Christ Heals the Cripple

Different situations enter our minds when we think about someone being crippled. One of this writer's most memorable images is that of Forrest Gump. Though it is a fictitious story, the character sticks out in your mind as you think about him wearing those braces on his legs. His legs were strong but his back was as crooked as a politician. One day while he was running from some bullies, he was being hindered by his leg braces as they were slowing him down. As the bullies continued chasing him on their bicycles and throwing rocks at him, his leg braces began to come apart as he picked up speed. Eventually, the braces just fell right off of his legs and he never slowed down running everywhere he could go. Unfortunately, you'll hardly ever hear of a story like that where somebody who is crippled is healed so easily.

Looking at John 5:1-18 we are introduced to a man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years. He was laying around by a pool in Jerusalem which the Scripture says was near the Sheep Gate and it was referred to as Bethesda. There were a number of people who were in need of healing, and it was believed that at certain seasons an angel of the Lord stirred up the waters; whoever got down into the water first was healed. It has been suggested that these were simply intermittent springs as is even evidenced by the "so-called 'Fountain of the Virgin' in Jerusalem, as it has "the same phenomenon" (Edersheim 463). Jesus is here in this occasion and comes into contact with this crippled man where we see that Christ heals the cripple.

There was a prevention to the healing

Imagine having a disease where you are unable to get the treatment you need. Perhaps it's because of a lack of financial resources needed to pursue the treatment, or maybe something else, but you are unable to get the help you need at the time. Something had kept this crippled man from being healed. When Jesus saw him he knew he had been there a long time. How many of us have ever waited a long time at a doctor's office thinking we're never going to be seen? Jesus simply asks the man "do you want to be healed?" (6). You would think that the man would answer Jesus' question, but instead he offers an excuse as to why he has not gotten into the water yet. He was claiming that others were getting into the water before he could, therefore he had not been healed.

Often in our lives, excuses prevent us from doing great things. Consider Moses when he tried to get out of doing what God wanted him to do by going to Egypt and leading the children of Israel out of bondage. In Exodus 4:10 he tried to use the excuse of not being a good enough speaker and later tried to get the Lord to send someone else; needless to say, God did not allow Moses' excuse to change his mind, even though God's anger burned against Moses. In this case, the excuses didn't stop Moses from doing something great.

What about you? Do excuses stand in your way of taking part in spiritual things? Are there sometimes in your life where you refuse to get involved in church activities because you would rather take part in extracurricular activities? Have you foregone a service opportunity to do something good for somebody because you wanted to do something for yourself? Have you ever been like Moses where you thought you weren't gifted enough in a particular area to serve in the Lord's work? Don't let excuses hinder you from doing something.

There was a provision for the healing

Imagine receiving a bite from a poisonous snake with no anti-venom available. You would feel very helpless if there was no provision around to treat your condition. Maybe that's how the crippled man felt as he was so close to the water but was unable to be healed by it. Though the crippled man was prevented from the provision available in the nearby water, there was now a better means of healing that would be provided through the Great Physician. Jesus gave the command to "get up, take up your bed, and walk" (8). At once the man was healed and obeyed Jesus.

The Lord will provide for people according to His will. Don't just think about this from a medical perspective but also from other needs which the Lord provides. Money, opportunities, children and many other things are provided from the Lord and distributed among people on this earth. Though he provides them it's not just when we want them. Just like the crippled man the Lord chooses to provide.

We know from the Bible that we don't always get what we want. Consider Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8ff. He had asked the Lord three times to take away that thorn in the flesh, but the Lord had a purpose for leaving it with Paul. Jesus was also praying in the Garden of Gethsemane for the cup to pass from him if possible, but he wanted the Father's will to be done (Luke 22:42). James says that we ask for things and don't receive because we ask with the wrong motives (James 4:3).

There was a problem with the healing

Ordinarily when someone does something good there is rejoicing. However, sometimes people will attack your efforts to do something nice. Consider the eleven-year-old girl from Virginia who recently tried to do a good deed by rescuing a baby woodpecker from a hungry cat. After she secured the bird from the clutches of the cat at the home of her father, she placed the bird in a container with an intent to release it shortly. On the way home with her mother, they stopped in at a Lowe's store, carrying the container with the bird in the store due to the heat outside. While in the store, a fish and game officer saw the bird and informed the girl and her mother that it was illegal to transport a migratory bird. They assured the officer they were soon to release the bird.

After they got home they released the bird and even called the fish and game office to tell them they released it, who in turn told them they did the right thing. Two weeks later the fish and game officer who had seen them in the store showed up with someone from the sheriff's department with a citation saying the mother was going to be fined $535, and scheduled to appear in court with the possibility of facing up to one year in prison. There was such a public outcry over this that the fish and game dropped the case and did not hold the mother liable for this event. Talk about causing a fuss for doing something good!

When Jesus healed the crippled man the Jews caused a fuss because it was the Sabbath. The Jews told the man he was breaking the law by carrying his pallet around. In Exodus 20:8-11 the Lord made sure his people knew that there was to be no work done on the Sabbath, for it was a holy day. The problem later arose when the Jews started to add to the written law where their traditions became oral laws added to what God had given. In a document called the Mishna, which is a compilation of these oral laws, there are thirty-nine acts of labor which were prohibited on the Sabbath. The last of these acts is the one the Jews were accusing the man who had been healed in this text, which says it is unlawful for the Jews to transport an object from a private to a public domain, or to move it more than four cubits in a public domain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat). When they were accusing the crippled man who was now healed of this act, they were also accusing the one who told him to do this. When he told them the man who healed him told him to do this, they then turned their attention to finding out who this was who commanded such!

Problems are created when we turn traditions into commandments. Some people get upset if the order of worship is not what it normally is. Some people get upset if brother so-and-so doesn't wear a tie when he waits on the table. Problems arise when we take traditions and try to make them binding on others. Consider how Jesus responds to the Pharisees on this type of matter in Matthew 15:1-9 when he tells them they are breaking the commandments of God for the sake of their tradition.

Perhaps you are not crippled but you are in need of the healing touch of the Great Physician! Are you guilty of making excuses though you have unlimited opportunities to do great things? Are you focused on things of the world to provide answers to your problems while you are unaware of what the Lord provides? Are you upset about some good being done only because it's not in keeping with your tradition? Let the Master have his way with you as he takes away whatever is crippling you in this life!