John 5:1-17 COMPASSION PRECEDES TRADITION
“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called BETHESDA. In this lay a multitude of invalids - blind, lame, and paralyzed.”
The name "Bethesda" means "House of mercy." Many people with various diseases come to this pool for healing. It was believed that an angel of the Lord would come down here from time to time. The angel would stir up the waters and whoever is the first one to step in the water will be healed (v. 4). Now there is a man who had been sick for the past 38 years and had been lying down on his bed, hoping to be put into the pool. But to his dismay, he never got a chance to be submerged into the water perhaps because of his disability and lack of friends to help him out.
“When Jesus SAW him lying there and KNEW that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “DO YOU WANT TO BE HEALED?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
Having told that Jesus KNEW about the situation of the sick man, we know that Jesus is not asking a dense question. Of course he wants to get healed. But why did Jesus ask anyway? There are times that we need to fully communicate to the Lord the desires of our hearts. It is not because God does not already know what they are, but because He wants us to show Him how much we truly want them. The more we acknowledge that we are in dire need of help, the more we ask earnestly, and the more God delights to save us from our helplessness.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.”
Jesus once again showed His power as the Son of God. He healed the man at the sound of voice with the power of His Words. He showed mercy to the man and gave him the healing he so longed for throughout the years. And the man did not have to come to Him for help, Jesus initiated and came to the man Himself. Just like how He reached out to the Samaritan woman as the Living Water, Jesus also reached out to the sick man as the House of Mercy who can wash away our sickness and sins away.
CONFLICT WITH TRADITION
All of this happened on the Sabbath, which then angered the Jews saying that it is not lawful for the man to take up his bed (v. 10). To them Jesus was basically breaking and disrespecting the observance of the Sabbath. But to Jesus, He is trying to show the people that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. Jesus showed goodness to the man and performed a miracle that instantaneously changed his life forever. But most of all, Jesus was saying the He is only doing what the Father does.
“But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’
So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
Jesus had an appetite to do the God's will through His Divine Love for humanity. He does not desire our religion, our practices and traditions. He wants our hearts, our cries for help, and our desperation for Him. He wants to do good for us in His good pleasure.
"For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." PSALMS 51:17
PRAYER
Our Father, God of Mercy, we praise You for who You are. You looked down upon us from heaven with eyes of mercy and You came down to earth to let us experience Your grace. Father, release us from our bondage to the earthly religions that only take us further away from You. Help us to understand that You desire more of our hearts than the traditions that we have. We want to be right with You and to sin no more in response to Your goodness to us. Father, we glorify You in everything that we do. May our lives become Your delight. We love You, O Lord. We pray in Jesus' Mighty Name. Amen!