Welcome to Hank’s Place —
John chapter 5 begins with a remarkable healing at the pool of Bethesda. In Aramaic the pool is called ‘The House of Loving Kindness.’ It was surrounded by 5 covered porches where the sick, lame and blind lay, hoping to be first into the pool after an Angel of the Lord stirred the waters. The covered porches are symbolic of the covering of the Law.
Under this religious covering, those afflicted couldn’t be healed unless they first did the work of stepping into the pool. Quickly. Before anyone else. Pretty hopeless situation.
Then Jesus comes by, putting none of the law’s requirements upon those there, or us, for healing, but only to believe in the one who is greater than angels. Hebrews 1:4.
He found the lame man who had been sick for thirty-eight years, coincidently the length of time Israel had wandered in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 2:14.
Jesus said to him, “Do you truly long to be well?” At least most translations say something like that. But, it could also be translated, “Are you convinced that you are already made whole?”
My bible footnote says the Greek phrase ‘genesthai’ – pardon my Greek – is actually not a future tense, but an aorist middle infinitive that indicates something already accomplished. YIKES! WHAT was Jesus asking the man?
Jesus was asking the crippled man if he was ready to abandon how he saw himself and now receive the faith for his healing. The man makes an excuse, but Jesus must have seen something within the man for He says, “Stand up! Pick up your sleeping mat and you will walk!” He did, and he did! Oh, and it seems Jesus worked this miracle on the Sabbath.
The Jewish leaders complained that Jesus was breaking the Sabbath, but He was actually setting the Sabbath free from man’s traditions and religious bondages, hallelujah!
A short time later, Jesus found the no longer lame man at the temple and said to him, “Look at you now! You’re healed! Walk away from your sin so that nothing worse will happen to you.” Whoa — doesn’t that indicate that Jesus offered healing to someone who had been sinning? FAITH in Jesus brings results even when circumstances would appear to dictate otherwise.
How about you dear friend, are you ailing? Sick? Have a serious disease? And demons are accusing you of sinning?
I invite you to hear today Jesus’ words, “Are you convinced that you are already made whole?” Well, hear them now, for healing came to us at Calvary. Indeed, 1 Peter 2:24 declares we have been healed by His wounds.
Believe these bible truths today — and COME ALIVE – and receive your healing now!
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