Unknown Blessings
RCL Year C • Sermon • Submitted
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One of the aspects of this story that really gets me is just how long this man had been ill. Considering the average lifespan of a person during Jesus’ time was about 55 years it seems incredible that this man had been this way for 38 years of his life. It’s possible that he was born that way and he was only 38 years old but we don’t get that. If he was born that way it would actually be even more incredible that he had lived so long. Another thing I want to point out is that when we read the story today from the NRSV it tells us the man was ill. We need to unpack that a little bit because being ill doesn’t sound so bad. The two things we need to take into account is that the gospel writer John tells us that the people who hung out at this healing pool were the invalids - the blind, lame, and paralyzed. It would be reasonable to assume that this man fell into one of those categories, especially since he had been this way for 38 years. The other part of this is that the word translated as invalid is the exact same word that one sentence later is translated as ill when describing the man. That word can mean ill, incapacitated, weakness, crippled, limited, etc. Some other English translations use these stronger words to help the reader understand that he is in fact one of the disabled that were described a moment ago.
So this man had been disabled for 38 years and had been coming to the pool of Beth-zatha (which we might be more familiar with the name Bethesda or Bethsaida they’re all the same place) for a long time. Perhaps not all 38 years, but for quite some time. After being unable to use parts of your body for 38 years I imagine that there was little to no muscle left in those parts of his body and of the brief research I did, I discovered which makes sense, that after many years of not using parts of your body, that not only do you lose muscle mass but your bones also tend to become weak and even brittle. I imagine that it would have been incredibly hard for him to move quickly enough to get to the pool.
From the sounds of it, he also doesn’t seem to have anyone to help him into the pool. The reason why he wants to get into the pool is left out. My guess is that the original audience would have known why and the reason why was later added, and then later taken out becuase it was an addition. Did you follow that? If not, look at the reading in your Bible or bulletin and notice that the reading today goes from verse 3 to verse 5. There is no verse 4. It’s not a typo. What that missing verse says is that during certain seasons of the year an angel would come and stir up the water and the first person who went into the pool after it was stirred up would be healed of whatever they were suffering from. We get confirmation of that in verse 7 when the man explains that someone else goes ahead of him when the water is stirred.
What I imagine happening is one of two things when the waters are stirred up. First, someone who is ill but not too bad is able to move faster than anyone else and get to the pool first. Second, someone has friends who are able to keep watch and then move that person to get them into the pool first. Either way, it is either the healthiest or the most connected who are able to be healed by the waters of this particular pool. It basically sounds like the man has all but given up on ever being made well again, yet he still lays there on his mat just in case.
Jesus sees all of this, he hears all of this and Jesus responds. Jesus wants to know if the man wants to be made well. Who wouldn’t? And yet, that sense of having pretty much given up is seen in his answer about how he has no one to help him. This is where this story becomes incredible. We see that Jesus initiates the contact. It’s not like other stories where people come to him or friends or family come to Jesus to make them or their loved one well again. This man doesn’t reach out in faith to Jesus. In fact there is no faith mentioned at all. That is why I say this is where the story starts to become incredible and really wonderful in what happens.
The man doesn’t answer Jesus’ question as Jesus’ asked it and he doesn’t ask to be made whole again through his faith. He may not even know who Jesus is. But Jesus’ really hears his response even though it didn’t directly answer his question. What Jesus hears is that this man has no one. I don’t think it matters if this man has faith or not. I don’t think it matters if he knows who Jesus is or not. Jesus hears that this man is alone. He hears that this man has all but given up on hope and jesus responds. Jesus lets this man know that someone knows him, that someone sees him. That person is Jesus. If this man has no one left in his life at the very least he will have Jesus in his life. Let’s just say it. We know this and so will this man in a moment, but if the only person in your life is Jesus, then life can’t be too bad.
The miracle is another obvious incredible part of the story, but what I find even more incredible is the way that Jesus does it. As I read this story I was thinking that maybe Jesus could have stirred his hand in the water and invited the man to come and bathe in the pool. It makes sense because everything has been centered around the pool. Jesus instead simply tells the man to take up his mat and walk. There is no restorative pool involved. There is no laying on of hands to bring him back to health, but simply the invitation to stand, grab his mat, and walk. In an instant 38 years of atrophied muscles and brittle bones have disappeared. In an instant a man who has been alone for some time now has the full and undivided attention and care from Jesus. The very words of Jesus, who is the Word made flesh.
The whole idea of taking his mat, wasn’t to upset people for ‘working’ on the Sabbath, but it was a sign to the newly cured man and all who saw him that he had the strength to carry the mat and that he no longer needed the mat. He could carry it instead of the mat carrying him all those years. He now had the strength and the ability to take his mat wherever he wanted instead of being bound to it.
It actually wasn’t until later that the man finds out that it was Jesus who made him well. And I love that because just as we talked about last week, we again see that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit come and work in the lives of people in unexpected and wondrous ways. Jesus was a blessing to this man who wasn’t expecting it. He didn’t profess any creed, he didn’t even know Jesus and yet the word of God came and blessed this man. I know that we can be like Jesus and be a blessing to those who aren’t even looking to be blessed, so that they too may know the love and the grace of our wondrous God. Just as I know that God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit has blessed you and made you well in unexpected ways and at unexpected times, probably even when you didn’t even know you needed it. That is just how much God cares for us and wants us to be made whole and to be be a part of the family of God. Amen.