Then Focus on the Right Thing
The next stop on the Lenten journey takes us to the Pool of Bethesda. This was a pool in Jerusalem where sick people gathered, hoping to be healed. Lounging under one of the five porticos (or porches) surrounding the pool, the people waited and watched for an angel to stir the water. The hopeful, diseased people at the poolside believed that the first person to step into the water after it was stirred would be healed.
In John 5:1-9, we read that Jesus went to the pool and encountered a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Knowing how long he had suffered, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the sick man answered, “I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”
“Get up,” Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started to walk.
The people around the pool were all looking for answers. They wanted to be healed. I’m sure that most of them tried other things to be healed. But at this point, their focus was on the pool.
With five porches full of people, I’m sure there were a lot of people looking for their chance to get into the water. The problem was that only the first person in the water was healed.
So what made this man different?
He quit looking at the water and looked at Jesus.
It’s easy to focus on the things of the world. All the latest and greatest solutions that promise to make our lives better. That is not to say those things are always wrong. But our first focus should be on Jesus. We should look to Him before we look at the “pool”.
This man listened to Jesus.
Jesus knew his suffering and how long he had endured it. When He asked him, “do you want to get well?” the man responded with a worldly answer. He wanted to be healed, but he couldn’t get to the pool in time without someone helping him.
The next thing that happened is important. Jesus told him, “Get up. Pick up your mat and walk.” And the man did just that.
This man did what Jesus told him.
Instantly, the man was healed. He picked up his mat and walked.
Our natural instinct is to fix things ourselves. Too often, we try to do everything on our own, focusing on the wrong things. Sometimes, we like the things we’re focused on. We grow comfortable in our chaos. The struggles we know can feel less intimidating than the scary unknown that change might bring.
Like we talked about last week, we need to be willing to step out of our comfort zones.
This man could have ignored Jesus and continued lying there, hoping that one day he might be the first one into the pool. But he didn’t. Instead, he believed Jesus and he got up and walked.
We also need to understand that healing doesn’t always look the way we expect. Sometimes, healing takes a different path. A person can be healed and still be physically disabled. Joni Eareckson Tada is a powerful example of this kind. At 17, she broke her neck in a diving accident and was paralyzed from the shoulders down.
In the years that followed, she was angry, depressed, suicidal and faced religious doubts. However, during occupational therapy, she learned to paint using a brush held between her teeth. She also began writing this way, though for most writing tasks she relies on voice recognition software. Since then, she has written over 40 books, recorded several musical albums, starred in an autobiographical movie of her life, and became an advocate for people with disabilities.
She could have continued to focus on how bad things were, but she chose to focus on Jesus.
The same choice is in front of us. We can focus on the wrong things… or we can focus on Jesus and be made well.