In John 5:1-9, a story unfolds before us that is powerful, yet leaves us wondering how and why. Let me explain.
After the feast of the Jews, Jesus goes to Jerusalem. While there he comes to a pool. This apparently was not a regular pool, but a special pool where people could get healed. In v.4 it says that an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons and "stirred" the water. So after the water is stirred, there is apparently a race to the water. First one in gets healed.
Stop and think about this scene. The magnitude of the moment and the incredible drama taking place. There are hundreds (a multitude) of people gathered around the body of water watching and waiting. The waters are stirred and there's a crazy rush towards the pool. In and you win. Too slow and you lose. Wow.
So along comes Jesus. He walks up to this scene and is heading towards the edge of the pool. But with a multitude of the lame and sick, Jesus likely had to make an awkward step by step path to get there.
This is the part that I've missed every other time I've read these verses. Jesus walked past lots of people. Lots that deserved to be healed. People that needed to be healed. People who were sick, blind, lame and withered. But there is no record of Jesus healing those people.
Jesus, in v.5-9, identifies a single man who had been by the pool for 38 years, heals him and sets him free. In v.8 Jesus says, "Arise, take up your pallet, and walk."
Why did Jesus choose that one man and not the others?
What was the selection criteria Jesus used for healing?
Think about this in terms of today.
Sometimes you hear about someone with cancer or some challenging circumstance. They are about to have major surgery. But right before the operation they take one more x-ray or whatever and all of the sudden the person is cancer free or disease free. The family is praising God for a miracle.
That miracle is the guy that has been sitting there for 38 years. That's the guy that Jesus sets free. But that is not the norm.
On the other hand, most of the time the people we know are the multitudes of the sick, blind, lame and withered that do not get healed. They are the ones who do not realize the miracle of instant healing. I'm not saying that God is not involved. He is sovereign and in control. For unexplainable reasons, the miracle of instant healing does not take place.
This is an incredible story about the randomness to life. We can't explain everything that happens around us. We can't fill in the blanks and know how God works. It would be a scary world if we could, because in essence it would make us God, right?
I'm thankful today that I do not need to fully understand God's love to trust it. I'm thankful that God is sovereign and His love never fails.
What do you think about God's "random" acts of kindness in the book of John?
