The Wishing Well

Their was a man at the pool of Bethesda a great number of disabled people gathered to wait for the angel of the Lord to stir the water and be healed of their disease. This man had been a invalid for 38 yrs. Jesus asked him, "do you want to get well?" Jesus's ministry was to the Jews. They were in covenant with God.

In our day God is in covenant with the body of Christ, we the believer's of the gospel of Jesus. We also have a great company of believer who are disabled. And again Jesus is asking, "do you want to get well?".

This invalid at Bethesda 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."

Here we see a couple things. One, he was looking for a sign, a physical manifestation of God's grace. This is similar to, if I can see it, then I'll believe it. The amazing part is that God would honor this and send an angel to stir the water. Much like Gideon's fleese. The Lord is full of mercy.

Second we see that he was all alone, all his friends and family had given up on him. Or he never had any, or they wore out with his daily care, either way a pity. The amount of time, and the disabled life had surely caused a monumental amount of suffering. He was of no use to anyone.

Then the fatal blow, when the water is moving and healing available, he is to invalid to be the one to receive. What a pitiful picture of the human experience. This is an extreme illustration of the plight of man.

Yet to all this the question remained; "Do you want to get well?". Listen if your a believer and have a covenant with God and you have a sickness, he has this same question to you, he wants to know "do you want to get well." It doesn't matter what the circumstance. It doesn't matter what the disablity. It doesn't matter how long you've been in this condition. It doesn't matter what the doctor said, what your family history is, or what stage of illness your going through. It don't matter what your theology, what church to belong to or what the doctrine of your assemble happens to be. What is on God's mind is "do you want to get well?"

To all this Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." Get up! This man is an invalid, he just said he needed help. What is Jesus saying? He's teaching faith. He's telling him to do what he can't do, by faith we receive the promises! Get up, and God will honor your faith, and you will receive. Get up and do what you can't and God will strengthen you. Don't look to the physical don't wait till you feel stronger, or see a little improvement, look to the realm of faith, and do the impossible. Take my word for it and do it, "Get up". God is on your side to bless you. This is what Jesus taught him, and what he is teaching us.

Jesus didn't pray for him, he didn't lay his hand on him and impart healing. He didn't even speak a healing for him. Jesus didn't wait until the power of the Lord was present to heal. He helped the man in a greater way, he taught him to help himself by his faith, and there he would find God. "For without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God." But faith in God is greatly pleasing to Him. The one thing this man had in his favor was that he was looking to God for his healing. Jesus showed him how to move God for that healing, by faith.

The ways of God are eternal, what he does for the one he will do for everyone. If we will look to God and do what is impossible to do in the physical, we too shall move God on our behalf and find we are healed. What does it take, FAITH. Faith sees what is unseen, faith grasps what is not-yet, faith is assured that it has received the promise, because God is not a liar. As written, "by his wounds you have been healed." I Peter 2:24