Bible Studies

DON'T INTERFERE WITH ME

by Luella Campbell
01/06/14
Not For Sale
Author requests article critique

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DON'T INTERFERE WITH ME

"Some time later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. "Now there was 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 paralysed. 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 (NIV).

What a question! Thirty-eight years lying paralysed and helpless on a mat and Jesus asks a question like that!

But Jesus knew the inner workings of this man better that we give Him credit for. Thirty eight years is a long enough time in which to get used to a certain way of life and to develop an attitude. To this man it was normal for him to lie there, day after day, to feel sorry for himself and to watch the world go by and not be a part of it. He had his "spot", no doubt; he was probably give food by his family and, since he had long given up hope of a miraculous cure in the pool, he just lay there....and even stopped thinking.

Then a strange man came along and asked him an even stranger question, 'Do you want to get well?' On the surface it seems like a foolish and unnecessary question but wait a minute, to whom was Jesus talking? Not to someone who has 'flu or even pneumonia but to a man who had been useless and helpless for a very long time. He had no dreams, no ambitions, nothing to look forward to, and nothing to plan. He just was.

What would it take for this man to have to start thinking and living again? He was used to his condition which required no effort at all. Who did this man think He was, coming here and trying to shake him out of his comfortable nothingness? What was the point of even trying to raise his hopes when it was all hopeless anyway?

“‘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.’” John 5:7 (NIV).

The man's spontaneous response was to retreat into self-pity mode. 'Sir, don't you understand that I am useless, helpless and alone? No one cares enough about me to help me into the pool.' He was so locked into his situation and mind-set that he did not hear Jesus’ question. He had a pat answer that played in his mind like a stuck record.

What would it take to rekindle hope in the heart of this man? Without hope, healing could never happen. Somehow Jesus had to get beyond his wall of despair and begin to help him to dream again. A simple command changed everything for the paralysed man.

“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.” John 5:8, 9a (NIV).

There was no need for Jesus to enter into a counselling session with him. Having gauged his state of mind, He spoke a word and the man responded. There was authority in His command. Healing flowed through the man’s body as he acted.

Is that not the key that opens the door of hope for us too? When Jesus speaks a word to us it requires an act of faith to respond to His command before the miracle happens. Whatever miracle we are needing takes more than a passive “believing”; it needs the active “responding” to activate the power of God.

What is your state of mind? Have you lost hope? Has despair clouded your spiritual hearing and sight? Jesus is asking you, ‘Do you want to be healed?’ That’s the real issue. Do you want to be alive again or are you so comfortable in your misery that it has become the normal for you?

Jesus is saying to you today, ‘Get up!’