Faith in Christ Alone

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked” (John 5:1-9).

He was lying helplessly beside the pool that held such promise. He was so close to a miracle, yet he was so far. He had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. He watched others get their miracle but there was no one to help him get his. He had been in this condition and in this place for so long it had begun to feel natural to him very long ago. This was his lot in life. This was the life he deserved. The one day Jesus came along… “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The Christ came near and He was about to invite this poor invalid to see “His glory” (John 1:14). But we have to love the way Jesus approached this desperate man. He asked him a question that overstated the obvious… “Do you want to be healed?” On this special day, Jesus confronted the invalid with a question that provoked his faith and he moved from hopelessness to healing that comes through faith in Christ alone.

We have all been there. We have struggled with trouble for so long that it seems to have become a permanent fixture in our lives. We have exhausted all the possible remedies. We have been to all the experts. The prognosis remains bleak. Because we are Christ followers we have prayed, been prayed over, been prayed with, and we won’t stop praying. We feel alone, abandoned by friends, family, and the church. We sometimes feel even God has looked away from us. We seek deliverance from this terrible situation and place, but it might be that God has us exactly where He wants us. Remember, it is God’s ultimate desire to dwell with us. He wants us to behold His glory and enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. In the midst of our struggle with trouble God will show up and provoke us to increase our faith in Christ alone.

When Jesus showed up and asked his probing question of the invalid, He challenged him to learn the truth that trouble awakens our desire to be healed and should direct our attention to Christ. This was not the life God wanted for him. God did not want him trusting in a pool or angel, or any thing or person beside God for his healing. He was inviting the poor man to look away from the world and toward Christ to meet His need. When we allow our trouble to increase our trust Christ alone to meet our need God receives glory… “And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15:30-31).

When Christ showed up and asked his penetrating question the invalid was made aware of his loneliness. His answer revealed the truth that there was no one and nothing in the world that could help him… “I have no one to put me into the pool”. When we let our trouble direct our attention to Christ we discover anew the truth that Jesus is not of this world, but He is sovereign over it… “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

When Christ showed up and asked his provoking question the invalid was compelled to make a choice. Would he continue in the hopelessness of the 38 year old promise of the world or would He place his trust in Christ? He obeyed Christ’s command and… at once the man was healed!

As we grow up into Christ He is walking with us in triumphs and trials, provoking in us a maturing…

Faith in Christ Alone.