Isaiah 53:1-12
The Suffering Servant
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied ;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
John 5:1-15
A Healing at the Pool
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.[4] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
When Jesus approached the one lying at the pool, was this a question of faith, in the conservation with one who was suffering?...After all, Jesus is all about faith...
So when I read these verses today about Jesus asking the invalid one at the pool if he wants to get well, I think of Jesus and some of the verses about the Suffering Servant, that Isaiah wrote about...The invalid man is there with no one to help him...He needs Someone to help him get to the pool and then once in the pool, he needs a Supernatural Power of the Healing Water to heal him, so he can become whole...The sick man has this affliction that needs a Special Someone, so that he may be cured...
We are all afflicted and affected by our sins...And sin is sort of a sickness...We need to be cured from our own sins...We needed a Suffering Servant...We need Someone Special to help us...We need a Savior...So when Isaiah writes about One who would take up our transgressions, our inequities, our sins, the Great Prophet wasn't he talking about Jesus...Isaiah writes surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted...But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed...We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...Do we through our faith, want to become better?...Do we want to follow Jesus and all His teachings?...Do we want to do the will of God, or do we want to do our will and make our own decisions?...Faith is about following God and His Son...And we need a Special Someone who has this Spiritual Power that can heal sins...
When Jesus ask the invalid "Do you want to get well?'', was He asking us about our sins, and about us wanting to rid ourselves of our sin sickness?...And do we really want to get well and get rid of our sins?...Or do we want to do things our way, the old way?...This question is very pertinent today, if the question is about our faith...Do we want to get well?...Do we want a strong and mature faith, where we are always looking to God?...Do we want to follow God, and do His will?...Let us remember that God's will always gets done...