Hope for the hopeless

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the holy days.  Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches.  Crowds of sick people - blind, lame, or paralyzed - lay on the porches.  One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, "Would you like to get well?"

"I can't sir," the sick man said, "for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up.  While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me."  Jesus told him, "Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk."

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking! - John 5:1-9

There are times when it seems time stands still. The future seems oh so bleak. Nowhere to go, and life's headed in a downward spiral. No one to pull you out. No one to turn to. No one who cares. As you stand and look around, it seems there is always some one getting blessed, it's just not you. The man by the Bethesda pool seemed to be just such a person who saw his life slipping away without any chance of pulling himself into the pool when the angel stirred the water so that he may get his healing. "I can't sir, for I have no one to help me in to the water. While I am trying to get there, someone ALWAYS gets in ahead of me," he answered to Christ's inquiry if the man wanted a healing.  Thirty eight years is a long time to be sick, and lying by the side of the pool, he watched others get healed.

I wondered about the physical condition, appearance, odor around this person who had been lying by the pool of Bethesda for a long time. No one to care for him. No one who cared about him. Why did Christ pick him to speak to out of the crowds of sick -  blind, lame or paralyzed - who lay there on the porch of the Bethesda pool? No matter what the reason, the fact is, Christ showed pity on him!

After healing the man Jesus told him, "Now you are well; stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you." - John 5:14.  In the Old Testament we read God spoke to Moses as he passed in front of him, "I am the LORD, I am the LORD, the merciful and gracious God.  I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness.  I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.  Even so I do no leave sin unpunished, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations." - Exodus 34:6-7

God calls out to his creation, "Turn to me now, while there is time! Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping and mourning.   Don't tear your clothing in your grief; instead, tear your hearts. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful.  He is not easily angered.  He is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you." - Joel 2:12-13

He gives hope to the hopeless!!

Evangelist Lee Stoneking at the United Nations