In John 5 we read about the lame man at the Bethesda pool. The man had been lying there for years. He begged by the poolside. He accepted his lot in life and had not considered there may be another way accessible to him, a path to healing and restoration. Until Jesus. Jesus came to him and asked him why he didn’t go down to the water. The man responded, “I had no one to help me”. After asking the man if he would like to be made well, Jesus said to him, “pick up your mat and walk”. Jesus healed him and this healing enabled the man to stand, maybe for the first time. Jesus had mercy on him. He saw the person that everyone had gotten used to seeing and used to walking by. The man that no one seemed to notice anymore was the man that Jesus recognized as someone who needed healing, hope, and restoration. When everyone else ignored him, Jesus approached.
Wow. This is an amazing portrayal of our Savior. Let’s look at a couple of ways it speaks to us.
I want you to imagine a baby bird out of its nest on the ground. A little fledgling with feathers that have not fully grown in. It is too young to fly on its own and hops along the ground looking for it’s mom and it’s nest. The baby cannot fly and it is limping a little. Maybe it fell and hurt it’s leg. What do you do? Do you accept that this bird has a fate and you can’t help it? Or do you search around for the potential bird nest to see if you can scoop him back into its home?
Ironically, this exact scenario happened to me and my sister. I had this blog post typed out weeks ago posing this question as a hypothetical situation not realizing I would find myself faced with it. We were buying Mother’s Day gifts and on the ground of the hair salon plaza two baby birds who were alive, but appeared injured, were on the ground. They were too little to fly and had fallen out of the nest. We ended up picking them up and bringing them to a pet store to ask for advice. We had no idea it was illegal to walk around with wild birds. The lady was kind but there was no food at the store for them. So we read online to put the birds in a box and the parents would go back and forth to feed them until they could fly. So we bought a little box and put them under the nest. I checked in a few days later and one baby bird lived and was out of the box and the other one did not make it.
The people who were used to seeing this lame man would be like a person who walks away assuming that this little bird is too hurt, it must be a weak link and ignores the fact it is out of it’s nest. Perhaps you feel bad for the bird but you have no idea how to help, or where the nest is so you leave the baby bird and hope that the mom will come find it. You don’t have an ill intent, you just don’t think you aren’t the right person to help the little bird.
Someone else may see the bird and recognize it’s helpless state. The bird cannot fly and hopping is not going to get itself back into the nest. It might be hurt, there is no way to know, but the only thing you do know is if the bird stays on the ground it does not stand a chance to live. So you search. You look around for the nest. Finally you spot it and gently scoop the baby bird back into it’s home. Perhaps you hear a faint tweet as it huddles next to it’s brothers and sisters.
In this account of the lame man being healed many people did not take time to bring him down to the water. They walked by him and felt sorry for him. They did not have ill intent, similar to the person walking by the baby bird assuming they would be of no help, they walked by this lame man.
The man said to Jesus ‘there is no one to help me’. Not only did the people around not assist the man down to the water but in some ways this man did not even know how to ask for help. Maybe he felt worthless, helpless or burdensome. It was a busy day by the healing pool and both the people accepted this man’s lot in life and sadly this man had accepted it too. I want to stop there right now and tell you that no matter who you are, you are always worth seeking out help from someone. Regardless of the struggle you are in. You have value. You are loved. Your struggle in life does not mean you are unworthy or helpless. You are worthy and God sees you and wants to heal you and restore you to himself like he did for this man. But before Jesus healed the man he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” John 5:6
Oftentimes in life we will choose to remain in our broken and lame state without asking for help or accepting help from others. We will perhaps accept the failures in our life or the sin we have gotten ourselves into. We oftentimes know that the way to living, healing water is found in Jesus Christ but we sit on the edge of the healing pool wondering or waiting for the right moment to turn to Him or for someone to notice and help us.
Sadly some people will never even consider Jesus’ statement Do you want to be well? Maybe they have heard it a time or two but they reject it and continue down their seemingly allotted path of life.
Who are we in this story? Well we will find ourselves in one of two places in this example. We are either the lame man on the edge of the healing pool like the fledgling bird on the outside of the nest. We are broken, discouraged and wondering what our fate is. Or we are going to find ourselves in the example of Jesus and be the person to notice someone on the outside of the pool who desperately wants to be made well but needs encouragement to do so.
So in both circumstances we have a response and an action. The response as the lame person is yes, Lord I need healing. And Jesus says to you to pick up your mat and walk. He will be the restoration and salvation your soul needs.
And the response of everyone else capable of leading someone to the living water of Jesus Christ is to notice the fledgling bird and not walk by. All you have to do is ask the question “Do you want to be well?’ Sometimes the answer from others will be no, one little bird did not make it from the rescue box. But what beauty and rejoicing for those who say yes and can fly away like the bird who survived and lived.
The Lord Bless you and Keep you,
Kara
Faith, Hope, Encourage
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