There is Healing in the Name of Jesus

Sunday, September 19, 2021

There is Healing in the Name of Jesus

Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.”

And immediately the man was well;

he picked up his mat and began to walk.

(John 5: 8,9, NCV)

The life and ministry of Christ Jesus on this earth was so powerful and influential that it stays as a great monument of faith and belief until this day! As we continue to believe in the name of Jesus and take the daily strides in the walk of faith, we seldom remember that He is our miraculous healer and is there amongst us to heal us.

Christ Jesus is our living God who heals those who believe in His name! At times, with our limited human wisdom, we try to be analytical and seek scientific evidence for Christ's healing, trying to question each by this question of curiosity, "how?", and most of the time it does not help. Probably, the reason is, Christ's 'miraculous healing' has everything to do with faith and belief and not systematic analysis!

I would like to take you with me today to Bethesda, the pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. I want to stand with you in that place and imagine what would have happened nearly two thousand years ago when Jesus healed a man who had been lying there sick for thirty-eight years. Leaving aside the socio-political evidence that John provides of this incident, I would like to get into some hidden details and lessons of faith that we have to learn in Christian living. If we could have a careful reading of John 05: 01 - 16, we would come across the following two sentences that would teach us something important about being healed by faith and the truth about Christ Jesus's healing when we believe. Jesus asks "Do you want to get well?" (v. 6), and then Jesus says ""Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." (v.8). In between verses 6 and 8, there is an important lifestyle of faith that we have to imbibe as children who believe in the name of Christ Jesus.

John 05: 03 - 06 says, "Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed, and they waited for the water to move. Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had. A man was lying there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?""

Well, look at that question Jesus asks. If we would have been there with our critical minds watching Jesus ask this question, we would have exclaimed "Obviously! That man has been there for thirty-eight years just to get into the pool and be healed!" But let me remind you, brothers and sisters in Christ, that Jesus asked that question at the pool of Bethesda to know the man's 'willingness to be healed.' Was the man willing to be healed? Yes, of course. But sadly this man did not know who was standing in front of him and asking this question. His willingness was to anyhow get into the stirred water in the pool and to be healed. The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone else always gets in before me” (v.7). "The man did not see Jesus as a potential healer, and his mind was set on the supposed curative powers of the water" (NIV, Study Bible Comment SBC)). And, since he was so focused on the healing powers of the water (something that his eyes could see and witness), he could not see the miraculous and powerful Jesus who was standing in front of him ( he saw just another common man at the pool). Did he believe in Jesus? Did he ever express his faith in Christ Jesus the healer? No! So this is where things get interesting and beyond the human capacity of compassion. So let's speak out that little question that's coming up in our mind... Then why did Jesus heal this man? Why would he do that?

Let us remember that the incident in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 5, verse 34 reminds us that, ordinarily, faith in Jesus was essential to the cure (NIV, SBC). Remember what Jesus said to the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and was healed when she secretly touched Jesus's clothes in the midst of a large crowd? Jesus said to her “Dear woman, you are made well because you believed. Go in peace; be healed of your disease” (Mark 05:34). And yes, faith is essential to the cure! But then, our question still remains, why did Jesus heal this man here at Bethesda? We have a wonderful answer of love, compassion from Christ Jesus's ministry on earth. Surely the man had no idea who Jesus was. John reminds us of this when he writes about incidents that happened later in John 05:13. But, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ, let us remember that while Jesus usually healed in response to faith, he was not limited by a person's lack of it!" (NIV, SBC). Wow! Isn't that a projection of the amazing love and compassion that our Lord had on the ones who had not known Him? It is the love that Jesus showed to the entire world. Jesus was very practical when he said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8).

Today, we may be standing at Bethesda! We have been there for so long, still expecting to get into the pool first when the water is stirred. Still expecting things to work for us in the way we expect them to be. Still expecting moments and incidents to come upon in the way we like them to be. We are so focused on the water and the practicalities of things so much that we fail to see the Lord who is standing just in front of us. What would be the difference between someone who has not yet known Christ Jesus as their personal saviour and us who know Him as our healer? What if we are so lost in searching for evidence and practicalities of things when the only thing needed is to believe in the Lord and express our faith in Him? We can be assured that there is healing in the name of Christ Jesus, and let us remember that Christ values our faith in Him! The moment when we are able to leave everything aside and are able to put our whole trust in Him, Christ Jesus does miraculous works in our lives.

This is an invitation for us to see His love. This is an invitation to see the Lord who is standing beside us than focussing on things that may appear to be more potential to heal us. I pray that we will seek the Lord in the midst of all the troubles and tribulations around us and will take the time to express our faith in Him as our only healer. May the power and blessings of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son and the fellowship and guidance of the Holy Spirit be with us and heal us as we continue to trust in Him and call him "Our Great Healer!"

May God bless you.

Yours in Christ,