“Do You Want to Get Well?” (John 5:1-9a)

 


How to Train an Elephant
Have you ever ridden an elephant? I once had a chance to ride an elephant while I was an exchange student in Thailand. I was amazed at how such a huge animal could be so submissive to its trainer. After the tour, I heard how elephants are trained. It was very simple. First, the trainer ties an elephant to a stake. At first, the elephant tries hard to escape. But after trying again and again, they eventually give up. It simply stand beside the stake. Then, one day, the trainer unties the rope. The amazing thing is that the elephant still does not run away, even though it is no longer physically trapped.

The Man at Bethesda
In today’s scripture we meet a man who had been ill for 38 years. Around the pool called Bethesda, a crowd of sick people had gathered. The blind, the lame, and the paralyzed were waiting for healing. And Jesus came to this place. Among all those people, Jesus saw one particular man lying there. Jesus knew that he had been there for a long time. Here in verse 6 the Greek word gnous, translated as “to know” refers to supernatural, divine knowledge. Jesus knew what this man was going through. Jesus knew his suffering. Jesus knew he had been there for a long time without hope. Jesus knew that his heart was just as sick as his body.

Do You Want to Get Well?
Jesus came not only to heal our bodies, but to make our whole lives whole. Jesus wanted to heal not only the sickness of this man’s body, but also the sickness of his heart. So Jesus asked, “Do you want to get well?”

Perhaps, at first this man came to Bethesda (“House of Mercy”) with great hope. He was eager to be healed. He got up early in the morning and kept watching the pool, waiting for the water to be stirred. But little by little, he began to get used to his dull life at Bethesda. He began to get up late. For him, everyday became the same. Eventually, he had lived in Bethesda, the healing place, for 38 years. But ironically, he had never experienced healing there. He just got used to his dull, powerless life. He became so used to maintaining the status quo. Eventually, he came to believe, “I will never be healed.” “My life will never change.” Deep in his heart he had already gave up being healed. He had already accepted this powerless life as his fate.

The invalid became exactly like the tame elephant. Now his heart was filled with despair. Jesus knew that the sickness of his heart – the sickness of despair – had to be healed first. So Jesus asked this strange question, “Do you want to get well?” The man didn’t say, “Yes.” But instead, he said, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Basically, he was making excuses, complaining, and blaming others. “I am not healed because no one helps me! I am miserable because no one cares for me!” But nevertheless, Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk!” Many of us grew up in the church. We have gotten used to living here in this place. We feel comfortable. We feel at home. But, have you experienced healing and transformation through Jesus Christ in this place? Jesus is asking us today, “Do you want to get well?”

Living in New Bethesda
The Apostle Paul had a chronic disease. He described it as “a thorn in his flesh,” “a messenger of Satan.” We are not sure what exactly his thorn was. It could be an eye problem, speech defect, epilepsy, or depression. Whatever it was, the thorn tormented him greatly and caused many people to question his leadership. So three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away. Then, what was the answer from the Lord? Was Paul healed? The Lord Jesus healed the sickness of his heart and changed his perspective entirely, saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). From that moment, the sickness of his body, his weakness, was not “the thorn of Satan” anymore. It became a divine channel of God’s power. It became a means of grace for him to learn to fully rely on Christ. So Paul boasts all the more about his weakness and says, “When I am weak, I am strong.” The sickness of his heart was completely healed.

I don’t know about you, but for me, I had lived in Old Bethesda for a long time, just like the man at Bethesda. Since I was a child, among many weaknesses, there were two things I always struggled with: I was not good at public speaking. I was not good at making new friends. So when I strongly sensed God’s calling to ministry, I was hesitant. I thought, “Lord, how can I become a pastor? I am not good at speaking. I am not good at meeting people.” God asked one question, “Do you love me?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Feed my lambs.” I asked God many times to take away my weaknesses. But he didn’t. Nothing changed. But instead, he took away my doubt and gave me the assurance that I am deeply loved. And not in spite of my weakness, but because of it, I learned to trust God. God healed the sickness of my heart.

Broken and Beloved
There once lived a water carrier in India. He used two large pots for his task. One of the pots had a big crack in it while the other pot was perfect. The perfect pot always delivered a full portion of water from the stream to the master’s house, while the cracked pot arrived only half full each day. For two years, this water carrier made the same journey. The perfect pot became proud, while the cracked pot felt ashamed. Finally, one day by the stream, the cracked pot spoke to his owner, “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize that I have only been able to deliver half my water to your house.” Then the water carrier replied, smiling, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” On that trip from the stream, the cracked pot looked around. “Did you notice there are flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” the water carrier commented. “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we passed these spots, you watered them. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty to grace my master’s house.”[1]

What is your “thorn in your flesh” today? Bring your wounds. Bring your weaknesses. Bring your fears. Bring your disappointments to Jesus. Jesus still asks us, “Do you want to get well?” Let us say, “Yes, Lord!” Yes Lord, heal my heart. Yes Lord, help me trust you more. And by faith, let us get up, take our mat, and walk with him. Amen.


[1] Peter Scazzero & Warren Bird, The Emotionally Healthy Church, 123.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Abide" (John 1:1-14)

Image
  *Photo: At the Beach Service (Aug 2) Grace, Grace, Prevenient Grace! I imagine many of you may be wondering as you see me standing here today, "Who are you?" Or perhaps, "What brought you here?" To answer that question, I'd like to tell you a story. My story doesn't begin with me. It begins with my maternal grandfather, who was a North Korean defector. Just before the Korean War broke out, he escaped to South Korea by swimming across a river. But because of the hardships he faced there, he became so discouraged that he considered taking his own life. By the grace of God, however, a friend invited him to church. There, during an early morning prayer service, he encountered God in a life-changing way. That day he came a Christian. A few years later, God called him into ministry. My uncle and my father were deeply influenced by my grandfather's transformed life, and they also became pastors. I am a third-generation pastor. I sometimes joke that pastoring ...
Read more

“Our God Is Able” (John 2:13-25)

Image
  *Fra Angelico's The Mocking of Christ (1442) A Matter of the Heart The heart matters. The Bible mentions the heart about 1,000 times. In essence, the heart is the center of our whole being. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” The condition of the heart matters because the heart is the very center of our relationship with God. Jesus says in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." In other words, the condition of our heart matters if we want to know God deeply and personally. But here is the problem. Our natural heart is not pure. Our heart is not neutral. The Bible tells us that, because of sin, the human heart has become corrupted and deceitful. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (NIV) Our hearts have been polluted by sin. Our hearts have become hardened like stone. And a heart of stone does not listen. It does ...
Read more

“Guest or Master?” (John 2:1-11)

Image
*Light of the World by Holman Hunt The First Sign As followers of Christ, every time we return to the Gospel, we see wonderful things in the Word, and we discover that Christ becomes a little bigger and greater to us. It’s something like Lucy’s experience with the lion Aslan (the Christ figure) in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia . As Lucy looked again into his large, wise face, she said:   “Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.” “That is because you are older, little one,” answered he. “Not because you are?” “I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” [1]   In this gospel John uses the word “sign” (σημεῖον). There are seven signs recorded in John’s gospel. Today’s story – the wedding at Cana – is the first sign (v. 11). As we know, a sign “point us to something beyond itself.” For instance, perhaps some of you saw the “Beach Service” sign this morning. The sign itself is not the service, but it points us to the service. That is the purpose of the sign. That...
Read more