January
24, 2003
DO
YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?
"Now
a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight
years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already
had been in that condition a long time. He said to him, 'Do
you want to be made well?' " (John 5:5, 6, NKJV).
Jesus
was in Jerusalem walking by the Sheep Gate pool, which in
Hebrew was called Bethesda. There were five porches in which
lay a great number of "sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed"
all "waiting for the moving of the water" (John
5:3).
"At
certain seasons the waters of this pool were agitated, and
it was commonly believed that this was the result of supernatural
power, and that whoever first after the troubling of the pool
stepped into the waters, would be healed of whatever disease
he had...
"The
Saviour saw one case of supreme wretchedness. It was that
of a man who had been a helpless cripple for thirty-eight
years. His disease was in a great degree the result of his
own sin, and was looked upon as a judgment from God. Alone
and friendless, feeling that he was shut out from God's mercy,
the sufferer had passed long years of misery. At the time
when it was expected that the waters would be troubled, those
who pitied his helplessness would bear him to the porches.
But at the favored moment he had no one to help him in. He
had seen the rippling of the water, but had never been able
to get farther than the edge of the pool. Others stronger
than he would plunge in before him...
"The
sick man was lying on his mat, and occasionally lifting his
head to gaze at the pool, when a tender, compassionate face
bent over him, and the words, 'Do you
want to be made well?' arrested his attention. Hope
came to his heart. He felt that in some way he was to have
help. But the glow of encouragement soon faded. He remembered
how often he had tried to reach the pool, and now he had little
prospect of living till it should again be troubled. He turned
away wearily, saying, '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' (John 5:7).
"Jesus
does not ask this sufferer to exercise faith in Him. He simply
says, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.'
(John 5:8). But the man's faith takes hold upon that
word. Every nerve and muscle thrills with new life, and healthful
action comes to his crippled limbs. Without question he sets
his will to obey the command of Christ, and all his muscles
respond to his will. Springing to his feet, he finds himself
an active man."-- The Desire of Ages, pp.
201-203. (to be continued)
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