Hope Squandered (witness number eight) ...

John continues his book of signs in chapter five of his gospel.  The scene now shifts to a feast of the Jews, whereupon Jesus returns to Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was more than just the center of the nation’s political leadership, it was the center of the religious leadership and with it the nation’s identity.  Everything about the Jewish people that separated them, made them special and unique, and should have given them hope was tied up in their spiritual identity.  The law, or rather the ten commandments, given to Moses on the top of Mt. Sinai was their most prized artifact, as it was the closest the Jewish people had been to receiving instruction directly from the mouth of God.  Over the years, education had become closely tied to the study of the law, and refined by debates regarding its meaning and how best to implement it.  It was in this societal context that Jesus enters Jerusalem, and why what followed was so profound for those of His day, and in ours.

The story begins with hope.  A pool, near the sheep market, whose name was Bethsaida, having five porches; this was no ordinary pool.  Occasionally, an angel descended from heaven, entering the waters and “troubled” them, whoever was first to enter the pool after this event, was cured of “ANY” disease they had.  John’s exact words in verse 4 referring to this healing … “whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.”  Let’s say that again … “was made whole”.  So for example, a paralytic would no longer be paralyzed.  A person missing an eye, would by miracle have the eye restored.  With this level of miracle, those beyond the realm of medical science were sure to surround this pool at all times waiting for their chance at a healing.  This was a place of hope, when there was normally no hope left.

John makes no dispersions regarding this pool, the angel who stirred the waters, or the people who hoped to be healed.  This was not considered by John, to be mere superstition, it was considered to be real.  Makes one wonder, if it still holds true?  Of course, in order for those who were lame to enter this pool, they would require assistance.  Interesting that those who provided assistance on the Sabbath day do not appear to be condemned for it by the leaders who would soon be criticizing Christ, but that is jumping ahead a bit.  John instead introduces us to a particular man beside this pool who had been there for 38 years.  We do not know if this is how old the man was, or just how long he had been afflicted with his disease.  Perhaps his parents brought him there as a child.  Perhaps when he first arrived there, he had someone to help him get in.  But whether he and his helpers were just not fast enough or not, over the years, those who thought to help him out had left.  At this point, he was alone.  He was within sight of healing of his condition, but fully unable to take advantage of the healing offered.  Close, but without hope.  I believe it was for this reason; Jesus singles out this particular man.

In verse 6 Jesus asks … “Wilt thou be made whole?”  As usual, the words of Christ carry so much more meaning than we first ascribe.  The question of Jesus was beyond the physical infirmity this man had carried the majority of his life.  This question was for more than just the man there at the pool who had lost all hope.  This question was for you.  This question was for me.  Are you tired of the condition you find yourself in?  Tired of the pain you embrace with the choices you make, and the desires within you, you are unable to control?  Are you ready for relief yet?  Are you ready to be made whole?  This is something you cannot do for yourself, and something only Jesus can do for you, within you, and perhaps in spite of you.  For those without hope, for those who realize the futility of trying to make themselves whole, here is Jesus plainly asking the obvious truth – Are you finally ready to be made whole?

But being human, and thinking only in the terms of humanity, this man would not answer this question from a spiritual perspective but from a practical human one.  Like the woman at the well, he had not comprehended yet the full meaning of the question posed to him, and did not yet know it was more than a man that asked it.  So the man in verse 7 explains his predicament … “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.”  Perhaps Jesus is offering to help the man into the pool.  Perhaps Jesus just needs to understand that while he wants to be healed, he is unable to heal himself, and no one is willing to help him.  Perhaps if Jesus does not want to take the time to help him into the pool, He might at least have pity on him and offer him some spare change before He goes on His way.  The man stated his case, and in it, reveals his lack of hope.

But Christ did not enter this world, to part with spare change, or leave those without hope in the condition He encounters them in.  No, far from it.  The Father who watches every bird in every tree, and knows every cow on a thousand hills, had not forgotten this poor suffering man by the pool.  The Father who sits on His throne in heaven, felt deeply for this man.  The Father directed His Son, to this pool, and on this day, for a reason.  Re-creation is the only way we will ever be made whole.  Re-creation is the only method by which that we who are broken can be restored to what He intended.  This man had suffered long enough.  When all hope was gone, enter Christ to restore it once again.  No-one should think of themselves beyond the restorative power of Christ, or beyond the love of His Father.  Jesus wastes no time in verse 8 responding … “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”

The gift had been bestowed.  And the results of it happened in an instant, as it did in the original creation of our world.  Verse 9 says … “And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: …“  There was no delay.  There was no “half measure” of this gift.  The man did not arise BEFORE he was made whole, he was made whole first.  The paralysis was gone.  The deformity was gone.  He looked and felt as good as new.  Health entered his body in such a full measure, he had no basis for comparison.  When the creator God is allowed to re-create what we have broken, it is fully restored.  When we finally humble ourselves and accept the healing within us that He so longs to give us, it is healing complete.  It is our stubborn refusal to accept our helplessness that keeps the restoration of God at bay.  In trusting our own ability to just say no to sin, our failures are destined to repeat.  But when we let go of our own disease, and look to healing from Jesus, He never fails to deliver.  His restoration is full and complete, and the only thing that will ever enable us to rise.  It was not the power of the man that enabled him to rise, it was the power of Christ.  So it will always be.

This should have been an occasion of great rejoicing in Jerusalem.  It was in heaven.  The Father who so longed to see the misery of this poor man brought to an end, had finally been able to witness it.  Angels would sing.  The Father would be filled with joy.  The man was getting a new life, one he could scarcely remember or understand.  Everything he had known, had been swept away in an instant.  This should have been a celebration of renewal and recreation.  But from the perspective of those who spent their lives studying the law of Moses, ironically from the religious leadership of the day, the MORE pressing concern was not this man’s healing, it was the timing of when it occurred.  Verse 9 continues “ … and on the same day was the sabbath.”  While this was no inhibitor to joy in heaven, it would prove to be a source of major contention in the religious capital of the world.

And enter the negative-Ned’s.  These were people who in all probability knew this man by the pool without hope.  They knew his former condition.  They may have even offered him spare change while walking by on occasion.  But now, faced with his obvious physical restoration, they completely ignore his restoration and focus only on the fact that he is carrying his bed on Sabbath.  Talk about poor and blind and naked; talk about a complete lack of perspective; talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water; but this is what happens when the focus of your life is based on law, and not on the love that was behind it.  So they say … “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.”  The accusation has been made.

We, of course, would like to think we would have told those priests and leaders where they could go if put in a similar condition.  We would like to think we would have the strength to defend ourselves, and particularly the gracious Lord who had just intervened on our behalf.  But this was no small accusation.  It was not beyond the realm to know that this group of accusers might quickly degenerate into an irate mob bent on stoning this obvious law breaker, for not adhering to their understanding of the law.  Religious zealotry often gives way to violence for those who refuse to comply.  And in this, is the doctrine of Satan defined.  Satan is not about freedom, he about control.  Satan does not offer you a choice, he enslaves your very will.  Satan has no problem using the sacred word to be the instrument of your hate, your intolerance, and ultimately your demise.  Any way that Satan can get you to forget about love, and embrace hate (even if “righteous” hate) is a win for Satan, and a loss for you and for God.  It was entirely probable the answer this man gave might determine if he would actually get to live that life that Christ had just restored to him.  And so like Adam before him, the man passes the blame.  His body had been restored, but the job was not yet finished.  He responds in verse 11 … “He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.”  When under the pressure of life and death, move the attention away to someone else.  In this case, blame the God who just healed you, for what you are doing.

This new fact of course, was more disconcerting to the religious leadership than just the guy “breaking” the law.  A person who ordered folks to break the law was a bigger threat to their authority than the law breaker himself.  So they respond in verse 12 … “Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?”  They needed to find this person and correct them, or punish them if they refused to accept “their” truth.  Keep in mind the understanding of the Jews on this point was universal.  From their point of view the “truth” about how to keep the law was plain, accepted by them, the man, and everyone around.  There was no debating the “truth” of their wisdom and understanding, there was only the need to see it enforced, even on pain of death.  And religious persecution is born in the world: then, as it is now.

How many modern Christians embrace feelings of disdain, anger, and perhaps even hatred for those who refuse to comply with “our” truth?  There is no debating “our” truth.  After all, we have studied the scriptures and developed our doctrines over time, we know we are correct.  Those who refuse to see “our” light, must somehow be lesser than ourselves, doomed to eternal loss, and beyond the love of God.  Those who refuse to accept “our” truth may even need to forfeit their lives, so that none of our number ever become corrupted by their teaching of different values and morals.  And this thinking leads to centuries of persecution by Catholic Christians against those who would not submit.  It leads to Protestant Christians persecuting smaller religions, and minorities for years, and gays in our age.  It leads to 9/11 as devout misguided Islamists decide the “great Satan” must be punished.  Anytime religions embrace violence for those who refuse “their light”, they become religions of Satan, and abandon the God of love in so doing.  This was the hard lesson of the Jewish faith in the time of Christ, and remains the hard lesson for Christianity in our day.

In verse 13 we find … “And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.”  I love the use of John’s words “conveyed himself away”.  I can almost envision a teleportation away from the pool.  In any case, knowing what was about to happen, I imagine Christ was looking to avoid an all-out riot.  In any case, the man was so consumed with his physical restoration, that he had not bothered to find out “who” it was that healed him.  And in the near term, he had lost that opportunity as now Christ was gone.  But like He longs to do with us, Jesus is not satisfied to leave the restoration unfinished.  Jesus instead seeks out this man, in order to offer him counsel.

In verse 14 it reads … “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”  Jesus wanted to share with this man, that his physical restoration alone was not the only goal of Christ.  He wanted Him to be made whole spiritually.  A healthy body is no protection against the destructive nature of sin, in some ways our health can be made to serve sin.  The mind and heart was the true target of this restoration.  Christ longed to restore those, to offer him the blessing of freedom from sin.  As always, it was Christ who sought this man out again.  Like with us, it is God who comes looking for us.  It is God reaching out to us, longing to finish the job he begins with us, longing to get us to see there is something more important than even our health. 

But like many of us who sometimes refuse to see, we take the gifts of God, and what we do with them is to our shame.  Verse 15 is perhaps the saddest words encountered in the writings of John to date, a prequel for Judas, a postscript for us that an offer of salvation is not always accepted.  This is particularly true if we side with our traditions and understanding of “the law” more than with the Lawgiver.  I can only believe that the healed man was a resident of Jerusalem, and so no wanting the continued wrath of the Jewish leadership focused on him.  He went the extra mile and returned to his accusers to give them the name of the person who ordered him to take up his bed and walk.  You will note, this was the actions of this man on his own, no one ordered him to do this.  Some amount of time had already passed between his original confrontation with his accusers and Christ seeking him out once again.  But verse 15 reads … “The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.” 

Like Adam before him, this man now blames the gifts of God for his own behavior.  He takes no personal accountability for his own actions, passing responsibility to the Man who told him to take up his bed and walk.  He ignores his own healing, and decides to report the name of this Man, back to the accusatory mob, in effect betraying Christ to what is sure to be certain death, without any pressing need to do so.  This is the result of an understanding of “truth” in the absence of the love behind the truth.  Here for Judas to see, is what it looks like to betray the Son of God, to the religious leadership bent on His destruction.  Here is what it looks like, to be restored, and to throw away that restoration and embrace tradition over truth.  Here is what it looks like to be offered a new life, and then spend that new life by betraying it.  This lesson was for more than the 12, it was for us.  A restoration discarded, leads to a betrayal of God, and of ourselves.  To choose to ignore what God has just done for us, miraculous as it may have been, and return to our version of “truth” instead of embracing Christ, leads to the betrayal of God and of ourselves.  A restored body, and a corrupted spirit, is of no value.

And the results of this man’ decisions were also immediate.  Verse 16 reads … “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.”  Betrayal complete.  The man appears to have ignored the counsel of Christ, and the results of his identification of Christ to the angry leadership has the predictable response.  And perhaps even more sad, the love of God the Father in seeing to the healing of this man is ignored, by the religious leaders of the day.  An event of joy is turned into an event of hate.  An event of celebration turned into a cause of persecution, and conspiracy to commit murder.  How sad that those who had the “truth” would believe the “truth” required defending to the point of committing murder to protect it.  Real “truth” needs no such defense.  But it would get worse …