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Some things take time. Others are instantaneous. When God does a work, it doesn’t take Him long. Often the only delay is in the length of time it takes for us to obey what He said.

Jesus commanded a lame man do the impossible. The moment the man obeyed; he was made whole. We aren’t told what caused the man to quit explaining and start obeying. He had been in the middle of telling Jesus why he had remained lame for so long when Jesus had uttered His command to rise up. End of discussion. Jesus’ command had been so compelling that the next thing the man knew, he was doing what he had only dreamed of for 38 years. He was free.

What is almost imperceptible is that Jesus was freeing the man from more than his lameness. For Jesus told the man to take up his mat. Jesus was commanding the man to break the man-made rules the Jews had constructed around the Sabbath. Jesus must have known the irritation it would cause the religious leaders of the day. Apparently He didn’t care.

When Jesus makes you free, you are free indeed!

The apostle Paul once explained that we do not know how to pray as we ought (Rom. 8:26). Even when we have entered into Christ’s holy presence, we can waste time talking about meaningless matters. Such was the case with the lame man. When asked if he wanted to be made well, the lame man began a discourse on why he had been unable to be the first person to make his way into the miracle waters of the pool of Bethesda.

Thankfully for him, Jesus gave the man what he needed, not what he asked for. Jesus issued an impossible command. The man had been lame for 38 years. He had long since surrendered any hope that he could ever rise up and walk again. After 38 years he had become convinced that he would never walk again.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Jesus was commanding him to do something that had been impossible for four decades. Such was the authority in Jesus’ voice, however, that the man actually attempted it. Jesus was not there merely to talk to a dejected, crippled man. Jesus was present to change his life. Jesus has a way of zeroing in on the problem and addressing it with all of the power of heaven at His disposal.

Listen carefully to what Christ is saying to you. He might just be commanding significant changes in your life as well.

Few things rob us of God’s power in our life any more than well- rehearsed excuses. Some people would rather develop a new excuse than a new life.

The Son of God stood before a man who had been lame for 38 years and asked him if he wanted to be made well. The man ought to have shouted with joy as he proclaimed his heart’s desire to be made well. Instead, he explained why he was still crippled. Jesus didn’t ask him why he was lame. Jesus asked if he wanted to be made well. This man may have rehearsed the reasons for his lameness so often that he automatically spewed them out whenever he met a stranger. His life was based on his excuses rather than on his possibilities.

Certainly this man was not entirely to blame for his current condition. But he almost missed the opportunity to be made well. He was too focused on why he was not healed and not watching to see how he could be.

Some people look at life in terms of impossibilities. Others see view it through the lens of possibilities.

When you are talking with Jesus, don’t waste time explaining to Him why you are in your current condition. Rather, quickly plead with Him to change you. Don’t remain in your present condition any longer than is absolutely necessary!

Change is hard at the best of times. But it is particularly challenging when we have been in the same condition for an extended period of time.

Jesus came upon a man who had been lame for 38 years. By that time, it was not merely a matter of being unable to walk. This man had a “lame” mindset. He viewed life from the vantage point of being lame. He earned his living as a lame beggar. His hopes and aspirations were colored by his crippled state. He had been in that condition for so long that he knew of no other way to live.

Perhaps knowing that lameness determined much of the man’s identity, Jesus began by asking him if he wanted to be made well. Being healed would mean a total change of life. He’d no longer be able to depend on others the way he used to. He would have no excuse for begging for a living. He had spent years with invalid friends by the Pool of Bethesda. He would have to say good by to them, and his former life. It might not have been much of a life, but it had been the only one he knew.

At times Christ passes by our life and asks us a similar question. Do we want to remain the way we are? Some of our character traits and habits have become so ingrained in us, it seems unimaginable that we could ever change. We grow so used to our weaknesses and bad habits that it requires a heavenly crowbar to free us from them.

Have you been a long time in your condition? Are you prepared for, or even desirous, for Christ to set you free?

Every person has history. They have a mother, and a father. They have a childhood that shaped them. They have undergone crises and experienced moments of celebration. Each person has dreams as well as disappointments. They have friends and acquaintances as well as those who have disappointed and perhaps even betrayed them. Every person has their own unique set of aches and pains. No two people are exactly alike. Everyone has a unique story.

Jesus never saw a crowd. He always saw individual people. He observed people with names, and stories, and dreams, and disappointments. When He looked at a man, Jesus looked right into his soul.

So, on this day, as Jesus passed by the pool of Bethesda and the host of sick people, He noticed a “certain” man. When God turns His face toward you, you can be assured that something is about to change!

Aren’t you grateful that God knows your story? When you call to Him in prayer, introductions aren’t necessary. He was present when you were born. He has witnessed your every hurt and disappointment as well as your every sin. He knows you.

This verse often causes concern for people. Some translations leave out this verse entirely because it is not found in many of the ancient manuscripts. Others are troubled because it appears so arbitrary. When an angel came to stir the waters, only the first person to enter would be healed. It would seem that the angel could just as well have healed everyone on the premises rather than just the most mobile. How could a loving God only heal one person when there was a multitude of people who needed a cure?

Yet, as with many accounts in Scripture, we must yield to the sovereign grace of God. Another question might also be asked: why would God heal any sinful people? What obligation does almighty God have to heal a creature of dust? Merely granting them life would have been more than they were entitled to. But on this day, God would do more than send an angel. He would send His only Son. Jesus Himself, the Savior of the world, would walk by.

Jesus was under no obligation to heal anyone. In fact, He had an appointment to keep. And it was the Sabbath. He was not supposed to heal anyone on that consecrated day. Yet He would. Why? Because His nature was grace. He would give what was not deserved. He would bless someone who did not even believe in Him at that time. We have no record that Jesus healed everyone present. Once again, God in His sovereign will would choose one individual to bestow a special kindness upon. The lame man would not deserve it. But then, none of us does.

Hope. People desperately need it. Without hope, life is not worth living. Apart from hope, the pain and disappointments of life are unbearable. Everyone needs hope, but some need it in extra measure.

As Jesus walked past the Pool of Bethesda, He noticed a crowd of people who were all suffering physical infirmities. There were those who were sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed. Presumably they had each tried to be made well in whatever manner was available to them. Physicians had been consulted. Friends had offered their advice. Prayers had been uttered. Yet when all else failed, they had gathered together at the pool.

Hurting people often collect in places of hope. These hurting masses were desperate for something to inspire them to keep living. They were poor, for they were unable to work and earn a living. Most would have been beggars. They survived in the most humiliating of circumstances. Some were cast out of their homes, with no one to care for them. Each time someone passed by, the sick and crippled people would have clamored for charity. Each would appeal for any compassion that might be offered. It was a humbling, hopeless, miserable existence.

Every generation has its Pool of Bethesda. People of every age search for hope. Have you noticed those people around you, desperate to talk with someone who can offer them hope?

Jesus was always aware of his surroundings. He never raced by. He never missed what was going on around Him.

Jesus was entering Jerusalem. Outside the city walls, near the Sheep Gate, was a pool named Bethesda. Its name signified it was a place of mercy and grace. There were five porches surrounding the pool that offered shade and shelter to those who were infirm. It was a natural gathering place for the hurting.

It would have been utterly impossible for Jesus to stroll past a place of such need and not to cast His gaze over the assembled multitude. That is why the biblical writers often spoke of God turning His face toward them. For, when God looks upon you, He cannot help but act.

The sheep gate was the entryway for the sacrificial sheep to be herded on to the temple mount. It was a crowded thoroughfare. Many people walked through that gate as well. It was a busy place. It would have been easy to lose sight of people in the crowd.

Often it is in the crossroads of human life that God works. God always comes to the busy places of society. He can be found in downtown offices and gas stations just off the freeway. Jesus delights in the high traffic areas of life.

Everything God does has a context. Every miracle has a back story. Jesus traveled to Jerusalem in Judea after having first performed signs and wonders in Samaria and Galilee. In the previous chapter in John’s Gospel, Jesus had transformed the life of a notoriously sinful woman and brought revival to an entire village. He had then healed a deathly ill boy in Capernaum while He was in the hillside village of Cana. Everywhere Jesus had gone, lives had been changed.

Now Jesus made His way up the mountains surrounding Jerusalem to attend a feast of the Jews. This may have been the Passover, one of the most popular feasts on the Jewish calendar. The festival celebrated the freedom that came from God.

Feasts and holidays were often the occasion in which Jesus performed a miracle. People would gather with family and friends and often have turned their thoughts to the truths of God. Such occasions were perfect opportunities for Jesus to transform a life.

How do you treat the family gatherings and holidays in your life? Do you invite Jesus to take center stage? Do you allow the Holy Spirit to set the agenda of the gathering? The next time you are celebrating a special occasion, watch to see if Jesus does not show up and do a profound work.

There are always signs of God’s nature that can be seen, if we have eyes to see. The first official “sign” that Jesus was the Messiah was when He miraculously turned water into wine while He was attending a wedding feast in Cana. Cana is a small, backwater town on the slopes of the Galilean hills. A most unlikely site for such a momentous event. The second sign was also easy for most people to miss.

A man had come to Cana from Capernaum to ask Jesus to come back with him and to heal his son. Jesus merely spoke a word and the boy was healed. But no one in Cana would have known that. The father himself did not learn of the miracle until he had returned to Capernaum. Jesus spoke a word while in the hills of Galilee and a boy was healed on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Only someone who noticed both events would ever have recognized the hand of God in the events.

Often God’s work is not clearly obvious. Events can appear to be a mere coincidences or a pleasant surprise. But those who have their spiritual eyes open will see that God is constantly at work all around them.

This was the second sign Jesus performed, yet many would have missed it. Much of God’s work is not done to attract the attention of the crowds, but to affirm the faith of the observant.

How many signs has God done recently around your life? Have you noticed them?