John 5:3-11
Struggles of the Lame Man at Sheep Gate
3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 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 Jews 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.' "
Hebrews 1:1-4
Jesus is Superior to Angels
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
I have always liked this story of Jesus helping the lame and paralyzed man at the Sheep Gate...It is a great healing story with many nuances...We have to believe in angels, and that their very touch can heal...We must realize that sometimes we need help to do what others might label as simple things (like getting up and going to a pool), and that there is One who knows how to do not only these simple things, but all things...And when, I think about this story, when we don't know how something is done or how many things get done...So this means we do not always know why or always know how...It means we do not understand why this or that works, or gets done, or gets healed, or something like why the sun comes up each day...I can believe in things that happen, even though I do not understand and why they are happening and do happen...And after reading this story, it is nice to know that there is Someone who does know these things -and understands them...In believing in these things there is Someone who does have a plan for us -and want to help us...
When I first read these verses and was surprised that Jesus asks the question do you want to get well -to one who needs healed...The reason I was surprised, I had always thought that everyone who had ever been sick or crippled, would naturally want to get well...But that is not always true (everyone does not want help and there must be some people satisfied with their illnesses), and this is why Jesus asks the question...Jesus never says anything or does anything without a reason...
Without question, we need help in our lives...It maybe when we are very young and must count completely and entirely on our parents or those who take care of us, but we need help...And at the youngest of age, we do not even know how to help ourselves...We are so young we do not understand why these things around us are even happening to us -when we are one and two years old...But we do know later someone helped us, but at the time (of our young age) we do not understand why they were helping or even how we are being helped...We only know we have been taken care of and helped later in our lives...We know things have worked out for us -because we are here...
There maybe other times in our lives when we do not know how to tackle a problem or a situation, we are in...This crippled man had seen the problem of being crippled get in his way for many years...This man was paralyzed...The man had watched for years when the angel of the LORD from time to time came and stirred the waters...He knew that the first one to get in the water would be healed of their disease, by this touch of the now pure waters from the angel...The crippled, lame, and paralyzed were at a great disadvantage...How could they get up -and they did not know exactly when the angel would come....And the second problem is the paralyzed cannot just get up and walk quickly to the water to be the first in line, to get the healing...This lame man did not know how to get there first and be healed...He certainly had a dilemma in his life as he sat near the pool...
But now Jesus was there and had learned about this man who had had this lame condition for a long time...The was now someone with the lame man that was superior to the angel who stirred the water in the pool...The Son of God was standing and talking to this man, who did want to get well, but did not know how to be the first in the pool of the stirred divine water...The lame man know had not only Someone who could help him with this problem in life, but he has just met the Someone, who could help him with any problem in life...The man may not have realized all these things at the time of their meeting...But this Man was appointed Heir of all things -and through Him, He also made the universe...He knows how to do all things...Not just assist us to a healing pool, but also is now sitting at the right hand of His Majesty in Heaven has the power to do anything...This lame man, I suspect, would know these things later...
I doubt seriously if the lame man understood when Jesus spoke the words "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk" why he was able to walk...But He could walk...Just because we do not understand how something works, does not make that something impossible...This is one of the reasons, I believe in God...I don't understand a lot of things...I, like the lame man, do not understand how He was now all of a sudden able to walk...No doubt he had skinny, little-atrophied size legs -but he did pick up his mat and walk...
Understanding is not faith...And faith is not understanding everything...If one thinks they must understand everything before they believe in God, then they will never believe in Him...God created the universe, and His Son is the appointed Heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe...He was there with His Father when the universe was made...Like the lame man, I do not understand it, but I believe it...There are many things I do not understand about the story, but I have faith that later I will be told and maybe understand how these things have worked...
Jesus knows the answer to the Great Question "Why?"...