"BEFORE THE WATER GROWS STILL"
"Sir," the man replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred." (John 5:7)
On one of his pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Jesus approached a disabled man lying beside a pool of water known as Bethesda. Apparently an intermittent spring in the pool bubbled up occasionally and this turbulence was believed to have curative power. Large numbers of sick and disabled used to lie next to the pool, hoping to get into the water before it grew still.
The man whom Jesus approached had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When asked if he wanted to get well, the man answered, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Moved by compassion, Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." Instantly the man, who did not even know who Jesus was, gathered his tattered mat and walked away.
In my readings of this bittersweet story, one sentence has always cried out. "I have no one to help me into the pool." The man's words evoke a disturbing image of helplessness and desperation, of a frail and fragile person struggling for a cure only to have his hopes dashed again and again.
Then and now, Christ calls his followers to extend a hand to anyone who is immobilized by life's crosswinds. Beyond the physical, paralysis has many faces and it has many causes: fear and uncertainty, pride and bitterness, past hurts and painful memories. As Christians, we ignore our calling if we live life as mere onlookers, as bystanders indifferent to the plight of those around us.
Admittedly there are times when the crosswinds in our own lives are so intense that we feel we have no strength to share, no help to offer. We notice that others are struggling, but in search of our own cure, we step into the pool ahead of them. Society applauds such actions, saying, "You can't help someone else until you can help yourself."
I wonder how Jesus would react to that philosophy. It doesn't seem to square with his teachings about selflessness, sacrifice, and bearing one another's burdens. My guess is that Jesus would align himself instead with the wisdom found in Proverbs 11:24. "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."
On one of his pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Jesus approached a disabled man lying beside a pool of water known as Bethesda. Apparently an intermittent spring in the pool bubbled up occasionally and this turbulence was believed to have curative power. Large numbers of sick and disabled used to lie next to the pool, hoping to get into the water before it grew still.
The man whom Jesus approached had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When asked if he wanted to get well, the man answered, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Moved by compassion, Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." Instantly the man, who did not even know who Jesus was, gathered his tattered mat and walked away.
In my readings of this bittersweet story, one sentence has always cried out. "I have no one to help me into the pool." The man's words evoke a disturbing image of helplessness and desperation, of a frail and fragile person struggling for a cure only to have his hopes dashed again and again.
Then and now, Christ calls his followers to extend a hand to anyone who is immobilized by life's crosswinds. Beyond the physical, paralysis has many faces and it has many causes: fear and uncertainty, pride and bitterness, past hurts and painful memories. As Christians, we ignore our calling if we live life as mere onlookers, as bystanders indifferent to the plight of those around us.
Admittedly there are times when the crosswinds in our own lives are so intense that we feel we have no strength to share, no help to offer. We notice that others are struggling, but in search of our own cure, we step into the pool ahead of them. Society applauds such actions, saying, "You can't help someone else until you can help yourself."
I wonder how Jesus would react to that philosophy. It doesn't seem to square with his teachings about selflessness, sacrifice, and bearing one another's burdens. My guess is that Jesus would align himself instead with the wisdom found in Proverbs 11:24. "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."
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