In an instant the paralytic of the pool of Bethsaida had a new identity.
He no longer was the paralytic but the latest news headlines.
Not only was he healed, but he was but he also was restored.
Can you imagine the smile on his face?
The spring in hs step?
Even in his tattered clothes, the glow on his face was hard to ignore.
Joy bubbling from deep within bursting forth as laughter; loud laughter I would like to imagine.
He could now walk into the city where before he was forbidden to even crawl because he was an embarrassment to the custodians of the city; a prick to their consciences.
He could even talk now.
Why wouldn't anyone help him into the pool when the water stirred. Because his voice after 38 years had grown quiet. After so many years of asking for help, he stopped to ask anymore.
Maybe some even mocked him. Spat on him, even roughed him up maybe at the Sheep Gate where all the outcasts were put.
Now that he was healed, restored, here was the stark revelation that the people who could have helped him get into the healing pool over the 38 years were in that city with him now.
His family,
his friends,
his wife and children.
He faced the challenge how to respond to them.
To retain his healing and restoration would be very dependent on his response.
Though, the first people that he met were not his family but the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were the ones who ideally would as spiritual caregivers, ensured there was someone to put him in the pool when the water stirred, even when his family failed.
The Pharisees were the ones who would have encouraged him over the years not to doubt his healing was possible
The Pharisees were the ones who would have taught him to recognise the face, the hand, the heart of his Saviour even before He appeared.
Jesus knew this man heart was filled with doubt. Jesus picked him out of a crowd of others who were by the pool seeking healing. Jesus question to whether he wanted to be healed wasn't in futility; Christ always measured His words.
This man had been on the outside the city, outside the temple, outside his family for so long that Christ had to come to Him.
The paralytic knew there was hope, even though his hope had dimmed over the years. He knew something worked. Otherwise he would have crawled away. Or worse; died of despondency right there by the symbol of hope.
His hope however dim kept him alive.
Back to the Pharisees.... they didn't see his new gaunt, his laughter, they saw instead his rolled mat. Dirty and worn after 38 years of being lain on, they only saw his mat; an eyesore in the pristine order of the city
Who is celebrating with you? (Often times, very few)
Who healed him, they enquired not with excitement because their status quo was being challenged. They werent excited to know who this was who was healing and restoring the aching of their community.
Rather they wanted to know so they could get rid of him, not chase Him away but kill Him.
Kill Him so the people wouldn't know the real truth that He was their real healer, deliverer, restorerer and not rituals and traditions. It's now clearer why Christ called them a brood of vipers!
The Pharisees didnt think the newly restored man he should be happy and restored on that day, and I tend to think they believed he shouldnt be happy and restored on any day.
Can you see the same scenario of Pharisees enquiring rather than celebrating?
They quickly gathered their robes (both the Pharisees and my modern day Pharisees) to move on to scheme our Restorers death.
But it is a finished work!
They can't kill Him because He loves in the hearts of men.
He continues to do healing and delivering and restoring in the lives of many everyday even today 2000 years later.
It would do them well to turn to Him rather than try quell His power in futility.
The healed man with his rolled up mat in the city was a powerful testimony. Don't throw away your mat. Carry it that they may see the finished work of Christ in your Life!
We have overcome by the blood and the power of our testimony.
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