The Question

A Series on New Testament Stories
Healing of a Disabled Man
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
John 5:1-15 

[The Bible is mostly made up of stories. Stories about people’s lives, the struggles they faced and their faith, or lack of it. In this series we will be looking at some of those people in the Gospel of John. We’ll try to learn from their stories about who God is, how he worked in their life and how that applies to us today.]

  

The song, “Lookin’ for Love” was released in 1980 as a part of the soundtrack from the movie “Urban Cowboy”. It has all the earmarks of a classic country song.

 

I was lookin' for love in all the wrong places
Lookin' for love in too many faces
Searchin' their eyes
Lookin' for traces of what I'm dreaming of

 

The story about the healing of a disabled man takes place at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. It was said that at “certain times”, an angel would stir the waters, and whoever first stepped into the pool would be healed of whatever disease they had.

 

Jesus had returned to Jerusalem from Galilee for one of the Jewish festivals. The city would have been packed. As he approached the pool, the scene is described as, “Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves”. 

 

Amongst them was a man who had been disabled for thirty-eight years! That’s a lifetime. As he laid there, he was helpless because he had no one to help him into the water when it was stirred.

 

There are two things that stick out to me in this story. First, is that the disabled man was hoping for a miracle. After thirty-eight years, he saw no other solution. He must have been so desperate to walk that he was willing to do anything.

 

Second, Jesus asked him a really dumb question. “Do you want to get well?”  Duh! Why else would he be there? But Jesus must have realized this. So why did he ask the question?

 

The man didn’t know who Jesus was. He hadn’t heard about the itinerant preacher who healed the son of a royal official in Capernaum or changed water into wine in Cana. He was too busy trying to get into the healing water of Bethesda.

 

It wasn’t until Jesus learned that the man had been disabled for a long time, that he asked the question. However, the question was rhetorical. Jesus was trying to redirect the man’s attention to a healing that was not only physical, but spiritual.

 

Like the disabled man, we all have disabilities. They may be emotional or spiritual, but they’re still a lifetime of disabilities.

 

And like the country singer, we tend to try to meet our needs, our disabilities, in all the wrong places. 

But Jesus will meet us at the point of our need. It may not be dramatic or immediate, but with small steps he will do it.

 

Have you heard him ask you the question?

“Do you want to get well?”

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
2 Samuel 11:1-5; Psalm 32:1-11

 [In this series, we will be looking at people in the Bible who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily a wilderness of natural creation, but the metaphorical wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is always with you.]

  

Regrets! We all have them. Sometimes they’re small, like when I sold my vintage record
collection for pennies on the dollar; or when I threw away my 1974-76 collection of Michigan State football programs that I had saved for 30 years. Man I wish I wouldn’t have done that! I still regret it!

 

Some regrets though, are more serious. Like acting out on an addiction which results in hurting those you love the most, as well as yourself. You wish you could take it back, but it’s in the past, and you can’t change the past. Not only can you not change it, but the consequences can be life changing.

 

Regrets lead to guilt and shame. They can eat you up on the inside leading into more self-destructive behavior. Regrets can stay with you for years, if not for the rest of your life. David was intimately familiar with regrets.

 

He had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Then, to make matters worse, he had her husband Uriah, killed in battle. Even though David recognized his sin and confessed it, there were life changing consequences.

 

The son that David and Bathsheba conceived together… died; David’s son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar; in retaliation, Absalom, who was Tamar’s brother, killed Amnon; eventually Absalom conspired to overthrow David. On and on it went like ripples in the water. David lived in a wilderness of his own creation.

 

Here’s what David wrote about living in the wilderness, and how the Lord healed him.

 

³ When I kept it all inside,
    my bones turned to powder,
    my words became daylong groans.

⁴ The pressure never let up;
    all the juices of my life dried up.

⁵ Then I let it all out;
    I said, “I’ll come clean about my failures to God.”

Suddenly the pressure was gone—
    my guilt dissolved,
    my sin disappeared.        MSG

 

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. We all feel that way sometimes; like we’re living in a wilderness of our own making. Thankfully, the Lord forgives; the Lord heals; the Lord makes us whole again.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

Triple Dog Dare

The Life of Jesus Series:

How Jesus interacted with others.

Mark 2:1-12

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202%3A1-12&version=NIV;NLT

 

In the 1983 movie, “A Christmas Story”, Ralphie was an eye witness to the famous flagpole scene where one of his friends is forced to place his tongue on the frozen metal flagpole because of a “triple dog dare”.

 

His friend had no choice but to do it. Is that what happened to Jesus in this story?

 

Let’s consider the circumstances. Jesus had returned to Capernaum and was likely at Peter’s home. There was a huge crowd; so big that people were standing outside to listen, or to just get a glimpse of Jesus. Those who needed healing may have been waiting for hours.

 

It’s possible that this is a part of the back story of the paralyzed man and his friends. They may have faithfully and patiently waited for hours. Finally, not giving up hope, they devised a plan of desperation; a plan to lower their friend down through the roof of Peter’s house right in front of Jesus.

 

Following this is a series of events that is very revealing.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  ⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”                       NIV

 

To the teachers of the law Jesus responded, ¹⁰ “So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, ¹¹ “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” ¹² And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers.                 NLT

 

Was this the result of a “triple dog dare”? Was Jesus forced to heal the paralytic like Ralphie’s friend was forced to stick his tongue onto a frozen flagpole?

 

 

What if the story had ended before the paralytic was healed? What if the only thing that Jesus had done for him was to forgive his sins?

 

I think the point of this story is not the faith of the paralytic and his friends. It’s that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins even before the crucifixion and resurrection. And, as the religious leaders so insightfully pointed out, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”          

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m a Leper

The Life of Jesus Series:

Looking at how Jesus interacted with others.

Luke 5:12-16

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%205%3A12-16&version=NIV;NLT

  

Can you think of a class of people that are considered outcasts? What about homeless people?

Virtually every time we go grocery shopping at Meijer, there’s a homeless person at the corner begging for food, often holding a sign that says, “Homeless - please help” or “Homeless family of three. Can you help?”.

 

Lepers, at the time of Jesus, were banned to live outside of the city. They were banned from going into the temple. And when they approached another person, they had to yell, “Unclean! Unclean!” In fact, they were social, emotional and spiritual outcasts.

 

Desperate and hopeless, the leper fell at Jesus’ feet with his face looking at the ground. He was so ashamed, he couldn’t even look Jesus in the face. With no pride or self-respect left, he literally begged Jesus to heal him; to make him clean. In this setting, Jesus made a bold statement into the leper’s life.

 

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ¹³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.                NIV

 

What’s so amazing in this story is not that Jesus healed the leper, but that he actually touched him. Most people wouldn’t have. They would have been afraid of being contaminated. It may have been the first time another human being had touched the leper in weeks, months or even years. And by touching him, according to the law, Jesus himself became unclean.

 

In a way, I’m a leper! We all are. Don’t we all come to Jesus, “covered in sin”? We may not walk around yelling “Unclean”; but we are unclean; we’re sinful. We all need his healing, cleansing and forgiving touch in our life. Like the leper, Jesus’ touch can change our life. But to do that, we have to call out to him.

 

 

 

 

“What do you want me to do for you”?

Matthew 20:29-34

 

Wouldn’t you say that Jesus was pretty observant? He had an uncanny ability to know what people were really thinking. He was able to see behind the masks that people

wear to hide their true self, and understood what was actually motivating them. He could look into your soul, and know what your greatest need was.

 

So then, why did he ask the two blind men, “What do you want me to do for you”?

 

Was he preoccupied with what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem? Maybe he was distracted by the large crowd around him? Or, was he still upset that two of his closest disciples had just asked the most self-centered question possible right after he had told them he was going to be crucified? I don’t think so.

 

I believe that he was making a point. It was obvious that these men were blind, and despite their handicap, they knew who Jesus was. By calling him the “Son of David”,

they were using a title that referred to the anticipated Messiah. It would have been easy for Jesus to just walk up to them and heal them; but he didn’t.

 

The passage tells us that “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes”. Jesus always had a personal touch when he ministered or healed. He interacted with the woman at the well; with Nicodemus; with the woman who dried her tears on his feet. In other words, he had a personal relationship with them.

 

The same is true for us. Jesus desires to know us personally. He wants to interact with us. He wants us to admit our need; to recognize who he is and to approach him, not like he is a celestial genie in a bottle, but as our Lord and Savior.

 

There is a booklet titled “My Heart, Christ’s Home” by Robert Boyd Munger. In it, he

compares our life to the rooms of a house. He suggests that Jesus wants to interact with us in every room; but mainly that he wants to fellowship with us.

 

Revelation 3:20 states, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends”. Jesus is constantly standing at the door of your heart and knocking, not just as your Savior, but also as your Lord. Will you open the door for him?

 

He asks us every day, “What do you want me to do for you”. What will your answer be?

Will you ultimately respond like the blind men who once Jesus touched their eyes, “immediately they received their sight and followed him”?