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We continue Jesus heals the man at the pool of Bethesda with the question of our lives. 

Jesus Heals The Man at the Pool of Bethesda-2

Continued from Jesus Heals Man At The Pool Of Bethesda-1

Jerusalem had only 12 gates to get in and out of the city. It was during one of the feasts or celebrations to the Lord when people came from miles around. There was lots of traffic at the gate. A disabled person could receive lots of money from rich people fulfilling their religious duty as they pass by. We don't know if the paralytic was actually begging that day, but in those days begging was the only way a disabled person could survive. If he did manage to get along well on the generosity of others it would be a good reason not to want healing.

Another reason would be the problems being healed would cause. In business school they teach, "every solution causes problems." It's true! I saw a movie, recently, called "At First Sight". It was the story of a man who had been blind his whole life. His sister, being the good co-dependant she was, had 'sacrificed' much of her life to be his support system. They lived in a small town he had memorized. He had a good way to make money, and everything was fine, until he fell in love with a sighted woman who became bent on 'fixing' him. She introduced him to a surgeon who gives him his sight, and that's when the trouble starts. I'd never thought about this before, but having sight all-of-a-sudden after 30 years of blindness would be quite a shock to your mind. He was thrown into serious shock. He's still disabled because he doesn't know how to drive and he's used to people doing things for him, his whole life becomes one huge mess all because he was "healed".

Our man was paralyzed for 38 years. Think how long that is. It takes less than half that long to go from being inside you mother to a legal responsible, functioning (hopefully) grown up. If you didn't have your legs for 38 years and then got them, how would that change your life? His survival depended on people helping him, giving him food, doing things for him, giving him money. After he was healed, he'd be expected to earn his own food (with no training), do his own things, make his own money. The handouts would be gone. There would be the pressure of society to get married and have children. There were a lot of reasons for him to not want to be healed.

Jesus asked the right question, but what kind of answer did he get?

2. The Wrong Answer: "I have no one to help me…"

Was this an answer to Jesus' question? Was the paralytic saying he wanted to be healed, or not? Was the man suggesting Jesus wait with him until the angel stirred the water, then throw him in? I think not! The two things this non-answer suggests is the paralytic didn't know Who he was talking to and didn't have any faith he would be healed. This, of course, flies in the face of some false teachings going around about our faith somehow being able to force God to comply with our wishes. But, the man's answer sounds an awful lot like those "will work for food" people. We get addicted to our weaknesses and disabilities. Our discomfort becomes comfortable once everything in our life is ordered around it. It's then easier for us to see how we can't be healed or how that healing can't really improve anything than to see what the healing really is.

Concluded at Jesus Heals Man At The Pool Of Bethesda-3

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