DAY 75Luke 20:20 - John 5:47
(Focus Passage John 5:1-17)
One of the few excavations they have done and are positive about it's location is the Pool of Bethesda (located to the right).
1) The Important Question
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie–the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty‑eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
The pool near the sheep's gate was called Bethesda. Bethesda means "house of mercy" or "house of grace" It was the place to go to for healing. The myth was that an angel would stir the waters of the pool and the first one in would be healed. There are a lot of myths today about how to be made well; and people will seek just about any place for a spiritual healing of the soul.
And just like the Pool at Bethesda, before Christ we are all disabled when it comes to spiritual matters. We are blind to the knowledge of God and cannot see what truth really is. We are lame when it comes to attaining righteousness and cannot meet the standards of a Holy God. And we are paralyzed from attaining healing of our spiritual sickness.
And then Jesus asked a question, "Do you want to get well?" or a more literal rendering would say "Do you desire to be made whole."
We might think that the question is rhetorical because the man was sitting by the pool. However, there are people today that are trying anything to cure their spiritual void and have disregarded the gospel message. Some of these even attend church, which would be considered, the "house of mercy." Unfortunately, many people that come to the house are content to stay at the side of the pool.
The sad fact is some people actually do not desire be healed of their sickness. As an illustration, there are many who have never been able to quit bad habits successfully. It is because their desire for the habit is greater than their desire to be healed. And so it is with the spiritual disease of sin. Some desire their sin, more than the possbility of being made spiritually whole.
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
When we understand the gospel and have a true desire to be made well, our reponse is the same as the disabled man. I want to be healed, but I need help. I want to be right with God, but I can't do it on my own. And once we get to that point, Jesus says to us what He said to that man at the pool.
Rise - Get up, your sickness has been healed. The sin that so entangled you and kept you away from God has been done away with. The disease that has kept you from being what God intended you to be, has been cured.
Pick up your Mat - No longer is the disease your master, but the Lord has enabled you through His Holy Spirit to conquer your sickness, which is sin.
Walk - Now that we are whole and have been healed, we can walk. We can walk with the One that healed us, that made us well. And by walking with Him, we are continuously made well as He sanctifies us. And we can leave all the myths behind.
The question Jesus asks everyone is "Do you want to get well?"
And those that desire to be made whole, Jesus will heal.
Because Jesus himself is the "home of grace."
