Do You Want to Be Made Whole?

Do You Want to Be Made Whole?

John 5:1-16

 

The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.   John 1:17

 

An ailing man, confined to his pallet for 38 years, was enslaved by a disease that rendered him too weak to get up. His only hope was to be the first one into the pool when the angel stirred up the water – but he was absolutely incapable of accomplishing this feat. His 'hope' was no hope at all!

 

Jesus saw the man lying by the pool when He was in Jerusalem for a Jewish feast. He felt sympathy for the helpless man and asked him, "Do you want to become well?"  It seems odd that Jesus would ask a question with such an obvious answer; however, it allowed Jesus to make a most important point when the man revealed that he had the desire, but not the strength, to get into the pool.  

 

. . . the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.   Rom. 7:18b

 

Jesus did not speak to this man about his corrupt nature, as He did with Nicodemus; nor did He expect him to realize that he was under the power of sin, as with the Samaritan woman. Jesus did not stress the importance of believing His word, as He had done with the nobleman. In this encounter the spotlight is on the man's absolute inability to act for himself. Generally, the infirmed man illustrates that mankind is powerless to overcome sin without help; and specifically, he represents the Jew who has repeatedly proven an inability to keep God's law.

 

What the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son. . . Rom. 8:3a

Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.  Rom. 6:14

 

Do we truly understand the substance of God's grace? It is this: God sees our need and has sent His Son to meet it. He knows that our 'disease'(sin) will keep us from Him eternally and He is not willing for that to happen. The Lord's question to us is, "Do you want to be free from sin and its effects?" If we say yes, we must set aside all personal effort and receive everything Christ wants to give us for life and godliness.

 

His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness . . .  2Pet. 1:3a