Today’s scripture: John 5:1-15 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Keith Phillips):
Occasionally I prefer the Authorized Version to the more contemporary translations. The 23rd Psalm, the Christmas story, the first chapter of John’s Gospel are far more elegant in Shakespearean English; and besides, that’s the way I memorized them in Sunday school decades and decades ago. In this passage, Jesus’ question in verse six (“Wilt thou be made whole?”) feels more inclusive to me than modern translations (“Do you want to get well?’ or “Do you want to be healed?”), and it’s more faithful to the original Greek.
Far more than a miracle of physical healing is performed here. Not that physical healing is unimportant. But the real problem is not that the man has been infirm or impotent (verse 7, AV) for 38 years. That’s bad enough, but more painful is that the man has no family or friends to help him into the water when its healing properties are manifest.
I am single, with no spouse, no children, no family of origin, no extended family nearby. There are benefits to that, but I get anxious at the thought of being sick or hurt, without anyone to care for or help me. I make sure that my AAA membership doesn’t expire because there’s no one else to call when I’m stranded on the highway. Being alone is fine for me, until I need the help of someone who is not there.
Jesus asks, “Wilt thou be made whole?” and then becomes the family/the friend the man needs. The man is made whole by trusting the only One who will ever love him unconditionally.
There’s another sense in which the man is made whole, too. He’d been taught his entire life that he could be healed only by getting into the pool when the water was stirred up. The power of conventional wisdom in our lives is extraordinary. How things are done in the world guide the lives of far too many Christians. For 38 years this son of Israel laid by the pool, because his God was too small, only able to make him whole in the way he had been taught.
Jesus says to the man, “I will help you. You don’t need to depend on what is acceptable to those around you or by how things are done in the world. Only I love you unconditionally. Pay attention to me. Trust me. Obey me. And you will be made whole.”
Thought for the day: You, too, may be made whole. Rise, take up thy bed, and get on with it!
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.