Saturday, December 6, 2008 | By: What

Let your heart live again


"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?'" - John 5:1-6

38 years. 38 years of being immobilized, living by the pool of his hope, begging everyday of his life. 38 years of waiting, hoping and longing. Ironically, Bethesda meant the House of Mercy - but he received none.

Then Jesus asked a poignant question, "Do you want to get well?" It seemed like a merciless question to ask an invalid for 38 years. For 38 years he has been dissapointed by hope, and ridiculed by life. His heart probably grew very cold and very tired seeing people around him healed except him. Questions like these probably haunted his mind -


"Have I have sinned too much?"
"Does God hate me?"

He was becoming hopeless of any change and resigned himself to fate. Instead of saying a resounding "Yes, I want to get healed!", he answered :

"'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.'" - v7

In Jerusalem, there was a belief that an angel would come at certain times of the year and stir up the waters in the pool. The first person to jump in would be healed of whatever diseases they had. So people would stand by the pool - the lame, they blind, the paralyzed, all hoping to get healed. So you see the man's answer was valid, but it hinted on a sickness deeper.

He said, "I have no one to help me". He was so resigned, that he did not even ask Jesus to help him to the pool, let alone asking Him for healing.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick" - Prov 3:12

Have you had similar excuses when your hopes were dashed? Sometimes, it feels better to blame the situation than to seek God earnestly. That is a spirit of resignation. We do not inherit a spirit of resignation but a spirit of resurrection. You need to resurrect your hope and place it on the right Person, not persons.

"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." - v8-9

I believe when God gave the command, it shifted his focus from other persons to taking ownership of his situation. No one was still here to help him get up. Jesus didn't. He got up purely by the word of God. Now his hope was placed at the right pillar - the Word of God and healing power was instantly released. He was able to get up, take up his mat and walk. He took up his mat where he had eaten, slept and begged for 38 years. What he was dependant upon was rolled away and overcome.

Maybe your heart has been sick because of hope that was deferred. You lost hope, and depressed that things would not change. As a result you lost the zest of life, and fell ill. You need to be healed from the inside out, by claiming the Spirit of resurrection right now to lift you up from the paralysis of your situation, take up your problem and walk in victory!

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