John 5:7-11: a reflection

7The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.” 8Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.” 9Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. Now that day was a Sabbath. 10So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.” 11He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ”

By the pool of Bethesda lies a man who has been ill for thirty-eight years, waiting for a chance at healing he can never seize. When Jesus asks about his condition, his answer is one of quiet hopelessness: Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred; while I am coming, another steps down before me. He has no one to help him, and cannot help himself. But Jesus does not put him in the pool; he simply says, Rise, take up your mat, and walk. And at once the man is healed.

Notice the man's plight, and how Jesus meets it. He had no one to help him, no way to reach the healing he longed for; every time he tried, someone else got there first. His was a helplessness deepened by having no one to help. And Jesus came to him, the one no one else would help, and healed him directly, with a word, needing no pool, no help, no striving on the man's part. What all the man's efforts toward the pool could never win, Jesus gave him freely.

That is good news for the helpless and the overlooked. Perhaps you feel, like this man, that you have no one to help you, and that you cannot help yourself; that whatever you strive for is always just out of reach. Hear this: Jesus comes to those who have no one, and does for them what all their striving never could. He met the man no one helped, and healed him with a word. Bring your helplessness to Jesus, the one who comes to those with no one else. You do not need to reach the pool by your own strength; the Christ who healed this man comes to the helpless and does for them what they could never do for themselves.

Lord Jesus, by the pool lay a man ill for thirty-eight years, who had no one to help him into the water and could not help himself; and you came to him, the one no one else would help, and healed him with a word. Thank you that you come to the helpless and the overlooked. When I feel, like this man, that I have no one to help me, and that I cannot help myself, that whatever I strive for is always just out of reach, remind me that you come to those who have no one, and do for them what all their striving never could. You met the man no one helped, and healed him with a word. Help me bring my helplessness to you, rather than despairing that I have no one. I do not need to reach the pool by my own strength; you come to the helpless and do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Come to me, Lord.