WHY ARE YOU STILL LYING THERE?

John 5: 5     Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6     When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

7     The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

John 5: 5-7 is part of a larger passage recording how Jesus healed a man who had been waiting his turn at a miraculous pool on the grounds of the great temple in Jerusalem.  We aren’t given the man’s official diagnosIs, but the primary effect was that he couldn’t walk.

A couple of weeks ago, I preached from this passage.  When I prepare to preach, I study the given passage from every conceivable angle.  I look up, cross-reference, analyze, and pray for deeper revelation at every verse and sentences.  But, here’s (one of) the really awesome things about the Word of God:  No matter how deep you go----there’s always more.

So like I said, I’d just vivisected this passage when I came across it again in my morning study time. 

And, Bam!   God was like, “Hey, check this out!”

Verse 5 is a single sentence informing us that a certain man had been an invalid for 38 years.  The last sentence in verse 6 is the question Jesus asked this man, “Do you want to be made well?”

But, look at the sentence in-between.

As readers, we already know how long the man has been incapacitated.  Verse 6 begins with the moment Jesus acquired that knowledge. 

John 5: 6 WHEN Jesus When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time…..

Now every other time I’ve read this sentence, I assumed that Jesus (being God incarnate) already knew how long the man had been lying there.  I assumed that the WHEN related to the moment Jesus looked at the guy.   But this morning the Holy Spirit showed me something more: Jesus asked.

This isn’t unprecedented for Jesus.  In Mark 9: 21, before casting a demon out of possessed boy, Jesus asked the child’s father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

John 5: 6 shows that there was a specific point at which Jesus acquired information on the duration of this man’s paralysis.  WHEN Jesus ... knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, that was WHEN Jesus asked the question,, “Do you want to be made well?”

Jesus asked the question BECAUSE of how long the man had been sick.

For this particular man, in this particular situation, the extensive duration of his condition provokes a further inquiry:    “Dude, you ‘ve been like this for how long?     Do you even want to get better?”

Here is the unfortunate, uncomfortable truth:  Sometimes the reason it’s still bad is because we’ve gotten used to it being bad.  Sometimes, the reason’s we’re still as screwed up as we were is that subconsciously we don’t want be made well.

I fault the church (the temple establishment, that is) for not getting more involved.  They could have assigned people  to go out at least a couple of times per week and help those with the worst conditions get their turn in the healing pool.    I fault the religious establishment for caring more about their Sabbath protocols than the human suffering right there in their community.

But the faults of the Pharisees then and of the institutional church today, do not absolve the one Jesus holds ultimately responsible for his continued infirmity. 

In this case, Jesus actually did blame the individual who had just lain there in that condition a long time.

The tone and context of Jesus’ question are aggressive.  That why the man responds defensively.

“Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” (John 5: 7)

Basically, the man said, “It’s not my fault.  I can’t help myself.”

Until this morning, I didn’t notice what the man DIDN’T say. 

He didn’t say, “I asked for help.”

He didn’t say, “No one will help me.”

He didn’t say, “I’ve tried.”

He said, “I have no one assigned to help me.”

No institution, no outside persons had taken it upon themselves to send him help, and so he just lay there in that condition a long time.

The church might not come to your rescue.  That’s the church’s fault but it’s not an excuse for you. 

You might slip through the cracks of  government programs created to help folks like you.  That’s the agencies’ fault, but it doesn’t excuse your responsibility for you.

Family, friends, and the entire community might just step over you as they scramble for help with their own needs.  They might do a little better and go on, forgetting about you.    Still, not an excuse.

You might not have anybody but Jesus, but that’s O.K.  Jesus is enough.

But understand that you have to receive Jesus however He comes to you, and Jesus isn’t always sweet.  He is the Truth, and He has been known to confront with hard questions and harsh truth.

The hard truth is sometimes this: For all the people at fault in your life, it is ultimately YOUR FAULT that you are still like this.  Now, do you want to be made well?

So then you rise.  You get yourself up.  You stop lying there waiting for somebody to send somebody to do something for you.  You pick up your own bed.  You move yourself out of this place you’ve been in for a long time.  Listen to what Jesus commands you, and do it.  He will provide what you need on the inside to move and change your external circumstances.

You, start moving knowing in advance that when you start to do better, everybody won’t rejoice.  Some of the very ones who ignored you when you were doing bad will attack you for doing better.  That still doesn’t absolve you of your responsibilities.

Remember that the same Jesus who spoke healing to you is the same Jesus who spoke conviction to you for staying there so long.  So don’t be surprised that Jesus expects you to do for others what others may not have done for you.

Afterward Jesus found [the man He’d healed] in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5: 14)

Jesus looked for the man to be in church (that is in the temple even though the temple elite had been hating on his healing).  And, Jesus expected the man to live better, not simply to have a better/ more physically prosperous life, but to actually live holy. 

Your healing is not an opportunity for vengeance.  Your miracle is not a reason to reject Christ’s church.  Your breakthrough is not a vehicle meant for selfish pursuits.  Be honest. Be real.  That’s what laid you out in the dirt in the first place.  That kind of living and thinking is what kept you down there for so long. 

Look!  Now you have been made well. Don’t act like that anymore.  Cause if you go back, it’s going to be worse than it had ever been.

“See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

This thing you’re stuck in, stuck with---- if no one’s helped you all this time, stop expecting someone else to help you.  All you’ve got is Jesus.

The good news is:  Jesus is all you need.

Rise up.  Follow Jesus.  Face His harsh truths about you, and follow Jesus.  Live the way He tells you to live.  Follow Jesus.

That is, unless you just like lying there.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

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