Under Covered Porches

“Jesus asked him, ‘Do you want to be well?’ The sick man answered, ‘Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone always gets in before me.’” John 5:6-8.

As Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for a special Jewish feast he came upon a pool with 5 covered porches. Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed. It was believed that sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel stirred the water, the first person entering the pool would be healed. Jesus took this opportunity to approach a man who had obviously been crippled or paralyzed for most of his life. I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t say ‘Do you believe?’ but stated ‘Do you want to be well?’ How many times leading up to that conversation had he believed? How many disappointments had he experienced hoping for healing, only to see someone else receive it?

We all live under the weight of our own covered porches. We too are sick…heartsick from our circumstances that cripple our souls and paralyze our spirits. We too sometimes look to others to save us from our situation, but they are just as sick as we are from living in a fallen world. We look at the other invalids around the pool, recognizing their struggles. We feel forgotten as others ‘get into the water first’ receiving their healing instead of our freedom from trouble. It is easy to become resolved to our misery, accepting of our brokenness, or resentful in our sadness…paralytics…invalids…beggars.

So, Jesus’ question can sometimes penetrate our hearts like a dagger… ‘Do we really want to be well?’ Before we heal, we must decide that we can be whole again. Before we ask God to make us well, we must be willing to do our part. Jesus answered the man’s excuse with a command, ‘Pick up your mat and walk!’ We all recline on our own mat of circumstances. One mat might hold a woman who has lost her husband, while another mat might be a father who has let his children down. One mat displays a broken life from addiction and another one has a broken heart from rejection. So many mats… so many people who need healing. But the good news is that there is a pool of water that holds the power to heal every single person who really wants to heal…the Living Water. Jesus can heal any heartbreak and bring freedom to any part of our lives that have crippled us. We must decide that we want to be well, and then leave the rest up to our Father. The stirring from the Lord will not be in a pool of water but will be in the chambers of our heart. He is the only one who has the motivation of pure love, the promise to accomplish, and the power to fulfill our healing.

“The LORD rebuilds…he gathers together the outcasts…He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds…” Psalm 147:2-3