Pool at Bethesda

None of us know for certain what will happen five minutes from now. Almost always things will unfold as we expect but way more often than we might expect life can suddenly change.

John 5:1-18

Let's not be Pharisees and spoil what God is doing.

Sometimes the sudden change is just inconvenient. Like my trip to Bundaberg last weekend for the 80th anniversary of Bundaberg Baptist Church. It took an hour to travel from Tiaro to Maryborough. A petrol tanker crashed and caught fire. We were diverted onto a single lane bypass that was the old Bruce Highway.

However, the sudden change can be devastating. There can be a medical diagnosis, and accident, a plane/car crashes into a house, a suicide, or a myriad of other terrible things. I have lost 5 friends to death in recent weeks. Some were expected, and a couple were not.

The unnamed man in today's episode from John, had one such devastating episode. 38 years before his encounter with Jesus, he had some sort of accident that left him paralysed. In first century Judaea, and in many developing nations, disability is devastating. With no government support, a disabled person has to rely on family and friends to survive.

In this man's case, there was nobody to help him. He survived on the alms given to him by strangers. It was a precarious existence. Then Jesus singled him out for special attention. Rise, take up your mat and walk! Suddenly, he felt strength return to his legs. The memories of how to walk returned. Jesus didn't just fix his spinal cord, Jesus restored withered muscles, and restored the ability to walk fully.

What a joyous day for this man. How amazed would his fellow disabled friends have been? Did they ask "Me too?" I have no idea. But the Pharisees spoil the party. Let's not be Pharisees and spoil what God is doing.

Pastor Andy