience life to the fullest,  to show that no physical ailment is too big for Him to heal, and that everyone has worth to him.

 

Not by Accident

Jesus did not find that man or heal that man by coincidence. He was brought to that festival for a reason and sought out people in a crowd to share the love and greatness of who He was, so people can be saved.

Just like Jesus did not stumble upon that pool by accident, you going through something challenging that led you to Jesus was not by accident.

You are so worthy to Him and you have Him in your heart for a reason. A big reason.

Trust Him with the pieces of your life that do not make sense or are difficult. I know that is hard to hear in the midst of a valley,  because some things are painful and very difficult to walk through, but you may very well just be that man that Jesus healed by the pool.

Soon, you may be the one telling others about Jesus and the miracles He has performed in your own life.

A trial can turn into a testimony real fast.

I can definitely attest to that in my own personal life.

Just like that passage said, in an instant the man was cured.

In an instant, your trial can turn around and you will be in awe of who Jesus is.

God is a god of BIG miracles and He has a miracle in store for you, if He has not already shown Himself strong in your life.

If you feel alone, I understand.

If you feel ignored, I understand.

If you are in pain emotionally or physically, I understand..

I have felt all three of those things and I know they are not easy to feel, but..

Jesus sees you and all you are going through now and all you have already walked through in your life. He sees the ones that do feel ignored and alone. And He has bigger plans for you than you can see right now.

You just have to believe in His goodness and His miracles and you will experience a God given miracle of your own.

He seeks out the lost and calls them home to Him..

 

I hope you can draw encouragement from this passage of scripture and be reminded, like I was, of who Jesus is and how no rule or wall or anything can ever intimidate Him or stop His greatness.. He is after our hearts and wants us to share His great name through our own unique stories and miracles He has performed in each one of our lives.

Hope you have a blessed weekend!

 

All for Jesus,

Steph