Exodus 26; John 5; Job 42;Proverbs 2: Galatians 1
John 5: 2-10 has always been an intriguing account. Here we are introduced to a man who has been waiting for healing 38 years! He has been lying by this pool where healing occurs, he has watched as others have been healed by being the first to step into the pool after it is stirred by an angel of the Lord, but never able to be that first person himself. And then Jesus notices him. Jesus asks him what I have always taken as a very simple question, “Do you wish to get well?” Who wouldn’t say yes? The man then tells Jesus that he is unable to do what he needs to do in order to be healed without the help of another. And Jesus heals him then and there; telling him to take up his pallet that he has been lying on and walk. Immediately the man is healed and in his healing we have a beautiful picture of how Christ works in our lives. On our own we were powerless to get to the living water (remembering Jesus conversation with the Samaritan woman in yesterday’s reading: John 4:7-14) but Jesus freely gives it to everyone who asks. With a word from Him we are made whole and can stand on firm legs; full of life and the power that comes only from God. And because we now have that living water we will never thirst again. We do not need to go back to the pool and wait for the water to stir again-it has been stirred by the Lord Himself-we just need to get up and walk in obedience to His commands.
Grace, peace, and mercy,
Debra