John 5:6-9 - “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.”
This miracle took place at another pool in Jerusalem you can still visit 2,000 years later. The name of the pool was “Beththesda” (also known as Bethsaida in another gospel) which means “house of mercy” or “house of pity.” Here a legend that may have been connected to the superstition connected with the Greek god of healing named Asclepius, held that when the water moved, an angel had stirred it and the first to get to the water would be healed.
Instead of an angel showing up, Jesus appears and finding this lame man, asked if he wanted to be healed. Seems like a strange question, but his non answer reveals what many of us feel. “I have no one to help me, and I don’t have the strength to change my situation on my own.” He is helpless and hopeless of ever receiving healing. Many of us feel this way about our pain. But here, the house of mercy meets the savior of mercy.
Jesus heals this man who had endured pain (socially, emotionally, and spiritually) for 38 years. And his healing brings hope for all of us. Jesus can heal our pain, our inability to help ourselves, and the hopelessness of our condition like no one else can. Here’s at least one lesson for us today: Trust Jesus to heal your pain even when it seems impossible. He is better than any superstitious or man made solution. He is a God of healing.
Watch today's Mike Talk