Many years ago, in the great city of Jerusalem, there was an area near a popular gateway known as the pool of Bethesda. In Aramaic, Bethesda meant “house of mercy or grace”. This was the place where sick people came to be cured of their illnesses or injuries. With its five porches and various walkways, the people would wait, many of them blind, lame or so ill they could barely stand, or if they were lucky, walk. Here they waited for the waters to stir and the possibility of being made whole again. When Jesus passed by the area, He took notice of a man, whom He knew had been afflicted for many years and feeling compassion for him, Jesus approached him surrounded by the crowded walkways.
For thirty-eight years this man had been crippled, unable to walk. His only hope was the pool of water that was said to be blessed periodically by Angels. The pool would bubble and all the people around it that were waiting to be healed would rush toward the water trying to be the first one in. According to religious tradition, the first to enter the pool at this moment would be healed. Whether or not that was true or ever happened we don't know, this part of the story doesn't tell us that. What we do know is this man was never first in the pool. It's quite possible that he was pushed aside and trampled due to his disability, by others that had just a little more mobility. And yet he stayed, hoping that one day his healing might come. You might wonder, how did he keep from getting discouraged? If you had asked that man before he met Jesus, I’m sure he might have laughed or even had a response with some amount of resentment or anger. What else was he to do? When Jesus met him he didn't offer to move him closer to the pool or to sit with him and help him when the waters began to churn. He asked him a simple question, “do you want to be healed?”
We all have our handicaps in life. Whether they be physical, financial, or emotional; perhaps being abandoned or betrayed. All those things that we go through in life that beat us up and tear us down. We call out to God, “God, deliver me from this”, “God take this pain away”, and “God, help me to find the right person”. But do we really want to be healed? I've lived a long time and suffered my share of tragedies, illnesses, loss, and my share of abandonment, and betrayal. I've prayed those prayers over and over, “God deliver me from this”.
