Loneliness

In John 5, we read the story of the man at the pool in Bethesda. The pools at Bethesda were thought

to be a place where the spirit of the Lord moved and touched people. There was a belief that when the water stirred, it signified the presence of an angel of the Lord and whoever stepped into the water first would be healed. In this story, we find a man who has been ill for 38 years. How long precisely he had waited at the pool is unknown -- but we are told that when Jesus saw him he knew he had been there a long time.

What Jesus inquires of the man is interesting. He asks this person -- who in faith and maybe in desperation has come to this well for healing a simple question, "Do you wish to get well?" There may be no other point in the bible where Jesus seems to ask such a simple, seemingly inane question that is so deep. Here is this man who apparently has extremely limited mobility -- who says no one will help him into the waters -- and Jesus says to him, "Hey, do you want to get well?" I can only envision the man sitting there thinking something like, "nope, I like getting the special parking spaces -- here is your sign."

What is interesting is the response of the man, "Sir, I have no one to help me into the waters." Not, "I want to be well" or "It is my hearts desire", but -- "I have no one." What was the greatest need of this man? Healing of his physical infirmity, or healing of his spiritual loneliness? Maybe what is most amazing, he was saying it to the one person that could answer both!

Jesus as we know healed the man! He commanded him to take up his pallet and walk. Want to know how smart the guy was? Very! When Jesus commanded him to take up his pallet and walk -- that is what he did. Sadly, there were those around who decided not to be amazed at the healing of the man -- and the fact that Jesus simply provided comfort to a man in need someone to help him. They immediately questioned him as to why he was carrying his pallet on the sabbath in violation of the law! Let's not worry how the lame can be made whole they say -- you are not honoring the sabbath. Indeed, he was honoring not the sabbath, which Christ says if for man -- he was doing the very will of God.

So, what was the greatest suffering of the man? Was it his physical problem or his loneliness which is demonstrated in his lack of someone to help him? I think the loneliness is the greatest need. Could he have been healed if he had been first to the pool when it stirred? Thirty-eight years...I wonder...

I wonder if Jesus right now was to ask me, "Do you want to be well?" What would he be asking me? Would he be saying, "You hurt physically, I can make you better." Maybe he would be saying, "You hurt emotionally, can I free you of that burden?" What I think lies in the center of both questions is a simple, "So, what if?" What does it mean to me if he heals me?

Let's unpack this in another way. Ever know someone who has a burden for someone. What about the wife who prays every Sunday for her unrepentant, alcoholic, abusive husband? Every Sunday we marvel at how she can continue on. Then, behold, a miracle! A transformation, and a changed life! The husband is saved.

Ever see what sometimes happens next? The wife, who prayed so diligently for the husband is now faced with a removal of her burden. However, instead of rejoicing at their partner's salvation -- they now must face the truth that has been there all along -- how do they deal without the dysfunction? Sadly some can't.

We have become so used to dysfunction. It is not that we simply work around it -- we work with it. It is our crutch, our excuse. It enables us. When Jesus looked at the man, and us, he says, "Can you deal with what comes next?" In a world that cries out for love -- can we put our own love for self aside and love others? Can I cease to dwell on my limitations and grasp His infinite possibilities?

So, to the heart of the question -- if God removed our crutch, on what would we lean -- him? Would we dare to take up our cross and walk as he said in Mark 8:34? Would we be willing to suffer for people as Christ suffered for them?

In a world that is so crowded, how can we let others feel so alone? How can we sit in our homes and not just feel sorry for people? How can we move from just loving the world to seriously getting out and caring for the world. My love is not enough -- my tears are not enough -- my Jesus is. It has been said that people don't care until they know how much you care -- how do we demonstrate the love of Christ to a lost and dying world? How do we show a lonely world that when the question was asked of God, he spread his arms wide and said, "This much." Telling them isn't enough -- we need to show them.

So, if Jesus looks at me and says, "Do you want to be well?" --- what would I say?