Today’s Devotional Theme The Water or Jesus?
Daily ScriptureJohn 5:5-7
“Now a certain man was there [at the pool of Bethesda] who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’”
Encouragement
There’s an old Jewish belief or legend, alluded to here in John, that a pool of water that is “moving” – for example is spring-fed – has healing power. I’m reminded of a hot spring in far northern Nevada that a friend and I used to jump in. We’d alternately jump in the hot spring – the water was too warm to stay in for longer than a minute – and an unheated swimming pool a few feet away to chill down, then right back into the hot water. I’m not sure how much healing that water held, but the back and forth between water temperatures at least 50 degrees different was certainly invigorating!
Apply God’s Word
The infirm man has waited in vain and frustration for someone to put him in the water. Notice Jesus ignores the stirred-up water when he asks the man if he wants to be made well. He simply says, in verse 7, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk,” and that’s what the man does – pure and simple. Later in the temple, Jesus in verse 14 warns the man to “sin no more.” He gave many of those He healed and set free a similar warning. Also see the affinity between the healing water of the pool of Bethesda and Jesus as the source of “living water” that brings everlasting life (John 4:14, during His conversation with the Samaritan woman). I’m convinced that Jesus, through His Spirit, still heals – both through doctors and suddenly, miraculously. The question often comes up, “Why does God heal some, while others, also walking with God, die?” Honestly, I have no answer. But it doesn’t sully my faith. God is sovereign. He is not to be “explained” but to be obeyed.
Come into His Presence
Father God, Jehovah Rapha, our healer, we thank you for your many benefits, not the least of which is your healing, whether through the marvelous immune system You’ve endowed us with or through Your direct intervention in our lives. I am grateful beyond words. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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