SGF: Epiphany - Day 52

The Bible Reading today is from John 5. It's the story of a disabled man who sat by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. The man had been an invalid for 38 years. 38! That's almost unfathomable to me (probably because I haven't even been on this earth for that long). I wonder what his life was like. I imagine it was pretty bleak. The passage tells us that "a great number of disabled people" would lie by the pool - "the blind, the lame, the paralyzed". I doubt the mood around that place was joyful in any way. These people probably spent their days commiserating with each other, comparing their lives to those of the healthy people that walked by them every day (and probably ignored them). They also seemed to be in competition with each other, as the story was that an angel stirred the waters of the pool every day and people could be healed if they entered the waters. The man told Jesus he had no one to help him into the pool and when the waters were stirred someone always went in ahead of him. It seems all of these disabled people hung out by the pool in the hopes of being healed. But I wonder how many of them actually believed they would be. Probably it was more likely that this was their last chance that they didn't really believe in anyhow, but there weren't any other options so what could they lose?

So I wonder what it was like for this man, truly, to get up and walk. I imagine it must have been unbelievable, even to himself, even as he (presumably) felt the strength return to his legs, even as he actually picked himself up and began to walk. It must have felt surreal, like a dream. He must have pinched himself. Because really, when you think about it, how amazing is it that this man's muscles were able to hold him? He didn't have a physiotherapist or doctor to help him keep his muscles in shape even though he wasn't using them. We're talking 38 years of atrophy here. Talk about a miracle! Yet I imagine it wasn't all wonderful. Perhaps it was overwhelmingly wonderful and joyful in that moment, when he realized he really could walk again. But later, the reality of his healing would have sunk in. He'd have to find a job, a "normal" life. He couldn't just mope around feeling sorry for himself anymore (which was probably a habit after 38 years). He couldn't live off the charity of others anymore. He was healed. He was whole. He was healthy. He'd have to find new friends. There may even have been some guilt - the Bible doesn't tell us that anyone else was healed that day (which doesn't mean it didn't happen but it seems unlikely that Jesus would have healed everyone at the pool that day simply because it's not mentioned) - so he was leaving behind friends, people he'd spent every day with for years. Perhaps he asked himself, "Why me?" I wonder if it was easy for him to leave his friends behind. Or perhaps he didn't much care for these "friends" and he was happy to leave them behind. Maybe he felt they deserved it or maybe he just didn't want to think about them anymore because they reminded him of a very dark time in his life. Whatever the case, it couldn't have been easy for him.

And therein, I think, lies a lesson and a reminder for us. Bible stories are often told very matter-of-factly, without a lot of detail or description, so we tend to read them quickly, respond to them on a surface level, and move on. But when we stop to think about what these stories must have been really like to the people who were living them, they take on a whole new level of meaning. Take this man. I know that for me, in the past, I've read or heard this story and thought, "Cool! How amazing is that?" and "How awesome for that man - he must have been so happy!". It's easy to think this is a "happily ever after" tale. But is it really? As I sit here and really think about this story, I realize that this man's life didn't get easier. In fact, I'm convinced it got harder, for all the reasons I've mentioned and for many more. The story tells us that Jesus saw the man again later (we're not told how much later) at the temple. And He tells the man, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you". The assumption is that the man hasn't been living the life Jesus intended him to when He healed him. Now the man has to try harder, live better, be a better man, or the consequences will be dire. (And for the record, I have a hard time knowing what is worse than being an invalid for 38 years...) So his life from now on will not be easier than it was as an invalid. Does it get better? Absolutely. But not easier. And isn't that what life as a Christian is? Once we submit to Christ our lives get better. But not easier. Thankfully, although it will be harder to live for God, we're not asked to do it alone. He will give us what we need to begin and live a new life.