No More Excuses!

Friday morning, January 25, 2008

This is what Jesus said (at the Pool of Bethesda) to the man who had been sick for 38 years: “Do you wish to get well” (John 5:6b). The sick man’s response, although ridiculous, was this: “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me” (vs. 7). This is how Jesus responded to his ridiculous statement: “Arise, take up your pallet, and walk” (vs. 8). This is how the man responded: “And immediately the man became well, and took up his pallet and began to walk” (vs. 9). There was this one “minor” problem: It was the Sabbath Day and it was unlawful for this man (or any other man, for that matter) to carry his pallet on the Sabbath Day, as doing so was considered work (talk about ridiculous!).

Sometimes (actually, most of the time) we are so busy judging others for their failure to maintain our standards, which we believe are also God’s standards, that we completely fail to see the miraculous, even though it is happening right before our eyes. It might be to our benefit to accept the fact that our standards are not always His standards, and it will surely be to our benefit to accept the fact that judging others is God’s business, nor ours; at the very least, we might see more of the miraculous.

In my opinion, Jesus’ question is more than intriguing; surely, He knew that this man wanted to get well, or was it the other way around and He knew that he was enjoying his sickness? Probably the latter; however, in either case, he was about to be healed—like it or not! Notice that this sick man did not say, “Yes, I want to be healed!”; instead, he responded with that all-too-familiar excuse—”Woe is me because nobody will help me!” In case you missed it, I will tell you: Jesus put an immediate end to his excuse! He could no longer say that his well-being depended upon others being more considerate of him.

I must say this: although the Pool of Bethesda was a very legitimate place of healing (at the right time), it was inadequate for this man and it was because he could not (or was unwilling to) get into the pool and, as we might imagine, none of the others were going to help him because they were more interested in getting themselves into the pool than they were in getting him into it. Fortunately, Jesus paid the pool a visit—the only person on the planet, who was more interested in others that He was in Himself!

Now, for the really difficult part: as far as we know, Jesus chose to heal this man and only this man, leaving the rest, as they had left the man Jesus healed—to fend for themselves. You remember the rules of the pool, I feel sure; only the first person to get into the pool, when the waters were troubled, was healed—the rest were left to deal with their malaise the best they could. Disappointing, to say the least! Interestingly, for the very first (and last) time, two people were healed at this annual “Pool of Bethesda” event. I say this is difficult because for the life of me, I cannot understand how Jesus managed to pull this off, without causing a riot, and I, certainly, do not know how He did it without leaving the rest feeling that He was unfair, disinterested, and without compassion.

Well, He almost caused a riot among the Pharisees, as they were not happy with His healing on the Sabbath and they made it quite clear—”For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath” (vs. 16). “For this cause, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him. . .” (vs. 18a).

I do have this question: Has Jesus intervened in your life and put an end to your excuses? If He hasn’t, He will, so be prepared with a not-so-ridiculous response.