Chapter XII: Jesus Said Unto Him, "rise"

JOHN 5.8

THERE was a Pool just outside Jerusalem, which was called Bethesda.

Here, numbers of sick people congregated, for there was a wonderful thing happened there, and the poor sick people watched eagerly to see if that wonderful thing was going to happen that day!

If you have never heard the story, you will wonder very much what that could be!

It was, that God sent an angel down at a certain season to stir the water in that Pool; and whoever was fortunate enough to step down first into the Pool, after the water was stirred, was made quite well of whatever disease he had.

One day, our Lord Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on His way, He passed this Pool of Bethesda.

Looking round on the sick people, He saw the man He had come to seek.

The Bible says: "Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been a long time in that case."

So He came close to him, and said, "Wilt thou be made whole?"

Ah! the poor man could not answer that question straight off! There was only one remedy he knew of, and that was impossible.

So he looked up into the face of Jesus, and gave a very pitiful and simple answer, in words like these:

"Sir," he said, "I am lying here helpless, and when the water is stirred, there are numbers of others who can step down into the water before me, and I am left behind!"

Then our dear Lord Jesus gave 'The Word of Command'—and when He, the Son of God, commands, He gives the power to obey—and He said to the poor man, "Rise! take up thy bed and walk!"

And immediately the man was made well; and without any hesitation, he rose straight up, took up the mat he had been lying on, and was able to walk away quite well.

Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "Thou art made whole; go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."

Jesus had seen how hopeless this man had been, and He healed him, but He wanted him to have a greater blessing still, even to have his sins forgiven.

And for us—He sees how we need to be healed of our sins, and from the remembrance of what we have done wrong; and He says to us, too: Wilt thou be made whole? Wilt thou have my forgiveness, and come to me and be saved? And then, like the helpless man in the story, we can look up into the face of Jesus, Who is in Heaven looking down on us now, and all at once we can realize His mighty power to save us! and we can yield ourselves to His love.

If we come to Him so, He will make life a different thing for us.

We shall go about our work, or our school, or our home, or our play, with a glad heart because we have Jesus, as our own Saviour.