John 5:1-16 HEALING AND HOSTILITY There is a strange quirk in human beings toward those who are infirm and in need of help. Most will expect someone else or some professional people to come to the aid of the helpless. They expect the government or some church group to be organized to meet the need others have. Even though the man healed in this next recorded miracle in John's Gospel was sick because of sin in his past life, that had happened more than thirty-eight years before. Now he had no friend, family member or acquaintance who thought enough about him to be with him in order to aid him in his time of need. Sin is like that. It claims its wages and then leaves one to suffer alone the consequences of sin. This man was apparently resigned to the results of the sin he was involved in and did not ask for help from the Lord Jesus. Even the question, "Wilt thou be made whole?" seemed to be answered with a resignation common to those who have been abandoned to the condition they are in without much sympathy on the part of others.
Grace is not experienced very often in the lives of most people by others who know them. But Jesus saw, Jesus knew and Jesus spoke to the man. How gracious was the Lord, to a sinful man who had thirty-eight long years to regret, what had brought him to that place and condition. It behooves us to look beyond sin that we know has had serious consequences in another person, and seek to show the grace of God to that one. There was a moral matter dealt with by the Lord in this miraculous sign Jesus gave. He is the Almighty God of creation; He is the God who insists on cleansing before worship; He is the one true God who has power over disease and sorrow - and now we learn He is the true God who knows the darkness of the past life of a sinner, and yet is willing to give healing to the whole person that he would sin no more. The Lord Jesus Christ started with this man right where he was in his own deep personal need.
Jesus spoke with authority to this man briefly and to the point. "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." There was no room for, or need of, discussion about his past or what would hinder this from happening. There was no questioning the rightness or wrongness of it being done on the Sabbath day. This was a matter between two persons. Will the needy one, obey or not? Would he, on his part, put faith in the word of the Lord? There was no lengthy conversation about repentance or waiting for certain signs of faith. There was no place in those words for one to delay acting on what the Lord Jesus Christ commanded. This man was powerless in himself. He had not one to turn to for help. And suddenly the Voice of authority told him what to do. In faith he simply obeyed and was healed. It is not at all helpful to complicate the word of God by adding to it our own ideas as to how God will save a sinner or heal him morally. Salvation is by grace through faith without our added opinions.
Religionists are so bound by tradition and opinions that they cannot see the blessing God gives when He saves a soul. The Jews were more concerned about a man carrying his bed on the Sabbath, then they were about a man who was healed after thirty-eight years of sickness. Under questioning the healed man told the Jews what happened even though he did not know who Jesus was. It does not take a lot of faith to experience the blessing of God. There will always be those who are blind to what is important and will "strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel." God is working in spite of what people may think or say. He is not at rest and leaving the whole human race to be lost because of sin. God is working today. God is saving souls. God is bringing wandering souls and sinning saints back to Himself. We need to be aware of what God is doing, and not be too concerned with what we are doing. If He can use us in some little way, let us be thankful.
The Lord Jesus Christ did tell the healed man clearly that He knew that sin was involved in his sickness. He knew what the man had done. He also warned him that sin still has its consequences in the life of a believer. Who can explain why hostility and hatred sometimes accompanies acts of kindness and mercy. For some unknown reason, criticism often follows times of blessing. Criticism is also leveled at those who do what others cannot, or will not, do. When we have been called by God to do some work for Him, many other people will not appreciate what God does because it was not done in the way they expected. The healed man did not seem to show the same degree of enthusiasm the Samaritan woman showed. His faith seemed less that that of the nobleman who came in believing faith to seek the help of the Lord Jesus. But the moral issues of the sick man was dealt with by the Son of God who knew all about him, and after thirty-eight lost years started him on a whole new road of life. This miraculous sign can be repeated today because "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."